The Burgundians (Latin: Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; Old Norse: Burgundar; Old English: Burgendas;
Greek: Βούργουνδοι) were a large East Germanic or Vandal tribe or group of
tribes that lived in the area of what is now Poland in the time of the Roman Empire.
In the late Roman period, as the empire came under pressure from many such "barbarian"
peoples, a powerful group of Burgundians and other Vandalic tribes moved westwards towards
the Roman frontiers along the Rhine Valley, making them neighbors of the Franks who formed
their kingdoms to the north, and the Suebic Alemanni who were settling to their south,
also near the Rhine.
They established themselves in Worms, but with Roman cooperation their descendants eventually
established the Kingdom of the Burgundians much further south, and within the empire,
in the western Alps region where modern Switzerland, France and Italy meet.
This later became a component of the Frankish empire.
The name of this kingdom survives in the regional appellation, Burgundy, which is a region in
modern France, representing only a part of that kingdom.
Another part of the Burgundians stayed in their previous homeland in the Oder-Vistula
basin and formed a contingent in Attila's Hunnic army by 451.Before clear documentary
evidence begins, the Burgundians may have originally emigrated from mainland Scandinavia
to the Baltic island of Bornholm, and from there to the Vistula basin, in the middle
of what is now Poland.
== Name == The ethnonym Burgundians is commonly used
in English to refer to the Burgundi (Burgundionei, Burgundiones or Burgunds) who settled in Sapaudia
(Savoy), in the western Alps, during the 5th century.
The original Kingdom of the Burgundians barely intersected the modern Bourgogne and more
closely matched the boundaries of the Arpitan or Romand (Franco-Provençal) language area,
centred on the Rôno-Arpes (Rhône-Alpes) region of France, Romandy in west Switzerland
and Val d'Outa (Val d'Aosta), in north west Italy.
In modern usage, however, "Burgundians" can sometimes refer to later inhabitants of the
geographical Bourgogne or Borgogne (Burgundy), named after the old kingdom, but not corresponding
to the original boundaries of it.
Between the 6th and 20th centuries, the boundaries and political connections of "Burgundy" have
changed frequently.
In modern times the only area still referred to as Burgundy is in France, which derives
its name from the Duchy of Burgundy.
But in the context of the middle ages the term Burgundian (or similar spellings) can
refer even to the powerful political entity the Dukes controlled which included not only
Burgundy itself but had actually expanded to have a strong association with areas now
in modern Belgium and Southern Netherlands.
The parts of the old Kingdom not within the French controlled Duchy tended to come under
different names, except for the County of Burgundy.
== History ==
=== Background ===
The Burgundians had a tradition of Scandinavian origin which finds support in place-name evidence
and archaeological evidence (Stjerna) and many consider their tradition to be correct
(e.g. Musset, p. 62).
The Burgundians are believed to have then emigrated to the Baltic island of Bornholm
("the island of the Burgundians" in Old Norse).
However, by about 250 AD, the population of Bornholm had largely disappeared from the
island.
Most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials (Stjerna,
in Nerman 1925:176).
In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar (The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son), a man (or group)
named Veseti settled on a holm (island) called borgundarhólmr in Old Norse, i.e.
Bornholm.
Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius uses the name Burgenda land to refer to a
territory next to the land of Sweons ("Swedes").
The poet and early mythologist Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895), (Our Fathers' Godsaga) asserted
from an early medieval source, Vita Sigismundi, that they themselves retained oral traditions
about their Scandinavian origin.
Early Roman sources, such as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder, knew little concerning the Germanic
peoples east of the Elbe river, or on the Baltic Sea.
Pliny (IV.28) however mentions them among the Vandalic or Eastern Germanic Germani peoples,
including also the Goths.
Claudius Ptolemy lists them as living between the Suevus (probably the Oder) and Vistula
rivers, north of the Lugii, and south of the coast dwelling tribes.
Around the mid 2nd century AD, there was a significant migration by Germanic tribes of
Scandinavian origin (Rugii, Goths, Gepidae, Vandals, Burgundians, and others) towards
the south-east, creating turmoil along the entire Roman frontier.
These migrations culminated in the Marcomannic Wars, which resulted in widespread destruction
and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period.
Jordanes reports that during the 3rd century, the Burgundians living in the Vistula basin
were almost annihilated by Fastida, king of the Gepids, whose kingdom was at the mouth
of the Vistula.
In the late 3rd century, the Burgundians appear on the east bank of the Rhine, confronting
Roman Gaul.
Zosimus (1.68) reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 in Gaul.
At this time, they were led by a Vandal king.
A few years later, Claudius Mamertinus mentions them along with the Alamanni, a Suebic people.
These two peoples had moved into the Agri Decumates on the eastern side of the Rhine,
an area today referred to still as Swabia, at times attacking Roman Gaul together and
sometimes fighting each other.
He also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians.
Ammianus Marcellinus, on the other hand, claimed that the Burgundians were descended from Romans.
