Page 191 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

Political Divisions of Britain
Angles Saxons Jutes Britons
PICTS
Lindisfarne
North Sea
JUTES DANES
MAP 7.2 The Germanic Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire. The Germanic tribes filled the power vacuum created by the demise of the Roman Empire, building states that blended
Whitby
CELTS MERCIA EAST
ANGLIA FRISIANS elements of Germanic
ESSEX London
KENT
AUSTRASIA
KINGDOM OF THE
SAXONS
customs and laws with those of Roman culture, including large-scale conversions to Christianity. The Franks established the most durable of these Germanic states.
Atlantic Ocean
NEUSTRIA
Paris
FRANKS
ALEMANNI LOMBARDS BURGUNDIANS
BURGUNDY
Toulouse
Barcelona
BAVARIANS
KINGDOM OF THE OSTROGOTHS
Q
Howdidthe movements of the Franks during this period correspond to the borders of present-day France?
SUEVES BASQUES Toledo
KINGDOM OF THE VISIGOTHS
Corsica Sardinia
Ravenna
Rome
Sicily
Mediterranean Sea
VANDALS Carthage BYZANTINES
0 0
200
400 600 Kilometers 200 400 Miles
northern and central Italy. Unlike the Ostrogoths, the Lombards were harsh rulers who cared little for Roman structures and traditions.
The Visigothic Kingdom of Spain
The Visigothic kingdom in Spain demonstrated a number of parallels with the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy. Both favored coexistence between the Roman and German populations, both featured a warrior caste dominating a larger native population, and both continued to maintain much of the Roman struc- ture of government while largely excluding Romans from power. There were also noticeable differences,
however. Laws preventing intermarriage were dropped, and the Visigothic and Hispano-Roman peoples began to blend. A new body of law common to both peoples also developed.
The Visigothic kingdom possessed one fatal weak- ness. With no established procedure for choosing new rulers, powerful Visigoths fought constantly to lay claim to the kingship. Church officials tried to help develop a sense of order, as this decree illustrates: “No one of us shall dare to seize the kingdom; no one shall arouse sedition among the citizenry; no one shall think of killing the king.” Church edicts failed to stop the feuds, however, and assassinations remained a way of life in Visigothic Spain. In 711, Muslim invaders
The Germanic Kingdoms 153
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