Who Would Inherit Europe After The Romans? | Storm Over Europe | Odyssey

[Music] from the mists of the north germanic tribes headed south reaching as far as the borders of the roman empire barbarians the romans called them but in 375 a.d the most feared of all warriors descended upon europe murdering and pillaging the huns triggered a great migration hundreds of thousands of goths vandals and franks went in search of a new homeland they sacked rome some tribes disappeared almost without trace others left behind valuable treasures the germanic barbarians were to become the founders of europe [Music] starting in the 5th century a.d the franks migrated to france the anglo-saxons to britain and the goths to spain and italy europe and the christian west grew out of their empires [Music] the natural history museum in budapest is a tomb for many people from the era of the phil cavandorung the great tribal migrations tens of thousands of skulls are stored here the skull of an unknown woman found in a gothic grave in spain using a new scientific procedure the anthropologist agnes kushta is reconstructing her face [Music] who was she [Music] what can she tell us about the history of her tribe we know that around the time of christ her ancestors left scandinavia that's recorded in urdhanis the saga of the goths her tribe already had a century-long journey behind them but it was not over yet let's go back into the past with her on the visigoth's great trek to spain [Music] it's the year 507 a.d they had reached the pyrenees [Music] once again the busy goths were fleeing with their scant possessions once again they'd had to leave everything behind and set out on an arduous journey [Music] their ancestors had come to southern france as refugees from the danube but they were driven from there as well this time by the franks [Applause] [Music] anyone who joined the busy goths on their journey was welcomed as a golf regardless of their origin so in the course of their history they became a tribe of many peoples 30 40 000 people and more walked over the pyrenees to spain [Music] on the iberian peninsula they sought a new homeland was the sixth on their long journey also eurons tells us [Music] at the beginning of the 6th century the visigoths had been forced out of their kingdom in southern france by the all-powerful franks so the goths walked to the former roman provinces in spain and made them their new kingdom they wanted to stay there forever [Music] in 550 toledo formerly the roman toletum became urbs regia the seat of their kings for almost two centuries toledo was the residence of the busy gothic kings but the few traces that remain on the walls of churches and houses are known only to experts stones with relief carvings from a demolished church these busy gothic crosses were later used to decorate this palace archaeologist carmen jimenez is looking for relics of the busy gods is [Music] has recorded over 400 visigothic capitals columns and reliefs in a database so far they are the only evidence of the visigoths in toledo in the church at san salvador one of the few visigothic portrayals of people has been preserved the figures bear witness to the faith of the visigoths jesus raising lazarus from the dead suspects that there's further evidence of their rule under the foundations of the houses and churches of toledo it will probably stay hidden forever so far no evidence has been found of the goth's own constructions they probably simply moved into what the romans had left behind the immigrants settled not only in the cities but also in the vast spanish countryside [Music] many lived as simple farmers others became large estate owners who took over roman government land [Music] the history of the goths in spain is associated above all with one great name he was their king leovigild who defeated the soldiers of rome and waged war against the suevi soon the greatest part of spain belonged to him with wonderful speed he built up an empire in the gothic tradition [Music] the crown of guaratha comes from one of the most precious treasures of the time of tribal migrations it adorned an altar in the 7th century it was a votive offering from the king and sent a clear new message after god the king is the highest lord over his subjects and sovereign in his country this principle which represented a new self-awareness was introduced to spain by the visigothic kings for one thousand years up to the french revolution this principle held sway in europe at first the natives regarded the goths with their insalubrious furs as barbarians it is said of leobi guilt that he discarded forever the traditional fur clothing because the romans turned up their noses at its unbearable stink instead he donned a purple cloak a provocative act because only the roman emperor was entitled to wear such a precious robe as a sign of his power the self-confident lyovi guilt claimed this right for himself the gothic kings recognized the emperor in distant constantinople but claimed the power in their own realms for themselves [Music] he was also the first to sit on a throne in a regal robe because until then the goths had worn the same clothes and sat on the same chairs as their kings the visigothic king was the first ruler to practice what later became a principle in medieval europe in his realm the king is emperor rex in cletus pius victor on his coins it says king leo beguilt the famous pious and victorious the minting of gold coins too had previously been the privilege of roman emperors with their own currency the visigoths proudly announced their independence with these coins a nation the first in europe was being minted