First off we will talk about the Lombard's. The word Lombard coming from the word Langobards, refers to their long beards. The Lombard's are one of the many Germanic tribes that settled in Europe. The Lombard's started off in southern Sweden and over time migrated there way down into Italy. They settled in modern day Hungary and Eastern Austria.

For centuries the territory that is modern Austria was the border between Roman and Germanic culture. In 568 Alboin lead the invasion into Italy were they set up there own kingdom and later worked their way down into southern Italy. Authari is the next king to come into power. He was elected to this position to try to strengthen the Lombards hold on Europe from the Franks, the Byzantine Empire and the popes of that time.

The height of the Lomardian Kingdom was in the 7th and 8th century until Catholicism took over in the place of Aryanism. The Popes in Rome feared the Lombard's would take over there power. IN 754,

After Attila's death in 453 the Ostrogoths went to central Europe and chose Theodoric the Great as ruler. Theodoric attempted to take Italy back in 489 and conquered it in 493. When Theodoric died his daughter, Amalasuntha, was to be come the ruler until her son was old enough to hold the title. In 535 the Ostrogoths were once again conquered. This time it was by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. The Ostrogoths tried to rebel with little effect and due to this there way of life was all but lost. The Ostrogoths stayed in Italy until the 550s.

Clovis the king Salians invaded Gaul in 486. He defeated many including the Gauls, Romans, and Visigoths and created and empire that stretched from the Rhine River to the Pyrenees Mtn. Clovis was the first Germanic ruler to adopt the idea of orthodox Christianity. The Salians were allies with the Romans for a while. With the leadership of Clovis I they overthrew the Romans in 486. Clovis reunited the Salians and the Ripuarian and Founded the Frankish Empire. The Kingdom Grew to cover most of France, the low Country's, Germany west of the Elbe, Austria, Switzerland, and north and central Italy. Clovis died in 511.

Last off we have the Franks. The Franks were a confederate nation of Germanic people. The Franks were made up of two groups the Salians and the Ripuarions. The Salians settled in the Low Countries while the Ripuarions moved to what is know day Trier and Cologne Germany. The word Frank means fierce or free. This Group of people eventually became the French.

In 382, the roman ruler Theodosius made a treaty with the Visigoth. The Visigoths became the first independent barbarian nation in the Roman Empire. The alliance with Rome in 394 helped in the fall of the Huns. With Alaric I leading the way the Roman armies defeated the Huns.

Since the Visigoths were at this time beginning to make their presence known the Vandals turned their interest towards that of Roman North Africa. They unlike oth

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Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)