Ancient Germans and Eastern Slavs. About the “eternal confrontation” between the Germans and the Slavs. Economic life, agriculture and cattle breeding
Since the racial history of the ancient Slavs in its main contours appears as a merger of Nordic Indo-Germans with Eastern Europeans or with Eastern Europeans mixed with Finno-Ugric peoples, then it is still necessary to raise the question of whether the Nordic component of the Slavs was strengthened thanks to the Germanic peoples. For if Eastern Europe for such a long time was in one way or another the territory where German history was made, then such racial influence must also at least be taken into account.
Wolff wanted to use primarily Bastarnen for his interpretation of this problem. Although the areas inhabited by this people of early Germanic history covered about 400 B.C. most of Poland - approximately up to the Polish Bug - they, however, did not include the epicenter of the settlement of the Proto-Slavs, which, soon after the separation of the Baltic peoples from the single Balto-Slavic (balto-slawischen) linguistic community that existed in even more ancient times, was destined to be located on a relatively close space. The territories of today's Poland west of the Bug and Vistula cannot belong to this “ancestral home”. The Bastarni had the opportunity to come into contact with the Slavic tribes after their retreat towards the south of Russia between the Carpathians and the Pripyat marshes - in Eastern Galicia and Podolia - from where part of their archaeological heritage originates. But, since their appearance in the southern Russian steppe was of a relatively short-term nature, and the people they encountered were more numerous, this contact could only be superficial and fleeting. Their later history in the southern Russian steppe represents clashes with the Scythians (Skythen), Sarmatians (Sarmaten), Greeks, and subsequently, primarily with Rome. Their pressure is always directed to the south, along the borders of the Roman Empire, but not to the Slavic-Finnish north, unknown to them and completely unattractive culturally. Thus, the significant racial influence of the Bastarns on the Slavs is actually incredible.
Things are already somewhat different with the Goths (Goten), who followed the Bastarnae. One Gothic tale, telling of the years of their wanderings, tells how, having passed through a vast swampy area and crossed a wide river, they found themselves in the country of Oiuni, rich in fertile lands. The fact that this area, apparently, is the wetlands near today's Rokitno (Rokitnos "umpfe), is confirmed by a runic spear found near Kovel (meaning a spear tip found near the city of Kovel in Volyn with runic signs and a swastika symbol inscribed on it .- Note ed.) . Presumably, at the end of the 2nd century BC. The territories inhabited by the Slavs in the southeast were expanded to a certain extent, so now it is permissible to assume that the Goths who settled in these lands and came into contact with the Slavs actually managed to subjugate them to their influence.
While the history of the Visigoths (Westgoten) continued to be made in clashes with the Roman Empire, in other words, as a confrontation with the South, the main focus of the question of the dominance of the Ostrogoths (Ostgoten) is concentrated, as is obvious, in the North. In these traditions of the Goths, this is associated primarily with the name Ermanarich (Hermanarich, Hermanarich) - (?-375), king of the Ostrogoths; led a tribal union in the Northern Black Sea region, defeated in 375 by the Huns. Committed suicide. - Note ed.). He conquers not only the “Veneti” (Venethi) - the Slavs, whose traces should be sought approximately in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, but also the Finno-Ugric peoples up to the Oka and Volga. An ancient Icelandic saga tells how he fights against the rebellious Slavs, which implies that they were subjugated by him earlier, and which, apparently, explains the title he bears - “Fighter with the Wends” (“Wendenk"ampfer”). However, that we are talking here not only about purely military supremacy is evidenced by some borrowed Germanic words of that era, which have remained in Slavic languages to this day (Thus, the word “izba” comes from the same Germanic word “Stube” as the one used. in modern Russian the word “stack”, that is, logs placed one on top of the other. To the prehistory of two archaic concepts // Abstracts of the Summer School on Secondary Modeling Systems, May 10–20, 1968, Tartu: Publishing House. Tartu University, 1968; in: Burovsky A.M. The collapse of the empire: A course of unknown history. M.: ACT Publishing, 25; see note 2 on p. Note ed.).
However, the dominance of the Ostrogoths, which lasted only until the onslaught of the Huns (Hunnensturm), did not last long. Only a part of the numerous people managed, having crossed the Danube in 376, to continue the formation of their historical path, which culminated in the conquest of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths fell partly under the rule of the Huns, and in the following decades their presence was found in all sorts of warlike groups; partially - staying in remote territories that were once under their domination - they were, apparently, assimilated by the Slavs or Finns. History, in any case, does not report anything about this period. If there are any sources in it, then they appear only under the Slavs and date back five hundred years later. But one way or another, until modern times, the very name, language and race of the “Crimean Goths” (Krimgoten) remained witnesses of their former greatness.
If the external influence on the Slavs exerted by the Goths, and especially the Ostrogoths, does not raise any doubts, then the racial influence on such a vast territory and such a short period of time under their dominance still cannot be significant. There is still no possibility of giving him any assessment.
For the field of research on the population of these lands, the expansion of the Western Slavs that followed the period discussed above could be much more important than these, mainly imposed by force, power-political relationships, as soon as it reached areas inhabited for many centuries by Germanic peoples. Meanwhile, the study of ancient history, linguistics and race is increasingly developing the awareness that cultural changes only rarely mark a complete change in population. Thus, largely thanks to linguistics, in areas newly populated by Western Slavs, the fact of their contact with the Germans who remained on these lands is confirmed. The individual finds recovered from the ground, identified as directly Germanic, relate to the historical interval following the era of tribal migration, that is, to the interval between the Germanic and Slavic eras. And finally, the conclusion drawn from the position of anthropology and not allowing for the existence of remnants of the Germanic population who survived the specified historical period in these territories is also well understood: the expansion of the area of presence of representatives of the Nordic race in the lower reaches of the Vistula is so great that it can be traced by the relative increase in Nordic characteristics still in the area of its middle course. Material archaeological evidence also speaks of a very long, continuous German settlement that took place here. Yes, even Polish anthropologists admit - even if using other reasons - the arrival of the Slavs here after the departure of the remnants of the German population, namely the Goths! . Again, there is still no opportunity to evaluate this information using more accurate figures.
