- For other uses, see Coat (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Overcoat, a garment meant solely as an outer garment. Man wearing a coat, painting by Julian Fałat, 1900 A coat is a garment worn on the upper body by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps and hoods. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Coats, jackets and overcoats 4 Types 4.1 18th and 19th centuries 4.1.1 Men's 4.1.2 Women's 4.2 Modern 5 See also 6 Bibliography 7 References Etymology Coat is one of the earliest clothing category words in English, attested as far back as the early Middle Ages. (See also Clothing terminology.) The Oxford English Dictionary traces coat in its modern meaning to c. 1300, when it was written cote. The word coat stems from Old French and then Latin cottus.[1] It originates from the Proto-Indo-European word for woolen clothes. An early use of coat in English is coat of mail (chainmail), a tunic-like garment of metal rings, usually knee- or mid-calf length.[2] History The medieval and renaissance coat (generally spelled cote by costume historians) is a mid-length, sleeved men's outer garment, fitted to the waist and buttoned up the front, with a full skirt in its essentials, not unlike the modern coat.[3] By the eighteenth century, overcoats had begun to supplant capes and cloaks as outerwear, and by the mid-twentieth century the terms jacket and coat became confused for recent styles; the difference in use is still maintained for older garments. Coats, jackets and overcoats Elize Ryd wearing a coat during a performance in 2018 In the early 19th century, coats were divided into under-coats and overcoats. The term "under-coat" is now archaic but denoted the fact that the word coat could be both the outermost layer for outdoor wear (overcoat) or the coat worn under that (under-coat). However, the term coat has begun to denote just the overcoat rather than the under-coat. The older usage of the word coat can still be found in the expression "to wear a coat and tie",[4] which does not mean that wearer has on an overcoat. Nor do the terms tailcoat, morning coat or house coat denote types of overcoat. Indeed, an overcoat may be worn over the top of a tailcoat. In tailoring circles, the tailor who makes all types of coats is called a coat maker. Similarly, in American English, the term sports coat is used to denote a type of jacket not worn as outerwear (overcoat) (sports jacket in British English). The term jacket is a traditional term usually used to refer to a specific type of short under-coat.[5] Typical modern jackets extend only to the upper thigh in length, whereas older coats such as tailcoats are usually of knee length. The modern jacket worn with a suit is traditionally called a lounge coat (or a lounge jacket) in British English and a sack coat in American English. The American English term is rarely used. Traditionally, the majority of men dressed in a coat and tie, although this has become gradually less widespread since the 1960s. Because the basic pattern for the stroller (black jacket worn with striped trousers in British English) and dinner jacket (tuxedo in American English) are the same as lounge coats, tailors traditionally call both of these special types of jackets a coat. An overcoat is designed to be worn as the outermost garment worn as outdoor wear;[6] while this use is still maintained in some places, particularly in Britain, elsewhere the term coat is commonly used mainly to denote only the overcoat, and not the under-coat. A topcoat is a slightly shorter[citation needed] overcoat, if any distinction is to be made. Overcoats worn over the top of knee length coats (under-coats) such as frock coats, dress coats, and morning coats are cut to be a little longer than the under-coat so as to completely cover it, as well as being large enough to accommodate the coat underneath. The length of an overcoat varies: mid-calf being the most frequently found and the default when current fashion isn't concerned with hemlines. Designs vary from knee-length to the ankle length briefly fashionable in the early 1970s and known (to contrast with the usurped mini) as the "maxi".[7] Speakers of American English sometimes informally use the words jacket and coat interchangeably.[8] Types 18th and 19th centuries Men's Some of these styles are still worn. Note that for this period, only coats of the under-coat variety are listed, and overcoats are excluded. Justacorps, a seventeenth and eighteenth century knee-length coat, fitted to the waist with flared skirts Frock coat, a kneelength men's coat of the nineteenth century Morning coat or cutaway, a dress coat still worn as formal wear Tailcoat (dress coat in tailor's parlance), a late eighteenth century men's coat preserved in today's white tie and tails Coatee, an early 19th-century military coat, still worn with Highland dress. Dinner jacket, a men's semi-formal evening lounge coat. Smoking jacket, a men's jacket worn informally with black tie Lounge coat or sack coat, a coat which is also a jacket Duster coat or simply "duster" worn when riding horseback Women's An evening coat from the 50s by designer Sybil Connolly [icon] This section needs expansion with: examples. You can help by adding to it. (September 2008) Basque, a tightly fitted, kneelength women's coat of the 1870s Spencer, a waistlength, frequently doublebreasted, men's jacket of the 1790s, adopted as a women's fashion from the early nineteenth century Redingote a type of coat; the name is derived the English "riding coat", Modern Further information on modern coats: Jacket The terms coat and jacket are both used around the world. The modern terms "jacket" and "coat" are often used interchangeably as terms, although the term "coat" tends to be used to refer to longer garments. Modern coats include the: British Warm Chesterfield coat Covert coat Duffel coat Pea coat Raincoat or Mackintosh Trench coat "Fur coat" redirects here. For an animal's natural fur, see Animal coat. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Fur clothing" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Hood with Asiatic raccoon trimming Coypu jacket, reversible A French-Canadian man, wearing a fur coat and hat, around 1910 Fur clothing is clothing made of furry animal hides. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; others reject it due to personal beliefs of animal rights. