Migration Period

This article is about the period of widespread migrations in Europe during the first millennium AD. For prehistoric migrations, see History of human migration. For seasonal periods of human migrations, see seasonal human migration. For seasonal periods of animal migrations, see animal migration.
"Barbarian invasion" and "Barbarian invasions" redirect here. For the 2003 Canadian film, see The Barbarian Invasions.
Invasions of the Roman Empire
Map of Europe, with colored lines denoting migration routes
Time300–800 AD (greatest estimate)[1]
PlaceEurope and the Mediterranean region
EventTribes invading the declining Roman Empire

The Migration Period (circa 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman kingdoms.[2]

The term refers to the important role played by the migration, invasion, and settlement of various tribes, notably the Burgundians, Vandals, Goths, Alemanni, Alans, Huns, early Slavs, Pannonian Avars, Bulgars and Magyars within or into the territories of the Roman Empire and Europe as a whole. The period is traditionally taken to have begun in AD 375 (possibly as early as 300) and ended in 568.[3] Various factors contributed to this phenomenon of migration and invasion, and their role and significance are still widely discussed.

Historians differ as to the dates for the beginning and ending of the Migration Period. The beginning of the period is widely regarded as the invasion of Europe by the Huns from Asia in about 375 and the ending with the conquest of Italy by the Lombards in 568,[4] but a more loosely set period is from as early as 300 to as late as 800.[5] For example, in the 4th century a very large group of Goths was settled as foederati within the Roman Balkans, and the Franks were settled south of the Rhine in Roman Gaul. In 406 a particularly large and unexpected crossing of the Rhine was made by a group of Vandals, Alans and Suebi. As central power broke down in the Western Roman Empire, the military became more important but was dominated by men of barbarian origin.

There are contradictory opinions as to whether the fall of the Western Roman Empire was a result of an increase in migrations, or if both the breakdown of central power and the increased importance of non-Romans created additional internal factors. Migrations, and the use of non-Romans in the military, were known in the periods before and after, and the Eastern Roman Empire adapted and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, although it involved the establishment of competing barbarian kingdoms, was to some extent managed by the Eastern emperors.

The migrants comprised war bands or tribes of 10,000 to 20,000 people.[6] Immigration was common throughout the time of the Roman Empire,[7] but over the course of 100 years, the migrants numbered not more than 750,000 in total,[citation needed] compared to an average 40 million population of the Roman Empire at that time. The first migrations of peoples were made by Germanic tribes such as the Goths (including the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths), the Vandals, the Anglo-Saxons, the Lombards, the Suebi, the Frisii, the Jutes, the Burgundians, the Alemanni, the Sciri and the Franks; they were later pushed westward by the Huns, the Avars, the Slavs and the Bulgars.[8] Later invasions, such as the Vikings, the Normans, the Varangians, the Hungarians, the Arabs, the Turks, and the Mongols also had significant effects (especially in North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Anatolia and Central and Eastern Europe).

  1. ^ Allgemein Springer (2006), der auch auf alternative Definitionen außerhalb der communis opinio hinweist. Alle Epochengrenzen sind letztlich nur ein Konstrukt und vor allem durch Konvention begründet. Vgl. auch Stefan Krautschick: Zur Entstehung eines Datums. 375 – Beginn der Völkerwanderung. In: Klio 82, 2000, S. 217–222 sowie Stefan Krautschick: Hunnensturm und Germanenflut: 375 – Beginn der Völkerwanderung? In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 92, 1999, S. 10–67.
  2. ^ "History of Europe - Barbarian Migrations, Invasions | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  3. ^ Halsall, Guy. Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  4. ^ For example, Halsall, (2008), Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568
  5. ^ "The Migration period (fourth to eighth century)", p.5 Migration Art, A.D. 300-800, 1995, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. Katharine Reynolds Brown, ISBN 0870997505, 9780870997501
  6. ^ Peter Heather (2003). The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-84383-033-7.
  7. ^ Giovanni Milani-Santarpia, "Immigration Roman Empire", MariaMilani.com
  8. ^ Bury, J. B., The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians, Norton Library, 1967.