The Siege and capture of Milan was one of the episodes of the Hun wars fought in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was carried out by

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler 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 traditio ...

and his

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 ...

in 452, it resulted in the victory of the barbarians and the destruction of Milan. Milan, then called ''

Mediolanum Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and d ...

'', had been the capital of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

until 402 AD.

Background

Attila invaded Italy in 452 to renew his marriage claim to

Honoria Justa Grata Honoria, commonly referred to during her lifetime as Honoria, (born ''c.'' 418 – died ''c.'' 455) was the older sister of the Western Roman The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any t ...

. Attila launched an invasion of Italy, passing through Pannonia into Venetia, where he laid siege to

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

, a fortified city of great strategic importance: its possession made it possible to control a large part of northern Italy. Attila besieged it for three months but in vain. Legend has it that just as he was about to retire, a white

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

took off from a tower on the walls and left the city with its baby on its back. The superstitious Attila at that sight ordered his army to stay: shortly after the part of the walls where the tower left by the stork was located collapsed. Attila was thus able to take possession of the city, which he razed to the ground without leaving any trace of its existence. He then proceeded towards

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, which he sacked completely. Before his arrival, many of the city's inhabitants sought refuge in the lagoon, where they would later found

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. After the capture of Aquileia, Attila's advance to Milan took place without difficulty as no city attempted resistance but all opened their doors to the invader out of fear.

Siege

No chronicles have come down to us that have described the events in detail, but from indirect testimonies, such as the subsequent letter from Massimo II, bishop of Turin, to the Milanese, it is clear that the battle was bloody and the city was almost completely destroyed. The singular way in which Attila asserted his superiority over Rome has remained famous: in the imperial palace in Milan there was a painting in which the Caesars were depicted seated on thrones and the Scythian princes at their feet; Attila, struck by the painting, had it modified: the Caesars were depicted in the act of emptying suppliant bags of gold in front of Attila's throne.

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

, the

Magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

of the

had been unable to meet Atilla in battle. Instead he harassed Attila's force, managing to slow the Hunnic advance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan, Siege of 450s conflicts 452

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Battles involving the Huns Battles in Lombardy 5th century in Italy Milan Attila the Hun Looting