Arbre généalogique Homs » Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns (± 406-453)

Données personnelles Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns 


Famille de Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns

(1) Il a/avait une relation avec Hericha - Herreche - Kreka Дуло.


Enfant(s):

  1. Ellak of the Huns  ± 416-± 451 


(2) Il a/avait une relation avec Gundrun - Gundred de Burgundy.


Enfant(s):



(3) Il est marié avec Chrenchildis ("Kriemhild") Romania.

Ils se sont mariés environ 452 à Hungary.


Enfant(s):

  1. Bel-Kermek of the Huns  ± 430-± 475 


Notes par Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns

Attila the Hun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Attila the Hun (Old Norse: Atle, Atli; German: Etzel; ca. 406–453 AD) was the last and most powerful king of the Huns. He reigned over what was then Europe's largest empire, from 434 until his death. His empire stretched from Central Europe to the Black Sea and from the Danube River to the Baltic. During his rule he was among the direst enemies of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires: he invaded the Balkans twice and encircled Constantinople in the second invasion. He marched through France as far as Orleans before being turned back at Chalons; and he drove the western emperor Valentinian III from his capital at Ravenna in 452.

Though his empire died with him, and he left no remarkable legacy, 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.

Contents [hide]
1 Background and beginnings
2 Shared kingship
3 Sole ruler
4 Attila in the west
5 Invasion of Italy and death
6 Appearance, character, and name
7 Notes
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit]
Background and beginnings
Main article: Huns
The European Huns are often thought to have been a western extension of the Xiongnu (Xiongnú), (??) n., a group of nomad tribes from north-eastern China and Central Asia. These people achieved military superiority over their rivals (most of them highly cultured and civilized) by their state of readiness for combat, amazing mobility, and weapons like the Hun bow.

Attila was born around 406. Nothing certain is known about his childhood; the supposition that at a young age he was already a capable leader and a capable warrior is reasonable but unknowable.

Following negotiation of peace terms in 418, the young Atilla, at the age of 12, was sent as a child hostage to the Roman court of Emperor Honorius. In return, the Huns received Flavius Aetius, in a child hostage exchange arranged by the Romans.

Most likely the empire schooled Attila in its courts, customs and traditions and in its luxurious lifestyle, in the hope that he would carry an appreciation of these things back to his own nation, thus serving to extend Roman influence. The Huns would probably have hoped that Attila would enhance espionage capabilities by the exchange.

Attila attempted escape during his stay in Rome but failed. He turned his attention to an intense study of the empire while outwardly ceasing to struggle against his hostage status. He studied the internal and foreign policies of the Romans. He often secretly observed them in diplomatic conference with foreign ministers. He learned about leadership, protocol and other essentials suited to future rulers and diplomats.

[edit]
Shared kingship

The Hunnish empire stretched from the steppes of Central Asia into modern Germany, and from the Danube river to the Baltic SeaBy 432, the Huns were united under Ruga. In 434 Ruga died, leaving his nephews Attila and Bleda, the sons of his brother Mundjuk, in control over all the united Hun tribes. At the time of their accession, the Huns were bargaining with 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 departed into the interior of the continent, 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 defenses along the Danube.

The Huns remained out of Roman sight for the next five years. During this time, they were conducting an invasion of the Persian Empire. However, in Armenia, a Persian counterattack resulted in a defeat for Attila and Bleda, and they ceased their efforts to conquer Persia. In 440, they reappeared on the borders of the empire, attacking the merchants at the market on the north bank of the Danube that had been arranged for by the treaty. Attila and Bleda threatened further war, claiming that the Romans had failed to fulfil their treaty obligations and that the bishop of Margus (not far from modern Belgrade) had crossed the Danube to ransack and desecrate the royal Hun graves on the Danube's north bank. 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 barbarians and betrayed the city to them.

Theodosius had stripped the river's defenses 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 Sigindunum (modern Belgrade) and Sirmium before halting its operations. A lull followed during 442, when 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 and Bleda responded by renewing their campaign in 443. Striking along the Danube, they overran the military centers of Ratiara and successfully besieged Naissus (modern Niš) with battering rams and rolling towers—military sophistication that was new in the Hun repertory—then pushing along the Nisava they took Serdica (Sofia), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and Arcadiopolis. They encountered and destroyed the Roman force outside Constantinople and were only halted by their lack of siege equipment capable of breaching the city's massive walls. Theodosius admitted defeat and sent the court official Anatolius to negotiate 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 desires contented 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. Now undisputed lord of the Huns, he again turned towards the eastern Empire.

Priscus of Panium: fragments from the Embassy to Attila
[edit]
Sole ruler
Constantinople suffered major natural (and man-made) disasters in the years following the Huns' departure: bloody riots between the racing factions of the Hippodrome; plagues in 445 and 446, the second following a famine; and a four-month series of earthquakes which levelled much of the city wall and killed thousands, causing another epidemic. This last struck in 447, just as Attila, having consolidated his power, 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 citizenry to reconstruct the earthquake-damaged walls, 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

Mór Than's painting The Feast of Attila, based on a fragment of Priscus (depicted at right, dressed in white and holding his history):
"When evening began to draw in, torches were lighted, and two barbarians came forward in front of Attila and sang songs which they had composed, hymning his victories and his great deeds in war. And the banqueters gazed at them, and some were rejoiced at the songs, others became excited at heart when they remembered the wars, but others broke into tears—those whose bodies were weakened by time and whose spirit was compelled to be at rest."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 Sigindunum (Belgrade) and up to a hundred miles south of the Danube. Negotiations continued between Roman and Hun for approximately three years. The historian Priscus was sent as emissary 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. He 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 (e-text)
Later scholarship would identify this legend as part of a pattern of sword worship common among the nomads of the Central Asian steppes.

[edit]
Attila in the west

An inaccurate sketch of Attila the Hun, probably from the 19th century, depicts him as European, though the only extant description of his appearance by a Roman court historian states that Atilla had "a flat nose, swarthy dark complexion, broad chest, short stature and small eyes, but full of confidence" among his features, suggesting physical features common among Mongolians.As late as 450, Attila had proclaimed his intent to attack the powerful Visigoth kingdom of Toulouse in alliance with Emperor Valentinian III. He had previously been on good terms with the western 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 senator, had sent the Hunnish king a plea for help—and her 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 embassy 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, Theodosius having died in a riding accident, his successor Marcian cut off the Huns' tribute in late 450; and multiple invasions, by the Huns and by others, had left the Balkans with little to plunder. 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[1]. 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 shore[2]. By the time Attila had gathered his vassals—Gepids, Ostrogoths, Rugians, Scirians, Heruls, Thuringians, Alans, Burgundians, et al.—and begun his march west, he had declared intent of alliance both with the Visigoths and with the Romans.

In 451, his arrival in Belgica with an army exaggerated by Jordanes to half a million strong soon made his intent clear. 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[3], 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 commonly, though erroneously, is attributed to be a victory for the Gothic-Roman alliance. Theodoric was killed in the fighting. Aetius failed to press his advantage, and the alliance quickly disbanded. Attila withdrew to continue his campaign against Italy.

[edit]
Invasion of Italy and death
Attila returned in 452 to claim his marriage to Honoria anew, invading and ravaging Italy along the way; his army sacked numerous cities and razed Aquileia completely, leaving no trace of it behind. Valentinian fled from Ravenna to Rome; Aetius remained in the field but lacked the strength to offer battle. 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 claimed neither Honoria's hand nor the territories he desired.

Raphael's The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila shows Leo I, with Saint Peter and Saint Paul above him, going to meet AttilaSeveral explanations for his actions have been proffered. The plague and famine which coincided with his invasion may have caused his army to weaken, or the troops that 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 the Hun 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. Various historians (e.g. Isaac Asimov) have supposed that the embassy brought a large amount of gold to the Hunnish leader and persuaded him to abandon his campaign.

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. However, he 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 a beautiful Goth named Ildico), he suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor. An alternative to the nosebleed theory is that he succummed to internal bleeding after heavy drinking. His 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 when 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 celebrating a strava over his burial place with great feasting. He was buried in a triple coffin—of gold, silver, and iron—with the spoils of his conquest, and his funeral party was killed to keep his burial place secret. After his death, he lived on as a legendary figure: the characters of Etzel in the Nibelungenlied and Atli in both the Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda were both loosely based on his life.

