Chapter 27
The Great Gepid-Avar War Under the Red and White Flag [FN1]
Anonymous rendering of the Tháiteisháiþ by 19th century Gepid artist
“Although the Gepids had managed to extend their control over the entirety of the Carpathian basin with their overwhelming defeat of the Lombards, they lived in constant fear of the same being done to them. It would be the Avar-Gepid conflicts which would eventually prove or disprove their rights to that land” – Skul Ragnarson, “A History of Restoration Era Europe” 1995
The History of the Gepids
By Paul the Monk
Trans. Edwin Smith
Bern [OTL: Verona, Italy]: Skipmann and Sons Publishing, 2001
When Ardaric the Kinslayer, accursed in the eyes of God and Man, struck down his own Father in cold blood, the Gepids were thrown into shock. Thurismund had two sons, but both were minors and not yet fit to rule. As such, the Ga-Rûn was called, and the Reiks elected one Thurisind as King, and ordered him to take care and tutor his nephews in the ways of war and peace, so that the Gepids might have strong kings in the future. [FN2]
Thurisind quickly moved to secure his rule, and sent envoys to the Romans; both the Goths and Rhomania, but the Goths were more receptive. Fearing the influence of his nephew, who had escaped by trickery or witchcraft, he sent warnings to all parties to beware of such an evil man; for it was well known that Ardaric was able to take the form of a mighty wolf, and prowled the countryside before finding his way to the court of the Lombards and there caused much havoc. [FN3]
In those years, Thurisind ruled as a fair and noble king; but he knew well that threats were forming to the South and East; not only the Lombards, who had foolishly taken Ardaric as their King, but also from the Avars and the Rhomans, the later of whom were still greedy for the city of Singidunum. To protect his realm from these threats, he entered into an alliance with the Goths and their Emperor Amalaric, who promised to protect the Gepids from any external threat.
However, Justin, Emperor of the Rhomans, was unscrupulous, and did not care for the alliances or decrees of his brother-Emperor in the West. Since he was engaged in battle against the Persians to the East, Justin came to the Avars and said: “Come; as you have been allies in the past, subduing the wicked Slavs, be our allies once again. If you attack the Gepids and drive them from their lands, we shall give you all of the lands North of the Danube, save for Singidunum, which is ours by right, and was stolen from us by your worthless foes.” Forgiving the Avars for their raids against Rhomania during the reign of his Father, he sent them out to do his bidding. [FN4]
Preceiving weakness in the Gepids, who had so soon lost their own King, the Avars struck, wishing to possess the plains of Dacia. Thurismund quickly gathered his soldiers and moved against his foes, declaring that he would chase them to the very gates of Hell itself, and deliver the Avars directly to Satan.
However, God, in his mysterious ways, and those of his only begotten son, chose to try the Gepids, as they had their chosen peoples so many times before. At Jidava, the forces of Avars met those of Thurisind and they slew many, tricking the Gepids by mocking a retreat and drawing teir foes into a trap. In the slaughter, Thurisind himself fell, as did many noble Gepids, and the way into the Gepidreik was now open to the invaders.
…
With the news of the King’s fall, panic once again swept through the Gepids, as they were now left leaderless. In the midst of the panic, it was Thurisric, the younger brother of despised Ardaric, who came to the forefront. Tutored by his Uncle, the King, he had been kept away from much of the nobility, and it was he who now spoke with clarity: “Our armies are defeated, and soon the shadow of the enemy shall fall upon this land,” he spoke, “but there is still hope. Let those of us who can still fight go and seek the hand of our friend, the Emperor of the Goths, who shall surly help us drive this foe from our land! For, though it may be good to die in the defense of that which we love, is it not better to live to avenge this hurt which has been dealt to us? The battle may have been lost, but the war shall be won by our strong hands!”
At these words, many of the nobility flocked to Thurisric’s banner, and they traveled to the lands of the Goths and there asked him to honor that alliance which had so recently been signed.
“A History of the Goths”
By: Sigisbairht the Frodgibands
Trans. Tadhg Au’Domnhal
[New Land Press, Bhá na Deataigh, Republic of Tir na Dóiteáin, 1983] [FN5]
Then, in the year of our Lord 585, there came to the Court of the Goths, a certain Thurisric, who claimed to be the son and nephew of the King of the Gepids, as well as the brother of Ardaric, the King of the Lombards. While in court, Thurisric told the tale of the slaughter of the Gepids by the Avars, who were allied to the Rhomans, and begged Amalaric to honor the alliance between their people and rescue the Gepids of slavery.
