Gothic History Section


Where (exactly) was the Gothic Empire? I Can't Place it...



They didn't start out as an empire, but then again neither did Rome or any of the other great societies. They started as a migrating Germanic tribe. Historians used to have disagreements about where they came from and to an extent they still do. They have it narrowed a bit, but can and do tend to agree that they originally came from Scandinavia. It could have either been from the mainland or from and Island off the coast. Gothic oral history tells of a migration from their homeland in Scandza across the Baltic Sea. Either way, these are the relatives/forrunners/anscestors of the people we have come to know as Vikings, Russians and Normans.

They arrived in Europe in the first century and were involved in small battles to carve out their small agrarian settlements. 200 AD they had divided into two main groups - the Tervingi (Visigoths) in the Romanian area and the Greutungi (Ostergoths) further east near the Black Sea. Ostergoths lived primarily near Asia minor, eventually invading and briefly ruling the Roman Peninsula. The Visigoths lived in Northern Europe, eventually ruling lands in Spain and France. In the sixth century, whilst both were in their heyday, they once again united under Theodoric the Great and basically controlled all of Europe.


To return to the previous page, Close this window


Sign Guestbook View Guestbook

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1