The Rise of the Barbarian Kingdoms
- 26 December 2022
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THE BIRTH OF NEW KINGDOMS
The barbarian kingdoms were monarchies in Western Europe that formed in the wake of the fall of the Empire. These states were founded by various non-Roman, primarily Germanic, peoples in Western Europe and Africa following the collapse of Rome.
The formation of these kingdoms was complicated and gradual as the Roman state failed to handle migrants on the borders. This led to both invasions and invitations into imperial territory while simultaneously denying barbarians the ability to properly integrate.
The barbarian kingdoms, though formed through tumultuous means, played an important role in the history of Europe. They provided much-needed stability and order in the wake of the chaotic collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
The influence of barbarian rulers, first as local warlords and client kings, increased as Roman emperors and usurpers used them as pawns in civil wars. Over time, barbarian rulers began to consolidate power and seek more autonomous rule. It was only after the collapse of the Empire that they were able to break away from this authority and form their independent states.
POWER AND LEGITIMACY
From the 4th to the 7th centuries, barbarian kings of the West adopted the style dominus noster (“our lord”) and prename Flavius, borne by virtually all Roman emperors in late antiquity. Virtually all of them assumed the style “dominus noster,” previously used by emperors, and many assumed the prenominal Flavius.
The kings typically also assumed a subordinate position in diplomacy with the remaining Eastern Roman Empire. This not only gave the barbarian kings the right to rule but also made them look much more powerful than they would have been without the Roman Empire’s support.
The barbarian kings of the Middle Ages adopted many of the rules and institutions of the Roman Empire, but they also developed their systems of rule. The old Roman system gradually dissolved and disappeared over the centuries, accelerated by periods of political turmoil in Europe and the Middle East.
The major difference between the administration of the old Western Roman Empire and the new royal administrations was their scale, as the barbarian governments, on account of controlling significantly less territory, were less deep and less complex.
As a result, there was a considerable breakdown in living standards as well as social and economic complexity. For the most part, the barbarian kingdoms were highly fragile and ephemeral.
By the time Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was crowned emperor in 800, most people thought it was the end of the time of the barbarian kingdoms. Only the Frankish kingdom was left of the once large and diverse network of kingdoms.
MIGRATION, SETTLEMENT & GROWTH
Stage 1 – Migration into the Western Roman Empire
The rise of the barbarian kingdoms in the territory previously governed by the Western Roman Empire was a gradual, complex, and largely unintentional process.
The migrations of large numbers of barbarian (i.e., non-Roman) peoples into the territory of the Roman Empire were the catalyst for their formation. This influx of new populations created a distinct cultural shift from the traditional Roman way of life and ushered in a new era.
The migrations were spurred by both invasions and invitations. Inviting people from beyond the imperial frontier to settle Roman territory was not a new policy but something that had been done several times by emperors in the past, mostly for economic, agricultural, or military purposes.
The capacity for immigration in a state as large and powerful as the Roman Empire was nearly infinite, but several events and accidents in the fourth through fifth centuries complicated the situation. People from places like Gaul, Hispania, and Britain all made their way to the Roman Empire to take part in its culture.
Stage 2 – Settlement within the Western Roman Empire
In 376, the Visigoths, displaced by the westward advance of the Huns and squeezed by the Ostrogoths, approached the Eastern Roman Empire seeking refuge. In a desperate move, imperial authorities allowed them to cross the Danube River and settle in the Balkans. However, what began as a humanitarian gesture quickly turned disastrous. Corrupt Roman officials exploited the refugees, leaving them starving and mistreated. Tensions escalated, and within two years, the Visigoths rose in open rebellion against their Roman hosts. This moment marked the beginning of a transformative era—the Migration Period—when Rome’s inability to manage the influx of displaced peoples would reshape the political and cultural landscape of Europe.
