View source for Alemanni

{{Short description|Germanic people}}
{{for|people with the name|Alamanni (surname)}}
[[File:Alemanni expansion.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Area settled by the Alemanni, and sites of Roman–Alemannic battles, third to sixth centuries]]

The '''Alemanni''' or '''Alamanni'''<ref>The spelling with "e" is used in Encyc. Brit. 9th. ed., (c. 1880), Everyman's Encyc. 1967, Everyman's Smaller Classical Dictionary, 1910.  The current edition of Britannica spells with "e", as does Columbia and Edward Gibbon, Vol. 3, Chapter XXXVIII. The Latinized spelling with ''a'' is current in older literature (so in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|1911 Britannica]]), but remains in use e.g. in Wood (2003), Drinkwater (2007).</ref><ref>The Alemanni were alternatively known as ''Suebi'' from about the fifth century, and that name became prevalent in the high medieval period, eponymous of the [[Duchy of Swabia]]. The name is taken from that of the ''[[Suebi]]'' mentioned by Julius Caesar, and although these older ''Suebi'' did likely contribute to the ethnogenesis of the Alemanni, there is no direct connection to the contemporary [[Kingdom of the Suebi]] in Galicia.</ref> were a confederation of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribe]]s<ref name="Germanic">
* {{cite book |last1=Drinkwater |first1=John Frederick |author-link1=John Frederick Drinkwater |date=2012 |chapter=Alamanni |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-235# |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Hornblower |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |editor3-link=Esther Eidinow |title=[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |edition=4 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-173525-7 |access-date=January 26, 2020 |quote=Alamanni (Alemanni), a loose concentration of Germanic communities...  }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hitchner |first1=R. Bruce |author-link1=R. Bruce Hitchner |date=2005 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0156? |editor1-last=Kazhdan |editor1-first=Alexander P. |editor1-link=Alexander Kazhdan |title=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-518792-2 |access-date=January 26, 2020 |quote=Alemanni... the Latin term for an amalgamation of a number of smaller Germanic tribes, including a segment of the Suevi. }}
* {{cite book |date=2009 |chapter=Alamanni |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-76? |editor1-last=Darvill |editor1-first=Timothy |editor1-link=Timothy Darvill |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology |edition=3 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-172713-9 |access-date=January 25, 2020 |quote=Alamanni. A confederation of several Germanic tribes who amalgamated in the third century AD}}
</ref> on the [[Upper Rhine]] River during the first millennium. First mentioned by [[Cassius Dio]] in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor [[Caracalla]] of 213 CE, the Alemanni captured the {{lang|la|[[Agri Decumates]]|italic=no}} in 260, and later expanded into present-day [[Alsace]] and northern Switzerland, leading to the establishment of the [[Old High German]] language in those regions, which by the eighth century were collectively referred to as ''[[Alamannia]]''.<ref>''in pago Almanniae'' 762, ''in pago Alemannorum'' 797, ''urbs Constantia in ducatu Alemanniae'' 797; ''in ducatu Alemannico, in pago Linzgowe'' 873. From the ninth century, ''Alamannia'' is increasingly used of the [[Alsace]] specifically, while the Alamannic territory in general is increasingly called ''[[Duchy of Swabia|Suebia]]''; by the 12th century, the name ''Suebia'' had mostly replaced ''Alamannia''.
S. Hirzel, ''Forschungen zur Deutschen Landeskunde'' 6 (1888), p. 299.</ref>

In 496, the Alemanni were [[battle of Tolbiac|conquered]] by the [[Franks|Frankish]] leader [[Clovis I|Clovis]] and incorporated into his [[Francia|dominions]]. Mentioned as still [[Germanic paganism|pagan]] allies of the [[Germanic Christianity|Christian]] Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the seventh century. The {{lang|la|[[Lex Alamannorum]]|italic=yes}} is a record of their customary law during this period. Until the eighth century, Frankish [[suzerainty]] over Alemannia was mostly nominal. After an uprising by [[Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia]], however, [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]] executed the Alamannic nobility and installed Frankish dukes.

During the later and weaker years of the [[Carolingian Empire]], the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the [[Diocese of Constance|Bishopric of Constance]]. The chief family in Alamannia was that of the counts of {{lang|la|[[Raetia Curiensis]]|italic=yes}}, who were sometimes called margraves, and one of whom, [[Burchard II, Duke of Swabia|Burchard II]], established the [[Duchy of Swabia]], which was recognized by [[Henry the Fowler]] in 919 and became a [[stem duchy]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].

