ALAMANNI. — Also called Alemanni or Suebi, they were one of the great Germanic tribes that later formed the kingdom of the East Franks and Germany. During the 3rd century they moved from the middle Elbe toward the Main and the Danube. Around the middle of the 5th century, under pressure from the Burgundians and other peoples, they invaded the entire region between the Vosges, the Lech, and the Danube, as well as all of what is now German-speaking Switzerland. They lived under their own dukes and were still pagan. From about 496 they lost their independence and came under the rule, first of the Franks, then of the Ostrogoths and Burgundians, and eventually under the Frankish kingdom. From that time their conversion to Christianity began; it proceeded with great difficulty and continued until the 8th century.
In the region, the bishoprics of the Roman period continued to exist, such as that of Vindonissa (Windisch), transferred in the second half of the 6th century to Aventicum (Avenches) and, around 600, to Lausanne; and that of Augusta, later Constance, to which that of Basel was added shortly afterward. The bishops, at first of Roman origin, later also bore Germanic names. The best-known missionaries were the saints: Columbanus, Gallus, Fridolin, Trudpert, Pirmin, etc. The monasteries of St. Gall, Disentis, Pfäfers, Reichenau, Säckingen, Trudpert, Weissenburg, etc., should be remembered as centers of evangelical outreach.
The lex Alamannorum (MGH, Leges, III, ed. J. Merkel), in its two recensions, the Glotlarian (718–719) and the Lantfridian, is a document demonstrating the penetration of Christianity among the A.; it imposes excommunication on those who dare to violate donations made to churches; subjects who take refuge in ecclesiastical asylums are treated with special consideration; the fine for the killing of bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, and monks is higher than that for an ordinary layman. The fine for the killing of a bishop is generally equal to that due for the killing of the duke (triple fine); for damage inflicted on churches it is three times higher than the ordinary fines.