They were a powerful and terrible force on the edge of the civilized world, bloodthirsty warriors who challenged the Roman legions and terrorized the population of Europe. They were BARBARS! And today this word is synonymous with cruelty, horror and chaos... The harsh nature, the exhausting struggle for survival have created a barbarian out of man. The first reports of barbarian peoples in the far north of Europe began to reach the Mediterranean at the end of the 6th and 5th centuries. BC e. At the same time, separate references to peoples that were later recognized as Germanic begin to occur.

How the people of the Germans began to be distinguished in the 1st century. BC e. from Indo-European tribes settled in Jutland, the lower Elbe and southern Scandinavia. They occupied the territory from the Rhine to the Vistula, the Baltic and North Seas to the Danube, the current: Germany, northern Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Denmark and southern Sweden. The homeland of the ancient Germans, from whom some peoples of Europe trace their origins, was gloomy and inhospitable. Beyond the Rhine and Danube stretched sparsely populated lands, overgrown with dense, impenetrable forests with impassable swamps. Huge dense forests stretched for hundreds of miles: the Hercynian forest began from the Rhine and spread to the east. It was possible to graze cattle and sow barley, millet or oats only in coastal meadows.

The ancient Germans were savages at that time. Living from time immemorial among forests and swamps, they hunted, grazed tamed animals, collected the fruits of wild plants, and only in the second half of the 1st century BC. e. started farming. Its development was hampered by forests and swamps, which surrounded the fields on all sides, and the lack of iron, without which it was impossible to cut down the forest and make tools for better tillage. The land was cultivated with wooden tools, since iron was only used to make weapons. The wooden plow barely lifted the top layer of the earth. To begin with, they burned the forest and received fertilizer from the ashes. Sowed mainly only spring grain, oats and barley; later came rye. When the soil was depleted, everyone had to leave their homes, move to a new place. Entire tribes were constantly withdrawing from their places: those who had risen crowded their neighbors, exterminated them, seized their supplies, turned the weaker ones into their serfs. Tacitus wrote: They consider it shameful to acquire later what can be won with blood!. Wagons covered with animal skins served them for housing and for transporting women, children and meager household utensils; they also brought livestock with them. The men, armed and in battle order, were ready to overcome all resistance and defend themselves against attacks; a military campaign during the day, at night a military camp in a fortification built from wagons. The Germans were nomadic farmers and a wandering army.

The Germans settled in glades, forest edges, near rivers, streams in small tribes. The fields, forests and meadows adjoining the village belonged to the whole community. Scattered in a bizarre disorder, the huts of the Germans were their settlements, each of which had only two or three households, consisting of long houses. At one end of such a house - a hearth and housing, at the other - livestock and supplies. Germany “cattle is plentiful, but for the most part it is small; even draft animals are not imposing and lack horns.” The Germans like to have plenty of cattle: this is the only and most pleasant kind of wealth for them. Families of relatives lived in each house.

The houses were huts with logs, the roof was covered with straw, the floor was clay or earthen. They also lived in dugouts, which were covered with manure from above for warmth, this is a simple dwelling set over a shallow hole dug in the ground. The superstructure may have consisted of sloped beams tied to a ridge beam that formed a gabled roof. The roof was supported by a series of stakes or branches leaning towards the edge of the pit. On this basis, walls were erected from boards or a mud hut was built.

Such huts were often used as forges, pottery or weaving workshops, bakeries and the like, but at the same time they could also serve as dwellings for the winter and for storing food supplies. Sometimes they built miserable huts, which were so light that they could be carried along. In Sweden and Jutland, due to the lack of wood, stone and peat were more often used in construction, the roof consisted of a layer of thin rods covered with straw, which, in turn, was covered with a layer of heather and peat.

Household utensils and utensils for cooking and storing food were made of ceramics, bronze, iron and wood. Huge variety of dishes, cups, trays. spoons speaks of how important the material in the German house was wood.

Grain played the main role in nutrition, especially barley and wheat, as well as various other cereals. In addition to cultivated cereals, they collected and ate wild cereals, apparently from the same fields. The meal consisted mainly of barley, flaxseed, and knotweed porridge boiled in water, along with the seeds of other weeds that usually grow in the fields. Meat was also part of the diet of the ancient Germans, the presence of iron skewers in some settlements suggests that the meat was baked or fried, often eaten raw, because it was difficult to make a fire in the forest. They ate game, eggs of wild birds, milk of their flocks. The presence of cheese is evidenced by the cheese presses found in the settlements. In Dalschee, seals were hunted - apparently, both for the sake of meat and fat, and for the sake of seal skin. Both on the islands of Scandinavia and on big land fishing was widespread. Germany's wild fruits include apples, plums, pears, and possibly cherries. Berries and nuts were found in abundance.

Like other nations ancient Europe, the Germans highly valued salt, especially because it helped preserve meat. Because of the salt springs, they usually had a fierce struggle. Salt was mined in the crudest way: tree trunks were placed obliquely over the fire and salt water was poured onto them: the salt that settled on the tree was scraped off with coal and ash and mixed into food. People who lived on or near the sea coast often obtained salt by evaporating sea ​​water in ceramic vessels.

The favorite drink of the Germans was beer. Beer was brewed from barley and possibly flavored with aromatic herbs. Bronze vessels have been found with traces of a drink fermented on wild berries of several kinds. Apparently, it was something like a strong fruit and berry wine.

The closest ties in the society of the ancient Germans were related ties. The safety of an individual depended on his kind. Farming, hunting and protecting livestock from wild beasts were beyond the power of a single family, and even a whole family. Families united in a tribe. All people in the tribe were equal. Those who were in trouble, the whole family helped, who hunted well, had to share the prey with relatives. Property equality, the absence of rich and poor create an extraordinary cohesion of all members of the Germanic tribe.

Elders were at the head of the family. Every spring, the elders divided the fields newly occupied by the tribe among large clans, and each of the clans worked together on the land allotted to him and equally divided the harvest between relatives. The elders ruled the court and discussed economic issues.

The most important issues were decided at public meetings. The popular assembly, in which all armed free members of the tribe participated, was the highest authority. It met from time to time and resolved the most significant issues: the election of the leader of the tribe, the analysis of complex intra-tribal conflicts, initiation into warriors, declaring war and making peace. The issue of resettlement of the tribe to new places was also decided at the meeting of the tribes. The Germans collected it on the full moon and on the new moon, because. believed that these were happy days. The meeting usually took place at midnight. On the edge of the forest, illuminated by moonlight, the members of the tribe were seated in a wide circle. Glare of moonlight reflected on the tips of the spears, with which the Germans did not part. In the middle of the circle formed by those gathered, the "first people" were grouped. The opinion of the council of the nobility and the people's assembly had more weight than the authority of the leader.

Hunting and military exercises were the main occupation of men, all the Germans were distinguished by exceptional strength and courage. But the main occupation remained military affairs. A special place in ancient German society was occupied by military squads. The ancient Germans had no classes, no state. Only in times of danger, when small, disunited tribes were threatened with conquest, or when they themselves were preparing to raid foreign lands, was a common leader elected to lead the fighting forces of the united tribes. But, as soon as the war ended, the elected leader voluntarily left his post. The temporal connection between the tribes immediately fell apart. Other tribes had a custom to choose leaders for life: they were kings, kings. Usually the king was chosen on people's assembly the bravest and most intelligent of a certain family, which became famous for its exploits.

Due to the fact that each district annually sends out a thousand soldiers to war, while the rest remain, farming and "feeding themselves and them," a year later, these latter in turn go to war, and they remain at home, no agricultural work is interrupted. , nor military affairs.

In contrast to the tribal militia, in which squads were formed on the basis of tribal affiliation, any free German with the abilities of a military leader, a propensity for risk and profit with the aim of robbery raids, robberies and military raids into neighboring lands could create a squad. The strongest and youngest sought food by war and robbery. The leader surrounded himself with a squad of the best armed warriors, fed his warriors at his table, gave them weapons and war horses, allocated a share in military booty. The law of life of the squad was unquestioning obedience and devotion to the leader. It was believed that "to get out alive from the battle in which the leader fell is dishonor and shame for life." And when the leader led his detachment to war, the combatants fought as a separate unit - separately from their clans and other squads of the same tribe. They obeyed only their leader, and not the elected leader of the entire tribe. Thus, in war time the growth of squads undermined social order, since warriors from the same clan could serve in several different squads: the clan lost its most energetic sons. Companions of the leader, of which the squad consisted, began to turn into a special class - a military aristocracy, the position of which was guaranteed by military prowess.

Gradually, the squad became a separate, elite element of society, a privileged stratum, nobility ancient Germanic tribe, uniting the most courageous people from many tribes. The squad becomes regular. “Military prowess” and “nobility” act as integral qualities of warriors.

The ancient German and his weapons are one. The German's weapon is part of him

personality. Swords and pikes are small in size, since they do not have an abundance of iron. They had spears with them, or, as they themselves call them, frames, with narrow and short tips, so sharp and convenient in battle that, depending on the circumstances, they fight with them both in hand-to-hand combat and throw darts, which everyone has. several, and they throw them amazingly far.

The strength of the Germans is greater in the infantry, their horses are not distinguished by either beauty or agility, and therefore they fight mixed up: the footmen, whom they select from the entire army for this and put in front of the battle formation, are so swift and mobile that they are not inferior in speed to the horsemen and act join them in horseback combat. The number of these footmen has also been established: from each district, one hundred people, with this word they call them among themselves a hundred . The Germans could with great ease, without observing external order, in disorderly crowds or completely scattered, quickly advance or retreat through forests and rocks. The unity of the tactical unit was preserved among them thanks to internal cohesion, mutual trust and simultaneous stops, which were made either instinctively or at the call of the leaders. They build their battle formation with wedges. Leaning back, in order to then again rush at the enemy, is considered by them to be military sharpness, and not a consequence of fear. They carry the bodies of the dead from the battlefield with them. The greatest shame is to leave the shield; he who dishonors himself by such an act is not allowed to be present at the sacrifice, nor attend meetings, and there are many who, having survived the war, put an end to their dishonor with a noose.

