RELG 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
The Barbarian Invasions
The Barbarian Invasions eventually took over all of the Roman Empire in the West - including Rome itself.
The Barbarian Invasions were part of a great movement of migrations throughout Central Asia and Europe, as various tribes moved into new territory, displacing other peoples who then moved and displaced others. The term "Barbarian" was used by Greeks and Romans to mean anyone who did not speak Greek and Latin - their speech sounded like "Bar bar bar" to the Greeks.
During the first century AD the Huns started moving westward (probably under pressure from Mongols in the East). The movements continued for several centuries, as peoples slowly moved westwards.
The Huns were joined by Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars, who together pushed the Germanic tribes further westwards - these included the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Alamanni, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Lombards, Suebi, and Frisii. Some of the tribes made treaties with the Romans and were allowed to settle within the Empire, others merely invaded and took over parts of the Empire. Some of the tribes were already Christians, through contact with Christians in the East. However, most of these were Arians.
In AD 407 the Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain, leaving the Roman colonies and the British and Celtic tribes open to invasion by pagan Saxons, Jutes, Danes, and Norsemen.
In AD 410 Alaric the Visigoth led his armies against Rome, sacked the city, but died soon afterwards. The Visigoths continued their move westwards, to Gaul and then to Iberia, where they founded a kingdom.
It was to answer the belief that Rome had fallen because the Christians were not worshiping the old Roman gods, that Augustine of Hippo wrote "The City of God".
In AD 452 Attila the Hun invaded northern Italy, but was persuaded by Pope Leo I to spare Rome, and died the next year.
In AD 455 the Vandals took Rome and plundered the city for 2 weeks before sailing away to conquer Sicily.
In AD 476 Odoacer led an army into Rome and made himself the first King of Italy. This marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.
In response, Emperor Zeno of the Eastern Roman Empire appointed the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great as King of Italy. Theodoric led the Ostrogoths against Odoacer and killed him.
In AD 568 the Lombards invaded northern Italy and settled down to live and rule there. The Lombards were Germanic tribes who were already Christians - but they were Arians
Further movements and invasions continued; Slavic and Turkic tribes moved into Central and Eastern Europe during the next two centuries, and Moslem Arabs, Moors and Berbers invaded Africa and crossed into the Iberian peninsular.
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
