Rugier

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Map of the Germanic tribes around 50 AD (excluding Scandinavia)

The Rugier (also Rygir or Routiklioi ) was a between Vistula and Oder resident ostgermanischer ( "Vistula Germans") tribe. During the Great Migration , parts of the Rugians joined the Huns , then established an empire in what is now Lower Austria and finally moved to Italy with the Ostrogoths .

origin

Tacitus mentioned in his Germania (44.1) the "Rugii" and "Lemovii" who lived near the ocean near the Goths on the south coast of the Baltic Sea . According to Tacitus, the three tribes were characterized by round shields, short swords, and obedience to their kings . When Ptolemy the place "Rougion" is mentioned. The name Rugier, "Rugini" or "Rugen" means rye farmer or rye eater.

A tribe of the same name ( rygir ) can also be detected in southwestern Norway ( Rogaland / Rugaland ). Since it is unlikely that there were two Germanic tribes of the same name, research often suggests that they are part of the Rugians. However, since there is no evidence of rye finds in southern Norway at this time, the area of ​​origin of the tribe is still unknown. It is also possible that only the name (in the sense of a “traditional core”) “wandered”. There is also no archaeological evidence of an origin of the Rugians from Scandinavia. It is also not clear whether they settled the island of Rügen , whose name is supposed to be derived from the Rugians, which is highly controversial today, off the mainland.

In the 15th century led Enea Silvio in his work De situ et origine Pruthenorum speculative the Ulmigeri (in Ulmigeria = Kulmerland ) of the at Jordanes described Ulmerugi from. In 1632, Matthäus Merian again held the opinion that the Rugians had immigrated from the east and only then founded settlements on Rügen.

Great Migration

The Rugians on the edge of the Hunnic Empire around 450

In the course of the Great Migration , the Rugians moved south with the Goths. Like the Goths, they adopted the Arian faith . In the area of ​​the northern central Danube they established themselves, exchanged amber, furs and slaves for food and other goods from the Roman Empire before they were defeated by the Hun king Attila and became his vassals. The Rugians, like many other Germanic tribes, accompanied Attila on his campaigns, most recently in 451 to Gaul .

Empire building

The Rugo-Roman alliance in Noricum Ripense came about primarily through Severin von Noricum (shown in the coat of arms of the Sievering district of Vienna)

After Attila's death in 453, the Rugians settled as federates in what is now Lower Austria , where they established an empire (" Rugiland ") north of the Danube in the Waldviertel and Weinviertel, with the center across from Mautern near Krems . Rugians were involved in the Battle of Nedao in 455 when a coalition among the Gepids defeated the Huns and Ostrogoths. In 469 they were subject to the Ostrogoths along with other tribes on the Bolia.

With the novels living south of the Danube under the leadership of Saint Severin , they ultimately had a good relationship , although initially under King Flaccitheus (467-472 / 75) there were frequent raids south of the Danube on Roman territory. Severin had already made contact with Flaccitheus before moving to Norikum and became his political advisor. Weekly markets, in which the Romanesque population traded with the Rugians, were also held under the protection of the Rugian king. The Vita Severini of Eugippius describes the Rugians as "a warlike people with a pronounced tribal consciousness, who lived from cattle breeding, primitive agriculture and raids."

King Feletheus (Feva), who succeeded Flaccitheus in 472, married the gothess Giso, possibly an Amal cousin of Theodoric the Great , which initiated the alliance with the Ostrogoths. Because of the threat to Lauriacum from Thuringians and Alemanni , Feletheus finally took the important city himself. He forced the Romanesque population of the city to settle in places subject to tribute. These events represented Severin's greatest political defeat.

In 476, rugged warriors supported the Heruli and Skiren under Odoacer in the overthrow of the last Western Roman emperor. In the eyes of Roman observers, Odoakar was therefore considered a Herulian or Rugian king. The "rugische Regnum" then acted as a "reasonably predictable protective power over Norikum Ripense between the Wienerwald and Enns ".