And finally, the youngest Germanic layer in the Slavs should be called Norman (normannische). As is known, it was formed by following two main routes here: eastern - from Lakes Ladoga and Ilmen, as well as from the upper reaches of the Dnieper and western - from the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, Oder and Vistula. The Normans created a state on these lands, and, thanks to this, their arrival here belongs to history, as evidenced not only by archaeological finds, but even by the histories of individual families. The main spheres of their influence should be considered: in the west - in addition to the entire coast of the Baltic Sea, Posen (Poznan) and Silesia, in the east - the “Varangian Way” (“War"ager Strasse” - apparently, the author means “The Way from the Varangians to the Greeks." Note ed.), and especially the territory between Novgorod and Kyiv.
With the Normans there is also a process of absorption by the Slavs, which, if traced from the point of view of history, has already happened with the more ancient Germanic strata. Already in the third generation, Varangian princes bear Slavic names. As a result, they, without a doubt, poured fresh Nordic blood into the veins of the Slavs and, in particular, the aristocracy, which, of course, was soon destined to seep into the general mass of the peoples mentioned. In any case, Niederle assesses the racial influence of the Varangian era as insignificant: “Contrary to the key role that the Prussians (Preussen) played in the founding and development of the great Slavic power in the east, they had only a weak, almost negligible influence on the physical type of the Slavs. They were too few in number, and soon completely disappeared into the Slavic Sea.”
Thus, for all the ancient Slavs it is possible to state not only one political and cultural, but also a certain racial influence exerted on them by the Germans: at the end of that era, when the Slavs were still united as such, this happened as a result of contact with the Ostrogoths, later, among the Western Slavs, on the one hand, due to the adoption of the remnants of the Germanic population in East Germany, Poland and Bohemia, and on the other, due to the appearance of the Normans. Among the Eastern Slavs, this happens in exactly the same way thanks to the Normans. But this influence is unlikely to contribute anything to the interpretation of the racial classification of the ancient Slavs. We do not have a single example of such an influence on the Slavs in the East German and West Polish regions, once inhabited by the Germans. In the same way, the high share of participation of the Nordic component in the Varangian zone is small everywhere. The main division (see Fig. 24) runs rather across the north-south line. Thus, the bulk of the Nordic components in the ancient Slavs should, perhaps, be attributed to the Indo-Germanic, Proto-Slavic main layer.
| |
Germans. We receive the first news about the Germans from two Roman writers: from Caesar, who in his “Notes on the Gallic War” in the middle of the 1st century BC reports brief and rather unclear information about them, and from the famous Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote in at the very end of the 1st century after R. X., at the beginning of the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan, his essay on “The Origin, Morals and Peoples of Germany.” Of course, many changes occurred among the Germans during the 150 years that separate Caesar from Tacitus; but we don’t know about them for sure.
At that time, the Germans occupied part of northern and central Europe. In central Europe they lived along the rivers Elbe, Oder and Vistula. In the west and south, their borders reached the Rhine and Danube rivers, beyond which the possessions of the Roman Empire began. In the north, the Germans inhabited the Jutland and Scandinavian peninsulas. In the east they had no definite boundaries; they entered the borders of modern Russia, where they encountered other nationalities, especially the Slavs.
The country in which the Germans lived was covered with endless dense forests and numerous swamps.
For a long time, the Germans led a nomadic lifestyle; their main occupations were cattle breeding and agriculture; with frequent movements, farming was inconvenient, and in those cases when it was necessary to cultivate the land, the Germans, having no idea about fertilizing the fields, brought the given area to complete depletion, abandoned it and moved to another place. Having reached the Roman border in the west and south and being unable to either move further or return back, since other nationalities were already pressing on them from the east, the Germans were forced to turn to a settled life. Then agriculture should have become one of the main foundations of life for them. But the country, covered with forests and swamps, presented many difficulties in converting its soil into arable fields; and even the very agricultural tools of the Germans, such as their wooden plow, were very primitive.
The Germans lived in small wooden huts, dressed in animal fur coats and ate simple and moderate food. From an early age they were accustomed to a harsh lifestyle and were fond of war and hunting. The woman was respected by them.
Usually the Germans settled in clans and families; often several such families united and formed a clan group or clan union, where each family had to live by the interests of the group or union; At the head of the clan was, in all likelihood, a clan foreman. The combination of several clan groups created a division of the tribe, a tribe, headed by a district elder. The totality of the tribes constituted a defined tribe.
The Germans were divided into estates- freemen, freedmen and slaves.
Among the free there were simply free (ingenui) and nobles (nobiles), who sometimes became very rich people. Wealth at that time consisted of livestock, slaves, and then land ownership; At that time there were already quite large landowners. The most battle-tested and rich warriors gathered around them a squad, which they armed, supported, and with which they carried out devastating raids; It was considered a great honor for young people to join such a squad. Usually the warriors faithfully served their leaders, who, having military force in their hands, enjoyed great influence in deciding matters in popular assemblies.Freedmen represented a middle class between freemen and slaves. The condition of the slaves, whose main source was war, can be called tolerable; although the master could kill, sell, or bind his slave, nevertheless the ancient German did not cease to see the slave as a person. Sometimes a free German became a slave, losing his freedom at dice.
Real government structure the ancient Germans did not. Their tribes, united by the consciousness of tribal unity, descent from common ancestors and worship of the latter, acted especially unitedly when the issue of war was being decided. In this case, all free Germans of a given tribe gathered armed in a national assembly (veche), where they discussed the upcoming military actions and elected a leader. The Germans expressed their approval of the speakers with the sound of their weapons. The People's Assembly had the main power; In addition to questions about war and peace, judicial power was also in his hands.
The leader and for command during the war (duces) the popular assembly probably elected from the most prominent leaders of the squads. Sometimes these temporary leaders turned into permanent ones, that is, they became kings (reges). But the royal power of the ancient Germans was not strong; the king was only a military leader and, perhaps, on behalf of his tribe, performed some of the duties of a priest.