An alternate story of his death, first recorded eighty years after the fact by the Roman chronicler Count Marcellinus, reports: "Attila rex Hunnorum Europae orbator provinciae noctu mulieris manu cultroque confoditur." ("Attila, King of the Huns and ravager of the provinces of Europe, was pierced by the hand and blade of his wife.")[4] The Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda claim that King Atli died at the hands of his wife Gudrun.[5] 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 (The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun, Berkley Books, 2005 ISBN 0425202720). 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.

His sons Ellak (his appointed successor), Dengizik, and Ernakh fought over the division of his legacy—"what warlike kings with their peoples should be apportioned to them by lot like a family estate" and, divided, were defeated and scattered the following year in the Battle of Nedao by the Gepids, under Ardaric, whose pride was stirred by being treated with his people like chattel, and the Ostrogoths. Attila's empire did not outlast him.

[edit]
Appearance, character, and name

Atilla.
From an illustration to the Poetic Edda.The main source for information on Attila is Priscus, a historian who traveled with Maximin on an embassy from Theodosius II in 448. He describes the village the nomadic Huns had built and settled down in as the size of the great city with solid wooden walls. He described Attila himself 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 a swarthy complexion, showing the evidences of his origin."
Attila's physical appearance was probably most likely that of an Eastern Asian or more specifically a Mongol, or perhaps a mixture of this type and the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Indeed, he probably exhibited the characteristic Eastern Asian facial features, which Europeans were not used to seeing, and so they often described him in harsh terms.

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 arise from a conflation of his traits, in the popular imagination, with those perceived in later steppe warlords such as the Mongol Great Khan Genghis Khan and Tamerlane: all run together as cruel, clever, and sanguinary lovers of battle and pillage. The reality of his character may be 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 Hunnic, Gothic, and Latin as the three common languages of the horde. 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 historical context of Attila's life played a large part in determining his later public image: in the waning years of the western Empire, his conflicts with Aetius (often called the "last of the Romans") and the strangeness of his culture both helped dress him in the mask of the ferocious barbarian and enemy of civilization, as he has been portrayed in any number of films and other works of art. The Germanic epics in which he appears offer more nuanced depictions: he is both a noble and generous ally, as Etzel in the Nibelungenlied, and a cruel miser, as Atli in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic Edda. Some national histories, though, always portray him favorably; in Hungary and Turkey the names of Attila (sometimes as Atilla in Turkish) and his last wife Ildikó remain popular to this day. In a similar vein, the Hungarian author Géza Gárdonyi's novel A láthatatlan ember (published in English as Slave of the Huns, and largely based on Priscus) offered a sympathetic portrait of Attila as a wise and beloved leader.

The name Attila may mean "Little Father" in Gothic (atta "father" plus diminutive suffix -la) as many Goths were known to serve under Attila. It could also be of pre-Turkish (Altaic) origin (compare it with Atatürk and Alma-Ata, now called Almaty). It most probably originates from atta ("father") and il ("land"), meaning "Land-Father". Atil was also the Altaic name of the present-day Volga river which may have given its name to Attila.

Preceded by:
Bleda List of Hun monarchs Succeeded by:
Ernakh
[edit]
Notes
^ 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.
^ Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon (e-text), quoted in Hector Munro Chadwick: The Heroic Age (London, Cambridge University Press, 1926
^ Volsunga Saga, Chapter 39; Poetic Edda, Atlamol En Grönlenzku, The Greenland Ballad of Atli
[edit]
See also
Bulgars
Huns
History of Europe
History of the Balkans
[edit]
References
Classical texts include:

Priscus: Byzantine History, available in the original Greek in Ludwig Dindorf : Historici Graeci Minores (Leipzig, B.G. 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 are:

Babcock, Michael A.: "The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun" (Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 0425202720)
Blockley, R.C.: The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire, vol. II (ISBN 0905205154) (a collection of fragments from Priscus, Olympiodorus, and others, with original text and translation)
C.D. Gordon: The Age of Attila: Fifth-century Byzantium and the Barbarians (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1960) is a translated collection, with commentary and annotation, of ancient writings on the subject (including those of Priscus).
J. Otto Maenchen-Helfen (ed. Max Knight): The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1973) is a useful scholarly survey.
E. A. Thompson : A History of Attila and the Huns (London, Oxford University Press, 1948) is the authoritative English work on the subject. It was reprinted in 1999 as The Huns in the Peoples of Europe series (ISBN 0631214437). Thompson did not enter controversies over Hunnic origins, and his revisionist view of Attila read his victories as achieved only while there was no concerted opposition.
[edit]
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.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun"
Categories: 400s births | 453 deaths | Bulgarian monarchs
Attila (estimated from name of the place he was born Etil = Itil = Volga)

From "The Dark Age Web", Mark Furnival, 1999: - The event which, more than any other, presaged the fall of the Roman Empire was the arrival of a group of the Huns in Eastern Europe, forcing many Germanic peoples to migrate southwards and westwards and setting off a chain reaction which could only end with the inundation of the Empire itself.

Those are the cold, historical facts. To the people of the time, however, these newcomers were to set new standards for savagery and terror. They became known, even to their barbarian enemies, as the 'Scourge of God'. To the Romans, they seemed the embodiment of Anti-Christ, and to herald the coming of the Apocalypse.

A tribe known as the Xiongnu existed in western China at the time of the Han Dynasty (the last two centuries BC). They divided into two groups, the smaller of which migrated southwards. The majority, however, went north-west in search of new homes. They found their way into the valley of the Volga and, in the second half of the Fourth Century, attacked the Alans (a people related to the Sarmatians, who lived between the Volga and the Don).

After routing the Alans, they then went on to conquer the Ostrogoths and drive the Visigoths westwards. Early in the Fifth Century, they seem to have been reinforced by fresh hordes, and had become so powerful that, by the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, the Romans felt obliged to pay them a substantial tribute. Still, the Hunnic Empire could not pose a serious threat to the Empire; its economy was too primitive, its internal divisions too great, and Hunnic skills in strategy and siege-craft too lacking to defeat a sophisticated, organised opponent.

By about 420 AD, however, a Hunnic Confederacy had been established, enriched by plunder and tribute, by the hiring out of mercenaries to the Romans, and by the extortion of what can only be called protection money. Their Empire stretched from the Baltic to the Caspian when, in 445, one of their two joint-rulers murdered his colleague and seized control of the Confederacy. The murdered man was named Bleda and his murderer was his own younger brother, Attila.

Attila reinforced his position by, it is said, digging up a rusty old sword and proclaiming it to be the Sword of Mars. The Empire he inherited was built on and sustained by booty; without a continual flow of plunder and tribute it could not survive. So it was that the God of War's chosen one launched an immediate invasion of Eastern Europe. This was in 447 AD, a time when the Empire was already suffering a series of natural catastrophes - earthquakes, pestilence and famine - and it is little wonder that the by now Christian Romans saw the Huns as the very Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The victories of this period may have more to do with Roman demoralisation than any inherent military superiority of the invaders. The Huns fought as horse archers, though their forces were much bolstered by the heavy cavalry of their Germanic subjects. In fact, the composition of the opposing armies would have been remarkably similar, with large numbers of Germans and even Huns to be found on both sides. The Roman Army of the time was little more than an assembly of allied or mercenary tribes, with barely an Italian amongst them.

During the next three years, Attila's men lived off the booty and tribute of the Eastern Empire before turning, in 450 AD, to the West. The Western Empire at this time was nominally ruled by the Emperor Valentinian III but was effectively controlled by the warlord, Aëtius. It was Aëtius who assembled a confederacy with which to confront the Hunnic threat. This was composed of Franks, Visigoths and his own Romano-Germanic army.

The two forces met in 451 at the great battle of the Catalaunian Fields, near Châlons-sur-Marne. It was a brutal battle of little tactical subtlety, barbarian against barbarian, and by the end of the day Aëtius had the upper hand. He could have finished Attila once and for all but he did not. Knowing that, with the Huns destroyed, his Visigothic allies would overrun the whole of Gaul, he let the Huns escape. It was a judgment which the citizens of Italy would bitterly rue.

For Attila now led his horde across the mountains to Milan (Mediolanum), the Roman capital. He spread devastation across the whole of northern Italy and came to the walls of Rome itself. There is a story that Pope Leo persuaded Attila to spare the city and that the great king, in terror of the Cross, retreated. This, however, is Christian propaganda. The truth is that Attila had heard of a threat from the Eastern Empire and turned back to deal with it.

