Burgundians
(Burgundiones) (Germans)

Indo-Europeans - Germanic Tribes (Intro) Anatolian Tribes Balkans Tribes Baltic Tribes Celtic Tribes Germanic Tribes Italic Tribes Indo-Aryan Tribes Indo-Iranian Tribes Slavic Tribes Tocharians (Intro)

The Germanic tribes
seem to have originated in a homeland in southern
Scandinavia
(Sweden and
Norway, with the Jutland
area of northern Denmark,
along with a very narrow strip of Baltic coastline). They had been settled
here for over two thousand years following the
Indo-European
migrations. The Germanic ethnic group began as a division of the western
edge of late proto-Indo-European dialects around 3300 BC, splitting away
from a general westwards migration to head towards the southern coastline
of the Baltic Sea. By the time the Germanic tribes were becoming key
players in the politics of Western
Europe in the
last two centuries BC, the previously dominant
Celts were on the verge
of being conquered and dominated by
Rome. They had already
been pushed out of northern and central Europe by a mass of Germanic tribes
which were steadily carving out a new homeland.

When first noted by contemporary scholars, the Burgundians (or
Burgundiones) were located in eastern central Europe (within modern
Poland and probably
Moravia) - by Tacitus in
AD 98. In the third and fourth centuries they, like the
Franks, did not play a great
role in undermining the
Western Roman empire -
indeed the Burgundians were a relatively minor people. They crossed the
Rhine with the Vandali
in 406 and settled along the west bank, making their capital at Geneva.
Once there, they found groups of other Germanic people who had been
settled on vacant lands by the Romans in the third century, including
the Chamavi and other
constituent elements of the Franks.

(Additional information from The Oxford History of England: Roman
Britain, Peter Salway.)

AD 98

In
his work on Greater Germania, the
Roman writer
Tacitus locates the Germanic Burgundiones in eastern central Europe,
immediately south of the Gepids and
Gutones, with the
Venedi on their
eastern flank and the
Vandali
to their south.

277

Vandali
and Burgundians who had crossed the Rhine to invade the
Roman
empire
are defeated by Emperor Probus and are resettled in

Britain.

406 - 409

With
Roman
authority gradually fading the former
Celtic tribe of the
Sequani are so
ingrained into Roman civilisation that they are unable to reform their
tribal status and protect themselves. Instead, when the Burgundiones cross the Rhine en masse
they occupy the Sequani territory as their own, with recognition by a
helpless Rome that they are an allied state.

410 - 411

Along with the Franks, the Burgundians support the rebellion of
Roman usurper Jovinus.

? - c.411

Last tribal leader east of the Rhine. Semi-mythical.

Named as Gifica in the Old
English
poem Widsith, this Burgundian warrior hero is regarded as being at
least partially mythical. He is mentioned as one of a long list of famous
Germanic tribal rulers and leaders in the poem.

c.411 - 413

Tribal leader, became king of the Burgundians in 413.

411 - 413

Gundahar and Goar of the Alani
set up Jovinus as their puppet
Roman usurper and establish
a kingdom on the left bank of the Rhine.

Kingdom of the Burgundians
AD 413 - 534

Between 411-413, the new leader of the Burgundians, Gundahar, joined
Goar of the Alani in
setting up Jovinus as their puppet
Roman usurper.
Under the pretext of Jovinus' imperial authority, the Burgundians
were able to establish themselves on the west bank of the Rhine (the
Roman side) between the River Lauter and the Nahe. Here they founded
a kingdom based upon the Romano-Gallic settlement of Borbetomagus
(Worms).

Subjugated by the Huns
in 437, they accepted Roman federate status and essentially moved into
the vacuum of dwindling Roman power, being ceded Roman lands in 443
and 458. Towards the end of the fifth century, King Gundobad was
briefly a player in the last stages of Western Roman politics, holding
power as the commander of the army from 472 to 473. By 534, however,
Frankish power could no longer be resisted, and Burgundy became
another piece in the Frankish kingdom.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson, from The Oxford
History of England: Roman Britain, Peter Salway, from The
Ethnology of Germany Part 3: The Migration of the Saxons, Henry
H Howorth (Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland, Vol 7, 1878), from The History of the Franks, Volume
II, Gregory of Tours (O M Dalton, Trans, 1967), from Chronicon,
Marius, from the Chronicle of Fredegar / Latin Chronicle
(author unknown but the work has been attributed to Fredegar since
the sixteenth century thanks to his name being written in the margin),
from the 'Passio' of St Killian, from Atlas historique mondial,
Georges Duby (Larousse, 1978), and from Genealogy of the Kings of
France, Claude Wenzler (Editions Ouest-France, Rennes, 2008).)

