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Attila (406 – 453), also known as Attila the Hun or the Scourge of God or "King Attila the Hun", was Khan of the Huns from 434 until his death. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea .
During his rule he was one of the most fearsome of the Western and
Eastern Roman Empires' enemies: he invaded the Balkans twice, he
marched through Gaul (modern day France) as far as Orleans before being
defeated at the Battle of Chalons; and he drove the Western emperor
Valentinian III from his capital at Ravenna in 452. He reached
Constantinople and Rome but refrained from attacking either city.
In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty
and rapacity. In contrast, some histories and Chronicles lionize him as
a great and noble king, and he plays major roles in three Norse sagas.
Background
The origin of the Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries;
however it can be said with general agreement that they were a
confederation of Central Asian and European tribes, many of them horse
nomads. Many experts think they were Turkic people, descended from the
warlike Xiongnu (or Hsiung-nu = "common slaves") tribes that menaced
China as early as the 5th century BC. The first emperor of China, Qin
Shi Huangdi, built part of the Great Wall to keep the Xiongnu out.
Their united power appeared or began to form in Europe in 5th century.
They achieved military superiority over their neighbours by their
readiness for battle, unusual mobility, and weapons including the
composite bow.
Shared kingship
The death of Rugila in 434 left his nephews Attila and Bleda (the sons
of his brother Mundzuk) in control over all the united Hun tribes.
Attila was anorexic in his earlier life, though with the help of his
many heralds, he overcame the disease, and returned to normal. At the
time of their accession, the Huns were bargaining with Byzantine
emperor Theodosius II's envoys over the return of several renegade
tribes who had taken refuge within the Byzantine Empire. The following
year Attila and Bleda met with the imperial legation at Margus
(present-day Požarevac) and, all seated on horseback in the Hunnic
manner, negotiated a successful treaty: the Romans agreed not only to
return the fugitive tribes (who had been a welcome aid against the
Vandals), but also to double their previous tribute of 350 Roman pounds
(ca. 114.5 kg) of gold, open their markets to Hunnish traders, and pay
a ransom of eight solidi for each Roman taken prisoner by the Huns. The
Huns, satisfied with the treaty, decamped from the empire and returned
to their home, perhaps to consolidate and strengthen their empire.
Theodosius used this opportunity to strengthen the walls of
Constantinople, building the city's first sea wall, and to build up his
border defences along the Danube.
Huns remained out of Roman sight for the next few years as they tried
to invade the Persian Empire. A defeat in Armenia by the Sassanid
Persians caused them to abandon this attempt and return their
attentions to Europe. In 440 they reappeared on the borders of the
Roman Empire, attacking the merchants at the market on the north bank
of the Danube that had been established by the treaty. They crossed the
Danube and laid waste to Illyrian cities and forts on the river, among
them, according to Priscus, Viminacium, which was a city of the
Moesians in Illyria. Their advance began at Margus, for when the Romans
discussed handing over the offending bishop, he slipped away secretly
to the Huns and betrayed the city to them.
Theodosius had conquered the river's defences in response to the Vandal
Geiseric's capture of Carthage in 440 and the Sassanid Yazdegerd II's
invasion of Armenia in 441. This left Attila and Bleda a clear path
through Illyria into the Balkans, which they invaded in 441. The
Hunnish army, having sacked Margus and Viminacium, took Singidunum
(modern Belgrade) and Sirmium before halting. A lull followed in 442
and during this time Theodosius recalled his troops from North Africa
and ordered a large new issue of coins to finance operations against
the Huns. Having made these preparations, he thought it safe to refuse
the Hunnish kings' demands.
Attila responded by their campaign in 443. Striking along the Danube,
they overran the military centres of Ratiara and successfully besieged
Naissus (modern Niš) with battering rams and rolling towers—military
sophistication that was new to the Hun repertoire—then pushing along
the Nisava they took Serdica (Sofia), Philippolis (Plovdiv), and
Arcadiopolis. They encountered and destroyed the Roman force outside
Constantinople and were stopped by their lack of siege equipment.
Theodosius admitted defeat and sent the court official Anatolius to
peace terms, which were harsher than the previous treaty: the Emperor
agreed to hand over 6,000 Roman pounds (ca. 1,963 kg) of gold as
punishment for having disobeyed the terms of the treaty during the
invasion; the yearly tribute was tripled, rising to 2,100 Roman pounds
(ca. 687 kg) in gold; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner rose to 12
solidi.