At first Amalaric offered the Gepids sactuary, saying that he would settle them within the lands of Gallia, as he had previously settled the Bretons as well as the Lombards. But, to this, Thurisric said he would have no part, “we are a valiant people, we Gepids who slew the Huns when others fled for safety and comfort. Now, we have fallen prey to the enemy of all men, those who give praise to he who once tried to tempt our Lord. But despite having been defeated, we are still strong, and shall never flee the lands which God, in his wisdom, granted us, and His Greatest Creation, who blessed us in our settlement. We would rather die in the defense of our lards, forsaken by our allies and friends, then to continue to live in a land which in not our own; which was not won by the strength of our arms, as the Hebrew took their own promised land. Say now, oh Kaiser, will you honor our alliance and help us, or shall we go back to our homes to fight the enemy alone?” [FN6]
Amalaric was taken by this speech, for he remembered how the Gepids and Goths had once battled the Huns together, and also knew of the bonds of kinship which existed between the ruling houses of both realms. He said this: “Hear now, oh Gepids, you have asked for the hand of your friends, and you have found it. Know this; when the snows melt and the fields are green, we shall return to the lands of the Gepids and there meet the Great Enemy, and we shall slay him, or die in the trying. For it is better to fall while defending a friend, then to live a long life and forsake those bonds which mean the most to us.”
In the Spring of 886, Amalaric gathered his forces and, supported by those Gepids who had been able to flee their land, crossed from Pannonia into the lands of the Gepidreik, and there they sought to engage their enemy. Amalaric had with him an army of 10,000, and was seeking to face a force of equal size.
Finally, at Tháiteisháiþ, known for its fertility, upon the River Marisus, the Goths and Gepids met their foe in battle.
July, 886
Tháiteisháiþ, Gepidreike [OTL: Breadfield, Romania] [FN7]
Amalaric sat upon his horse, and felt old. At the age of 52, his once grea made of raven black hair had become streaked with white, and lines had appeared around his eyes and mouth; deep jowls cut deep into the flesh of his face. Still, he men continued to call him the Raven and, in order to perpetuate the image, he had taken to wearing armor and clothing of all black, which had lead to a new nickname, the “Mann in Swarts.”
“Father,” a voice said; that of his eldest son Theodebert, named for a uncle he would never know, “our lines are ready for the attack; they wait only your word.”
Amalaric nodded. He felt total confidence in his sons, both Theodebert and Amalamir, and could have easily left this campaign to them. Except that it wouldn’t have been right; his Father had never done any such thing, and he knew that if he had refused to campaign, his own nobles would have thought him weak (the Goths, of course, but even the Romans. God, how the Romans had seemed to take on more Gothic ways which each generation!).
“The Lombards,” he said, “they are stationed on the opposite wing as the Gepids?”
Theodebert looked at his Father as if the elder man had lost his wits, “Of course, Father! Rothar had assured us that his Lombards are loyal, but there were scuffles between the two camps days ago. We separated them as you ordered.” [FN8]
“Good.”
Amalaric felt confident. For the past month, they had marched through the Gepidreik, and the Avars had retreated, offering only small scrimishes. Of course, the Avars had burnt the fields before them, which was meant to starve off the Gothic advance, but Amalaric had always been a firm believer in securing enough supplies for his army, and not relying upon foraging from the land. An attack upon their baggage train a week earlier had been thoroughly repulsed; largely due to the command of his son, Amalamir, the Emperor had to admit with some pride.
In any case, the Goths held the high ground in the foothills, and the Avars had maneuvered themselves into being trapped upon the bank of the River Marisus. Soon there would be an attack, there would be no other option for either side, and then the conflict would be decided once and for all.
Amalaric looked out at his army with pride. He spied the banners of the Bretons from the North, the Lombards of Illyria, the Seubi and Hispanians, and even the large contingent of native Romans lead by his friend Aquila (usually he would have felt trepidation of any large cohort of Roman troops being lead by a Roman generation; but years of experience had taught him that Aquila could be trusted, even if he continued to ever jockey for more power for the Senate). It was a grand army, perhaps the greatest mustered since his Father’s wars against the Merovings.
Amalaric pulled out a small painting, in the form of an icon, which was in the likeness of his own Father. “I hope to do you proud, Father,” he said under his breath, almost a prayer, “you were always the warrior of the family. You and my brother. Please protect your people tonight, and intercede on our behalf with the Heavenly Creator and his blessed Creature.” He clasped the small painting to his breast, before returning it to the satchel at his side.
“Theodebert,” the Emperor said.
“Yes, Father,” the younger man responded.
“All of of our forces have been ordered to not pursue unless I have given the order, correct?”
“Of course. We have all heard the stories of how Thurisind fell in battle.”
Amalaric looked up at the red and while checkered banner he had decided to use as his standard during this campaign, “Good. Commence the attack.”
