European Kingdoms

Cimbri & Teutones

A largescale incursion of the sea into Jutland around the period between 120-114 BC is known as the Cimbrian Flood. It permanently altered the shape of the coastline and drastically affected the way people live in the region. It was probably this event (which is ascribed by some scholars to 307-306 BC) which affected the Germanic Teutones (Teutons) in the centre of the peninsula and their northern neighbours, the Cimbri, enough to force them to migrate southwards in large numbers.

A good deal of controversy exists as to whether particular tribes were German or Gaulish (Celtic). Both the Cimbri and Teutones appear to have borne some elements of Celtic society, although they were primarily Germanic. This trait seems to have been common with all Germanic peoples in the Cimbric Peninsula, with them straddling both definitions. The subject is discussed in greater detail in the accompanying feature. The Cimbri tribal name is wholly Celtic, and means 'compatriots' or 'companions' in the sense that they were people with a common background and heritage. So was the tribe itself really Celtic, or perhaps Germanic with a Celtic elite ruling it? Its ruler, Boiorix, had a name which meant literally 'king of the Boii'. The Boii were a tribe of Celts that occupied a wide swathe of central Europe at this time, which raises the possibility that the driving force behind this migration was the Boii themselves, which is backed up by Julius Caesar's own thoughts on the matter.

It may have been this event which began a population shift in southern Sweden and which triggered the migration of the Goths into Central Europe, where they settled between the Oder and the Vistula, in what is now Poland. It was also almost certainly the Cimbri and Teutones migration that triggered a large-scale influx of Belgic tribes into Britain.

? - 102 BC

Teutobod / Theudobod

King of the Teutons. Also known in legend as King Teutenbuecher.

? - 101 BC

Boiorix

King of the Cimbri (and Boii?). Also known in legend as King Boiger.

113 - 109 BC

Teutobod and Boiorix lead a largescale migration of Teutones and Cimbri from their homeland in what later becomes central and northern Denmark. Along the way they pick up Celto-Germanic Helvetii peoples (in territory that later becomes Franconia). Their passage sparks a partial tribal movement by elements of the Boii who invade the Norican region south of the Danube.

An illustration depicting the Teutones wandering in Gaul

109 - 105 BC

The wandering tribes enter Gaul from Germany in 109 BC, causing chaos amongst the Celtic tribes there and rendering critical the situation in the region. It is almost certainly this invasion that sparks the migration of Belgic peoples from the Netherlands and northern Gaul into south-eastern Britain, although such a migration may already have started on a smaller scale. In 107 BC, a Roman defence against the Cimbri's allies, the Helvetii, at the Battle of Burdigala ends in defeat, further exacerbating the confused situation.

105 - 101 BC

The Cimbri and Teutones have ventured so far south into Gaul by this time that they break into Italy, coming up against the Roman republic. The resultant Cimbrian War sees initial Teuton and Cimbri success against tribes which are allied to Rome, and a huge Roman army is destroyed at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. Consul Gaius Marius rebuilds the Roman forces, while the Cimbri raid Iberia. In 102 BC the weakened Teutones are defeated and enslaved. The Cimbri are similarly destroyed at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC.

Remnants of the two tribes (probably a substantial number) remain in their homeland in the the Cimbric Peninsula, and are later absorbed by the incoming Angles and Jutes.