The crisis came to a head in 378 at the Battle of Adrianople. The Eastern Roman army, led by Emperor Valens, marched out to confront the rebellious Visigoths but suffered one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history. Valens was killed in the fighting, and his army was annihilated by the more mobile Gothic cavalry. The scale of the loss stunned the Roman world, exposing the declining strength of its legions and the limits of imperial control. In the aftermath, the empire was forced to negotiate with the Visigoths, settling them within Roman territory as a semi-independent federation under their own leader. This arrangement set a precedent: barbarian groups could now exist inside the empire not as subjects, but as autonomous powers—a critical step toward the rise of the barbarian kingdoms.
“What began as a humanitarian gesture became a turning point in world history. When the Visigoths crossed the Danube, Rome didn’t just let refugees in—it let in a new era.”
Stage 3 – Gain in Influence
By the early 5th century, barbarian groups like the Visigoths had evolved from dependent foederati into active political agents within the Roman world. Under Alaric I (r. 395–410), the Visigoths increasingly pursued their own interests, often clashing with imperial priorities. Their uneasy relationship with the empire culminated in 410, when Alaric led his army into Rome and sacked the city—a symbolic catastrophe that shattered centuries of Roman dominance. Although the material damage was limited, the psychological blow was profound. Rome’s fall to a foreign army for the first time in 800 years marked a turning point, underscoring the weakening grip of imperial authority.
This growing instability coincided with broader tribal movements. Between 405 and 407, the Alans, Vandals, and Suebi crossed the Rhine into Gaul, exploiting the empire’s vulnerability and carving out their own domains. As central control disintegrated, barbarian rulers filled the vacuum. In 451, this trend reached a dramatic climax when Attila the Hun launched a major invasion into Gaul. A coalition of Romans and Visigoths, led by General Flavius Aetius and King Theodoric I, met the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Though Theodoric fell in battle, the alliance succeeded in halting Attila’s advance. The battle—one of the bloodiest in late antiquity—highlighted the growing military and political significance of barbarian allies. No longer mere auxiliaries, they were now decisive actors in the defence and reshaping of the Western Roman world.
Stage 4 – Imperial Loss of Control
By the mid-5th century, the Western Roman Empire had begun to openly acknowledge its inability to govern its vast territories effectively. Increasingly besieged and fragmented, the imperial administration was compelled to relinquish practical control over large swathes of land to barbarian warlords. Though these regions technically remained within the empire’s claimed borders, power on the ground had shifted. Treaties signed in 439 with the Visigoths and in 442 with the Vandals—who had seized control of North Africa—effectively legitimised these groups as territorial governors, bringing an end to the illusion of active Roman administration in those areas. While these agreements were not intended to be permanent, they laid the groundwork for what would become fully independent barbarian kingdoms.
This collapse of central authority played out not just in politics but also in symbolic moments that captured the empire’s waning prestige. In 452, Attila the Hun invaded northern Italy, threatening to strike at Rome itself. According to later tradition, it was Pope Leo I who confronted Attila near Mantua and persuaded him to withdraw—whether through diplomacy, tribute, or divine intervention remains uncertain. Regardless of the exact cause, the episode underscored a critical shift: moral authority was now embodied by the Church rather than the emperor. Just three years later, in 455, the Vandal king Genseric launched a naval assault from North Africa and entered Rome. Although he promised Pope Leo I to spare the churches and populace, the city was looted for two weeks. The sack, while less destructive than that of the Visigoths in 410, sent a chilling message—Rome could no longer protect even its own capital. These humiliations revealed the hollowed-out state of imperial power and heralded the irreversible fragmentation of Roman rule in the West.
Stage 5 – The Rise of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms in Britain
As Roman rule crumbled in Britain during the early 5th century, the island gradually slipped beyond the grasp of imperial control. In the power vacuum that followed, waves of Germanic migrants—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—crossed the North Sea and began settling in the former Roman province. Over time, they established a mosaic of competing kingdoms, including Northumbria, Mercia, Kent, and Wessex. By the 7th century, these realms had developed distinct legal systems, ecclesiastical institutions, and cultural identities, blending inherited Roman influences with Germanic traditions. Though politically fragmented and geographically isolated from the Continent, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were deeply woven into the wider transformation of post-Roman Europe.
