![Coin of the Gepids](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Coin_of_the_Gepids._Sirmium_mint._Struck_in_the_name_of_Justin_I%2C_517-527_CE.jpg)
The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an
East Germanic tribe
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
who lived in the area of modern
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, roughly between the
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
,
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
and
Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
and
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
.
They are first mentioned by Roman sources in the third century. In the fourth century, they were among the peoples incorporated into the
Hunnic Empire, within which they formed an important part. After the death of
Attila, the Gepids under their leader
Ardaric
Ardaric ( la, Ardaricus; c. 450 AD) was the king of the Gepids, a Germanic tribe closely related to the Goths. He was "famed for his loyalty and wisdom," one of the most trusted adherents of Attila the Hun, who "prized him above all the other chi ...
, led an alliance of other peoples who had been in the empire, and defeated the sons of Attila and their remaining allies at the
Battle of Nedao
The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River.
Battle
After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the subject peoples u ...
in 454. The Gepids and their allies subsequently founded kingdoms on the
Middle Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, bordering on the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
. The Gepid Kingdom was one of the most important and long-lasting of these, centered on
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrian ...
, and sometimes referred to as Gepidia. It covered a large part of the
former Roman province of Dacia, north of the Danube, and compared to other Middle Danubian kingdoms it remained relatively un-involved with Rome.
The Gepids were defeated by the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
and
Avars a century later in 567, when
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
gave no support to them. Some Gepids joined the Lombards in their subsequent conquest of Italy, some moved into Roman territory, and other Gepids still lived in the area of the old kingdom after it was conquered by the Avars.
Few archaeological sites remained that can be attributed to them for sure. After their settlement of the
Carpathian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large Sedimentary basin, basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The Geomorphology, geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewh ...
, their population was mostly centred around the
Szamos and
Körös
The Körös () or Criș () ( German: ''Kreisch'') is a river in eastern Hungary and western Romania. Its length is from the confluence of its two source rivers Fehér-Körös ('' Crișul Alb'') and Fekete-Körös ('' Crișul Negru'') to its out ...
rivers, but they didn't intermingle with other nations.
Name
The most common Latin spellings of the Gepid name in plural used a "p", but varied concerning the vowels: Gepidae, Gipidae, Gipedae, Gipides. Similarly, Procopius writing in Greek uses a stem γηπαιδ- which should be transliterated as Giped-. Despite this, the Gepids have been equated to the people mentioned in the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
''
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' and ''
Beowulf'', as ' or . These names are considered etymologically equivalent Old English forms of Gepidae that could not have arisen through borrowing from attested Latin forms.
Although
Walter Goffart
Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Tor ...
has objected that "no serious arguments substantiating the identification seem to me to have been set out", linguists interpret the "p" in Latin and Greek as an insulting Gothic nickname for the Gepids. In addition to the Old English words, placename evidence in Italy, and a single medieval Latin
genitive plural
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
form "Gebodorum" are taken to indicate that the "p" was really a fricative sound similar to a "b". Many linguists therefore reconstruct the original Germanic form as *''Gíbidoz'', based on the Germanic verb "to give", as still found in English (German ''geben'', Dutch ''geven''), apparently indicating that they named themselves gifted or rewarded or generous.
The modern idea that the recorded name of the Gepids was an insult comes from
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
in the sixth century, who reported in his Gothic origins story the ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
'', that the name of the Gepids came from ''gepanta'', an insult in Gothic meaning "sluggish, stolid" (''pigra''), because the Gepids had lagged behind their Gothic kin when they migrated more than a thousand years earlier.
In contrast,
Isidore of Seville in his etymologies, interpreted the second part of the Gepid name as "feet" (Latin ''pedes'') and explained that the Gepids were known for going into battle on foot (''pedestri''), rather than mounted. The much later (12th century) Byzantine ''
Etymologicum Magnum
''Etymologicum Magnum'' ( grc, Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα, ) (standard abbreviation ''EM'', or ''Etym. M.'' in older literature) is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicogra ...