He planned to destroy Constantinople, and ensure that the Romans would remain in thrall to him forever. But in 453, lying in a drunken stupor, Attila suffered a nose bleed. The blood trickled down the back of his throat and choked him to death. For a man who had boasted that 'where my horse has trodden, no grass grows' it was a curiously anti-climactic death. The Empire he had created did not survive him.

With Attila dead, the Huns ceased to be a mortal threat to the Roman Empire - though the West never recovered and soon passed into the hands of the barbarians. Yet such was the mark left on men's minds that every subsequent wave of Asiatic invaders in the centuries to come were known to westerners are 'Huns' (even the Magyars, several centuries later, so that the realm they founded is known to this day as Hungary).

The remnants of Attila's Huns regrouped in south-eastern Europe, ruling over the Slavs of that region. These peoples were to found a new Empire which troubled the Byzantines for hundreds of years, and were known as the Bulgars.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Attila (A.D. 406?-453) was king of the Huns who invaded Europe, referred to as the "Scourge of God." Formerly a group of nomadic people living beyond the Volga river in separate tribes presumably without a general leader or king, the Huns were first united under a single king Rua by 432. In 434, Attila, the nephew of Rua, gained control over all Hun tribes together with his brother Bleda, whom he murdered in 445.

They invaded the Balkans in 441, when Roman armies were busy with Vandals and Persians. After a short period of peace, Attila captured Gaul with an army reputed to be half a million, but was defeated by Aetius at Battle of Chalons. Attila then turned back and began to invade Italy in 452. He withdrew from capturing Rome possibly because of shortage of goods and a pestilence, though according to tradition because he was awed by a meeting with Pope Leo I the Great.

He died after a nasal hemorrhage and his empire was divided among his sons. After his death, he went on living as a legendary figure, and the character of Etzel in the Nibelungenlied (or Atli in the Volsunga Saga) possibly represents Attila.

"Attila" and "Ildikó" (Ildikó was the wife Attila married just before he died) are still popular names in Hungary.

From the Catholic Encyclopaedia:
Attila - King and general of the Huns; died 453. Succeeding in 433 to the kingship of Scythian hordes disorganized and enfeebled by internal discords, Attila soon made of his subjects a compact and formidable people, the terror of Europe and Asia. An unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He passed unhindered through Austria and Germany, across the Rhine into Gaul, plundering and devastating all in his path with a ferocity unparalleled in the records of barbarian invasions and compelling those he overcame to augment his mighty army. In 451 he was met on the Plains of Chalons by the allied Romans under Actius and the Visigoths under Theodoric and Thorismond, who overcame the Huns and averted the peril that menaced Western civilization. Turning then to Italy, Attila, in the spring of 452, laid waste Aquileia and many Lombard cities, and was approaching Rome, whither Valentinian III had fled before him, when he was met near Mantua by an embassy -- the most influential member of which was Pope Leo I -- which dissuaded Attila from sacking the city.

Attila died shortly after. Catholic interest in Attila centers chiefly in his relations with those bishops of France and Italy who restrained the Hunnish leader in his devastating fury. The moral power of these bishops, more particularly of the pope during the dissolution of the empire, is evidenced as well by the confidence in which the faithful looked to them for succour against the terrible invader as by the influence they sometimes exerted in staying that invader's destroying hand. St. Agnan of Orléans sustained the courage of his people and hastened the reinforcements that saved his apparently doomed city; at Troyes, St. Lupus prevailed upon Attila to spare the province of Champagne, and gave himself as a hostage while the Hunnish army remained in Gaul; when Rome seemed destined to meet the fate of the Lombard cities which Attila had pillaged, it was Pope Leo the Great who, by his eloquence and commanding personality, overawed the conqueror and saved the city. The terror which for centuries after clung to the name of Attila, "the Scourge of God", as he came to be called, and the gratitude of the people to their deliverers combined in time to encumber medieval hagiography with legends of saints reputed to have overcome Attila by their imposing presence, or stayed his progress by their prayers. But these fictions serve to emphasize the import of the facts which inspired them. They enable us to appreciate how widespread must have been that sentiment expressed in the recently discovered appeal of Eusebius of Dorylaeum to Pope Leo I: "Curavit desuper et ab exordio consuevit thronus apostolicus iniqua perferentes defensare . . . et humi Jacentes erigere, secundum possibilitatem quam habetis [see Harnack, History of Dogma (Boston, 1903), II, 168]. National pride, too, came in time to invest the person of Attila with a halo of fiction. Most European countries have their legends of the Hunnish leader, who is diversely depicted, according as the vanity of nations would represent Attila as a friend who had contributed to their greatness or as a foe to whose superhuman strength it had been no discredit to succumb. Of these legends the best known is the story of Etzel (Attila) in the "Niebelungen-lied".
{geni:occupation} King of the Huns, владетел на Велика България (434-453); magister militum, Høvding over alle Hunnere, Koning der Hunnen, regeerde 433 tot 453. Eén van de meest gevreesde barbaarse van die tijd.
{geni:about_me} Attila (406 – 453), also known as Attila the Hun or the Scourge of God, was leader 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 (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, he marched through Gaul (modern France) as far as Orleans before being defeated at the Battle of Chalons. He refrained from attacking either Constantinople or Rome. His propaganda, that the Sword of Attila had come to his hand by miraculous means, was reported by the Roman Priscus.

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 may have been a confederation of Central Asian and European tribes, many of them horse nomads. Many experts think they may have been Turkic people, descended from the Xiongnu 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 the 400s. They achieved military superiority over their neighbours by their readiness for battle, unusual mobility, and weapons, including the composite bow.

Shared kingship

The Hunnic Empire stretched from the steppes of Central Asia into modern Germany, and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea - albeit not simultaneously, as the Huns first appeared in Southern Russia and later moved to Central Europe

The death of Rugila (also known as Rua or Ruga) in 434 left his nephews Attila Dragomer and Bleda (also known as Buda), the sons of his brother Mundzuk, in control over all the united Hun tribes. At the time of their accession, the Huns were bargaining with Byzantine emperor Theodosius II's envoys over the return of several renegades (possibly Hunnic nobles not in agreement with the brothers' leadership) 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 fugitives, 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 in the Hungarian Great Plain, 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 a Hunnic force invaded 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 in force 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. Crossing the Danube they 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.

As Theodosius had conquered the river's defences, the Vandals, under the leadership of Geiseric, captured the Western Roman province of Africa with its capital of Carthage in 440 and the Sassanid Shah Yazdegerd II invaded Armenia in 441. Stripping the Balkan defenses of forces requested by the West Romans, in order to launch an attack on the Vandals in Africa (which was the richest province of the Western empire and a main source of the food supply of Rome) 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 Sicily 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), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and Arcadiopolis. They encountered and destroyed the Roman army outside Constantinople and were stopped by the double walls of the Eastern capital. A second army was defeated near Callipolis (modern Gallipoli) and Theodosius, now without any armed forces to respond, admitting defeat, sent the court official Anatolius to negotiate 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.

Sole ruler

"When evening began to draw in, torches were lighted, and two barbarians came forward in front of Attila and sang songs which they had composed, hymning his victories and his great deeds in war. And the banqueters gazed at them, and some were rejoiced at the songs, others became excited at heart when they remembered the wars, but others broke into tears—those whose bodies were weakened by time and whose spirit was compelled to be at rest.

In 447 Attila again rode south into the empire through Moesia. The Roman army under the Gothic magister militum Arnegisclus met him in the Battle of the Utus 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 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. Aëtius 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 was Honoria, who, 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.

Attila also interfered in a succession struggle after the death of a Frankish ruler. Attila supported the elder son, while Aëtius supported the younger.[2]

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.[3]

On April 7, he captured Metz. Other cities attacked can be determined by the hagiographic vitae written to commemorate their bishops: Nicasius was slaughtered before the altar of his church in Rheims; Servatus is alleged to have saved Tongeren with his prayers, as Saint Genevieve is to have saved Paris.[4] Lupus, bishop of Troyes, is also credited with saving his city by meeting Attila in person.[5]

Aëtius moved to oppose Attila, 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,[6] thus checking and turning back the Hunnish advance. Aëtius gave chase and caught the Huns at a place usually assumed to be near Catalaunum (modern Châlons-en-Champagne). The two armies clashed in the Battle of Chalons, whose outcome is commonly considered to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Visigothic-Roman alliance. Theodoric was killed in the fighting and Aëtius failed to press his advantage, according to Edward Gibbon and Edward Creasy because he feared the consequences of an overwhelming Visogothic triumph as much as he did a defeat. From Aëtius' 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.