This process in Britain mirrored broader shifts across the Western Empire. By the late fifth century, most barbarian rulers had abandoned the notion that Roman central authority could be restored. Instead, they began exercising sovereign control over defined territories, increasingly assuming the responsibilities once held by emperors. These new kingdoms were not temporary placeholders but permanent political structures born of necessity. Crucially, their legitimacy was often reinforced by the support—or resignation—of the local Roman aristocracy, who sought stability in a world no longer anchored by Rome. The decisive break came in 476 when the Germanic general Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor. Rather than naming a successor, he sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople, marking the symbolic end of the Western Roman Empire. What followed was a redefined Europe: a continent ruled not by emperors, but by kings.
“The so-called ‘barbarians’ didn’t just conquer Rome—they inherited it, preserved it, and reimagined it for a new age.”
ROMAN HERITAGE
The Rise of the Franks
In 486, the Frankish king Clovis I achieved a decisive victory over Syagrius—the last Roman commander in Gaul—at the Battle of Soissons. This marked the collapse of Roman political authority in the region and the emergence of the Merovingian dynasty as a dominant power. Clovis consolidated various Frankish tribes, claiming former Roman territory and establishing a new style of kingship: one rooted in military might but increasingly legitimised through Roman-Christian traditions. His reign laid the foundations for the Frankish kingdom, which would become the most influential of the early medieval successor states.
Clovis I and the Christian Legacy
Clovis’s conversion to Catholic Christianity around 496 was a defining moment in the post-Roman West. Unlike many other Germanic rulers who followed Arian Christianity, Clovis embraced the Roman Church, earning the backing of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy and the Latin clergy. His baptism aligned the Frankish kingdom with the cultural and religious identity of the former Roman Empire, fostering unity and stability. This alliance between Frankish kingship and Roman Catholicism would shape European politics for centuries and foreshadow the close relationship between the Carolingians and the papacy.
Theodoric the Great and Gothic-Roman Fusion
In 493, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, assumed control of Italy after defeating Odoacer. Though a barbarian by origin, Theodoric modelled his rule on imperial precedents. He preserved Roman law, retained the Senate, and governed through Roman administrators, presenting himself as a restorer of order rather than a foreign conqueror. His court in Ravenna became a beacon of late antique culture, where Roman and Gothic traditions coexisted. Theodoric’s reign stands as one of the clearest examples of how barbarian kings absorbed and adapted Roman governance to lend legitimacy and structure to their rule.
Administrative Heritage
Following the disintegration of central Roman power, authority fragmented into localised kingdoms. Yet many of the new rulers adopted familiar Roman institutions to stabilise their territories. While cities like Rome and Ravenna ceased to function as imperial capitals, their bureaucratic models lived on in modified forms under barbarian kings. The Church, increasingly influential, filled administrative voids by handling judicial matters, land ownership, and taxation.
Throughout the fifth and sixth centuries, Roman law remained the backbone of governance in many former provinces. Barbarian kings codified hybrid legal systems—such as the Breviary of Alaric among the Visigoths and the Lex Salica among the Franks—combining Roman legal concepts with tribal customs. These codes not only ensured continuity but also helped legitimise new political orders.
However, the scale and depth of Roman administration proved difficult to replicate. Barbarian governments operated on a smaller scale and were more regionally driven, resulting in a decentralisation of power. As imperial roads deteriorated and centralised infrastructure collapsed, trade diminished, cities shrank, and economies reverted to local subsistence patterns. Despite this regression, some measure of order persisted. Local traditions, adapted legal practices, and shared religious structures ensured a level of cohesion across fragmented territories.
Cultural Heritage
Despite their differences, the various barbarian kingdoms were bound by a shared Roman cultural inheritance. Latin remained the dominant language of governance, the Church, and education, ensuring continuity between Roman and post-Roman societies. Barbarian rulers adopted Roman titles, coinage, and architectural styles while maintaining their tribal identities.
Conversion to Christianity, particularly to Catholicism, further reinforced these ties. While some Germanic peoples initially embraced Arian Christianity, the long-term trend was toward integration with the Roman Church. This fusion of Roman-Christian identity with Germanic leadership helped shape the early medieval worldview.