'' interprets the name using the Greek word for children, making the Gepids ''Gētípaides'' (Γητίπαιδες) meaning "children of the Goths (equated to
Getae)". All three of these texts follow a tradition of seeing the Gepids as "offshoots or close relatives of the Goths".
''
Tabula Peutingeriana
' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire.
The map is a 13th-ce ...
,'' a 4th century map shows the "Piti" people living next of
Porolissum
Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military camp in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the native Dacians and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124. The si ...
. Whether is this the distortion of Gepid or not is disputed by historians.
Language
There is little direct evidence for the original language of the Gepids, but they were clearly Gothic in culture during the period when the Romans reported upon them. The sixth-century Byzantine writer,
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...
, listed the Gepids among the "Gothic nations" along with the
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
,
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
, and Goths proper, in his ''Wars of Justinian'', "sharing the same language, white bodies, blond hair, and
Arian form of Christianity".
History
Legendary
All information of the Gepids' origins came from "malicious and convoluted Gothic legends",
recorded in Jordanes' ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
'' after 550. According to Jordanes's narration the northern island of "
Scandza
Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.
Jor ...
", which is associated with Sweden by modern scholars, was the original homeland of the ancestors of the Goths and Gepids. They left Scandza together in three boats under the leadership of
Berig
Berig is a legendary king of the Goths appearing in the ''Getica'' by Jordanes. According to Jordanes, Berig led his people on three ships from Scandza (Scandinavia) to Gothiscandza (the Vistula Basin). They settled and then attacked the Rugians wh ...
, the legendary Gothic king. Jordanes specified that the Gepids' ancestors traveled in the last of the three ships, for which their fellows mocked them as ''gepanta'', or "slow and stolid." The Goths and Gepids then settled along the southern shore of the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
on an island at the mouth of the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
river, called "Gepedoius", or the Gepids' fruitful meadows, by Jordanes. Modern historians debate whether the part of Jordanes's work which described the migration from Scandza was written at least partially on the basis of Gothic oral history or whether it was an "ahistorical fabrication." Jordanes's passage in his ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
'' reads:
According to Jordanes, the Gepids decided to leave "Gepedoius" during the reign of a king named
Fastida
FastidaName of Germanic origin, containing the element ''fast''- meaning "fixed, firm, secure", from Proto-Germanic *''fastuz''. was a king of the Gepidae of the 3rd century. His battle against the Visigoths resulted in defeat, and was chronicled ...
. He claims the Gepids moved to the south long after the Goths had already moved, and defeated the
Burgundians and other races, provoking the Goths in the process. Fastida demanded land from Ostrogotha, King of the Visigoths, because the Gepids' territory was "hemmed in by rugged mountains and dense forests".
[ Ostrogotha refused Fastida's demand and the Gepids joined battle with the Goths "at the town of Galtis, near which the river Auha flows". They fought until darkness fell, when Fastida and his Gepids withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their land.][ Whether they still lived around the ]Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
or have already conquered Galicia is debated by historians.
Before the arrival of the Huns
The Gepids were the "most shadowy of all the major Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...
of the migration period", according to historian Malcolm Todd. Neither Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
nor Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
mentioned them in their detailed lists of the "barbarians" in the first and second centuries AD. They first appear only in the late , and by this time they are already living in or near the area where they remained for the rest of their known history.
According to the unreliable '' Augustan History'' of Emperor Claudius Gothicus
Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle ...
(VI.2), Gepids were involved in the "Scythian
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
" invasion of the Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
s in the Balkan Peninsula in 269; the emperor routed them. Others listed were Greuthungi
The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Gothic people who lived on the Pontic steppe between the Dniester and Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the Tervingi, another Gothic ...
, Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
, Tervingi
The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries.
They had close contacts with the Gr ...
