The Marcomanni (100 BC to 470 AD)

The first centuries of the Christian Era saw a succession of loose power structures over the Alpine region by migrant Germanic and Asiatic peoples such as the Goths, the Huns, the Lombards, the Avars, and others - all of whom had as their objective the wealth of Roman centers in Italy to the south and Gaul to the west.  While these migrations were occuring, three other groups were in the process of forming permanent settlements in the area of present-day Austria.  The Alamanni, who came from Swabia, settled in the extreme western part of the region (now Voralberg).  The Bavarians, who came from Bohemia, settled in the north and west (now Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, and northern Tirol).  The Slavs, escaping the Avar oppression, settled into the south and east (Styria, Carinthia, and southern Tirol).  It was during these "dark centuries" that Austria was fully opened up for the first time.

In the 5th Century, the Huns, sweeping in from Asia, set off a wave of migration.  Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Lombards, & other Germanic tribes overran what was left of the Roman Empire.  It was out of this period of chaos and motion that emerged a people that settled into central Europe - a people called the Baioarii.

The Origin of the Bavarians

There is some mystery as to the origins of these people who became known as Bavarians.  The first mention of them by name occurs in 520 AD in a Frankish "tabulation of peoples" (Riezler 8).  In 565 AD, the Roman poet Venantius Fortunatas refers to the area between the rivers Inn and Lech as "Baioaria".  By this time, the Bavarians controlled the land of present-day Bavaria, Tirol, Upper Austria, and Salzburg.  So where did the Bavarians come from?

It is now generally believed that the Bavarians are the descendants of the "lost" Germanic tribe known to the Romans as the Marcomanni.   The Marcomanni, who came originally from northern Europe in present-day Saxony, moved south in the 1st century BC into Bohemia (present-day Czechoslavakia), pushing out the Celtic people known as the Boii.  The Marcomanni stayed in Bohemia for about 500 years, eventually taking on the Celtic name of their homeland.  In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, they engaged the Romans in a series of armed conflicts.  The name Marcomanni literally means "men of the marches" or borders (Gibbon i.98,261-263).  The ancient Celtic name for Bohemia was Boja or Bojos, which has subsequently been transplanted to Bojoheim, Baiheim, or Beheim (Kohlrausch 76).  The name Bavarians, derived from Baioarii, Bajuvarii, and Bajjawarjos, literally means "inhabitants of the Boiic land" (Leeper 58).

These Austrians were part of that larger Germanic group known as Bavarians who settled into the area of present-day Bavaria and northern Austria in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD.  Our search for the origin of the Gottscheers must begin with them.

There is some mystery as to the origins of these people who became known as Bavarians.  The first mention of them by name occurred in 520 AD in a Frankish "tabulation of peoples" (Riezler 8).  In 565 AD, the Roman poet Venantius Fortunatas referred to the area between the rivers Inn and Lech as "Baioaria".  By this time, the Bavarians controlled the land of present-day Bavaria, Tirol, Upper Austria, and Salzburg.  So where did the Bavarians come from?

 

The Marcomanni

It is now generally believed that the Bavarians are the descendants of the "lost" Germanic tribe known to the Romans as the Marcomanni.  The name Marcomanni literally means "men of the marches" or borders (Gibbon i.98,261-263), and refers to their geographic location in relation to the Roman Empire.  The Marcomanni, who came originally from the upper Main valley in present-day northern Bavaria or from the Elbe valley in present-day Saxony, moved into Bohemia in the year 6 BC, pushing out a Celtic people known as the Boii, who were settled about the Hercynian forest in southern Bohemia, in present-day Czechoslavakia (Todd 31, 58-59).  Considered the most important of the southern Suevic tribes, the Marcomanni were led by a brave noble, Maroboduus, who took his people into the Bohemian plateau (Kohlrausch 37) through the Elbe valley, settling into the region surrounding present-day Prague.  They were probably accompanied by another Germanic tribe, the Quadi, who were closely associated with the Marcomanni throughout their history, and who settled in Moravia, southeast of Bohemia in present-day eastern Czechoslavakia (Todd 62).  The Marcomanni stayed in Bohemia for about 500 years, eventually taking on the Celtic name of their homeland.  The ancient Celtic name for Bohemia was Boja or Bojos, which has subsequently been transplanted to Bojoheim, Baiheim, or Beheim (Kohlrausch 76).  The name Bavarians, derived from Baioarii, Bajuvarii, and Bajjawarjos, literally means "inhabitants of the Boiic land" (Leeper 58).

Prior to settling in Bohemia, the Boii took part in the Celtic migrations into the Po Valley in northern Italy around 400 BC, settling near present-day Modena, Italy.  Their ritualized cremation of their dead distinguished the Boii from other Celtic tribes in the Po Valley region, and connected them to their Bohemian origins (Cunliffe The Ancient Celts 73).  Following the First Punic Wars (264-241 BC), the Romans turned their attention to the Celts on their northern borders.  In 232, they reclaimed territory from the Senones.  Further activity from the Romans in the western Apennines alarmed the Boii.  Strengthened by a significant force of Gaesatae - mercenary Celts from beyond the Alps - the Boii, along with the Taurisi and Insubres, marched on Rome (Cunliffe The Ancient Celts 77).  With 50,000 infantry and 20,000 horse and chariots, the Celts invaded Etruria.  In 225 BC, the Celts met the Romans at the Battle of Telamon, a coastal area about 100 miles north of Rome.  Two Roman armies, one under Consul Lucius Aemilius, the other under Consul Gaius Atilius, conveged on the Celtic forces near the town of Telamon.  The Roman victory was decisive, leaving 40,000 Celts dead and taking at least 10,000 prisoner (James 84-85).  Following the Second Punic War, Roman armies quickly moved against the Celtic peoples living the the Po Valley.  The Boii, faced with the growing Roman threat, moved northward to their original Transalpine homeland - eventually settling in Bohemia around 189 BC (Cunliffe The Ancient Celts 78).

The relationship between the German and Celtic tribes of Europe during the latter half of the 1st millennium BC has been the topic of much conjecture and debate.  Among the most fertile meeting grounds of the two peoples was Bohemia.  The Celts had occupied this area since Hallstatt times, and at the start of the 2nd Century BC, a Celtic tribe known as the Boii settled about the Hercynian forest, in present-day southern Bohemia.  These people, who gave their name to the region, played a significant role in the development and dissemination of certain industrial techniques - particularly in iron-working.  They established four iron-working centers in Bohemia: around Nove Straseci, the Prague region, in the foothills of the Ore mountains, and in southern Bohemia.  When the Marcomanni entered Bohemia in 6 BC, they came in close contact with people possessing advanced skill in producing quality iron weapons.  The Marcomanni, who already possessed some advanced knowledge and skills in metallurgy, no doubt benefited from their contact with the fleeing Celts (Todd 30-32).  The influence of the Celts on the Marcomanni can be seen primarily in minor metalwork objects such as brooches and pins (Todd The Early Germans 20).