Regnvm Bvrgvndionvm - faction preview AoD2

[Pompeius Magnus]

Regnvm Bvrgvndionvm
Burgundians

Tribal origins
The Burgundians' tradition of Scandinavian origin finds support in place-name evidence and archaeological evidence (Stjerna) and many consider their tradition to be correct (e.g. Musset, p. 62). Possibly because Scandinavia was beyond the horizon of the earliest Roman sources, including Tacitus (who only mentions one Scandinavian tribe, the Suiones), Roman sources do not mention where the Burgundians came from, and the first Roman references place them east of the Rhine (inter alia, Ammianus Marcellinus, XVIII, 2, 15). Early Roman sources considered them simply another East Germanic tribe.
About 300, the population of Bornholm (the island of the Burgundians) largely disappeared from the island. Most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials (Stjerna, in Nerman 1925:176).
In the year 369, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against another Germanic tribe, the Alamanni (Ammianus, XXVIII, 5, 8-15). At this time, the Burgundians were possibly living in the Vistula basin, according to the mid-6th-century historian of the Goths, Jordanes. Sometime after their war against the Alamanni, the Burgundians were beaten in battle by Fastida, king of the Gepids and were overwhelmed and almost annihilated.
Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again. Following Stilicho’s withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in AD 406-408, the northern tribes crossed the Rhine and entered the Empire in the Völkerwanderung, or Germanic migrations. Among them were the Alans, Vandals, the Suevi, and possibly the Burgundians. The Burgundians migrated westwards and settled in the Rhine Valley.

Second Kingdom
For reasons not cited in the sources, the Burgundians were granted foederati status a second time, and in 443 were resettled by Aëtius in the region of Sapaudia. (Chronica Gallica 452) Though the precise geography is uncertain, Sapaudia corresponds to the modern-day Savoy, and the Burgundians probably lived near Lugdunum, known today as Lyon. (Wood 1994, Gregory II, 9) A new king Gundioc, or Gunderic, presumed to be Gundahar's son, appears to have reigned from his father's death. (Drew, p. 1) In all, eight Burgundian kings of the house of Gundahar ruled until the kingdom was overrun by the Franks in 534.
As allies of Rome in its last decades, the Burgundians fought alongside Aëtius and a confederation of Visigoths and others in the battle against Attila at the Battle of Chalons (also called "The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields") in 451. The alliance between Burgundians and Visigoths seems to have been strong, as Gundioc and his brother Chilperic I accompanied Theodoric II to Spain to fight the Sueves in 455. (Jordanes, Getica, 231)

Fall of the Second Kingdom
Burgundy as part of the Frankish Empire between 534 and 843. The Burgundians were extending their power over southeastern Gaul; that is, northern Italy, western Switzerland, and southeastern France. In 493 Clovis, king of the Franks, married the Burgundian princess Clotilda (daughter of Chilperic), who converted him to the Catholic faith.
At first allies with Clovis' Franks against the Visigoths in the early 6th century, the Burgundians were eventually conquered by the Franks in 534. The Burgundian kingdom was made part of the Merovingian kingdoms, and the Burgundians themselves were by and large absorbed as well.

Why the Burgundians for AoD2?
The Burgundians were assimilated very quick into the existing gallo-roman society.
Esp. the legal codes, made by the high developed Burgundian governenment, the Liber Consitutionum Lex Burgundionum, show us a kingdom which had the intension to continue the Roman "way-of-life". Also the kings had the title of Patricius and ruled as representative of the Roman Emperor. "Nominal" - of course!
The kingdom was independend until 534AD.

[Lord Willy]

very nice!

[Xerrop]

Looking forward to play them.

Hope i can hold out longer against the franks than they did in real history

[Pompeius Magnus]

it is hard to survive with them. However they get a good Comitatus at the begining of the campaign. To expand is essential for the success. Perhaps an alliance with the franks and campaigns to north Italy are the key for a long living kingdom.