Chamavi

The Chamavi were a Germanic people of Roman imperial times who lived north of the Roman border (Limes) in the Rhine river delta region, in what is now the Netherlands, and perhaps stretching into what is now Germany.

In the Roman records of the third and fourth century, when the tribes of this region began to be categorized as Franks or Saxons, the Chamavi were at different times listed as both, and sometimes distinguished from both. In the third century Chamavi and Frisians, apparently both considered Frankish peoples, settled in the Rhine delta during a period when the empire lost control of the region. After being defeated and ejected, they were once again mentioned as entering the area in the 4th century, but this time described as a Saxon people. After being once again defeated, they were forced to supply soldiers to the Roman military.

Their name probably survives in the region called Hamaland, which is in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, near present day Deventer between the IJssel and Ems rivers. In France, one area where the Romans settled them also continued to be named after them into the Middle Ages.