They fight completely naked or covered only with skins or a light cloak. Only a few warriors had a shell and a helmet, the main protective weapon was a large shield made of wood or wicker and upholstered in leather, while the head was protected by leather or fur. The rider is content with a shield painted with bright paint and a frame. During the battle, they usually issued a war cry that terrified the enemy.

“A special incentive for their courage is the fact that they do not have a random gathering of people in a squadron or wedge, but their families and relatives.” In addition, their loved ones are next to them, so that they can hear the cries of women and the cry of babies, and for everyone these witnesses are the most sacred thing that he has, and their praise is more expensive than any other. They carry their wounds to their mothers, to their wives, and they are not afraid to count and examine them, and they also deliver them, fighting with the enemy, food and encouragement.

Women not only inspired the soldiers before the battles, but it also happened more than once that they did not allow their already trembling and confused army to disperse, relentlessly following them and begging not to doom them to captivity. And during the battles they could influence their outcome by going towards the fleeing men and thereby stopping them and inciting them to fight to victory. The Germans believe that there is something sacred in women and that they have a prophetic gift, and they do not ignore their advice and do not neglect their divination. The reverence with which the despotic Germans treated women is quite rare among other peoples, both barbarian and civilized. Although it is clear from later Germanic sources that in some areas of Germany in the earlier period, wives were not treated well. They were bought like slaves, and were not even allowed to sit at the same table with their "masters". Marriage by purchase is recorded among the Burgundians, Lombards, and Saxons, and there are survivals of this custom in Frankish law.

They are almost the only barbarians who are content with one wife. Polygamy was among the people of the upper class, among some German leaders in the early period, and later among the Scandinavians and the inhabitants of the Baltic coast. Polygamy has always been a costly affair. The Germans are a "treacherous, but chaste people", distinguished not only by "ferocious cruelty, but also by amazing purity." Marriage, as noted by all ancient writers, was sacred to the Germans. Adultery was considered a disgrace. Men were not punished for this in any way, but there was no mercy for unfaithful wives. The husband shaved off such a woman's hair, undressed her and drove her out of the house and out of the village. A husband could leave his wife in three cases: for treason, witchcraft and desecration of the grave, otherwise the marriage was not terminated. But a wife who abandoned her husband and thereby offended his honor was punished very severely; she was drowned alive in the mud. According to the basics of German law, every wife could enter into only one marriage, since she has "one body and one soul." The laws against violence and debauchery were also strict.

The bridegroom or husband of the seduced could kill the seducer with impunity; the relatives of the offended had the right to enslave him. The tribes inhabiting Germany have never been mixed through marriages with any foreigners, therefore they have retained their original purity. Outwardly, the Germans looked very impressive: they are large in stature, of a dense physique, most of them had blond hair and light eyes.

By the beginning of the new era, the Germans had a plow and a harrow. The use of these simple tools and draft cattle made it possible for individual families to take up the cultivation of the land, which began to run their own independent economy. Arable land, as well as forests and meadows, remained the property of the entire community. However, the equality of fellow villagers-communes did not last long. The presence of land free from the forest allowed every community member to occupy an extra additional allotment. The cultivation of additional land required extra labor and extra livestock. Slaves appear in the German village, captured during a robbery raid.

In the spring, when new fields were marked out and allotments were distributed, the victors who took possession of slaves and excess cattle during a raid on a neighboring tribe could receive, in addition to the usual, also an additional allotment. Slaves were prisoners of war. A free member of the clan could also become a slave by losing himself in dice or in another game of chance. Slaves had their own houses, separate from those of their masters. They were obliged from time to time to give their master a certain amount of grain, textiles or livestock. Slaves were engaged in peasant labor.

A strong warrior lay lazily all day on a bearskin, women, old men, slaves worked on the field. The life of the inhabitants of the German settlements was simple and rude. They did not sell bread and other products. Everything that the land gave was intended only for its own subsistence, so there was no need to demand from the slave either extra labor or extra products. Perhaps there were so few slaves precisely because there was no place for them within the German economic order. There was no large-scale industry in which slave labor could be put to good use. Although slaves could contribute to the economy of the rural community, they were still extra mouths. A slave could be sold and killed with impunity.
Many Germans laid down their heads in battles, and their families, having lost their breadwinners, were not able to cultivate their land allotments on their own. In need of seeds, livestock, food, the poor fell into debt bondage and, losing part of their former allotments, which passed into the hands of richer and nobler fellow tribesmen, turned into dependent peasants, into serfs.

Intertribal wars, predatory seizure of booty and its appropriation by military leaders contributed to the enrichment and promotion of individuals, the “first people” of the tribe began to stand out - representatives of the emerging ancient German nobility, who had a large number of slaves, land, and livestock. The German nobility rallied around their leaders, who led powerful tribal unions, which were the beginnings of states.

These alliances played a large role in the overthrow of the Western Roman Empire and in the creation of new "barbarian kingdoms" on its ruins. But even in these "barbarian kingdoms" the role of the nobility continued to grow, seizing the best lands. This nobility subjugated ordinary people tribes, turning them into dependent and serfs.
The ancient equality of fellow tribesmen was destroyed, property differences appeared, a material difference was created between the emerging nobility, on the one hand, and slaves and impoverished members of the community, on the other.

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Etymology of the ethnonym Germani

“The word Germany is new and has recently come into use, for those who were the first to cross the Rhine and drive out the Gauls, now known as the Tungros, were then called Germans. Thus, the name of the tribe gradually prevailed and spread to the whole people; at first, out of fear, everyone designated him by the name of the winners, and then, after this name took root, he himself began to call himself Germans.

In the late Iron Age, a tribe of Germans lived in the northeast of Iberia, however, most historians consider them to be Celts. Linguist Yu. Kuzmenko believes that their name is associated with the region from where they migrated to Spain, and which later passed to the Germans.

For the first time the term "Germans" was used, according to known data, by Posidonius in the 1st half of the 1st century. BC e. for the name of the people who had the custom of drinking fried meat with a mixture of milk and undiluted wine. Modern historians suggest that the use of the word in earlier times was the result of later interpolations. Greek authors, who were little interested in the ethnic and linguistic differences of the "barbarians", did not separate the Germans from the Celts. So, Diodorus of Sicily, who wrote his work in the middle of the 1st century. BC e. , refers to the Celts tribes, which already in his time the Romans (Julius Caesar, Sallust) called Germanic.

Truly ethnonym " Germans» came into circulation in the 2nd half of the 1st century. BC e. after the Gallic wars of Julius Caesar to refer to the peoples who lived east of the Rhine and north of the upper and lower Danube, that is, for the Romans it was not only an ethnic, but also a geographical concept.

However, in the very German there is also a consonant name (not to be confused with the Roman one) (German Hermann is a modified Harimann / Herimann, a two-base name of ancient Germanic origin, formed by adding the components heri / hari - “army” and mann - “man”).

Origin of the Germans

Indo-Europeans. IV-II millennium BC e.

According to modern ideas, 5-6 thousand years ago, in the strip from Central Europe and the Northern Balkans to the northern Black Sea region, there was a single ethno-linguistic formation - tribes of Indo-Europeans who spoke a single or at least close dialects of the language, called the Indo-European language - the basis from which then all developed modern languages Indo-European family. According to another hypothesis, which today has a limited number of supporters, the Indo-European proto-language originated in the Middle East and was spread across Europe by migrations of kindred tribes.

Archaeologists identify several early cultures at the turn of the Stone and Bronze Ages associated with the spread of the Indo-Europeans and with which different anthropological types of Caucasoids are associated:

By the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. from the ethno-linguistic community of the Indo-Europeans, the Anatolian tribes (the peoples of Asia Minor), the Aryans of India, the Iranians, the Armenians, the Greeks, the Thracians, and the most eastern branch, the Tochars, stood out and developed independently. To the north of the Alps in Central Europe, an ethno-linguistic community of ancient Europeans continued to exist, which corresponds to the archaeological culture of barrow burials (XV-XIII centuries BC), which passed into the culture of burial urn fields (XIII-VII centuries BC) .

The south of Scandinavia represents a region where, unlike other parts of Europe, there is a unity of toponyms belonging only to the Germanic language. However, this is where the gap in archaeological development between the relatively prosperous culture bronze age and the more primitive culture of the Iron Age that replaced it, which does not allow us to make an unambiguous conclusion about the origin of the German ethnos in this particular region.

Jastorf culture. 1st millennium BC e.

In the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. e. throughout the coastal zone between the mouths of the Rhine and the Elbe, and especially in Friesland and Lower Saxony (traditionally referred to as the original German lands), a single culture was spread, which differed both from the one-time La Tène (Celts) and from the Jastorf (Germans). The ethnicity of its Indo-European population, which became Germanic in our era, cannot be classified:

“The language of the local population, judging by toponymy, was neither Celtic nor German. Archaeological finds and toponymy testify that the Rhine before the arrival of the Romans was not any tribal border, and related tribes lived on both sides.

Linguists made an assumption about the separation of the Proto-Germanic language from the Proto-Indo-European at the very beginning of the Iron Age, that is, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e., there are also versions about its formation much later, up to the beginning of our era:

"Exactly at recent decades in the light of comprehending the new data coming at the disposal of the researcher - the material of ancient Germanic toponymy and onomastics, as well as runology, ancient Germanic dialectology, ethnology and history - in a number of works it was clearly emphasized that the isolation of the Germanic linguistic community from the western area of ​​the Indo-European languages ​​took place at a relatively late time and that the formation of separate areas of the Germanic linguistic community refers only to the last centuries before and the first centuries after our era.