, Vesi, Peucini
The Bastarnae (Latin variants: ''Bastarni'', or ''Basternae''; grc, Βαστάρναι or Βαστέρναι) and Peucini ( grc, Πευκῖνοι) were two ancient peoples who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited areas north of the Roman fronti ...
, Heruli
The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several " Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking ...
and Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
.[ The same source also says that Emperor Probus, who ruled between 276 and 282, settled Gepid, Vandals, and Greuthungi prisoners of war in the Roman Empire in the Balkans.
In the 11th panegyric to emperor Maximian given in ]Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in 291, which is also the first time the Tervingi
The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries.
They had close contacts with the Gr ...
and Taifali
The Taifals or Tayfals ( la, Taifali, Taifalae or ''Theifali''; french: Taïfales) were a people group of Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fra ...
were mentioned, the passage described a battle outside the empire where the Gepids were on the side of the Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
, attacked by Taifali and a "part" of the Goths. The other part of the Goths had defeated the Burgundians who were supported by Tervingi and Alemanni.[ They were however "remote enough from the imperial frontier for them not to appear in the ]Verona list
The ''Laterculus Veronensis'' or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces and barbarian peoples from the time of the emperors Diocletian and Constantine I, most likely from AD 314.
The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript preser ...
or in the histories of Ammianus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gest ...
or Orosius".
Modern historians who write of the Gepids' early history sometimes apply a "mixed argumentation", combining Jordanes' narration with results of archaeological research. Historian István Bóna says that the battle mentioned in the panegyric was about 290 in the former province of Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...
, equating it to the battle mentioned by Jordanes, involving Fastida.[ Archaeologist Kurdt Horedt however also equates it to the battle involving Fastida and proposed that the battle took place east of the Carpathian Mountains after 248 and before the withdrawal of the Romans from the province of Dacia in the early 270s. Walter Pohl only says that the battle must have happened between 248 and 291, and could have been inside or outside the curve of the Carpathians, though he feels it is obvious that it must in the region of the formerly Roman province of ]Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...
in Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
.
The Gepids' history in the is unknown, because no written source mentioned them during this period. The silence of the Roman sources suggests that their homeland did not border on the Roman Empire. On the basis of Jordanes' reference to the "rugged mountains" of the Gepids' land, historians locate it near the Carpathians, along the upper courses of either the Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
or the Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
rivers, in the late . The exact date of the Gepids' settlement in the Carpathian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large Sedimentary basin, basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The Geomorphology, geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewh ...
cannot exactly be determined. Archaeologist István Bóna says they were present in the northeastern region already in the 260s.[ According to Coriolan H. Opreanu, they seem to have arrived around 300. Archaeologists Eszter Istvánovits and Valéria Kulcsár write that no archaeological evidence substantiates the Gepids' presence before around 350.
Graves from the which yielded swords, lances and shields with iron boss were unearthed in cemeteries between the rivers Tisza and ]Körös
The Körös () or Criș () ( German: ''Kreisch'') is a river in eastern Hungary and western Romania. Its length is from the confluence of its two source rivers Fehér-Körös ('' Crișul Alb'') and Fekete-Körös ('' Crișul Negru'') to its out ...
(in present-day north-eastern Hungary and north-western Romania).[ Many scholars (including Kurdt Horedt, István Bóna and Coriolan H. Opreanu) attribute those graves to Gepid warriors.][ Graves of women from the same cemeteries produced artefacts—including bronze and silver clasps, bone combs, and fibulae—which are similar to objects found in the cemeteries of the nearby " Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov culture".][ István Bóna writes that the spread of these cemeteries shows that the Gepids subjugated the Germanic ]Victohali The Victohali were a people of Late Antiquity who lived north of the Lower Danube. In Greek their name is ''Biktoa'' or ''Biktoloi''. They were possibly a Germanic people, and it has been suggested that they were one of the tribes of the Vandals.
T ...
