Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== New societies ===
{{Main|Migration Period|fall of the Western Roman Empire}}

[[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Barbarian kingdoms]] and tribes after the end of the Western Roman Empire]]

The political structure of Western Europe changed with the end of the united Roman Empire. Although the movements of peoples during this period are usually described as "invasions", they were not just military expeditions but migrations of entire peoples into the empire. Such movements were aided by the refusal of the Western Roman elites to support the army or pay the taxes that would have allowed the military to suppress the migration.<ref name=Brown122>Brown, ''World of Late Antiquity'', pp. 122–124</ref> The emperors of the 5th century were often controlled by military strongmen such as [[Stilicho]] (d. 408), [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]] (d. 454), [[Aspar]] (d. 471), [[Ricimer]] (d. 472), or [[Gundobad]] (d. 516), who were partly or fully of non-Roman background. When the line of Western emperors ceased, many of the kings who replaced them were from the same background. Intermarriage between the new kings and the Roman elites was common.<ref name=Wickham95>Wickham, ''Inheritance of Rome'', pp. 95–98</ref> This led to a fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes, including the popular assemblies that allowed free male tribal members more say in political matters than was common in the Roman state.<ref name=Wickham100>Wickham, ''Inheritance of Rome'', pp. 100–101</ref> Material artefacts left by the Romans and the invaders are often similar, and tribal items were often modelled on Roman objects.<ref name=Collins100>Collins, ''Early Medieval Europe'', p. 100</ref> Much of the scholarly and written culture of the new kingdoms was also based on Roman intellectual traditions.<ref name=Collins96>Collins, ''Early Medieval Europe'', pp. 96–97</ref> An important difference was the new polities' gradual loss of tax revenue. Many new political entities no longer supported their armies through taxes; instead, they relied on granting them land or rents. This meant there was less need for large tax revenues, so the [[Roman Empire#Taxation|taxation systems]] decayed.<ref name=Wickham102>Wickham, ''Inheritance of Rome'', pp. 102–103</ref> Warfare was common between and within the kingdoms. Slavery declined as the supply weakened, and society became more rural.<ref name=Backman86>Backman, ''Worlds of Medieval Europe'', pp. 86–91</ref>{{efn-ua|The English word "slave" derives from the Latin term for Slavs, ''slavicus''.<ref name=Dict261>Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. 261</ref>}}

[[File:Theoderic Quarter Siliqua 80000847.jpg|thumb|left|A coin of the [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogothic]] leader [[Theoderic the Great]], struck in Milan, Italy, {{circa|AD 491–501}}]]

Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and individuals filled the political void left by the centralised Roman government.<ref name=Collins96 /> The [[Ostrogoths]], a Gothic tribe, settled in [[Roman Italy]] in the late fifth century under [[Theoderic the Great]] (d. 526) and set up a [[Ostrogothic Kingdom|kingdom]] marked by its co-operation between the Italians and the Ostrogoths, at least until the last years of Theodoric's reign.<ref name=James82>James ''Europe's Barbarians'' pp. 82–88</ref> The Burgundians settled in Gaul, and after an earlier realm was destroyed by the Huns in 436, formed a new kingdom in the 440s. Between today's [[Geneva]] and [[Lyon]], it grew to become the realm of [[Kingdom of Burgundy#First Kingdom of Burgundy (4th century – 534 AD)|Burgundy]] in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.<ref name=James77>James ''Europe's Barbarians'' pp. 77–78</ref> Elsewhere in Gaul, the Franks and [[Celtic Britons]] set up small polities. [[Francia]] was centred in northern Gaul, and the first king of whom much is known is [[Childeric I]] (d. 481). His grave was discovered in 1653 and is remarkable for its [[grave goods]], which included weapons and a large quantity of gold.<ref name=James79>James ''Europe's Barbarians'' pp. 79–80</ref>

Under Childeric's son [[Clovis I]] (r. 509–511), the founder of the [[Merovingian dynasty]], the Frankish kingdom expanded and converted to Christianity. The Britons, related to the natives of [[Britannia]]&nbsp;– modern-day Great Britain&nbsp;– settled in what is now [[Brittany]].<ref name=James78>James ''Europe's Barbarians'' pp. 78–81</ref>{{efn-ua|Brittany takes its name from this settlement by Britons.<ref name=James78 />}} Other monarchies were established by the [[Visigothic Kingdom]] in the [[Iberian Peninsula]], the [[Suebi]] in northwestern Iberia, and the [[Vandal Kingdom]] in [[North Africa]].<ref name=James77 /> In the sixth century, the [[Lombards]] settled in [[Northern Italy]], replacing the Ostrogothic kingdom with a grouping of [[duchies]] that occasionally selected a king to rule over them all. By the late sixth century, this arrangement had been replaced by a permanent monarchy, the [[Kingdom of the Lombards]].<ref name=Collins196>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 196–208</ref>

The invasions brought new ethnic groups to Europe, although some regions received a larger influx of new peoples than others. In Gaul, for instance, the invaders settled much more extensively in the north-east than in the south-west. [[Slavs]] settled in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] and the Balkan Peninsula. Changes in languages accompanied the settlement of peoples. [[Latin]], the literary language of the Western Roman Empire, was gradually replaced by [[vernacular languages]], which evolved from Latin but were distinct from it, collectively known as [[Romance languages]]. These changes from Latin to the new languages took many centuries. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but the migrations of the Slavs added [[Slavic languages]] to Eastern Europe.<ref name=Davies235>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 235–238</ref>