The barbarian kingdoms were kingdoms founded by various Germanic, Iranian, Hunnic and other peoples, that were established all over the Mediterranean after the Barbarian Invasions from the late antiquity to the early middle ages. The term "barbarian" has been commonly used by historians. Other terms used include "Northern European kingdoms", "Romano-northern European kingdoms", and "post-Roman kingdoms".
Historically, the period of the Barbarian kingdoms spans the years from 409 to c.800. It begins in 409 with several Barbarian kingdoms being established on the Iberian peninsula, including the Kingdom of the Suebi, the Alani Kingdom, and territories of Hasdingi and the Silingi Vandals. It ends with the formation of the Carolingian Empire in Western Europe.
The Kingdoms
The most important and most successful of these kingdoms was that of the Franks. Established in the 4th to 5th century, the Frankish kingdom grew to include much of Western Europe, developing into the early medieval Carolingian Empire and ultimately the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire of the high medieval period and beyond. The Frankish Realm continued until 843, when it was partitioned. Realms resulting from this event included West Francia (predecessor of modern France), Middle Francia and East Francia (predecessor of modern Germany).
Other major kingdoms included those of the Visigoths and Ostrogoths; both were established in the 5th century. The Ostrogothic kingdom was re-conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 550s, while the Visigothic kingdom survived into the 8th century, but finally fell to the Muslim invasion of Hispania. The kingdoms of the Burgundians and of the Suebi were established in the early 5th century, and fell to the Franks and the Visigoths, respectively, in the 6th century.The Alemannic Kingdom was established in the 3rd century; it became a duchy subject to the Franks in 496, although this overlordship was at times nominal and Alemannia remained semi-independent until the 8th century. The Vandal Kingdom existed in Africa and Sicily from 435 until 534. The romanized berbers established the Mauro-Roman Kingdom and other minor polities in Africa, lasting until the Muslim conquest.
Various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms existed in medieval England, after a mass settlement in the area. The Romano Britons and various celtic peoples established their own kingdoms in the same period all over Britain, Brittany and Ireland.
In Pannonia, the Huns established a short lived nomadic empire ruled by Attila. After them, the Gepids dominated the area. Finally another nomadic group, the Pannonian Avars established another nomadic empire in 567, lasting until the 9th century.
Another wave of barbarian invasors founded new kingdoms in the 6th century: The Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy was established in the 6th century and conquered by the Franks in 774. The Nomadic Bulgars established the First Bulgarian Empire in Thracia in 687. Meanwhile various Slavic groups like the Sclaveni and the Antes founded petty kingdoms in the Balkans in the same period.
Historical/Historiographical Significance
The barbarian kingdoms marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages in the 6th and 7th centuries, gradually replacing the Roman system of government on the lands of the Western Roman Empire, notably in the two western prefectures of Gaul and Italy.
These kingdoms were foederati of the Roman Empire, and even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476 they continued to at least nominally consider themselves subject to the Eastern Emperor. These historical ties with the empire were weakened in the later 6th century, with the loss of much of the western possessions of the empire under Justin II and the waning power projection by the empire, weakened by its wars with the Persians and the Arab invasion.
As a result, the "barbarian kingdoms" by the 7th to 8th centuries developed the system of feudalism characteristic of the European Middle Ages. The title of "emperor" was revived in the west by Charlemagne in AD 800. At the same time, the Carolingian Renaissance developed the notion of Europe as a geopolitical entity with a history separate from that of the wider Mediterranean region.
What are your thoughts on the Pirenne Thesis? I think it overstates the effects of the Arab conquests on European trade, but the core idea that Rome never fell makes sense to me, and I can be annoying and contrarian about it.
Reading it, my initial thoughts are that, from a Marxist, materialist conception of history, the part of the merchants, aka the early bourgeois forming an early domination of the new cities is pretty interesting.
I was just reading Samir Amin’s Global History: A View From the South and he (very much a Marxist) had some thoughts. I wasn’t familiar enough with Pirenne beforehand so I can’t tell if he entirely disagrees with Pirenne or if he just disagrees with only a portion, but it was mentioned in the intro chapter for a good couple paragraphs.
It has been a super interesting read so far. He views Barbaric Europe as a peripheral zone of the ancient world system (not unlike how we view many African, Asian, or South American states today), compared to the much more developed states in China, India, and the Mediterranean.
He also argues that Europe, developing much later than these civilization centers, was in a good position to really embrace the proto-capitalist aspects of Eastern states, as it left the communal phase of civilization.
I think the book is gonna be Arrighi on steroids, albeit a bit more speculative. However I’ve heard Amin give several lectures and he was a fucking smart dude, so I’m super interested to see his thoughts on global history laid out in book form.