The area settled by the Alemanni corresponds roughly to the area where [[Alemannic German]] dialects remain spoken, including German [[Swabia]] and [[Baden]], French [[Alsace]], [[German-speaking Switzerland]], [[Liechtenstein]] and Austrian [[Vorarlberg]]. The [[French-language]] [[names of Germany|name of Germany]], {{lang|fr|Allemagne}}, is derived from their name, from [[Old French]] ''aleman(t)'',<ref>recorded as ''aleman'' in c. 1100, and with final dental, ''alemant'' or ''alemand'', from c. 1160. ''Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé'' s.v. [http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/allemand allemand].</ref> and from French was loaned into a number of other languages, including [[Middle English]], which commonly used the term ''Almains'' for Germans.<ref>F.C. and J. Rivington, T. Payne, Wilkie and Robinson: The Chronicle of Iohn Hardyng, 1812, p. 99.</ref><ref>H. Kurath: Middle English Dictionary, part 14, University of Michigan Press, 1952, 1345.</ref> Likewise, the Arabic name for Germany is {{Lang|ar|ألمانيا}} (''Almanya''), the Turkish is ''Almanya'', the Catalan is ''Alemanya'', the Spanish is ''Alemania'', the Portuguese is ''Alemanha'', the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] is ''Yr Almaen'' and the [[Persian language|Persian]] is {{lang|fa|آلمان}} (''Alman'').

==Name==
{{see|Suebi#Etymology}}
According to [[Gaius Asinius Quadratus]] (quoted in the mid-sixth century by Byzantine historian [[Agathias]]), the name ''Alamanni''  (Ἀλαμανοι) means "all men". It indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Alamanni|volume=1|page=468}}</ref> The Romans and the Greeks called them as such (Alamanni, all men, in the sense of a group composed of men of all groups in the region). This derivation was accepted by [[Edward Gibbon]], in his ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''<ref>{{cite web|author=Edward Gibbon. |url=http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume1/chap10.htm#MIX |title=Chapter 10 |publisher=Ccel.org |access-date=2012-01-02}}</ref> and by the anonymous contributor of notes assembled from the papers of [[Nicolas Fréret]], published in 1753.<ref name=Freret>''Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, avec les Mémoires de Littérature tirés des Registres de cette Académie, depuis l'année MDCCXLIV jusques et compris l'année MDCCXLVI'', vol. XVIII, (Paris 1753) pp. 49–71. Excerpts are on-line at [http://www.eliohs.unifi.it/testi/700/freret/vues.html#notaed ELIOHS].</ref>
This etymology has remained the standard derivation of the name.<ref>It is cited in most etymological dictionaries, such as the ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' (large edition) under the root, [http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE295.html *man-] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519035935/http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE295.html |date=2006-05-19 }}.</ref>
An alternative suggestion proposes derivation from ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/alhs|*alah]]'' "sanctuary".<ref>"the name is possibly Alahmannen, 'men of the sanctuary'" [[Inglis Palgrave]] (ed.), ''The Collected Historical Works of [[Francis Palgrave|Sir Francis Palgrave]], K.H.'' (1919), p. 443 (citing: "[[J. B. Bury|Bury]]'s ed. of ''Gibbon'' (Methuen), vol. I [1902], p. 278 note; [[Hector Munro Chadwick|H. M. Chadwick]], ''Origin of the English Nation'' [1907]").</ref>

[[Walafrid Strabo]] in the ninth century remarked, in discussing the people of Switzerland and the surrounding regions, that only foreigners called them the Alemanni, but that they gave themselves the name of ''[[Suebi]]''.<ref>''Igitur quia mixti Alamannis Suevi, partem Germaniae ultra Danubium, partem Raetiae inter Alpes et Histrum, partemque Galliae circa Ararim obsederunt; antiquorum vocabulorum veritate servata, ab incolis nomen patriae derivemus, et Alamanniam vel Sueviam nominemus. Nam cum duo sint vocabula unam gentem significantia, priori nomine nos appellant circumpositae gentes, quae Latinum habent sermonem; sequenti, usus nos nuncupat barbarorum.'' Walafrid Strabo, ''Proleg. ad Vit. S. Galli'' (833/4) ed. [[Patrologia Latina|Migne (1852)]]; Thomas Greenwood, ''The First Book of the History of the Germans: Barbaric Period'' (1836), [https://archive.org/details/firstbookofhisto00gree/page/498 p. 498].</ref>
The Suebi are given the alternative name of ''Ziuwari'' (as ''Cyuuari'') in an Old High German gloss, interpreted by [[Jacob Grimm]] as ''Martem colentes'' ("worshippers of [[Mars Thingsus|Mars]]").<ref>Rudolf Much, ''Der germanische Himmelsgott'' (1898), p. 192.</ref> [[Annio da Viterbo]] a scholar and historian of the 15th century claimed the Alemanni had their name from the [[Hebrew language]], as in Hebrew the river [[Rhine]] was translated into ''Mannum'' and the people who live at its shores were called ''Alemannus''.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Popper |first=Nicholas S. |title=Planks from a Shipwreck: Belief and Evidence in Sixteenth-Century Histories |date=2023 |work=Collected Wisdom of the Early Modern Scholar: Essays in Honor of Mordechai Feingold |series=Archimedes |volume=64 |pages=141–142 |editor-last=Roos |editor-first=Anna Marie |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-09722-5_7 |isbn=978-3-031-09722-5 |editor2-last=Manning |editor2-first=Gideon}}</ref> This was refuted by [[Beatus Rhenanus]], a [[Humanism|humanist]] of the 16th century.<ref name=":0" /> Rhenanus argued the term Alemanni was meant for the whole Germanic people only in [[late antiquity]] and before it was only meant to designate the population of an island in the [[North Sea]].<ref name=":0" />