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. Aëtius, who lacked the strength to offer battle, managed 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.[7] Prosper of Aquitaine gives a short, reliable description of the historic meeting. The later anonymous account,[8] 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[9]. 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)[10] 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 or a condition called esophageal varices, where a hemorrhoid in the lower part of the esophagus ruptures leaving the person to choke on his/her own blood.

Another account of his death, first recorded 80 years after the events 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."[11] The Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda also claim that King Atli (Attila) died at the hands of his wife, Gudrun.[12] Most scholars reject these accounts as no more than hear-say, preferring instead the account given by Attila's contemporary Priscus. Priscus' version, however, has recently come under renewed scrutiny by Michael A. Babcock.[13] 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 river 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 (see Attila the Hun to Charlemagne).

Appearance, character, and name

There is no surviving first-person account of Attila's appearance. There is, however, a possible second-hand source, 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.[14] Also the word possibly originates from Turkic Atyl/Atal/Atil meaning water, river (also, ancient name of Volga river) with adjective suffix -ly. (Compare also Turkic medieval notable title atalyk - "senior as father").[15][16][17] This is correlating to the fact that the Polish Chronicle is using Attila's name as Aquila bearing the Latin aqua inside. Others believe that the name may have connection to Hungarian Ítélet meaning judgement or Old-Turkic via the loandword in Gothic (or Gepid) atta ("father") and the diminutive suffix -ila.[18] 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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun

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Attila, called the Scourge of God (circa 406-53), king of the Huns (circa 433-53). He is called Etzel by the Germans and Ethele by the Hungarians.

(Lengthy article see: at Source:)

•Birth: 392

•Death: 454

Marriage 1 Julia Gratia Honoria

Children

1. Elak of the Huns b: 416

Marriage 2 Kriemhilt b: ABT 410

Children

1. Bel-Kermek of the Huns b: ABT 430

Marriage 3 Spouse Unknown

Children

1. Ernak of the Huns b: ABT 432

Forrás / Source:

http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jdp-fam&id=I83046&style=TABLE

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I63385

Attila, Isten ostora

(A hosszú cikket lásd a Forrás-nál)

Attila utóda

A fiai Ellac (a kijelölt utóda), Dengizich, és Ernakh harcolt a hagyatéka felosztása fölött. Ardaric, aki Atilla legmegbecsültebb törzsfője volt egyszer, szembefordult az ellenségeskedő testvérekkel, amikor érezte, hogy uralkodnak azok felett a nemzetek felett, akiket legyőztek.

Végül Attila utóda Ellac lett.

Forrás / Source:

http://magyartortenelem.lapunk.hu/?modul=oldal&tartalom=10479

Továbbiakat lásd még:

http://www.magtudin.org/Atilla%20a%20modern%201.htm#_ftn1

(Ez egy lehetséges leszármazási adatsor:)

Noé, Kám, Nimrud, Bor, Dama, Kelend, Keve, Keár, Beler, Rada, Otmár, Tarkán, Bendekürt, Bakony, Csanád, Ruali, Bezter, Mikó, Miske, Ompud, Külcse, Levente, Rél, Zamor, Zombor, Balog, Bulcsú, Zoltán, Berend, Kadisa, Opor, Thé, Csemen, Tordá, Mundzuk, Attila

http://www.parragh.n1.hu/keret.cgi

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun

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КАН АТИЛА СИН НА БРАТА НА КАН КАРАТОН 379- 451г. от н.е & ИМПЕРАТОР ТЕОДОСИЙ ІІ 434-453 от н.е

На кан Атила от рода Дуло, кан Каратон е негов чичо. Баща му, братът на кан Каратон, Муенчак е бил глава на правителството. Муенчак, освен двамата синове - Бледа и Атила, имал и дъщеря. Тази българска принцеса омъжили за вожда на франките. Този варварин и езичник обаче я отровил.

При сключени договори с Източната и Западната Римска империя за ненамеса в този морален проблем, кан Атила атакувал варварите франки. Нелоялното отношение на Източната и Западната Римска империя го принудило да стане “БИЧ БОЖИЙ”. Той не превзел, не опожарил и не плячкосал Константинопол като варварите готи, но написал на император Теодосий следното писмо: “Теодосий е син на един почтен баща. Атила произхожда също от един благороден род; и той е успял при всички свои дела да запази унаследените от своя баща Мунзук чест и достойнство. Теодосий обаче посрами честта на баща си и се унижи до положението на един роб, тъй че се видя принуден да плаща данък. От това следваше, че той дължи почитание на мъжа, когото щастието и заслугите му го бяха поставили над него; вместо това той се опитва като недобросъвестен роб да устройва заговори против своя господар” (Уелс,“Световна история”, том 2, стр.126,127).

След смъртта на Кан Урус Ружа Бургас, двамата синове на Муенчак и внуци на Алп-Бий, Кан Бледа /434-445/ и Кан Атила /434-453/, стават съуправители и сключват с Византия подновен договор, с който сумата на ежегодния данък се променя на 700 фута злато, както и клаузи, определящи границите и тяхната охрана, търговските отношения и др. В Константинопол Кан Атила получава звание magister militum. В 441 г. поради неспазване на договора Кан Бледа и Кан Атила предприемат военни действия срещу Византия. Войските им стигнали до Константинопол. В 443 г. Император Теодосий ІІ бил принуден да сключи нов договор при утежнени условия. Недостатъчно изяснени са обстоятелствата за войната на Атила срещу Западната империя. Вече отбелязахме военната помощ на Кан Алп-Бий дадена на Император Хонорий срещу Готите/409 г./. В 423 г. Кан Урус Ружа Бургас отново оказва военна помощ на Император Хонорий срещу узурпатора Йоан, който прави опит да му отнеме властта. След смъртта на Император Хонорий в 425 г. неговият малолетен наследник, Император Валентиан ІІІ /425-455/, отново получава помощ от Кан Урус Ружа Бургас за утвърждаването си. Взаимоотношенията на двете държави са регулирани от договори включващи границите и охраната им, търговските връзки и др., включително и военна помощ. В 435 г. командващият римските войски Аеций, получил военна помощ срещу бургундския крал Гундахар. В 437 г. римският военноначалник Литорий, получил военна помощ в Арморика./4.стр.113/. Приск, който пребивавал известно време в столицата на Атила в Панония, го определя като :"...крупен държавен деятел извършил велики дела...". Приск и съвременниците му констатират, че в Държавата на Кан Атила няма робство и тежки данъчни задължения и че чужденците могат да живеят спокойно, а различните вероизповедания не са подложени на преследване. Някои изследователи отбелязват намесата на Атила в муждуусобици на Франките, свързани с престолонаследието/447г./. В българските летописи е отбелязано следното : "...той тръгнал срещу алманите и франгите защото техния цар отровил своята жена - сестрата на кана...". /1.том.І.стр.14/. Може би това е ключът за изяснявяне на променените отношения между Атила и Аеций, който първоначално намерил приют и помощ от Атила, а после използвал германите и франките във война срещу Атила - Каталунската битка. Тук следва да се допълни и това, че когато сестрата на Император Валентиан ІІІ, Хонория, отправила молба за помощ от Атила /450 г./, той поискал съгласието на равенското правителство за неговия брак с Хонория. При това положение той следвало да получи половината от Западната империя, а именно Галия. Не считаме за достоверно, че Кан Атила е претърпял поражение при Каталунската битка, при положение, че почти веднага след това той изпратил част от войските си срещу Византия, а с другата част от войските си се отзовал под стените на укрепения град Рим. Непубликувани до сега са преговорите на Кан Атила с Папа Лъв І. В резултат на тези преговори Кан Атила изтегля своите войски от териториите на Западната империя. Едва ли Кан Атила би оттеглил войските си, ако при тези преговори не е постигнато взаимноприемливо и стратегически полезно решение, отразено в писмен договор между двете страни. След завръщането си в своята столица и отчет пред Великия събор, войските и народа, по време на ликуващи празненства...той умира при неизяснени обстоятелства. От гледна точка на логика в криминалистиката може да се допусне хипотезата, че е отровен от агент на Византия...но това би могло да се изясни преди всичко от текста на непубликувания договор между Кан Атила и Император Валентиан ІІІ, предаден на Папа Лъв І. Неговата смърт в съвременната историография се представя като край на "...жестокото хунско нашествие в Европа...", а всъщност това е краят на Западната, Римската империя.