Thus, according to the versions of linguists and archaeologists, the formation of the Germanic ethnos on the basis of the Indo-European tribes dates back approximately to the period of the 6th-1st centuries. BC e. and occurred in areas adjacent to the lower Elbe, Jutland and southern Scandinavia. The formation of a specifically Germanic anthropological type began much earlier, in the early Bronze Age, and continued into the first centuries of our era as a result of the migrations of the Great Migration of peoples and the assimilation of non-Germanic tribes related to the Germans within the framework of the ancient European community of the Bronze Age.

In the peat bogs of Denmark, well-preserved mummies of people are found, appearance which does not always coincide with the classical description by ancient authors of the tall race of Germans. See articles about a man from Tollund and a woman from Elling, who lived in Jutland in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e.

Germanic genotype

Although in the Germanic lands it is possible to classify weapons, brooches and other things as Germanic in style, according to archaeologists, they date back to the Celtic samples of the La Tène period.

Nevertheless, the differences between the areas of settlement of the Germanic and Celtic tribes can be traced archaeologically, primarily in more high level material culture Celts, the spread of oppidums (fortified Celtic settlements), burial methods. The fact that the Celts and Germans were similar, but not related, peoples is confirmed by their different anthropological structure and genotype. In terms of anthropology, the Celts were characterized by a diverse build, from which it is difficult to choose a typical Celtic, while the ancient Germans were predominantly dolichocephalic in terms of the structure of the skull. The genotype of the population in the area of ​​origin of the Germanic ethnos (Jutland and southern Scandinavia) is represented mainly by haplogroups R1b-U106, I1a and R1a-Z284.

Classification of Germanic tribes

Separately, Pliny also mentions the Gillevions living in Scandinavia, and other Germanic tribes (Batavs, Kanninefats, Frisians, Frisiavons, Ubies, Sturii, Marsaks), without classifying them.

According to Tacitus the titles " ingevons, hermiones, istevons” came from the names of the sons of the god Mann, the progenitor of the Germanic tribes. Later in the 1st century, these names are not used, many names of Germanic tribes disappear, but new ones appear.

History of the Germans

Ancient Germans until the 4th century.

The ancient world for a long time did not know anything about the Germans, separated from them by the Celtic and Scythian-Sarmatian tribes. For the first time, the Germanic tribes were mentioned by the Greek navigator Pytheas from Massalia (modern Marseilles), who during the time of Alexander the Great (2nd half of the 4th century BC) traveled to the shores of the North Sea, and even presumably the Baltic.

The Romans clashed with the Germans during the formidable invasion of the Cimbri and Teutons (113-101 BC), who devastated Alpine Italy and Gaul during the migration from Jutland. Contemporaries perceived these Germanic tribes as hordes of northern barbarians from unknown distant lands. In the description of their manners, made by later authors, it is difficult to separate fiction from reality.

The earliest ethnographic information about the Germans was reported by Julius Caesar, who conquered by the middle of the 1st century. BC e. Gaul, as a result of which he went to the Rhine and faced the Germans in battles. Roman legions towards the end of the 1st century. BC e. advanced to the Elbe, and in the 1st century, works appeared that described in detail the settlement of the Germanic tribes, their social structure and customs.

The wars of the Roman Empire with the Germanic tribes began from their earliest contact and continued with varying intensity throughout the first centuries AD. e. The most famous battle was the battle in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9, when the rebel tribes exterminated 3 Roman legions in central Germany. Rome managed to subdue only a small part of the territories inhabited by the Germans beyond the Rhine, in the 2nd half of the 1st century the empire went on the defensive along the line of the rivers Rhine and Danube and the Upper Germanic-Retian Limes, repelling the raids of the Germans and making punitive campaigns in their lands. Raids were made along the entire border, but the Danube became the most threatening direction, where the Germans settled on its left bank during their expansion to the south and east.

In the 250s-270s, the Roman-Germanic wars called into question the very existence of the empire. In 251, Emperor Decius died in a battle with the Goths, who settled in the northern Black Sea region, followed by their devastating land and sea raids into Greece, Thrace, and Asia Minor. In the 270s, the empire was forced to abandon Dacia (the only Roman province on the left bank of the Danube) due to the increased pressure of the Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. Due to the pressure of the Alemanni, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian limes was abandoned, the new border of the empire between the Rhine and the Danube became more convenient for the defense of the Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes. The empire survived, consistently repelling the attacks of the barbarians, but in the 370s the Great Migration of Peoples began, during which the Germanic tribes penetrated and entrenched themselves in the lands of the Roman Empire.

Great Migration of Nations. 4th-6th centuries

The Germanic kingdoms in Gaul showed strength in the war against the Huns. Thanks to them, Attila was stopped on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul, and soon the Hunnic empire, which included a number of eastern Germanic tribes, disintegrated. Emperors in Rome itself in 460-470. commanders from the Germans were appointed, first sev Ricimer, then Burgundian Gundobad. In fact, they ruled on behalf of their henchmen, overthrowing those if the emperors tried to act independently. In 476, the German mercenaries who made up the army of the Western Empire, led by Odoacer, deposed the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus. This event is formally considered the end of the Roman Empire.

The social structure of the ancient Germans

social order

According to ancient historians, ancient Germanic society consisted of the following social groups: military leaders, elders, priests, vigilante warriors, free members of the tribe, freedmen, slaves. The supreme power belonged to the people's assembly, which was attended by all the men of the tribe in military weapons. In the first centuries A.D. e. the Germans had a tribal system at its late stage of development.

“When a tribe wages an offensive or defensive war, then officials are elected who have the duties of military leaders and who have the right to dispose of the life and death of [members of the tribe] ... When one of the first persons in the tribe declares in the popular assembly his intention to lead [in ] and calls on those who want to follow him to express their readiness for this - then rise those who approve of both the enterprise and the leader, and, greeted by those assembled, promise him their help.

The leaders were supported by voluntary donations from members of the tribe. In the 1st century, the Germans have kings who differ from leaders only in the possibility of inheriting power, which is very limited in peacetime. As Tacitus observed: They choose kings from the most distinguished, leaders from the most valiant. But their kings do not have unlimited and undivided power.»

Economic relations

Language and writing

It is believed that these magical signs became the letters of the runic script. The name of the rune signs is derived from the word secret(Gothic runa: secret), and English verb read(read) derived from the word guess. Futhark alphabet, the so-called "elder runes", consisted of 24 characters, which were a combination of vertical and oblique lines, convenient for cutting. Each rune not only conveyed separate sound, but was also a symbolic sign carrying a semantic meaning.

There is no single point of view on the origin of the Germanic runes. The most popular version is runologist Marstrander (1928), who suggested that the runes developed on the basis of an unidentified Northern Italic alphabet, which became known to the Germans through the Celts.

In total, about 150 items are known (details of weapons, amulets, tombstones) with early runic inscriptions of the 3rd-8th centuries. One of the earliest inscriptions raunijaz: "testing") on a spearhead from Norway dates back to c. 200 year. , an even earlier runic inscription is considered to be an inscription on a bone crest, preserved in a swamp on the Danish island of Funen. The inscription is translated as harja(name or epithet) and dates back to the 2nd half of the 2nd century.

Most inscriptions consist of a single word, usually a name, which, in addition to the magical use of runes, makes about a third of the inscriptions indecipherable. The language of the oldest runic inscriptions is closest to the Proto-Germanic language and more archaic than Gothic, the earliest Germanic language recorded in written monuments.

Due to its predominantly cult purpose, runic writing fell out of use in continental Europe by the 9th century, displaced first by Latin, and then by writing based on the Latin alphabet. However, in Denmark and Scandinavia, runes were used until the 16th century.

Religion and beliefs

Tacitus, writing about 150 years after Caesar at the end of the 1st century, records a marked progress in Germanic paganism. He reports on the great power of the priests within the Germanic communities, as well as on the gods to whom the Germans make sacrifices, including human ones. In their view, the earth gave birth to the god Tuiston, and his son, the god Mann, gave birth to the Germans. They also honor the gods whom Tacitus called the Roman names of Mercury.

GERMANS (Latin - Germani, German - die Germanen), a group of peoples - ancient speakers of Germanic languages. Usually, 3 branches of the Germans are distinguished: western (formed between the Rhine and Oder rivers; it was divided into several groups), northern (formed in the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the north of the Jutland peninsula) and eastern (formed during migrations).

In ancient times, the Germans were originally called a small tribe (according to a number of estimates, non-Germanic) on the left bank of the Rhine. From the middle of the 1st century BC, this name was extended to the peoples east of the Rhine and north of the upper reaches of the Danube, where the Germans lived and other peoples gradually assimilated by them. The ancient authors placed the eastern limits of the German settlement area in the Vistula region. They also included more eastern groupings, for example, the Bastarns, among the Germans (based on the similarity of appearance and some external cultural features), contrasting them with the Sarmatians.

Attempts to highlight the cultural unity of the Germans in the Bronze Age are not yet convincing, although a number of linguists believe that the Germanic languages ​​\u200b\u200bwere already isolated at that time. The formation of the Germans is associated with the archaeological Jastorf culture and the settlement in the early Iron Age of part of the carriers of this and related cultures. strong impact the Germans were influenced by the Hallstatt and Lathen cultures, reflecting the influence of the Celtic groups.