413 - 436

First
Burgundian king west of the Rhine. Killed by
Huns & Atius.

437 - 473

443 - 458

As part of a settlement with
Rome, the Burgundians expand into Sapaduia (Cisjurane), or
Savoy, in 443. The magister
militum, Atius, had apparently been pursuing a policy of extending the
settlement of friendly (or defeated) barbarians within
Gaul under treaty,
rather than Roman reconquest. The former is certainly easier given the lack
of resources. However, the barbarians are rarely content to remain with what
Rome can 'gift' them, and the Burgundians add
Switzerland in 450 and further
expand into Sequania (Transjurane, the former tribal lands of the
Sequani tribe) in 458.

456

Rechiar
of the Suevi
is responsible for a large number of raids on the
Roman province of Hispania
Tarraconensis over the past seven years, with tacit approval by the
Visigoths. Now
the Visigoth king, Theodoric II, changes his policy and turns on the Suevi.
He leads a large army which is bolstered by Burgundians under Gundioc and
Chilperic, crossing the Pyrenees and defeating Rechiar at a site close to
the modern town of Astorga in north-western Iberia.

469

The Visigoths
have to fight a combined imperial army consisting of
Romans, troops from
Soissons under Comes Paulus,
Burgundian foederati, and joint federate
Britanni.

472 - 473

Gundobad, son of Gundioc, is the nephew of Ricimer. When the latter dies,
Gundobad claims his position as commander of the
Western Roman empire.
When his father dies in 473, the Burgundian kingdom is left to the four
sons, but Gundobad ensures it falls to him alone.

With the accession of Clovis, son of Childeric I of the Salian Franks, the Germanic occupiers of north-eastern Gaul had found a king who would change their fortunes out of all recognition, and it would soon have repercussions for the Burgundians (click or tap on map to view full sized)

473 - 474

Son. Killed by Gundobad.

473 - 486

Brother. Killed by Gundobad.

473 - 500

Brother. Killed by Gundobad.

473 - 516

Brother.
Western Roman Commander (472-473).

500

Gundobad is defeated in battle near Dijon by Clovis of the
Franks.

507

The new king of the
Visigoths is
tentatively accepted by his nobles, but is unable to hold Narbonne against
the Burgundians.

509 - 510

The
Ostrogoths
intervene at Narbonne, driving out both
Visigoths and Burgundians.
This forces the Franks
and Burgundians to withdraw from the Mediterranean coast.

511

Clovis, the powerful founder of the
Frankish kingdom,
dies and his domain is divided between his four sons. The kingdom of
Austrasia is created in the
north-east of France, bordering the Burgundians, while that of
Orleans borders it on
the west.

The death of Clovis in 511 saw his realm chopped up into several smaller kingdoms, creating Austrasia, Paris, Orleans, and Soissons (although the latter had already existed as a separate domain until its conquest by Clovis in 486 - click or tap on map to view full sized)

516 - 524

Captured by
Franks and
assassinated.

516 - 534

Brother.

524

Sigismund had earlier assassinated the cousin of the four ruling
Frankish kings.
Now all of them join in an expedition against him and he is captured. The
victorious Franks return home, leaving a garrison behind, but Sigismund's
brother, Gudomar, arrives with troops supplied by his ally, the
Ostrogoths,
and the garrison is massacred. Chlodomer of
Orleans has Sigismund and his
sons, Gisald and Gondebaud, assassinated on 1 May 524 and leads a second
expedition against the Burgundians. He is killed at the Battle of Vzeronce,
although the Franks are victorious.

534

The
kingdom is overthrown by the
Franks and is
relegated to a Frankish sub-kingdom. At some point around this date, the
Burgundians take Provence from the
Ostrogoths,
but then it is almost immediately transferred to the Franks.