ИЗТОЧНИЦИ: /1/ Бахши Иман, Джагфар Тарихы, Свод булгарских летописей, том І, 1993, том ІІ, 1994 и том ІІІ, 1997, Оренбург. /2/ История на древния Рим, В.И. Авдиев и др., С., 1997. /3/ Тема борбы с племеннами европейской сарматии и скифии в монетной чеканке римской империи, М.Г. Абрамсон, М., 1999, Вестник Известия древности. /4/ Упадок и гибел западной римской империи и возникновения германских королевства, А.Р. Корсунский, Р. Гюнтер, М., 1984 г.
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Atila

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Atila (406 - 453) fue el último y más poderoso líder de los hunos. Gobernó el mayor imperio europeo de su tiempo, desde el 434 hasta su muerte. Conocido en occidente como "El azote de Dios". Sus posesiones se extendían desde Europa Central hasta el Mar Negro, y desde el Danubio hasta el Báltico. Durante su reinado fue uno de los más acérrimos enemigos de los Imperios romanos Oriental y Occidental: invadió dos veces los Balcanes, estuvo a punto de tomar la ciudad de Roma y llegó a sitiar Constantinopla en la segunda de las ocasiones. Marchó a través de Francia hasta llegar incluso a Orleans antes de que le obligaran a retroceder en la batalla de los Campos Cataláunicos (Châlons-sur-Marne), y logró hacer huir al emperador Valentiniano III de su capital, Rávena, en el 452.

Aunque su imperio murió con él y no dejó ninguna herencia destacada, se convirtió en una figura legendaria de la historia de Europa. En gran parte de la Europa Occidental se le recuerda como el paradigma de la crueldad y la rapiña. Algunos historiadores, en cambio, lo han retratado como un rey grande y noble, y tres sagas escandinavas lo incluyen entre sus personajes principales.

Orígenes

Los hunos europeos parecen haber sido una rama occidental de los hsiung-nu, grupo proto-mongol o proto-túrquico de tribus nómadas del noreste de China y del Asia Central. Estos pueblos lograron superar militarmente a sus rivales (muchos de ellos de refinada cultura y civilización) por su predisposición para la guerra, su asombrosa movilidad y sus armas específicas, tales como el arco huno.

Atila nació en torno al año 406. En cuanto a su infancia, la suposición de que a temprana edad era ya un jefe capaz y un avezado guerrero es razonable, pero no existe forma de constatarla. Tras la muerte de su padre, Atila se encuentra con su tío y decide acompañarlo para aprender el arte de la guerra.

El trono compartido

El mundo del Mediterráneo sobre el 450 d.C.

Hacia el 432, los hunos se unificaron bajo el rey Rua o Rugila. En el 434 murió Rua, dejando a sus sobrinos Atila y Bleda, hijos de su hermano Mundzuk, al mando de todas las tribus hunas. En aquel momento los hunos se encontraban en plena negociación con los embajadores de Teodosio II, acerca de la entrega de varias tribus renegadas que se habían refugiado en el seno del imperio de Oriente. Al año siguiente, Atila y Bleda tuvieron un encuentro con la legación imperial en Margus (actualmente Pozarevac), y, sentados todos en la grupa de los caballos a la manera huna, negociaron un tratado. Los romanos acordaron no sólo devolver las tribus fugitivas (que habían sido un auxilio más que bienvenido contra los vándalos), sino también duplicar el tributo anteriormente pagado por el imperio, de 350 libras romanas de oro (casi 115 kg), abrir los mercados a los comerciantes hunos y pagar un rescate de ocho sólidos por cada romano prisionero de los hunos. Éstos, satisfechos con el tratado, levantaron sus campamentos y partieron hacia el interior del continente, tal vez con el propósito de consolidar y fortalecer su imperio. Teodosio utilizó esta oportunidad para reforzar los muros de Constantinopla, construyendo las primeras murallas marítimas de la ciudad, y para levantar líneas defensivas en la frontera a lo largo del Danubio.

El imperio huno se extendía desde las estepas de Asia Central hasta la actual Alemania, y desde el Danubio hasta el Báltico. Los hunos permanecieron fuera de la vista de los romanos durante los siguientes cinco años. Durante este tiempo llevaron a cabo una invasión de Persia. Sin embargo, una contraofensiva persa en Armenia concluyó con la derrota de Atila y Bleda, quienes renunciaron a sus planes de conquista. En el 440 reaparecieron en las fronteras del imperio oriental, atacando a los mercaderes de la ribera norte del Danubio, a los que protegía el tratado vigente. Atila y Bleda amenazaron con la guerra abierta, sosteniendo que los romanos habían faltado a sus compromisos y que el obispo de Margus (cercana a la actual Belgrado) había cruzado el Danubio para saquear y profanar las tumbas reales hunas de la orilla norte del Danubio. Cruzaron entonces este río y arrasaron las ciudades y fuertes ilirios a lo largo de la ribera, entre ellas –según Prisco– Viminacium, que era una ciudad de los Moesios en Iliria. Su avance comenzó en Margus, ya que cuando los romanos debatieron la posibilidad de entregar al obispo acusado de profanación, éste huyó en secreto a los bárbaros y les entregó la ciudad.

Teodosio había desguarnecido las defensas ribereñas como consecuencia de la captura de Cartago por el vándalo Genserico en el 440 y la invasión de Armenia por el sasánida Yazdegerd II en el 441. Esto dejó a Atila y Bleda el camino abierto a través de Iliria y los Balcanes, que se apresuraron a invadir en el mismo 441. El ejército huno, habiendo saqueado Margus y Viminacium, tomó Sigindunum (la moderna Belgrado) y Sirmium antes de detener las operaciones. Siguió entonces una tregua a lo largo del 442, momento que aprovechó Teodosio para traer sus tropas del Norte de África y disponer una gran emisión de moneda para financiar la guerra contra los hunos. Hechos estos preparativos, consideró que podía permitirse rechazar las exigencias de los reyes bárbaros.

La respuesta de Atila y Bleda fue retomar la campaña (443). Golpeando a lo largo del Danubio, tomaron los centros militares de Ratiara y sitiaron con éxito Naissus (actual Nis) mediante el empleo de arietes y torres de asalto rodantes (sofisticaciones militares novedosas entre los hunos). Más tarde, presionando a lo largo del Nisava tomaron Serdica (Sofía), Filípolis (Plovdiv) y Arcadiópolis. Enfrentaron y destruyeron tropas romanas en las afueras de Constantinopla y sólo se detuvieron por la falta del adecuado material de asedio capaz de abrir brecha en las ciclópeas murallas de la ciudad. Teodosio admitió la derrota y envió al cortesano Anatolio para que negociara los términos de la paz, que fueron más rigurosos que en el anterior tratado: el emperador acordó entregar más de 6.000 libras romanas (unos 1.963 kg) de oro como indemnización por haber faltado a los términos del pacto; el tributo anual se triplicó, alcanzando la cantidad de 2.100 libras romanas (unos 687 kg) de oro; y el rescate por cada romano prisionero pasaba a ser de 12 sólidos.

Satisfechos durante un tiempo sus deseos, los reyes hunos se retiraron al interior de su imperio. De acuerdo con Jordanes (quien sigue a Prisco), en algún momento del periodo de calma que siguió a la retirada de los hunos desde Bizancio (probablemente en torno al 445), Bleda murió y Atila quedó como único rey. Existe abundante especulación histórica sobre si Atila asesinó a su hermano o si Bleda murió por otras causas. En todo caso, Atila era ahora el señor indiscutido de los hunos y nuevamente se volvió hacia el imperio oriental.

Rey único

Tras la partida de los hunos, Constantinopla sufrió graves desastres, tanto naturales como causados por el hombre: sangrientos disturbios entre aficionados a las carreras de carros del Hipódromo; epidemias en el 445 y 446, la segunda a continuación de una hambruna; y toda una serie de terremotos que duró cuatro meses, derruyó buena parte de las murallas y mató a miles de personas, ocasionando una nueva epidemia. Este último golpe tuvo lugar en el 447, justo cuando Atila, habiendo consolidado su poder, partió de nuevo hacia el sur, entrando en el imperio a través de Moesia. El ejército romano, bajo el mando del magister militum godo Arnegisclo, le hizo frente en el río Vid y fue vencido aunque no sin antes ocasionar graves pérdidas al enemigo. Los hunos quedaron sin oposición y se dedicaron al pillaje a lo largo de los Balcanes, llegando incluso hasta las Termópilas. Constantinopla misma se salvó gracias a la intervención del prefecto Flavio Constantino, quien organizó brigadas ciudadanas para la reconstrucción de las murallas dañadas por los seismos (y, en algunos lugares, para construir una nueva línea de fortificación delante de la antigua).