The oldest migration of the Germans, reflected in written sources, was the migration of the Cimbri and Teutons. Their groups in the 2nd century BC moved from southern Jutland, joining other associations along the way, and reached the middle Danube, Gaul, northeastern Spain and northern Italy. In 102-101 they were defeated by the Roman army under the command of Gaius Marius. The peak of the next wave of German migration, dominated by the Suebi, came in the 70s and 60s. The strike force of this association, led by Ariovistus, established itself in northeastern Gaul, but in 58 was defeated by Gaius Julius Caesar. The Suebi invasion was one of the reasons for the Roman occupation of Gaul. The border of the Roman possessions and the Germans along the Rhine stabilized after the expeditions of Caesar into the lands of the Germans in 55-53.

At the end of the 1st century BC - the beginning of the 1st century AD, Rome extended its power over the Germans from the Rhine to the Weser River, several times the Roman legions reached the Elbe; province of Germany was proclaimed. However, an uprising of the Cherusci led by Arminius, supported by other Germans, led to the defeat of the Romans in 9 AD in the Teutoburg Forest. As a result of the campaigns of Tiberius (11) and Germanicus (14-16), Rome managed to stabilize the situation; in relations with the Germans, he switched to a policy of active defense. The provinces of Germania Lower and Germania Upper were formed along the Rhine, a system of fortifications was built along the Rhine, including the lower Logone, the valley in the lower reaches and the left bank of the Main, most of the Neckar basin, the so-called Upper Germanic rampart was erected there, approaching the Rhaetian rampart, passing north of the upper the currents of the Danube. Along the borders there was a strip free from the population. With part of the Germanic tribes, Rome entered into contracts for the supply of recruits.

In the 1st century AD, the following tribes and tribal associations of the Germans can be distinguished: Batavians (lived at the mouth of the Rhine), tencters (on the left bank of the lower Rhine; they were known for their cavalry), Hermundurs (east of the Upper German and north of the Rhaetian ramparts; the only Germans who allowed to trade on Roman territory), huts (in the upper Weser; famous for infantry), cherusci (in the middle reaches of the Weser), hawks (in the lower reaches of the Weser), friezes (off the coast of the North Sea). The south of Jutland was inhabited by the Cimbri, in the Elbe basin dominated by the association of the Suebi, which included the Lombards, Semnons, and others, Bohemia was occupied by the Marcomanni, and to the east were the Quads, and others, including non-Germanic tribes. Hanging was inhabited by numerous Lugian tribes (see the article Przeworsk culture), Rugii, Goths, and others lived closer to the Baltic Sea. Sveons are known from the Scandinavian tribes. There were probably cult groups of Germanic tribes: the Ingaevons near the North Sea, the Germinons on the Elbe and the Weser, the Istevons closer to the Rhine, etc.

During this period, the society of the Germans, with some differences, had a tribal organization. The Germans were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. In the course of migrations, the role of military leaders and their squads was strengthened. An important factor in the development of the Germans was the influence of the Roman Empire, including the restoration of the Amber Road under Emperor Nero.

By the middle of the 2nd century, the processes among the Germans led to a new wave of migrations. In the middle Danube, this led to the Marcomannic wars, in which, in addition to the Marcomanni and Quads, other Germans and non-Germanic tribes participated. Their devastating campaigns covered the Danube, the Germans reached Northern Italy. In the 2nd half of the 2nd century, the Vandals, who lived in the upper reaches of the Vistula, appeared in the north-east of the Carpathian basin, the movement of Goths and Gepids from the lower Vistula in the Black Sea region began (see Velbar culture). In the 1st half of the 3rd century, new associations of Germanic tribes took shape east of the Rhine - the Alemanni and the Franks.

By the middle of the 3rd century, the onslaught of the barbarians on the Roman Empire intensified sharply. From the side of the Rhine, the Alemanni, Franks, Yutungi, and others became more active, breaking far into the depths of Roman territories (233-234, 253, 259-261, 268, 270-271, 274-276). The so-called Scythian wars were especially devastating. At their initial stage, a significant role belonged to non-German associations of carps and others, but gradually it passed to the East Germans, especially the Goths. At the cost of the reforms that led to the formation of the dominant system, the Roman Empire survived. The province of Dacia was evacuated, the so-called Tithe fields between the upper reaches of the Rhine and the Danube were left, military alliances were concluded with a number of Germanic tribes. As federates and mercenaries, the Germans played a prominent role in its military-political structures (some Germans reached high positions). Rome, for its part, influenced various aspects of the life and culture of the Germans (see, for example, the Chernyakhov culture). Christianity began to spread among the Germans, the first religious communities appeared. Bishop Ulfilas compiled the first Germanic alphabet (Gothic writing) and translated the Bible into Gothic (probably around 360). Christianity among the Germans originally spread in the form of Arianism.

Qualitative changes took place in the German world in the era of the Great Migration of Nations, new groupings were formed. In managing the conquered territories, the experience of the Roman administration and the knowledge gained in the service of the Roman military-political system were used. As a result, states began to form among the Germans, laws began to be codified (see Barbarian Truths).

Almost all East Germans at the end of the 4th-5th centuries moved in several waves to the territory of the Roman Empire, where the Visigothic kingdom was created, first in Gaul, then in Spain, the state of the Vandals in North Africa, the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, which included, in addition to the Germans, numerically superior to them local population. The state of the Gepids was formed in Potissya, and smaller “kingdoms” and military-political associations arose throughout the entire area of ​​​​the settlement of the East Germans, up to the northeastern Black Sea region (see Durso’s article). However, already in the middle of the 6th century, the states of the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Gepids fell under the blows of Byzantium, the Lombards and the Avars, and the state of the Visigoths was defeated during the Arab conquests. The East Germans of these and other political associations were absorbed by the local and alien population. Until the 16th century, remnants of the Crimean-Gothic language were preserved in the Southern Crimea (see the articles Suuk-Su, Mangup, Gothic language), but later its speakers became part of the local Greeks (see Mariupol Greeks) and Tatars.

From the 5th century, the settlement of the Western Germans in the Western Roman Empire began, which led to the formation of the states of the Alemanni, Franks, and Lombards. In this series is the folding state of the Burgundians and Bavarians. To the west of the Elbe, political associations of the Thuringians and Saxons developed (more eastern territories were abandoned by the Germans and occupied by the Slavs). Subsequently, almost all of them became part of Frankish state. After the collapse of the latter, in its former western and southern regions, where the Romance-speaking population predominated, Romanesque peoples formed - Walloons, French, Italians, and in the northwestern and eastern regions- modern speakers of Germanic languages: Flemings, Dutch, Germans, Austrians. The Angles, part of the Saxons and Jutes moved to Britain during the 5th-6th centuries. The community of Anglo-Saxons that developed there served as the basis for the formation of the British.

The northern Germans in the era of the Great Migration of Peoples basically remained within Scandinavia. After the Vendel period came a time of quite significant migrations of the Viking Age. They played a significant role in the development of a number of states (England, France, see the articles Denlo, Normandy; Old Russian states, see Varangians in the article), colonized Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The northern Germans became the basis of the Scandinavian peoples: Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Icelanders, Faroese.

Mythology, epic, literature. The mythology of the Germans is known from ancient Germanic texts (epics and Scandinavian medieval literature, Old English and Old German incantations), Greek and Latin works (Tacitus, Jordanes, Procopius of Caesarea, Gregory of Tours, Paul the Deacon, Bede the Venerable, Saxo Grammar, Adam of Bremen). According to reports about the Germans of the 1st century by Tacitus, according to the names of the days of the week in the Germanic languages ​​​​and Scandinavian sources, the names of common Germanic gods are reconstructed, compared by Tacitus with late antique characters: Wodan (Scandinavian - Odin, Tacitus - Mercury), Tiu (Scandinavian - Tyr, Tacitus - Mars), Donar (Scandinavian - Thor, Tacitus - Hercules) and * Friya (Scandinavian - Freyr and Freya and Frigg, Tacitus - Isis), as well as the goddess Nertus (female parallel to the Scandinavian Njord). The mythological and heroic epic of the Germans is most fully preserved in the Scandinavian and Old English area. The original epic tradition was oral. German poetry is characterized by alliterative verse, which took on a particularly complex form among the Scandinavian skalds. The earliest surviving works of the heroic epic are the Anglo-Saxon poems "Beowulf" (formed at the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th century) and "The Battle of Finnsburg" (9th century), small monuments "Widsid" and "Waldere" (10th century), Old Saxon poems on the biblical scenes "Genesis" and "Heliand" ("Savior"), the ancient German "Song of Hildebrand" (early 9th century), as well as the Latin arrangement of "Valtarius" (9th-10th centuries).

The main body of records of the German epic dates from the 13th century: the Old Norse " Elder Edda"(mythological songs, a cycle of songs about Sigurd, songs about Völund, Helgi, Hamdir), the Middle High German "Song of the Nibelungs", prose arrangements in Icelandic monuments - "Younger Edda" and sagas ("Volsunga Saga", "Tidrek Saga" , "Sagas of ancient times"); Germanic heroic stories formed the basis of the Scandinavian ballads of the late Middle Ages. Germanic mythology is characterized by eschatological motifs (the Eddic "Divination of the Volva"), the dominance of the needs and morality of war, for the epic - the theme of fate, heroic tragedy. Heroes who fell on the battlefield are taken to Valhalla by Odin; beloved heroes (Sigurd, Helgi, Völund) are often Valkyries (images of women with a horn in their hand, common since the Wendel era, are associated with them). In the heroic epic, the Germans found a poetic reflection of the events of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples: the defeat of the Burgundian kingdom by the Huns, the death of the Hun leader Attila in 453, etc. Many Scandinavian royal and noble families were elevated to bot-aces (the genealogy of the Ynglings, Skjoldungs, Anglo-Saxon royal dynasties).

