Kingdom ostrogoth

See also: Kingdom of Italy

The Royaume ostrogoth is one of the founded Royaumes goths in Europe by a branch of the Goths, the Ostrogoths. It is only strictly speaking which can name barbarian Royaume Italy, since it succeeds the Roman Empire on its native ground at one time or the Great invasions are in a phase of movement and not of sedentarisation. It is thus a question of the one of the first kingdoms to be succeeded the Empire.

It is founded under the reign of Théodoric Large the, which also founds the bases of the kingdom of Tolosa of the Visigoths.

Its capital was Ravenne and not Rome.

Characteristics

The field of Ostrogoths was then as large and much more munificent as it was it never in the time of Ermanaric; but it was especially of a completely different nature.

The two nations, different by their habits, their language and their religion, lived side by side on the ground of the Italy. Each one was directed by a single sovereign but under the mode of the personality of the laws.

It is this image of the reign of Théodoric, especially, which appears through the ordinances worked out on its behalf and that of its successors: as a whole, Goths remained concentrated in the north of Italy. In the south, they hardly formed more than garrisons.

According to the design of Théodoric, Goths were the guards armed with peaceful Romains; king Goth had the difficult responsibility of control whereas the Roman consul received the honors from them. In the same way, all the forms of the Roman administration remained under the reign of Théodoric. The policy and the Roman culture had even a great influence on Goths. It is there that the double culture of the barbarian king played full.

In particular, sovereignty on nations distinct but established on the same ground was necessarily a Roman design of the capacity, which had its constraints weighing heavily on the freedom of the Germanic troops. But such a system needed a strong capacity, held by a personality like that of Théodoric; with its death the building crumbled.

In 526, Ostrogoths and Visigoths were again separate. The few examples through which they still act in concert carry on spaced businesses and of no importance real. Amalaric inherited the Royaume Visigoth in Hispanie, Septimanie and Occitanie. The Provence was added to the field of the new king ostrogoth, Athalaric, grandson of Théodoric by his mother, Amalasonte.

None of the two sovereigns could regulate the conflicts which occurred within the Gothic elites. Théodat, cousin of Amalasonte and nephew of Théodoric by the sister of this last, succeeded to them after having massacred them. However, this usurpation started even more carnages. Three kings Goths followed one another on the throne in the five years space.

The reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines

The weakness of the position of Ostrogoths in Italy became obvious then. The Byzantine Empereur Justinien had always endeavoured to restore as much as possible the imperial capacity on the totality of the Mediterranean basin: it did not miss this occasion to intervene.

In 535, it charged its best general and friend, Bélisaire, to attack Ostrogoths. Bélisaire invades the Sicily quickly and unloaded in Italy where it took Naples, then Rome in 536. Then it went towards north and took Mediolanum (Milan) and Ravenne, the capital of Ostrogoths, in 540.

At this point in time Justinien offered to Goths a generous arrangement - by far too generous with the eyes of Bélisaire: right to maintain a kingdom independent in the North-West of Italy, but with the condition which they discharge a tribute of half of their treasure to the Empire.

Bélisaire transmitted the message to Goths, although itself did not approve it. Goths, which did not trust Justinien, feared a trap, but because Bélisaire had behaved so well in their connection at the time of his reconquest of Italy, they agreed to recognize this arrangement if Bélisaire gave its approval. This situation led to a dead end.

A faction of the Gothic nobility sliced: issuing that their own king who had just been overcome, Vitigès, was a coward and whom they had need for a new sovereign, they turned to Bélisaire. Éraric, their chief, offered the crown to this last. Bélisaire was a soldier faithful to Justinien and not a statesman. It made as if it accepted the offer, went to Ravenne to be made there crown, but it promptly made stop the goths chiefs. Then, he claimed the integrality of their kingdom for Byzance.

Justinien was furious: the Perses had tackled the Byzantine Empire in the East and it wished that a neutral State and stable serf of plug enters the border of its Western possessions and the kingdom of the Francs. The latter, indeed, were strange and appeared hostile with regard to the Eastern court.

Bélisaire then was recalled and sent in the East against Persians. It left one named Jean, Byzantine officer, to control Italy temporarily.

In 545, when it could finally turn over to Italy it found a situation changed considerably: Éraric had been assassinated and the faction pro-Roman of the elite gothe had been reversed.

In 541, Ostrogoths had elected a new chief Totila; this “nationalist” goth, shining general, had taken again all Italy of North and had driven out the Byzantines out of Rome.

Bélisaire took again the offensive then: he deceived Totila to take again Rome, but lost the city again after Justinien, jealous and apprehensive of its power, removed provisioning and reinforcements to him. The general, out-of-date, was then constrained to ensure defense by his own means.

In 548 Justinien replaced it by the general Eunuque Narsès in whom it had more confidence. Narsès did not disappoint Justinien.

Totila was massacred at the time of the Bataille of Taginae (Gualdo Tadino) in July 552 and its partisans Teia, Aligern, Scipuar and Gibal all were killed or went at the time of the battles of Mons Lactarius in October 552 or 553.

Widhin, the last attested chief of the gotic army revolted at the end of the Années 550 with a minimal military aid of the Francs and Alamans. Rising was without consequences: Ostrogoths were raised in Vérone and in Brescia but the revolt ended with the capture of its chief, in 561. Widhin was finally led to Constantinople to be carried out there in 561 or 562. A minority, submitted to the Byzantines and converted with Catholicism, survived Ravenne.

List kings ostrogoths

See too

  • List of the kings ostrogoths

  • Chronology of the kingdom ostrogoth

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