Tyrol (Austria) -- Description and travel; Tyrol (Austria) -- History
Meantime, the Baiovarii or Bavarians had conquered the upper part of
Rhætia, and in the beginning of the seventh century their Duke,
Garibaldi II., succeeded in checking the frequent inroads of the
Slavs, although he did not succeed in entirely excluding them from the
country; in the eastern portion of which they remained for a
considerable period. Towards the end of the eighth century (about 789)
the whole of what is now known as Tyrol came under the sovereignty of
Charlemagne, who crushed the Lombards, and a few years later succeeded
in also subduing the Baiovarii.
During the centuries of internecine warfare, with its concomitants of
rapine and chaos, which succeeded the evacuation of Rhætia by the
Roman forces, most of the original inhabitants or peaceably disposed
Romanized Rhætians fled with other fugitives from the southern or
northern plains to the valleys and byways amid the mountains which
hitherto probably had been almost if not entirely unpopulated. Here
they settled, leaving the main routes open to the passage of the
Teutonic invaders bent on the plunder of the Italian cities and
plains, who, we may imagine, did not greatly trouble themselves
regarding the byways or waste time in conquering those who had thus
hidden themselves amid the higher Alpine valleys and fastnesses.
The result of this is seen in the circumstance that whilst in many
cases the out-of-the-way places and villages to this day preserve
their original Romanized Rhætian names, those upon the main routes of
travel have in many instances a purely Teutonic nomenclature.
[Sidenote: "THE LAND IN THE MOUNTAINS"]
The great Empire which Charlemagne created had strangely enough no
natural delimitations, and when it was divided, in A.D. 806, into
three portions amongst his sons, the division was not made upon any
usually recognized system or plan. Tyrol still was unknown by that
name, the country about that time being known as "Das Land im
Gebirge," or "The Land in the Mountains." The immediate successors to
the divided empire of Charlemagne were far less able than he to cope
with the anarchy which so frequently overwhelmed south-eastern and
north-eastern Europe in those days. There was practically no such
unity as now prevails, and, owing to this, the powerful nobles and
ecclesiastics gradually succeeded in dividing up the land amongst
themselves according to the almost universal custom of the Middle
Ages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account