The common Germanic script was runic writing. In the 4th-13th centuries, literature developed in Gothic, Old Norse, Old English, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old High German.

Music. Information about the musical culture of the Germans is fragmentary. Tacitus reports on the chants of the Germans and on a special song performed before the battle formation using the resonance of the shields. The main musical instrument of the Germans, according to archaeological and literary sources, was a lyre-type string instrument, called the common German word *harpa - harp (Old Norse - harpa, Old English - hearpe, Old High German - harfa), the game of which accompanied the performance of the epic. Wind instruments such as a natural trumpet - horns-lurs, probably date back to the lurs of the Bronze Age. From the Gothic translation of the Bible, the Germanic words swiglon - ‘play the flute’, Jnithaurn – ‘trumpet’ (literally ‘noisy horn’), klismo – ‘cymbals’ are known.

Art. The most ancient visual art of the Germans is closely connected with the traditions of other European peoples. The strongest influence on him was the Celts, later - cultural world Roman Empire. In the era of Roman influences, the formation of peculiar styles of German jewelry craft took place (polychrome style; casting that reproduces carving - German - Kerbschnitt, English - chip-carving).

The most striking phenomenon of the fine arts of the Germans is the German animal style, which is characterized by exceptional ornamentalism and formalism. Its formation was influenced by animalistic traditions, dating back to the Scythian-Siberian animal style and especially to the art of Latena; at an early stage, the influence of provincial Roman art affected. By the end of the 5th century, a set of zoo- and anthropomorphic motifs had developed, which remained almost unchanged until the end of the Viking Age with frequent changes in styles. The first independent German animal style (style I according to the classification of B. Salina) was formed on the basis of the Kerbschnitt technique and samples of Roman art of the 4th-5th centuries (belts of the so-called late Roman military style, etc.). Under the influence of this technique, animal (rarely human) images acquire geometric shapes, break up into elements that independently participate in the ornamental composition. In the 2nd half of the 6th century, the tape braid, which formed the basis of the new style II, penetrated the animal style: under its influence, the images were subjected to linear stylization, the composition was built on a wave-like rhythm. The Germanic II style was most developed in the art of the Wendel culture in Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon Britain (6th-8th centuries). On the contrary, in continental Europe, the tradition of the animal style fades in the Carolingian era. In the 8th century, the uniform weaving rhythm of the German animal style was replaced by an irregular, sometimes extremely complex one, the characteristic motif of the “animal tied in a knot” appeared (style III, according to Salin), geometrism, elements of relief and naturalism were revived (including the motif of the “grasping beast ", replacing weaving in the construction of complex compositions). All these tendencies reached their highest development in the art of the beginning of the Viking Age (Oseberg wood carving, Broa hoard). Later, on their basis, the styles of the 9th-10th centuries Jelling (wavy ribbon braid) and Borre ( geometric figures, motif of the "grasping beast", relief). In the 2nd half of the 10th century, continental influences penetrated the animal style: elements of floral ornament, the motif of a single animal image - the “big beast” (at the same time having prototypes in the animal style of the 7th-9th centuries). On their basis, the styles of the end of the Viking Age were formed - Mammen and Ringerike; in the last style of the Viking Age (Urnes) there is a return to a uniform planar zoomorphic-tape weaving. The traditions of the animal style were continued in the facade carving of the Norwegian wooden "pillar churches" of the 12th century, stone baptismal fonts, influenced the formation of the teratology of the European Romanesque style as a whole.

In contrast to the animal style, the style of the anthropomorphic images of the Germans is primitive. The plots go back to the Scandinavian petroglyphs of the Bronze and Iron Ages, a number of motifs are borrowed from ancient art: images of warriors with weapons, ships, horsemen (including bracteates - gold medallions imitating Roman designs), women holding a horn; there are multi-figure compositions, mythological scenes (in Oseberg, on the “stones with images” of the island of Gotland, rune stones, portals of the “pillar churches”).

Lit.: Schmidt L. Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung. Munch., 1934-1938. Bd 1-2; Holmqvist W. Germanic art during the first millenum AD. Stockh., 1955; Heusler A. Germanic heroic epic and the legend of the Nibelungs. M., 1960; Meletinsky E.M. "Edda" and early forms of the epic. M., 1968; Vries J. P. Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 3. Aufl. V., 1970. Bd 1-2; Hachmann R. Die Germanen. Münch, u. a., 1971; Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. 2. Aufl. IN.; N.Y., 1973-2005 Bd 1-30; Die Germanen: Ein Handbuch / Hrsg. W. Kruger. 2. Aufl. V., 1976-1983. Bd 1-2; Korsunsky A. R., Günter R. The decline and death of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of the German kingdoms. M., 1984; Shchukin M. B. At the turn of the era. SPb., 1994; Jordan. On the origin and deeds of the Getae. 2nd ed. M., 1997; Germanen beiderseits des spätantiken Limes. Koln; Brno, 1999; Kolosovskaya Yu.K. Rome and the world of tribes on the Danube, I-IV centuries AD. M., 2000; Budanova V.P. The barbarian world of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. M., 2000; Thompson E. A. Romans and barbarians. St. Petersburg, 2003; Steblin-Kamensky M. I. Proceedings in Philology. St. Petersburg, 2003; Wolfram H. Die Germanen. 8. Aufl. Munich, 2005.

I. O. Gavritukhin; N. A. Ganina (mythology, epic, literature, music); E. V. Smirnitskaya (art).

GERMANS ANCIENT , tribes that belonged to the Germanic language group of the Indo-European language family. Preserved tribal names (Teutons, etc.). The word Germans is of Celtic origin.
The ancestral home of the Germans is Southern Scandinavia and the Jutland peninsula. From the 4th c. BC e. moved deep into the continent (to the south and west). They are divided into 3 groups (by language and place of settlement) or into 5 military-religious tribal unions (according to the classification of the Roman geographer of the 1st century AD Pliny the Elder and the historian Tacitus). Northern Germans (Hillevions) inhabited Scandinavia (Svions, Danes, Gauts; see Art. Normans), Eastern (Vindylia) occupied the interfluve of the Oder and Vistula (Goths, Burgundians, Vandals). The Western Germans include the military-tribal unions of the Germinons (Alemanni, Suebi, Lombards, Thuringians, Marcomanni; lived in southern Germany east of the Rhine River), Ingevons (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians; Jutland Peninsula, North Sea coast) and Istevons (Ampsivaria, Brukteri, Hamavai, Hattuarii, Usipeti, Tencteri, Tubants; the lower reaches of the Rhine). From the 2nd century n. e. the Istevons are known as Franks.

Ancient german warrior

In the 1st century BC e. led a settled way of life (migrations of some tribes took place). The economy was dominated by cattle breeding (cattle, sheep, pigs). By the 4th c. n. e. with the spread of the plow, agriculture came to the fore (rye, barley, wheat; garden crops: root crops, cabbage, lettuce). On the border with the Roman world, trade developed (exchange in kind prevailed). Land ownership remained collective; the household was run by large families (from three generations of the closest relatives).
The basis of society was free independent householders who had the right to bear arms and participate in the people's assembly. From the mass of the free, thanks to their origin and personal prowess, representatives of the nobility stood out. Military leaders (kings) gathered squads around themselves, living off military booty and voluntary offerings from fellow tribesmen.

Germans are ancient. Battle of Vercelli.

In the 1st century BC e. - 1 in. n. e. several short-lived proto-state associations were formed: the Suevian union of Ariovista (destroyed by Julius Caesar in 58 BC), the Suevo-Marcomannic union of Maroboda (collapsed in 19 AD after the overthrow of Maroboda), the Cherusci union of Arminius (collapsed in 21 AD after the assassination of Arminius), the Batavian Gallo-Germanic alliance of Julius Civilis (crushed by the Romans in 70 AD).
The first clashes between the Germans and the Romans date back to the 2nd century BC. BC e. (invasion of the tribes of the Cimbri and Teutons into Roman Gaul). In the era of the Great Migration of Nations (2-7 centuries), the Germans played a decisive role in the history of the Western Roman Empire and the formation of Western civilization. In the 1st century n. e. the border between the Germanic and Roman worlds was established along the rivers Rhine and Danube, where a border rampart (limes) was built. During the Marcomannic Wars (166-180), the tribes of the Marcomanni, Lombards, and Chavks broke through the border in Rezia, Norica, and Pannonia.

Since that time, the contacts of the empire with the Germans went beyond military clashes. Germanic tribes settled on its lands, often with the rights of federates (they defended the border from invasions of other tribes for a fee). The Germans made up a significant part of the Roman army, penetrated into the state apparatus (see Art. Stilicho, Odoacer). Roman-German trade developed. In the course of cultural contacts, the Germans were subjected to Romanization, the Romans - to barbarization.

In con. 4 - early 5th c. the penetration of the Germans into the territory of the Roman Empire intensified due to the onslaught of the Huns from the east: 378 - the battle with the Visigoths at Adrianople; 406 - the invasion of the Vandals, Alans and Suebi into Gaul; 410 - the ruin of Rome by the Visigoths. During the German invasions of the 5th c. barbarian kingdoms were formed on the territory of the Western Roman Empire: the Vezegoths in Spain and Aquitaine (418), the Vandals in North Africa (442), the Burgundians in Southeast Gaul (443), the Angles and Saxons in Britain (end of the 5th-6th century) , Franks in the north of Gaul (486, see Art. Frankish kingdom), in Italy - the Ostrogoths (493), then the Lombards (568).
Based on the Germanic population Western Europe(mixed with the Gallo-Romans, as well as the Arabs in Spain, the Slavs in Central Europe), modern European peoples have developed, speaking the languages ​​​​of the Romano-Germanic language group (French, Italians, Spaniards, English, Germans, etc.).

