| Thurisind | |
|---|---|
| King of the Gepids | |
| Reign | c. 548–560 |
| Predecessor | Elemund |
| Successor | Cunimund |
| Died | c. 560 |
| Issue | Cunimund Turismod |
Thurisind (Latin:Turisindus, diedc. 560) was king of theGepids, anEast GermanicGothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He was the penultimate Gepid king, and succeeded KingElemund by staging acoup d'état and forcing the king's son into exile. Thurisind's kingdom, known asGepidia, was located inCentral Europe and had its centre inSirmium, a formerRoman city on theSava River (now the town ofSremska Mitrovica, Serbia).
His reign was marked by multiple wars with theLombards, a Germanic people who had arrived in the formerRoman province ofPannonia under the leadership of their king,Audoin. Thurisind also had to face the hostility of theByzantine Empire, which was resentful of the Gepid takeover of Sirmium and anxious to diminish Gepid power in thePannonian Basin, a plain covering most of modern Hungary and partly including the bordering states. The Byzantines' plans to reduce the Gepids' power took effect when Audoin decisively defeated Thurisind in 551 or 552. The Byzantine EmperorJustinian forced a peace accord on both leaders so that equilibrium in the Pannonian Basin could be sustained.
Thurisind lost his eldest son,Turismod, in theBattle of Asfeld, during which the prince was killed byAlboin, son of Audoin. In about 560, Thurisind died and was succeeded by his remaining sonCunimund, who was killed by Alboin in 567. Cunimund's death marked the end of the Gepid Kingdom and the beginning of the conquest of their territories by the Lombards' allies, theAvars, a nomadic people migrating from theEurasian Steppe.
Of the four earlymedieval sources relevant to Thurisind that survive,[1] the only one providing independent evidence of the king, accounts ofJustinian's wars, and a detailed account of the relations betweenGepids andLombards and their kings isDe Bellis (550s), the most important work ofProcopius.[2][3] Considered the greatest historian of the 6th century, Procopius was aGreek writer born inCaesarea inPalestine in 527.[4] The Lombard–Gepid wars are well described in Procopius' work, as the conflict played an important part in theByzantine plans toinvade Italy by a land route.[5]
Less relevant is the other 6th-century source,Jordanes'Romana. OfGothic ancestry, Jordanes served as anotarius for a ByzantineMaster of the Soldiers before entering into the ranks of theCatholicclergy and writing his two surviving books, theRomana and theGetica. The latter is a summary of Gothic history, while the lesser knownRomana is an abridged account of Roman history written in 551 or 552. According toJames O'Donnell, the two works share a pessimistic view of human life in which all secular accomplishments are insignificant compared to religious goals.[6][7] Jordanes does not explicitly mention Thurisind in theRomana, but speaks of the third Lombard–Gepid War, in which Thurisind participated, in the last passages of the work.[8]
Paul the Deacon was the most important Italian writer of the 8th century.[9] Born in the 720s or 730s, he came from a noble Lombard family fromFriuli. He entered the clergy early, and eventually became amonk of themonastery ofMonte Cassino. His most famous work is theHistoria Langobardorum, a history of the Lombard nation. Written after 787, it is a continuation of his previous major historical work, theHistoria Romana, which was based on theBreviarium ofEutropius, with six books added describing historical events up to Justinian's empire.[9][10] Both of these works mention Thurisind and the third Lombard–Gepid War, which represent the only overlap between theHistoria Langobardorum and theHistoria Romana. Both books also mention the duel between the kings' sons, an event which is absent in Procopius' writing and is thought to have originated throughoral tradition.[11] Similarly, the meeting between Thurisind and Audoin's son at the former's court derives from an oral source.[12]
The Gepids were a major Germanic people in what is now eastern Hungary, western Romania, and northernSerbia. Although the details of his early life are not known, Thurisind is believed to have risen to power in about 548.[13] After the death of Elemund, the previous king, he seized the throne in a coup d'état and forced Elemund's son Ostrogotha into exile.[14] Ostrogotha and his followers found refuge among the Gepids' neighbours and enemies, the Lombards, another Germanic people who had just settled in the western part of thePannonian Basin.[15][16] The Gepids had inhabited parts of the basin since the 3rd century. They reached prominence in the 5th century when, under KingArdaric, they played a key role in destroying theHunnic Empire. Ardaric and his people benefited more than anybody else from this victory, gaining the former Roman province ofDacia.[17]
