Editing Gepids

{{Short description|Germanic tribe}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Gepids
| common_name            = Kingdom of the Gepids
| government_type        = Monarchy
| common_languages       = [[East Germanic]] (possibly [[Gothic language|Gothic]]) among elite.
| event_start            = [[Ardaric]] established an independent Gepid kingdom following the [[Huns|Hunnic]] defeat at the [[Battle of Nedao]]
| year_start             = 454
| event_end              = The kingdom is destroyed by  the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombards]] and [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]]
| year_end               = 567
| p1                     = Huns{{!}}Hunnic Empire
| flag_p1                = 
| p2                     = Ostrogothic Kingdom
| border_p1              = no
| s1                     = Pannonian Avars
| flag_s1                = 
| s2                     = Kingdom of the Lombards
| flag_s2                = 
| image_flag             = 
| image_coat             = 
| image_map              = Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png
| image_map_caption      = Gepid kingdom in Europe following the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD
| religion               = [[Germanic paganism]], [[Arianism]] (among elite)
| leader1                = [[Ardaric]]
| year_leader1           = {{circa|454}}
| leader2                = [[Cunimund]]
| year_leader2           = {{circa|560-567}}
| title_leader           = [[King]]
| today                  = [[Romania]], [[Hungary]], [[Serbia]]
|}}
[[File:Coin of the Gepids 454-552 Sirmium mint. In the name of Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I 491-517 CE.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of the Gepids {{circa|491–518}}. [[Sirmium]] mint. In the name of Byzantine Emperor [[Anastasius I Dicorus|Anastasius I]]]]
[[File:Coin of the Gepids. Sirmium mint. Struck in the name of Justin I, 517-527 CE.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of the Gepids. [[Sirmium]] mint. Struck in the name of [[Justin I]], {{circa|518–526}} CE. ''Obv'': D N IVSTINVS P LV (first N retrograde), pearl-diademed and cuirassed bust right. ''Rev'': VINVICTL ROMLNI, large "[[Theoderic the Great|Theodericus]]" monogram across fields, cross above<ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=86032 CNG Coins]</ref>]]
The '''Gepids''' ({{langx|la|Gepidae, Gipedae}}; {{langx|grc|Γήπαιδες|Gḗpaides}}) were an [[East Germanic tribes|East Germanic tribe]] who lived in the area of modern [[Romania]], [[Hungary]], and [[Serbia]], roughly between the [[Tisza]], [[Sava]], and [[Carpathian Mountains]]. They were said to share the religion and language of the [[Goths]] and [[Vandals]].

They are first mentioned by Roman sources in the third century. In the fourth century, they were among the peoples incorporated into the [[Huns|Hunnic Empire]], within which they formed an important part. After the death of [[Attila]], the Gepids under their leader [[Ardaric]], led an alliance of other peoples who had been in the empire, and defeated the sons of Attila and their remaining allies at the [[Battle of Nedao]] in 454. The Gepids and their allies subsequently founded kingdoms on the [[Middle Danube]], bordering on the [[Roman Empire]]. The Gepid Kingdom was one of the most important and long-lasting of these, centered on [[Sirmium]], and sometimes referred to as Gepidia.<ref>[[Jordanes]], ''[[Getica]]'', [https://www.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html#XII XII.74]: ''Haec Gotia, quam Daciam appellavere maiores, quae nunc ut diximus Gepidia dicitur''. Rough translation: "This [[Dacia|Gothia]], which our ancestors called [[Dacia]], we now call [[Gepidia]]."</ref> It covered a large part of the [[Roman Dacia|former Roman province of Dacia]], north of the Danube, and compared to other Middle Danubian kingdoms it remained relatively uninvolved with Rome.

The Gepids were defeated by the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombards]] and [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] a century later in 567, when [[Constantinople]] gave no support to them. Some Gepids joined the Lombards in their subsequent conquest of Italy, some moved into Roman territory, and other Gepids still lived in the area of the old kingdom after it was conquered by the Avars.