Ha llegado hasta nosotros un relato de la invasión:

La nación bárbara de los hunos, que habitaba en Tracia, llegó a ser tan grande que más de cien ciudades fueron capturadas y Constantinopla llegó casi a estar en peligro y la mayoría de los hombres huyeron de ella (…) Y hubo tantos asesinatos y derramamientos de sangre que no se podía contar a los muertos. ¡Ay, que incluso capturaron iglesias y monasterios y degollaron a monjes y doncellas en gran número!

Callínico, Vida de San Hipatio

Atila reclamó como condición para la paz que los romanos continuaran pagando un tributo en oro y que evacuaran una franja de tierra cuya anchura iba de las trescientas millas hacia el este desde Sigindunum hasta las cien millas al sur del Danubio. Las negociaciones continuaron entre romanos y hunos durante aproximadamente tres años. El historiador Prisco fue enviado como embajador al campamento de Atila en el 448. Los fragmentos de sus informes, conservados por Jordanes, nos ofrecen una gráfica descripción de Atila entre sus numerosas esposas, su bufón escita y su enano moro, impasible y sin joyas en medio del esplendor de sus cortesanos.

Atila en Occidente

Ya en el 450 había proclamado Atila su intención de atacar al poderoso reino visigodo de Toulouse en alianza con el emperador Valentiniano III. Atila había estado anteriormente en buenas relaciones con el imperio occidental y con su gobernante de facto, Flavio Aecio. Aecio había pasado un breve exilio entre los hunos en el 433, y las tropas que Atila le había proporcionado contra los godos y los burgundios habían contribuido a conseguirle el título –más que nada honorífico– de “magister militum” en occidente. Los regalos y los esfuerzos diplomáticos de Genserico, que se oponía y temía a los visigodos, pudieron influir también en los planes de Atila.

El camino de las fuerzas hunas en la invasión de la Galia, hasta la Batalla de los Campos Cataláunicos. En cualquier caso, en la primavera del 450, la hermana de Valentiniano, Honoria, a la que contra su voluntad habían prometido con un senador, envió al rey huno una demanda de ayuda juntamente con su anillo. Aunque es probable que Honoria no tuviera intención de proponerle matrimonio, Atila escogió interpretar así su mensaje. Aceptó, pidiéndole como dote la mitad del imperio occidental. Cuando Valentiniano descubrió lo sucedido, sólo la influencia de su madre, Gala Placidia, consiguió que enviara a Honoria al exilio en vez de matarla. Escribió a Atila negando categóricamente la legitimidad de la supuesta oferta de matrimonio. Atila, sin dejarse convencer, envió una embajada a Rávena para proclamar la inocencia de Honoria y la legitimidad de su propuesta de esponsales, así como que él mismo se encargaría de venir a reclamar lo que era suyo por derecho.

Mientras tanto, Teodosio murió a consecuencia de una caída de caballo y su sucesor, Marciano, interrumpió el pago del tributo a finales del 450. Las sucesivas invasiones de los hunos y de otras tribus habían dejado los Balcanes con poco que saquear. El rey de los salios había muerto y la lucha sucesoria entre sus dos hijos condujo a un enfrentamiento entre Atila y Aecio. Atila apoyaba al hijo mayor, mientras que Aecio lo hacía al pequeño. Bury piensa que la intención de Atila al marchar hacia el oeste era la de extender su reino –ya para entonces el más poderoso del continente– hasta la Galia y las costas del Atlántico. Para cuando reunió a todos sus vasallos (gépidos, ostrogodos, rugianos, escirianos, hérulos, turingios, alanos, burgundios, etc.) e inició su marcha hacia el oeste, había ya enviado ofertas de alianza tanto a los visigodos como a los romanos.

En el 451 su llegada a Bélgica con un ejército que Jordanes cifra en medio millón de hombres puso pronto en claro cuáles eran sus verdaderas intenciones. El 7 de abril tomó Metz, obligando a Aecio a ponerse en movimiento para hacerle frente con tropas reclutadas entre los francos, burgundios y celtas. Una embajada de Avito y el constante avance de Atila hacia el oeste convencieron al rey visigodo, Teodorico I, de aliarse con los romanos. El ejército combinado de ambos llegó a Orleans por delante de Atila, cortando así su avance. Aecio persiguió a los hunos y les dio caza cerca de Châlons-en-Champagne, trabando la batalla de los Campos Cataláunicos, que terminó con la victoria de la alianza godo-romana, aunque Teodorico (Primer Rey Visigodo con asiento en Tolosa, no confundir con Teodorico El Grande, Rey Ostrogodo radicado en Rávena, 454-526) perdió la vida en el combate. Atila se replegó más allá de sus fronteras y sus aliados se desbandaron.

Invasión de Italia y muerte de Atila

Atila y sus hunos invadiendo Italia

Atila apareció de nuevo en el 452 para exigir su matrimonio con Honoria, invadiendo y saqueando Italia a su paso. Su ejército sometió a pillaje numerosas ciudades y arrasó Aquilea hasta sus cimientos. Valentiniano huyó de Rávena a Roma. Aecio permaneció en campaña, pero sin potencia militar suficiente para presentar batalla

Finalmente, Atila se detuvo en el Po, a donde acudió una embajada formada, entre otros, por el prefecto Trigecio, el cónsul Avieno y el papa León I. Tras el encuentro inició la retirada sin reclamar ya ni su matrimonio con Honoria ni los territorios que deseaba.

Se han ofrecido muchas explicaciones para este hecho. Puede que las epidemias y hambrunas que coincidieron con su invasión debilitaran su ejército, o que las tropas que Marciano envió al otro lado del Danubio le forzaran a regresar, o quizá ambas cosas. Prisco cuenta que un temor supersticioso al destino de Alarico, que murió poco después del saqueo de Roma en el 410, hizo detenerse a los hunos. Próspero de Aquitania afirma que el papa León, ayudado por San Pedro y San Pablo, le convenció para que se retirara de la ciudad. Seguramente la indudable personalidad de San León Magno tuvo más que ver con la retirada de Atila que la entrega a éste de una gran cantidad de oro, como suponen algunos autores, dado que tenía ya al alcance de su mano la plena posesión de la fuente de la que ese oro manaba.

El encuentro de San León Magno y Atila, de Rafael, en el que se puede ver a San Pedro y San Pablo apoyando al papa desde lo alto en su encuentro con el rey huno.Cualesquiera que fuesen sus razones, Atila dejó Italia y regresó a su palacio más allá del Danubio. Desde allí planeó atacar nuevamente Constantinopla y exigir el tributo que Marciano había dejado de pagar. Pero la muerte le sorprendió a comienzos del 453. El relato de Prisco dice que cierta noche, tras los festejos de celebración de su última boda (con una goda llamada Ildico), sufrió una grave hemorragia nasal que le ocasionó la muerte. Sus soldados, al descubrir su fallecimiento, le lloraron cortándose el pelo e hiriéndose con las espadas, pues –como señala Jordanes– “el más grande de todos los guerreros no había de ser llorado con lamentos de mujer ni con lágrimas, sino con sangre de hombres” . Lo enterraron en un triple sarcófago –de oro, plata y hierro– junto con el botín de sus conquistas, y los que participaron en el funeral fueron ejecutados para mantener secreto el lugar de enterramiento. Tras su muerte, siguió viviendo como figura legendaria: los personajes de Etzel en el Cantar de los Nibelungos y de Atli en la Saga de los Volsung y la Edda poética se inspiran vagamente en su figura.

Otra versión de su muerte es la que nos ofrece, ochenta años después del suceso, el cronista romano Conde Marcelino: “Atila, rey de los hunos y saqueador de las provincias de Europa, fue atravesado por la mano y la daga de su mujer”. También la Saga de los Volsung y la Edda poética sostienen que el rey Atli (Atila) murió a manos de su mujer Gudrun, pero la mayoría de los estudiosos rechazan estos relatos como puras fantasías románticas y prefieren la versión dada por Prisco, contemporáneo de Atila. Siendo este el fin de 8 años que duro las invasiones de los hunos, los bárbaros que hicieron retroceder y extinguirse a Roma, el Imperio Romano de Occidente que lo único que quedaba prácticamente era Roma fue terminada y destruida por los vándalos, otro pueblo bárbaro.

