Attila the Hun
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Attila the Hun | ||
---|---|---|
King of Huns | ||
Reign | 434 – 453 | |
Born | c.406 | |
Died | 453 | |
Predecessor | Bleda & Rugila | |
Successor | Ellac | |
Father | Mundzuk |
Attila (c. 406 - 453) was the monarch of the Hun people from 434 until his death. His empire stretched from the Netherlands to the Ural river and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea (see map below.) During his rule he was one of the most fearsome of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires' enemies: he invaded the Balkans twice, besieging Constantinople on the second invasion; 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.
Though his empire died with him, he has become a legendary figure in the history of Europe. In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty and rapacity. In contrast, some histories lionize him as a great and noble king, and he plays major roles in three Norse sagas.
Background
The origin of the European Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries, however it can be said with general agreement that they were a confederation of Eurasian and European tribes. They appeared or began to form in Europe in the fourth century. They achieved military superiority over their rivals (most of them highly cultured and civilized) by their readiness for combat, unusual mobility, and weapons like the Hun bow.
Nothing is known about Attila's youth except for the day he was born. He first appears in the historical record when he becomes joint king of the Huns with his brother Bleda. His belief system was unknown, but he demonstrated little, if any, concern for local religions or Christianity.
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.[4]
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,[5] 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, though erroneously, 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 Rhine confessed the last victory which was achieved in the name of the Western Roman Empire."[6] 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 would flee 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 Po, where he met an embassy including the prefect Trigetius, the consul Aviennus, and Pope Leo I. After the meeting, he turned his army back, having achieved neither Honoria's hand nor the territories he desired.
Several explanations for his actions have been offered. The plague and famine which coincided with his invasion may have caused his army to weaken, or the troops that the new Byzantine emperor Marcian sent across the Danube may have given him reason to retreat, or perhaps both. Priscus reports that superstitious fear of the fate of Alaric—who died shortly after sacking Rome in 410—gave him pause. Prosper of Aquitaine's 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.
Whatever his reasons, Attila left Italy and returned to his palace across the Danube. From there, 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 on the night after a feast celebrating his latest marriage to the beautiful and young Ildico (if uncorrupted, the name suggests a Gothic origin)[7] 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."[8] The Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda also claim that King Atli (Attila) died at the hands of his wife, Gudrun.[9] 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.[10] 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.
Attila's warriors, upon discovering his death, mourned him by cutting off their hair and gashing themselves with their swords so that, says Jordanes, "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 Ellak (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, whose pride was stirred by being treated along with his people like chattel. Thus Attila's empire did not outlast him.
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 (see Attila the Hun 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, a controversial historian, 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 gray; and he had a flat nose and tanned skin".
Attila is known in Western history and tradition as the grim "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 civilization 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. Historical linguists believe, as the evidence suggests, the name is Gothic (or Gepid), from the word atta ("father") and the diminutive suffix -ila.[11]. Attila was not a rare name in Central Europe, and the historical record has numerous persons with the name before Attila himself. Not surprisingly, Bleda's name also seems to have come from Gothic.
Attila's name has many variants: Atli and Atle in Norse, Ætla, Attle and Atlee in English, Etele and Attila in Hungarian and Etzel in modern German.
Notes and References
- ↑ Priscus of Panium: fragments from the Embassy to Attila
- ↑ The Origin and Deeds of the Goths by Jordanes (e-text)
- ↑ This younger son may have been Merovech, founder of the Merovingian line, though the sources—Gregory of Tours and a later roster from the Battle of Chalons—are not conclusive.
- ↑ J.B. Bury, The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians, lecture IX (e-text)
- ↑ Later accounts of the battle place the Huns either already within the city or in the midst of storming it when the Roman-Visigoth army arrived; Jordanes mentions no such thing. See Bury, ibid.
- ↑ Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The Modern Library, New York, volume II, p.1089.
- ↑ Thompson, The Huns p. 164
- ↑ Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon (e-text), quoted in Hector Munro Chadwick: The Heroic Age (London, Cambridge University Press, 1926), p. 39 n. 1.
- ↑ Volsunga Saga, Chapter 39; Poetic Edda, Atlamol En Grönlenzku, The Greenland Ballad of Atli
- ↑ Babcock, Michael A. The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun, Berkley Books, 2005 ISBN 0-425-20272-0
- ↑ Maenchen-Helfen, Otto (1973). "Chapter 9.4", The World of the Huns. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520015968.
Classical texts
- Priscus: Byzantine History, available in the original Greek in Ludwig Dindorf : Historici Graeci Minores (Leipzig, Teubner, 1870) and available online as a translation by J.B. Bury: Priscus at the court of Attila
- Jordanes: The Origin and Deeds of the Goths
Recommended modern works
- Babcock, Michael A. (2005) The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun (Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 0-425-20272-0)
- Blockley, R.C. (1983) The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire, vol. II (ISBN 0-905205-15-4). This is a collection of fragments from Priscus, Olympiodorus, and others, with original text and translation.
- Gordon, C. D. (1960) The Age of Attila: Fifth-century Byzantium and the Barbarians (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 0472061119). This is a translated collection, with commentary and annotation, of ancient writings on the subject, including Priscus.
- Heather, Peter (2005) The Fall of the Roman Empire—A New History of Rome and the Barbarians (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195159543)
- Howarth, Patrick (1994) Attila, King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth (ISBN 0786709308).
- Maenchen-Helfen, J. Otto (1973) The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture (Berkeley, University of California Press, ISBN 0520015967)
- Man, John (2005) Attila: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome (Bantam Press, ISBN 0-593-05291-9)
- Thompson, E. A. (1948) A History of Attila and the Huns (London, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0837176409). This is the authoritative English work on the subject. It was reprinted in 1999 as The Huns in the Peoples of Europe series (ISBN 0-631-21443-7). Thompson did not enter controversies over Hunnic origins and considers his victories to have been achieved only when there was no concerted opposition.
External links
- A reconstructed portrait of Attila the Hun, based on historical sources, in a contemporary style.
- Edward Gibbon describes Attila in his classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- Excerpt from 'Leadership Secrets of Attila The Hun' By Wess Roberts, Ph. D describing Attila's experience in Rome.
Preceded by: Bleda |
Hunnic rulers 445 – 453 |
Succeeded by: Ellac |
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