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals. The most popular kinds of fur in the 1960s (known as the luxury fur) were blond mink, silver striped fox and red fox. Cheaper alternatives were pelts of wolf, Persian lamb or muskrat. It was common for ladies to wear a matching hat. In the 1950s, a must-have type of fur was the mutation fur (naturally nuanced colours) and fur trimmings on a coat that were beaver, lamb fur, Astrakhan and mink. Contents 1 History 2 Sources 3 Processing of fur 4 Anti-fur campaigns 5 Fur trade 6 Contemporary fashion industries 7 See also 8 References 9 External links History Further information: History of hide materials Wholesale dealer (Leipzig, c. 1900) Fur sewing machine Success from Allbook & Hashfield, Nottingham, England vteWorldwide laws regarding the legality of killing animals for fur Killing animals for fur is illegal Killing animals for fur is partially illegal1 Killing animals for fur is legal, but importing or selling fur is illegal Killing animals for fur is legal, but strict anti-cruelty regulations make fur farms uneconomic Killing animals for fur is legal and active Unknown 1some animals are excluded Fur is generally thought to have been among the first materials used for clothing and bodily decoration. The exact date when fur was first used in clothing is debated. It is known that several species of hominoids including sapiens and neanderthalensis used fur clothing. Fur clothing predates written history and has been recovered from various archaeological sites worldwide. Crown proclamations known as "sumptuary legislation" were issued in England[1] limiting the wearing of certain furs to the higher social statuses, thereby establishing a cachet based on exclusivity. Furs such as marten, grey squirrel and ermine were reserved for the aristocracy, while fox, hare and beaver clothed the middle, and goat, wolf and sheepskin the lower. Fur was primarily used for visible linings, with species varied by season within social classes. Furbearing animals decreased in West Europe and began to be imported from the Middle East and Russia.[2] As new kinds of fur entered Europe, other uses were made with fur other than clothing. Beaver was most desired but used to make hats which became a popular headpiece especially during wartime. Swedish soldiers wore broad-brimmed hats made exclusively from beaver felt. Due to the limitations of beaver fur, hat-makers relied heavily on North America for imports as beaver was only available in the Scandinavian peninsula.[2] Other than the military, fur has been used for accessories such as hats, hoods, scarves, and muffs. Design elements including the visuals of the animal were considered acceptable with heads, tails and paws still being kept on the accessories. During the nineteenth century, Seal and karakul were made into indoor jackets. The twentieth century was the beginning of the fur coats being fashionable in West Europe with full fur coats. With lifestyle changes as a result of developments like indoor heating, the international textile trade affected how fur was distributed around the world. Europeans focused on using local resources giving fur association with femininity with the increasing use of mink. In 1970, Germany was the world's largest fur market. The International Fur Trade Federation banned endangering species furs like silk monkey, ocelot, leopard, tiger, and polar bear in 1975. The use of animal skins were brought to light during the 1980s by animal right organisations and the demand for fur decreased. Anti-fur organisations raised awareness of the controversy between animal welfare and fashion. Fur farming became banned in Britain in 1999. During the twenty-first century, fox and mink have been bred in captivity with Denmark, Holland and Finland being leaders of mink production.[1] Fur is still worn in most mild and cool climates around the world due to its warmth and durability. From the days of early European settlement, up until the development of modern clothing alternatives, fur clothing was popular in Canada during the cold winters. The invention of inexpensive synthetic textiles for insulating clothing led to fur clothing falling out of fashion. Fur is still used by indigenous people and developed societies, due to its availability and superior insulation properties. The Inuit peoples of the Arctic relied on fur for most of their clothing, and it also forms a part of traditional clothing in Russia, Ukraine, the former Yugoslavia, Scandinavia, and Japan. It is also sometimes associated with glamour and lavish spending. A number of consumers and designers—notably British fashion designer and outspoken animal rights activist Stella McCartney—reject fur due to moral beliefs and cruelty to animals.[3] Animal furs used in garments and trim may be dyed bright colors or with patterns, often to mimic exotic animal pelts: alternatively they may be left their original pattern and color. Fur may be shorn down to imitate the feel of velvet, creating a fabric called shearling. Intro of alternatives in the early 20th century brought tension to clothing industry as the faux fur manufacturers started producing faux fur and capitalising on profits. By 1950s synthetic fur garments had become popular and affordable. Newspapers were writing articles on major chemical companies trying to outdo each other in the quest to create the most realistic fake fur.[4] The popularity of natural fur has gone up and down in recent years. Vogue Paris published a homage to fur in August 2017 and later followed the idea of not using animal fur. Other high end brands to follow this lead are Stella McCartney, , , , , Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini. announced to stop sending models with fur on runways but did not stop selling it in stores. There are many companies coming up with more sustainable ways of producing leather and fur. Designer Ingar Helgason is developing Bio fur which would grows synthetic pelts the way that Modern Meadow has been able to produce grown leather and Diamond foundry created lab grown diamonds. BOF fur debate hosted by Zilberkweit director of the British Fur Association argued that natural fur was more sustainable. Others said that chemical processes needed to treat animals’ fur in order to be worn are just as detrimental to the environment.[5][6] Heritage fashion houses such as Hermès, and still use natural fur. Alex Mcintosh, who leads the Fashion Futures post grad program at London College of Fashion, says “Change on this level would only be driven on a genuine lack of demand and not just social media outcry”.[6] Sources See also: List of types of fur Common animal sources for fur clothing and fur trimmed accessories include fox, rabbit, mink, raccoon dogs, muskrat, beaver, stoat (ermine), otter, sable, seals, cats, dogs, coyotes, wolves, chinchilla, opossum and common brushtail possum.[7] Some of these are more highly prized than others, and there are many grades and colors. The import and sale of seal products was banned in the US in 1972 over conservation concerns about Canadian seals. The import and sale is still banned even though the Marine Animal Response Society estimates the harp seal population is thriving at approximately 8 million.[8] The import, export and sales of domesticated cat and dog fur were also banned in the US under the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000.[9] Most of the fur sold by high fashion retailers globally is from farmed animals such as mink, foxes, and rabbits. Cruel methods of killing have made people more aware as the animal rights activists work harder to protect the animals. The recommendations (2001) of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (SCAHAW) state correspondingly: ‘In comparison with other farm animals, species farmed for their fur have been subjected to relatively little active selection except with respect to fur characteristics.[10][11] Processing of fur Sandals with dyed fox fur Traditional Sami fur footwear The manufacturing of fur clothing involves obtaining animal pelts where the hair is left on. Depending on the type of fur and its purpose, some of the chemicals involved in fur processing may include table salts, alum salts, acids, soda ash, sawdust, cornstarch, lanolin, degreasers and, less commonly, bleaches, dyes and toners (for dyed fur).[12] Workers exposed to fur dust created during fur processing have been shown to have reduced pulmonary function in direct proportion to their length of exposure.