Yet over time, as the political centre of gravity shifted and communication between former Roman provinces diminished, local identities began to assert themselves. The gradual erosion of Roman identity and administrative cohesion led to cultural fragmentation. Latin evolved into regional dialects, giving rise to the Romance languages. What emerged was a patchwork of post-Roman cultures, each blending Roman, Christian, and Germanic elements in distinct ways.
END OF BARBARIAN KINGDOMS
The Decline of the Early Barbarian Kingdoms
Among the most enduring and influential of the early medieval barbarian states were the Visigoths, Franks, and Lombards. Each played a significant role in shaping post-Roman Europe, but by the end of the 8th century, only one would remain dominant.
The Lombards entered Italy in 568 following the collapse of Ostrogothic rule and established a kingdom that would endure for over two centuries. Initially regarded as hostile invaders, they gradually assimilated with the local population and adopted administrative and legal practices reminiscent of Roman governance. Their presence revitalised parts of the Italian peninsula, fostering regional stability. However, in 774, Charlemagne launched a successful campaign against the Lombards and incorporated their realm into the expanding Frankish Empire. With their defeat, the Lombards became the last major barbarian kingdom to lose its independence in Italy.
On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor in St Peter’s Basilica. This act did more than honour Charlemagne—it symbolised the revival of imperial ideals under a barbarian king. Although the Eastern Roman Empire rejected the legitimacy of the coronation, Charlemagne’s empire fused Frankish traditions with Roman-Christian ideology, inaugurating a new imperial model for medieval Europe.
Elsewhere, the Visigothic kingdom faced its own decline. After a period of internal instability in the sixth century, King Liuvigild (r. 568–586) undertook a major consolidation effort, restoring Visigothic strength in Hispania. Yet this resurgence proved short-lived.
The Visigothic kingdom in Hispania came to an abrupt end when Muslim forces crossed from North Africa in 711. Within a few years, most of the peninsula was under Umayyad rule. The rapid fall of the Visigoths demonstrated the fragility of even long-established barbarian realms. It also marked the beginning of a new chapter in European history: the coexistence and conflict between Christian and Islamic civilisations.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire launched an ambitious reconquest under Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). In a series of brutal campaigns, his generals destroyed the Vandal kingdom in North Africa and the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, briefly restoring imperial control. However, these victories came at great cost and proved difficult to sustain. In Gaul, most of the smaller Germanic kingdoms were gradually absorbed by the rising Frankish monarchy, while others faded from memory altogether, leaving only faint traces in the historical record.
THE CREATION OF THE REALMS
The new realms that formed between the seventh and ninth centuries constituted a new order that was mainly distinct from the old Roman world. The Umayyad Caliphate, which seized Hispania from the Visigoths and North Africa from the Eastern Romans, asserted no claim to Roman continuity. They aimed instead to establish a new order based on Islamic ideals.
The Lombard kingdom reigned over an Italy ravaged by fighting between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. In 774, their kingdom was conquered by the Franks, bringing an end to their dominion over Italy. Even though they were called “barbarians,” the Lombards were good rulers. They rebuilt much of the infrastructure and cities that had been destroyed in the Gothic War.
The small kingdoms that came after the Visigoths in Hispania, such as Leon, Castile, and Aragon, were sub-Frankish and closer in culture and government to the Frankish kingdom than to the fallen Visigothic realm.
As the only survivor of the ancient kingdoms, the Frankish realm served as a model of early medieval monarchy for the remainder of the Middle Ages. Even though the Frankish rulers retained Roman ideals, centuries of their reign had turned the government into something that bore little resemblance to the Roman Empire.
The time of the barbarian kingdoms ended when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as Roman Emperor in 800. This was against the authority of the Eastern Roman Empire, which was still in power. Charlemagne’s empire was run by a system of individual authority. Most of the power came from Charlemagne’s relationships with the rulers of the different kingdoms, not from a structured legal or administrative system.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What were the barbarian kingdoms?
The barbarian kingdoms were states founded by non-Roman, primarily Germanic peoples in the territories of the former Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. These included the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Vandals, Lombards, and others. Though initially considered temporary or peripheral, many of these kingdoms became permanent fixtures in European political life.