In 504 the Gepids' power was significantly reduced by theOstrogoths, who cut short their expansion into the Danubian plains. The Gepids restricted themselves to the eastern part of the Pannonian Basin; this was to form the core of Thurisind's dominions, just as it had under the previous Gepid kings.[18][19] By the early 6th century, the Gepid nobility converted toArianChristianity, while most of the Gepids remainedpagans.[20]
According to the scholar István Boná, Thurisind's rise to power is a typical example of the conflicts among the leading families for the kingship that plagued Gepidia in the 6th century and made it difficult to maintain the succession within the king's family. To contain these obstacles Thurisind madeTurismod, his oldest son, commander of the Gepid forces inSirmium, an important position that made Turismod the king'sheir apparent (in early Germanic custom the eldest son was not necessarily the first inline of succession). After Turismod died, his younger brotherCunimund became commander in Sirmium and thus heir apparent.[21]
On becoming king in 548, Thurisind immediately found himself in a difficult situation. Sometime during 546[22]–548,[23][24][25] the Byzantine Empire had conspired to convince the Lombards under Audoin to move intoPannonia (modern Hungary), a former Roman province bordering the Danube river. Justinian hoped this would keep open the land route from theBalkans to Italy while containing the Gepids, who he considered a serious menace to Byzantine interests on the Balkan frontier. TheGothic War between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines had been raging on the Italian peninsula since 535; Justinian wanted to be able to rush troops to Italy if they were needed.[26][27]
According to the contemporaryProcopius in theDe Bello Gothico (the section of theDe Bellis regarding the Gothic War),[28] Justinian resented the takeover by the Gepids of the formerly Roman city of Sirmium in 537, which may have been voluntarily surrendered by the Ostrogoths to create difficulties for the Byzantines. The Ostrogoths were also occupied with the war in Italy and sought to retain their possessions in the peninsula. Sirmium's takeover was followed in 539 by a bloody confrontation between the Gepids and the Byzantines that had cost the latter the life ofCalluc, their Master of the Soldiers, and also the loss to the Gepids ofDacia ripensis (Serbia) andSingidunum (Belgrade). Because of this, Justinian ended the alliance that had bonded the Gepids and Byzantines, and had ceased paying tributes to the Gepids, finding an enemy to set them against in the Lombards.[29][30][31][32]
The build-up towards a war involving Lombards, Gepids, and Byzantines started possibly in 548 or 549,[22] with Audoin and Thurisind each sending an embassy to Justinian's court atConstantinople, in attempts to obtain military support from Justinian or at least, in the case of Thurisind, to get a pledge of neutrality. To sway Justinian, Thurisind's envoys reminded him of their long tradition of alliance and promised to fight against Byzantium's enemies. However, the emperor sided with the Lombards; he made them formal allies and promised to provide troops against the Gepids. From Justinian's perspective, this war was of major importance in the larger context of the Gothic War, because possession of Pannonia was strategically necessary to keep open land communications between Italy and the Balkans.[33]
Historians debate as to when the conflict started. Proposed dates for the first war are either 547[34] or 549.[24][33] At the same time as the two peoples took the field, a 10,000-strongByzantine horse army under the command ofJohn, the magister militum ofIllyricum, marched against the Gepids. Before John's arrival, Thurisind offered a truce to Audoin that was accepted. As a result, when the Byzantines arrived, the war had already ended, but not before they had clashed with the Gepids'Herulian allies.[24][35][36] To seal the truce, Audoin demanded that Thurisind should give upIldigis, a pretender to the Lombard crown who lived as a guest at his court. Thurisind refused, but he did force Ildigis to leave the Gepids and search for another refuge.[34][36]