[13] The use of wool involves shearing the animal's fleece from the living animal, so that the wool can be regrown but sheepskin shearling is made by retaining the fleece to the leather and shearing it.[14] The process of fur manufacturing includes waterways-pumping waste and the toxic chemicals in to the surrounding environment. On the other hand, fur is naturally biodegradable, whereas faux fur is not.[15] Anti-fur campaigns Anti-fur campaigns were popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, with the participation of numerous celebrities.[16] Fur clothing has become the focus of boycotts due to the opinion that it is cruel and unnecessary. PETA and other animal rights organizations, celebrities, and animal rights ethicists, have called attention to fur farming. Animal rights advocates object to the trapping and killing of wildlife, and to the confinement and killing of animals on fur farms due to concerns about the animals suffering and death. They may also condemn "alternatives" made from synthetic (oil-based) clothing as they promote fur for the sake of fashion. Protests also include objection to the use of leather in clothing, shoes and accessories. Some animal rights activists have disrupted fur fashion shows with protests, while other anti-fur protesters may use fashion shows featuring faux furs or other alternatives to fur clothing as a platform to highlight animal suffering from the use of real leathers and furs. These groups sponsor "Compassionate Fashion Day" on the third Saturday of August to promote their anti-fur message. Some American groups participate in "Fur Free Friday", an event held annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) that uses displays, protests, and other methods to highlight their beliefs regarding furs. In Canada, opposition to the annual seal hunt is viewed as an anti-fur issue, although the Humane Society of the United States claims that its opposition is to "the largest slaughter of marine mammals on Earth."[17] IFAW, an anti-sealing group, claims that Canada has an "abysmal record of enforcement" of anti-cruelty laws surrounding the hunt.[18] A Canadian government survey[19] indicated that two-thirds of Canadians supported the hunting of seals if the regulations under Canadian law. PETA representative Johanna Fuoss credits social media and email marketing campaigns for helping to mobilize an unprecedented number of animal rights activists. “In the year before stopped using fur, he had received more than 150,000 emails,” Fuoss tells Highsnobiety. “This puts a certain pressure on designers who can see that the zeitgeist is moving away from fur. ”New technologies and platforms have made it easier than ever for those advocating change to get results. While in the past, activists had to invade runways with signs and paint, or physically mail privately viewed letters, today's activist can raise a commotion without leaving the house.[20][5][21] The rise of social media has provided the general public with a direct line of communication to companies and a platform for opinions and protest, making it harder for brands to ignore targeted activism. “Brands are under huge pressure to respond to social media and avoid any controversy.” Says Mark Oaten, chief executive of the IFF.[22] The anti-fur messaging is being amplified by social media and a millennial customer base that is paying closer attention to the values represented by the products they buy. The feeling of outrage against animal suffering is particularly intense when cats and dogs are involved, since these are the most popular pets in Western countries. Therefore, consumers demand to be assured about the production of furs, in order to avoid the risk of inadvertently buying products made with fur from these animals. To counteract the growing concern of consumers, European Union officially banned the import and export from all Member States of dog and cat furs, and all products containing fur from these species, with the Regulation 1523/2007,[23] applying since 31 December 2008. A combined method for species identification in furs, based on a combined morphological and molecular approach, has been proposed to discriminate dog and cat furs from allowed fur-bearing species, as this is a necessary step to comply with the ban.[24][25] Fur trade Main article: Fur trade The fur trade is the worldwide buying and selling of fur for clothing and other purposes. The fur trade was one of the driving forces of exploration of North America and the Russian Far East. Contemporary fashion industries Today, fur is a popular material used by many fashion brands within the luxury sector, this includes high fashion labels , Fendi, Oscar de la Renta and , as well as high street brands like Canada Goose and upcoming designers such as Saks Potts. In recent years, some brands and department stores have decided to ban fur and use alternative materials known as 'faux fur' or 'fake fur'. Reasons for this include ethical concerns and media awareness, with announcing they were banning fur after a highly publicised scandal about burning billions of dollars worth of excess stock was made public in 2018.[26] See also Fur farming The Goths (Gothic: 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, romanized: Gutþiuda; Latin: Gothi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.[1][2] In his book Getica (c. 551), the historian Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia, but the accuracy of this account is unclear.[1] A people called the Gutones—possibly early Goths—are documented living near the lower Vistula River in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture.[1][2] From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards the Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by the late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture.[1][3] By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful.[4] During this time, Ulfilas began the conversion of Goths to Arianism.[3] In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths were invaded from the east by the Huns. In the aftermath of this event, several groups of Goths came under Hunnic domination, while others migrated further west or sought refuge inside the Roman Empire. Goths who entered the Empire by crossing the Danube inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. These Goths would form the Visigoths, and under their king Alaric I they began a long migration, eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.[5] The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Remnants of Gothic communities in the Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, lingered on for several centuries, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.[4][3] Contents 1 Name 2 Classification 3 History 3.1 Prehistory 3.2 Early history 3.3 Movement towards the Black Sea 3.4 3rd century raids on the Roman Empire 3.5 Co-existence with the Roman Empire (300-375) 3.6 Arrival of the Huns (about 375) 3.7 The Gothic War of 376-382 3.8 Later division and spread of the Goths 3.8.1 Visigoths 3.8.2 Ostrogoths 3.8.3 Crimean Goths 4 Language 5 Physical appearance 6 Culture 6.1 Art 6.1.1 Early 6.1.2 Ostrogoths 6.1.3 Visigoths 6.2 Society 6.3 Religion 6.4 Law 6.5 Warfare 6.6 Economy 6.7 Architecture 6.7.1 Ostrogoths 6.7.2 Visigoths 7 Legacy 8 List of early literature on the Goths 8.1 In the sagas 8.2 In Greco-Roman literature 9 See also 10 Notes and sources 10.1 Notes 10.2 Footnotes 10.3 Ancient sources 10.4 Modern sources 11 Further reading Name Main article: Name of the Goths In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda "Gothic people" or *Gutans (Goth).