The Ethnology of Germany. Part I. The Saxons of Nether Saxony Author(s): H. H. Howorth Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 6 (1877), pp. 364-378 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2841091 . Accessed: 10/06/2014 08:06 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 364 H. H. HOWORTH.-l7he Saxons of NetherSacxony. DISCUSSION. Dr. CAMPBELL, R.N., said he considered the age referredto of maternityto be too low, though it mightbe correctto say the women did sometimesmarry as young as stated. It is generallyadmitted that conceptio-ndoes not take place till afterthe appearance of the menses; and fromstatistics he collected with referenceto a neigh- bouring country(" Edin. Med. Journal,"1862), such would seldom occur before11k years. In describing the propagationof trees by slips, the author had omitted to state that the firstact of the process is to removea narrowcircular part of the bark of the branch over which the soil is attached,and that generallythe mass is regularlywatered for a time,either by hand or any contrivance permittinga drop falling occasionallyon it. The PRESIDENTalso made some observationson the paper,and the Directorthen read the followingpaper, in the absenceof the author:- The ETHNOLOGYof GERMANY. Part I. TlheSAXONS of NETHER SAXONY. By H. H. HOWORTH. AT the accessionof Charlemagnethe Franks were mastersof all Germany,except that portion inhabited by theirold and invete- rate enemiesthe Saxons. For 300 yearsthis sisterconfederacy, which had remainedfree fromthe Romanyoke, and freealso fromChristian influences, had carried on an almost ceaseless and, veryoften, aggressive war against the Franks; and it was only the perseveringeffort of the grealKarl himselfthat eventu- ally crushedand incorporatedthe Saxons. The Saxon countrysouth of the Elbe, at this time comprised the three provincesof Westphalia,Engern, and Ostphalia. It was bounded on the west by a seriesof Frankish gaus which separated it from the Rhine and fromLake Flevo; and its boundariesmay be admirablystudied in the 3rd map of the seriesGermany in Spruner'snew Atlas. Let us now limitour- selves, fora short tiine,to Westphalia,which was, apparently, not an old possessionof the Saxons,but one which theycon- quered fromthe Franks. The western boundary of Westphalia followed almost in detail the presentwestern boundary of the Prussianprovinces of Westphalia and Hanover. It was separatedfrom the North Sea by certainFriesian gaus, now formingpart of Hanover and Oldenburgh. On the east it was bounded by the Hunte, a tributaryof the Weser as faras its sources,and thenceroughly by the presentboundary of Westphalia,with whose southern limits it was also more or less conterminous.It was therefore wateredby the Ems, the Lippe, and the Ruhr. This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions H. III HOWORTH.-TheSaxons of Nether-Saxony. 365 The nameWestphalia does not appear,so faras I know,before Carlovingiantimes. Its etymologyhas been analysedby Zeuss, who tells us Falahl,with the terminationah, is derivedfrom Fal, i.e.,plain or field,and is the same as the Slavic poliak or polian, whencePoland and Poloutsi,and Rubruquisand othersgive us Valwae or Valania as the equivalentof Poloutzia. Therewas a gau in Ostphaliacalled Falaha, and we are told that the Gau Leri was in the Duchy of Falhorn(Zeuss " Die Deutsche,"&c., 390, note). Westphalia, therefore,merely means the western plains as distinguishedfrom Ostphalia, the easternplains, the two districtsbeing separatedby the intermediateAngraria or Engern. The name,therefore, has no ethnologicalimport. As I have said, Westphaliawas not an old Saxon land,but a con- quest, and the people who were ejectedwere the Bructeri,or Boruktuarii,a famous old stock of the Franks,and amongthe Frankishtribes the last to discardits distinctname. The Bructerigave its name to one of the Westphaliangaus, boundedon the northby the Lippe and on the southby the so- called Southwodior Southwoods,men who were doubtlesstheir frontagerson the side of the Franks. This gau generallyre- ferredto in the chroniclesas the pagus Borahtra,Bortergo, Boroctra,&c., we are told in severalauthorities, comprised the townsof Castorp,Perricbeci, Holthemi, Hamarichi, Mulmhuson Ismereleke,Anadopa, Geiske, &c., situated betweenthe Lippe and the Ruhr (Zeuss, op. cit. 353). In Spruner'smaps we find the Lippe given as the southern boundaryof the Saxons in Merovingianand earlyCarlovingian times; and it would seem that Bede has preservedfor us a noticeof the conquestof the districtto the south. He