==First appearance in historical record==
[[File:Part of Tabula Peutingeriana centered around present day Black Forest.jpg|thumb|''Alamannia'' is shown beyond ''Silva Marciana'' (the [[Black Forest]]) in the [[Tabula Peutingeriana]]. ''Suevia'' is indicated separately, further downstream of the [[Rhine]], beyond ''[[Silva Vosagus]]''.]]
Early Roman writers did not mention the Alemanni, and it is likely that they had not yet come to exist. In his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' Tacitus (AD 90) does not mention the Alemanni.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Tacitus |author1-link=Tacitus |title=Tacitus: Germany Book 1 |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/tac/g01040.htm |access-date=25 October 2022 |chapter=Chapter 42}}</ref> He uses the term [[Agri Decumates]] to describe the region between the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. He says that it had once been the home of the [[Helvetians]], who had moved westwards into Gaul in the time of Julius Caesar. The people living there in Caesar's time are not Germanic. Instead, "Reckless adventurers from Gaul, emboldened by want, occupied this land of questionable ownership. After a while, our frontier having been advanced, and our military positions pushed forward, it was regarded as a remote nook of our empire and a part of a Roman province."<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Achapter%3D29 Tac. Ger. 29].</ref>

[[File:Alamannischi Girtelbschleg.jpg|thumb|Alemannic belt mountings, from a seventh-century grave in the [[Alemannic grave field|grave field]] at [[Weingarten (Württemberg)|Weingarten]]]]
The Alemanni were first mentioned by [[Cassius Dio]] describing the campaign of [[Caracalla]] in 213. At that time, they apparently dwelt in the basin of the [[Main (river)|Main]], to the south of the Chatti.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/78*.html | publisher=University of Chicago | title=Cassius Dio: Roman History}}</ref> They had asked for his help, according to Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names, and executed their warriors under a pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him. Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits.

In retribution, Caracalla then led the [[Legio II Traiana Fortis|Legio II ''Traiana Fortis'']] against the Alemanni, who lost and were pacified for a time. The legion was as a result honoured with the name ''Germanica.'' The fourth-century fictional [[Historia Augusta]], ''Life of Antoninus Caracalla'', relates (10.5) that Caracalla then assumed the name ''Alemannicus,'' at which [[Helvius Pertinax]] jested that he should really be called ''Geticus Maximus,'' because in the year before he had murdered his brother, [[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Caracalla*.html | publisher=University of Chicago | title=Historia Augusta: The Life of Antoninus Caracalla}}</ref>

Through much of his short reign, Caracalla was known for unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions, they remained unknown to his contemporaries. Whether or not the Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome.

This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni "barbari," meaning "savages." The archaeology, however, shows that they were largely Romanized, lived in Roman-style houses and used Roman artefacts, the Alemannic women having adopted the Roman fashion of the ''[[tunic]]a'' even earlier than the men.

Most of the Alemanni were probably at the time, in fact, resident in or close to the borders of [[Germania Superior]]. Although Dio is the earliest writer to mention them, [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] used the name to refer to Germans on the [[Limes Germanicus]] in the time of [[Trajan]]'s governorship of the province shortly after it was formed, around 98–99 AD. At that time, the entire frontier was being fortified for the first time. Trees from the earliest fortifications found in [[Germania Inferior]] are dated by [[dendrochronology]] to 99–100 AD.