Sus hijos Elac (al que había designado heredero), Dengizik y Ernak lucharon por la sucesión y, divididos, fueron vencidos y desperdigados el año siguiente en la batalla de Nedao por una coalición de pueblos diversos (ostrogodos, hérulos, gépidos, etc). Su imperio no sobrevivió a Atila.

Apariencia, carácter y nombre

La principal fuente de información sobre Atila es Prisco, un historiador que viajó con Maximino en una embajada de Teodosio II en el 448. Describe el poblado construido por los nómadas hunos, y en el que se habían establecido, como del tamaño de una ciudad grande, con sólidos muros de madera. Al propio Atila lo retrata así:

"Corto de estatura, de ancho pecho y cabeza grande; sus ojos eran pequeños, su barba fina y salpicada de canas; y tenía la nariz chata y la tez morena, mostrando la evidencia de su origen”.

La apariencia física de Atila debía ser, muy probablemente, la de alguien del Extremo Oriente o del tipo mongol, o quizá una mezcla de este tipo y del de los pueblos túrquicos de Asia Central. En realidad, seguramente mostraba rasgos del oriente asiático, que los europeos no estaban acostumbrados a ver, y por eso lo describieron con frecuencia en términos poco elogiosos.

Atila es conocido en la historia y la tradición occidentales como el inflexible “Azote de Dios”, y su nombre ha pasado a ser sinónimo de crueldad y barbarie. Algo de esto ha podido surgir de la fusión de sus rasgos, en la imaginación popular, con los de los posteriores señores esteparios de la guerra, como Gengis Kan y Tamerlán: todos ellos comparten la misma fama de crueles, inteligentes, sanguinarios y amantes de la batalla y el pillaje. La realidad sobre sus caracteres respectivos puede ser más compleja. Los hunos del tiempo de Atila se habían relacionado durante algún tiempo con la civilización romana, particularmente a través de los aliados germanos (foederati) de la frontera, de modo que cuando Teodosio envió su embajada del 448, Prisco pudo identificar como lenguas comunes en la horda el huno, el gótico y el latín. Cuenta también Prisco su encuentro con un romano occidental cautivo, que había asimilado tan completamente la forma de vida de los hunos que no tenía ningún deseo de volver a su país de origen. Y la descripción del historiador bizantino de la humildad y sencillez de Atila no ofrece dudas sobre la admiración que le causa. Asimismo, está claro de los relatos del mismo Prisco, que Atila no sólo hablaba perfectamente el latín, sino que sabía escribirlo; además hablaba griego y otros idiomas, por lo que muy probablemente se trató de un hombre de gran cultura para los cánones de la época.

El contexto histórico de la vida de Atila tuvo gran trascendencia a la hora de configurar su posterior imagen pública: En los años de la decadencia del Imperio occidental, tanto sus conflictos con Aecio (conocido a menudo como “el último romano”) como lo ajeno de su cultura contribuyeron a cubrirlo con la máscara de bárbaro feroz y enemigo de la civilización con la que ha sido reflejado en un sinnúmero de películas y otras manifestaciones artísticas. Los poemas épicos germanos en los que aparece nos ofrecen un retrato más matizado: es tanto un aliado noble y generoso –el Etzel del Cantar de los Nibelungos– como cruel y rapaz –Atli, en la Saga de los Volsung y en la Edda poética–. Algunas historias nacionales, sin embargo, le retratan siempre bajo una luz favorable. En Hungría y Turquía los nombres de Atila y su última mujer, Ildico, siguen siendo populares actualmente. De forma parecida, el escritor húngaro Géza Gárdonyi, en su novela A láthatatlan ember (publicada en español con el título de El esclavo de Atila), ofrece una imagen positiva del rey huno, describiéndolo como un jefe sabio y querido.

Se ha clasificado a Atila como un "bárbaro" sin darse cuenta de que lo romanos llamaban así a cualquier pueblo que no fuera romano o romanizado, sin importar su grado de cultura ni su estado de civilización. Hay que tener en cuenta, a la hora de formarse una idea correcta del personaje, que los relatos que nos han llegado son todos de pluma de sus enemigos, por lo que es imprescindible un adecuado expurgo de los mismos.

Aparte de esto, no es improbable que el jefe de una nación guerrera (un jefe inteligente) sopesara la ventaja propagandística de ser considerado por sus enemigos "el Azote de Dios", y que debido a ello fomentara esa imagen entre ellos.

El nombre de Atila podría significar “Padrecito”, del gótico “atta” (padre), con el sufijo diminutivo “-la”, ya que sabemos que muchos godos sirvieron en sus ejércitos. Podría ser también una forma pre-turca, de origen altaico (compárese con Ataturk y con Alma-Ata, la actual Almaty). Es muy posible que provenga de “atta” (padre) y de “il” (tierra, país), con el sentido de “tierra paterna” o “madre patria”. Atil era también el nombre altaico del actual Volga, río que tal vez dio su nombre a Atila.

La herencia de Atila

Los hunos están intentando en la actualidad lograr su reconocimiento como minoría étnica en Hungría. Más de 100.000 hunos descendientes del Azote de Dios podrían vivir hoy entre Hungría y sus países vecinos. A pesar de su gran fama, poco se sabe del fin de este pueblo que atravesó 10.000 km hasta llegar desde Mongolia a Hungria. La hipotesis más razonable parece ser que la desintegración del imperio de los hunos a la muerte de Atila, y las enfermedades europeas (para un pueblo de la estepa asiatica con un sistema inmunologico muy diferente) dividieron y diezmaron a la población, que se fue mezclando por diferentes regiones, principalmente en Hungria y Rumania. No parece muy logico, que tras 100 años de asentamiento en Europa, ese pueblo desapareciera por completo, o volviera a rehacer el camino a la actual Mongolia.

Prisco: Historia Bizantina (texto griego en Ludwig Dindorf: Historici Graeci Minores, Leipzig, B.G. Teubner, 1870). Se puede consultar una traducción al inglés de J.B. Bury en Priscus at the court of Attila

Jordanes: Origen y gestas de los godos. Hay una edición española de José María Sánchez Martín, Madrid, Cátedra, 2001.

Bibliografía

Bock, Susan: Los hunos, tradición e historia. Universidad de Murcia, Secretariado de Publicaciones, 1992. ISBNB0000EDNA1

Bussagli, Mario: Atila. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2005. ISBN 84-206-0341-4

Roberts, Wess: Atila, conquistador en el siglo V, líder en el siglo XX,. Madrid: Maeva, 2001. ISBN 84-86478-23-5

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Yrke : Kung av hunnerna , svenskar , goterna OCH danskar

Attila, Allmänt känd som Attila till Hun, var kejsaren av hunnerna, från 434 till sin död 453 . Han var ledare för Hunnic Vilka riket sträckte sig från Tyskland till Ural River och från Donau till Östersjön Under hans styre var han en av de mest fruktansvärda av västra och östra romerska riket " fiender : Jag invaderade Balkan två gånger och kvar genom Gallien (dagens Frankrike) så långt som Orléans Besegrade innan de i slaget vid Châlons .

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila
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Attila (A.D. 406–453), also known as Attila the Hun, was the Emperor of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453.

He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the River Danube 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 and marched through Gaul (modern France) as far as Orleans before being defeated at the Battle of Chalons.

He refrained from attacking either Constantinople or Rome. His story, that the Sword of Attila had come to his hand by miraculous means, was reported by the Roman Priscus.[citation needed]

In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty and rapacity. However he is regarded as a hero and his name is revered and used in Hungary and some Turkic-speaking countries in Asia. Some histories and chronicles describe him as a great and noble king, and he plays major roles in three Norse sagas: Atlakviða; Völsunga; and Atlamál.[citation needed] Under the name Atli, he also plays a major role in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun.

He is reported as being "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..."

Background

Main article: Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic tribal people who, appearing from beyond the Volga, migrated into Europe c.AD 370 and built up an enormous empire in Europe. Their main military technique was mounted archery. They were possibly the descendants of the Xiongnu who had been northern neighbours of China three hundred years before[1] and may be the first expansion of Turkic people across Eurasia[2][3][4][5][6]. The origin and language of the Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries. The leading current theory is that their leaders at least may have spoken a Turkic language.

Shared kingship

The Hunnic Empire stretched from the steppes of Central Asia into modern Germany, and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea.

