Editing Gepids (section)

== History ==

===Legendary===

All information of the Gepids' origins came from "malicious and convoluted Gothic legends",<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule>{{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); "Forest people": the Goths in Transylvania; The Gepids before Hun Rule | chapter-url = http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/31.html |isbn=0-88033-479-7}}</ref> recorded in Jordanes' ''[[Getica]]'' after 550.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=200}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=21}}{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=245}} According to Jordanes's narration the northern island of "[[Scandza]]", which is associated with Sweden by modern scholars, was the original homeland of the ancestors of the Goths and Gepids.{{sfn|Christensen|2002|p=8}} They left Scandza together in three boats under the leadership of [[Berig]], the legendary Gothic king.{{sfn|Christensen|2002|p=8}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=26}} Jordanes specified that the Gepids' ancestors traveled in the last of the three ships, for which their fellows mocked them as ''gepanta'', or "slow and stolid."{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=26}}<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xvii:95), p. 78.</ref>{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=124-125}} The Goths and Gepids then settled along the southern shore of the [[Baltic Sea]] on an island at the mouth of the [[Vistula]] river, called "Gepedoius", or the Gepids' fruitful meadows, by Jordanes.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=245}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=23}} Modern historians debate whether the part of Jordanes's work which described the migration from Scandza was written at least partially on the basis of Gothic oral history or whether it was an "ahistorical fabrication."{{sfn|Christensen|2002|p=318}} Jordanes's passage in his ''[[Getica]]'' reads:

{{blockquote|Should you ask how the [Goths] and Gepidae are kinsmen, I can tell you in a few words. You surely remember that in the beginning I said the Goths went forth from the bosom of the island of Scandza with Berig, their king, sailing in only three ships toward the hither shore of Ocean, namely to [[Gothiscandza]]. One of these three ships proved to be slower than the others, as is usually the case, and thus is said to have given the tribe their name, for in their language ''gepanta'' means slow. Hence it came to pass that gradually and by corruption the name Gepidae was coined for them by way of reproach. For undoubtedly they too trace their origin from the stock of the Goths, but because, as I have said, ''gepanta'' means something slow and stolid, the word Gepidae arose as a gratuitous name of reproach.<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xvii:94-95), p. 78. See {{harvtxt|Christensen|2002|p=338}}</ref>}}

According to Jordanes, the Gepids decided to leave "Gepedoius" during the reign of a king named [[Fastida]].{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}} He claims the Gepids moved to the south long after the Goths had already moved, and defeated the [[Burgundians]] and other races, provoking the Goths in the process.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}} Fastida demanded land from [[Ostrogotha]], King of the Visigoths, because the Gepids' territory was "hemmed in by rugged mountains and dense forests".<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=58}}<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xvii:98), p. 79.</ref> Ostrogotha refused Fastida's demand and the Gepids joined battle with the Goths "at the town of Galtis, near which the river Auha flows".<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (xvii:99), p. 79.</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=58}} They fought until darkness fell, when Fastida and his Gepids withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their land.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=58}} Whether they still lived around the [[Vistula]] or had already conquered [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] is debated by historians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kiss |first=Attila |url=http://doktori.bibl.u-szeged.hu/id/eprint/2531/1/Disszertacio.pdf |title=A gepidák Kárpát-medencei története |publisher=Szegedi Középkorász Műhel |year=2014 |location=Szeged |page=34 |language=hu |trans-title=The history of the Gepids in the Carpathian Basin}}</ref>

=== Before the arrival of the Huns ===
[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|right|300px|The Roman empire under [[Hadrian]] (ruled 117–138), showing the location of the '''Gepidae''' (Gepids) East Germanic tribe, then inhabiting the region around the mouth of the Visula ([[Vistula]]) river, Poland.]]

The Gepids were the "most shadowy of all the major [[Germanic peoples]] of the migration period", according to historian Malcolm Todd.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=142}} Neither [[Tacitus]] nor [[Ptolemy]] mentioned them in their detailed lists of the "barbarians" in the first and second centuries AD. They first appear only in the late {{nobr|3rd century AD}}, and by this time they are already living in or near the area where they remained for the rest of their known history.

