11 



TEUTONIC NATIONS. 



TECTONIC NATIONS. 



183 



Slavonians were among them, the Teutonic tribes were the ruling 

 nation. Their name is visible in that of the province of Andalusia or 

 Vandalusia. (Papeneordt, ' Geschichte der Vandalen.) 



L-tn>j<jbanh. [LoiiBARDO- VENETIAN KINGDOM, in GEOG. Div., col. 

 578.] The Longobarda lived on the right bank of the Lower Elbe, 

 and afterwards on the left side of this river, near Liineburg and Bruns- 

 wick : in language and person they resembled their neighbours the 

 Saxons, a strong body of whom appeared with them in Italy. Before 

 they invaded Italy they had lived in the present country of Upper 

 Hungary, in Pannonia, and in Noricum (494-568). Their king Alboin 

 subjugated the Gepidae in Transylvania (563 ?), and in 568 he con- 

 quered the greater part of Italy. Their last national king, Desiderius, 

 was deprived of his throne by Charlemagne (774), who assumed the 

 title of king of the Longobards : but the Longobards neither lost their 

 constitution nor their estates ; the only change was in the reigning 

 dynasty. 



When the Longobards were subjugated by the Franks, they had 

 possessed written laws for 130 years. The first collection was made 

 by king Rotharis in 643. The laws of Grimoald were collected in 

 668, those of Luitprand between 713 and 724 ; those of Rachis in 746, 

 and those of Aistulf in 764. They contain only a few heads of Roman 

 law concerning prescription and succession. (Moratori, ' Script. Rer. 

 Ital.,' torn. i. ; and especially Biener, ' De Origine et Progressu Legum 

 Jurumque Gennanicomm,' L) 



These are the Teutonic nations that founded permanent kingdoms 

 within the limits of the Roman empire. Except the Alemanni, they 

 all came in contact with a population the educated part of which was 

 entirely Romanised, although, except Italy and some parts of the 

 south of Spain and Gaul, the inhabitants of the villages were still 

 Celts or Iberians when they were subjugated by the Teutonic invaders. 

 (Fauriel, ' Hist, de la Gaule Me'ridionale,' vol. i.) The political institu- 

 tions of the new masters of the civilised world rested on two great 

 principles. 



The Teutonic laws were not territorial, as they now are, but per- 

 sonal : a Frank was judged after the Frankish law, a Burgundian after 

 the Burgundian, wherever he lived. This principle being applied 

 also to the Romans, gave rise to a double legislation, one for the 

 ruling Teutonic nation, and the other for the subject Romans. The 

 second principle was that the sovereignty belonged to the body of the 

 conquerors, and not exclusively to their kings. This sovereignty not 

 only comprised the supreme authority in legislation and administra- 

 tion, but it was considered as comprehending a right to the pi -hate 

 landed property of the vanquished nation. Every free Frank or Goth 

 became the master of a considerable portion of land which he took 

 from the Romans. The rights and duties of the kings towards their 

 Teutonic fellow-conquerors remained the same as before ; the kings 

 had no right to punish any freeman, unless in time of war and for 

 neglect of military duties. The freemen also could not be forced to 

 serve in any war to which they had not given their consent ; and 

 they did not pay any taxes to their kings, who were only the first 

 among their equals. As to the subject Romans, the Teutonic kings 

 became the lords of a numerous civilised nation : as successors to the 

 right* of the Roman emperors, and with regard to the Romans, they 

 had absolute power, and they became proprietors of the extensive 

 private estates of the emperors. They maintained the provincial 

 administration, which was established by Constantino the Great and 

 his successors, but they often conferred various functions on one 

 person in order to render that complicated administration more 

 easy to manage. As the conquerors lived among the subject people, 

 province had a double administration, one for the ruling nation 

 and the other for the subject nation. But there resulted so much 

 confusion from this circumstance, that the kings were obliged, espe- 

 cially in Gaul, to sacrifice the principles of the Roman administration, 

 and to govern in the Teutonic way, although the names of the higher 

 public functions were Roman. The first functionary in each province 

 in the Frankish kingdom was the Dux, who had the supreme military 

 command, and sometimes also the authority of a judge. The second 

 was the Comes, who was chief judge and director of all affairs con- 

 u.-ming taxes and the revenue of the fiscus. From the 8th century 

 the functions of the Dux and the Comes were conferred upon one 

 person, who is sometimes styled Dux, and sometimes Comes. 



The fate of the Romans in the Frankish empire was threefold. One 

 part of the Romans entered into the private service of the king, and 

 preserved a portion of their estates on condition of obedience to him. 

 The great landowners belonged to this class, which had the name of 

 " Romani conviviE regis." A second part, the " Romani possessores," 

 remained in possession of their lands, but they were obliged to pay 

 taxes for them, a duty from which the conquerors were exempt : thin 

 claaa principally consisted of small landowners. The third class were 

 the " Romani tributarii," who lost.their liberty, although they did not 

 become Servi in the Roman sense of the word : these were the ancient 

 " coloni." In many towns the Romans continued to enjoy their muni- 

 cipal institutions, while a Teutonic community gradually arose within 

 the same walls, and had its separate constitution. In other towns the 

 richest among the Romans lost their liberty and became " miniate- 

 riales," a kind of privileged vassals ; but the poor were treated as the 

 Roinaui tributnrii in the villages. 



The Teutonic nations which became subject to the Frankish kings 



were treated with less severity. The Burgundians, the Longobards, 

 and the Bavarians only changed their dynasty, but the greater part of 

 the Thuringians and of the Alemauni lost a considerable portion of 

 their lands, which were given to Frankish nobles, of whom they 

 became vassals. 



