Editing Gepids (section)

=== Within the Hunnic Empire ===

A large group of diverse peoples from the region of the Middle Danube crossed the river [[Rhine]] and invaded the Roman Empire in 405 or 406.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=173-174, 660}} Although most contemporaneous sources only listed the Vandals, [[Alans]] and [[Suebi|Sueves]] among the invaders, according to [[St. Jerome]], who lived in [[Bethlehem]] around that time, Gepids also participated in the invasion.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=172}}{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=81}} According to a scholarly theory, the westward migration of the [[Huns]] forced the tribes to flee from the Carpathian Basin and seek refuge in the Roman Empire.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=178}} Whatever the exact sequence of events, the Middle Danube region was subsequently dominated by peoples from the east, associated with Goths and Huns.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|loc=ch.5}}

Jordanes reported that [[Thorismund (Ostrogoth)|Thorismund]], King of the [[Ostrogoths]], who was subjected to the Huns, "won a great victory over" the Gepids, but fell in the battle.<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xlviii:250), p. 122.</ref> Jordanes' report suggests that the Gepids were forced to accept the overlordship of the Ostrogoths, within the emerging Hunnic Empire.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=142}}<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=248}} A treasure of gold jewels, which was found at [[Șimleu Silvaniei]], was hidden in the first decades of the {{nobr|5th century}}, most probably in connection with the struggles ending with the Gepids' subjection to the Huns, according to István Bóna.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>

The Gepid warriors fought on the side of the Huns during the next decades.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}} According to Jordanes, [[Attila the Hun]] prized [[Ardaric]], King of the Gepids, and [[Valamir]], King of the Ostrogoths, "above all the other chieftains", who were subjected to the Huns, in the 440s, according to Jordanes.<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xxxliii:199-200), p. 122.</ref>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=248}}{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=14}} 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.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=201}}

The Gepids' participation in the Huns' campaigns against the Roman Empire brought them much booty, contributing to the development of a rich Gepid aristocracy.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=248}}<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_during_and_after_the_Hun_Period>{{cite book |last=Bóna |first=István |editor1-last=Köpeczi |editor1-first=Béla |editor2-last=Barta |editor2-first=Gábor |editor3-last=Makkai |editor3-first=László |editor4-last=Mócsy |editor4-first=András |editor5-last=Szász |editor5-first=Zoltán | title=History of Transylvania |publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada (Distributed by Columbia University Press) |year=2001 |chapter=From Dacia to Transylvania: The Period of the Great Migrations (271&ndash;895); The Kingdom of the Gepids; The Gepids during and after the Hun Period |chapter-url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/34.html |isbn=0-88033-479-7}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_during_and_after_the_Hun_Period/> 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.<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xxxliii:199), p. 122.</ref>{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=14}} On the eve of the main encounter between allied hordes, the Gepids and [[Franks]] met each other, the latter fighting for the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] and the former for the Huns, and seem to have fought one another to a standstill with 15,000 dead.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Attila the Hun died unexpectedly in 453.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=207}} Conflicts among his sons developed into a civil war, enabling the subject peoples to rise up in rebellion.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=207}} According to Jordanes, the Gepid king, Ardaric, who "became enraged because so many nations were being treated like slaves of the basest condition",<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (l:260), p. 125.</ref> was the first to take up arms against the Huns.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=207}}{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=249}} The decisive [[Battle of Nedao|battle was fought at the (unidentified) Nedao River]] in [[Pannonia]] in 454 or 455.{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=258}} In the battle, the united army of Gepids, [[Rugii]], [[Sarmatians]] and [[Suebi]] routed the Huns and their allies, including the Ostrogoths.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=258-259}} 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".{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=201}}