from the era of the visigoths in spain only the remains of a very few churches have been preserved one of them is the basilica at recopolis rekopolis was named after wreckage the king's son in 578 leobigilt laid the foundation stone for 1 500 years it lay buried the troy of the great migrations has become the life's work of archaeologist lauro olmo for three decades he has led the excavation of a new section every year he is fascinated that rekopolis must have been an open tolerant city in which christians and jews romans and visigoths live together peacefully during their excavations the archaeologists discovered that the city was built on completely new foundations this is unique for the time of the great tribal migrations this is what the huge city gate looked like in front of it lay the trading area with a market and shops for the visigoths the city gate was more than just a building antelopes with every square meter that's dug up the archaeologists make new discoveries simple pottery fragments enable them to draw conclusions about the city's trading partners pots from france and north africa have been found and the handles of amphorae from the eastern mediterranean so ricopolis must have been an important trading place and a wealthy financial center for the visigoths a bronze buckle like those ordinary women probably wore such apparently minor fines are often more valuable for what they reveal than seemingly spectacular ones recently the foundations of the king's palace have also been uncovered it was 133 metres long for this design says almo there was no precedent rekopolis here stood a unique palace in a unique city several thousand people farmers tradesmen merchants nobles and kings lived here peaceably laura almost says it will take several generations to excavate everything as an archaeologist he must maintain a disciplined focus on the evidence nonetheless he has a personal vision of this unique city of the busy gothic kings [Music] of their palaces and churches the city gate and the houses in which goths and natives all lived by the same laws [Music] the visigothic immigrants originally came as foreigners with foreign customs and traditions but like the romans they spoke latin for the goths had already lived in the south for generations and had adapted to the inhabitants of the roman provinces did this happen in spain too we know something of their kings but of the simple folk we often know only what the graves in their new homeland reveal [Music] grave number 257 is the last resting place of a busy gothic woman like roman women she wore small gold earrings and like spanish women a magnificent buckle on her belt she decorated her gown with a large brooch of silver alloy made in the ancient gothic tradition of the danube countries [Music] several hundred visigothic graves were discovered near the village of el carpio de tajo near toledo the archaeologist giselle report has dated every grave and researched how the burial site grew with each generation she made a surprising discovery el estudiantes a gothic clasp of bronze studded with ruby-colored glass beads busy gothic jewelry has been found only in graves dating to the end of the sixth century after that the women adopted the passions and jewelry of the natives the grave of a second generation immigrant yielded this belt buckle a typically spanish piece of work for giselle reporter the objects found in the graves are an indicator of the harmonious assimilation of the visigoths so the visigoths like the woman from grave 257 found a home after their long wanderings for 200 years they lived in peace then a new danger loomed in 711 moorish troops took toledo islamic rulers determined spain's fortunes for centuries not to the detriment of spain or europe however the ordinary people stayed and settled down under the new rulers many nobles fled to the north of the country gothic rule in spain was over forever [Music] 500 years earlier their journey had begun in poland on the way the gothic tribe had split in two one group had headed west the other had stayed in the east and they were called the ostrogoths what traces did they leave in history [Music] in corinthia at the foot of the alps many ostrogoths found a home here too it is the graves that tell us something of the fate of these people archaeologist franz glazza has a reputation among his colleagues of having a nose for a sight in corinthia he discovered an ostrogothic cemetery here new migrants were buried like this woman with her child the ostrogoths migrated from the black sea to austria at the same time as the huns descended upon europe over 100 skeletons have already been excavated dozens more lying the earth glazer is proud of his discovery because previously only a few ostrogothic graves have been found in this area glazer also made a sensational find during his excavations an elongated skull the strange head of this man was artificially deformed in childhood skull deformations are found principally on huns at the time of attila they also became fashionable among the germanic tribes who came into contact with his hordes so the elongated skulls are silent testimony to the germans migration this woman died at the age of 40. her high skull is a particularly fine example says anthropologist tesla nicola formation um is reconstructing the face of an artificially elongated skull for us she's an internationally recognized specialist in lifelike facial reconstructions why was this woman forced to suffer as a child and what did she look like for weeks dennis has worked on the task of reconstructing her face with her pointed skull she must have stood out among the germans even