Confederations of Germanic tribes

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Sippe is the German for "clan, kindred, extended family".

The term is from Old High German sippia, sibba, continuing a Proto-Germanic *sibbja, cognate to Gothic sibbja, Old English sibb, Old Norse sifjar (compare the theonym Sif). It originally referred to a confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blood relations. Grimm compares Sanskrit sabha "congregation, society". Gothic suniwê sibja refers to fostering, while ga-sibjôn means "to make peace, to reconcile". The original character of sibb as a peace treaty is also visible in Old English, e.g. in Beowulf (v. 1858):

hafast þû gefêred, þät þâm folcum sceal,
Geáta leódum ond Gâr-Denum
sib gemæne ond sacu restan.

According to Historian David Herlihy, the average Sippe likely contained no more than 50 families.[citation needed]

The following are some historical Germanic Confederations

  • 5 AD - Pliny reported that Cimbri and Charydes sent ambassadors to Rome.
  • 6 AD - Marcomannic Confederation.
  • 98 - Tacitus reports on the Germanic tribes that the Suiones (Swedes) were one nation composed of several tribes (civitates).

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