[gothic-l] Regnum Ostrogotorum Reaching the North Sea?

[Bertil Haggman]

At the rather early stage of the Regnum Ostrogotorum
it seems highly unlikely that the Goths went as
far as to the North Sea. The Goths lived basically
north of the Black Sea.

Later Goths moved further west as far as establishing
kingdoms both in France and Spain. It seems they
never established a hold in present Portugal. The
Eruli, however, who lived around the Sea of Azov,
have been mentioned by some sources as taking
part in sea raids in the west. The fifth century Spanish
bishop Hydatiusmentions two Erulian invasions in
western Spain, one in 455 AD, another 459 AD.
But there have been doubts about the Western
Eruli being that far west. Similarly during the rule
of Ermanarik it must be doubtful if Goths controlled
peoples as far as at the North Sea or at the Rhine.
But there might be evidence, not known by me, to the
contrary but none has been placed here.

Based on this it is a reasonable conclusion that the western
limitation of, let us call it Ermanaric's confederation,
ended at Elbe rather than Rhine. But there were
no borders like in modern time during this age, so the
western limits of Regnum Ostrogothorum was
certainly fluid.

Anyone claiming to hold the historical truth or being
close to the historical certainly is at least an optimist.

Bertil Haggman


> But the issue is not so much the description,
> felicitous or not, as the extent of this
> "confederation".



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