German Villages
Last Updated     11/25/2007      11/24/2007

Germanic Tribes
Franks
Vandals
Visigoths
Saxons.

Hamlets
German tribes lived in villages called hamlets.
The villages were surrounded by farmland and pastures.

Houses
Homes were long thatcheded-roof huts.
The family lived in one end and the animals lived in the other end in stalls.
The body heat of the animals helped warm the hut.
Wooden tables and benches were the only furniture.
Rich villagers added wall hangings and carpets.

Description
They are descibed as men of giant stature, with fair skin, blue eyes, and long, yellow hair.
Many of them were tall and broad-shouldered.
Many of them were lean and even gaunt.
Their skin pulled taut over muscles and bone from sheer hunger.
Tacitus praises them for their bravery in war.
For the bold and hardy life to which their sons were bred.
For the deep respect which they paid to their women.
For their faithful conduct and their kindness to strangers.

Farming
Germans made their living herding cattle.
the soil was hard clay.
Germans grew barley, rye, wheat, beans, and peas.
Most of the farm work was done by women, children, and slaves.
Women also cooked, spun wool, and wove cloth on upright looms.

Occupations
Milling, baking, vinting, brewing, carpentry, lapidary, farming, trapping, hunting,

Trade
Germans traded cattle for Roman glass vessels, table articles, and jewelry.

Population
There were no food surpluses, so population remained small, around one million.

Marriage
By age 13-14, male and female were ready for their rite of passage into adulthood, and matrimony.
500-800 AD, Marriages were less for love and more for political connections.
Monogamy was the norm.
Marriage for the barbarians was generally for life.
Rare was the barbarian who never married.

Women's Clothing
Women wore long skirts made of different yarns.
A one piece sacklike dress that went from the shoulders to the feet.
They sometimes wore scarves or shawls fastened with a bone pin.

Men's Clothing
Men wore short woolen tunics and close fitting trousers.
The tunic was covered with a cloak.
the cloak was fastened on the right shoulder with a brooch.
Wilderness and rural barbarians wore scant clothing

Entertainment
Feasting, drinking, and dancing were favorites.
Men enjoyed gambling with dice.
They boxed and wrestled.
In the winter, they skated on ice using skates made of flat bone.

Toys
Wooden dolls, warriors, and animals.

Language
The Germans' language became modern German.
At first, they could not read or write because they did not have an alphabet.
They learned to speak and write Latin.

Warriors
German warriors spent their timefighting,  hunting, or making weapons.
A boy received a shield and a spear at adulthood.
Warrior clans were divded by family ties.
German tribes were clan-based, with blood-loyalty the basis for all bands. 
A chieftan, a man who fought well, led all the clans.
Chieftans were elected by the warriors.
Later this office became hereditary.

Chieftans
Chieftans gave their men leadership, weapons, and a chance for wealth.
They kept peace among the warriors.
They gave the warriors food and shelter.
Warriors gave complete loyalty.

Warrior Bands
Bands were small and they fought on their own.
Bands made surprise raids on their enemies.
They would charge wildly, yelling to frighten the enemy.
Their weapons were daggers, short swords, and heavy metal or stone axes.
They used light wooden shields.
They wore suits of armor.
Attacks provided slaves, cattle, and other treasures.

Religion

Wodan was the chief god.
He was the god of war, poetry, learning, and magic.


Thor, Wodan's son, was also the god of war and of thunder.
Spirits carried dead warriors into the afterlife.
The warriors would feast and fight forever in the hall of Wodan called Valhalla.

Law
Germans believed that law came from the people.
German rulers could not change a law unless the people agreed.
To show approval, warriors would bang their weapons against their shields.
Laws were not written down.
They were memorized and passed from parent to child.
Blood feuds required the families of the original fighters to seek revenge.
In peacetime, tribal assemblies made up of all free men and warriors decided issues of peace and war.
They would elect temporary war chiefs, whose legitimacy ended after hostilities.

Guilty or Innocent
Oath-helpers
People who swore that the accused was telling the truth.
Liars would be punished by the gods.

Ordeal
Walk barefoot over red-hot coals.
Put arm in boiling water.
Burns were to heal in three days.
Tied up and thrown into a lake or a river.
If the sank they were innocent.
If they floated they were guilty.

Punishments
Punishments were not always physical.
Courts could impose a fine called wergeld.
The amount paid varied with the severity of the crime.
All people were not treated fairly.
A person's wealth and importance determined the penalty.

Bibliography
"Barbarians." 25 Nov. 2007. http://www.crystalinks.com/barbarians.html.

Braun & Scneider. "History of Costume Index." c. 1861-1880. 25 Nov. 2007. http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME2_INDEX.HTML#Plate7.

"The Fall of the Roman Empire." ProTeacher. 24 Nov. 2007. http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/3/3AHistory.htm.