Religious Germanic beliefs grew up on a common Aryan basis." The Germans worshiped the souls of deceased ancestors and personified forces and natural phenomena. The main deity of the Germans was Wotan, initially the god of air, wind, and later the god of fertility, war and the general culture of the Germans. Then many other deities were revered: Donar, or Thor, the god of thunder and lightning; he is the god of fertility; Loki - the god of fire, the wife of Wotan, the goddess of marriage and the patroness of household work; - the name of the Indian and Iranian peoples, forming the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European group of languages, which includes Slavic, Germanic, Romance, Latvian, Lithuanian, ancient Greek and a number of other living and dead languages.
In ancient times, tribes speaking Indo-Iranian languages lived in close proximity to each other. From the word “Aryans” comes the ancient name of the central part of India Aryavarta (“country of the Aryans”) and the modern name “Iran”. On the question of the ancestral home of the Aryans, scientists have not come to a common conclusion, but many place it in the steppes of South-Eastern Europe - from the Dnieper to the Urals.Φ ρ е й - the goddess of love and beauty, etc. The Germans believed that the human soul continued to exist after death. Those who fell in battle were carried up by the Valkyries, Wotan's warlike servants, to his palace, called Valhalla, where they lived with the gods. The Germans also had an idea of a dark underground kingdom.
The worship of the Germans was very simple; They had no built temples; therefore, their few priests, whose simple duties could probably be performed by any free German, did not turn into a strong and influential class among them. The sanctuaries were located in sacred groves, where human sacrifices were sometimes made.
Germanic tribes. Little by little, individual small tribes, under the influence of the fight against external enemies, especially the Romans, united into larger tribal groups and in the 4th century already formed a number of more or less large nations.
At the mouth of the Rhine sat the Frisians, along the lower Rhine - the Franks, along the middle and upper Rhine - the Alamans, or Allemans; the Burgundians lived along the Neckar, a tributary of the middle Rhine; inland, between the middle Danube and the North Sea, east of the Rhine, lived the Avars, Vandals, Lombards, and Saxons; in the southeast, from the lower Danube to the Dnieper (thus entering the borders of modern Russia), lived a large tribe of Goths, who probably moved in the 2nd century AD from the southern shore of the Baltic Sea to the shores of the Black Sea; The Goths were divided into Western (Visigoths) and Eastern Goths (Ostrogoths, or Ostrogoths).
Slavs. Another people of great importance in the history of the Middle Ages were the Slavs. The oldest place of their settlement is unknown; perhaps it was located on the coast between the Oder and the Vistula, occupying the northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains in the south." Around the Nativity of Christ, the Slavs should be seen in the name of the Wends, who lived near the Baltic Sea. Having moved during the era of the great migration of peoples to the south and east, they took the place the Goths, who went to the west; the Wends were divided into the Western Slavs, who were called Slavs, and the Eastern Slavs, the Antes.
Living in dense forests, among swamps and on a boundless plain, the ancient Slavs early switched to sedentary life; Therefore, their main occupation was agriculture; In addition, they raised livestock, were especially famous for their beekeeping, and caught animals in the forests. They lived in miserable huts and had the simplest needs for food and clothing. The position of women among the Slavs was honorable.
The ancient Slavs have a strong ancestral connection. An expanded family is called a household, economic community; blood relatives who make up the community run a common household, own common property, and have the same rights; they all obey their chosen elder. Sometimes some relatives separated from the family and founded their new settlements on common land; but the family connection with the relatives left behind did not stop.
From the combination of such clans - communities, tribes were formed, headed by princes; but they did not have strong power.
According to one historian of the 6th century, the Slavs “were not ruled by one person, but from ancient times they had the rule of the people.” The land occupied by the tribe was called zhupa, from which the leaders of the tribe often bore the name zhupan. General matters were decided at meetings (veche). Like the Germans, the Slavic leaders gathered a squad around them. Internal strife greatly weakened the Slavs.Religious Slavic beliefs they were very simple and rude; in the foreground was the personification of the forces of nature. The Slavic tribes were so far from each other that they often did not have common gods: each tribe worshiped its own gods. The most famous gods were: Svarog - the god of the sky, sometimes identified with Perun, the god of thunder and lightning, well known among the Russian Slavs; Dazhd, the sun god, known, apparently, under another name “Hore”; In barely s - the god of cattle, the patron of herds, and some others. Death was personified in the form of the female deity "Madder". The Slavs worshiped their dead ancestors, who became the guardians of the family and clan.
The original Slavic history, almost unknown to us, took place under conditions less favorable than the history of the Germanic peoples. The Slavs, squeezed between the Germans and the wild eastern peoples who emerged from Asia, could not become acquainted with the Greco-Roman culture that the Germans had adopted, and had to fight the barbarians and communicate with them for a long time; this circumstance stopped their state and cultural development for more than one century.
In the 7th century, the Slavs had already advanced far to the west and south and were divided into the following three groups: Western, Southern and Eastern Slavs. The Western Slavs included the following Slavs: 1) the Baltic Slavs, who lived between the Elbe and the Vistula (Obodrites, Lyutichs, Pomeranians, and some others); 2) Poles, or Poles, along the middle and upper Vistula and along the right tributaries of the Oder; 3) Czechs with Moravians and Slovaks, who lived in the area surrounded by the Bohemian Mountains", in Moravia and northern Hungary. The southern Slavs included: 1) Slovenes - in the modern Austrian provinces of Styria, Carinthia and Istria 2; 2) Croats and Serbs in the northwestern corner of the Balkan Peninsula and along the Drava and Sava; the Bulgarians (in the 7th century, not yet a Slavic tribe) along the lower Danube. The Eastern Slavs included Russians.
