Chattuarii

The Chattuarii, also spelled Attuarii, were a Germanic tribe who eventually became a part of the Franks.

They lived to the east of the Rhine delta, north of the Lippe, outside the Roman Empire, but close to it, and also near what is now the border between Germany and the Netherlands.

In the 4th century they were described as Franks who were then living near the banks of the Rhine in this same area.

Their name survived as the name of a Frankish gau, (Latin: pagus), called the pagus Hattuariensis or pagus Hetterun.

Name and language

The Chattuarii are believed to have spoken a Germanic language, and their Germanic name has been reconstructed as *Chattwarijiz by Günter Neumann.

Modern scholars note that the Chattuarii name transparently means something like "Chatti dwellers". The second element in the name is common among Germanic peoples, especially in this region, such as Chasuarii “dwellers on the river Hase”, Ampsivarii "dwellers on the river Ems", and the Angrivarii. Scholars generally believe the name of the Chattuari can be interpreted as "inhabitants of the Chatti-lands", in parallel with the post-Roman names of the "Baiuvarii", which is typically interpreted as a name indicating that this people had once been inhabitants of the old homeland of the Boii, and the Boructuarii, who are believed to have been living where the Bructeri once lived.

Wagner and Rübekeil note that the name has a Germanic ending, and is always spelled with "-tt-", not "-tth-", unlike the name of the Chatti. They therefore propose that these were Germanic speaking newcomers to the region, probably Suebi, and without the same Celtic heritage.