Few archaeological sites remain that can be attributed to them with certainty. After their settlement of the [[Pannonian Basin|Carpathian Basin]], their population was mostly centred on the [[Someș]] and [[Körös]] rivers, but they did not intermingle with other nations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |year=2024 |title=A gepidák rövid története |trans-title=Short history of the Gepids |url=https://gepida.hu/gepida-vilaga/gepidak-tortenete |website=Gepida |language=hu}}</ref>

==Name==
{{See also|Name of the Goths}}
The most common Latin spellings of the Gepid name in plural used a "p", but varied concerning the vowels: Gepidae, Gipidae, Gipedae, Gipides. Similarly, Procopius writing in Greek uses a stem γηπαιδ- which should be transliterated as Giped-.{{according to whom|date=July 2024}} Despite this, the Gepids have been equated with the people mentioned in the [[Old English]] ''[[Widsith]]'' and ''[[Beowulf]]'', as ''{{lang|ang|Gifðas}}'' or {{lang|ang|Gefþas}}. These names are considered etymologically equivalent Old English forms of Gepidae that could not have arisen through borrowing from attested Latin forms.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Neidorf |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Neidorf |title=The Gepids in Beowulf |journal=ANQ |pages=1–4 |year=2019 |volume=34 |doi=10.1080/0895769X.2019.1584028|s2cid=166373368 }}</ref>

Although [[Walter Goffart]] has objected that "no serious arguments substantiating the identification seem to me to have been set out", linguists interpret the "p" in Latin and Greek as an insulting Gothic nickname for the Gepids.<ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|2009|p=333}}</ref> In addition to the Old English words, placename evidence in Italy, and a single medieval Latin [[genitive plural]] form "Gebodorum"<ref>Continuatio Prosperi Havniensis/[[Auctarium Prosperi Havniense]] p.337, in: ''[[Monumenta Germaniae Historica]]'' (MGH), Auctores antiquissimi vol. 9., Chronicorum Minorum saec. IV, V, VI, VII vol. 1. [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_auct_ant_9/index.htm#page/337/mode/1up p.337]</ref> are taken to indicate that the "p" was really a fricative sound similar to a "b". Many linguists therefore reconstruct the original Germanic form as *''Gíbidoz'', based on the Germanic verb "to give", as still found in English (German ''geben'', Dutch ''geven''), apparently indicating that they named themselves gifted or rewarded or generous.{{sfn|Neumann|1998}}

The modern idea that the recorded name of the Gepids was an insult comes from [[Jordanes]] in the sixth century, who reported in his Gothic origins story the ''[[Getica]]'', that the name of the Gepids came from ''gepanta'', an insult in Gothic meaning "sluggish, stolid" (''pigra''), because the Gepids had lagged behind their Gothic kin when they migrated more than a thousand years earlier.<ref name = Yeat>{{cite web | author = Jordanes | title = Goths | publisher = Harbour net | language = la, en | others = Yeat, Theedrich ''tr.'' | url = http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/Goths/Goths1.htm | access-date = 2008-03-03 | quote = 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 name ''Giped'' arose as a spontaneous taunt. I do not believe the name itself is very far from wrong, for they are slow of thought and too sluggish for quick movement of their bodies.}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Isidore of Seville]] in his etymologies, interpreted the second part of the Gepid name as "feet" (Latin ''pedes'') and explained that the Gepids were known for going into battle on foot (''pedestri''), rather than mounted. The much later (12th century) Byzantine ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' interprets the name using the Greek word for children, making the Gepids ''Gētípaides'' (Γητίπαιδες) meaning "children of the Goths (equated to [[Getae]])". All three of these texts follow a tradition of seeing the Gepids as "offshoots or close relatives of the Goths".<ref>See {{harvtxt|Pohl|1998|p=131}} (in German) and {{harvtxt|Goffart|2009|pp=199–200}} (in English).</ref>

''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]],'' a 4th century map shows the "Piti" people living next of [[Porolissum]]. Whether or not this is a distortion of Gepid is disputed by historians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sevin |first=Heinrich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QUsAQAAIAAJ |title=Die Gebiden |date=1955 |publisher=Sevin |pages=29–30 |language=de}}</ref>

==Language==
There is little direct evidence for the original language of the Gepids, but they were clearly Gothic in culture during the period when the Romans reported upon them. Most likely, the Gepids used the same language as the Goths, but in a different dialect. They had strained political relations with related peoples, the [[Goths]] and [[Vandals]].<ref name=":0" /> The Byzantine chronicler of the 6th century, Procopius, in his ''Wars of Justinian'', placed the Gepids among the "Gothic peoples" along with the Vandals, Visigoths and Goths proper, "having the same language, white bodies, blond hair and [[Arianism|Arian]] form of Christianity".<ref>Goffart 2009, s. 199–200</ref>