, who had previously inhabited the same region, before expanding towards the Mureș River Mureș may refer to:
* Mureș County, Romania
* Mureș (river) in Romania and Hungary (''Maros'')
* Mureș culture, a Bronze Age culture from Romania
See also
* Târgu Mureș, the capital of Mureș County
* Ocna Mureș
Ocna Mureș (; la, Sali ...
in the middle of the .[
]
Within the Hunnic Empire
A large group of diverse peoples from the region of the Middle Danube crossed the river Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and invaded the Roman Empire in 405 or 406. Although most contemporaneous sources only listed the Vandals, Alans
The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...
and Sueves
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own nam ...
among the invaders, according to St. Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is com ...
, who lived in Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
around that time, Gepids also participated in the invasion. According to a scholarly theory, the westward migration of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
forced the tribes to flee from the Carpathian Basin and seek refuge in the Roman Empire. Whatever the exact sequence of events, the Middle Danube region was subsequently dominated by peoples from the east, associated with Goths and Huns.
Jordanes reported that Thorismund
Thorismund (also Thorismod or Thorismud, as manuscripts of our chief source confusingly attestJordanes, ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''Getica'') 81, 174, 190, 201 and elsewhere.) ( 420–453), became king of the Visigoths after his father Th ...
, King of the Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
, who was subjected to the Huns, "won a great victory over" the Gepids, but fell in the battle. Jordanes' report suggests that the Gepids were forced to accept the overlordship of the Ostrogoths, within the emerging Hunnic Empire.[ A treasure of gold jewels, which was found at ]Șimleu Silvaniei
Șimleu Silvaniei (; hu, Szilágysomlyó, german: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania with a population of 14,436 people (2011 census). It is located near the ancient Dacian fortress Dacidava.
Three villages are adminis ...
, was hidden in the first decades of the , most probably in connection with the struggles ending with the Gepids' subjection to the Huns, according to István Bóna.[
The Gepid warriors fought on the side of the Huns during the next decades. According to Jordanes, Attila the Hun prized ]Ardaric
Ardaric ( la, Ardaricus; c. 450 AD) was the king of the Gepids, a Germanic tribe closely related to the Goths. He was "famed for his loyalty and wisdom," one of the most trusted adherents of Attila the Hun, who "prized him above all the other chi ...
, King of the Gepids, and Valamir
Valamir or Valamer (c. 420 – 469) was an Ostrogothic king in the former Roman province of Pannonia from AD 447 until his death. During his reign, he fought alongside the Huns against the Roman Empire and then, after Attila the Hun's death, ...
, King of the Ostrogoths, "above all the other chieftains", who were subjected to the Huns, in the 440s, according to Jordanes. Goffart, sceptical of Jordanes, has suggested that "scattered evidence", including descriptions of Attila himself as a Gepid, suggests that Ardaric and the Gepids may have been more important than the Ostrogoths under Attila.
The Gepids' participation in the Huns' campaigns against the Roman Empire brought them much booty, contributing to the development of a rich Gepid aristocracy. Especially, the isolated graves of fifth-century aristocratic women evidence the Gepid leaders' wealth: they wore heavy silver fibulas on their shoulders, bead necklaces, silver bracelets, large gold earrings, and silver clasps on their clothes and belts.[ A "countless host" under the command of Ardaric formed the right wing of the army of Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. On the eve of the main encounter between allied hordes, the Gepids and ]Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
met each other, the latter fighting for the Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and the former for the Huns, and seem to have fought one another to a standstill with 15,000 dead.
Attila the Hun died unexpectedly in 453. Conflicts among his sons developed into a civil war, enabling the subject peoples to rise up in rebellion. According to Jordanes, the Gepid king, Ardaric, who "became enraged because so many nations were being treated like slaves of the basest condition", was the first to take up arms against the Huns. The decisive battle was fought at the (unidentified) Nedao River in Pannonia in 454 or 455. In the battle, the united army of Gepids, Rugii
The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians ( grc, Ρογοί, Rogoi), were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his '' Germania'' who called them the ''Rugii'', and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. So ...
, Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
and Suebi routed the Huns and their allies, including the Ostrogoths. It was the Gepids who took the lead among the old allies of Attila, and establishing one of the largest and most independent new kingdoms, thus acquiring the "capital of esteem that sustained their kingdom for more than a century".
Kingdom of the Gepids
After the Battle of Nedao, the Hunnic Empire disintegrated and the Gepids became the dominant power in the eastern regions of the Carpathian Basin. According to Jordanes, the Gepids "by their own might won for themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as victors over the extent of all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire nothing more than peace and an annual gift" after their victory. Emperor Marcian confirmed their status as the allies of the empire and granted them an annual subsidy of 100 pounds of gold. The late-5th-century treasures excavated at Apahida
Apahida ( hu, Apahida; german: Bruckendorf; la, Pons Abbatis) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Apahida, Bodrog (''Bodrog''), Câmpenești, Corpadea (''Kolozskorpád''), Dezmir (''Dezmér''), Pat ...
and Someșeni show that the Gepid rulers accumulated great wealth in the second half of the century.
The Gepids joined a coalition formed by the Suebi, Sciri, Sarmatians and other peoples formed against the Ostrogoths who had settled in Pannonia. However, the Ostrogoths routed the united forces of their enemies in the Battle of Bolia in 469. After the Ostrogoths left Pannonia in 473, the Gepids captured Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrian ...
(now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
), a strategically important town on the road between Italy and Constantinople.
In 489, Thraustila, King of the Gepids, tried to hinder the Ostrogoths from crossing the river Vuka during Theodoric the Great
Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
's campaign against Italy, but the Ostrogoths routed Thraustila's army. The Gepids also lost Sirmium to the Ostrogoths, according to Walter Pohl
Walter Pohl (born 27 December 1953, in Vienna) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of Auxiliary Sciences of History and Medieval History at the University of Vienna. He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History.
Biography
Walter ...
. In short, according to Walter Goffart
Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Tor ...
, Thraustila's son, Thrasaric, "regained control of Sirmium but possibly under Ostrogothic underlordship". Theodoric the Great dispatched one ''comes'' Pitzia to launch a campaign against the Gepids who either tried to capture Sirmium or wanted to get rid of Theodoric's suzerainty in 504. Comes Pitzia expelled the Gepid troops from Sirmium without much resistance. For some time the Gepids relinquished from the city and built good relationship with the Ostrogoths under King Elemund. This safety attracted part of the Heruls
The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Ancient Rome, Roman authors as one of several "Scythians, Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in t ...
to take refuge in Gepidia from the neighborhood of the aggressive Langobards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
. Wacho
Wacho (also Waccho; probably from ''Waldchis'') was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date (perhaps c. 510) until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating (or having assass ...
married Elemund's daughter in return.
In an attempt to take advantage of the death of Theodoric the Great in 526, the Gepids invaded the region of Sirmium in 528 or 530, but Vitiges
Vitiges or Vitigis or Witiges (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Kingdom, Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540.
He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisarius had qui ...
defeated them.
The Gepids reached the zenith of their power after 537, settling in the rich area around Singidunum
Singidunum ( sr, Сингидунум/''Singidunum'') was an ancient city which later evolved into modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The name is of Celtic origin, going back to the time when Celtic tribe Scordisci settled the area in the 3r ...
(today's Belgrade). For a short time, the city of Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrian ...
(present-day Sremska Mitrovica) was the center of the Gepid State and the king Cunimund
Cunimund (died 567) was the last king of the Gepids, falling in the Lombard–Gepid War (567) against the Lombards and Pannonian Avars.
