Kingdom of the Burgundians | |||||||||
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| 411–534 | |||||||||
 The First Kingdom of the Burgundians, after the settlement in Eastern Gaul from 443 | |||||||||
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| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
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• 411–437 | Gunther | ||||||||
• 532–534 | Godomar | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 411 | |||||||||
| 534 | |||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||
The Kingdom of the Burgundians, or First Kingdom of Burgundy, [2] was established by Germanic Burgundians in the Rhineland and then in eastern Gaul in the 5th century.
The Burgundians, a Germanic tribe, may have migrated from the Scandinavian island of Bornholm to the Vistula basin in the 3rd century AD. However, the first documented King of the Burgundians, Gjúki (Gebicca), lived in the late 4th century east of the Rhine.
In 406 the Alans, Vandals, Suevi, and possibly the Burgundians, crossed the Rhine and invaded Roman Gaul. The Burgundians settled as foederati in the Roman province of Germania Secunda along the Middle Rhine.
In 411 AD, the Burgundian king Gunther (or Gundahar or Gundicar) in cooperation with Goar, king of the Alans, set up Jovinus as a puppet emperor. Under the pretext of Jovinus' imperial authority, Gunther settled on the western (i.e., Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river Lauter and the Nahe, seizing the settlements of Borbetomagus (present day Worms), Speyer, and Strasbourg. Apparently as part of a truce, the Emperor Honorius later officially "granted" them the land. The Burgundians established their capital at Borbetomagus. Olympiodorus of Thebes also mentions a Guntiarios who was called "commander of the Burgundians" in the context of the 411 usurping of Germania Secunda by Jovinus. [3]
Despite their new status as foederati, Burgundian raids into Roman upper Gallia Belgica became intolerable to the Romans and were ruthlessly brought to an end in 436, when the Roman general Flavius Aetius called in Hun mercenaries who overwhelmed the kingdom in 437. Gunther was killed in the fighting, reportedly along with the majority of the Burgundians. [4] The campaign was the origin of the mediæval Nibelungenlied poem.
Gunther was succeeded as king by Gunderic (or Gundioc or Gondioc) in 437. After 443, the remaining Burgundians were resettled by Aetius to the region of present-day northeastern France and western Switzerland, again as foederati, in the Roman province of Maxima Sequanorum . Their efforts to enlarge their kingdom down the Rhone river brought them into conflict with the Visigothic Kingdom in the south. In 451, Gunderic joined forces with Aetius against Attila, leader of the Huns, in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.
When Gunderic died in 473, his kingdom was divided among his four sons: Gundobad (473–516 in Lyon, king of all of Burgundy from 480), Chilperic II (473–493 in Valence), Gundomar/Godomar (473–486 in Vienne) and Godegisel (473–500, in Vienne and Geneva).
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, King Gundobad allied with the mighty Frankish king Clovis I against the threat of the Ostrogothic king, Theoderic the Great. Gundobad was thereby able to secure the Burgundian acquisitions, and compile the Lex Burgundionum , an Ancient Germanic law code. Later, when Rome was no longer able to afford protection to the inhabitants of Gaul, the Sequani became merged in the newly formed Kingdom of Burgundy. [5]
According to Gregory of Tours (538–594), in 493 Gundobad slew his brother Chilperic II and exiled his daughter Clotilde, who was married to the Merovingian Clovis, King of the Franks, who had just conquered northern Gaul. The decline of the kingdom began when they came under attack from their former Frankish allies. In 523, the sons of King Clovis campaigned in the Burgundian lands, instigated by their mother Clotilde, in revenge for Gundobad's murder of her father. In 532, the Burgundians were decisively defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Autun, whereafter King Godomar was killed and Burgundy incorporated into the Frankish kingdom in 534.
Flavius Aëtius moves the Burgundians into Sapaudia (Upper Rhône Basin).
The Burgundians were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Gaul. In the first and second centuries AD they, or a people with the same name, were mentioned by Roman writers living west of the Vistula river in the region of Germania which is now part of Poland.
