Summary
Highlights
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Germanic populations occupied the western provinces, leading to the formation of Roman-Barbarian (or Roman-Germanic) kingdoms where Romans and Germanic peoples coexisted. Key kingdoms included the Visigoths, Suebi, Franks, Burgundians, and Vandals.
The Visigoths, responsible for the 410 AD Sack of Rome, initially established their kingdom in Gaul with Toulouse as the capital. They later expanded into Aquitaine and then into the Iberian Peninsula, establishing Toledo as their new capital. They eventually conquered the Suebi in 585 AD, further extending their territory.
The Frankish kingdom originated in northern Gaul, expanding to encompass all of Gaul and western Germany. This kingdom later conquered the Burgundian kingdom and would become very extensive, laying the groundwork for the future French Empire.
The Vandals controlled parts of Libya, Tunisia, and islands like Corsica, Sardinia, and the Balearics, with a brief hold on Sicily. In Britain, the Angles and Saxons settled, clashing with the Britonns who retreated to Brittany in northern France. Italy remained under Odoacer until 489 AD, before the arrival of the Ostrogoths.
In these kingdoms, Germanic peoples controlled the military, while Romans managed administration. The barbarians lacked extensive legal knowledge, leading to a complex legal system. Roman law was territorial, but Barbarian law was based on oral customs and a 'personal' system (personality of law), where individuals were judged by their people's customs. This led to different legal treatment within the same kingdom.
Early Germanic law included 'faida' (feud), a blood vendetta among families. Later, 'wergild' emerged as a more evolved system, where an offender would pay a monetary compensation to the victim's family, representing a step towards a more civil legal system.
Mixed marriages were generally forbidden by the Germans to preserve their cultural identity, though this maintained them as a minority. Religion was another major point of division, as most Germanic peoples were Arian Christians, not Catholic, creating friction with the Roman population. This duality prevented full cohesion within the kingdoms.
Leaders like Clovis I of the Franks understood the importance of religious unity. His conversion to Catholicism in 496 AD and the removal of the ban on mixed marriages fostered greater integration between the 'barbarians' and Romans. This decision significantly contributed to the future success and expansion of the Frankish kingdom.