Ammianus relates ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060211084122/http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/ammianus17.html xvii.1.11]) that much later the Emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] undertook a [[punitive expedition]] against the Alemanni, who by then were in Alsace, and crossed the Main (Latin ''Menus''), entering the forest, where the trails were blocked by felled trees. As winter was upon them, they reoccupied a
"fortification which was founded on the soil of the Alemanni that Trajan wished to be called with his own name".<ref>''munimentum quod in Alamannorum solo conditum Traianus suo nomine voluit appellari.''</ref>

In this context, the use of Alemanni is possibly an anachronism, but it reveals that Ammianus believed they were the same people, which is consistent with the location of the Alemanni of Caracalla's campaigns.

==Conflicts with the Roman Empire==
[[File:Karte limes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|The [[Limes Germanicus]] 83 to 260 CE]]
{{Campaignbox Rome against the Alamanni}}
The Alemanni were continually engaged in conflicts with the [[Roman Empire]] in the third and fourth centuries. They launched a major invasion of [[Gaul]] and northern Italy in 268 when the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion of the [[Goths]] from the east. Their raids throughout the three parts of Gaul were traumatic: [[Gregory of Tours]] (died ca 594) mentions their destructive force at the time of [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] and [[Gallienus]] (253–260), when the Alemanni assembled under their "king", whom he calls [[Chrocus]], who acted "by the advice, it is said, of his wicked mother, and overran the whole of the Gauls, and destroyed from their foundations all the temples which had been built in ancient times. And coming to [[Clermont-Ferrand|Clermont]] he set on fire, overthrew and destroyed that shrine which they call ''Vasso Galatae'' in the Gallic tongue," martyring many Christians ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#book3 ''Historia Francorum'' Book I.32–34]). Thus sixth-century Gallo-Romans of Gregory's class, surrounded by the ruins of [[Roman temple]]s and public buildings, attributed the destruction they saw to the plundering raids of the Alemanni.

In the early summer of 268, the [[Roman Emperors|Emperor]] [[Gallienus]] halted their advance into Italy but then had to deal with the Goths. When the Gothic campaign ended in Roman victory at the [[Battle of Naissus]] in September, Gallienus's successor [[Claudius Gothicus]] turned north to deal with the Alemanni, who were swarming over all Italy north of the [[Po River]].

After efforts to secure a peaceful withdrawal failed, Claudius forced the Alemanni to battle at the [[Battle of Lake Benacus]] in November. The Alemanni were routed, forced back into Germany, and did not threaten Roman territory for many years afterwards.

Their most famous battle against Rome took place in [[Argentoratum]] ([[Strasbourg]]), in 357, where they were defeated by [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]], later Emperor of Rome, and their king [[Chnodomarius]] was taken prisoner to Rome.<ref name="EB1911"/>

On January 2, 366, the Alemanni yet again crossed the frozen [[Rhine]] in large numbers, to invade the Gallic provinces, this time being defeated by Valentinian (see [[Battle of Solicinium]]). In the great mixed invasion of 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the [[Rhine|Rhine river]] a final time, conquering and then settling what is today [[Alsace]] and a large part of the [[Swiss Plateau]].<ref name="EB1911"/> The crossing is described in [[Wallace Breem]]'s historical novel ''[[Eagle in the Snow]]''. The [[Chronicle of Fredegar]] gives the account. At ''Alba Augusta'' ([[Alba-la-Romaine]]) the devastation was so complete, that the Christian bishop retired to [[Viviers, Ardèche|Viviers]], but in Gregory's account at Mende in [[Lozère]], also deep in the heart of Gaul, bishop Privatus was forced to sacrifice to idols in the very cave where he was later venerated.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}  It is thought{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} this detail may be a generic literary ploy to epitomize the horrors of barbarian violence.

=== List of battles between Romans and Alemanni ===
[[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Europe at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD]]
* 259, [[Battle of Mediolanum]]{{snd}}[[Emperor Gallienus]] defeats the Alemanni to rescue Rome
* 268, [[Battle of Lake Benacus]]{{snd}}Romans under Emperor [[Claudius II]] defeat the Alemanni.
* 271
** [[Battle of Placentia (271)|Battle of Placentia]]{{snd}}Emperor [[Aurelian]] is defeated by the Alemanni forces invading Italy
** [[Battle of Fano]]{{snd}}Aurelian defeats the Alemanni, who begin to retreat from Italy
** [[Battle of Pavia (271)|Battle of Pavia]]{{snd}}Aurelian destroys the retreating Alemanni army.
* 298
** [[Battle of Lingones]]{{snd}}[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] [[Constantius Chlorus]] defeats the Alemanni
** [[Battle of Vindonissa]]{{snd}}Constantius defeats the Alemanni.
* 356, [[Battle of Reims (356)|Battle of Reims]]{{snd}}[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] is defeated by the Alemanni
* 357, [[Battle of Strasbourg]]{{snd}}Julian expels the Alemanni from the [[Rhineland]]
* 368, [[Battle of Solicinium]]{{snd}}Romans under Emperor [[Valentinian I]] defeat an Alemanni incursion.
* 378, [[Battle of Argentovaria]]{{snd}}Western Emperor [[Gratianus]] is victorious over the Alemanni.
* 451, [[Battle of the Catalaunian Fields]]{{snd}}Roman General [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]] and his army of Romans and barbarian allies defeat Attila's army of [[Huns]] and other Germanic allies, including the Alemanni.
* 457, [[Battle of Campi Cannini]]{{snd}}Alemanni invade Italy and are defeated near [[Lake Maggiore]] by [[Majorian]]
* 554, [[Battle of the Volturnus (554)|Battle of the Volturnus]]{{snd}}Byzantine General [[Narses]] defeats a combined force of [[Franks]] and Alemanni in southern Italy.