Year 411 (CDXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius without colleague. The denomination 411 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old", also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I.
Gundobad was King of the Burgundians (473–516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Empire in 472–473, three years before its collapse, succeeding his uncle Ricimer. He is perhaps best known today as the probable issuer of the Lex Burgundionum legal codes, which synthesized Roman law with ancient Germanic customs. He was the husband of Caretene.
The Kingdom of the Franks, also known as the Frankish Kingdom, the Frankish Empire or Francia, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era.
Sigismund was King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis's sons, and Godomar fled. Sigismund was captured by Chlodomer, King of Orléans, where he was kept as a prisoner. Later he, his wife and his children were executed. Godomar then rallied the Burgundian army and won back his kingdom.
Gundaharius or Gundahar, better known by his legendary names Gunther or Gunnar, was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they crossed the Rhine into Roman Gaul. He was involved in the campaigns of the failed Roman usurper Jovinus before the latter's defeat, after which he was settled on the left bank of the Rhine as a Roman ally. In 436, Gundahar launched an attack from his kingdom on the Roman province of Belgica Prima. He was defeated by the Roman general Flavius Aetius, who destroyed Gundahar's kingdom with the help of Hunnish mercenaries the following year, resulting in Gundahar's death.
Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various states located in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The historical Burgundy correlates with the border area of France and Switzerland and includes the major modern cities of Geneva and Lyon.
Godomar II, son of king Gundobad, was king of Burgundy. He ruled Burgundy after the death of Sigismund, his elder brother, in 524 until 534.
Gondioc, also called Gunderic and Gundowech, was a King of the Burgundians, succeeding his putative father Gunther in 436.
Godegisel was a Burgundian sub-king and son of the Burgundian king Gondioc.
Chilperic II was the King of Burgundy from 473 until his death. Before that he co-ruled with his father Gondioc beginning in 463. He began his reign in 473 after the partition of Burgundy with his younger brothers Godegisel, Gundobad, and Godomar; he ruled from Valentia Julia (Valence) and his brothers ruled respectively from Geneva, Vienne, and Lyon.
The Lex Burgundionum refers to the law code of the Burgundians, probably issued by king Gundobad. It is influenced by Roman law and deals with domestic laws concerning marriage and inheritance as well as regulating weregild and other penalties. Interaction between Burgundians is treated separately from interaction between Burgundians and Gallo-Romans. The oldest of the 14 surviving manuscripts of the text dates to the 9th century, but the code's institution is ascribed to king Gundobad, with a possible revision by his successor Sigismund. The Lex Romana Burgundionum is a separate code, containing various laws taken from Roman sources, probably intended to apply to the Burgundians' Gallo-Roman subjects. The oldest copy of this text dates to the 7th century.
Gundomar I was eldest son and successor of Gebicca, King of the Burgundians. He succeeded his father in 406 or 407 and reigned until 411. He was succeeded by his brother Giselher.
Godomar I was a son of the Burgundian king Gondioc, and a brother of Godegisel, Chilperic II and Gundobad. After the death of Gondioc and his brother Chilperic I, the four sons of Gondioc are said to have ruled Burgundy together from different parts of the kingdom. This is doubted by modern scholars due to lack of evidence. It is now believed that both Godomar and Chilperic had died before 476/477, and that only Godegisel and Gundobad shared the rule.
The Franco-Visigothic Wars were a series of wars between the Franks and the Visigoths, but it also involved the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths and the Romans. The most noteworthy war of the conflict would be the Second Franco-Visigothic War that included the famous Battle of Vouillé and resulted in Frankish annexation of most of Southern France.
Teudelinda was a Burgundian queen consort by marriage to king Godegisel. She founded a number of churches around Geneva. Teudelinda was killed at Vienne during the war between her husband and his brother, Gundobad.
The Burgundian Revolt of Gunther was a revolt of the Burgundian foederati in the Western Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Valentinian III. The uprising took place in the Gallic province of Germania Prima and was led by the King of the Burgundian Gunther, his main opponent was General Aetius.