Merovingian Kingdom of Burgundy
AD 534 - 843

The great empire-builder of the
Franks, Clovis,
succeeded his father in AD 481 as the Frankish ruler or Camaracum
(Cambrai) and Tournai in north-eastern
Gaul (now in
Belgium). He went on
to consolidate a single Frankish kingdom which he was able to hand
on to his sons, converting the Franks to Christianity in 497 and
ruthlessly eliminating his rivals. All the time he was expanding his
influence southwards from the Tournai region. He took the
Western Roman province
of Belgica Secunda in 486 (better known by this time as the enlargened
domain of Soissons), the
territories of the Alemanni
in 496, the
Burgundians
in 500, and the
Visigoths
in 507. The Franks quickly became the dominant
Germanic tribe not
only in Gaul but throughout central and western Europe. The territory
that forms modern
France and
Germany, and
south to central Italy,
soon became known as Francia.

The Pactus Legis Salicae (Law of the Salian Franks) was a
written code which combined customary law, Roman written law, Christian
ideals, and royal edicts, and this most likely originated during the
reign of Clovis. It had a strong influence on what would happen to the
Frankish kingdom over the next few centuries. When Clovis died in 511,
tradition and his own codified Salic Law demanded that his holdings be
divided equally among his sons. One of them, Childebert I, inherited the
kingdom of Paris (otherwise known as
Neustria and now northern
France), while Orleans went
to Chlodomer (upper central France),
Austrasia went to Theuderich
(the modern
Netherlands,
Austria, and northern
Germany), and Soissons to Chlothar, the youngest of the brothers.

Despite their defeat in AD 500 at the hands of the Franks, the Burgundians
were only truly conquered in stages. Theudebert I of Austrasia (son of
Theuderich) captured the northern regions, Childebert I took the central
regions for Neustria, and Chlothar seized the southern area for Soissons.
The latter swiftly consolidated his rule over all of the Burgundian lands,
annexing them directly to his kingdom. It wasn't until Chlothar's death,
when the Frankish kingdom was again partitioned, that his third son,
Guntrumn, became Burgundy's first independent ruler.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson, from The Ethnology of
Germany Part 3: The Migration of the Saxons, Henry H Howorth (Journal
of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol 7,
1878), and from The History of the Franks, Volume II, Gregory
of Tours (O M Dalton, Trans, 1967).)

534 - 561

King of the
Franks of
Soissons.

561

When
Chlothar dies in 561, his third son, Gunthchramn or Guntramn - by his
Thuringian wife
Ingunda, daughter of King Baderich - gains Burgundy during the division
of the Frankish
kingdom (not to be confused with another of Clothar's sons - Chramn of
Aquitaine - who
had been killed in 560). Of the rest of Chlothar's domains, Charibert
gains Paris and Orleans as
Neustria, Sigisbert I
gains Austrasia, and
Chilperic I gains Soissons.

Gunthchramn of Burgundy is shown here (with dark hair) seated next to Childebert II of Austrasia, in a beautifully-coloured plate from the Grandes Chroniques de France

Gunthchramn's
name is a slightly odd one. The first half is the familiar 'gunther'
(also Gundahari) which means 'war army' with 'man' implied instead of
stated, as in Guntherman (shortened to Guzman in Spanish use). This
probably comes from his mother, Ingunda, who has the same ending in
her name, 'gund', plus a feminine suffix, '-a' (the 'Ing' first part
of her name comes from an ancient

Indo-Iranian word, meaning 'life, the world, the people of the
world' or, in Avestan, 'angha' - the Old Iranian initial letter 'a'
becomes an 'i' in
Germanic languages).

The second part of Gunthchramn's name, 'chramn', means 'raven'. That
combination, war-army-raven, makes one suspect that he has dark hair
(the coloured plate from Grandes Chroniques de France, below,
would seem to support this), perhaps from his mother's side? Raven
is code for dark hair, as are most colours when used as names in
Germanic and Celtic
languages in the tribal and early kingdom days. The 'Gunth-' is probably
dropped in familiar daily use, with people calling him Raven.

561 - 593

Son. Signed
Treaty of Andelot (588). Count of
Breton March?

