Europe · Antiquity and the Roman world
Burgundians
to 436
The Burgundians were an East Germanic people; this entry covers their earliest phase (their formal kingdom is entry 20). First mentioned by Roman sources around AD 291 alongside the Alamanni, they are one of historian Peter Heather's "disappearing and reappearing tribes," recorded first in the region of modern Germany/Poland and later on the Rhine.
- Existed
- to 436
- Shown on the map
- AD 154–346, 407–409 (2 periods)
- Peak area
- 100k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Burgundians were an East Germanic people; this entry covers their earliest phase (their formal kingdom is entry 20). First mentioned by Roman sources around AD 291 alongside the Alamanni, they are one of historian Peter Heather's "disappearing and reappearing tribes," recorded first in the region of modern Germany/Poland and later on the Rhine. By 411 a group under King Gundahar (Gunther/Gundicar), of the Gibichung dynasty, had settled on the west bank of the Rhine, controlling Worms (Borbetomagus), Speyer, and Strasbourg; that year Gundahar helped install the usurper Jovinus.
Decline and legacy
Despite being Roman allies (foederati), the Burgundians raided into Gallia Belgica. The Roman general Flavius Aetius, using Hunnic mercenaries, destroyed the Rhineland kingdom in 436 (some sources say the massacre fell in 437). Our nearest source, Prosper of Aquitaine (Epitoma Chronicon, s.a. 436), records only that "the Huns destroyed him and his people with root and branch"; the widely cited figure of roughly 20,000 Burgundians killed derives from later tradition and does not appear in Prosper's text itself. Aetius resettled the survivors in Sapaudia (Savoy) near Lake Geneva around 443, from which the second Burgundian kingdom grew. The catastrophic fall of Gundahar's court entered Germanic heroic legend, becoming the historical kernel of the Nibelungenlied (Gunther) and the Völsunga saga (Gunnar), and ultimately Wagner's Ring.
Common questions
- What were the Burgundians?
- The Burgundians were an East Germanic people; this entry covers their earliest phase (their formal kingdom is entry 20). First mentioned by Roman sources around AD 291 alongside the Alamanni, they are one of historian Peter Heather's "disappearing and reappearing tribes," recorded first in the region of modern Germany/Poland and later on the Rhine.
- When did the Burgundians exist?
- The Burgundians existed to 436. On this map they are drawn AD 154–346, 407–409.
- How large were the Burgundians?
- At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Burgundians covered about 100,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
- How did the Burgundians end?
- Despite being Roman allies (foederati), the Burgundians raided into Gallia Belgica. The Roman general Flavius Aetius, using Hunnic mercenaries, destroyed the Rhineland kingdom in 436 (some sources say the massacre fell in 437).
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory and its key figures as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, and academic and primary sources — Jordanes, Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Ammianus and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read through the secondary literature. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Burgundians en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundians
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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