WI: Vandalic/Gothic Settlement of Britain

So, what if the Vandals, Visigoths or Ostrogoths ended up settling in Britannia instead of Africa, Hispania or Italia?
 
Why?

Brittania was a fairly poor province, ravaged by plague, piracy and anarchy, while Gaul and Hispania were relatively spared, Africa was intact and Italy still rich.
You don't have a great motive to them doing so.

Besides, they would have need a fleet to invade the islands and while North-Sea people had such, Goths and Vandals didn't (it's actually one of the reasons Goths abandoned their plan to move in Africa when they were in Italy, and Vandals managed to move thanks to Hispanian ships).

While having western Germanic people moving more importantly than OTL in Britannia is still possible (while unlikely), oriental Germans doing so seems too hard to reach compared to the occasions they had on the continent.
 
I don't know. I was thinking something along the line of the foederati system. It was just an idea that popped into my head.
 
The foederati system didn't worked that well for Germans. Actually, the only really successful use of this institution was how it managed to make Franks relative sure allies of Romans and it asked several campaign to make this certain.

Furthermore, while Romans could technically use germans as foederati in Britain, they wouldn't ask Goths (that settled in Dacia or Black Sea shores) or Vandals that settled Vistula basin, but more likely Germans that already lived in North Sea shores : Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians, Franks...
 
The foederati system didn't worked that well for Germans. Actually, the only really successful use of this institution was how it managed to make Franks relative sure allies of Romans and it asked several campaign to make this certain.

Furthermore, while Romans could technically use germans as foederati in Britain, they wouldn't ask Goths (that settled in Dacia or Black Sea shores) or Vandals that settled Vistula basin, but more likely Germans that already lived in North Sea shores : Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians, Franks...

Well that's actually interesting. Do you think if they used the Saxons/Angles/Jutes as foederati in Britain that that could have led to them being more Latinized over time?
 
It depends. I would think not.

We're talking of a region that was going to be sooner or later abandoned by Rome. Once imperial control history, the local britto-roman would likely react as OTL, not willing to let foreigner takeover their lands : not only by the original settling but by their likely expansion due to the imperial withdraw.
Not christianized, not being at the direct contact of Rome, more close to northern Germanic features than, say, Franks...

That's certainly putting them in a position where romanisation isn't a viable option. It would be too late for that.

You'll need a PoD where Saxons are at least christianized in the III century and being more migrant people than pirates (OTL they settled on North Sea and Channel shores, being quickly merged with romanized germans in Gaul).

Finally, you need an incitative to make them foederati : the main threat against Britain were Saxons, so at the very last, you need some Saxons ready to fight them and not being part of the raids.
Being a loose confederacy without clear leadership, I doubt you'll find easily a clear leader figure able to gather forces to fight against other Saxons.
 
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