===Subjugation by the Franks===
{{main|Alamannia}}
[[File:Alamannien Hochburgund ca 1000.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Alemannia (yellow) and Upper Burgundy (green) around 1000]]
The kingdom of Alamannia between Strasbourg and Augsburg lasted until 496, when the Alemanni were conquered by [[Clovis I]] at the [[Battle of Tolbiac]]. The war of Clovis with the Alemanni forms the setting for the conversion of Clovis, briefly treated by [[Gregory of Tours]]. ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gregory-clovisconv.html#n30 Book II.31]) After their defeat in 496, the Alemanni bucked the Frankish yoke and put themselves under the protection of [[Theodoric the Great]] of the [[Ostrogoths]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan J. Arnold|title=A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48wJDAAAQBAJ&dq=alemanni+ostrogoths+536+franks&pg=PA93|year=2016|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-31376-7|page=93}}</ref> but after his death they were again subjugated by the Franks under [[Theudebert I]] in 536.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ian Wood|title=Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_z-vB8XUiV4C&dq=alemanni+536+franks&pg=PA33|year=1998|publisher=The Boydell Press|isbn=0-85115-723-8|page=33}}</ref> Subsequently, the Alemanni formed part of the [[Franks|Frankish]] dominions and were governed by a Frankish duke.

In 746, [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]] ended an uprising by summarily executing all Alemannic nobility at the [[blood court at Cannstatt]], and for the following century, Alemannia was ruled by Frankish dukes. Following the [[treaty of Verdun]] of 843, Alemannia became a province of the eastern kingdom of [[Louis the German]], the precursor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The duchy persisted until 1268.

==Culture==
===Language===
[[File:Alemannic-Dialects-Map-English.png|thumb|The traditional distribution area of Western Upper German (Alemannic) dialect features in the 19th and 20th centuries]]

The German spoken today over the range of the former Alemanni is termed [[Alemannic German]], and is recognised among the subgroups of the [[High German languages]]. Alemannic runic inscriptions such as those on the [[Pforzen buckle]] are among the earliest testimonies of [[Old High German]]. The [[High German consonant shift]] is thought to have originated around the fifth century either in Alemannia or among the [[Lombards]]; before that, the dialect spoken by Alemannic tribes was little different from that of other West Germanic peoples.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://freya.theladyofthelabyrinth.com/?page_id=604|title=Alamanni/Alemanni (= Suebi/Suevi, Semnones) {{!}} Freyia Völundarhúsins|language=nb-NO|access-date=2019-04-29}}</ref>

''Alemannia'' lost its distinct jurisdictional identity when [[Charles Martel]] absorbed it into the Frankish empire, early in the eighth century. Today, ''Alemannic'' is a linguistic term, referring to [[Alemannic German]], encompassing the dialects of the southern two-thirds of [[Baden-Württemberg]] (German State), in western [[Bavaria]] (German State), in [[Vorarlberg]] (Austrian State), [[Swiss German]] in Switzerland and the [[Alsatian language]] of the [[Alsace]] (France).

===Political organization===
The Alemanni established a series of territorially defined ''pagi'' (cantons) on the east bank of the Rhine. The exact number and extent of these ''pagi'' is unclear and probably changed over time.