The death of Rugila (also known as Rua or Ruga) in 434 left his nephews Attila and Bleda (also known as Buda), the sons of his brother Mundzuk (Hungarian: Bendegúz, Turkish: Boncuk), in control over all the united Hun tribes. At the time of their accession, the Huns were bargaining with Byzantine emperor Theodosius II's envoys over the return of several renegades (possibly Hunnic nobles not in agreement with the brothers' leadership) 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,[7] negotiated a successful treaty: the Romans agreed not only to return the fugitives, but also to double their previous tribute of 350 Roman pounds (ca. 115 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 in the Hungarian Great Plain, 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 defenses along the Danube.

The Huns remained out of Roman sight for the next few years as a Hunnic force invaded the Sassanid Empire. A defeat in Armenia by the Sassanids caused them to abandon this attempt and return their attentions to Europe. In 440 they reappeared in force 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. Crossing the Danube, they 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.

As the Huns conquered the Danube defences, the Vandals, under the leadership of Geiseric, captured the Western Roman province of Africa with its capital of Carthage in 440 and the Sassanid Shah Yazdegerd II invaded Armenia in 441. Stripping the Balkan defenses of forces requested by the West Romans, in order to launch an attack on the Vandals in Africa (which was the richest province of the Western empire and a main source of the food supply of Rome) 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 Sicily 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 with a campaign in 443.[8] Striking along the Danube, the Huns overran the military centres of Ratiara and successfully besieged Naissus (modern Niš) with battering rams and rolling siege towers—military sophistication that was new to the Hun repertoire—then pushing along the Nisava River they took Serdica (Sofia), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and Arcadiopolis. They encountered and destroyed the Roman army outside Constantinople and were stopped by the double walls of the Eastern capital. A second army was defeated near Callipolis (modern Gallipoli) and Theodosius, now without any armed forces to respond, admitting defeat, sent the court official Anatolius to negotiate peace terms, which were harsher than the previous treaty: the Emperor agreed to hand over 6,000 Roman pounds (ca. 2000 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. 700 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 in a hunting accident arranged by his brother, according to the classical sources), Attila took the throne for himself, and became the sole ruler of the Huns.[9]

Sole ruler

In 447 Attila again rode south into the Eastern Roman Empire through Moesia. The Roman army under the Gothic magister militum Arnegisclus met him in the Battle of the Utus 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

In the west

In 450 Attila 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. Aëtius 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 was Honoria, who, 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.

The general path of the Hun forces in the invasion of Gaul.

Attila interfered in a succession struggle after the death of a Frankish ruler. Attila supported the elder son, while Aëtius supported the younger.[10] 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.[11]

On April 7, he captured Metz. Other cities attacked can be determined by the hagiographic vitae written to commemorate their bishops: Nicasius was slaughtered before the altar of his church in Rheims; Servatus is alleged to have saved Tongeren with his prayers, as Saint Genevieve is to have saved Paris.[12] Lupus, bishop of Troyes, is also credited with saving his city by meeting Attila in person.[13]

Aëtius moved to oppose Attila, 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,[14] thus checking and turning back the Hunnish advance. Aëtius gave chase and caught the Huns at a place usually assumed to be near Catalaunum (modern Châlons-en-Champagne). The two armies clashed in the Battle of Chalons, whose outcome is commonly considered to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Visigothic-Roman alliance. Theodoric was killed in the fighting and Aëtius failed to press his advantage, according to Edward Gibbon and Edward Creasy, because he feared the consequences of an overwhelming Visigothic triumph as much as he did a defeat. From Aëtius' 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.

Invasion of Italy and death

Raphael's The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila

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. Aëtius, who lacked the strength to offer battle, managed 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.[15] Prosper of Aquitaine gives a short, reliable description of the historic meeting. The later anonymous account,[16] 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 if he left in peace, one of his successors would receive a holy crown.[17] 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)[18] 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 or a condition called esophageal varices, where dilated veins in the lower part of the esophagus rupture leading to death by haemorrhage.[19]

Another account of his death, first recorded 80 years after the events 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."[20] The Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda also claim that King Atli (Attila) died at the hands of his wife, Gudrun.[21] Most scholars reject these accounts as no more than hearsay, preferring instead the account given by Attila's contemporary Priscus. Priscus' version, however, has recently come under renewed scrutiny by Michael A. Babcock.[22] 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 they 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 river, 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 khans 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. There is, however, a possible second-hand source, 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.

[23]

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 Timur (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. The etymology "oceanic (universal) [ruler]" has been proposed, supposing that the Hunnic language was Danube-Bulgarian.[24] Alternatively the word might originate from Turkic Atyl/Atal/Atil/Itil meaning water, river (also, ancient name of Volga river), with adjective suffix -ly. (Compare also Turkic medieval notable title atalyk – "senior as father").[25][26][27] The Polish Chronicle represents Attila's name as Aquila derived from the Latin aqua. Others believe that the name may have connection to Hungarian ítélet meaning judgement. Old-Turkic might have used the word atta ("father") then added the diminutive suffix -ila, which means ("little father") from Attaila [28] '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 the German Nibelungenlied, or Attila, Atila or Atilla in modern Turkish.

Literary and cultural representations

Attila has been portrayed in various ways, sometimes as a noble ruler, sometimes as a cruel barbarian. In Hungary and in Turkey "Attila" is commonly used as a male first name. In Turkey sometimes the name is spelt with double ll rather than double tt (Atilla).

http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atila
Ancestor (8 generations) to King Aidpud (ID=4899).
Attila the Hun, Scourge of God, Terrorizer and destroyer of Rome. Got as far as Orleans Gaul.
Note: Doesn't belong in my family tree since he isn't related. Just have him here for historical reference.
SOURCE NOTES:
http://www.art-science.com/Ken/Genealogy/PD/ch49_Charlemagne.html#Ellak
RESEARCH NOTES:
King of the Huns (433-451); defeated at Chalons-sur-Marne
Murdered brother Bleda (joint king) 445
On becoming the King of the Huns in 433, jointly with his brother Bleda, whom
he murdered twelve years later, he aroused them from their sedentary life in
Hungary & encouraged them to resume their wars with the Romans. Atilla was
only interested in power. He rubbed this in by feeding prominent guests off
gold crockery but himself ate from a wooden platter & drank from a wooden cup.
By levying a tribute of about a ton of gold a year from the Eastern Empire,
which was useless in his economy, he strangled the Roman's cash economy. The
war of 451 had been triggered by what Atilla interpreted as a marriage offer
from Honoria, Valentian's sister, who had asked Attila for help to avoid a
forced marriage. Valentinian had refused to let her marry her lover & intended
to marry her off to someone who could control her. She sent a ring to Atilla
when she tried to recruit his help. He then demanded half the Western Empire
as a dowry!
Chalons was not yet the end of Attila's career but it was the turning point in
pushing back the Huns rampage across two continents, despite further ravages
by Attila in Italy. Although Pope Leo I claimed the credit, Attila's movement
out of Italy was determined both by the lack of hay & fear of the plague.
KNOWN AS "THE HUN""THE SCOURGE OF GOD"; KING OF THE HUNS 433?-453
The Scourge of God
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=2cc561fb-c5b9-40be-a8b2-19b447495187&tid=2440653&pid=-1813516867
Ancestor (8 generations) to King Aidpud (ID=4899).

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Barre chronologique Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns

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Cliquez sur le nom pour plus d'information. Symboles utilisés: grootouders grand-parents   ouders parents   broers-zussen frères/soeurs   kinderen enfants

Ancêtres (et descendants) de Attila "The Hun " "Scourge of God"


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    • On ne fait pas de différence entre majuscules et minuscules.
    • Si vous n'êtes pas sûr du prénom ou de l'orthographe exacte, vous pouvez utiliser un astérisque (*). Exemple : "*ornelis de b*r" trouve à la fois "cornelis de boer" et "kornelis de buur".
    • Il est impossible d'introduire des caractères autres que ceux de l'alphabet (ni signes diacritiques tels que ö ou é).


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    Sur le nom de famille "Scourge of God"


    La publication Arbre généalogique Homs a été préparée par .contacter l'auteur
    Lors de la copie des données de cet arbre généalogique, veuillez inclure une référence à l'origine:
    George Homs, "Arbre généalogique Homs", base de données, Généalogie Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-homs/I6000000000722248117.php : consultée 30 avril 2024), "Attila "The Hun " (Attila "The Hun ") "Flagelum Dei (B" "Scourge of God" 59th King of the Huns (± 406-453)".