575

When Sigisbert
of Austrasia is
assassinated, his widow and son put themselves under the protection of
Childebert's uncle, Guntramn, and he adopts the boy as his own son.

584/585

The Lombards invade
the Merovingian Frankish
region of Provence. In return, the Frankish king of
Austrasia, Childebert II, and
Guntramn invade Lombard
Italy. They capture Trent
and open negotiations with the
Eastern Roman emperor
via Ravenna, perhaps with
the view of carving up Italy between them. The Lombards, fearing Frankish
domination, elect a king to end their disunity. He is successful in throwing
out the invaders and restoring the strength of the kingdom.

587 - 590

Gunthchramn
of Burgundy compels Waroch of
Bro Erech
to renew his oath in writing and demands a thousand solidi in
compensation for raiding
Nantes.
The city clearly remains a
Frankish possession,
still part of the
Breton March,
although why it is Gunthchramn of distant Burgundy who is doing the
demanding is unclear. The possibility exists that he may be fulfilling the
role of military governor of the Breton March. That compensation has not
been paid by 588, even though Waroch has promised it both to Gunthchramn
and Chlothar II of the Franks. In 589 or 590, Gunthchramn sends an
expedition against Waroch under the command of Beppolem and Ebrachain.
Ebrachain is an enemy of Fredegund, queen consort to the late King
Chilperic, and it is she who sends the
Saxons
of Bayeux to aid Waroch.

Beppolem fights Waroch alone for three days before dying, at which point
Waroch attempts to flee to the Channel Islands. Ebrachain destroys his
ships and forces him to accept renewed peace, the renewal of his oath,
and surrendering a nephew as a hostage. Despite all of this, the
Bretons
retain their spirit of independence and refuse to be cowed by the powerful
Franks.

593 - 595

On the death of Guntramn, his adopted son, Childebert of
Austrasia annexes the kingdom.
When Childebert himself dies just two years later, his second son, Theuderich
receives the Burgundian kingdom. His eldest son, Theudebert, receives
Austrasia.

595 - 613

Son of Childebert
II of Austrasia.

605 - 606

Upon the death of Childebert of
Austrasia in 595, the
Thurgau, Kembsgau, and Alsace had all passed to Burgundy under Theuderich
II. Now in 605 Theuderich goes to war with his brother, Theudebert II of
Austrasia. His army, which does not want to fight its Austrasian countrymen,
he places under the command of Protadius with instructions to induce the
soldiers to fight.

In 606 at Quierzy-sur-Oise, Theuderich re-assembles the army, but the men
once again refuse to fight their countrymen. The king orders Uncilen, duke
of Alemannia, to
coerce them. Uncilen, however, declares that the king has ordered the death
of Protadius. The despised general is promptly killed by his troops and the
king is forced to sign a treaty with Austrasia. Queen Brunhilda, who had
induced Theuderich to war, has Uncilen's foot removed. According to the
Lex Alamannorum, a duke is only eligible for office if he can mount
a horse. Being unable to continue to exercise his office, Uncilen is
removed.

613

Son. 'False' king of Burgundy &
Austrasia. Killed by Clothar
II.

613

Great-grandmother
and regent.

613 - 751

Chlothar II manoeuvres the nobles of
Austrasia into abandoning
Brunhilda and Sigisbert, the illegitimate son of Theuderich. They are both
captured and put to death (painfully and prolonged in the case of Brunhilda).
The Frankish empire
is reunited under Chlothar II, and it seems likely that Gunzo, duke of
Alemannia and father of
Sigisbert's fianc, is removed from his office. Clothar's son, Dagobert I,
continues to hold the empire together, but after he dies, Burgundy is ruled
by his son, Clovis II, as king of the Franks &
Neustria in 638-656. Burgundy
remains united to Neustria, but with its own administration.

Brunhilda, long a bitter enemy of Clothar II, was tied to the feet of wild horses and torn apart. After this, the Liber Historiae Francorum states that 'finally she died', while above is a map of Frankish-dominated Europe around AD 800 (click or tap on map to view full sized)

751 - 840

With
the Pope's blessing, the
Carolingian mayors
of the palace depose the Merovingians
and take control of the empire. Neustria,
Austrasia, and Burgundy are controlled
directly.

