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 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 ...

against the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

and then, after Attila the Hun's death, fought against the Huns to consolidate his independent control over a large group of Goths.Heather, Peter. The fall of the Roman Empire. A new history. Paperback 2006, Pan Books, . Hardback London, Macmillan, 2005. . pp 356–357. Valamir was the son of Vandalarius and cousin to king Thorismund. An important and trusted

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

of Attila the Hun, Valamir participated in Attila's raids of the provinces of the Danube (447), and commanded an Ostrogothic contingent of Attila's force at the Battle of Chalons. After Attila's death (453), Valamir, by force and diplomacy, became the leader of the large grouping of Goths who were settled by the Emperor Marcian in Pannonia. In the subsequent fight for independence from the Huns from 456 to 457, Valamir defeated the sons of Attila. In 459 Valamir's Ostrogoths did not receive their accustomed annual tribute from the Romans and felt that Theoderic Strabo was getting more honour than they were. Valamir and his brothers therefore attacked Illyricum from 459 to 462, when the emperor

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

agreed to pay the Goths 300 pounds of gold yearly. During a Scirian raid, just before the Battle of Bolia, Valamir was thrown from his horse and killed.

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'') an ...

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 th ...

may have confused his name (Βαλαμέρ in the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as ...

), giving " Balamber" a fictitious existence as a king of the Huns about 375.

References

{{Authority control Ostrogothic kings Amali dynasty Gothic warriors Huns Ancient Hungary 420 births 465 deaths 5th-century monarchs in Europe 5th-century Ostrogothic people