How Much Do You Know About the Germanic Tribes?

The Germanic Goths had two branches: the western Visigoths and the eastern Ostrogoths, who built a center of power around the Black Sea. Briefly ruled by the Huns, they defeated Atilla in 451 CE and expanded their territory to Italy under Theodoric the Great, who became king of Italy in 493 CE. But within a century the Ostrogoths were gone, and their empire was broken up after a defeat by the Byzantine empire.

Originally known as Wodan, the warrior god Odin was the most important deity in early Germanic religions and Norse mythology, and he welcomed fallen warriors into his palace at Valhalla. The modern-day word for “Wednesday” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English “Woden’s Day.”

After being driven west from central Europe by the Huns in the late fifth century CE, the Visigoths established an empire that extended to Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France. They lost much of their territory in Gaul to the Franks but retained control of the Iberian Peninsula until the eight century invasion by Islamic moors from North Africa.

Little is known of the Vandals before they came in contact with both the Visigoths and the Romans in the fourth century CE, but it’s believed they originated in Scandinavia. When their raiding parties moved south, they established a power center in modern Tunisia in North Africa. Under the warrior Genseric, the Vandals sacked Rome in 455 CE, but the empire declined after his death and collapsed after a Byzantine invasion in 534 CE.

Chainmail was likely invented by Celts in Gaul during the third century BCE. It was constructed of thousands of small interlocking metal rings that formed a mesh shirt or vest for protection. Early chainmail was primarily worn by high-ranking chiefs or the wealthy, because it was time-consuming to produce, but the Romans later adopted and adapted the technology for use in their army.

After coming to power in 481 CE at the age of 15, Clovis I helped unify the Franks, a group of Gallic tribes. He defeated both the Roman army and the Visigoths during his 30-year reign and is considered the founder of France (named after the Franks). The Merovingian dynasty lasted more than 200 years.

The Huns were a nomadic people who likely originated near modern Kazakhstan, but the timing of their appearance is unknown. By the fourth century CE, they were raiding lands held by the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Rome, and Byzantium. The Huns reached their height under Attila, striking fear and capturing territory with their military skills and horsemanship. His death in 453 CE led to internal divisions, which saw the Hun empire collapse by 469 CE.

The Gauls were a Celtic group composed of several kingdoms spread across modern-day France, Belgium, western Germany, and northern Italy. They operated independently of each other but often united during crises. Gaul’s expansion into northern Italy in the fourth century BCE led to centuries of conflict with Rome, which culminated in Julius Caesar’s victory over Gallic leader Vercingetorix in 52 BCE.

The withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain around 410 CE left a power vacuum that was filled by northern Germanic tribes, including the Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes. Initially small in number, the tribes later assumed control of England and Wales. The Anglo-Saxons introduced the English language and ruled Britain until they were weakened by Viking invasions and the later Norman invasion of 1066.

The first Visigoth king, Alaric I, ruled parts of modern-day Romania and the Balkans. He had led troops in the Roman army but broke with Rome over its refusal to honor his service. When Emperor Honorius ordered the murder of families of Roman Visigoth soldiers, they defected to Alaric. The Visigoth forces sacked Rome in 410 CE — the first successful raid in 800 years — setting the stage for the empire’s collapse just over 60 years later.