The first information about the Germans. The settlement of the north of Europe by Indo-European tribes took place approximately 3000-2500 BC, as evidenced by archeological data. Prior to this, the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas were inhabited by tribes, apparently, of a different ethnic group. From the mixing of Indo-European aliens with them, the tribes that gave rise to the Germans originated. Their language, separated from other Indo-European languages, was the Germanic language-base, from which, in the process of subsequent fragmentation, new tribal languages ​​of the Germans arose.

The prehistoric period of the existence of the Germanic tribes can only be judged from the data of archeology and ethnography, as well as from some borrowings in the languages ​​of those tribes that in ancient times roamed in their neighborhood - the Finns, the Laplanders.

The Germans lived in the north of central Europe between the Elbe and the Oder and in the south of Scandinavia, including the Jutland peninsula. Archaeological data suggest that these territories were inhabited by Germanic tribes from the beginning of the Neolithic, that is, from the third millennium BC.

The first information about the ancient Germans is found in the writings of Greek and Roman authors. The earliest mention of them was made by the merchant Pytheas from Massilia (Marseilles), who lived in the second half of the 4th century. BC. Pytheas traveled by sea along the western coast of Europe, then along the southern coast of the North Sea. He mentions the tribes of the Guttons and Teutons, with whom he had to meet during his voyage. Description of the journey of Pytheas did not reach us, but later historians and geographers, Greek authors Polybius, Posidonius (2nd century BC), Roman historian Titus Livius (1st century BC - early 1st century) used it. century AD). They cite extracts from the writings of Pytheas, and also mention the raids of the Germanic tribes on the Hellenistic states of southeastern Europe and southern Gaul and northern Italy at the end of the 2nd c. BC.

From the first centuries of the new era, information about the Germans becomes somewhat more detailed. The Greek historian Strabo (died in 20 BC) writes that the Germans (Suebi) roam in the forests, build huts and are engaged in cattle breeding. The Greek writer Plutarch (46 - 127 AD) describes the Germans as wild nomads who are alien to all peaceful pursuits, such as agriculture and cattle breeding; their only occupation is war. According to Plutarch, the Germanic tribes served as mercenaries in the troops of the Macedonian king Perseus at the beginning of the 2nd century. BC.

By the end of the 2nd c. BC. Germanic tribes of Cimbri appear near the northeastern outskirts of the Apennine Peninsula. According to the descriptions of ancient authors, they were tall, fair-haired, strong people, often dressed in animal skins or skins, with wooden shields, armed with burnt stakes and stone-tipped arrows. They defeated the Roman troops and then moved west, linking up with the Teutons. For several years they won victories over the Roman armies until they were defeated by the Roman general Marius (102 - 101 BC).

In the future, the Germans do not stop raids on Rome and more and more threaten the Roman Empire.

The Germans of the era of Caesar and Tacitus. When in the middle of the 1st c. BC. Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC) encountered Germanic tribes in Gaul, they lived in a large area of ​​central Europe; in the west, the territory occupied by the Germanic tribes reached the Rhine, in the south - to the Danube, in the east - to the Vistula, and in the north - to the North and Baltic Seas, capturing the southern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. In his Notes on the Gallic War, Caesar describes the Germans in more detail than his predecessors. He writes about the social system, economic structure and life of the ancient Germans, and also outlines the course of military events and clashes with individual Germanic tribes. As governor of Gaul in 58 - 51, Caesar made two expeditions from there against the Germans, who tried to capture the area on the left bank of the Rhine. One expedition was organized by him against the Suebi, who had crossed to the left bank of the Rhine. In the battle with the Suebi, the Romans were victorious; Ariovistus, the leader of the Suebi, fled, crossing to the right bank of the Rhine. As a result of another expedition, Caesar expelled the Germanic tribes of the Usipetes and Tencters from the north of Gaul. Talking about clashes with German troops during these expeditions, Caesar describes in detail their military tactics, methods of attack and defense. The Germans were built for the offensive in phalanxes, by tribes. They used the cover of the forest to surprise the attack. The main way to protect against enemies was to fence off forests. This natural method was known not only by the Germans, but also by other tribes who lived in wooded areas (cf. name Brandenburg from Slavic Branibor; Czech scolding- "protect").

A reliable source of information about the ancient Germans are the writings of Pliny the Elder (23-79). Pliny spent many years in the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Upper Germany, being on military service. In his "Natural History" and in other works that have come down to us far from completely, Pliny described not only military operations, but also physical and geographical features large area, occupied by the Germanic tribes, listed and the first gave a classification of the Germanic tribes, based mainly on their own experience.

The most complete information about the ancient Germans is given by Cornelius Tacitus (c. 55 - c. 120). In his work "Germany" he tells about the way of life, way of life, customs and beliefs of the Germans; in the "Histories" and "Annals" he sets out the details of the Roman-German military clashes. Tacitus was one of the greatest Roman historians. He himself had never been to Germany and used the information that he, as a Roman senator, could receive from generals, from secret and official reports, from travelers and participants in military campaigns; he also widely used information about the Germans in the writings of his predecessors and, first of all, in the writings of Pliny the Elder.

The era of Tacitus, as well as subsequent centuries, is filled with military clashes between the Romans and the Germans. Numerous attempts by the Roman generals to subdue the Germans failed. To prevent their advance into the territories conquered by the Romans from the Celts, the emperor Hadrian (who ruled in 117-138) erects powerful defensive structures along the Rhine and the upper reaches of the Danube, on the border between Roman and German possessions. Numerous military camps-settlements become strongholds of the Romans in this territory; subsequently, cities arose in their place, in the modern names of which echoes of their former history are stored [ 1 ].

In the second half of the 2nd century, after a short lull, the Germans again intensified offensive operations. In 167, the Marcomanni, in alliance with other Germanic tribes, break through the fortifications on the Danube and occupy Roman territory in northern Italy. Only in 180 did the Romans manage to push them back to the northern bank of the Danube. Until the beginning of the 3rd c. relatively peaceful relations are established between the Germans and the Romans, which contributed to significant changes in the economic and social life of the Germans.

The social system and life of the ancient Germans. Before the era of the Great Migration of Nations, the Germans had a tribal system. Caesar writes that the Germans settled in clans and kindred groups, i.e. tribal communities. Some modern geographical names have preserved evidence of such settlement. The name of the head of the clan, decorated with the so-called patronymic suffix (patronymic suffix) -ing / -ung, as a rule, was assigned to the name of the entire clan or tribe, for example: Valisungs - the people of King Valis. The names of the places of settlement of the tribes were formed from these generic names in the form of the dative plural. So, in the FRG there is the city of Eppingen (the original meaning is "among the people of Eppo"), the city of Sigmarinen ("among the people of Sigmar"), in the GDR - Meiningen, etc. building and continued to serve as a means of forming city names in later historical eras; this is how Göttingen, Solingen, Strahlungen arose in Germany. In England, the stem ham was added to the -ing suffix (yes, ham "dwelling, estate", cf. home "house, dwelling"); from their merger, a toponymic suffix -ingham was formed: Birmingham, Nottingham, etc. On the territory of France, where there were settlements of the Franks, similar geographical names have been preserved: Carling, Epping. Later, the suffix undergoes romanization and appears in the French form -ange: Broulange, Valmerange, etc. (Toponyms with patronymic suffixes are also found in Slavic languages, for example, Borovichi, Duminichi in the RSFSR, Klimovichi, Manevichi in Belarus, etc.).

At the head of the Germanic tribes were elders - Kunings (Dvn. kunung lit. "ancestor", cf. Gothic kuni, yes. cynn, Dvn. kunni, Dsk. kyn, lat. genus, gr. genos "genus"). The supreme power belonged to the people's assembly, which was attended by all the men of the tribe in military weapons. Everyday affairs were decided by the council of the elders. In wartime, a military commander was elected (Dvn. herizogo, yes. heretoga, disl. hertogi; cf. German Herzog "duke"). He gathered around him a squad. F. Engels wrote that "it was the most developed management organization that could have developed under a generic device" [ 2 ].

In this era, patriarchal-tribal relations dominate among the Germans. At the same time, in Tacitus and in some other sources cited by F. Engels, there is information about the presence of remnants of matriarchy among the Germans. Thus, for example, among some Germans closer ties of kinship are recognized between uncle and nephew by sister than between father and son, although the son is the heir. As a hostage, a sister's nephew is more desirable to the enemy. The most reliable guarantee in hostage was represented by girls - daughters or nieces from the family of the leader of the tribe. A relic of matriarchy is the fact that the ancient Germans saw a special prophetic power in a woman, consulted with her in important matters. Women not only inspired the soldiers before the battles, but also during the battles they could influence their outcome, going towards the men who had turned to flight and thus stopping them and encouraging them to fight for victory, since the German soldiers were afraid of the thought that their women tribes can be captured. Some vestiges of matriarchy can be traced in later sources, for example in Scandinavian poetry.

There are mentions of blood feud, characteristic of the tribal system, by Tacitus, in ancient Germanic sagas and songs. Tacitus notes that revenge for a murder can be replaced by a ransom (cattle). This ransom - "vira" - goes to the use of the whole family.

Slavery among the ancient Germans had a different character than in slave-owning Rome. Slaves were prisoners of war. A free member of the clan could also become a slave by losing himself in dice or in another game of chance. A slave could be sold and killed with impunity. But in other respects the slave is the youngest member of the clan. He has his own household, but is obliged to give his master part of the livestock and crops. His children grow up with the children of free Germans, both in harsh conditions.