''Pagi'', usually pairs of ''pagi'' combined, formed kingdoms (''regna'') which, it is generally believed, were permanent and hereditary. Ammianus describes Alemanni rulers with various terms: ''reges excelsiores ante alios'' ("paramount kings"), ''reges proximi'' ("neighbouring kings"), ''reguli'' ("petty kings") and ''regales'' ("princes"). This may be a formal hierarchy, or they may be vague, overlapping terms, or a combination of both.<ref>Drinkwater (2007) 118, 120</ref> In 357, there appear to have been two paramount kings (Chnodomar and Westralp) who probably acted as presidents of the confederation and seven other kings (''reges''). Their territories were small and mostly strung along the Rhine (although a few were in the hinterland).<ref>Drinkwater (2007) 223 (map)</ref> It is possible that the ''reguli'' were the rulers of the two ''pagi'' in each kingdom. Underneath the royal class were the nobles (called ''optimates'' by the Romans) and warriors (called ''armati'' by the Romans). The warriors consisted of professional warbands and levies of free men.<ref>Speidel (2004)</ref> Each nobleman could raise an average of c. 50 warriors.<ref>Drinkwater (2007) 120</ref>

===Religion===
{{further|Germanic Christianity|Religion in Switzerland#History|Pre-Christian Alpine traditions|Continental Germanic mythology}}
[[File:Reiterscheibe von Pliezhausen v2.jpg|thumb|The gold bracteate of [[Pliezhausen]] (sixth or seventh century) shows typical iconography of the pagan period. The bracteate depicts the "horse-stabber underhoof" scene, a supine warrior stabbing a horse while it runs over him. The scene is adapted from [[Germania Superior|Roman era]] gravestones of the region.<ref>Michael Speidel, ''Ancient Germanic warriors: warrior styles from Trajan's column to Icelandic sagas'', Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0415311991}}, p. 162.
Harald Kleinschmidt, ''People on the move: attitudes toward and perceptions of migration in medieval and modern Europe'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003,
{{ISBN|978-0275974176}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yOuIvdMqzzAC&pg=PA66 p. 66.]
</ref>]]
[[File:Gutenstein warrior.jpg|thumb|The seventh-century [[:de:Schwertscheide von Gutenstein|Gutenstein scabbard]], found near [[Sigmaringen]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], is a late testimony of pagan ritual in Alemannia,  showing a warrior in ritual wolf costume, holding a [[ring-spatha]].]]
The [[Christianization]] of the Alemanni took place during [[Merovingian]] times (sixth to eighth centuries). We know that in the sixth century, the Alemanni were predominantly pagan, and in the eighth century, they were predominantly Christian. The intervening seventh century was a period of genuine [[syncretism]] during which Christian symbolism and doctrine gradually grew in influence.

Some scholars have speculated that members of the Alemannic elite such as king [[Gibuld]] due to [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic]] influence may have been converted to [[Arianism]] even in the later fifth century.<ref>Schubert, Hans (1909). ''Das älteste germanische Christentum oder der Sogenannte "Arianismus" der Germanen''. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr. p. 32. Cf. also Bossert, G. "Alemanni" in: Jackson, S.M. (Ed.). ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', Vol. 1, p. 114: "[the Alamannic] prince, Gibuld, was an Arian, probably converted by Goths".</ref>

In the mid-6th century, the Byzantine historian [[Agathias]] records, in the context of the wars of the Goths and Franks against Byzantium, that the Alemanni fighting among the troops of Frankish king [[Theudebald]] were like the Franks in all respects except religion, since
{{blockquote|text=they worship certain trees, the waters of rivers, hills and mountain valleys, in whose honour they sacrifice horses, cattle and countless other animals by beheading them, and imagine that they are performing an act of piety thereby.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PqsJZcQR7oIC |title=trans. Joseph D. Frendo (1975) |access-date=2012-01-02|isbn=978-3-11-003357-1 |year=1975 |last1=Murinaeus |first1=Agathias |last2=Scholasticus |first2=Agathias |author3=Agathias |publisher=Walter de Gruyter }}</ref>}}