[6][7] The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is *Gutaniz. This form is identical to that of the Gutes and closely related to that of the Geats.[8] Though these names probably mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain.[9] They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geuta-, which means "to pour".[10] Classification The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship.[1][2][11][12][13] Along with the Burgundians, Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group.[14][15][16] Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani.[17][18][19][20] In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani.[21][22][23] History Prehistory See also: Origin stories of the Goths Götaland The island of Gotland Wielbark culture in the early 3rd century Chernyakhov culture, in the early 4th century Roman Empire A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes, who may have been of Gothic descent.[24][25] Jordanes claims to have based the Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus, but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius.[26][27][28] Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details.[29][30][31][32] According to Jordanes, the Goths originated on an island called Scandza (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called Gothiscandza under their king Berig.[33] Historians are not in agreement on the authencity and accuracy of this account.[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record,[42] but the evidence is not entirely clear.[1][43][44] Rather than a single mass migration of an entire people, scholars open to hypothetical Scandinavian origins envision a process of gradual migration in the 1st centuries BC and AD, which was probably preceded by long-term contacts and perhaps limited to a few elite clans from Scandinavia.[45][46][47][48] Similarities between the name of the Goths, some Swedish place names and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that the Goths originated in Gotland or Götaland.[49][50][51] The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic.[52][53][54] Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and Scandinavian languages (particularly Gutnish) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin.[55][56] Scholars generally locate Gothiscandza in the area of the Wielbark culture.[57][58][59] This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the Pomeranian coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding Oksywie culture.[60] It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of stone circles.[61][62] This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of the Nordic Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture.[53] Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii.[1][63][64][65][66] Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling Gothiscandza, seized the lands of the Ulmerugi (Rugii).[67][68] A stone circle in the area of northern Poland occupied by the Wielbark culture, which is associated with the Goths Early history Further information: Gutones Oksywie culture and the early Wielbark culture Expansion of the Wielbark culture Przeworsk culture The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by Greco-Roman sources in the 1st century under the name Gutones.[2][29][30][66][69][70] The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians.[71][72][73][74] Around 15 AD, Strabo mentions the Butones, Lugii, and Semnones as part of a large group of peoples who came under the domination of the Marcomannic king Maroboduus.[75] The "Butones" are generally equated with the Gutones.[76][77] The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as the Vandals, with whom they were certainly closely affiliated.[78] The Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture, which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture.[79] Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD.[78] In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder mentions the Gutones as one of the peoples of Germania. He writes that the Gutones, Burgundiones, Varini, and Carini belong to the Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal "German races", along with the coastal Ingvaeones, Istvaeones, Irminones, and Peucini.[80][78][81] In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler Pytheas encountered a people called the Guiones.[82] Some scholars have equated these Guiones with the Gutones, but the authencity of the Pytheas account is uncertain.[52][83] In his work Germania from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that the Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighbouring Rugii and Lemovii were Germani who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals.[84] He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes".[85][84][86] In another notable work, the Annals, Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda, a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing the rule of Maroboduus.[87][88] Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni.[84] The Roman Empire under Hadrian, showing the location of the Gothones, then inhabiting the east bank of the Vistula Sometime after settling Gothiscandza, Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals.[89] Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.[78] In his Geography from around 150 AD, Ptolemy mentions the Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the Veneti and the Fenni.[90][91][92] In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern Scandia.[93][92] These Gutae are probably the same as the later Gauti mentioned by Procopius.[91] Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin.[91] Movement towards the Black Sea Further information: Oium Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the Black Sea.[94] During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture.[94] This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth.[94] As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the Roman Empire, contributing to the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars.[94] By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the Roman army.[95] According to Jordanes, the Goths entered Oium, part of Scythia, under the king Filimer, where they defeated the Spali.[89][96] This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence.[38][97] The name Spali may mean "the giants" in Slavic, and the Spali were thus probably not Slavs.[98] In the early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural Zarubintsy culture and the nomadic Sarmatians.[99] Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the Bastarnae, who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC.[100] Peter Heather considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition.[101][102] The fact that the expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people.[103] By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in Scythia.[104][105] This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east.