Christianity among the Germans. B IV century, Christianity began to spread among the Germans, and the first tribe to accept Christianity were the Goths. The enlightener of the Goths was Bishop Ulfila (Wulfila), who lived for some time in Constantinople and followed the teachings of Arius, which, as is known, was condemned at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Returning to the country of the Goths in the first half of the 4th century, Ulfilas remained among them for several years, preaching Christianity according to the Arian rite; so that the Goths could more easily familiarize themselves with the books of the Holy Scriptures, he compiled the Gothic alphabet using Greek letters and translated the Bible into Gothic. This translation has not reached us in its complete form; but the surviving fragments of it are still very important for the study of the ancient Germanic language. From the Goths, Christianity began to gradually move to other Germanic tribes, who in most cases, like the Goths, accepted it according to the Arian rite. This circumstance was of great importance for the era of the settlement of Germanic tribes within Western Europe and the founding of German states there.
Modern scientists do not have a consensus on the exact date of ethnographic self-determination of the Slavs and Germans: defining clear time boundaries for the origin of a particular ethnic group is not an easy task even for specialists.
"Post-Flood" version
The hypothesis of Nestor the Chronicler, set out by him in The Tale of Bygone Years, in particular, speaks of the “distribution of territories” between tribes after the Flood. The geography of the distribution of the Slavs as presented by Nestor is the northern and western countries - there are about two dozen of them - and among the new inhabitants are representatives of about one and a half dozen tribes: Lithuania, Chud, Perm, Pechera, Meri and many others.
If we compare the version of Nestor the Chronicler about the almost antediluvian existence of the Slavs with scientific hypotheses about the possible date of the Great Flood on earth (from 5.5 thousand years to 8.1 thousand years BC), then, of course, the Slavs will be ethnographically older Germans.
Jordan hypothesis
In the works of the Gothic historian Jordanes, the Slavs are called Sklavens. This Byzantine explorer of the 6th century believed that their ancestors were the Veneti - it was from them that the Slavs emerged as an independent ethnic group. According to this version, ethnographic self-determination of the Slavs began to occur in the 5th-6th centuries. And by the 13th century, the Old Russian nation was formed from one and a half dozen East Slavic tribes.
They were discovered by Julius Caesar
The Germans were first recognized as an ethnic group by the Romans in the 1st century BC. e. thanks to the conquests of the great commander Julius Caesar, who, having captured Gaul, went to the Rhine and fought the Germans there. Gradually moving across the Germanic lands, in the same 1st century the Romans had the opportunity to observe and subsequently describe the geography of the settlement of Germanic tribes and the features of their life.
However, the Germans were mentioned back in the time of Alexander the Great (IV BC) by the Greek navigator Pytheas, who traveled off the coast of the Mediterranean. Accordingly, these tribes were formed even earlier.
Did the Germans even exist?
In ancient times, it was not easy to identify belonging to one or another tribe. The Romans, for example, classified as Germans everyone who was not like the Celts (Gauls) or the nomadic Sarmatians. The ancient Roman historian Tacitus even considered the Venetians to be Germans for the simple reason that they looked even less like Sarmatians. In this regard, he acted as a useless ethnographer.
As a result of this ethnographic confusion, scientists have repeatedly asked themselves the question: did the Germans even exist as an ethnic group? However, it has been established that the Germans were distinguished from the Celts-Gauls, those with whom they were mainly confused, by certain haplogroups: R1b-U106, I1a and R1a-Z284. They are found in Jutland and in the south of Scandinavia - this is the area of origin of the Germanic ethnic group.
It must be added that the Slavs and Germans did not live separately from each other. They began to actively mix with each other especially in the 4th-5th centuries - at this time the Slavs joined the Germans in their campaign against the Western Roman Empire.
The tribe of Vandals, attributed by historians of the 18th-19th centuries. to the “East Germans”, in the Middle Ages they were traditionally classified as Slavs. The German historian Adam of Bremen (c. 1075) writes: “Slavia is a very large region of Germany, inhabited by the Vinuli, who were once called Vandals.”
His compatriot, writer of the 12th century. Helmold, in full agreement with him, says that the Slavs in ancient times were called Vandals, and in his time - Vinites, or Vinuls.
Polish anonymous author of the 15th century. gives an interesting comparison of the names of the Baltic Slavs among different peoples: the ancient Romans, Gauls and Italians, he writes, called them “Vandals”, the Germans - “Vends”, the Slavs - “Galmatians”. The last name is correlated with the Slavic tribe of Glomacs or Delemics who settled Dalmatia.
The Flemish monk Rubruk wrote in 1253 that “the language of the Rusyns, Poles, Bohemians (Chekhov. - S. Ts.) and the Slavs are the same as among the Vandals.”
Also, a native of Slovenian Carinthia, Sigismund Herberstein (first half of the 16th century), claims that during the period of their power the Vandals “used ... the Russian language and had Russian customs and religion.” He further explains that the Germans call all the Slavs “Winds, Wunds and Windits, deriving their names from the Vandals alone.”
The Croatian educator from Dalmatia Mavro Orbini (17th century) writes about this, referring to the “History of the Vandals” by Albert Cranzius, which has not reached us: “The Vandals had not one, but several different names, namely: Vandals, Wends, Wends, Genets, Venets, Vinites, Slavs and, finally, the Vals.” To support his assertion about the identity of the Vandals and Slavs, he cites excerpts from the Vandal-Slavic dictionary of Charles of Wagria, indicating the linguistic proximity of these two peoples.
A similar observation was made by a 16th-century geographer. Mercator, who noted about the language of the population of the island of Rügen that they use “Slavic and Vindal” languages.
The ethno-linguistic kinship of the Vandals and Slavs is also confirmed in many medieval Russian sources and Slavic folklore - in particular, this is evidenced by the legend about the elder Sloven and his son Vandal.
Such a unanimous attribution of the Vandals to the Slavic ethnic group is explained by the fact that the Vandals were descendants of the Veneto-Pomeranian tribes who settled the Vistula-Oder interfluve and by the time of their appearance on the historical stage were largely Slavized. Thus, the Siling vandals became in medieval chronicles the Pomeranian Slenzyans and, in general, the “progenitors” of the Slavs.