He also spoke of the particular ruthlessness of the Alemanni in destroying Christian sanctuaries and plundering churches while the genuine Franks were respectful towards those sanctuaries. Agathias expresses his hope that the Alemanni would assume better manners through prolonged contact with the Franks, which is by all appearances, in a manner of speaking, what eventually happened.<ref>R. Keydell, ''Agathiae Myrinaei historiarum libri quinque'' Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae. Series Berolinensis 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1967, p. 18f.
{{lang|grc|7. Νόμιμα δὲ αὐτοῖς [τῶν Ἀλαμανῶν ἔθνος] εἰσι μέν που καὶ πάτρια, τὸ δέ γε ἐν κοινῷ ἐπικρατοῦν τε καὶ ἄρχον τῇ Φραγγικῇ ἕπονται πολιτείᾳ, μόνα δέ γε τὰ ἐς (5) θεὸν αὐτοῖς οὐ ταὐτὰ ξυνδοκεῖ. δένδρα τε γάρ τινα ἱλάσκονται καὶ ῥεῖθρα ποταμῶν καὶ λόφους καὶ φάραγγας, καὶ τούτοις, ὥσπερ ὅσια δρῶντες, ἵππους τε καὶ βόας καὶ ἄλλα ἄττα μυρία καρατομοῦντες ἐπιθειάζουσιν. 2 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἡ τῶν Φράγγων αὐτοὺς ἐπιμιξία, εnὖ ποιοῦσα, καὶ ἐς τόδε μετακοσμεῖ καὶ ἤδη ἐφέλκεται τοὺς εὐφρονεστέρους, οὐ πολλοῦ δὲ οἶμαι (10) χρόνου καὶ ἅπασιν ἐκνικήσει. 3 τὸ γὰρ τῆς δόξης παράλογόν τε καὶ ἔμπληκτον καὶ αὐτοῖς οἶμαι τοῖς χρωμένοις, εἰ μὴ πάμπαν εἶεν ἠλίθιοι, γνώριμόν τέ ἐστι καὶ εὐφώρατον καὶ οἶον ἀποσβῆναι ῥᾳδίως. ἐλεεῖσθαι μὲν οὖν μᾶλλον ἢ χαλεπαίνεσθαι δίκαιοι ἂν εἶεν καὶ πλείστης μεταλαγχάνειν συγγνώμης ἅπαντες, ὅσοι δὴ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἁμαρτάνουσιν. οὐ γὰρ  (15) δήπου ἑκόντες εἶναι ἀλῶνται καὶ ὀλισθαίνουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐφιέμενοι, ἔπειτα σφαλέντες τῇ κρίσει τὸ λοιπὸν ἔχονται τῶν δοκηθέντων ἀπρίξ, ὁποῖα ἄττα καὶ τύχοιεν ὄντα. 4 τήν γε μὴν τῶν θυσιῶν ὠμότητα καὶ κακοδαιμονίαν οὐκ οἶδα εἰ οἷόν τε λόγῳ ἀκέσασθαι, εἴτε ἄλσεσιν ἐπιτελοῖντο ὥσπερ ἀμέλει παρὰ βαρβάροις, εἴτε τοῖς πάλαι νενομισμέ-(20)νοις θεοῖς, ὁποῖα αἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐθέλουσιν ἁγιστεῖαι.}}</ref>

Apostles of the Alemanni were [[Columbanus]] and his disciple [[Saint Gall]]. [[Jonas of Bobbio]] records that Columbanus was active in [[Bregenz]], where he disrupted a beer sacrifice to [[Wodan]]. Despite these activities, for some time, the Alemanni seem to have continued their pagan cult activities, with only superficial or [[Syncretism|syncretistic]] Christian elements. In particular, there was no change in burial practice, and tumulus warrior graves continued to be erected throughout Merovingian times. Syncretism of traditional Germanic animal style with Christian symbolism is also present in artwork, but Christian symbolism became more and more prevalent during the seventh century. Unlike the later Christianization of the Saxons and of the Slavs, the Alemanni seem to have adopted Christianity gradually, and voluntarily, spread in emulation of the Merovingian elite.

From c. the 520s to the 620s, there was a surge of [[Alemannic Elder Futhark inscriptions]]. About 70 specimens have survived, roughly half of them on [[fibula (brooch)|fibulae]], others on belt buckles (see [[Pforzen buckle]], [[Bülach fibula]]) and other jewellery and weapon parts. The use of runes subsides with the advance of Christianity.
The [[Nordendorf fibula]] (early seventh century) clearly records pagan theonyms, ''logaþorewodanwigiþonar '' read as  "Wodan and Donar are magicians/sorcerers", but this may be interpreted as either a pagan invocation of the powers of these deities, or a Christian protective charm against them.<ref name="Düwel">{{Cite book |last=Düwel |first=Klaus |editor-last=Kamp |editor-first=Norbert |editor2-last=Wollasch |editor2-first=Joachim |contribution=Runen und Interpretatio Christiana: Zur Religioneschichtlichen Stellung der Bügelfidel von Nordendorf I |title=Tradition als Historische Kraft |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1982 |pages=78–86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQ_Mmjx5hSIC  |isbn=3-11-008237-3}}</ref>
A runic inscription on a fibula found at [[Bad Ems]] reflects Christian pious sentiment (and is also explicitly marked with a Christian cross), reading ''god fura dih deofile ᛭'' ("God for/before you, Theophilus!", or alternatively "God before you, Devil!"). Dated to between AD 660 and 690, it marks the end of the native Alemannic tradition of runic literacy. Bad Ems is in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], on the northwestern boundary of Alemannic settlement, where Frankish influence would have been strongest.<ref>Wolfgang Jungandreas, 'God fura dih, deofile †' in: Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, 101, 1972, pp. 84–85.</ref>