tells us that Bishop Suidbert,having left Britain,went amongthe Bo- ructuarii,many of whom he converted. But not long afterthe Boructuariiwere dispersed by the old Saxons, upon which Suidbertwas given an island on the Rhine by Pepin,where he built a monastery. This island was called Werda (" Mon. Hist. Britt.,"259). Suidbertwas ordainedBishop in 693, and died in 713-715 (id.). Dr. Latham (" EnglishLanguage," 35 and 36) questionsthe factof the Bructerihaving been Franks,for, as he says,they were still Pagans in the 8th century,and arguesthat theywere moreSaxon than anythingelse, and this,too, in the face of the passage fromBede just cited,which is conclusive that they were not Saxons, while they are frequentlymade Franksin otheraccounts, Franks who lived on the Saxon march or frontier,and who were at this data probablymore or less mixed,but yet Franks,and beingfrontier men, there was nothiug veryodd in theirhaving been also Pagans. Zeuss tells us that northof theLippe and as faras Hamalanl. This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 366 H. H. HoWoRTH.-TheSaxons of NetherSaxouy. thereis no gau,and he infersthat the Khamavi and theBrueteri wereonce here in contact,the latterstretching out to the north. (" Die Deutsche,&c.," 353,note.) I agreewith his inference,but not forthe same reason. The factis, the area he mentionswas occupied by a gau, which is definedin Spruner'sAtlas, and is there called Nordgo, occupyingthe north-westprojection of Westphalia,and bounded on two sides by the Lippe and the Issel, but it is veryprobable that a gau withsuch a name was only a recent creation. From Carlovingiantimes we have to make a greatleap to the timeof the Classical authors. Among these the two who give us the best informationon this area are Tacitus and Ptolemy. The latter,although writing at a later date,seems, in his accountof Germany,to have constructedhis narrativeoccasionally from earlier materials. His narrative, therefore,sometimes represents not the stateof thingscontempo- raneouswith him,but one older. I believe this to be notably trueof the Bructeri. Tacitustells us thatthe Bructeriformerly dweltnear the Tencteri. "1Now," he adds, " it is reportedthat the Khamavi and Angrivariihave displaced them. The Bructeri being defeatedand almost exterminated,with the approbation of theirneighbours, either from the hatredof theirpride or the delightof plundering,or the favour of our gods. For they favouredus with the spectacle of the fight,in which 40,000 perished,not by the Roman arms,but more magnificentlyand beforeour eyes " (Germania). Here, then,we have a noticeof the dispersalof the Bructeriand the occupationof theirland by their neighbourson eitherside, the Khamavi and Angrivarii; what thatland was we gatherfrom same author. Thus he says, 'Coasar * * * (:acinam cumquadraginta cohortibus Romanis * * per Bructerosad flumenAmisiam mittit" ("Annales" I, 60). Again, "Ductum inde agmen ad ultimos Bructerorum, quantumqueAmisiam et Lupiam amnesinter, vastatum " (id. T, 60). These passages clearlyplace themin the countrybetween the Ems and the Lippe. Ptolemydivides them into two sec- tions. The greaterand lesser Bructeri; and I have no doubt, myself,that theywere in fact the originaloccupants of West- phalia. Hence theywere thrust out by theirneighbours. It is clear thatthe mentionof their extinctionby Tacitusis a gross exaggeration,and theirname appears very frequently afterwards; but it is also clear thatthey evacuated the greaterpart of their originalcountry; a largerportion, no doubt,joined their brethren, the otherFranks, and passed across the Rhine,while the re- mainder found refugeacross the Lippe in the gan which re- ceived its name fromthem. Let us now considerwho the immigrantswere. Tacitus tells us theywere theKhamavi and Angrivarii. It maybe thatwe have This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions H. H. HOWORTIL.-TheSaxoonq of NetherSaxony. 367 in the town of Hamm in Westphalia,which Mr. Latham con- sidersto markthe ancienthabitat of the Khamavi,some traceof one set of these immigrants.Dr. Latham's words are: " The presenttown of Hamm,in Westphalia,probably preserves the name and fixes the originallocality of the,Khamavi " (" Ger- mania of Tacitus,"112), but this is clearlywrong; the old land of the Khamavi is no doubtHamalant in Holland. Nor does Hamm seem to be a veryold town. I cannotfind it mentioned on Spruner's mediseval maps, which are so accurately and minutelydrawn. And Hamm,which means merelysettlement, may have as little to do withthe Khamavi as Ham in Surrey.