The Siling Vandal tribe, which originally inhabited the Jutland peninsula, in the 1st century BC. e. moved further south - to the Slavic region between the Oder, Vistula, Sudetenland and Carpathians, and in the 4th century after R.H. settled in Pannonia. Here they took part in the creation of the Gothic state; Procopius of Caesarea mentions their settlement in the Azov region.
The Vandals were famous as excellent soldiers, and Roman emperors and military leaders willingly replenished their dwindling legions with them. The Vandal Stilicho (365-408) became especially famous in Roman service, becoming the guardian of the young Emperor Honorius and one of the last great commanders of the Roman Empire. With the help of the Vandals, Stilicho repelled the invasion of the Visigoths, defeated the Franks, and then, in order to get rid of unreliable allies, sent them to the Iberian Peninsula.
In 406, King Gunteric led the Vandals, joined by the Suevi and Alans, to Spain. Within a few years, the country was conquered and divided among the newcomers. Gunteric received the provinces of Galicia and Betica, where he reigned supreme for 18 years. In memory of the kingdom of the Vandals, the region of Betic began to be called Andalusia (Vandalusia), and this name has survived to this day.
The division of Iberia between the barbarians in 411 according to the chronicle of Bishop Idatius
But under pressure from the Visigoths, the Vandals had to leave their inhabited places. The Alans joined them again. In 429, the Vandal-Alan horde landed in North Africa. Isidore of Seville (c. 570-636) reports that about 80,000 barbarians crossed Gibraltar. Within ten years, the Vandals and Alans captured the entire North African coast from Gibraltar to Carthage, forming the first barbarian kingdom in the territory of the Western Roman Empire. Their new king Geiseric (428-477), who succeeded Gunteric, was an Arian and a man of strict morals. He was disgusted by Carthage, drowning in luxury and excess. Having destroyed the “African Rome,” Geiseric founded a new city nearby, the main attractions of which were not circuses and baths, but churches and gymnasiums. At his request, the local population had to be baptized; Geiseric brought “not peace, but a sword” to the rebellious. Thus, this king can be considered the first crusader.
Kingdom of the Vandals in Africa
The Vandals created a powerful fleet, with which they captured Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. In June 455, Geiseric's army landed in Italy and besieged Rome. There was no talk of resistance. Panic began in the city. The Romans themselves stoned Emperor Petronius Maximus and threw his corpse into the Tiber. Only Pope Leo I came out to meet the formidable enemy, but he could not convince Geiseric not to touch the eternal city. Geiseric gave his soldiers 14 days to sack Rome. Vandals stole everything from temples, palaces and houses so they could carry it away. Even the roof was removed from the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. According to Procopius of Caesarea, “it was a wonderful and magnificent roof made of the best copper and all thickly gilded.” When they left, the Vandals drove thousands of Romans to Africa, turning them into slaves. Rome, mercilessly plundered, was abandoned for several centuries.
K. Bryullov. Genseric's invasion of Rome
This dubious feat allowed Geiseric to take the place of the “Scourge of God” in the barbarian world, empty after the death of Attila in 453.
However, the kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa did not last long. In 533-534 The Byzantine commander Belisarius again annexed the Carthaginian lands to the empire, after which the Vandals disappeared as a historical nation. Perhaps they, together with the Alans, became the ancestors of the North African Berbers (this is how the Roman “barbarian” sounds in Arabic). The Arab writer Al-Bekri noted that Berber wedding customs are similar to “Slavic” ones. Preparing for a campaign in Visigothic Spain, the Arab commander Musa recruited from 12 to 30 thousand Berber youths into his army. With their help, the Arabs in 711 defeated the army of the last Visigothic king Rodrigo on the plain near Jerez de la Frontera and conquered Spain.
Vandal horseman. Mosaic from Tunisia
But why did ancient writers classify the Vandals as “Germans” and not as “Veneti”? Probably the fact is that the Vandals, during their residence in the Vistula-Oder interfluve, were in close contact not only with the Slavs, but also with ethnic Germans. Apparently, Tacitus’ remark that the Veneti “disfigure” themselves by mixed marriages refers specifically to the Vandals, who occupied the westernmost part of the “Venetian” area. In addition, under the name of Vandals, as is usually the case in ancient literature, there was undoubtedly hidden an extensive tribal union, which also included ethnic Germans.
Pliny divided the “Germans” into five groups, one of which was made up of the “Vandil” (Vandals) tribes, which united the Burgundions, Varins, Charins and Gutons. The Varns (Varnas) were known in the Middle Ages as a Slavic tribe. The Gutons are apparently Goths who, in Pliny's time, were still living in the southern Baltic "Gotiskanza". There is no reliable information about the ethnicity of the Kharins (perhaps these are the same “Hirri” whom Pliny mentions elsewhere among the peoples inhabiting Eningia - the Sarmatians, Veneti and Sciri). Thus, the Burgundians remain as 100% Germans, that is, the Burgundians are the creators and characters of the famous German epic of the Nibelungs. Of course, during the long wanderings of the Vandals across Europe, other Germanic tribes could have joined them - sources name, for example, the Suevi, who, in turn, were an extremely large tribal group. Later, some of the Vandals underwent complete Germanization. Procopius of Caesarea testified that the Vandals who lived near the Sea of Azov, “under the pressure of hunger, went to the Rhine River, to the Germans, who are now called Franks...”
The unpleasant consequence of all this is that the Slavs, alas, apparently, to some extent, must share with the Germans the shameful historical rights to the term “vandalism”.
Germans and Slavs (on the issue of "East Germans")
The Germans, like the Slavs, were late to stand out ethnographically in the eyes of ancient people from the surrounding mass of barbarian tribes. As a matter of fact, their existence as an independent ethnic group, separate from the Celts, was first recorded in writing by Posidonius (135-51 BC). In the middle of the 1st century BC. e. Caesar's authority introduced the ethnonym "Germans" into the literary tradition, and a century later Tacitus made a detailed ethnographic description of "Germany". Reliable archaeological evidence about the Germans does not go back further than the 7th century. BC e. (Jastorf culture on the territory of Jutland and adjacent lands).