== 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>

== Archaeological sites ==
[[File:King Omharus gold ring.jpg|thumb|Gold ring with the inscription ''Omharus'' found at [[Apahida necropolis|Apahida]]]]
Numerous archaeological sites have been attributed to the Gepids.{{sfn|Kharalambieva|2010|p=245}} The first scientific excavations of such an attributed Gepid site were done by István Kovács at [[Band, Mureș|Band]] in 1906 and 1907.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dobos |first=Alpár |year=2011 |title=The Reihengräberfelder in Transylvania after 100 Years of Archaeological Research |journal=Acta Archaeologica Carpathica |volume=46 |pages=171–206, pages 175–176 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1944391}}</ref> However, attributing a precise ethnicity to archaeological findings from this period is a difficult and disputable method.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Opreanu |first=Coriolan Horațiu |title=Transilvania la sfârșitul antichității și în perioada migrațiilor |publisher=Nereamia Napocae |year=2003 |isbn=973-7951-12-3 |page=179 |trans-title=Transylvania at the End of Antiquity and the during the Migration Period}}</ref>

The analysis of the burial sites show that high-status burials with valuable goods are initially clustered in northwestern [[Transylvania]] (dated to the mid- and late fifth century), then in the sixth-century cemeteries primarily appear in the Hungarian Plain.  The upper class of the Gepid society had access to Thuringian brooches, amber beads, or Scandinavian belt buckles, in particular visible in the female burials, pointing at close relations with [[Scandinavia]], [[Thuringia]], [[Crimea]], and the [[Baltic Coast|Baltic coast]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Curta |first=Florin |date=5 June 2012 |title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815638.004 |access-date=26 August 2023 |website=Cambridge Core |pages=54–55|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511815638.004 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In [[Săvădisla|Vlaha]], [[Cluj County]], Romania, a [[necropolis]] was discovered in August 2004 with over two hundred tombs dated to the sixth century AD.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lăzărescu |first=Vlad |year=2019 |chapter=Debating the early phase of the Migration Period necropolis at Floreşti-Polus Center, Cluj County, Romania |title=Kollaps – Neuordnung – Kontinuität. Gepiden nach dem Untergang des Hunnenreiches. Tagungsakten der Internationalen Konferenz an der Eötvös Loránd Universität, Budapest, 14. – 15. Dezember 2015 |publisher=Institut für Archäologiewissenschaften, Eötvös Loránd Universität, Budapest |location=Budapest |pages=81–111 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339850942}}</ref> Eighty-five percent of the discovered tombs were robbed in the same period. The remaining artifacts are ceramics, bronze articles and an armory. Also in Romania, at [[Miercurea Sibiului]], there is another necropolis with rich artifacts.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} Other necropolises in Romania are:
* [[Ungheni, Mureș|Morești]], [[Mureș County]]
* [[Noșlac]], [[Alba County]]
* [[Brateiu]], [[Sibiu County]]
* [[Șeica Mică]], Sibiu County
* [[Timișoara]] Freidorf site 
* [[Apahida necropolis]]<ref>{{harvnb|Dobos|2011|pages=175–176}}</ref>
* [[Turda]]: the richest Germanic tomb found in Romania is here. The "[[Franziska Tesaurus|Franziska]]" tomb was found in a Roman site and dated to the fifth century AD.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

Gepid treasures were also found at [[Someșeni]] and [[Șimleu Silvaniei]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

==Genetic research==

A study done in 2022 found that from a matrilinear point of view the main mitochondrial ancestry belongs to North-western European group, in line with historical data. In particular it shows similarities with data taken from [[Wielbark culture]] and [[Lombards|Langobards]]. Only one Asian lineage was found, indicating the Gepids did not mix with Asian populations in a significant manner on the matrilinear side. The samples were collected from 3 different sites located in [[Carei|Carei-Babold]], [[Sânpaul, Cluj|Șardu]], and [[Săvădisla|Vlaha]].<ref>Alexandra Gînguță, Bence Kovács, Balázs Tihanyi, Kitti Maár, Oszkár Schütz, Zoltán Maróti, Gergely I. B. Varga, Attila P. Kiss, Ioan Stanciu, Tibor Török, and Endre Neparáczki: [https://www.academia.edu/76197565/Maternal%20Lineages%20of%20Gepids%20from%20Transylvania Maternal Lineages of Gepids from Transylvania]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Apahida necropolis]]
* [[Romania in the Early Middle Ages]]
* [[Goths]]
* [[Iapydes]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==

