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by Charli's V. tmpfror of Germany and king of Spain, after 

 he had rellocid >liillc:ifl'ts, king of Tunis, who was driven 

 out of his kingdom by the noted pirate BarbarofTa. The 

 emperor being dtlirous to gain tile love of all thofc who had 

 valiantly littnalifcd tlifinfclvis in that war, did, as a reward 

 for thtir fcrvices, confer on them this honour of knighthood, 

 on the day he made iiis public entry into Tunis ; having on 

 tiie coat he wore in batilc, embroidered with a Burgundian 

 crofs, to which was added a llccl ilriking fparks of fire out 

 of a flint, with tliis infcrlption, Barb.vria, which badge was 

 pcndnnt from a gold collar. 



BURGUxVDIANS, Burgundionts, \n Hi/lory, were 

 a warlike and numerous people, who, upon the decline of the 

 Roman empire, obtained a permanent feat and dominion in 

 the provinces of Gaul. According to Ammianus Marcel- 

 linus (1: 28.), and Orofius (I. 7. c. 19.), they were originally 

 t^efcended from the Romans. The latter writer fays, that 

 Drufus, Nero, a:id his brother Tiberius, the adopted fons of 

 Cxfar Auguftii?, having fubdued the interior parts of Ger- 

 many, left fcveral camps in t'-f. country, and part of their 

 army to keep the neighbouring people in fubjection : from 

 the Roman foldiers, who were on this cccafion left to guard 

 the Roman camps, are defcended the Burgundians. The 

 calUes and ftrong holds, built for the defence of a country, 

 arc called by the Germans " burgts;" and hence the Ro- 

 mans, who guarded them, and their defcendants, were named 

 " Burgundians." As they embraced the Catholic faith, 

 the ecckfiaftics, whofe fpiritual jurifdidtion they acknow- 

 ledged, have defcribed them as mild and tradable in their 

 difpofition ; for in the countries where they fettled, they 

 treated the natives, not as ftrangers whom they had fubdued, 

 but as Chrillian brethren. Pliny the elder (l.iv. c. 16.) 

 fuppofes them to be a German nation, defcended from the 

 Vindili, fuppofed to be the fame people v.ith the Vandals. 

 Valefius (Rer. Franc, p. 48.) diftinguilhes the Burgundians 

 of Germany from thofe of the fame name, who dwelt more 

 to the caft, on the banks of the Danube. The Burgundians 

 of Germany were fometimes in alliance, and fometimes at 

 war, with the empire ; and they are reprefented by contem- 

 porary writers as inferior in bravery to the other Germans, 

 and as dwelling in caftles and fortified places, whereas the 

 other German nations fcorned any fence befides their arms. 

 See Socrat. Hilt. Ecclcf. 1. vii. c.30. Moil of them were 

 mechanics, and, before they fettled in Gaul, reforted in 

 great numbers to that country, to earn a fubfiftenceby their 

 refpedive profeffions. As to their form of government, 

 they were divided into feveral tribes, each of which had its 

 Tcfpcftive chief ot king, whofe authority was fo far from 

 being hereditary, that it was not continued during life. If 

 the events of the war accufcd the courage or conduft of the 

 king or general, called " Hendinos," he was immediately 

 depofed ; and the injuftice of his fubjefts made him refpon- 

 fible for the fertility of the earth, and the regularity of the 

 feafons, which feemed to fall more properly within the facer- 

 dotal department. The perfon of the prieft, denominated 

 •' Sinillus," was facred, and his dignity perpetual. The 

 kings of the Burgundians did not think themfelves degraded 

 by ferving in the Roman armies, by executing fome of the 

 chief offices of the empire, and by receiving, from the em- 

 perors, fuch dignities as they ufually conferred upon their 

 fubjefts. To the Burgundians is afcribed the firll intro- 

 duction into Gaul of legal duels, or duels ordered by the 

 magiftrates or judges, eftabliihed in order to difcover, from 

 the event, the truth of contelled fafts. Gundebald is faid 

 to have been the firll who eftablifhed by law this maxim, 

 that the bed champion is the bed man, and ought to be be- 

 lieved ; a ma:iin), indeed, which has often proved fatal to 



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innocence. This unjnft and fanguinary law was fonnally 

 iffucd at Lyons, the 27th of June, Ab.enus being confuJ, 

 that is, in 501. 