According to a common interpretation of the unreliable ''[[Augustan History]]'' of Emperor [[Claudius Gothicus]] (VI.2), Gepids were among the "[[Scythian]]" peoples conquered by the emperor when he earned his title "Gothicus": "''peuci trutungi austorgoti uirtingi sigy pedes celtae etiam eruli''". These words are traditionally edited by modern editors to include well-known peoples "''[[Peuci]], [[Greuthungi|Grutungi]], [[Ostrogoths|Austrogoti]], [[Tervingi]], [[Vesi|Visi]], Gipedes, [[Celts|Celtae]] etiam et [[Heruli|Eruli]]''".{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=201–212}}<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Historia Augusta: The Life of Claudius (6.2.) |publisher=Loeb Classical Library (on LacusCurtius) |date=11 February 2014 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius*.html#ref25 |access-date=27 May 2015}}</ref> The same source also says that Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius Probus|Probus]], who ruled between 276 and 282, settled Gepid, Vandals, and Greuthungi prisoners of war in the Roman Empire in the Balkans.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}}{{sfn|Southern|2001|p=129}}

In the 11th [[panegyric]] to emperor [[Maximian]] given in [[Trier]] in 291, which is also the first time the [[Tervingi]] and [[Taifali]] were mentioned, the passage described a battle outside the empire where the Gepids were on the side of the [[Vandals]], attacked by Taifali and a "part" of the Goths. The other part of the Goths had defeated the [[Burgundians]] who were supported by Tervingi and [[Alemanni]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Pohl|1998|p=131}}; {{citation|title=In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini |date=January 1994 |editor1-last=Nixon |editor2=Saylor Rodgers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WlC_UtU8M4C|pages=100–101|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520083264 }}; {{harvtxt|Christensen|2002|pp=207–209}}</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=57-59}}<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/> They were however "remote enough from the imperial frontier for them not to appear in the [[Laterculus Veronensis|Verona list]] or in the histories of [[Ammianus]] or [[Orosius]]".{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=200}}

Modern historians who write of the Gepids' early history sometimes apply a "mixed argumentation", combining Jordanes' narration with results of archaeological research.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|pp=245–246}} Historian István Bóna says that the battle mentioned in the panegyric was about 290 in the former province of [[Roman Dacia|Dacia]], equating it to the battle mentioned by Jordanes, involving Fastida.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/> Archaeologist Kurdt Horedt however also equates it to the battle involving Fastida and proposed that the battle took place east of the [[Carpathian Mountains]] after 248 and before the withdrawal of the Romans from the province of Dacia in the early 270s.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}} Walter Pohl only says that the battle must have happened between 248 and 291, and could have been inside or outside the curve of the Carpathians, though he feels it is obvious that it must be in the region of the formerly Roman province of [[Dacia]] in [[Transylvania]].{{sfn|Pohl|1998|p=132}}

The Gepids' history in the {{nobr|4th century}} is unknown, because no written source mentioned them during this period.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}}{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=200}} The silence of the Roman sources suggests that their homeland did not border on the Roman Empire.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=200}} On the basis of Jordanes' reference to the "rugged mountains" of the Gepids' land, historians locate it near the Carpathians, along the upper courses of either the [[Tisza]] or the [[Dniester]] rivers, in the late {{nobr|3rd century}}.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=246}} The exact date of the Gepids' settlement in the [[Carpathian Basin]] cannot exactly be determined.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}}{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=119}} Archaeologist István Bóna says they were present in the northeastern region already in the 260s.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/> According to Coriolan H. Opreanu, they seem to have arrived around 300.{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=119}} Archaeologists Eszter Istvánovits and Valéria Kulcsár write that no archaeological evidence substantiates the Gepids' presence before around 350.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}}

Graves from the {{nobr|4th century}} which yielded swords, lances and shields with iron boss were unearthed in cemeteries between the rivers Tisza and [[Körös River|Körös]] (in present-day north-eastern Hungary and north-western Romania).<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}} Many scholars (including Kurdt Horedt, István Bóna and Coriolan H. Opreanu) attribute those graves to Gepid warriors.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}}{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=119}} Graves of women from the same cemeteries produced artefacts—including bronze and silver clasps, bone combs, and fibulae—which are similar to objects found in the cemeteries of the nearby "[[Chernyakhov culture|Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov culture]]".<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=247}} István Bóna writes that the spread of these cemeteries shows that the Gepids subjugated the Germanic [[Victohali]], who had previously inhabited the same region, before expanding towards the [[Mureș River]] in the middle of the {{nobr|4th century}}.<ref name=Bona_The_Gepids_before_Hun_Rule/>