The presence of slaves among the ancient Germans indicates the beginning of the process of social differentiation. The highest stratum of German society was represented by the elders of the clan, military leaders and their squads. The leader's squad became a privileged stratum, the "nobility" of the ancient Germanic tribe. Tacitus repeatedly connects two concepts - "military prowess" and "nobility", which act as integral qualities of warriors. Vigilantes accompany their leader on raids, receive their share of military booty, and often, together with the leader, go to the service of foreign rulers. The bulk of the warriors were all adult men of the Germanic tribe.

Free members of the tribe deliver to the leader a part of the products of their labor. Tacitus notes that the leaders "are especially happy with the gifts of neighboring tribes, sent not from individuals, but on behalf of the entire tribe and consisting of selected horses, valuable weapons, falers (i.e. decorations for horse harness - Auth.) and necklaces; we taught them to accept money as well" [ 3 ].

The transition to settled life took place among the Germans during the first centuries of the new era, although the continuous military campaigns of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples forced them to frequently change their place of residence. In the descriptions of Caesar, the Germans are still nomads, engaged mainly in cattle breeding, as well as hunting and military raids. Agriculture plays an insignificant role among them, but nevertheless Caesar repeatedly mentions in his "Notes on the Gallic War" the agricultural work of the Germans. Describing the tribe of the Suebi in book IV, he notes that each district annually sends a thousand soldiers to war, while the others remain, farming and "feeding themselves and them; a year later, these latter in turn go to war, and they remain at home Thanks to this, neither agricultural work nor military affairs are interrupted "[ 4 ]. In the same chapter, Caesar writes about how he burned all the villages and farms of the German Sigambri tribe and "squeezed bread." They own the land jointly, using a primitive fallow system of agriculture, periodically, after two or three years, changing the land for crops. The tillage technique is still low, but Pliny notes cases of fertilizing the soil with marl and lime [ 5 ], and archaeological finds indicate that the land was cultivated not only with a primitive hoe, but also with a plow, and even with a plow.

According to the description of the life of the Germans by Tacitus, one can already judge the transition of the Germans to settled life and the increased role of agriculture in them. In chapter XVIII, Tacitus writes that the dowry, which, according to their custom, is not a wife brought to her husband, but a husband to his wife, includes a team of oxen; oxen were used as a draft force in the cultivation of the land. The main cereals were oats, barley, rye, wheat, flax and hemp were also grown, from which fabrics were made.

Caesar writes that the food of the Germans consists mainly of milk, cheese, meat, to a lesser extent of bread. Pliny mentions oatmeal as their food.

The ancient Germans dressed, according to Caesar, in animal skins, and Pliny writes that the Germans wear linen and that they are engaged in spinning in "underground rooms." Tacitus, in addition to clothing made from animal skins, mentions leather cloaks with sewn decorations from their fur, and for women - clothes made of canvas dyed red.

Caesar writes about the harsh way of life of the Germans, about their poverty, about the fact that they are tempered from childhood, accustoming themselves to hardship. Tacitus also writes about this, who gives an example of some entertainments of German youths, developing their strength and dexterity. One such entertainment is to jump naked between swords stuck in the ground with the points up.

According to the description of Tacitus, the settlements of the Germans consisted of log huts, which were separated from each other at a considerable distance and were surrounded by land. It is possible that these dwellings housed not individual families, but entire tribal groups. The Germans, apparently, did not care about the external decoration of their dwellings, although parts of the buildings were coated with colored clay, which improved their appearance. The Germans also dug rooms in the ground and insulated them from above, where they stored supplies and escaped from the winter cold. Pliny mentions such "underground" premises.

The Germans were known for various crafts. In addition to weaving, they knew the production of soap and dyes for fabrics; some tribes knew pottery, mining and processing of metals, and those who lived along the coast of the Baltic and North Seas were also engaged in shipbuilding and fishing. Trade relations existed between individual tribes, but trade developed more intensively in places bordering on Roman possessions, and Roman merchants penetrated German lands not only in peacetime, but even in wartime. The Germans preferred barter, although money was already known to them in the time of Caesar. From the Romans, the Germans bought metal products, weapons, household utensils, jewelry and various toilet accessories, as well as wine and fruits. They sold cattle, skins, furs, amber from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Romans. Pliny writes about goose down from Germany and about some vegetables that were exported from there by the Romans. Engels believes that the Germans sold slaves to the Romans, in which they converted prisoners captured during military campaigns.

Trade relations with Rome stimulated the development of crafts among the Germanic tribes. By the 5th c. one can observe significant progress in various areas of production - in shipbuilding, metal processing, minting coins, making jewelry, etc.

Customs, manners and beliefs of the ancient Germans. The evidence of ancient authors has been preserved about the customs and customs of the ancient Germans, about their beliefs, and much was also reflected in the literary monuments of the Germanic peoples created in later eras. Tacitus writes about the severity of the customs of the ancient Germans, about the strength of family ties. The Germans are hospitable, immoderate in wine during the feast, reckless, to the point that they can lose everything, even their freedom. All the most important events in life - the birth of a child, initiation into a man, marriage, funeral, and others - were accompanied by appropriate rituals and singing. The Germans burned their dead; burying a warrior, they also burned his armor, and sometimes his horse. The rich oral creativity of the Germans existed in various poetic and song genres. Ritual songs, magic formulas and spells, riddles, legends, as well as songs that accompanied labor processes were widely used. Of the early pagan monuments, those recorded in the 10th century have been preserved. in the Old High German language "Merseburg spells", in a later record in Old English - conspiracies written in metrical verse (11th century). Apparently, monuments of pagan culture were destroyed in the Middle Ages during the planting of Christianity. Pre-Christian beliefs and myths are reflected in the Old Norse sagas and in the epic.

The religion of the ancient Germans is rooted in the common Indo-European past, but proper Germanic features also develop in it. Tacitus writes about the cult of Hercules, whom the soldiers glorified with songs when they went into battle. This god - the god of thunder and fertility - was called by the Germans Donar (Scand. Thor); he was depicted with a powerful hammer, with which he produced thunder and crushed enemies. The Germans believed that the gods help them in battles with enemies, and they took images of the gods with them to battles as battle banners. Along with their battle songs, they had a special chant without words, the so-called "bardite" (barditus), which was performed in the form of a strong continuous rumble to intimidate enemies.

Particularly revered deities were also Wodan and Tiu, whom Tacitus calls Mercury and Mars. Wodan (Scand. Odin) was the supreme deity, he dominated both people and Valhalla (Scand. valhol from valr "corpses of those killed in battle" and hol "farm"), where after death the soldiers who fell in battle continued to live.

Along with these main and most ancient gods - "Ases" - the Germans also had "vans", gods of a later origin, which, as can be assumed, were adopted by the Indo-European tribes from the tribes of another ethnic group that they defeated. Germanic myths tell of a long struggle between the Aesir and the Vanir. It is possible that these myths reflected the real history of the struggle of the Indo-European newcomers with the tribes that inhabited the north of Europe before them, as a result of mixing with which the Germans originated.

The myths say that the Germans originate from the gods. The earth gave birth to the god Tuisco, and his son Mann became the progenitor of the Germanic family. The Germans endowed the gods with human qualities and believed that people were inferior to them in strength, wisdom, knowledge, but the gods are mortal, and, like everything on earth, they are destined to die in the last world catastrophe, in the last clash of all opposing forces of nature.

The ancient Germans imagined the universe as a kind of gigantic ash tree, on the tiers of which the possessions of gods and people are located. in the very middle, people live and everything that directly surrounds them and is accessible to their perception. This concept was preserved in the ancient Germanic languages ​​in the name of the earthly world: dvn. mittilgart, ds. middilgard, yes. middanjeard, Goth. midjungards (lit. "middle dwelling"). The main gods - aces - live at the very top, at the very bottom is placed the world of the spirits of darkness and evil - hell. Around the world of people there were worlds of different forces: in the south - the world of fire, in the north - the world of cold and fogs, in the east - the world of giants, in the west - the world of Vanirs.

Each tribal union of the ancient Germans was also a cult union. Initially, the services were performed by the elder of the clan or tribe, later the class of priests arose.

The Germans performed their religious rites, which were sometimes accompanied by human or animal sacrifices, in sacred groves. Images of the gods were kept there, as well as snow-white horses specially designed for worship, which on certain days were harnessed to consecrated wagons; the priests listened to their neighing and snorting and interpreted it as some kind of prophecy. They also guessed by the flight of birds. Ancient authors mention the spread of various divination among the Germans. Caesar writes about lotion sticks, divination by which saved a captive Roman from death; in the same way, the women of the tribe wondered about the timing of the attack on the enemy. Strabo tells about priestesses-soothsayers who divined on the blood and entrails of the prisoners they killed. Runic writing, which appeared among the Germans in the first centuries of our era and was at first available only to priests, served for divination and spells.

The Germans deified their heroes. They honored in the legends the "great liberator of Germany" Arminius, who defeated the Roman commander-in-chief Varus in the battle in the Teutoburg Forest. This episode belongs to the beginning of the 1st c. AD The Romans invaded the territory of the Germanic tribes between the rivers Ems and Weser. They tried to impose their laws on the Germans, extorted taxes from them and oppressed them in every possible way. Arminius, who belonged to the nobility of the Cherusci tribe, spent his youth in the Roman military service and was in the confidence of Varus. He organized a conspiracy, having managed to involve in it the leaders of other Germanic tribes, who also served with the Romans. The Germans dealt a heavy blow to the Roman Empire, destroying three Roman legions.