When the Rugians were instigated by the Eastern Roman Emperor Zenon to fight against Odoacer, there was a conflict between Feletheus and his brother Ferderuchus . Since the latter supported Odoakar, he was killed by his nephew Friderich ( Fredericus ).

Odoacer himself anticipated a possible attack from this side and defeated a rugged army near the Vienna Woods . Despite the support of the Roman provincials, the Empire of the Rugians was destroyed in two wars by Odoacer in 487/488. Feletheus and his wife were captured and executed in Ravenna in 487.

Her son Friderich escaped with the Rugian cavalry and tried to restore the Rugier Empire. Hunulf , Odoakar's brother, prevented this by evacuating the Roman population in the east of Ufernoricum to Italy, thereby permanently depriving the Rugians of their economic base.

Part of the Ostrogoths

Friderich joined Theodoric with the surviving Rugians in 488 and initially moved to Novae in Moesia in the Ostrogoth realm . From there, a large part of the Rugians followed the Ostrogoths to Italy and overthrew Odoacer - again on behalf of Zenos. The Rugians were able to maintain a certain degree of independence in Italy too, and with Erarich 541 they even became the king of the Ostrogoths for a short time, but went under with the Ostrogoths in 553.

Afterlife

According to the legend of Giso , which Eugippius also reports, Queen Giso is said to have imprisoned two goldsmiths who had to make jewelry for them. The blacksmiths succeeded in catching the queen's son and escaping against his release. From this material and with the addition of Greco-Roman legends ( Vulcanus or Hephaistos , Daedalus ) the Wieland legend is said to have originated, but this is controversial in science or is completely rejected.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Cf. Thorsten Andersson , Walter Pohl ( accessed for a fee via GAO , De Gruyter Online):  Rugier. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 25, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017733-1 , pp. 452–458.
  2. Publius Cornelius Tacitus: The Germania of Tacitus . Herder'sche Verlagshandlung, Freiburg i. Br. 1876, page 40 here 43 aE full text on Wikisource
  3. a b c d e f Heinrich Beck u. a. (Ed.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 25. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017733-1 , pp. 452ff.
  4. Heinrich Beck u. a. (Ed.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 25. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017733-1 , p. 419.
  5. Eneo Silvio Piccolomino: 148, 149 Ulmigeri (Ulmerugi) Prussia
  6. Entry on Rugier in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
  7. ^ Anton Scharer , Georg Scheibelreiter (ed.): Historiography in the early Middle Ages . Oldenbourg, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-486-64832-2 , p. 248.
  8. ^ Richard Klein : Rugier . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 7, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , Sp. 1092 f.
  9. Herwig Wolfram (ed.): The birth of Central Europe . Verlag Kremayr and Scheriau, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-218-00451-9 , p. 41f.
  10. ^ Edward A. Thompson : Romans and Barbarians. The decline of the Western Empire . The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI 1982, pp. 131f.
  11. Herwig Wolfram (ed.): The birth of Central Europe . Verlag Kremayr and Scheriau, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-218-00451-9 , p. 40.
  12. Patrick J. Geary : The Merovingians. Europe before Charlemagne . Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-49426-9 , p. 14.
  13. a b c Friedrich Lotter : Displacements of peoples in the Eastern Alps-Central Danube region between antiquity and the Middle Ages (375–600). Supplementary volumes to the real dictionary of Germanic antiquity . 39. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017855-9 , pp. 25f. and 114.
  14. Arnulf Krause : The history of the Germanic peoples . Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-593-37800-8 , p. 173.
  15. ^ Wilhelm Enßlin : Theodoric the Great . 2nd edition Munich 1959, p. 62.
  16. Walter Pohl: The Germanic peoples . Oldenbourg, Munich 2004 (= Encyclopedia of German History 57), ISBN 3-486-56755-1 , p. 42.
  17. ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon , Volume 17. Leipzig 1909, p. 242.
  18. ^ Alfred Becker: Frank's Casket. To the pictures and inscriptions of the rune box by Auzon . Verlag Carl, Regensburg 1973, ISBN 3-418-00205-6 , p. 167 and footnotes.