| "So the Gepaedes and the Lombards advanced in full force against each other, both being fully prepared for war. And the commanders were, on the side of the Gepaedes, Thurisind, and on that of the Lombards, Auduin ... But that fright which is called panic suddenly fell upon both armies and carried the men all backward in a flight which had no real cause, only the commanders being left where they were with a small number of men."[37] |
| Procopius De Bello Gothico, Book IV, Ch. 18 |
In either 549[34] or 550,[22][36] the Gepids and Lombards again marched against each other but, according to Procopius, both armies panicked and no battle took place. As a result, a new war was avoided and Thurisind accepted Audoin's request for a two-year truce.[34][36][38] According to István Boná, the panic may be linked to a natural phenomenon: alunar eclipse took place on June 25/26, 549.[35]
Confronted by an openly hostile Byzantine Empire, and faced with the eventuality that the war with the Lombards would be renewed at the truce's expiration, Thurisind searched for new allies as a way to pressure Justinian. He found assistance from theKutrigurs, who he ferried across theDanube into the Byzantine Illyricum in 550[39] or 551,[40] before the truce expired and probably before the Gepids were ready to precipitate a new conflict.[40][41] In retrospect, it may be they arrived too late instead of too early, if the agreement had been made with the Second Lombard–Gepid War in mind.[35]
Faced with the Kutrigur invasion, Justinianactivated his alliance against the invaders, mobilizing the neighbouringUtigurs, who in turn asked for help from the alliedCrimean Tetraxites. The latter invaded the Kutrigur homeland, taking advantage of the fact that many warriors were employed at that moment in the Balkans. Informed of the attack, the Kutrigurs were forced to leave the Balkans to defend their homeland on the north-western shore of theBlack Sea.[40][41][42]
Thurisind protected and promoted another enemy of Byzantium, theSclaveni. As with the Kutrigurs, Thurisind used his control of the Danube to ferrySlavic raiders to and from Byzantine territory, and obtained payment from them in the process.[39][40]
Justinian's plans to send expeditionary forces against the Ostrogoths in Italy were repeatedly hampered by Thurisind's initiatives. For example,Narses' army left Constantinople in April 551 forSalona, with hopes of finally defeating the Goths, but found itself blocked atPhilippopolis (Plovdiv) by the Kutrigurs.[43][44]
This brought Justinian to search for an accord with Thurisind to stop the trans-Danubian raids, and the latter was more than happy to accept. Thurisind's envoys asked for an alliance like the one bonding Byzantines and Lombards. In addition to strengthening the alliance, they demanded, and got, 12 senators to swear to uphold the treaty.[44] After this, in 551, 400 Gepids were sent to fight in Narses' army, which was sent to Italy—a modest army compared to the 5,500 Lombards sent by Audoin and the thousands of Heruli.[45][46]
When the truce expired in 552, Thurisind and Audoin again took to the field, and this time the clash was unavoidable. Audoin had reached an agreement with Justinian by which the Byzantines promised to send him military support in exchange for the 5,500 Lombards sent to help the Byzantine general Narses in the Emperor's war in Italy.[38][45]
The two-year truce was now close to expiry and the Lombards asked the Byzantines to respect the alliance which had been established between them. The Emperor found an excuse to break the new alliance with the Gepids by claiming they had again ferried Slav raiders. He put together an army with renowned commanders in its ranks such asGermanus' sonsJustin andJustinian,Aratius, the HerulianSuartuas, andAmalafrid, brother-in-law of Audoin. A revolt that erupted inUlpiana diverted the bulk of the army; only a force under Amalafrid reached the battlefield.[47]
Scholars debate when the third Lombard–Gepid War started; it is agreed that it took place two years after the second war. The possible dates are either 551[34][48] or 552.[22][45] The 551 date is upheld by those who argue that since in 552 Audoin had already dispatched 5,500 of his warriors to Narses' Italian campaign, the third Lombard–Gepid War must have already ended by then; against this scholars such asWalter Pohl protest that this is in contradiction with Audoin's reproaches to Justinian on the few troops sent against the Gepids, despite his massive support to Narses.[33]