though elizabeth dennis uses special makeup and even real hair implants she does not simply invent a face she uses scientific methods plus a little intuition this is what the german nefertiti looked like when she was alive was she stigmatized for adopting han fashion or did he give her a special aura she took the answer with her to the grave one of the many thousands of refugees at that time she died at the end of the fifth century on the fringe of the ostrogothic empire the king of the ostrogoths teodrick extended his area of rule from the balkans to italy into the heart of the roman empire [Music] rex teodoricus the pious ruler he ruled over his subjects with all the qualities of someone who is an emperor by nature that is what the historian procopius wrote the city walls of ravenna on the adriatic behind them the roman emperor had often sought refuge from the barbarians [Music] in 493 kyodorik made ravenna his seat [Music] in no other city is there so much architectural evidence of the germanic peoples theodric slogan was renew what is roman build what is gothic ravenna is famous for its churches and mosaics they speak of the golden age of the ostrogoths in italy in one mosaic one of the very rare portrayals of contemporary goths can be seen the palace guard with their germanic hairstyles witness to their faith is the aryan baptistery which teodoric had built the ostrogoths had been christian for a long time not roman catholics however but aryans they didn't believe in the holy trinity they did not hold jesus to be of one substance with god the father [Music] for the roman catholic church that was blasphemy a wicked heresy a shocking sacrilege the goths however were more tolerant towards people of other faiths although king teodrick was a follower of the aryan sect he took no action against the catholic faith [Music] in the churches of ravenna keodaric had all the walls decorated with magnificent mosaics including one of the three wise men researchers have discovered that deodoric had himself immortalized in a mosaic but today you look for him in vain archaeologist sauro gelecki tells us why confessions the experts took a close look at this mosaic of ravenna harbour the different colours of these tiles give it away the portraits of the ostogothic rulers have been removed damnatio memorial the memory of the aryan heretics was to be cursed and wiped out forever in place of teodrix courtiers simple curtains but their hands on the columns were overlooked during the iconoclastic attack they are reminders today of tjodrik the great and his reign [Music] is the only remaining king's tomb from the era of the great tribal migrations deodorant died in 526 for three decades peace and justice had ruled even his roman subjects had taught the rule of the barbarian king was a golden age the ostrogothic empire survived its founder by just 26 years after that the ostrogoths faded from history meanwhile in the north another germanic tribe was making its mark archaeologists came across traces of them in new dambog in denmark there the anglo-saxons thousands of spears swords and shields were sunk in the bog around 360 a.d today we know they were thank offerings to their war god odin as a young archaeologist mikhail gebur studied the anglo-saxons weapons piece by piece he made an interesting discovery what was previously thought to be corrosion is in reality the traces of bloody battles the tip of one spear is bent on one blade he found the marks of deadly blows they're signs of an extremely warlike time in the middle of the 4th century the anglo-saxons were not only fierce warriors but experienced sailors they explored the seas searching for a new homeland one of their ships can be seen in schleswig the new dam ship was found in a bog in 1860 the bit however was not discovered until 2000 the museum houses only a replica the original was found by the expert on the new dam ship the dane fleming reek the new dam ship is the only ship from the felka vandalong to survive completely intact its hull of oak planks is 23 meters long and is caught with moss it was a seaworthy warship equipped to cross the north sea [Music] great grandsons of odin they came over the sea in three ships hengist so the legend goes is the forefather of all anglo-saxons but they did not go to england as conquerors as we often read it was the britons themselves who around the year 430 summoned them as mercenaries [Music] the migration across the sea had begun much earlier jutes angles and saxons had been migrating in small groups since the third century but when the romans left england in 400 the britons were dependent on the help of the germanic warriors the britons had called them to fight the picts and they did so and wherever they went victory was theirs so says the anglo-saxon chronicle the remains of hadrian's wall in the north of england after the withdrawal of the roman legions angles and saxons took on the task of defending the country one could say that it marked the start of england's national history [Music] the barrows at sutton who showed that they quickly became masters of the land redwald the king of east anglia was buried here in 625 [Music] as a reminder of the anglo-saxons journey across the sea he had himself buried in a ship the impression left by the ship was preserved under the barrow the only other ship grapes like this are in scandinavia for king redwald it was a kind of last will and testament says martin carver this burial seems to be a theatrical event which tells everybody who comes that this is the future of the people of east anglia autonomous maritime and friends with scandinavia that's what i think