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HIST 210: The Early Middle Ages, 284-1000

Lecture 07 - Barbarian Kingdoms. In this lecture, Professor Freedman considers the various barbarian kingdoms that replaced the Western Roman Empire. Oringinally the Roman reaction to these invaders had been to accommodate them, often recruiting them for the Roman army and settling them on Roman land. Now, however, they were the rulers of the previously Roman lands of the West. These tribes included the Ostrogoths and Visigoths in Italy, the Franks in Gaul, and the Vandals in North Africa. As most sources about these groups come from the Roman perspective, it's unclear how coherent each group was. In general, the barbarian groups characterized by disorganization, internal fighting and internecine feuds, and lack of economic development. Professor Freedman closes with some remarks on the Burgundian Code as evidence of barbarian society and institutions. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 07 - Barbarian Kingdoms

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Introduction
[00:04:23] 2. Tacitus and the Nature of the Barbarian Tribes
[00:20:05] 3. The Barbardian Kingdoms
[00:26:17] 4. Intellectual Life after the Fall of Rome
[00:34:33] 5. The Barbarian Tribes: Vandals, Moors, Angles, Saxons, and Visigoths
[00:39:15] 6. The Burgundians and the Burgundian Code

References
Lecture 7 - Barbarian Kingdoms
Instructor: Professor Paul H. Freedman. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Course Introduction: Rome's Greatness and First Crises
Lecture 02 - The Crisis of the Third Century and the Diocletianic Reforms
Lecture 03 - Constantine and the Early Church
Lecture 04 - The Christian Roman Empire
Lecture 05 - St. Augustine's Confessions
Lecture 06 - Transformation of the Roman Empire
Lecture 07 - Barbarian Kingdoms
Lecture 08 - Survival in the East
Lecture 09 - The Reign of Justinian
Lecture 10 - Clovis and the Franks
Lecture 11 - Frankish Society
Lecture 12 - Britain and Ireland
Lecture 13 - Monasticism
Lecture 14 - Mohammed and the Arab Conquests
Lecture 15 - Islamic Conquests and Civil War
Lecture 16 - The Splendor of the Abbasid Period
Lecture 17 - The Crucial Seventh Century
Lecture 18 - The Splendor of Byzantium
Lecture 19 - Charlemagne
Lecture 20 - Intellectuals and the Court of Charlemagne
Lecture 21 - Crisis of the Carolingians
Lecture 22 - Vikings/The European Prospect, 1000