As we see, the terms “Germans” and “Germany” in ancient literature are extremely vague and in no way can be completely identified with the modern Germanic world. The scientifically established opinion about the “Germanism” of many peoples, especially the so-called “East Germans,” which previously included some tribes in Central Europe from the upper reaches of the Oder to the lower reaches of the Danube, needs to be revised. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that “a number of tribes, which the ancients classified as Germanic, apparently either were not Germanic at all, or were a mixed... population,” in connection with which the voices of scientists are heard “about the uncertainty of ethnic borders that separated the Germans from other peoples" [ Gurevich A.Ya. Selected works. T.1. M.; St. Petersburg, 1999. P. 30]. The Germanic ethno-cultural foundation of medieval Europe, which until recently seemed unshakable, has been collapsing before our eyes for some time now, and the consternation in scientific circles is so great that a prominent German archaeologist asks, not entirely jokingly: “Did Germans even exist?” [ Hachmann R. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Berlin, New York, 1973. P. 31]
The ancient Germanic tribes did not have their own common self-name. Initially, the Gauls called one of the Trans-Rhine tribes “Germans” and introduced this name to the Romans, who transferred it to all the peoples living between the Rhine and the lower Danube. In other words, for Roman writers, Germans were everyone who did not resemble the Celts (“Gauls”) and Iranian-speaking nomads (“Sarmatians”). A passage from Tacitus about the Veneti is very indicative in this regard. The Roman historian classified them (along with the Peevkins and Finns) among the Germans only on the basis that they were even less similar to the nomadic Sarmatians. From this it is clear that the term “Germans” in his mouth is ethnographic in the broadest sense, since the peoples in his work are classified mainly by way of life and very rarely by language and actually established ethnic kinship or, conversely, difference.
Therefore, the Slavicization of part of the ancient “Germanic” tribes in the works of medieval German writers does not seem so unexpected and contradictory. Thus, the Lugii who lived in Polish Pomerania become in German chronicles the Lusatians, the Rugs - the Ruyans, the Rans, the Rus, the Silings - the Slenzyans, the Heruls - the Gavolians, the Welts - the Velets, the Lemovians - the Lemuses, the Gelisians - the Gelensichs, the Hutts - the Hutticians, the Diduns - the Dedoshans, the Zemnons - Zemchichs, Varins - Varnas (Wagrs), etc. It is noteworthy that the Slavs of these tribes are testified primarily by the Germans themselves, mainly Catholic missionaries who are familiar with the Slavs first-hand - they, presumably, would have been able to recognize something related to the Germans in the language, culture, way of life, anthropological characteristics of their new flock, if such a relationship really existed. But the ethnographic verification of the Tacitite “East Germans” in the Vistula-Oder interfluve, carried out in the 10th-12th centuries. German monks indicates the opposite. Having moved from the world of ancient literary tradition to the real ethnographic world of Polish Pomerania, German medieval writers clarified the information of classical authorities: not “Germans”, but Slavs.
The classification of the Slavs as Germans was greatly facilitated by the fact that both often entered into military-political alliances. According to Tacitus, Germanic (that is, generally barbarian) tribal squads were constantly replenished with warriors from neighboring tribes. “If the tribe,” he writes, “in which they were born becomes ossified in long-term peace and idleness, many noble young men go to the tribes involved in some kind of war...” Like the Germans, the Veneti Slavs were by no means distinguished by their love of peace. Tacitus testifies that they “learned a lot from their (Germanic. - S. Ts.) morals, because they go around with bandits of robbers all the forests and mountains between the Peucines and the Fennas.”
As is clear from the words of the historian, German warriors probably often joined the Slavs in their military raids on neighboring lands. Any barbarian army consisted of two parts: the princely squad and the tribal militia. The main virtues of a warrior were considered to be loyalty to the leader and personal courage. In essence, these were professional soldiers, of which there were not so many in each tribe. Therefore, warriors were often recruited from neighboring tribes, and it happened that foreigners outnumbered the prince’s relatives in the squad. The Germans were famous as brave warriors (Caesar wrote that the Gauls were so afraid of their eastern neighbors that they could not fearlessly endure even their “sharp gaze”), and there is no doubt that they were widely represented in the squads of the Slavic princes. Obviously, their presence in the Slavic armies, and even in close proximity to the leaders, played an important role in the identification of Germans and Slavs in the Roman tradition, facilitating for the latter the puzzling classification of countless barbarian tribes that appeared near the Roman limes from approximately the same geographical space . We know how easy it was then to get into the “Scythians” or “Sarmatians”; The situation was exactly the same with the “Germans”. On the other hand, the German squads, of course, could be replenished by Slavic warriors.
In addition, let us take into account that the Veneti, in the words of Tacitus, “disfigured” themselves by mixed marriages. This means that Slavic men took German women as wives (“disfigured” themselves - that is, they got married, and did not marry off their daughters) 1 . Children from such mixed marriages, of course, grew up Slavic in language and culture; but according to the custom common among all barbarians, children born from foreign mothers were given names from the name book of the people to which their mother belonged. This is important to remember when faced with the abundance of Germanic names in ancient and early medieval sources.
The mixing of Slavs and Germans acquired a special scope in the 4th-5th centuries, when a significant part of the Slavic tribes apparently left the Vistula-Oder lands to take part in the German assault on “Hesperia” - the Western Roman Empire.