[106] It is believed to have been dominated by the Goths and other Germanic groups such as the Heruli.[107] It nevertheless also included Iranian, Dacian, Roman and probably Slavic elements as well.[106] 3rd century raids on the Roman Empire Further information: Crisis of the Third Century, Battle of Abritus, and Battle of Naissus Gothic invasions in the 3rd century The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238.[100][108] The first references to the Goths in the 3rd century call them Scythians, as this area, known as Scythia, had historically had been occupied by an unrelated people of that name.[109] It is in the late 3rd century that the name Goths (Latin: Gothi) is first mentioned.[110] Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones.[111][72] Philologists and linguists have no doubt that the names are the same.[112][113] On the Pontic steppe the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians.[114] They excelled at horsemanship, archery and falconry,[115] and were also accomplished agriculturalists[116] and seafarers.[117] J. B. Bury describes the Gothic period as "the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe."[118] William H. McNeill compares the migration of the Goths to that of the early Mongols, who migrated southward from the forests and came to dominate the eastern Eurasian steppe around the same time as the Goths in the west.[114] From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman–Persian Wars, notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 244.[119] An inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Parthian, Persian and Greek commemorates the Persian victory over the Romans and the troops drawn from Gwt W Grmany xštr, the Gothic and German kingdoms,[120] which is probably a Parthian gloss for the Danubian (Gothic) limes and the Germanic limes.[121] Meanwhile, Gothic raids on the Roman Empire continued,[122] In 250–251, the Gothic king Cniva captured the city of Philippopolis and inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus, in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed.[123][100] This was one of the most disastrious defeats in the history of the Roman army.[100] The first Gothic seaborne raids took place in the 250s. The first two incursions into Asia Minor took place between 253 and 256, and are attributed to Boranoi by Zosimus. This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean "people from the north". It is unknown if Goths were involved in these first raids. Gregory Thaumaturgus attributes a third attack to Goths and Boradoi, and claims that some, "forgetting that they were men of Pontus and Christians," joined the invaders.[124] An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the second year by another, which sacked Pityus and Trabzon and ravaged large areas in the Pontus. In the third year, a much larger force devastated large areas of Bithynia and the Propontis, including the cities of Chalcedon, Nicomedia, Nicaea, Apamea Myrlea, Cius and Bursa. By the end of the raids, the Goths had seized control over Crimea and the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxine coast, including Olbia and Tyras, which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities.[125][100][126] After a 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the Heruli, with a raiding fleet of 500 ships,[127] sacked Heraclea Pontica, Cyzicus and Byzantium.[128] They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Scyros, broke through Thermopylae and sacked several cities of southern Greece (province of Achaea) including Athens, Corinth, Argos, Olympia and Sparta.[125] Then an Athenian militia, led by the historian Dexippus, pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus.[129][125] He won an important victory near the Nessos (Nestos) river, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace, the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men.[130][125] Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with the Romans.[127][125][100] After Gallienus was assassinated outside Milan in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, Claudius was proclaimed emperor and headed to Rome to establish his rule. Claudius' immediate concerns were with the Alamanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After he defeated them in the Battle of Lake Benacus, he was finally able to take care of the invasions in the Balkan provinces.[131][100] The 3rd-century Great Ludovisi sarcophagus depicts a battle between Goths and Romans. In the meantime, a second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition consisting of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli, assembled at the mouth of river Tyras (Dniester).[a][125] The Augustan History and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men.[132] This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of the scale of the invasion.[125] After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube (Tomi, Marcianopolis), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis[130] or because they were defeated by the Roman navy.[125] Then they entered the Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus.[125] The fleet probably also sacked Troy and Ephesus, damaging the Temple of Artemis, though the temple was repaired and then later torn down by Christians a century later, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.[125] While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia, it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing.[125][100] Europe in AD 300, showing the distribution of the Goths near the Black Sea Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy.[133] They were engaged near Naissus by a Roman army led by Claudius advancing from the north. The battle most likely took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretending to retreat. Some 50,000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed.[130][125] Apparently Aurelian, who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led the decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army.[125][100] The battle ensured the survival of the Roman Empire for another two centuries.[133] In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launched an invasion of the Roman Empire, but were defeated by Aurelian, who, however, did surrender Dacia beyond the Danube.[134][108][135] Around 275 the Goths launched a last major assault on Asia Minor, where piracy by Black Sea Goths was causing great trouble in Colchis, Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia and even Cilicia.[136] They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus.[136] By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the Dniester River: the Thervingi and the Greuthungi.[137] The Gepids, who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time.[138] Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths.[138][139] In the late 3rd century, as recorded by Jordanes, the Gepids, under their king Fastida, utterly defeated the Burgundians, and then attacked the Goths and their king Ostrogotha. Out of this conflict, Ostrogotha and the Goths emerged victorious.[140][141] In the last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of Carpi are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths.[100] Co-existence with the Roman Empire (300-375) Further information: Greuthungi, Thervingi, Oium, Reidgotland, and Arheimar Ring of Pietroassa, dated AD 250 to AD 400 and found in Pietroasele, Romania, features a Gothic language inscription in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet In 332, Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Aoric, son of the Thervingian king Ariaric, was captured.[142] Eusebius, an historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000 Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes.[143] Having been driven from the Danube by the Romans, the Thervingi invaded the territory of the Sarmatians of the Tisza. In this conflict, the Thervingi were led by Vidigoia, "the bravest of the Goths" and were victorious, although Vidigoia was killed.[144] Jordanes states that Aoric was succeeded by Geberic, "a man renowned for his valor and noble birth", who waged war on the Hasdingi Vandals and their king Visimar, forcing them to settle in Pannonia under Roman protection.[145][146] Both the Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Romans, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was thereafter mostly composed of Germanic warriors, as Roman soldiers by this time had largely lost military value.[147] The Goths increasingly became soldiers in the Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant Germanization of the Roman Army.[148] Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did.[148] Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include Gainas, Tribigild, Fravitta and Aspar. Mardonius, a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor Julian, on whom he had an immense influence.[3] The Gothic penchant for wearing skins became fashionable in Constantinople, a fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives.[149] The 4th-century Greek bishop Synesius compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome: A man in skins leading warriors who wear the chlamys, exchanging his sheepskins for the toga to debate with Roman magistrates and perhaps even sit next to a Roman consul, while law-abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone a little way from the senate house, put on their sheepskins again, and when they have rejoined their fellows they mock the toga, saying that they cannot comfortably draw their swords in it.[149] Athanaric and Valens on the Danube, Eduard Bendemann, 1860 In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king Ermanaric, who embarked on a large-scale expansion.[150] Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric), the Aesti and the Vistula Veneti, who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance.[151][150] Jordanes compares the conquests of Ermanaric to those of Alexander the Great, and states that he "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone."[151] Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains,[150][152] encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also Baltic Finnic peoples, Slavs (such as the Antes), Rosomoni (Roxolani), Alans, Huns, Sarmatians and probably Aestii (Balts).[153] According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent.[150] Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to the north in the forest steppe, suggesting Gothic domination of this area.[154] Peter Heather on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated.[155] Ermanaric's possible dominance of the Volga-Don trade routes has led historian Gottfried Schramm to consider his realm a forerunner of the Viking-founded state of Kievan Rus'.[156] In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by the Thervingi, there were also populations of Taifali, Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, Dacians, Daco-Romans and other Romanized populations.[157] According to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek), a 13th-century legendary saga, Árheimar was the capital of Reidgotaland, the land of the Goths. The saga states that it was located on the Dnieper river. Jordanes refers to the region as Oium.[96] In the 360s, Athanaric, son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper Procopius against the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens. In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and defeated him, but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. Athanaric and Valens thereupon negotiated a peace treaty, favorable to the Thervingi, on a boat in the Danube river, as Athanaric refused to set his feet within the Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, Fritigern, a rival of Athanaric, converted to Arianism, gaining the favor of Valens. Athanaric and Fritigern thereafter fought a civil war in which Athanaric appears to have been victorious. Athanaric thereafter carried out a crackdown on Christianity in his realm.[158] Arrival of the Huns (about 375) See also: Migration Period and Hlöðskviða Gizur challenges the Huns by Peter Nicolai Arbo, 1886. Around 375 the Huns overran the Alans, an Iranian people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded the territory of the Goths themselves.[159] A source for this period is the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote that Hunnic domination of the Gothic kingdoms in Scythia began in the 370s.[160] It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards.[161][159][162] Upon the suicide of Ermanaric, the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Hunnic thrust into Europe and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west.[161] The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as Caucaland in the sagas).[163] Ambrose makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit).[164] Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in the Hlöðskviða (The Battle of the Goths and Huns), a medieval Icelandic saga. The sagas recall that Gizur, king of the Geats, came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict with the Huns, although this saga might derive from a later Gothic-Hunnic conflict.[165] Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the Eastern Roman emperor Valens in 376 with a portion of his people and asked to be allowed to settle on the south bank of the Danube. Valens permitted this, and even assisted the Goths in their crossing of the river (probably at the fortress of Durostorum).[166] The Gothic evacuation across the Danube was probably not spontaneous, but rather a carefully planned operation initiated after long debate among leading members of the community.[167] Upon arrival, the Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms.[166] The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia.[168] The Gothic War of 376-382 Main article: Gothic War (376–382) Europe in AD 400, showing the distribution of the Goths in the aftermath of the Hunnic invasion Mistreated by corrupt local Roman officials, the Gothic refugees were soon experiencing a famine; some are recorded as having been forced to sell their children to Roman slave traders in return for rotten dog meat.[166] Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed a widescale rebellion in Thrace, in which he was joined not only by Gothic refugees and slaves, but also by disgruntled Roman workers and peasants, and Gothic deserters from the Roman Army. The ensuing conflict, known as the Gothic War, lasted for several years.[169] Meanwhile, a group of Greuthungi, led by the chieftains Alatheus and Saphrax, who were co-regents with Vithericus, son and heir of the Greuthungi king Vithimiris, crossed the Danube without Roman permission.