ALEMANNI. - Also called Alemanni or Suebi, they were one of the great Germanic tribes that later formed the kingdom of the Eastern Franks and of 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 whole region between the Vosges, the Lech and the Danube, and the whole of present-day German Switzerland. They were under their own dukes and were still pagans. From about 496 they lost their independence and passed under the dominion, first of the Franks, then of the Ostrogoths and Burgundians, and finally came under the Frankish kingdom. From that time their conversion to Christianity begins, which proceeded very laboriously and dragged on until the 8th century.
In the region the bishoprics of the Roman era 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 bear Germanic names. The best-known missionaries are the saints: Columbanus, Gall, Fridolin, Trudpert, Pirmin, etc. As centers of evangelical radiation, the monasteries of St. Gall, Disentis, Pfäfers, Reichenau, Säckingen, Trudpert, Weissenburg, etc., are to be remembered.
The lex Alamannorum (MGH, Leges, III, ed. J. Merkel), in its two redactions, the Glotlariana (718-719) and the Lantfridana, is a document that demonstrates the penetration of Christianity among the A.; in it excommunication is pronounced against those who dare to violate the donations made to the churches; subjects who take refuge in ecclesiastical sanctuaries are treated with special regard; the fine for killing bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons and monks is higher than for a simple layman. The fine for killing a bishop is equal, in general, to that owed for killing a duke (triple fine); for damage caused to churches it is three times higher than the common fines.
Bibliography2 works
Giuseppe Löw