=== 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}}

=== Kingdom of the Gepids ===
[[File:Gepid kingdom 6th century.png|thumb|right|alt=Map of Gepidia|''Gepidia'' at its largest territorial extent]]
[[File:Selección de piezas de la segunda tumba principesca de Apahida.jpg|thumb|Selection of pieces from the second princely tomb of [[Apahida]]]]

After the Battle of Nedao, the Hunnic Empire disintegrated and the Gepids became the dominant power in the eastern regions of the Carpathian Basin.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=14}} According to Jordanes, the Gepids "by their own might won for themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as victors over the extent of all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire nothing more than peace and an annual gift"<ref>''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (l:264), p. 126.</ref> after their victory.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=201}} Emperor [[Marcian]] confirmed their status as the allies of the empire and granted them an annual subsidy of 100 pounds of gold.{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=14}} The late-5th-century treasures excavated at [[Apahida]] and [[Someșeni]] show that the Gepid rulers accumulated great wealth in the second half of the century.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=249}}

The Gepids joined a coalition formed by the Suebi, [[Sciri]], Sarmatians and other peoples formed against the Ostrogoths who had settled in Pannonia.{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=15}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=264-265}} However, the Ostrogoths routed the united forces of their enemies in the [[Battle of Bolia]] in 469.{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=15}} After the Ostrogoths left Pannonia in 473, the Gepids captured [[Sirmium]] (now [[Sremska Mitrovica]] in [[Serbia]]), a strategically important town on the road between Italy and Constantinople.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=201}}

In 489, {{ill|Thraustila (king)|lt=Thraustila|fr|Thraustila (roi)|it|Traustila (monarca)}}, King of the Gepids, tried to hinder the Ostrogoths from crossing the river [[Vuka (river)|Vuka]] during [[Theodoric the Great]]'s campaign against Italy, but the Ostrogoths [[Battle of Sirmium (489)|routed]] Thraustila's army.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=201}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=280}} The Gepids also lost Sirmium to the Ostrogoths, according to [[Walter Pohl]].{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=251}} In short, according to [[Walter Goffart]], Thraustila's son, Thrasaric, "regained control of Sirmium but possibly under Ostrogothic underlordship".{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=202}} Theodoric the Great dispatched one ''comes'' Pitzia to launch a campaign against the Gepids who either tried to capture Sirmium or wanted to get rid of Theodoric's [[suzerainty]] in 504.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=251}}{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=202}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=321}} Comes Pitzia expelled the Gepid troops from Sirmium without much resistance.{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=15}}{{sfn|Todd|2003|p=221}} For some time the Gepids relinquished from the city and built good relationship with the Ostrogoths under [[Elemund|King Elemund]]. This safety attracted part of the [[Heruli|Heruls]] to take refuge in Gepidia from the neighborhood of the aggressive [[Lombards|Langobards]]. [[Wacho]] married Elemund's daughter in return.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nagy |first=Margit |title=A gepida királyság (454-567) |year=1984 |trans-title=The Gepid kingdom (454-567) |quote=A gepidák egy időre lemondtak Sirmiumról, és Elemund királyuk idejében valószínűleg békés kapcsolatokat építettek ki az itáliai keleti gót királysággal. (...) A langobardok királya, Wacho, aki a Dunántúl északi területeinek elfoglalásával a gepidák szomszédságába került, Ostrigotót, Elemund gepida király leányát vette feleségül. A két nép kapcsolata kezdetben békésnek mutatkozott}}</ref>

In an attempt to take advantage of the death of Theodoric the Great in 526, the Gepids invaded the region of Sirmium in 528 or 530, but [[Vitiges]] defeated them.{{sfn|Goffart|2009|p=202}}{{sfn|Bóna|1974|p=15}}

The Gepids reached the zenith of their power after 537, settling in the rich area around [[Singidunum]] (today's [[Belgrade]]). For a short time, the city of [[Sirmium]] (present-day [[Sremska Mitrovica]]) was the center of the Gepid State and the king [[Cunimund]] minted golden coins in it.<ref name="dekanski.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dekanski.com/AD/Mitrovica/CivitasStDemetrii.htm|title = Civitas Sancti Demetrii}}</ref> [[Justinian I]], angered by their expansion, made an alliance with the [[Lombards]], who, under [[Alboin|King Alboin]], dealt a disastrous defeat on the Gepids in 552. After the [[Battle of Asfeld]], Alboin had a drinking cup made from the skull of Cunimund.<ref>Which occasioned his death later in Italy, at the hands of an assassin sent by [[Rosamund (Gepid)|Rosamund]], Cunimund's daughter; as told in [[Procopius]], in [[Paulus Diaconus]] and in [[Andreas Agnellus]]</ref>