[169] The Gothic War culminated in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed.[170][171] Following the decisive Gothic victory at Adrianople, Julius, the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire, organized a wholesale massacre of Goths in Asia Minor, Syria and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured the Goths into the confines of urban streets from which they could not escape and massacred soldiers and civilians alike. As word spread, the Goths rioted throughout the region, and large numbers were killed. Survivors may have settled in Phrygia.[172] With the rise of Theodosius I in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers.[173][174] Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through the scheming of Fritigern.[173] Athanaric received a warm reception by Theodosius, praised the Roman Emperor in return, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the emperor following his death shortly after his arrival.[175] In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382.[175] The Thervingi were subsequently made foederati of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to the Roman army.[175] Later division and spread of the Goths In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths.[176][177][178][179] Visigoths means the "good" or "noble" Goths, while Ostrogoths means "Goths of the rising sun" or "East Goths".[180] The Visigoths, led by the Balti dynasty, claimed descent from the Thervingi and lived as foederati inside Roman territory, while the Ostrogoths, led by the Amali dynasty, claimed descent from the Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns.[181] Procopius interpreted the name Visigoth as "western Goths" and the name Ostrogoth as "eastern Goth", reflecting the geographic distribution of the Gothic realms at that time.[182] A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination.[183] A smaller group of Goths were the Crimean Goths, who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into the Middle Ages.[181] Visigoths Main article: Visigoths Further information: Visigothic Kingdom An illustration of Alaric entering Athens in 395 (the depiction, including Bronze Age armour, is anachronistic) The Visigoths were a new Gothic political unit brought together during the career of their first leader, Alaric I.[184] Following a major settlement of Goths in the Balkans made by Theodosius in 382, Goths received prominent positions in the Roman army.[185] Relations with Roman civilians were sometimes uneasy. In 391, Gothic soldiers, with the blessing of Theodosius I, massacred thousands of Roman spectators at the Hippodrome in Thessalonica as vengeance for the lynching of the Gothic general Butheric.[186] The Goths suffered heavy losses while serving Theodosius in the civil war of 394 against Eugenius and Arbogast.[187] In 395, following the death of Theodosius I, Alaric and his Balkan Goths invaded Greece, where they sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta.[188][189] Athens itself was spared by paying a large bribe, and the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius subsequently appointed Alaric magister militum ("master of the soldiers") in Illyricum in 397.[189] In 401 and 402, Alaric made two attempts at invading Italy, but was defeated by Stilicho. In 405–406, another Gothic leader, Radagaisus, also attempted to invade Italy, and was also defeated by Stilicho.[108][190] In 408, the Western Roman emperor Flavius Honorius ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of Goths serving in the Roman military. Subsequently, around 30,000 Gothic soldiers defected to Alaric.[189] Alaric in turn invaded Italy, seeking to pressure Honorious into granting him permission to settle his people in North Africa.[189] In Italy, Alaric liberated tens of thousands of Gothic slaves, and in 410 he sacked the city of Rome. Although the city's riches were plundered, the civilian inhabitants of the city were treated humanely, and only a few buildings were burned.[189] Alaric died soon afterwards, and was buried along with his treasure in an unknown grave under the Busento river.[191] Alaric was succeeded by his brother-in-law Athaulf, husband of Honorius' sister Galla Placidia, who had been seized during Alaric's sack of Rome. Athaulf settled the Visigoths in southern Gaul.[192][193] After failing to gain recognition from the Romans, Athaulf retreated into Hispania in early 415, and was assassinated in Barcelona shortly afterwards.[194] He was succeeded by Sigeric and then Wallia, who succeeded in having the Visigoths accepted by Honorius as foederati in southern Gaul, with their capital at Toulouse. Wallia subsequently inflicted severe defeats upon the Silingi Vandals and the Alans in Hispania.[192] Periodically they marched on Arles, the seat of the praetorian prefect but were always pushed back. In 437 the Visigoths signed a treaty with the Romans which they kept.[195] The maximum extent of territories ruled by Theodoric the Great in 523 Under Theodoric I the Visigoths allied with the Romans and fought Attila to a stalemate in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, although Theodoric was killed in the battle.[192][108] Under Euric, the Visigoths established an independent Visigothic Kingdom and succeeded in driving the Suebi out of Hispania proper and back into Galicia.[192] Although they controlled Spain, they still formed a tiny minority among a much larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.[192] In 507, the Visigoths were pushed out of most of Gaul by the Frankish king Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé.[108] They were able to retain Narbonensis and Provence after the timely arrival of an Ostrogoth detachment sent by Theodoric the Great. The defeat at Vouillé resulted in their penetrating further into Hispania and establishing a new capital at Toledo.[192] Under Liuvigild in the latter part of the 6th century, the Visigoths succeeded in subduing the Suebi in Galicia and the Byzantines in the south-west, and thus achieved dominance over most of the Iberian peninsula.[192] Liuvigild also abolished the law which prevented intermarriage between Hispano-Romans and Goths, and he remained an Arian Christian.[192] The conversion of Reccared I to Roman Catholicism in the late 6th century prompted the assimilation of Goths with the Hispano-Romans.[192] At the end of the 7th century, the Visigothic Kingdom began to suffer from internal troubles.[192] Their kingdom fell and was progressively conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate from 711 after the defeat of their last king Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete. Some Visigothic nobles found refuge in the mountain areas of the Asturias, Pyrenees and Cantabria. According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the gens Gothorum or the Hispani. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native Astures, Galicians, Cantabri, Basques and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.[196] The Christians began to regain control under the leadership of the nobleman Pelagius of Asturias, who founded the Kingdom of Asturias in 718 and defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Covadonga in ca. 722, in what is taken by historians to be the beginning of the Reconquista. It was from the Asturian kingdom that modern Spain and Portugal evolved.