1 Indeed, racially speaking, medieval Germans represent a more homogeneous group than the Slavs. As for the latter, the medieval Croats are closest to the Germans in anthropological terms [see. Alekseeva T.I. Slavs and Germans in the light of anthropological data. Questions of history. 1974. No. 3]. The initial area of settlement of the Croats, from where they then moved south and east, was adjacent to the lands occupied by Germanic tribes. Frankish sources note that from ancient times the Croats lived beyond “Bagivaria” - Bavaria. >back
TAJNÉ DEJINY SLOVENSKA: Sloveni — najgermánskejší Germáni
the author of a forthcoming book in Slovak publishes interesting parts
http://www.cez-okno.net/rubrika/sloveni-slovania
including, he derives the name of the Slavs from Suevi – Suebi (Slevi – Slebi), Suobeni – Suoveni (Slobeni – Sloveni).
http://www.cez-okno.net/clanok/spolocno … ani-3-cast
http://www.cez-okno.net/clanok/spolocno … ani-1-cast
Germany according to Tacitus, where later in the 6th-9th centuries there were only Slavs))
...from which we can conclude that the “valiant” Germans ceded their lands to the Slavs))
Marcomanni, Markhari and Marovans are clearly and indisputably the names of the same tribe of Slovenians living in Morava, and whose name was derived from their typical folk feature - long hair tied in a crest (sultan) - a braid.
http://www.cez-okno.net/clanok/spolocno … -vi-morava
Slovenes are the most Germanic Germans (the article in Slovak is very interesting, where it’s about Moravia in Sweden not only on the map of the 16th century, but also of the 12th!)
http://www.cez-okno.net/clanok/civiliza … ani-6-cast
Slavic names in the north of Sweden, where the Vandals lived, who spoke a Slavic language, as written in the chronicle of the Brem bishopric at the beginning of the 13th century “Descriptio insularum Aquilonis” (38. Recenzia: Slovenské dejiny I., Anton Semeš, recenzia bola uverejnená v dvojtýždenníku Culture 16/2009):
mestá ako Harmanger, Sala, Kovland, Mora, Tärna, Gråssjön (Krasjon – Krásna, Krasno, Krosno), Mørkri (Mokrý, Mokraď), Vindeln (Vinidi, Vandali), Granö (Gran – staroveký názov pre Hron, prípadne Grad), Rödön, Rödånäs (Rodná), Lemesjö (Lemeš, na Slovensku – Lemešany), Byssträsk (Bystrica), Hornmyr (Horný mir obdobne ako Budimír), Bellvik (belavý, belij, biely), Drevdagen, Drevsjø (drevo, drvátsky evni – starý ), Galabodarna (Gala bodarna, Kala vodarna – kalná voda), Drobak (Drobný), Dragsvik (drag chorvátsky drahý, draga – zátoka); či vrchy menom Ravnåsen (Ravná – Rovná, Rovina), Bogajell (Bog – Boh), Skåla, Gervenåkko (Červenako – Čerevnák, či žervenako – žeravý), jazero Byssträsket (Bystrické), rieka Granan (Gron – Gron) at ď.
Lamentable speech for Charles XI, or What language was spoken in Sweden?
Earlier, I wrote several times that not so long ago, throughout Europe (and not only in Europe), Russian was the spoken language. And it was not in ancient times, and not some hypothetical Proto-Indo-European, but the most Russian one. Here is some more extremely interesting information in this regard.
Imagine the situation: in 1697, King Charles XI of Sweden died, on this occasion the Swede wrote a speech in memory of this Charles, which was read out in the Swedish Senate in front of the Swedish nobility. A quick question: in what language was this speech written (and, accordingly, read)? Yes, yes! You guessed it right!
The excerpt below is taken from the book “Royal Rome between the Oka and Volga rivers” Authors - well, you get the idea :-) - Mollari
IN WHAT LANGUAGE IN STOCKHOLM, THE CAPITAL OF SWEDEN, WAS THE OFFICIAL FUNERAL ORIATION DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF THE SWEDISH KING CHARLES XI IN 1697 BY THE SWEDISH MISTER OF CEREMONIES, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ENTIRE SWEDISH COURT?
The question posed in the title is puzzling at first glance. It seems like a clear matter. Wrote and delivered a speech IN SWEDISH. How could it be otherwise!? After all, the Swedish king is solemnly buried in the capital of Sweden. But let's not rush to conclusions. Let's look at the official documents. A lot of interesting things await us.
In 1697, the Swedish king Charles XI dies. He is solemnly buried and buried in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on November 24, 1697. Naturally, a special funeral speech was written for the funeral ceremony. It was read out in front of the entire Swedish court. Moreover, the official court master of ceremonies.
The following is reported: “The author (of the speech - Author) was the Swedish linguist and book collector Johan Gabriel Sparvenfeld (1655-1727), who lived in Moscow for three years. Sparvenfeld held his “Placzewnuju recz” in connection with the funeral of Charles XI in Stockholm on November 24, 1697. At that time Sparvenfeld was the COURT MASTER OF CEREMONIES”, p.68.
Now let's answer the question we asked. AMAZINGLY, BUT THE FULL ORDER WAS WRITTEN AND READ IN RUSSIAN. Today this fact, within the framework of the Scaligerian version of history, looks absolutely wild. There is no other way to say it. After all, we are assured that there was “nothing Russian” on a noticeable scale outside of Romanov Russia in the 17th century. And even more so in Sweden, with which Russia often fought. Relations with Sweden were difficult and sometimes hostile in that era. They say that Sweden is an alien state, a culture and history far from us, a completely different “ancient” language, etc. “Nothing Russian,” and especially AT THE HIGHEST OFFICIAL LEVEL. However, as it unexpectedly turns out, the true picture of the 17th century was different. And SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT.
The shocking - but only from a modern point of view - fact of delivering a funeral speech IN RUSSIAN at the official funeral ceremony of the SWEDISH king in the SWEDISH capital, in the presence of the SWEDISH court, today needs an immediate explanation. Modern historians, of course, understand this very well. That is why, presumably, they try not to draw attention to this amazing circumstance. It was opened, most likely, only by accident, during the exhibition “Eagle and Lion. Russia and Sweden in the 17th century”, held in Moscow in 2001. The exhibition materials were published in a rare catalogue. Most likely, few of our readers have seen it.