Besides those nations which foitnded permanent kingdoms within 

 the Roman empire, many tribes maintained their independence there 

 only for a short period, or came and went rapidly without leaving 

 further traces, or were subjugated by others, and adopted the names of 

 their vanquishers. Many among them were of Slavonian or other 

 origin. 



The Alan! came from the Caucasus, traversed Europe, and lived 

 independent in southern Spain under their king Respendial, from 409 

 to 417, when they were subjugated by the Visi-Goths and carried into 

 the south of Gaul. Another part of them settled between Orleans 

 and Nantes under their chief Goar (406), but in 452 they were defeated 

 and dispersed by the Visi-Goths. The Alani were not of Teutonic 

 origin ; the names of their kings (Respendial, Utaces, Goar) have no 

 resemblance to Saxon, Frankish, or Gothic names. They are probably 

 identical with the Ossetes, an old Persian tribe in the central part of 

 the Caucasus. The country of Albania, north of the Caucasus, was 

 known to the Greeks and Romans. The Byzantines called the tract 

 between the Terek and Shirwan, Alania. (Procopius, ' De Bello Goth.,' 

 1. iv. ; Stritter, ' Memorise Populor,' Alania, in torn. iv. ; Suhm, 

 ' Geschichte der Diinen," ubersetzt von Grater, i. 1 ; Zeuss, ' Urge- 

 schichte der Deutschen,' Alanen.) 



The Quadi, who lived in Silesia and Moravia in 375, were a Suevi.m 

 people. The Gepidtz perhaps were of Gothic origin ; their kingdom 

 in Transylvania was destroyed by Alboin, who killed Kuaimund, the 

 last king of the Gepidrc. 



Odoacer, the commander of a band of Scyrri or ,SV'/nv, Sugit, and 

 Jferuli, put an end to the Roman empire in Italy, and was acknow- 

 ledged as emperor, but he was put to death by order of Theodoric the 

 Great in 493. 



The Kngii were Germani ; the origin of the Scyrri and of the Ilcrvli 

 is uncertain. It has been pretended that the Heruli were a Lithuanian 

 tribe. 



Tribes mtkin the limits of Germany wtticli lost their independence under 

 the Franks. The Bnjoarii, Snjitf/nri , Bujurarii, or Bararians, whose 

 name became known towards the year 480, were a confederation of 

 Suevian tribes : they lived between the Danube, the Lech, and the 

 Ens. In 540 they were forced to yield to the Frankish kings, and were 

 governed by dukes of the dynasty of the Agilolfingians. Their laws, 

 which were collected between 613 and 638, resemble the laws of the 

 Alemanni, though they contain many traces of the Roman law. 

 (Mederer, ' Leges Bajuvariorum, oder iiltestes Gesetzbuch der Baju- 

 varier,' &c., 1793-8.) The Tkuringians occupied the country north of 

 the Bavarians as far as the Unstrut, and even beyond that river. 

 They were related to the Goths, and their name seems to resemble 

 that of the Thervingi, the Hermunduri, and Hermiones. Their last 

 king, Hermanfrid, was deprived of his crown by the Franks in 531. 

 Charlemagne is said to have made the first collection of their laws, but 

 there is no evidence in support of this statement. Their code is 

 known under the title of ' Lex Angliorum ct Werinorum, hoc e.<t 

 Thuringorum." These Angles and Warini or Werini were settled in 

 the northern part of Thuringia, but it does not appear why their names 

 are mentioned before that of the Thuringians, who were the more 

 numerous nation. This collection is brief and incomplete. (Leibnitz, 

 'Script. Rer. Brunsvic.,' i.) 



The Sa.cont dwelt north of the Thuringians. On the east their 

 frontiers were the Elbe, the Stecknitz, and the Baltic : on the north, 

 Denmark, the German Ocean, ifhd Friesland ; on the west, they cor- 

 responded to the western frontiers of the present province of West- 

 phalia. When they had sent numerous settlers to Britain, their 

 became less formidable to their neighbours the Wends in tli 

 and the Franks in the west. The Franks were formerly united with 

 them against the Romans, but when they had conquered Gaul, the 

 Saxons were obliged to desist from their incursions into this country, 

 and hence arose jealousy and hostility. The south-western parts were 

 conquered by the Franks as early as 555 ; the rich landowners were 

 compelled to give a considerable part of their lands to Frankish nobles, 

 and the common freemen to bend under the yoke of servitude. The 

 remaining and greater part of the population was free, though from 

 time to time the Saxons paid tribute, until, after the memorable war 

 with Duke Wittekind (772-803), Charlemagne became master of all 

 Saxony. But the Saxons were not subjugated like the Romans. They 

 promised to adopt Christianity, to acknowledge Charles as their kin;,', 

 and to obey his governors (greves) and bishops. On the other ham I. 

 Charles granted them equal " Wehre " (value of their body and liberty 

 in case of wounds, murder, &c.), and the same privileges which the 

 Franks had, especially freedom from tribute, and the privilege of being 

 tried in their own country, according to their own laws, and by their 

 equals. (Leibnitz, 'Script. Rer. Brunsv.,' i ; Compare Moser, ' Osna- 

 bruckischo Geschichte,' i.) 



Charlemagne was the first king of the Saxons who formed a great 

 confederation of free communities; they appointed dukes for their 

 wars, and only acknowledged obedience to the " gowding " and to 

 " greves " chosen by the freemen among the " edelings " of the commit- 