In 539, most of the [[Byzantine army]] was in [[Sasanian Empire|Persia]], so the Gepids and Heruls plundered [[Moesia]], killing ''[[magister militum]]'' [[Calluc]], while the [[Franks|Frankish]] king [[Theudebert I]] raided [[Northern Italy]]. According to [[Jordanes]], the clashes were the bloodiest since [[Attila]], and the [[Population of the Byzantine Empire|Romans]] were obliged to pay heavy taxes and recognize new Gepid occupation zones.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nagy |first=Margit |title=A gepida királyság (454-567) |year=1984 |language=hu |trans-title=The Gepid kingdom (454-567) |quote=539-től a császári seregek nagy részét a gót háború mellett a perzsák elleni háborúba vitték. A seregek távollétét kihasználva a gepidák és a csatlakozott herulok nyomban a Duna vidéki császári területek felé terjeszkedtek. Ugyanekkor a gepidák zövetségese, Theudebert frank király Észak-Itáliában kezdeményezett támadást. A gepida fronton - Jordanes szerint - Attila óta nem látott véres ütközetre került sor, melyben maga a bizánci hadmester, Kalluk is elesett. A császár a nehéz helyzetben a gepidák évi adójának fizetésére és a megszállt területek elismerésére kényszerült.}}</ref> [[Thurisind]], new king of Gepidia attempted to expel the [[Lombards]] from [[Pannonia]], and both peoples asked for help from the Byzantines. [[Justinian I]] sent his army against the Gepids, however it was routed on the way by the [[Heruli]]ans and the sides signed a two-year truce. Revenging what he felt as a betrayal, Thurisind made an alliance with the [[Kutrigurs]] who devastated [[Moesia]] before end of the armistice. The Langobard and Roman army joined together and defeated the Gepids in 551. In the battle, [[Audoin|Audoin's]] son, [[Alboin]] killed [[Thurisind|Thurisind's]] son, [[Turismod]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last1=Köpeczi |first1=Béla |url=https://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/index.html |title=History of Transylvania |last2=Bóna |first2=István |last3=Makkai |first3=László |last4=Mócsy |first4=András |last5=Szász |first5=Zoltán |volume=II |translator-last=Kovrig |translator-first=Bennett |chapter=The Kingdom of the Gepids |chapter-url=https://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/33.html}}</ref>

====List of Gepid kings====
*[[Fastida]], fl. c. 250
*[[Ardaric]], fl. c. 454
*{{ill|Giesmus|fr}}, fl. early 480s
*{{ill|Thraustila (king)|lt=Thraustila|fr|Thraustila (roi)|it|Traustila (monarca)}}, fl. 488
*{{ill|Thrasaric|fr}}, fl. 505
*[[Mundus (general)|Mundus]], d. 536<ref>Son of Giesmus. He does not appear to have actually ruled, but he is called a king by [[George Kedrenos]]. See [[Patrick Amory]], ''People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554'' (Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 397–99.</ref>
*[[Elemund]], ?–548
*[[Thurisind]], 548–c.560
*[[Cunimund]], c.560–567

=== Fall and last records ===

The Gepids were finally overrun by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] in the 567 [[Lombard–Gepid War (567)|Lombard-Gepid war]]. Many Gepids followed Alboin to Italy in 568 according to [[Paul the Deacon|Paulus Diaconus]], but many remained in the area of their old kingdom.
 
In 630, [[Theophylact Simocatta]] reported that the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Army entered the territory of the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] and attacked a Gepid feast, capturing 30,000 Gepids (they met no Avars).{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=209}}

Recent excavation by the [[Tisza]] River at [[Szolnok]] brought up a Gepid nobleman from an Avar period grave who was also wearing Turkic-Avar pieces next to the traditional Germanic clothes in which he was buried.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

In the eighth century, [[Paul the Deacon]] lists Gepid, Bulgarian, Sarmatian, Pannonian, Suabian and Norican villages in Italy but we do not know if Paul means in his own day or is simply lifting the phrase from an older source.<ref>Leif Inge Ree Petersen, ''Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 AD): Byzantium, the West and Islam'', BRILL, 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BRGaAAAAQBAJ&dq=Paul+the+Deacon+lists+Gepid%2C+Bulgarian%2C+Sarmatian%2C+Pannonian%2C+Suabian+and+Norican+villages+in+Italy&pg=PA179 p. 179].</ref>