The Crimean Goths were Greuthungi-Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea. They were the longest-lasting of the Gothic communities. Their existence is well attested through the ages, though the exact period when they ceased to exist as a distinct culture is unknown; as with the Goths in general, they may have become diffused among the surrounding peoples. In his Fourth Turkish letter, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522-1592) describes them as "a warlike people, who to this day inhabit many villages". However, in the 5th century, the Ostrogothic ruler Theodoric the Great failed to rouse Crimean Goths to support his 488-493 war in Italy. In medieval times it was customary to refer to a wide range of Germanic tribes as "Goths", so the exact ethnic nature of the Germanic peoples in Crimea is a subject of debate. Aside from textual reports of the existence of the Goths in Crimea, both first- and second-hand, from as early as 850, numerous archaeological sites also exist, including the ruins of the former capital city of the Crimean Goths: Doros (present-day Mangup). Furthermore, numerous articles of jewelry, weaponry, shields, buttons, pins, and small personal artifacts on display in museums in Crimea and in the British Museum have led to a better understanding of Crimean Gothia. Definition In the report made by Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq in 1595 of the Crimean Goths, he claims to not be able to determine whether the Germanic peoples of Crimea were Goths or Saxons; certainly the language cannot be directly linked to the well-attested Gothic language. Though most scholars agree the peoples must have been of Gothic origin, some others have maintained that the so-called "Crimean Goths" were in fact West or even North Germanic tribes who settled in Crimea, culturally and linguistically influenced by the Ostrogoths. For example, a group of Anglo-Saxons who fled the Norman Conquest did in fact get asylum with the Byzantine Empire and received land in Crimea (see New England), and given the suspiciously West Germanic character of "Crimean Gothic", it appears conceivable that it is far more likely the "Crimean Gothic" language descended from Anglo-Saxons who arrived around 1100 instead of Goths from several hundred years before that. History Early history According to Herwig Wolfram, following Jordanes, the Ostrogoths had a huge kingdom north of the Black Sea in the 4th century, which the Huns overwhelmed in