When the treaty expired, Audoin attacked the Gepids and Thurisind was crushed in thedecisive battle of the Asfeld held west of Sirmium. The battle was mentioned by Jordanes in theRomana as one of the most bloody ever fought in the region, with no fewer than 60,000 warriors killed.[49] The king's son Turismod also died, killed by Audoin's sonAlboin in a duel that according to Paul the Deacon decided both the battle and the war. After the battle, the Gepids were never again able to play a formative role in the shaping of events.[22][38][45][50][51]
| "The Gepidae ... strive to avenge the open insult ... The king leaping forth from the table thrust himself into their midst and restrained his people from anger and strife, threatening first to punish him who first engaged in fight, saying that it is a victory not pleasing to God when any one kills his guest in his own house. Thus at last the quarrel having been allayed, they now finished the banquet with joyful spirits. And Turisind, taking up the arms of Turismod his son, delivered them to Alboin and sent him back in peace and safety to his father's kingdom."[52] |
| Paul the Deacon Historia Langobardorum, Book I, Ch. 24 |
The Gepids' defeat caused a geopolitical shift in the Pannonian Basin, as it ended the danger represented by the Gepids to the Empire.[26] The Gepids' utter defeat could have meant the end of their kingdom and its conquest by the Lombards, but Justinian, wanting to maintain an equilibrium in the region, imposed an "eternal peace" that saved the Gepids; it was observed for ten years, surviving both Thurisind and Audoin. It may be on this occasion, and not before the war, that Lombards and Gepids sent troops to Narses as part of the peace treaty imposed by the Byzantines. In this interpretation, the small number of Gepid warriors sent could be explained with the heavy losses taken in the war and the resentment felt towards Justinian.[13][45][48][53][54] The Emperor also imposed some territorial concessions on Thurisind, obligating him to return Dacia ripensis and the territory of Singidunum.[55]
To reach a complete peace Thurisind had first to deal with Ildigis who had found hospitality at Thurisind's court. Audoin demanded yet again to have him turned in, and Justinian joined in the request. Thurisind, despite his reluctance to resume the war with both Audoin and Justinian, did not want to openly breach the rules of hospitality and thus tried to evade the request by demanding in his turn to have Ostrogotha given to him; in the end, to avoid both openly giving in and at the same time renewing the war, both kings murdered their respective guests but kept secret their involvement in the act.[15][22][56][57]
Thurisind features prominently in a tale told by Paul the Deacon set in 552, just after the death of the king's son Turismod and the end of the war.[58] The story, generally thought to track its origins to an heroic poem dedicated to Alboin,[59] revolves around the characters of Alboin and Thurisind: in accordance with a custom of the Lombards, to obtain the right to sit at his father's table, Alboin must ask for hospitality from a foreign king and have the latter arm him. To submit himself to this initiation, Alboin went with 40 companions to Thurisind's court.[60][61]
Thurisind, in observance of the laws of hospitality, received Alboin and his companions and organized a banquet in their honour, offering Alboin the place where his dead son habitually sat. Following a mockery by Turismod's brother Cunimund and Alboin's rejoinder, a clash was avoided by Thurisind's intervention, who restored the peace and sent Alboin away with Turismod's arms.[60][62] According to István Boná, who believes in the veracity of the story, the event may have taken place as described by Paul, but it also could reflect a secret peace condition imposed by Audoin on Thurisind under which the Gepid king had to arm his son's killer.[59]
Thurisind died around 560 and was succeeded by his sonCunimund, last king of the Gepids; under him Thurisind's people were annihilated in 567 by a joint coalition of the Lombards and theAvars, a Turkic nomad people that in 558 had migrated to Central Europe.[63] Cunimund was killed on the battlefield by the new Lombard King Alboin, and his daughterRosamund was taken captive.[13][64]
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