If any of you have seen my VLogs, you know that I've been doing some research for a new bit of writing I've been doing. A lot of this research involves the post-classical European world as it was in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D., focusing on the peoples living in the North and West of the continent. Two major ethno-linguistic groups (peoples sharing a similar language and ethnic background) dominated this part of Europe at the time: the Germans (Germanic) and the Celts (Celtic). For these posts, I'm going to be identifying characteristics of these peoples, their societies, and some of the more notable groups that sprung from them.
The Germans
Origin: Germany
Modern Descendants: Germans, Austrians, and German Swiss; present in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland
Note: For this section, "Germans" refers to the Germanic peoples who lived in and near modern Germany. For all sections, "present" refers to a significant component of a given group in a population. For example, many in the Czech Republic have German blood.
The first Germanic languages originated in the land we now know as Germany. But there was no concept of the German people, except to the Romans - the Germans lived in semi-nomadic tribes who made a living through a mix of agriculture and pillage. Warlike, though not so warlike as some other European peoples, the Germans valued strength and turned to military leaders to rule their people. The Germans can claim credit for the sack of Rome and a pantheon of gods. After Rome fell, though, they eventually adopted Christianity. That by no means unified them, though.
The Franks
Origin: Western Germany
Modern Descendants: Present in France
When the Romans pulled out of the lands we now know as France, the people who gave the country its name moved in from across the Rhone. The Franks had little trouble establishing kingdoms, as the once-warlike natives, the Gallic (Celtic) peoples, had long since been Romanized. (Wait - Roman, Romantic...there must be some relation there.) The Franks adopted the Latin the Gauls spoke, adding in elements of their own Germanic tongue to form a language similar to the French we know today. The Franks staked their claim in history at the battle of Tours, when Charles Martel repelled a burgeoning Muslim Spain's attempt to advance its territory, and cemented that claim when Martel's grandson Charlemagne became the first Holy Roman Emperor.
The Anglo-Saxons
Origin: Denmark (Angles), Northern Germany (Saxons)
Modern Descendants: Present in England
When Rome's rule in Britain fell, things weren't hunky-dory. Rival kings rose and fell with the seasons, fighting each other and the as-yet-unconquered Picts. Some of those kings called for mercenaries from Denmark and Saxony to fight their battles for them. But the Angles and the Saxons had an appetite for wealth the British kings could not satisfy. When their employers could not pay them sufficiently for their services, the Angles and the Saxons would usurp their lands. Soon, raiders from those mercenaries' tribes came with an intent to settle. In some places, they coexisted peacefully with the native Britons; the Britons tended to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture and language, and often intermarried with the would-be invaders. In other places, however, specifically northeastern England, the transition was less smooth: raiders slaughtered local peoples en masse. The Angles would lend the part of Britain they helped conquer their name (Angle-Land became England), and the descendents of these Anglo-Saxons would rule over modern-day England until another Germanic people overthrew their regime.
The Norse
Origin: Scandinavia
Modern Descendants: Scandinavians; Present in France, Britain, Ireland
No people inspired terror as the vikings did. Their nickname literally meant "Raider." The Norse gods were perhaps the most bloodthirsty gods of Europe, demanding appeasement through conquest and battle. The vikings were only too happy to oblige: using their highly advanced (for the time) longships, they could strike anywhere with lightning speed. The Norse came for gold and stayed for land; Norse settlements were formed in Great Britain, Normandy and Ireland, as well as many islands of the North Atlantic, and Norse blood mingled with the population. Eventually, a group of Christian, French-ized Norsemen, known today as the Normans, overthrew the Anglo-Saxon rule over England and formed a nation that has endured to the present day.
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