Silingi
The Silings or Silingi (Latin: Silingae, Ancient Greek Σιλίγγαι – Silingai) supposedly were an East Germanic tribe, probably part of the larger Vandal group. According to most scholars, examples Jerzy Strzelczyk,[1] Norman Davies,[2] Jerzy Krasuski,[3] Andrzej Kokowski,[4] Henryk Łowmiański,[5] the Silingi may have lived in Silesia. The name Silesia and Silingi may be related.
The Silingi were part of the migratory movements of the Vandals, into the Iberian peninsula and later on to North Africa, which was one of the causes of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
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[edit] Ancient sources
Claudius Ptolemaeus wrote that they had lived south of the Suebi-Semnone tribe:
Back below the Semnones the Silingae have their seat, and below the Burguntae the Lugi Omani, below whom the Lugi Diduni up to Mt. Asciburgius; and below the Silingae the Calucones and the Camavi up to Mt. Melibocus, from whom to the east near the Albis river and above them, below Mt. Asciburgius, the Corconti and the Lugi Buri up to the head of the Vistula river; and below them first the Sidones, then the Cotini, then the Visburgii above the Orcynius valley.[6]
During the reign of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, (A.D. 161–180) the Silingi lived in the "Vandal mountains", later part of the former Sudetenland which now is part of the Czech Republic.[7]
[edit] The region Silesia
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According to some historians, the names of Silesia and the Silingi are related. Another hypothesis derives the name of the mountain and river, and hence the region, from the old Polish word "Ślągwa", meaning "humid" or "damp", reflecting the climate of the region.[8]
The name of the territory Silesia is often assumed to either derive from the river or the mountain now called the Ślęza River or Mount Ślęża. The hill was a religious center of the Silingi, situated south-south-east of modern day Wrocław (Breslau),[9][10] although the religious importance of the location dates back to the sun-worshipping people of the Lusatian culture, as early as 1300 B.C.[8]
The Silingi lived north of the Carpathian Mountains, in what now is Silesia. The name of Silesia can be traced back to the Silingi through intermediate Slavic forms.[11]
After the migratory movement of the 5th century, any Silingi remaining in Silesia were most likely slowly replaced in the sixth century by a influx of people holding the Prague-Korchak cultures, who are supposed to be new Slavic tribes migrating from the east.[12]
[edit] Legacy
Corps Silingia Breslau (de) is a student organization (Studentenverbindung) which has been operating since 1877, currently (2010) in Cologne, Germany, as Corps Silingia Breslau zu Köln (English: Corps of Silings Wrocław).[13]
[edit] See also
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[edit] References
- ^ Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wandalowie i ich afrykańskie państwo" s. 59, Warszawa 1992.
- ^ Norman Davies, Roger Moorhouse "Mikrokosmos", s.70, Kraków 2003
- ^ Jerzy Krasuski "Historia Niemiec" s. 13, Wrocław 1998.
- ^ Andrzej Kokowski "Starożytna Polska" s. 260, Warszawa 2006.
- ^ Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wandalowie i ich afrykańskie państwo" s. 29, Warszawa 1992.
- ^ "The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy", Book II, Chapter 10: "Greater Germany"", English translation published by Dover Publications, 1991, reduplication of the public domain publication of 1932 by The New York Public Library, N.Y., transcript
- ^ John Hugo Wolfgang, Gideon Liebeschuetz "Decline and Change in Late Antiquity", 2006, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 086078990X p. 61 (google Books)
- ^ a b Paweł Jasienica, "Polska Piastów" (Piast Poland), Munken, 2007, pg. 35
- ^ Adrian Room "Placenames of the World", McFarland 2004m ISBN 0786418141 p.333 (Google books)
- ^ Anthony Richard Birley, "Agricola and Germany" 1999, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192833006 p.130 (Notes to pages 56–60) (Google books)
- ^ Andrew H. Merrills, "Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa", 2004, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 0754641457 p.34, (Google Books)
- ^ T. Hunt Tooley "National Identity and Weimar Germany: Upper Silesia and the Eastern Border", 1997 University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803244290 p.6 (Google Books)
- ^ http://www.silingia.de
