Although the Gypsy culture has been and still is largely ungrammatical, the linguistic influences to which the Gypsies were exposed have made it possible to trace their origins to India, specifically to the north, in the Punjab region. Settled in tents on the outskirts of villages, it is quite likely that they were engaged in the manufacture of baskets and iron tools, as members of a lower caste. Although the dates of their departure from India remain unclear today, an early reference to their exodus is found in the testimony of the Persian poet Firdusi (11th century), who said that the Gypsies would have arrived in Persia in the 5th century to serve the Sassanid king Bahram Gur as dancers and musicians. In any case, they must have remained in Persian territory long enough for Semitic elements to be incorporated into their language. Around 750, when Persia was under Arab domination, the Gypsy people split into two distinct groups and headed for Syria and Armenia, where they settled long enough to adopt Armenian words. Attacks by Byzantine soldiers in the 11th century caused them to look for a new location, this time in Byzantine Greece. At the dawn of the 12th century they were taken to be descendants of Simon Magus – a Samaritan race associated with witchcraft and animal poisoning; in the 13th century they were taken to be soothsayers and snake charmers; and during the 14th century they were assimilated with the descendants of Cain, son of Noah, who were characteristically very dark-skinned. Before the end of this century, the Gypsies had already reached the Balkans. The Turkish invasion brought them into Western Europe from 1417 onwards, and they expanded rapidly. In 1485 they reached the city of Bern in Switzerland and stayed at the city gates, as recorded in Diebold Schilling’s Spiezer Chronik. In the picture the Gypsies form a compact group, characterised by their tanned skin and brightly coloured clothing in shades of blue, green, red and yellow. The men, in the foreground, cover their heads with pointed hats, while the women, with children in their arms or attached to their cloaks, wear turbans.

Collection: Images

Project: 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe., 7. Persecuted by justice and powers: rebels, political dissidents and criminals in the history of Europe., 9. Travels and travelers: economic, social and cultural connections.

Chronology: XV

Scope: Baccalaureate, University

Link: http://www.e-codices.ch/de/bbb/Mss-hh-I0016/749

Resource type: Image

Format: Paper, 37x26 cm

Source: Berna, Burgerbibliothek. Mss.hhI16: Diebold Schilling, Spiezer Chronik, p. 749

Language: German

Date: 1484-1485

Owner: Blanca Rodríguez Hernández (Modernalia)

Identifier: 10.5076/e-codices-bbb-Mss-hh-I0016

Copyright: Creative Commons

Abstract: Illustration by Diebold Schilling showing a group of gypsies at the gates of the city of Bern, Switzerland (1485)

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