Their demands met for a time, the Hun kings withdrew into the interior
of their empire. According to Jordanes (following Priscus), sometime
during the peace following the Huns' withdrawal from Byzantium
(probably around 445), Bleda died (killed by his brother, according to
the classical sources), and Attila took the throne for himself.
In 447 Attila again rode south into the empire through Moesia.The Roman
army under the Gothic magister militum Arnegisclus met him on the River
Vid and was defeated, though not without inflicting heavy losses. The
Huns were left unopposed and rampaged through the Balkans as far as
Thermopylae. Constantinople itself was saved by the intervention of the
prefect Flavius Constantinus who organized the reconstruction of the
walls that had been previously damaged by earthquakes, and, in some
places, to construct a new line of fortification in front of the old.
An account of this invasion survives:
The barbarian nation of the Huns, which was in Thrace, became so
great that more than a hundred cities were captured and Constantinople
almost came into danger and most men fled from it. … And there were so
many murders and blood-lettings that the dead could not be numbered.
Ay, for they took captive the churches and monasteries and slew the
monks and maidens in great numbers.
— Callinicus, in his Life of Saint Hypatius
Attila demanded, as a condition of peace, that the Romans should
continue paying tribute in gold and evacuate a strip of land stretching
three hundred miles east from Singidunum (modern Belgrade) and up to a
hundred miles south of the Danube. Negotiations continued for
approximately three years. The historian Priscus accompanied an
emissary named Maximin to Attila's encampment in 448, and the fragments
of his reports preserved by Jordanes offer the best glimpse of Attila
among his numerous wives, his Scythian fool, and his Moorish dwarf,
impassive and unadorned amid the splendor of the courtiers:
A luxurious meal, served on silver plate, had been made ready for
us and the barbarian guests, but Attila ate nothing but meat on a
wooden trencher. In everything else, too, he showed himself temperate;
his cup was of wood, while to the guests were given goblets of gold and
silver. His dress, too, was quite simple, affecting only to be clean.
The sword he carried at his Side, the latchets of his Scythian shoes,
the bridle of his horse were not adorned, like those of the other
Scythians, with gold or gems or anything costly.
"The floor of the room was covered with woollen mats for walking on," Priscus noted.
During these three years, according to a legend recounted by Jordanes, Attila discovered the "Sword of Mars":
The historian Priscus says it was discovered under the following
circumstances: "When a certain shepherd beheld one heifer of his flock
limping and could find no cause for this wound, he anxiously followed
the trail of blood and at length came to a sword it had unwittingly
trampled while nibbling the grass. He dug it up and took it straight to
Attila, who rejoiced at this gift and, being ambitious, thought he had
been appointed ruler of the whole world, and that through the sword of
Mars supremacy in all wars was assured to him.
— Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths ch. XXXV
Attila in the west
In 450 Attila had proclaimed his intent to attack the powerful Visigoth
kingdom of Toulouse, making an alliance with Emperor Valentinian III in
order to do so. He had previously been on good terms with the Western
Roman Empire and its de facto ruler Flavius Aëtius. Aetius had spent a
brief exile among the Huns in 433, and the troops Attila provided
against the Goths and Bagaudae had helped earn him the largely honorary
title of magister militum in the west. The gifts and diplomatic efforts
of Geiseric, who opposed and feared the Visigoths, may also have
influenced Attila's plans.
However Valentinian's sister Honoria, in order to escape her forced
betrothal to a Roman senator, had sent the Hunnish king a plea for
help—and her engagement ring—in the spring of 450. Though Honoria may
not have intended a proposal of marriage, Attila chose to interpret her
message as such. He accepted, asking for half of the western Empire as
dowry. When Valentinian discovered the plan, only the influence of his
mother Galla Placidia convinced him to exile, rather than kill,
Honoria. He also wrote to Attila strenuously denying the legitimacy of
the supposed marriage proposal. Attila, not convinced, sent an emissary
to Ravenna to proclaim that Honoria was innocent, that the proposal had
been legitimate, and that he would come to claim what was rightfully
his.