Echoes of the ancient Germanic religious cult have come down to us in some geographical names. The name of the capital of Norway Oslo goes back to disl. ass "a god from the tribe of Ases" and lo "clearing". The capital of the Faroe Islands is Tórshavn "Harbour of Thor". The name of the city of Odense, where G.Kh. Andersen, comes from the name of the supreme god Odin; the name of another Danish city - Viborg goes back to ddat. wi "sanctuary". The Swedish city of Lund appeared, apparently, on the site of a sacred grove, as far as this can be judged by the Old Swedish meaning of lund (modern Swedish lund "grove"). Baldursheim - the name of a farm in Iceland - keeps the memory of the young god Balder, the son of Odin. On the territory of Germany there are many small towns that retain the name of Wodan (with a change in the initial w to g): Bad Godesberg near Bonn (in 947 its original name Wuodensberg is mentioned), Gutenswegen, Gudensberg, etc.

Great Migration of Nations. The strengthening of property inequality among the Germans and the process of decomposition of tribal relations were accompanied by significant changes in the socio-political system of the Germanic tribes. In the 3rd century tribal unions of the Germans are formed, which are the beginnings of states. The low level of development of productive forces, the need to expand land holdings, the desire to seize slaves and plunder the wealth accumulated by neighboring peoples, many of which were far ahead of the Germanic tribes in terms of the level of development of production and material culture, the formation of large tribal unions, which were a formidable military force , - all this, in the conditions of the beginning decomposition of the tribal system, contributed to the mass migrations of the Germanic tribes, which covered the vast territories of Europe and continued for several centuries (4th - 7th centuries), which in history received the name of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. The prologue of the Great Migration of Nations was the movement of East German [ 6 ] tribes - Goths - from the region of the lower reaches of the Vistula and from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea steppes in the 3rd century, from where the Goths, united in two large tribal unions, later move westward into the Roman Empire. Mass invasions of both East Germanic and West Germanic tribes into the Roman provinces and into the territory of Italy itself acquired a special scope from the middle of the 4th century, the impetus for this was the onslaught of the Huns - Turkic-Mongolian nomads, advancing on Europe from the east, from the Asian steppes.

The Roman Empire was by this time greatly weakened by continuous wars, as well as internal unrest, uprisings of slaves and columns, and could not resist the growing onslaught of the barbarians. The fall of the Roman Empire also meant the collapse of the slave society.

F. Engels describes the picture of the Great Migration of Nations in the following words:

"Entire nationalities, or at least significant parts of them, went on the road with their wives and children, with all their property. Carts covered with animal skin served them for housing and for transporting women, children and meager household utensils; they also livestock men, armed in battle order, were ready to overcome any resistance and defend themselves from attacks; a military campaign by day, at night a military camp in a fortification built from wagons. Losses in people in continuous battles, from fatigue, hunger and disease during these transitions had to be huge. It was a bet not on life, but on death. If the campaign was successful, then the surviving part of the tribe settled on the new land; in case of failure, the resettled tribe disappeared from the face of the earth. Whoever did not fall in battle died in slavery" [ 7 ].

The era of the Great Migration of Peoples, the main participants of which in Europe were the Germanic tribes, ends in the 6th-7th centuries. formation of the German barbarian kingdoms.

The era of the Great Migration of Nations and the formation of barbarian kingdoms was reflected in the writings of contemporaries who were eyewitnesses of the events.

The Roman historian Ammian Marcellinus (4th century) in his history of Rome describes the Alemannic wars and episodes from the history of the Goths. The Byzantine historian Procopius from Caesarea (6th century), who participated in the campaigns of the commander Belisarius, writes about the fate of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, of which he was a participant in the destruction. About the Goths, their origin and early history writes the Gothic historian Jordanes (6th century). The theologian and historian Gregory of Tours (6th century), from the tribe of the Franks, left a description of the Frankish state under the first Merovingians. The settlement of the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes on the territory of Britain and the formation of the first Anglo-Saxon kingdoms is described in his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" by the Anglo-Saxon monk-chronicler Bede the Venerable (8th century). A valuable work on the history of the Lombards was left by the Lombard chronicler Paul the Deacon (8th century). All these, like many other works of that era, were created in Latin.

The decomposition of the tribal system is accompanied by the emergence of a hereditary tribal aristocracy. It is made up of tribal leaders, military leaders and their warriors, who concentrate significant material wealth in their hands. Communal land use is gradually being replaced by the division of land, in which the decisive role is played by hereditary social and property inequality.

The decomposition of the tribal system is completed after the fall of Rome. When conquering Roman possessions, it was necessary to create their own instead of Roman governments. This is how royalty comes about. F. Engels describes this historical process as follows: “The organs of the tribal organization of government had to ... turn into state bodies, and, moreover, under the pressure of circumstances, very quickly. But the closest representative of the conquering people was the military leader. externally demanded an increase in his power. The moment came for the transformation of the power of the military leader into royal power, and this transformation took place "[ 8 ].

Formation of barbarian kingdoms. The process of the formation of the Germanic kingdoms begins in the 5th century. and goes in a complicated way, different tribes in different ways, depending on the specific historical situation. The East Germans, who came into direct conflict with the Romans on the territory of the Roman Empire earlier than others, organized themselves into states: Ostrogothic in Italy, Visigothic in Spain, Burgundian on the middle Rhine and Vandal in northern Africa. In the middle of the 6th c. The kingdoms of the Vandals and Ostrogoths were destroyed by the troops of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. In 534, the kingdom of the Burgundians was annexed to the Merovingian state. The Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians mixed with the previously Romanized population of Gaul and Spain, who stood at a higher level of social and cultural development and adopted the language of the peoples they conquered. The same fate befell the Lombards (their kingdom in northern Italy was conquered by Charlemagne in the second half of the 8th century). The names of the Germanic tribes of the Franks, Burgundians and Lombards are preserved in geographical names - France, Burgundy, Lombardy.

The West Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes moved to Britain for almost a century and a half (from the middle of the 5th century to the end of the 6th century). Having broken the resistance of the Celts who lived there, they establish their kingdoms in most of Britain.

The name of the West Germanic tribe, or rather, the whole group of tribes "Franks" is found in the middle of the 3rd century. Many small tribes of the Franks united in two large unions - Salic and Ripuarian Franks. In the 5th c. The Salic Franks occupied the northeastern part of Gaul from the Rhine to the Somme. Kings from the Merovingian clan in the middle of the 5th century. founded the first Frankish royal dynasty, which later united the Salii and Ripuarii. The Merovingian kingdom under Clovis (481 - 511) was already quite extensive; as a result of victorious wars, Clovis annexed to him the remnants of the Roman possessions between the Somme and the Loire, the Rhineland lands of the Alemanni and Visigoths in southern Gaul. Later, most of the territory east of the Rhine was annexed to the Frankish kingdom, i.e. old German lands. The power of the Franks was facilitated by an alliance with the Roman Church, which, after the fall of the Roman Empire, continued to play a large role in Western Europe and had a significant impact on the fate of the emerging barbarian kingdoms through the spread of Christianity.

The feudal relations emerging under the Merovingians lead to the isolation and rise of individual principalities; with the imperfection of the state apparatus, in the absence of centralized control, royal power falls into decay. The administration of the country is concentrated in the hands of mayordoms from representatives of noble families. The majordoms, the founders of the Carolingian dynasty, enjoyed the greatest influence at the royal court. Their rise was facilitated by victorious wars with the Arabs in the south of Gaul, and in the 8th century. A new dynasty of Carolingians appears on the Frankish throne. The Carolingians further expand the territory of the Frankish kingdom, annexing to it the regions in the north-west of Germany, inhabited by the Frisians. Under Charlemagne (768 - 814), the Saxon tribes living in the wooded area between the lower Rhine and the Elbe were conquered and subjected to forced Christianization. He also annexed to his kingdom most of Spain, the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy, Bavaria, and completely exterminated the Avars tribes living on the middle Danube. In order to finally establish himself in his dominance over the vast expanse of Romanesque and Germanic lands, Charles in 800 was crowned emperor of the Roman Empire. Pope Leo III, who himself remained on the papal throne only thanks to the support of Charles, placed the imperial crown on him in Rome.

Karl's activities were aimed at strengthening the state. Under him, capitularies were issued - acts of Carolingian legislation, land reforms were carried out that contributed to the feudalization of Frankish society. Having formed border areas - the so-called marks - he strengthened the defense capability of the state. The era of Charles went down in history as the era of the "Carolingian Renaissance". In legends and annals, memories of Karl as an enlightener king have been preserved. Scientists and poets gathered at his court, he contributed to the spread of culture and literacy through monastic schools and through the activities of enlightening monks. Architectural art is experiencing a great upsurge, numerous palaces and temples are being built, the monumental appearance of which was characteristic of the early Romanesque style. It should be noted, however, that the term "Renaissance" can only be used here conditionally, since Charles's activity took place in the era of the spread of religious and ascetic dogmas, which for several centuries became an obstacle to the development of humanistic ideas and the genuine revival of cultural values ​​created in the ancient era.

After the death of Charlemagne, the Carolingian empire began to fall apart. It did not represent an ethnic and linguistic whole and did not have a solid economic base. Under the grandsons of Charles, his empire was divided into three parts under the Treaty of Verdun (843). It was preceded by an agreement (842) between Charles the Bald and Louis the German on an alliance against their brother Lothair, known as the "Oaths of Strasbourg". It was compiled in two languages ​​- Old High German and Old French, which corresponded to the unification of the population through closer linguistic ties within the Carolingian state. "As soon as there was a distinction into groups according to language ..., it became natural that these groups began to serve as the basis for the formation of the state" [ 9 ].

Under the Treaty of Verdun, the western part of the empire - the future France - went to Charles the Bald, the eastern part - the future Germany - to Louis the German, and Lothair received Italy and a narrow strip of land between the possessions of Charles and Louis. Since that time, the three states begin independent existence.