War with the Lombards Background
The Gepids had held the important city of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica, Se ...
minted golden coins in it. Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
, angered by their expansion, made an alliance with the Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
, who, under King Alboin, dealt a disastrous defeat on the Gepids in 552. After the Battle of Asfeld
The Battle of Asfeld was fought in 552 between the Lombards and the Gepids. The Lombards, led by King Audoin (with the help of his brother-in-law AmalafridWolfram, Herwig. ''The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples''. University of California Pres ...
, Alboin had a drinking cup made from the skull of Cunimund.
In 539, most of the Byzantine army was in Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, so the Gepids and Heruls plundered Moesia, killing ''masiter militum'' Calluc, while the Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
king Theudebert I
Theudebert I (french: Thibert/Théodebert) ( 500 – 547 or 548) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald.
Sources
Most of what we know about Theudebert comes f ...
raided Northern Italy. According to Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
, the clashes were the bloodiest since Attila, and the Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
were obliged to pay heavy taxes and recognize new Gepid occupation zones. Thurisind
Thurisind (Latin: ''Turisindus'', died ) was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He was the penultimate Gepid king, and succeeded King Elemund by staging a coup d'état and forcing the king's son into exile. Thu ...
, new king of Gepidia attempted to expel the Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
from Pannonia, and both peoples asked for help from the Byzantines. Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
sent his army against the Gepids, however it was routed on the way by the Herulians and the sides signed a two-year truce. Revenging what he felt as a betrayal, Thurisind made an alliance with the Kutrigurs
Kutrigurs were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzantine Empire an ...
who devastated Moesia before end of the armistice. The Langobard and Roman army joined together and defeated the Gepids in 551. In the battle, Audoin's son, Alboin
Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting effe ...
killed Thurisind's son, Turismod Turismod (Latin: ''Turismodus''Martindale 1992, ''s.v. Alboin'', pp. 38 – 40) was a son of the king of the Gepids Thurisind. He was killed in 551 or 552 on the battlefield by Alboin, son of the king of the Lombards Audoin.
Turismod was the ol ...
.
List of Gepid kings
*Fastida
FastidaName of Germanic origin, containing the element ''fast''- meaning "fixed, firm, secure", from Proto-Germanic *''fastuz''. was a king of the Gepidae of the 3rd century. His battle against the Visigoths resulted in defeat, and was chronicled ...
, fl. c. 250
*Ardaric
Ardaric ( la, Ardaricus; c. 450 AD) was the king of the Gepids, a Germanic tribe closely related to the Goths. He was "famed for his loyalty and wisdom," one of the most trusted adherents of Attila the Hun, who "prized him above all the other chi ...
, fl. c. 454
*, fl. early 480s
*, fl. 488
*, fl. 505
* Mundus, d. 536
* Elemund, ?–548
*Thurisind
Thurisind (Latin: ''Turisindus'', died ) was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He was the penultimate Gepid king, and succeeded King Elemund by staging a coup d'état and forcing the king's son into exile. Thu ...
, 548–c.560
*Cunimund
Cunimund (died 567) was the last king of the Gepids, falling in the Lombard–Gepid War (567) against the Lombards and Pannonian Avars.
War with the Lombards Background
The Gepids had held the important city of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica, Se ...
, c.560–567
Fall and last records
The Gepids were finally overrun by the Avars in the 567 Lombard-Gepid war. Many Gepids followed Alboin to Italy in 568 according to Paulus Diaconus
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
, but many remained in the area of their old kingdom.
In 630, Theophylact Simocatta
Theophylact Simocatta (Byzantine Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Σιμοκάτ(τ)ης ''Theophýlaktos Simokát(t)ēs''; la, Theophylactus Simocatta) was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian o ...
reported that the Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Army entered the territory of the Avars and attacked a Gepid feast, capturing 30,000 Gepids (they met no Avars).
Recent excavation by the Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
River at Szolnok
Szolnok (; also known by other #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A City with county rights, city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, i ...
brought up a Gepid nobleman from an Avar period grave who was also wearing Turkic-Avar pieces next to the traditional Germanic clothes in which he was buried.