Meanwhile the king of the Salian Franks had died and the succession
struggle between his two sons drove a rift between Attila and Aetius;
Attila supported the elder son, while Aetius supported the
younger.Attila gathered his vassals—Gepids, Ostrogoths, Rugians,
Scirians, Heruls, Thuringians, Alans, Burgundians, among others—and
began his march west. In 451 he arrived in Belgica with an army
exaggerated by Jordanes to half a million strong. J.B. Bury believes
that Attila's intent, by the time he marched west, was to extend his
kingdom—already the strongest on the continent—across Gaul to the
Atlantic Ocean.
On April 7, he captured Metz, and Aetius moved to oppose him, gathering
troops from among the Franks, the Burgundians, and the Celts. A mission
by Avitus, and Attila's continued westward advance, convinced the
Visigoth king Theodoric I (Theodorid) to ally with the Romans. The
combined armies reached Orleans ahead of Attila,thus checking and
turning back the Hunnish advance. Aetius gave chase and caught the Huns
at a place usually assumed to be near Châlons-en-Champagne. The two
armies clashed in the Battle of Chalons, whose outcome is commonly
considered to be a victory for the Gothic-Roman alliance. Theodoric was
killed in the fighting and Aetius failed to press his advantage,
according to Gibbon because he feared the consequences of an
overwhelming Visogothic triumph as much as he did a defeat. From
Aetius' point of view, the best outcome was what occurred: Theodoric
died, Attila was in retreat and disarray, and the Romans had the
benefit of appearing victorious. Perhaps Sir Edward Creasy best
summarized Aetius's intentions at the Battle of Chalons:
It is probable that the crafty Aëtius was unwilling to be too
victorious. He dreaded the glory which his allies the Visigoths had
acquired, and feared that Rome might find a second Alaric in Prince
Thorismund, who had signalized himself in the battle, and had been
chosen on the field to succeed his father, Theodoric. He persuaded the
young king to return at once to his capital, and thus relieved himself
at the same time of the presence of a dangerous friend, as well as of a
formidable though beaten foe.
Gibbon states the majority view also quite eloquently: "(Attila's)
retreat across the River Rhine confessed the last victory which was
achieved in the name of the Western Roman Empire."The Gothic-Roman
alliance quickly dissolved.
Invasion of Italy and death
Attila returned in 452 to claim his marriage to Honoria anew, invading
and ravaging Italy along the way. The city of Venice was founded as a
result of these attacks when the residents fled to small islands in the
Venetian Lagoon. His army sacked numerous cities and razed Aquileia
completely, leaving no trace of it behind. Legend has it he built a
castle on top of a hill north of Aquileia to watch the city burn, thus
founding the town of Udine, where the castle can still be found.
Valentinian fled from Ravenna to Rome; Aetius remained in the field but
lacked the strength to offer battle. Gibbon however says Aetius never
showed his greatness more clearly than in managing to harass and slow
Attila's advance with only a shadow force. Attila finally halted at the
River Po. By this point disease may have broken out in Attila's camp,
thus helping to stop his invasion.
At the wish of Emperor Valentinian III, Pope Leo I, accompanied by the
Consul Avienus and the Prefect Trigetius, met Attila at Mincio in the
vicinity of Mantua, and obtained from him the promise that he would
withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the emperor.Prosper of
Aquitaine gives a short reliable description of the historic meeting.
The later anonymous a pious "fable which has been represented by the
pencil of Raphael and the chisel of Algardi" (as Gibbon called it) says
that the Pope, aided by Saint Peter and Saint Paul, convinced him to
turn away from the city, promising Attila that in case he leaves in
peace, one of his successor will receive a Holy Crown.Priscus reports
that superstitious fear of the fate of Alaric—who died shortly after
sacking Rome in 410—gave him pause.
After Attila left Italy and returned to his palace across the Danube,
he planned to strike at Constantinople again and reclaim the tribute
which Marcian had cut off. (Marcian was the successor of Theodosius and
had ceased paying tribute in late 450 while Attila was occupied in the
west; multiple invasions by the Huns and others had left the Balkans
with little to plunder.) However Attila died in the early months of
453. The conventional account, from Priscus, says that at a feast
celebrating his latest marriage to the beautiful and young Ildico (if
uncorrupted, the name suggests a Gothic origin)he suffered a severe
nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor. An alternative theory is
that he succumbed to internal bleeding after heavy drinking.