it's saying that burial the anglo-saxon immigrants left no written records so we must learn about them from the property they left behind artistic silver fittings decorate a drinking horn well real german king like king redwild would want to carry on carousing in the next world silver spoons went with him too on his last journey this offering is of particular significance on one spoon it says saul in greek letters and on the other paul king redworld had been christened that much is certain but in his heart of hearts he remained loyal to the germanic gods for in the face of death he turned to them again or so legend has it [Music] a magnificent buckle of pure gold from red wild's grave it weighs almost a pound or nearly half a kilo it's the largest and most beautiful to have been found in england evidence of the splendor and wealth of the early anglo-saxon kings who subjugated britain [Music] pictures of fabled animals gods and demons made of gold and precious gems jewelry in the germanic tradition with heathen motifs redwald demonstrated the independence of the anglo-saxons from the christian continent [Music] the anglo-saxon had no appreciation of roman culture in northern europe they had been untouched by romanization they were germanic and stayed so in 1965 a settlement of anglo-saxon migrants was excavated and reconstructed at west stowe they built their houses of wood as they had done in their homelands of denmark and north germany roman civilization did not interest the anglo-saxons they let the cities decay they did not adapt to the country instead the britons took over the customs and language of the germanic immigrants that is unique for the era of the tribal migrations genetic comparisons between the dead and the living confirm this molecular biologist mark thomas has discovered that the anglo-saxons soon mixed with the britons what we've done is we've looked at y chromosomes which are carried by men only in england and in wales and then in friesland uh in northern holland and also in norway and what we've done is looked at how similar or how different these different populations are we actually collected from different towns in england and in wales what we found was that the english towns were all very very similar to each other in fact they were so similar to each other that statistically we couldn't tell the difference and but they were very different from the welsh towns now when we looked at friesland we found that in fact the english towns were indistinguishable from the friesian population so what we seem to have is a much much larger affinity between the english and friesians than the english and the welsh recent research has confirmed that there was a mass immigration of anglo-saxons but they didn't simply wipe out the native population as was previously maintained archaeologist heinrich hecker suspects however that the british men were forced to live as slaves under their new lords and were not allowed to marry quite faces of germanic ancestors on king redwald scepter it was found in his ship burial the immigrants genes became dominant in britain they made war on british men but to british women they made love so the anglo-saxons became masters of the land a further symbol of their might is redwald's famous helmet found in the sutton who grave similar designs have also been found in scandinavia among the allies of the anglo-saxons marks on this distinctive helmet indicate that king redwald must have worn it in battle the anglo-saxons who came to britain were both farmers and warriors but whenever their king called them they left their fields and meadows and followed him into battle ruler of britain is what they call their overlord for the anglo-saxons 80 armed men was a large army it was composed of three men they chose the bravest and noblest amongst them to be king [Music] if he is fortunate he has vassals then you kneel to receive the victims a free man subordinated himself to his protector the followers pledged to serve their king they vowed to go to war with him and to defend his kingdom in return the king promised them protection and support a relationship based on reciprocity the germanic tribal structure from the era of the great migrations developed into the feudal system of the middle ages it was to shape european society for over a thousand years [Music] england was a country of warlords in 600 a.d there were over one dozen anglo-saxon kingdoms a few too many [Music] a merciless contest to eliminate some ensued the murder and thuggery perpetrated by the king's hooligans was endless [Applause] fair player had not yet been invented ethel redd fought against redwald edwin against cudwallon ethelworld against kindergartens ozwi against pender [Music] east anglia fought against northumbria wessex against mercier kent against sussex then kent and sussex against the isle of wight between 610 and 690 in just 80 years thousands of anglo-saxons lost their lives in battle against their own brothers england's road to unity was long and bloodied around the end of the seventh century there were still seven kingdoms [Music] one of the mightiest northumbria had once belonged to king redwald at a time of upheaval he stayed true to his old faith he had decided against continental europe in favor of an insular mentality so says british archaeologist martin carver this is the key moment i think for the birth of europe when at least as far as england is concerned as far as the island of britain is concerned hard decisions are having to be taken do we go with the new christian power block or do we stay with our alliances across the north sea and our friends across the