Some scholars have pointed out a вЂGothic HorizonвЂ™ in the Chronicles, where kings of many early English Kingdoms have gothic-sounding ancestors (real or mythical).Similar elite jewellery styles вЂ“ especially of the gold and garnet/glass jewellery.There are quite a few intriguing links that some of the Ostrogoths might have ended up here, or at least been a key influence: More on thatВ that another time, but archaeology indicatesВ that Scandinavian populations were particularly badly hit and took a long while to recover. It's worth noting that this was a time of plague and famine right across Europe,В partly linked to the great climatic event of 536 (probably a major volcanic eruption) that hid the sun forВ 18 monthsВ like inВ an eclipse.Some went to seek their roots in Scandinavia (perhaps linked to the modern province of Г–stergГ¶tland in Sweden).

HisВ commentВ is normally taken as sarcasm but that seemsВ a bit odd in a diplomatic letter.

Bizarrely, the Emperor did offer Britannia to the Ostrogoths,В although did admit that it was no longer under Roman rule to give.

ItвЂ™s not clear where all the Ostrogoths went afterwards. The GothsВ lost, andВ got booted out of Italy. The new Byzantine EmperorВ wanted ItalyВ back, so there was a 'Gothic war'. But thenВ 40 years later it all unravelled.

By around 490, theyВ ruled Italy and their King was treated almost as an equal by the Emperor.

Theoderic the Great's mausoleum in Italy has Scandinavian-influenced patterns on it - showing they kept elements of their culture.

They spoke Gothic, developed their own alphabet, and made fancy gold and garnet jewelry.В TheyВ became Arian Christians, and their KingВ had a very fancy bible,В written in Gothic withВ gold and silver ink on purple-dyed vellumВ (its now in Uppsala).

The crumbling Roman Empire became increasingly reliant on them for warriors, gradually settling some within the empire. They probably originated in Sweden, butВ migrated into Central/Eastern Europe somewhere around 100AD, then hung around the Danube for a few hundred years.This ties in really well with some of my key research aims, namely how was the Kingdom of East Anglia formed - and by whom? There are several signs that it wasn't just Angles. Yesterday I attended an excellent study dayВ on 'Sutton Hoo and the Ostrogoths' (by Wuffing Education).

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