Why did the barbarian kingdoms emerge after the fall of Rome?
The collapse of Roman imperial authority—particularly in the West—created a power vacuum that allowed barbarian leaders, many of whom had already been integrated as military allies or foederati, to assume control over territories. The Roman state’s failure to manage migrations, internal strife, and repeated invasions all contributed to this transformation.
How did Roman influence continue in the barbarian kingdoms?
Despite the decline of Roman central power, Roman law, language (Latin), Christianity, and administrative structures were widely adopted and adapted by barbarian rulers. Leaders like Clovis I and Theodoric the Great intentionally modelled their rule on Roman imperial traditions, and many issued law codes inspired by Roman jurisprudence.
What was the role of the Church during this period?
The Church became a key stabilising force as imperial structures disintegrated. It provided administrative continuity, legal authority, and moral legitimacy for new rulers. Events such as Clovis’s conversion to Catholicism and Pope Leo I’s diplomacy with Attila the Hun highlight the Church’s growing influence in post-Roman Europe.
What caused the final decline of the barbarian kingdoms?
Several factors contributed: internal instability, external invasions (notably the Islamic conquest of Hispania), and the rise of powerful successor states like the Carolingian Empire. By 800, with the coronation of Charlemagne as emperor, most barbarian kingdoms had either been absorbed or transformed into more centralised monarchies.
Did all barbarian kingdoms disappear?
Not all. While kingdoms like those of the Vandals and Ostrogoths were destroyed, the Frankish kingdom endured and evolved into the Carolingian Empire. It became the dominant political model in Western Europe for centuries, blending Roman, Christian, and Germanic elements.
How did the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms fit into this transformation?
The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain arose in the absence of continued Roman oversight after the early 5th century. By the 7th century, realms such as Wessex, Northumbria, and Mercia had developed structured governments, Christian institutions, and cultural identities shaped by both Roman and Germanic influences.
What was the significance of the year 476?
In 476, the Germanic general Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor. Rather than naming a successor, he returned the imperial regalia to Constantinople. This event is widely considered the symbolic end of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of post-Roman Europe.
How did Charlemagne’s coronation change the political landscape?
Charlemagne’s imperial coronation in 800 by Pope Leo III represented a conscious revival of Roman imperial authority in the West. It also marked the formal end of the era of the barbarian kingdoms and the beginning of a new phase of imperial Christian monarchy rooted in Frankish power and Roman tradition.
Were the barbarian kingdoms truly “barbarian”?
The term “barbarian” was a Roman label for outsiders, but many so-called barbarian rulers were highly Romanised. They adopted Roman law, language, religion, and governance to varying degrees. Their kingdoms played a central role in preserving and reshaping the Roman legacy during the early medieval period.
DOCUMENTARY
Source: (HistoryMedieval, 2024)
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
SOURCES
Gregory of Tours. (1974). The History of the Franks (L. Thorpe, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published ca. 594)
Jordanes. (1915). The Origin and Deeds of the Goths (C. C. Mierow, Trans.). Princeton University Press. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/jordanes1.asp
Procopius. (1966). History of the Wars (H. B. Dewing, Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Loeb Classical Library)
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Luciano Anastasi
Luciano is the founder of the MedievalHistory platform and the LinkedIn History Enthusiasts Group, where he is dedicated to curating and sharing high-quality medieval history content. His goal is to engage scholars, teachers, students, and enthusiasts by fostering insightful discussions and promoting scholarly resources on topics from medieval warfare and religion to societal transformations and daily life in the Middle Ages.
Luciano is also an active book reviewer, focusing on academic publications related to medieval history. He recently collaborated with Yale University Press to review forthcoming medieval history titles, aiming to deepen educators' and researchers' understanding of the period. Alongside his history endeavors, he has over 40 years of experience in IT leadership roles across various industries, including the public sector, banking, insurance, airlines and consulting, and has contributed to United Nations projects.
With a Master of Arts in Business Process Management, Luciano combines his expertise in IT strategy and governance with his passion for medieval history. He leverages technology to bridge the academic community and the wider public, making historical scholarship more accessible through engaging online content.