north sea very difficult decisions in some ways it's never been decided never the the british people are still a bit confused on this matter i think the anglo-saxons were still heathens when they came to britain in 430 a.d and they stayed so for a long time but eventually they too were being buried with a christian blessing by the middle of the seventh century the british kingdoms were christian but there was no ecclesiastical uniformity in whitby for example in the kingdom of king oswie easter was celebrated twice once according to the irish scottish calendar and once according to the roman calendar at court they had to fast twice to correct this unfortunate state of affairs the celtic and the roman church factions were asked to present their arguments in 664 king called a synod at whitby a dispute with historic consequences the irish bishop coleman declared i celebrate easter on the day on which all my ancestors who were pleasing to god celebrated it and as john the evangelist taught us [Music] it was strange he declared that the romans took exception to their custom from rome's point of view that was sectarian provincialism wilfred the pope's envoy replied we celebrate easter as the apostle peter taught us and that is how it is observed in rome in africa and asia in all the countries and languages of the church of christ on the same day at the same time apart from those scots and britons who on their remote island oppose the rest of the world coleman sighted saint john jesus's favorite apostle wilfred demurred peter was the first among the apostles jesus had said to him thou art peter and upon this rock i will build my church and i will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven king oswie decided he must obey peter in case he should be barred from heaven [Music] and so at whitby in the year 664 not only was it decided when to celebrate easter [Music] but a decision was also made in favor of the papacy in rome to s petrus upon this rock i will build my church the anglo-saxon idea that peter would personally unlock the gate to the kingdom of heaven was also taken as applying to his successors the popes from then on many anglo-saxons made the pilgrimage to the seat of peter in rome to see god's representative on earth and so it was the anglo-saxons of all people who helped the bishop of rome the pope to universal power a rejection of the germanic gods and turning to christianity also happened among those tribes who had until then been most strongly opposed as rheem's cathedral attests [Music] at the end of the 4th century the franks had crossed the rhine to seize the roman province of gaul [Music] deep in the foundations of the cathedral the remains of roman hot springs the public baths can still be found recent excavations have revealed a small pool previously thought to have been a simple roman bath archaeologists were surprised to find that it was not roman but dated from the time of the tribal migrations is it in fact the church baptistry and did the christening of a heathen germanic king from the frankish tribe of the sigmarians take place here possibly in any case it was on christmas day probably in the year 496 that the frankish king clovis appeared before amiguous the bishop of reems de pone color you from the tribe of the sigmarians bow your head clovis as legend has it had vowed to be christened if he beat the alamonds at the battle of zurpik he did win worship what you have burnt burn what you have worshipped until the day of his victory under the sign of the cross clovis had believed in odin like all his ancestors now he foreswore the pagan gods once and for all [Music] in omnipotent thus thou believe in god the father almighty i baptize thee in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost clovis was the first germanic king to be christened a roman catholic a baptism of far-reaching significance [Music] on that same day in reams three thousand frankish warriors professed themselves christians like their king the franks were one of the last germanic tribes to adopt the christian faith [Music] under the sign of the cross clovis had triumphed over his adversaries his new faith became the state religion throughout the west and the franks too the new christians became the heirs of the disintegrating empire and the founders of a new modern empire under its emperor charles the great xiaomi like emperor marcus aurelius he had himself depicted on horseback on christmas day in the year 800 the pope crowned him emperor he called himself ruler of the roman empire he created the greatest and most lasting empire to emerge from the tribal migrations contemporaries called him pata oropay the father of europe at the end of the great tribal migrations the germanic empires of the visigoths ostrogoths franks and anglo-saxons and the empires east of the rhine formed the basis for the future nations of europe the fel cavanderon began with german barbarians leaving the far north before the time of christ's birth in search of a new better homeland they crossed the entire continent at the end of their journey they too were among the founders of europe and left their mark on the christian western world [Music] you

Channel: Odyssey - Ancient History Documentaries

Views: 86,411

Keywords: ancient history, classical history, ancient civilisations, classical antiquity, history documentary, classical documentary, roman inheritors, after rome, fall of rome, ancient rome documentary, ancient rome, what happened after rome fell, who came after the romans, roman civilisation

Id: kjzSJ_0RC1Y

Length: 50min 20sec (3020 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 06 2021