[192] The Visigoths were never completely Romanized; rather, they were 'Hispanicized' as they spread widely over a large territory and population. They progressively adopted a new culture, retaining little of their original culture except for practical military customs, some artistic modalities, family traditions such as heroic songs and folklore, as well as select conventions to include Germanic names still in use in present-day Spain. It is these artifacts of the original Visigothic culture that give ample evidence of its contributing foundation for the present regional culture.[161] Portraying themselves heirs of the Visigoths, the subsequent Christian Spanish monarchs declared their responsibility for the Reconquista of Muslim Spain, which was completed with the Fall of Granada in 1492.[192] Ostrogoths Main article: Ostrogoths Further information: Ostrogothic Kingdom The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy. The frieze includes a motif found in Scandinavian metal jewellery. After the Hunnic invasion, many Goths became subjects of the Huns. A section of these Goths under the leadership of the Amali dynasty came to be known as the Ostrogoths.[181] Others sought refuge in the Roman Empire, where many of them were recruited into the Roman army. In the spring of 399, Tribigild, a Gothic leader in charge of troops in Nakoleia, rose up in rebellion and defeated the first imperial army sent against him, possibly seeking to emulate Alaric's successes in the west.[197] Gainas, a Goth who along with Stilicho and Eutropius had deposed Rufinus in 395, was sent to suppress Tribigild's rebellion, but instead plotted to use the situation to seize power in the Eastern Roman Empire. This attempt was however thwarted by the pro-Roman Goth Fravitta, and in the aftermath, thousands of Gothic civilians were massacred in Constantinople,[3] many being burned alive in the local Arian church where they had taken shelter.[197] As late as the 6th century Goths were settled as foederati in parts of Asia Minor. Their descendants, who formed the elite Optimatoi regiment, still lived there in the early 8th century.[198] While they were largely assimilated, their Gothic origin was still well-known: the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor calls them Gothograeci.[3] The Ostrogoths fought together with the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451.[199] Following the death of Attila and the defeat of the Huns at the Battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths broke away from Hunnic rule under their king Valamir.[200] Under his successor, Theodemir, they utterly defeated the Huns at the Bassianae in 468,[201] and then defeated a coalition of Roman-supported Germanic tribes at the Battle of Bolia in 469, which gained them supremacy in Pannonia.[201] Theodemir was succeeded by his son Theodoric in 471, who was forced to compete with Theodoric Strabo, leader of the Thracian Goths, for the leadership of his people.[202] Fearing the threat posed by Theodoric to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno ordered Theodoric to invade Italy in 488. By 493,[170] Theodoric had conquered all of Italy from the Scirian Odoacer, whom he killed with his own hands;[202] he subsequently formed the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Theodoric settled his entire people in Italy, estimated at 100,000-200,000, mostly in the northern part of the country, and ruled the country very efficiently. The Goths in Italy constituted a small minority of the population in the country.[147] Intermarriage between Goths and Romans were forbidden, and Romans were also forbidden from carrying arms. Nevertheless, the Roman majority was treated fairly.[202] The Goths were briefly reunited under one crown in the early 6th century under Theodoric, who became regent of the Visigothic kingdom following the death of Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507.[203] Shortly after Theodoric's death, the country was invaded by the Eastern Roman Empire in the Gothic War, which severely devastated and depopulated the Italian peninsula.[204] The Ostrogoths made a brief resurgence under their king Totila,[108] who was, however, killed at the Battle of Taginae in 552. After the last stand of the Ostrogothic king Teia at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in 553, Ostrogothic resistance ended, and the remaining Goths in Italy were assimilated by the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, who invaded Italy and founded the Kingdom of the Lombards in 567.[108][205] Crimean Goths Main article: Crimean Goths Ruins of the citadel of Doros, capital of the Crimean Goths Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea,[181] especially in Crimea, were known as the Crimean Goths. During the late 5th and early 6th century, the Crimean Goths had to fend off hordes of Huns who were migrating back eastward after losing control of their European empire.[206] In the 5th century, Theodoric the Great tried to recruit Crimean Goths for his campaigns in Italy, but few showed interest in joining him.[207] They affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church through the Metropolitanate of Gothia, and were then closely associated with the Byzantine Empire.[208] During the Middle Ages, the Crimean Goths were in perpetual conflict with the Khazars. John of Gothia, the metropolitan bishop of Doros, capital of the Crimean Goths, briefly expelled the Khazars from Crimea in the late 8th century, and was subsequently canonized as an Eastern Orthodox saint.[208] In the 10th century, the lands of the Crimean Goths were once again raided by the Khazars. As a response, the leaders of the Crimean Goths made an alliance with Sviatoslav I of Kiev, who subsequently waged war upon and utterly destroyed the Khazar Khaganate.[208] In the late Middle Ages the Crimean Goths were part of the Principality of Theodoro, which was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century. As late as the 18th century a small number of people in Crimea may still have spoken Crimean Gothic.[209] Language Main articles: Gothic language and Gothic alphabet The Goths were Germanic-speaking.[210] The Gothic language is the Germanic language with the earliest attestation (the 4th century),[211][170] and the only East Germanic language documented in more than proper names, short phrases that survived in historical accounts, and loan-words in other languages, making it a language of great interest in comparative linguistics. Gothic is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, which contains a partial translation of the Bible credited to Ulfilas.[212] The language was in decline by the mid-500s, due to the military victory of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. In Spain the language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in 589;[213] it survived as a domestic language in the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) as late as the 8th century. Frankish author Walafrid Strabo wrote that Gothic was still spoken in the lower Danube area, in what is now Bulgaria, in the early 9th century,[212] and a related dialect known as Crimean Gothic was spoken in the Crimea until the 16th century, according to references in the writings of travelers.[214] Most modern scholars believe that Crimean Gothic did not derive from the dialect