In the hillory of the Burgundians nothing particularly wor- 

 thy of notice occurs till the year 271;, the firll of the emperor 

 Tacitus's reign, when, in coTijuntlion with other barbarians, 

 they crofTcd the Rhine, overran all Gaul, and made their^ 

 felves mailers of more than 70 cities in that country. But 

 they were foon after defeated, and compelled to fue for 

 peace, by Probus, the fucccffor of Tacitus. In 287 they 

 made another irruption into Gaul, together with the Ale- 

 manni ; but were defeated by Maximian. See Alem a:<ni. 

 In the year 370, the 7th of Valentinian I. an army of 

 8c,ooo Burgundians appeared on the banks of the Rhine, 

 impatiently expeCling the fupport and fubfidies promifed by 

 Valentinian ; but after long and fruitlefs expedtation, they 

 were compelled to retire. In the year 407, they followed 

 the Vandals, Sueves, and Alan?, «ho had entered Gaul the 

 lad day of the preceding year, in order to parti:kc in the fpoils 

 of thefe wealthy provinc. s ; but they did not fettle i 1 that 

 country till the year 41 j, when, as it is .'aid, they obtained 

 that part of Gaul which borders on the Rhine, or the prefeitt 

 Alface, and the remainirg part of Germania Prima, which 

 were ceded to them by Honorius. Thus commenced the 

 kingdom of the Burgundians in Gaul, under Gundicar their 

 firfl king. They afterwards, viz. in 435, in conjunflici> 

 with the Heruli, the Huns, and the Franks, entered Belgjc 

 Gaul, committing dreadful ravages viherever they came ; 

 though, upon their firll fettling in Gaul, they had promifed 

 to affill the Romans, and ferve in their armies as fubjefts of 

 the empire. Aetius, having defeated their army, reduced 

 them to the necefTity of fuirg for peace, which, however, was 

 of no long continuance. About this time they embraced 

 Chrillianity. Having continued on the banks of the Rhine 

 till the year 438, they were-removed by Aetius to the pre- 

 fent duchy ot Savoy. During their refidence here, they 

 made themfelves mailers of feveral cities and places in Gaul; 

 fuch as Lyons, Die, Vienne, Auvergne, &c. Before the 

 year 490, the Burgundians were mailers of the whole of 

 Lugdunenfis Prima, flyled by Sidonius Germania Lugdu- 

 nenfis ; and in the years 514 and 5 28, it appears, from the 

 afts of the councils of Agde and Epaune, that thev were 

 mailers of above 28 cities ; and, among others, of Lyons, 

 Vienne, Befangon, and Embrun. In the year 490, Gundo- 

 bald, or Gondebaud, condudled them into Italy, where they 

 committed unparalleled ravages in Liguria. At this time 

 the kingdom of the Burgundians was defined by the courfe of 

 the rivers Saone and Rhone, and extended from the foreil 

 of Vofges to the Alps and the fca of Marfeilles. Gondebaud, 

 who died in 509, was fucceeded by his fon Sigifmund, who 

 difpatched an account of his acceffion to the emperor Ana- 

 ftafius at Conilantinople, and acknowledged himfelf a fubjeft 

 of the empire. Sigifmund, by the inhuman affaflination of 

 his fon Sigeric, though he has acquired the honours of a 

 faint and martyr, greatly irritated tlie Oflrogoths and their 

 king Theodoric, and occalioned a war between the Franks 

 and Burgundians. In a battle that took place A. D. 523, 

 Sigiimund was defeated and taken prifoner ; and afterwards 

 put to death, being buried alive in a deep well at Orleans ; 

 and the greater part of the country fnbmitted to the Franks. 

 The Burgundians, however, foon revolted, and proclaimed 

 Gondemar, brother of Sigifmund, their kmg, who, after a 

 fevere conflidt with the Franks, concluded a peace with 

 them, on condition that they fhould reftore to him all the 

 countries which they had feized durijig the war. This 

 peace lafled 8 years; but in 532 a war broke out between 

 thefe two nations ; and Childebert and Clotharius, entering 



the 