840 - 843

Louis
I wills the
Frankish empire to his sons, but tries to ensure that the eldest
gains the biggest share, in order to avoid the fragmentation of territory
that so weakened the Merovingians.
Lothar receives
Middle Francia (the Rhine
corridor, the kingdom of
Burgundy, and Italy), while Charles
the Bald receives Western Francia
(France and the duchy of Burgundy).

Frankish Kingdom of (Upper) Burgundy
AD 843 - 1032

Subjugated by the Huns
in 437, the
Burgundians had
accepted Roman
federate status and essentially moved into the vacuum of dwindling
Roman power, being ceded Roman lands in 443 and 458. They were
conquered in stages by the growing power of the Merovingian
Frankish
kingdom, but upon the death of Chlothar I the kingdom was partitioned
and his son, Guntrumn, became
Burgundy's first independent ruler.
Eventually that independence was whittled away by various dynastic
alliances before the
Carolingians
usurped command and united the Frankish lands as a single empire.

The partition of the
Frankish
empire that was agreed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843 also resulted
in the division of the Burgundian territories. The larger part of the
kingdom lay on the east bank of the River Sane. This fell to Lothar,
king of
Middle Francia,
to rule directly, and it continued to be known as the kingdom of Burgundy.
Its capital was at Arles, thanks to which it is occasionally known as
the Burgundian kingdom of Arles. The lesser division, on the west bank
of the Sane, formed the duchy of
Burgundy. However,
it should be noted that this southern duchy was distinct from Lower
Burgundy itself, on the eastern side of the Sane, which remained part
of the kingdom of Burgundy.

(Additional information from Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the
Church in Burgundy, 980-1198, Constance Brittain Bouchard (New York
1987), and from Europische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der
Europischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II, Detlev Schwennicke (Marburg,
1984).)

843 - 855

Lothar I of
Middle Francia
rules the kingdom directly. On his death, the kingdom of Burgundy is
further divided between his sons. Lothar II receives
Lotharingia and northern
(Upper) Burgundy, while Charles receives southern (Lower) Burgundy, which
includes Lyon, Provence, and Vienne (former city of the
Allobroges tribe),
and which comes to be known as the kingdom of Provence.

King Louis the Pious of the Frankish empire attempted to leave the empire intact for his eldest son, Lothar, but the others rebelled at the idea. The treaty of Verdun in AD 843 confirmed the official division of the empire between Charlemagne's three surviving grandsons (click or tap on map to view full sized)

855 - 869

Upper
Burgundy is ruled directly by Lothar II, king of Lotharingia.

863 - 875

King of
France.

876

The
death of Louis the German, king of
East Francia, results in
his territory being divided between his three sons. This is something
that he had already foreseen, and portions of territory had been appointed
to each of them in 865. Now in a peaceful succession, Carloman inherits
Bavaria
and the Ostmark, Louis the Younger gains
Franconia (which
includes the Hessi lands),
Saxony,
and Thuringia, while
Charles the Fat succeeds to Rhaetia and
Alemannia (Swabia).
As the oldest son, Carloman also retains de facto dominance over
the Eastern Franks as a whole.

879 - 880

Boso of the House of Ardennes declares himself king in 879. His brother,
Richard the Justicier, splits with him and seizes his county of Autin. Their
sister is Richildis, second wife of Charles the Bald. Richard's support of
Charles' successor, Carolman II, earns him the position of margrave of
Burgundy in 880, and
he later becomes its first duke (by 890). Carloman II, still holds the
duchy as his own possession but now desires to install a local 'manager'.

879 - 887

Brother of Richard,
first duke of Burgundy.

887 - 928

Emperor of
Eastern Franks. King of Provence
& Italy.

888

Burgundy
regains control of the Swiss territories.

928 - 933

King of
Italy (926-947) &
Emperor (933).

933

Provence ceases to be a separate kingdom when Hugh exchanges it with Rudolph
II of Upper Burgundy for the crown of Lombardy, otherwise known as the
kingdom of Italy.

888 - 912

Supported by Richard
the Justicier of Burgundy.

912 - 937

King of
Italy (922-926), Lower
Burgundy (933) &
Emperor (922).