The establishment of the bishopric of [[Konstanz]] cannot be dated exactly and was possibly undertaken by Columbanus himself (before 612). In any case, it existed by 635, when [[Gunzo]] appointed [[John of Grab]] bishop. Constance was a missionary bishopric in newly converted lands, and did not look back on late Roman church history unlike the Raetian bishopric of [[Chur]] (established 451) and [[Basel]] (an episcopal seat from 740, and which continued the line of Bishops of [[Augusta Raurica]], see [[Bishop of Basel]]). The establishment of the church as an institution recognized by worldly rulers is also visible in legal history. In the early seventh century ''[[Pactus Alamannorum]]'' hardly ever mentions the special privileges of the church, while [[Lantfrid]]'s ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' of 720 has an entire chapter reserved for ecclesial matters alone.

==Genetics==

A genetic study published in ''[[Science Advances]]'' in September 2018 examined the remains of eight individuals buried at a seventh-century Alemannic graveyard in [[Niederstotzingen]], Germany. This is the richest and most complete Alemannic graveyard ever found. The highest-ranking individual at the graveyard was a male with Frankish grave goods. Four males were found to be closely related to him. They were all carriers of types of the paternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup R-M269#R1b1a1a2a1a1 (R-U106)|R1b1a2a1a1c2b2b]]. A sixth male was a carrier of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1c2b2b1a1 and the maternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5a1a1]]. Along with the five closely related individuals, he displayed close genetic links to [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[eastern Europe]], particularly [[Lithuania]] and [[Iceland]]. Two individuals buried at the cemetery were found to be genetically different from both the others and each other, displaying genetic links to [[Southern Europe]], particularly northern Italy and Spain. Along with the sixth male, they might have been adoptees or slaves.{{sfn|O'Sullivan et al.|2018|ps=: "Genome-wide analyses were performed on eight individuals to estimate genetic affiliation to modern west Eurasians and genetic kinship at the burial. Five individuals were direct relatives. Three other individuals were not detectably related; two of these showed genomic affinity to southern Europeans... These five related individuals had culturally diverse grave goods despite the evidence that all of them showed local isotope signals with northern European genetic affiliations... Niederstotzingen North individuals are closely related to northern and eastern European populations, particularly from Lithuania and Iceland."}}

==See also==
* [[Annales Alamannici]]
* [[List of rulers of Alamannia]]
* [[List of confederations of Germanic tribes]]
* [[Armalausi]]
* [[Varisci]]
* [[Helvetii]]
* [[Charietto]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], ''passim''
* O. Bremer in H. Paul, ''Grundriss der germanischen Philologie'' (2nd ed., Strassburg, 1900), vol. iii. pp.&nbsp;930 ff.
* [[Cassius Dio|Dio Cassius]] lxvii. ff.
* {{Cite book|last=Drinkwater|first=John F.|title= The Alamanni and Rome 213–496. Caracalla to Clovis|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-19-929568-5|location=Oxford}}
* Ian Wood (ed.), ''Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective (Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology)'', Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2003,  {{ISBN|1-84383-035-3}}.
* [[Melchior Goldast]], ''Rerum Alamannicarum scriptores'' (1606, 2nd ed. Senckenburg 1730)
* [[Gregory of Tours]], ''Historia Francorum'', book ii.
* {{cite journal |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Niall |last2=Posth |first2=Cosimo |display-authors=1 |date=September 5, 2018 |title=Ancient genome-wide analyses infer kinship structure in an Early Medieval Alemannic graveyard |url= |journal=[[Science Advances]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |volume=4 |issue=9 |article-number= eaao1262|bibcode= 2018SciA....4.1262O|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aao1262 |pmc=6124919 |pmid=30191172 |ref={{harvid|O'Sullivan et al.|2018}}}}
* [[Johann Kaspar Zeuss|C. Zeuss]], ''Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme'' (Munich, 1837), pp.&nbsp;303 ff.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://members.tripod.com/~Linus_Gemvik/decumates.html The Agri Decumates]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060614052450/http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ujg/ujgd.html The Alemanni] (archived)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060824100404/http://www.anistor.co.hol.gr/english/enback/e022.htm The Military Orientation of the Roman Emperors Septimius Severus to Gallienus (146–268 C.E.)] (archived)
* [https://www.alemannische-seiten.de/bilder/schwaebisch-alemannische-fasnet/ Brauchtum und Masken Alemannic Fastnacht] 

{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Alsace topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alemanni| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:German tribes]]
[[Category:Tribal confederacies]]
[[Category:History of Swabia]]
[[Category:History of Alsace]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Switzerland]]