Migration Age

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Definition

Jan van der Crabben
by
published on 15 July 2010
Available in other languages: Arabic, French, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish
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Migration Period in Europe During the 4th & 5th Century (by Simeon Netchev, CC BY-NC-ND)
Migration Period in Europe During the 4th & 5th Century
Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE in Europe, marking the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. These movements were catalyzed by profound changes within both the Roman Empire and the so-called 'barbarian frontier'. Migrating peoples during this period included the Huns, Goths, Vandals, Bulgars, Alans, Suebi, Frisians, and Franks, among other Germanic and Slavic tribes.

The migration movement may be divided into two phases: The first phase, between 300 and 500 CE, put Germanic peoples in control of most areas of the former Western Roman Empire. The first to formally enter Roman territory — as refugees from the Huns — were the Visigoths in 376. Tolerated by the Romans on condition that they defend the Danube frontier, they rebelled, eventually invading Italy and sacking Rome itself in 410 CE, before settling in Iberia and founding a kingdom there that endured 300 years. They were followed into Roman territory by the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the Great, who settled in Italy itself. In Gaul, the Franks, a fusion of western Germanic tribes whose leaders had been strongly aligned with Rome, entered Roman lands more gradually and peacefully during the 5th century, and were generally accepted as rulers by the Roman-Gaulish population. Fending off challenges from the Allemanni, Burgundians and Visigoths, the Frankish kingdom became the nucleus of the future states of France and Germany. Meanwhile, Roman Britain was more slowly invaded and settled by Angles and Saxons.

Routes of the Barbarian Invaders
Routes of the Barbarian Invaders
The Department of History, United States Military Academy (Public Domain)
The second phase, between 500 and 700 CE, saw Slavic tribes settling in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in eastern Magna Germania, and gradually making it predominantly Slavic. The Bulgars, a now-Slavicized people possibly of Turkic origin who had been present in far Eastern Europe since the 2nd century CE, conquered the eastern Balkan territory of the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century CE. The Lombards, a Germanic people, settled northern Italy in the region now known as Lombardy. Migrations of peoples, although not strictly part of the 'Migration Age', continued beyond AD 1000, marked by Viking, Magyar, Moorish, Turkic and Mongol invasions, and these also had significant effects, especially in Central and Eastern Europe.

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About the Author

Jan van der Crabben
Jan is the Founder and CEO of World History Encyclopedia. He holds an MA War Studies from King's College, and he has worked in the field of history-related digital media since 2006.

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Cite This Work

APA Style

Crabben, J. v. d. (2010, July 15). Migration Age. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Migration_Age/

Chicago Style

Crabben, Jan van der. "Migration Age." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified July 15, 2010. https://www.worldhistory.org/Migration_Age/.

MLA Style

Crabben, Jan van der. "Migration Age." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 15 Jul 2010. Web. 13 Dec 2024.

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