=== Primary sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
*''Genethliacus of Maximian Augustus by an Anonymous Orator (291)'' (Translation and Notes by Rodgers) (1994). In: ''In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini'' (Introduction, Translation, and Historical Commentary with the Latin Text of R. A. B. Mynors by C. E. V. Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers) (1994); University of California Press; {{ISBN|0-520-08326-1}}.
*''The Gothic History of Jordanes'' (in English Version with an Introduction and a Commentary by Charles Christopher Mierow, Ph.D., Instructor in Classics in Princeton University) (2006). Evolution Publishing. {{ISBN|1-889758-77-9}}.
{{Refend}}

=== Secondary sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book |last=Bóna |first=István |year=1974 |title=A középkor hajnala: A gepidák és a langobardok a Kárpát-medencében ''[The Dawn of the Dark Ages: the Gepids and the Lombards in the Carpathian Basin]'' |publisher=Corvina Kiadó |isbn=963-13-0491-4 |language=hu }}
*{{Cite book |last=Christensen |first=Arne Søby |author-link=Arne Søby Christensen |year=2002 |title=Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths: Studies in a Migration Myth |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |isbn=87-7289-7104 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Goffart |first=Walter |year=2009 |title=Barbarian Tides: The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-3939-3 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Heather |first= Peter |year=2010 |title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973560-0 }}
*{{Cite book|last=Kharalambieva |first=Anna |year=2010 |chapter=Gepids in the Balkans: A Survey of the Archaeological Evidence |editor-last=Curta |editor-first=Florin |title=Neglected Barbarians |series=Studies in the early Middle Ages, volume 32 |edition=second |location=Turnhout, Belgium |publisher=Brepols |pages= 245–262 |isbn=978-2-503-53125-0 }}
*{{citation|first=Günter |last=Neumann |chapter=Gepiden §1. Namenkundliches |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde |edition=2 |volume=11 |year=1998 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-015832-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlBOJPI5YosC}}
*{{cite book |last=Opreanu |first=Coriolan Horațiu |editor1-last=Pop|editor1-first=Ioan-Aurel |editor2-last=Bolovan |editor2-first=Ioan | title=History of Romania: Compendium |publisher=Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies) |year=2005 |pages=59–132 |chapter=The North-Danube Regions from the Roman Province of Dacia to the Emergence of the Romanian Language (2nd&ndash;8th&nbsp;Centuries&nbsp;AD) |isbn=978-973-7784-12-4}}
*{{citation|first=Walter |last=Pohl |chapter=Gepiden §3. Historisches |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde |edition=2 |volume=11 |year=1998 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-015832-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlBOJPI5YosC}}
*{{cite journal |last=Sarantis |first=Alexander |title= War and Diplomacy in Pannonia and the Northwest Balkans during the Reign of Justinian: The Gepid Threat and Imperial Responses |year=2009 |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=63 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Southern |first=Patricia |year=2001 |title=The Early Germans |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-23944-3 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Todd |first=Malcolm |year=2003 |title=The Early Germans |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |isbn=0-631-16397-2 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |year=1988 |title=History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |publisher= University of California Press |isbn=0-520-06983-8 }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Saint Martin and Pannonia. Christianity on the Frontiers of the Roman World |chapter=Christianity in the Carpathian Basin during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (5th to 8th century AD |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/39215149 |year=2016 |pages=93–106 |last=Vida |first=Tivadar }}

== External links ==
*[http://www.historyonmaps.com/ColourSamples/cbig/Gepidak.jpg Map of Gepidia]
*[http://www.euratlas.com/history_europe/europe_map_0500.html Map of Gepid Kingdom]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071203100937/http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/chron/europe3.gif Kingdom of the Gepids - location map]
*[http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html Jordanes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424044148/http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html |date=2006-04-24 }}: e-text
*[http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/33.html "The Kingdom of the Gepids"], in: Lászlo Makkai and András Mócsy, editors, 2001. ''History of Transylvania'', II: István Bóna, "From Dacia to Erdöelve: Transylvania in the period of the Great Migrations (271-896)"
*[http://www.mnir.ro/ro/colectii/tezaur/apahida/apahida-foto.html Apahida Artefacts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210153912/http://www.mnir.ro/ro/colectii/tezaur/apahida/apahida-foto.html |date=2008-02-10 }}
{{Commons category|Gepids}}

{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Early Germanic Kingdoms}}

[[Category:Gepids| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 450s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 560s]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Romania in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Medieval Transylvania]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Serbia]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Vojvodina]]
[[Category:Hungary in the Early Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Barbarian kingdoms]]