The Roman sources do not speak of any specific migration from Poland by the Burgundians (although
other Vandalic peoples are more clearly mentioned as having moved west in this period), and
so there have historically been some doubts about the link between the eastern and western
Burgundians.In 369/370, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his
war against the Alemanni.
Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again.
Following Stilicho's withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in AD 406-408,
a large group of peoples from central Europe north of the Danube, came west and crossed
the Rhine, entering the Empire, near the lands of the Burgundians who had moved much earlier.
The dominant groups were Alans, Vandals (Hasdingi and Silingi), and Danubian Suevi (probably
descended from Marcomanni and Quadi).
The majority of these Danubian peoples moved through Gaul and eventually established themselves
in kingdoms in Roman Hispania.
One group of Alans was settled in northern Gaul by the Romans.
Some Burgundians also migrated westwards and settled as foederati in the Roman province
of Germania Secunda along the Middle Rhine.
Other Burgundians however remained outside the empire and apparently formed a contingent
in Attila's Hunnic army by 451.
=== Kingdom ===
==== Establishment ====
In 411, the Burgundian king Gundahar (or Gundicar) set up a puppet emperor, Jovinus, in cooperation
with Goar, king of the Alans.
With the authority of the Gallic emperor that he controlled, Gundahar settled on the left
(Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river Lauter and the Nahe, seizing Worms, Speyer,
and Strassburg.
Apparently as part of a truce, the Emperor Honorius later officially "granted" them the
land, with its capital at the old Celtic Roman settlement of Borbetomagus (present Worms).
Despite their new status as foederati, Burgundian raids into Roman Upper Gallia Belgica became
intolerable and were ruthlessly brought to an end in 436, when the Roman general Aëtius
called in Hun mercenaries, who overwhelmed the Rhineland kingdom in 437.
Gundahar was killed in the fighting, reportedly along with the majority of the Burgundian
tribe.The destruction of Worms and the Burgundian kingdom by the Huns became the subject of
heroic legends that were afterwards incorporated in the Nibelungenlied—on which Wagner based
his Ring Cycle—where King Gunther (Gundahar) and Queen Brünhild hold their court at Worms,
and Siegfried comes to woo Kriemhild.
(In Old Norse sources the names are Gunnar, Brynhild, and Gudrún as normally rendered
in English.)
In fact, the Etzel of the Nibelungenlied is based on Attila the Hun.
=== Settlement in Savoy ===
For reasons not cited in the sources, the Burgundians were granted foederati status
a second time, and in 443 were resettled by Aëtius in the region of Sapaudia.
Though the precise geography is uncertain, Sapaudia corresponds to the modern-day Savoy,
and the Burgundians probably lived near Lugdunum, known today as Lyon.
A new king, Gundioc or Gunderic, presumed to be Gundahar's son, appears to have reigned
following his father's death.
The historian Pline tells us that Gonderic ruled the areas of Saône, Dauphiny, Savoie
and a part of Provence.
He set up Vienne as the capital of the kingdom of Burgundy.
In all, eight Burgundian kings of the house of Gundahar ruled until the kingdom was overrun
by the Franks in 534.
As allies of Rome in its last decades, the Burgundians fought alongside Aëtius and a
confederation of Visigoths and others in the battle against Attila at the Battle of Châlons
(also called "The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields") in 451.
The alliance between Burgundians and Visigoths seems to have been strong, as Gundioc and
his brother Chilperic I accompanied Theodoric II to Spain to fight the Sueves in 455.
==== Aspirations to the empire ==== Also in 455, an ambiguous reference infidoque
tibi Burdundio ductu implicates an unnamed treacherous Burgundian leader in the murder
of the emperor Petronius Maximus in the chaos preceding the sack of Rome by the Vandals.
The Patrician Ricimer is also blamed; this event marks the first indication of the link
between the Burgundians and Ricimer, who was probably Gundioc's brother-in-law and Gundobad's
uncle.In 456, the Burgundians, apparently confident in their growing power, negotiated
a territorial expansion and power sharing arrangement with the local Roman senators.In
457, Ricimer overthrew another emperor, Avitus, raising Majorian to the throne.
This new emperor proved unhelpful to Ricimer and the Burgundians.
The year after his ascension, Majorian stripped the Burgundians of the lands they had acquired
two years earlier.
After showing further signs of independence, he was murdered by Ricimer in 461.
Ten years later, in 472, Ricimer–who was by now the son-in-law of the Western Emperor
Anthemius–was plotting with Gundobad to kill his father-in-law; Gundobad beheaded
the emperor (apparently personally).
Ricimer then appointed Olybrius; both died, surprisingly of natural causes, within a few
months.
Gundobad seems then to have succeeded his uncle as Patrician and king-maker, and raised
Glycerius to the throne.In 474, Burgundian influence over the empire seems to have ended.
Glycerius was deposed in favor of Julius Nepos, and Gundobad returned to Burgundy, presumably
at the death of his father Gundioc.