It is clear that in the comments to this Swedish funeral oration, written in Russian, but in Latin letters, historians immediately offer their “explanation”. They write like this: “The reason why the speech was written in Russian was probably the desire to MAKE IT UNDERSTANDABLE FOR THE RUSSIAN SUBJECTS OF THE SWEDISH KING,” p.68. (Wonderful “scientific” “explanation”. You don’t know whether to cry or laugh here? Do the authors of this miracle take their readers for idiots, or do they not understand that they themselves appear as such? - Mollari)
Frankly speaking, such an interpretation raises a lot of questions. It turns out that in the 17th century there were SO MANY Russian subjects in Sweden that for their sake the ruling elite was forced to deliver a funeral oration in memory of the king IN RUSSIAN! So maybe this very top of Swedish society, the nobility, the royal court, at that time still consisted to a large extent of the descendants of the Slavs who lived and ruled not so long ago on the territory of the entire Great = “Mongolian” Empire of the XIV-XVI centuries (about this Empire, which was carefully erased from the pages of edited sources, but traces of which, nevertheless, are found everywhere, I will try to post a separate post soon - Mollari). Including on the territory of modern Sweden.
As part of our reconstruction, the picture becomes simple and clear. Until the end of the 17th century, many traditions of the Great = “Mongol” Empire were still preserved in Sweden. There were still a lot of people who spoke Russian. FIRSTLY AMONG THE RUSSIAN-HORDE NOBILITY RULING IN SWEDEN. Most likely, there were many such people in the Swedish court itself, in the immediate, closest circle of the Swedish kings of the 17th century. Perhaps some of the Swedish rulers of that era themselves still continued to speak Russian.
But in the 17th century, the rebellion of the Reformation swept through the countries of the separated Western Europe. The new reformer rulers began to reeducate the population of the breakaway lands from the Slavic language into new languages, just invented by the reformers themselves. In particular, the Swedish language was quickly invented. Of course, demagogically declaring it “very, very ancient” to make it more authoritative. Languages were also invented for other subjects of the “Mongol” Empire who lived in Scandinavia at that time. Invented on the basis of local dialects and the former Slavic language of the Empire of the XIV-XVI centuries. They introduced a new language into schools and began to teach the younger generation.
In particular, instead of the previous Cyrillic alphabet, the recently invented Latin alphabet began to be introduced. Therefore, the official Swedish funeral oration in memory of the Swedish king was STILL written in RUSSIAN, BUT IN LATIN LETTERS. Here we are faced with the process of active displacement of the Slavic language, including from the territory of Scandinavia, by newly invented languages of the Reformation era. The Slavic language was declared in Western and Northern Europe in the 17th century as the “language of the occupiers.”
To complete the picture, we present the full title of the funeral speech on the death of the Swedish king, and comments from historians. The long title of the speech is written in Russian, but in Latin letters. The text is easy to read.
“SOLENARY SPEECH ON THE DEATH OF CHARLES XI IN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE. 1697. 36.2 x 25.5. Uppsala University Library. Palmkiold Collection, 15.
The printed TEXT IN RUSSIAN, but transcribed in LATIN LETTERS, preserved as part of a codex from the Uppsala University Library, begins on page 833 of this codex and occupies EIGHT pages. There is another known copy, stored in the Royal Library of Stockholm. The text is a lamentable speech about Charles XI in Russian. The title page reads:
“Placzewnaja recz na pogrebenie togho prez segho welemozneiszago i wysokorozdennagho knjazja i ghossudarja Karolusa odinatsetogho swidskich, gothskich i wandalskich (i proczaja) korola, slavnagho, blaghogowennagho i milostiwagho naszego ghossudaja ( !), nynjeze u bogha spasennagho. Kogda jegho korolewskogo weliczestwa ot duszi ostawlennoe tjelo, s podobajuszczjusae korolewskoju scestju, i serserdecznym wsich poddannych rydaniem byst pogrebenno w Stokolnje (!) dwatset-scetwertago nowemrja ljeta ot woploszczenia bogha slow a 1697".
Then follow six pages of the speech itself, also in Russian. And the speech ends with a poem of praise about the deceased king. ALSO IN RUSSIAN. The author's name is not indicated, but on the last line of the speech itself it is written: “Jstinnym Gorkogo Serdsa Finikom” - the first letters of the words are printed in capital letters, which are the initials of the author. The author was the Swedish linguist and book collector Johan Gabriel Sparvenfeld”, p.68.
Let us now give the name of the Swedish speech written in Russian, replacing the Latin letters in its original text with Russian ones.
“A lamentable speech at the funeral of that former most noble and high-born prince and sovereign Carolus the eleventh of the Swedish, Gothic and Vandal (and other) king, our glorious, blessed and merciful sovereign (there is a typo here: instead of the letter R they wrote J - Author), now saved by God. When His Royal Majesty's soulfully abandoned body, with befitting royal honor, and the heartfelt sobs of all his subjects, was buried in the GLASS (as it turns out, Stockholm was called in the 17th century; probably GLASS production was developed there at that time - Author) twenty- November fourth summer from the incarnation of the god of the word 1697.”
Most likely, at first, people in Western and Northern Europe experienced great inconvenience, having to write Russian words in new Latin letters. What is it worth, for example, to write Russian Ш in Latin letters. It turned out ridiculous SZCZ. However, they forced it. People winced, but wrote. Then we gradually got used to it. The children did not experience any difficulties at all, being taught from an early age. Soon everyone was convinced that “it has always been this way, from time immemorial.” Which was completely untrue. This became true only in the 17th century. And before that they spoke Russian and wrote in Cyrillic. Without wincing.
Here it is - the real origin of European languages!
Back in the 16th century, throughout the vast expanse of Eurasia, it was the Russian language that was spoken (and even in some recognized as the most reliable sources, this was actually directly written about).
And then Europe decided that they urgently needed their own national languages, and created them in two stages. First, they introduced the Latin alphabet to write still Russian words, and then they changed the rules of reading/pronunciation - as a result, after a couple of generations, we got what we have today, when the same word in different European languages is sometimes read completely differently.
But, I repeat, it was based on the Russian language. —Mollari