In the eighth century, Paul the Deacon lists Gepid, Bulgarian, Sarmatian, Pannonian, Suabian and Norican villages in Italy but we do not know if Paul means in his own day or is simply lifting the phrase from an older source.
Archeological sites
Numerous archaeological sites have been attributed to the Gepids. The first scientific excavations of such an attributed Gepid site were done by István Kovács at Band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
in 1906 and 1907.
In Vlaha, Cluj County
Cluj County (; german: Kreis Klausenburg, hu, Kolozs megye) is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) is Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg).
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Kolozs megye ...
, Romania, a necropolis was discovered in August 2004 with over two hundred tombs dated to the sixth century AD. Eighty-five percent of the discovered tombs were robbed in the same period. The remaining artifacts are ceramics, bronze articles and an armory. Also in Romania, at Miercurea Sibiului, there is another necropolis with rich artifacts. Other necropolises in Romania are:
* Morești, Mureș County
Mureș County (, ro, Județul Mures, hu, Maros megye) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative ...
* Noșlac
Noșlac (german: Grosshaus; hu, Marosnagylak) is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Căptălan (''Maroskáptalan''), Copand (''Maroskoppánd''), Găbud (''Gábod''), Noșlac, Stâna de Mureș ...
, Alba County
* Brateiu, Sibiu County
Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt).
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben m ...
* Șeica Mică, Sibiu County
* Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
Freidorf site
* Apahida necropolis
The Apahida necropolis is an archeological site in Apahida, Romania. Two graves have been discovered here, and a third one may have existed.
One of the graves was discovered in 1889, and its artifacts are in Budapest.
The second was unearthed in ...
* Turda
Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europ ...
: the richest Germanic tomb found in Romania is here. The "Franziska
Franziska may refer to:
People
* Franziska (given name)
* Patrick Franziska
Patrick Franziska (born 11 June 1992) is a German table tennis player. He is currently sponsored by Butterfly and plays with FC Saarbrücken-TT in the German Bundes ...
" tomb was found in a Roman site and dated to the fifth century AD.
Gepid treasures were also found at Someșeni and Șimleu Silvaniei
Șimleu Silvaniei (; hu, Szilágysomlyó, german: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania with a population of 14,436 people (2011 census). It is located near the ancient Dacian fortress Dacidava.
Three villages are adminis ...
.
See also
* Apahida necropolis
The Apahida necropolis is an archeological site in Apahida, Romania. Two graves have been discovered here, and a third one may have existed.
One of the graves was discovered in 1889, and its artifacts are in Budapest.
The second was unearthed in ...
* Romania in the Early Middle Ages
* Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
* Iapydes
The Iapydes (or Iapodes, Japodes; el, Ἰάποδες) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between the ...
References
Sources
Primary sources
*''Genethliacus of Maximian Augustus by an Anonymous Orator (291)'' (Translation and Notes by Rodgers) (1994). In: ''In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini'' (Introduction, Translation, and Historical Commentary with the Latin Text of R. A. B. Mynors by C. E. V. Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers) (1994); University of California Press; .
*''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (in English Version with an Introduction and a Commentary by Charles Christopher Mierow, Ph.D., Instructor in Classics in Princeton University) (2006). Evolution Publishing. .
Secondary sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Map of Gepidia
Kingdom of the Gepids - location map
e-text
in: Lászlo Makkai and András Mócsy, editors, 2001. ''History of Transylvania'', II: István Bóna, "From Dacia to Erdöelve: Transylvania in the period of the Great Migrations (271-896)"
{{Early Germanic Kingdoms
States and territories established in the 450s
States and territories disestablished in the 560s
Early Germanic peoples
Romania in the Early Middle Ages
Medieval Transylvania
Medieval Serbia
Medieval history of Vojvodina
Hungary in the Early Middle Ages
Barbarian kingdoms