Editing Migration Period (section)

{{short description|Period from the fourth to the sixth centuries AD}}
{{about|the period of widespread migrations in Europe during the first millennium AD|prehistoric migrations|History of human migration|seasonal periods of human migrations|Seasonal human migration|seasonal periods of animal migrations|Animal migration}}
{{Redirect2|Barbarian invasion|Barbarian invasions|the 2003 Canadian film|The Barbarian Invasions}}
{{Expand German|date=September 2024|topic=hist}}
{{Infobox
| above    = Invasions of the Roman Empire
| image    = [[File:Invasions of the Roman Empire 1.png|300px|Basic view of second- to fifth-century migrations (see also [[:File:World 820.png|map of the world in 820]])|alt=Map of Europe, with colored lines denoting migration routes]]
| caption  =
| header1  =
| label1   = {{Nowrap|Other names}}
| data1    =
| header2  =
| label2   = Time
| data2    = 300–800 AD (greatest estimate)<ref>Allgemein: Springer ({{cite book
 |last1                = Springer
 |first1               = Matthias
 |date                 = 28 July 2006
 |chapter              = Völkerwanderung
 |title                = Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde
 |url                  = https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9783110183870/html
 |language             = de
 |volume               = 32
 |edition              = 2
 |publication-place    = Berlin
 |publisher            = Walter de Gruyter
 |pages                = 509 - 517
 |isbn                 = 3-11-018387-0
}}),
der auch auf alternative Definitionen außerhalb der ''[[communis opinio]]'' hinweist. Alle Epochengrenzen sind letztlich nur ein Konstrukt und vor allem durch Konvention begründet. Vgl. auch Stefan Krautschick: ''Zur Entstehung eines Datums. 375 – Beginn der Völkerwanderung''. In: [[Klio (journal)| ''Klio'']] 82, 2000, S. 217–222 sowie Stefan Krautschick: ''Hunnensturm und Germanenflut: 375 – Beginn der Völkerwanderung?'' In: ''[[Byzantinische Zeitschrift]]'' 92, 1999, S. 10–67.</ref>
| header3  =
| label3   = Place
| data3    = Europe and the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] [[region]]
| header4  =
| label4   = Event
| data4    = Tribes invading the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|declining Roman Empire]]
}}

The '''Migration Period''' ({{Circa}} 300 to 600 AD), also known as the '''Barbarian Invasions''', was a period in [[History of Europe|European history]] marked by large-scale migrations that saw the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of [[barbarian kingdoms|post-Roman kingdoms]] there.<ref>{{Cite web |title =History of Europe - Barbarian Migrations, Invasions {{!}} Britannica |url =https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/Barbarian-migrations-and-invasions |access-date=2023-08-12 |website =www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

The term refers to the important role played by the migration, invasion, and settlement of various tribes, notably the [[Burgundians]], [[Vandals]], [[Goths]], [[Alemanni]], [[Alans]], [[Huns]], [[early Slavs]], [[Pannonian Avars]], [[Bulgars]] and [[Hungarians|Magyars]] within or into the territories of Europe as a whole and of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in particular. Historiography traditionally takes the period as beginning in AD&nbsp;375 (possibly as early as 300) and ending in 568.<ref>Halsall, Guy. ''Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568''. Cambridge University Press, 2007.</ref> Various factors contributed to this phenomenon of migration and invasion, and their role and significance are still widely discussed.

Historians differ as to the dates for the beginning and ending of the Migration Period. The beginning of the period is widely regarded as the invasion of Europe by the Huns from Asia in about 375, and the ending with the [[Kingdom of the Lombards| Lombards' conquest of Italy]] in 568,<ref>For example, Halsall, (2008), ''Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568''</ref> but a more loosely set period extends from as early as 300 to as late as 800.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FYO7UBBhWKIC&pg=PA5 "The Migration period (fourth to eighth century)"], p.5 ''Migration Art, A.D. 300-800'', 1995, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. Katharine Reynolds Brown, {{ISBN|0870997505}}, 9780870997501</ref> For example, in the 4th century the Empire settled a very large group of Goths as ''[[foederati]]'' within the Roman [[Balkans]], and the Franks were settled south of the [[Rhine]] in Roman [[Gaul]]. In 406 a particularly large and unexpected [[crossing of the Rhine]] was made by a group of [[Vandals]], Alans and [[Suebi]]. As central power broke down in the Western Roman Empire, the [[Late Roman army | Roman military]] became more important but was dominated by men of [[Barbarian kingdoms|barbarian]] origin.

There are contradictory opinions as to whether the fall of the Western Roman Empire was a result of an increase in migrations, or if both the breakdown of central power and the increased importance of non-Romans created additional internal factors. Migrations, and the use of non-Romans in the military, were known in the periods before and after, and the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]] adapted and continued to exist until the [[fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1453. The "fall" of the Western Roman Empire, although it involved the establishment of competing barbarian kingdoms, was to some extent managed by the Eastern emperors. 

The migrants comprised war bands or tribes of 10,000 to 20,000 people.<ref name="Heather2003">{{cite book |author=Peter Heather |title=The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MADmH2eaGIC&pg=PA54 |year=2003 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-84383-033-7 |page=54}}</ref> Immigration was common throughout the period of the Roman Empire.<ref>Giovanni Milani-Santarpia, [http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/immigration_roman_empire.htm "Immigration Roman Empire"], MariaMilani.com</ref>  Over the course of 100 years,{{when?|date=May 2025}} the migrants numbered not more than 750,000 in total,{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} compared to an average 40&nbsp;million population of the Roman Empire at that time. The first migrations of peoples ({{langx | de | Völkerwanderungen}}) were made by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] such as the Goths (including the [[Visigoths]] and the [[Ostrogoths]]), the Vandals, the [[Anglo-Saxons]], the Lombards, the Suebi, the [[Frisii]], the [[Jutes]], the [[Burgundians]], the Alemanni, the [[Sciri]] and the Franks; some of these groups were later pushed westward by the Huns, the Avars, the Slavs and the Bulgars.<ref>Bury, J. B., ''The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians'', Norton Library, 1967.</ref> Later invasions {{--}} such as those carried out by the [[Vikings]], the [[Normans]], the [[Varangians]], the [[Hungarians]], the [[Arabs]], the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], and the [[Mongols]] {{--}} also had significant effects on Roman and ex-Roman territory (especially in [[North Africa]], the [[Iberian Peninsula]], [[Anatolia]] and [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]).