At this time or shortly afterwards, the Burgundian kingdom was divided among Gundobad and his
brothers, Godigisel, Chilperic II, and Gundomar I.
==== Consolidation of the kingdom ====
According to Gregory of Tours, the years following Gundobad's return to Burgundy saw a bloody
consolidation of power.
Gregory states that Gundobad murdered his brother Chilperic, drowning his wife and exiling
their daughters (one of whom was to become the wife of Clovis the Frank, and was reputedly
responsible for his conversion).
This is contested by, e.g., Bury, who points out problems in much of Gregory's chronology
for the events.
In c. 500, when Gundobad and Clovis were at war, Gundobad appears to have been betrayed
by his brother Godegisel, who joined the Franks; together Godegisel's and Clovis' forces "crushed
the army of Gundobad".
Gundobad was temporarily holed up in Avignon, but was able to re-muster his army and sacked
Vienne, where Godegisel and many of his followers were put to death.
From this point, Gundobad appears to have been the sole king of Burgundy.
This would imply that his brother Gundomar was already dead, though there are no specific
mentions of the event in the sources.
Either Gundobad and Clovis reconciled their differences, or Gundobad was forced into some
sort of vassalage by Clovis' earlier victory, as the Burgundian king appears to have assisted
the Franks in 507 in their victory over Alaric II the Visigoth.
During the upheaval, sometime between 483–501, Gundobad began to set forth the Lex Gundobada
(see below), issuing roughly the first half, which drew upon the Lex Visigothorum.
Following his consolidation of power, between 501 and his death in 516, Gundobad issued
the second half of his law, which was more originally Burgundian.
==== Fall ====
The Burgundians were extending their power over southeastern Gaul--that is, northern
Italy, western Switzerland, and southeastern France.
In 493, Clovis, king of the Franks, married the Burgundian princess Clotilda (daughter
of Chilperic), who converted him to the Catholic faith.
At first allied with Clovis' Franks against the Visigoths in the early 6th century, the
Burgundians were eventually conquered at Autun by the Franks in 532 after a first attempt
in the Battle of Vézeronce.
The Burgundian kingdom was made part of the Merovingian kingdoms, and the Burgundians
themselves were by and large absorbed as well.
== Physical appearance == The 5th century Gallo-Roman poet and landowner
Sidonius, who at one point lived with the Burgundians, described them as a long-haired
people of immense physical size: "Why...
do you [an obscure senator by the name of Catullinus] bid me compose a song dedicated
to Venus... placed as I am among long-haired hordes, having to endure Germanic speech,
praising often with a wry face the song of the gluttonous Burgundian who spreads rancid
butter on his hair?
... You don't have a reek of garlic and foul onions discharged upon you at early morn from
ten breakfasts, and you are not invaded before dawn... by a crowd of giants."
== Language ==
The Burgundian language belonged to the East Germanic language group.
It appears to have become extinct during the late sixth century.Little is known of the
language.
Some proper names of Burgundians are recorded, and some words used in the area in modern
times are thought to be derived from the ancient Burgundian language, but it is often difficult
to distinguish these from Germanic words of other origin, and in any case the modern form
of the words is rarely suitable to infer much about the form in the old language.
== Religion == Somewhere in the east the Burgundians had
converted to the Arian Christianity from earlier Germanic paganism.
Their Arianism proved a source of suspicion and distrust between the Burgundians and the
Catholic Western Roman Empire.
Divisions were evidently healed or healing circa 500, however, as Gundobad, one of the
last Burgundian kings, maintained a close personal friendship with Avitus, the bishop
of Vienne.
Moreover, Gundobad's son and successor, Sigismund, was himself a Catholic, and there is evidence
that many of the Burgundian people had converted by this time as well, including several female
members of the ruling family.
== Law == The Burgundians left three legal codes, among
the earliest from any of the Germanic tribes.
The Liber Constitutionum sive Lex Gundobada ("The Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad"),
also known as the Lex Burgundionum, or more simply the Lex Gundobada or the Liber, was
issued in several parts between 483 and 516, principally by Gundobad, but also by his son,
Sigismund.
It was a record of Burgundian customary law and is typical of the many Germanic law codes
from this period.
In particular, the Liber borrowed from the Lex Visigothorum and influenced the later
Lex Ripuaria.
The Liber is one of the primary sources for contemporary Burgundian life, as well as the
history of its kings.
Like many of the Germanic tribes, the Burgundians' legal traditions allowed the application of
separate laws for separate ethnicities.
Thus, in addition to the Lex Gundobada, Gundobad also issued (or codified) a set of laws for
Roman subjects of the Burgundian kingdom, the Lex Romana Burgundionum (The Roman Law
of the Burgundians).
In addition to the above codes, Gundobad's son Sigismund later published the Prima Constitutio.
== See also ==
Nibelung (later legends of the Burgundian kings).
List of kings of Burgundy Duchy of Burgundy
Franche-Comté Dauphiné
List of ancient Germanic peoples and tribes