Chatti
Encyclopedia
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe
whose homeland was near the upper Weser
. They settled in central and northern Hesse
and southern Lower Saxony
, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder
, Fulda
and Weser River regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel
, though probably somewhat more extensive. According to Tacitus
, among them were the Batavians
, until an internal quarrel drove them out, to take up new lands at the mouth of the Rhine.
was well informed about the regions and tribes on the eastern banks of the Rhine, he never mentions the Chatti. The first ancient writer to do so is Strabo
, some time after 16 AD, who includes the Chatti in a listing of "poorer Germanic tribes" that had previously fought the Romans. For the first century AD, we are quite well informed about the Chatti, mostly thanks to Tacitus
, who provides important information about the Chatti's part in the Germanic wars and certain elements of their culture. After the early 3rd century AD, however, the Chatti virtually disappear from the sources and are only called upon as a topical element or when writing about events of the 1st century. Cassius Dio is most likely not only the first author to mention the Alamanni
but also the last one to record an actual historical appearance of the Chatti. Writing about the Germanic war of Caracalla
in 213 AD, he has the emperor fight "Κέννους, Kελτικòν ἔθνος" ("the Kenni, a Celtic people"). However, this is taken from an excerpt of Dio in the writings of Joannes Xiphilinus, whereas the Fragmenta Valesiana
actually refer to the same people as "Chattoi". The usage of "Kελτικός" for Germanic peoples was an archaic tradition among Greek writers.After Cassius Dio, the name "Chattus" appears among others in a panegyric
by Sidonius Apollinaris
in the late 5th century, now as a poetic synonym for "Germanus". The last ancient source to mention the Chatti, if only in a quotation of Sulpicius Alexander
describing events of the late 4th century, was Gregory of Tours
.
, joining the Cheruscan
war leader Arminius
' coalition of tribes that annihilated Varus
' legions in 9 AD in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
. Germanicus
later, in 15, raided their lands in revenge, but Rome eventually responded to the Chatti's belligerent defense of their independence by building the limes
border fortifications along the southern boundary of their lands in central Hesse during the early years of the 1st century. A major raid by the Chatti into Germania Superior
was defeated decisively by the legions in 50 AD.
Roman sources identify the fabled Mattium
, beyond the Eder, as the capital of the Chatti. Destroyed by Germanicus, its location is not known today but generally assumed to be in the wider neighbourhood of Fritzlar
north of the river Eder
.
According to Tacitus
in his book Germania
(chapter 30), they were disciplined warriors famed for their infantry, who (unusually for Germanic tribes) used trenching tools and carried provisions when at war. Their neighbours to the north were the Usipi
and Tencteri.
The Chatti eventually became a branch of the much larger neighboring Franks
and were incorporated in the kingdom of Clovis I
, probably with the Ripuarians
, at the beginning of the 6th century.
In 723, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid—subsequently called St. Boniface, Apostle of the Germans—proselytizing among the Chatti, felled their sacred tree, Thor's Oak
, near Fritzlar
, as part of his efforts to compel the conversion of the Chatti and the other northern Germanic tribes to Christianity.
"Chatti" was probably originating "Hesse
" through the High German consonant shift
s
in the Germania
. According to him, they dwelt "beyond the Chamavi
and Angrivarii
", who dwelt on the lower Rhine river. Many, therefore, believe the tribe to have inhabited the modern region of Hannover. Some take the name Chasuarii to mean "dwellers on the Hase
[river]", a tributary to the Ems. The 2nd century geographer Claudius Ptolemy mentions that the Kasouarioi lived to the east of the Abnoba mountains, in the vicinity of Hesse
. Many historians are of the opinion that the Chasuarii were the same as the people called the Chattuarii mentioned by several authors.
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
whose homeland was near the upper Weser
Weser River
The Weser is a river in north-western Germany. Formed at Hann. Münden by the Fulda and Werra, it flows through Lower Saxony, then reaching the historic port city of Bremen before emptying into the North Sea 50 km further north at Bremerhaven, which is also a seaport...
. They settled in central and northern Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
and southern Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder
Eder
The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
, Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
and Weser River regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
, though probably somewhat more extensive. According to Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, among them were the Batavians
Batavians
The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the...
, until an internal quarrel drove them out, to take up new lands at the mouth of the Rhine.
Sources
While Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
was well informed about the regions and tribes on the eastern banks of the Rhine, he never mentions the Chatti. The first ancient writer to do so is Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, some time after 16 AD, who includes the Chatti in a listing of "poorer Germanic tribes" that had previously fought the Romans. For the first century AD, we are quite well informed about the Chatti, mostly thanks to Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, who provides important information about the Chatti's part in the Germanic wars and certain elements of their culture. After the early 3rd century AD, however, the Chatti virtually disappear from the sources and are only called upon as a topical element or when writing about events of the 1st century. Cassius Dio is most likely not only the first author to mention the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
but also the last one to record an actual historical appearance of the Chatti. Writing about the Germanic war of Caracalla
Caracalla
Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
in 213 AD, he has the emperor fight "Κέννους, Kελτικòν ἔθνος" ("the Kenni, a Celtic people"). However, this is taken from an excerpt of Dio in the writings of Joannes Xiphilinus, whereas the Fragmenta Valesiana
Fragmenta Valesiana
Fragmenta Valesiana is a Roman text written by Cassius Dio, dispersed throughout various writers, scholastics, grammarians, lexicographers, etc., and collected by Henri de Valois....
actually refer to the same people as "Chattoi". The usage of "Kελτικός" for Germanic peoples was an archaic tradition among Greek writers.After Cassius Dio, the name "Chattus" appears among others in a panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
by Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
in the late 5th century, now as a poetic synonym for "Germanus". The last ancient source to mention the Chatti, if only in a quotation of Sulpicius Alexander
Sulpicius Alexander
Sulpicius Alexander was a Roman historian of Germanic tribes. His work is lost, but his Historia in at least four books is quoted by Gregory of Tours. It was perhaps a continuation of the Res gestae by Ammianus Marcellinus and dealt with events at least until the death of Valentinian II...
describing events of the late 4th century, was Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
.
