Visigoths in Northern Gaul according to the Archaeological Materials: a State of Research

Abstract

The study of burials of the early Merovingian era in such sites as Arcy-Sainte-Restitue, Chassemy, Breny, Saint Martin-de-Fontenay, and Vicq shows that the new groups who settled in northern Gaul in the fifth and early sixth centuries can be identified primarily by female costume elements of heterogeneous origin. Despite their small numbers, these people certainly played an important military and social role, as evidenced by the burial of the nobility. A community inventory uncovered Alemanni, Thuringian, Lombard, Ostrogoth, Danube-German, Anglo-Saxon and Visigoth elements. Their appearance at the same time as the creation of the Merovingian kingdom is not surprising. Indeed, this fact has been well established in archaeological studies of other “barbarian” areas, in particular Burgundy, Ostrogothic Italy, and Kievan Rus‟. In these regions nascent royal (princely) power relied on foreign military groups with no connection to the local population in order to ensure loyalty to the ruler. This article focuses on a case study of the Spanish Visigoths who settled in northern Gaul.

Keywords

• burials
• visigoths
• merovingian kingdom
• northern gaul