Editing History of Bavaria (section)

==Migrations and early medieval period==
During the 5th century, the Romans in [[Noricum]] and [[Raetia]], south of the [[Danube]], came under increasing pressure from people north of the Danube. This area had become inhabited by [[Suebian]] groups from further north and was considered by Romans to be part of [[Germania]]. The etymological origins of the name "Bavarian" (Latin ''Baiovarii'') are from the north of the Danube, outside the empire, coming from the [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Boii]], who lived there earlier. Their name was already used to refer to the part of this region in the time of [[Maroboduus]] who formed the [[Germanic Marcomannic]] kingdom with its capital in this forested area. ''Boi'' became ''Bai'' according to typical Germanic linguistic changes happening at that time and a Germanic word similar to English "home" or modern German "''Heim''" was added. [[Strabo]] therefore reports Boihaemum (Greek Βουίαιμον).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=1&highlight=forest,marcomanni|title=Strabo, Geography, Book 7, chapter 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=11 September 2022|archive-date=10 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910211957/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=1&highlight=forest%2Cmarcomanni|url-status=live}}</ref> Tacitus similarly reports that ''Boihaemum'' is the name given to the area where the Boii had lived.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Tac.+Ger.+28&lang=original|title=Cornelius Tacitus, Germany and its Tribes, chapter 28|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=11 September 2022|archive-date=11 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911014205/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Tac.+Ger.+28&lang=original|url-status=live}}</ref> These forms led to modern [[Bohemia]] which lies to the east of modern Bavaria and completely to the north of the Danube, in the modern [[Czech Republic]]. At some later stage, the ending "varii" was used in order to give a new name to specific people living in this geographical area who were then living on both sides of the Danube (similar Germanic ethnic names were created based on other regions: [[Angrivarii]] and [[Ampsivarii]] in northern Germany, Anglo-Saxon [[Kingdom of Kent|Cantware]], [[Ripuarian Franks]] and so on). [[Claudius Ptolemy]] named both the "[[Baenochaemae]]", living on the Upper [[Elbe]] river and a "large people" known as the "'[[Baemi|Baimoi]]", living near the Danube.

In surviving records, the Bavarian name was first mentioned historically in a [[Frankish Table of Nations|Frankish list of peoples]], prepared in c. 520 AD. The first document that also describes their location (east of the Swabians) is the ''History of the Goths'' by the historian [[Jordanes]] dating from 551 AD. A remark by [[Venantius Fortunatus]] follows in his description of his travels from [[Ravenna]] to [[Tours]] (565–571), in which he had crossed the lands of the Bavarians, referring to the dangers of travel in the region: 'If the road is clear and if the Bavarian does not stop you [...] then travel across the Alps.'

Archaeological evidence dating from the 5th and 6th centuries points to social and cultural influences from several regions and peoples, such as [[Alamanni]], [[Lombards]], [[Thuringians]], [[Goths]], [[Bohemia]]n [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]] and the local [[Romanised]] population.{{sfn|Schutz|2000|pages=284, 287}}

Recent research by Wolfram and Pohl (1990) has moved away from searching for specific geographical origins of the Bavarians. It is now thought that the tribal ethnicity was established by the process of [[ethnogenesis]], whereby an [[ethnic]] identity is formed because political and social pressures make a coherent identity necessary.