History
The Chatti successfully resisted incorporation into the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, joining the Cheruscan
Cherusci
The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabrück and Hanover, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD...
war leader Arminius
Arminius
Arminius , also known as Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
' coalition of tribes that annihilated Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under Emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
' legions in 9 AD in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...
. Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
later, in 15, raided their lands in revenge, but Rome eventually responded to the Chatti's belligerent defense of their independence by building the limes
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
border fortifications along the southern boundary of their lands in central Hesse during the early years of the 1st century. A major raid by the Chatti into Germania Superior
Germania Superior
Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany...
was defeated decisively by the legions in 50 AD.
Roman sources identify the fabled Mattium
Mattium
Mattium was the ancient "capital" or principal settlement of the Chatti. Its exact location is unknown, though following the description of Tacitus it is generally assumed to be somewhere in the wider neighbourhood of Fritzlar in northern Hesse ....
, beyond the Eder, as the capital of the Chatti. Destroyed by Germanicus, its location is not known today but generally assumed to be in the wider neighbourhood of Fritzlar
Fritzlar
Fritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The...
north of the river Eder
Eder
The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
.
According to Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
in his book Germania
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
(chapter 30), they were disciplined warriors famed for their infantry, who (unusually for Germanic tribes) used trenching tools and carried provisions when at war. Their neighbours to the north were the Usipi
Usipi
The Usipi were a Germanic tribe whose territory lay on the right bank of the Rhine , probably between the valleys of the Lahn and Sieg...
and Tencteri.
The Chatti eventually became a branch of the much larger neighboring Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
and were incorporated in the kingdom of Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
, probably with the Ripuarians
Ripuarian Franks
Ripuarian Franks is a distinction of the Frankish people made by a number of writers in the Latin language of the first several centuries of the Christian Era...
, at the beginning of the 6th century.
In 723, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Winfrid—subsequently called St. Boniface, Apostle of the Germans—proselytizing among the Chatti, felled their sacred tree, Thor's Oak
Thor's Oak
The Donar Oak was a legendary oak tree sacred to the Germanic tribe of the Chatti, ancestors of the Hessians, and an important sacred site of the pagan Germanic peoples....
, near Fritzlar
Fritzlar
Fritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The...
, as part of his efforts to compel the conversion of the Chatti and the other northern Germanic tribes to Christianity.
"Chatti" was probably originating "Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
" through the High German consonant shift
High German consonant shift
In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost...
s
Chasuarii
The Chasuarii were a Germanic tribe mentioned by TacitusTacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
in the Germania
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
. According to him, they dwelt "beyond the Chamavi
Chamavi
The Chamavi were a Germanic tribe of Late Antiquity and the European Dark Age. They first appear under that name in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that, for most of their history, existed along the North bank of the Lower Rhine in the region today called Hamaland after...
and Angrivarii
Angrivarii
The Angrivarii were a Germanic tribe of the early Roman Empire mentioned briefly in Ptolemy as the Angriouarroi , which transliterates into Latin Angrivari. They are believed to be the source of the 8th century identity, Angrarii, which was one of three subdivisions of Saxony...
", who dwelt on the lower Rhine river. Many, therefore, believe the tribe to have inhabited the modern region of Hannover. Some take the name Chasuarii to mean "dwellers on the Hase
Hase
The Hase is a 193 km long river in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope of the 307 m high Hankenüll hill.- Weser-Ems...
[river]", a tributary to the Ems. The 2nd century geographer Claudius Ptolemy mentions that the Kasouarioi lived to the east of the Abnoba mountains, in the vicinity of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. Many historians are of the opinion that the Chasuarii were the same as the people called the Chattuarii mentioned by several authors.
In popular culture
- The Light BearerThe Light BearerThe Light Bearer is historical novel written by Donna Gillespie, about the Roman Empire and its clash with the tribes of Germania, focusing on war and pagan rituals. The events take place during the reigns of two Emperors Nero and Domitian, but it is the saga of Auriane, a Germanic chieftain's...
(1994), a historical novel by Donna Gillespie. - Mark of the Lion SeriesMark of the Lion SeriesThe Mark of the Lion series is authored by Francine Rivers and consists of three novels: A Voice in the Wind , An Echo in the Darkness , and As Sure as the Dawn.-A Voice in the Wind:...
(1993), a series of historical fiction novel by Francine Rivers.
See also
- MattiumMattiumMattium was the ancient "capital" or principal settlement of the Chatti. Its exact location is unknown, though following the description of Tacitus it is generally assumed to be somewhere in the wider neighbourhood of Fritzlar in northern Hesse ....
- AdgandestriusAdgandestriusAdgandestrius was a chief of the ancient Germanic tribe of the Chatti. He offered to kill Arminius if the Romans would send him poison for the purpose; but Tiberius declined the offer....
- MattiaciMattiaciThe Mattiaci were an ancient Germanic tribe. They were possibly a branch of the Chatti, their Germanic neighbors to the east. The Mattiaci were settled on border of the Roman Empire on the right side of the Rhine in the area of present-day Wiesbaden , the southern Taunus, and the Wetterau.Tacitus...
- Batavi
- List of Germanic peoples