921 - 923

Segments
of the Italian nobility
are unhappy with Berengar of Friuli, so they invite Rudolph to take the
throne. At the same time, Berengar's own grandson, Berengar of Ivrea, is
encouraged by Rudolph to rise against him. Berengar retreats to Verona and
watches helpless as Italy is ravished by invading
Magyars,
their attacks the trigger for a change of leadership in Italy in the first
place. Rudolph's forces unite with the men of Berengar of Ivrea and defeat
those of Berengar of Friuli at the Battle of Fiorenzuola on 29 July 923.
Rudolf rules Italy and also holds the title of
Germanic Roman Emperor,
only to find a rival in Hugh of Arles.

936 - 937

Rudolf,
the son-in-law of and successor to Robert I of
West Francia, and
still the duke of Burgundy,
has ruled with the agreement of Robert's son, Hugh the White (referred to as
Hugh the Great by the time he becomes duke of
Aquitaine in 955).
Rudolf has been fighting the
Hungarians,
the Germans, and the
Normans, but he dies without
an heir.

Hugh the White, expecting to become king in his place, is forced to lead
a coalition against the rightful heir, Louis IV d'Outremer. Louis allies
himself to Otto I of
Saxony and
Conrad the Peaceful, king of Burgundy, and takes possession of Reims,
whereas Hugh is excommunicated by the
Pope. Hugh and Louis
are reconciled, but Hugh the Black of the duchy of Burgundy has also
been opposing Louis, so the latter sends Hugh the White against him.
Auxerre and Sens are captured, and the duchy is divided between the two
Hughs.

937 - 993

962

With
the accession of the
Saxon king,
Otto I, the power of the
Germanic Roman empire is
confirmed. Otto is quite vigorous in establishing new counties and border
areas within and without the empire's borders. The county of Ardennes under
Sigfried gains the stronghold of Lucilinburhuc (the later
Luxemburg), Arnulf I the
Elder is restored in
Flanders, and the March of
Austria
is formed from territory already captured from
Hungary
(around 960).

Germany in AD 962 may have had its new emperor to govern the territories shown within the dark black line, but it was still a patchwork of competing interests and power bases, most notably in the five great stem duchies, many of which were attempting to expand their own territories outside the empire, creating the various march or border regions to the east and south (click or tap on map to view full sized)

At the same time,
Saxony gains
Hermann Billung as its duke, charged with maintaining the duchy's eastern
borders and expanding them further to the east, alongside the recently-created
North March.
Perhaps as a reaction to this or as the culmination of a process that is
already heading that way, the duchy of
Poland is formed around
the same time.

993 - 1032

1000

Savoy becomes a county
in its own right when Rudolf grants the title of count to Humbert White
Hands, a great-grandson of Louis III of Burgundy.

1002 - 1004

Yet
again a ruling duke of
Burgundy fails to
produce an heir. However, Duke Otto-Henry does have a stepson by his first
wife, Gerberga of Mcon, widow of Adalbert II of
Italy. It is this
man, Otto William, who succeeds him, but the supporters of Robert II of
Capetian France
see an opportunity to oppose him. A two year war of succession results,
with the duchy being permanently divided in 1004.

The Free County of Burgundy largely incorporates territory from the
kingdom of Burgundy on the east bank of the Sane, but a small portion
of the duchy of Burgundy in the north - on the western bank of the
Sane - is also incorporated into it, with ultimate control being
vested in the kings of
Germany and their
successors (following the death of its current holder, Otto William,
count of Mcon and Nevers and the new duke of Burgundy). The remainder
of the duchy is annexed to France by Robert the Pious.

1031

Following the death of Robert the Pious of
France, he is
succeeded as king of France by his son, Henry. The duchy of
Burgundy on the west
bank of the Sane, however, is granted to another son, Robert I of Burgundy,
founder of the House of Burgundy.

1032

As
agreed by Rudolf III in 1006, following his death and with no heir to succeed
him, the kingdom (including its Swiss
territories) is inherited by
Franconian Emperor
Conrad II the Salian. Although the kingdom continues to operate with a fair
degree of autonomy, from this point onwards, the emperors also count themselves
as kings of Arles. In 1038, Burgundy is handed by Conrad to his son, Henry
the Black, along with the neighbouring duchy of
Swabia.