Another story of his death, first recorded 80 years after the fact by
the Roman chronicler Count Marcellinus, reports that "Attila, King of
the Huns and ravager of the provinces of Europe, was pierced by the
hand and blade of his wife."The Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda also
claim that King Atli (Attila) died at the hands of his wife,
Gudrun.Most scholars reject these accounts as no more than romantic
fables, preferring instead the version given by Attila's contemporary
Priscus. The "official" account by Priscus, however, has recently come
under renewed scrutiny by Michael A. Babcock.Based on detailed
philological analysis, Babcock concludes that the account of natural
death, given by Priscus, was an ecclesiastical "cover story" and that
Emperor Marcian (who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 450-457) was
the political force behind Attila's death.
Jordanes says, "the greatest of all warriors should be mourned with no
feminine lamentations and with no tears, but with the blood of men."
His horsemen galloped in circles around the silken tent where Attila
lay in state, singing in his dirge, according to Cassiodorus and
Jordanes, "Who can rate this as death, when none believes it calls for
vengeance?" then celebrated a strava (lamentation) over his burial
place with great feasting. Legend says that he was laid to rest in a
triple coffin made of gold, silver, and iron, along with some of the
spoils of his conquests. His men diverted a section of the Tisza,
buried the coffin under the riverbed, and then were killed to keep the
exact location a secret.
His sons Ellac (his appointed successor), Dengizich, and Ernakh fought
over the division of his legacy, specifically which vassal kings would
belong to which brother. As a consequence they were divided, defeated
and scattered the following year in the Battle of Nedao by the
Ostrogoths and the Gepids under Ardaric. According to Jordanes,
Ardaric, who was once Attila's most prized chieftain, turned against
the feuding brothers when he felt that they were treating the nations
they ruled as slaves.
Attila's many children and relatives are known by name and some even by
deeds, but soon valid genealogical sources all but dry up and there
seems to be no verifiable way to trace Attila's descendants. This
hasn't stopped many genealogists from attempting to reconstruct a valid
line of descent for various medieval rulers. One of the most credible
claims has been that of the tsars of Bulgaria (see Nominalia of the
Bulgarian khans). A popular, but ultimately unconfirmed attempt tries
to relate Attila to Charlemagne.
Appearance, character, and name
There is no surviving first-person account of Attila's appearance. We
do have a possible second hand source, however, provided by Jordanes,
who claimed Priscus described Attila as:
short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes
were small, his beard thin and sprinkled with grey; and he had a flat
nose and tanned skin, showing evidence of his origin.
Attila is known in Western history and tradition as the grim FLAGELLUM
DEI (Latin:"Scourge of God"), and his name has become a byword for
cruelty and barbarism. Some of this may have arisen from confusion
between him and later steppe warlords such as Genghis Khan and
Tamerlane. All are considered to be cruel, clever, and blood-thirsty
lovers of battle and pillage. The reality of his character is probably
more complex. The Huns of Attila's era had been mingling with Roman
civilisation for some time, largely through the Germanic foederati of
the border, so that by the time of Theodosius's embassy in 448 Priscus
could identify two primary languages among the Huns, Gothic and Hunnic,
with some people knowing Latin and Greek. Priscus also recounts his
meeting with an eastern Roman captive who had so fully assimilated into
the Huns' way of life that he had no desire to return to his former
country, and the Byzantine historian's description of Attila's humility
and simplicity is unambiguous in its admiration.
The origin of Attila's name is not known with confidence, because very
little is known about Hunnic names. In the Hunnic language
Danube-Bulgarian, the etymology "oceanic (universal) [ruler]" has been
proposed.Others believe that the name may be Gothic (or Gepid), from
the word atta ("father") and the diminutive suffix -ila.Attila was not
a rare name in Central Europe prior to Attila making his mark on
history; the historical record shows numerous persons with the name
preceding him. 'Attila' has many variants: Atli and Atle in Norse,
Ætla, Attle and Atlee in English, Attila/Atilla/Etele in Hungarian (all
the three name variants are used in Hungary; Attila is the most popular
variant), Etzel in modern German or Attila, Atila or Atilla in modern
Turkish. Also the word possibly originates from Turkic Atyl/Atal/Atil
(ancient name of Volga river) with adjective suffix -ly.
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