“A History of the Goths”
By: Sigisbairht the Frodgibands
Trans. Tadhg Au’Domnhal
[New Land Press, Bhá na Deataigh, Republic of Tir na Dóiteáin, 1983]
At the Battle of Tháiteisháiþ the Goths and their allies won an impressive victory. Forced to fight, the Avars launched a heavy assault upon the Goths, but they did not break. Feigning retreat, they sought to draw the Goths and Gepids into the open and from the high ground, but Amalaric was well aware of this trickery and did not take the bait. Finally, having concentrated the Avars by the River Marisus, the Emperor ordered a full assault.
Fighting was heavy, and many Goth was lost that day, as well as Gepid Breton, Lombard, Seubi and Roman. Of an army of 10,000, the Emperor lost nearly half of his force. But, in the end it was enough, as the Avars Khan was captured, while attempting to flee, and the rest of his force threw themselves into the river which, being alined to the will of God, drug many under and drowned them.
July, 886
Tháiteisháiþ, Gepidreike [OTL: Breadfield, Romania]
Amalaric, King of Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Romans, and Emperor of the West, waited in his tent as the captured Khan of the Avars was pulled in. The Emperor smiled to himself; for all of the losses he had suffered today, he had not only managed to utterly destroy the Avar force in the Gepidreike, but had managed to do so without losing a single fa,ily member. All of his sons were alive!
“Please,” the Emperor said, smiling at his soldiers, “the Khan is an honored guest in my tent. There is no need to manhandle him. After all, he certainly has nowhere to run.”
“But,” one of the guards said, “what if he is armed and wishes to strike at you?”
Amalaric laughed, “With guards as good as you, I doubt you would have left him armed. And, if you had done so, I believe I’m quite capable of dealing with the problem. So, please, let our guest go, and let us show him the full extent of our hospitality.”
Amalaric watched as his guards unshackled the Khan and stepped back towards the enterance of the Tent.
“Now, Bayan, why not try the wine? Is from my own vineyard and is a good vintage. I’m told it goes particularly well with the roast beef and venison from my reserves.”
The Khan looked wary, but took a sip of the wine and began to pick at the food. “Is this your purpose, then, to show me the wealth of your realm, to entice us to never attack your allies again? Because, I assure you, it will not work. I have been to Constantinople, and have seen the true wealth of the civilized world?
Amalaric took a bite from his own venison and leaned across the table, “I assure you,” he said, “that was in no way my intention. I simply wished to show hospitality towards an honored guest. Even in the West, we have heard of the glory of the Avars and their noble Khans.”
“I am,” and then Bayan’s voice broke as if he was considering the next words he spoke carefully, “honored to sup with you, although I must admit that I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“As do I,” Amalaric said, “as do I. I have a great respect for the power of your warriors; subduing the Slavs as you have and trying to carve out a homeland for yourselves. My people have shared your struggle, as I’m sure you are well aware. In our case, we found an Emperire tore apart by war, and moved in to restore order and find a place for ourselves as honored allies to that Empire.”
“You rule that Empire, now,” the Khan replied.
“That we do,” Amalaric said, “but with the consent of the Romans themselves. We have had difficulties, of course, but we have still proved our loyalty to the concept of the Empire, and have worked to rebuild it as best we can.”
“And what is the point of your speech,” Bayan asked? “We wish the same; a land to call our own, but you deny us the fertile plains which were promised to us.”
The Emperor smiled again, that unnerving smile of his which was both friendly and yet filled with enough knowledge to be menacing, “Exactly. You know, I have heard how the Rhomans use you. They say ‘attack our enemies,’ and you do so”
He stopped seeing the anger rush to the Khan’s face, “No, no,” he said, “I mean no disrespect. Your victories are glorlious, and you’re people deserve much honor for them. But, have you not noticed, that the one thing you ask for, the East denies?”
The Khan sipped his wine. “This truly is a good vintage,” he said.
“Yes. Yes it is. I’m a bit of a fan of wine, myself, and I always try to bring the best with me on campaign.”
“But,” the Khan continued, “I agree. The one thing we ask, a homeland, has always been denied us. We looked for a homeland during the hostilities in the East, but after Germanus came to power, with your help I remind you, he denied us a homeland to the south of the Danube as we requested. His son, Justin, had relied on us more, but had also refused to meet our demands.”
“And what a shame that is. I feel every people deserve a homeland for themselves; that is why I offered lands to the Lombards, and even to the Gepids after your attacks, although the later proved to be rather happy where they were. And, truthfully, I can not blame them; these are fertile lands, although, maybe, not so good as those to the South of the Danube.”
Bayar continued to eat his food, not responding for some time. Finally he said, “Are you offering us a home in the lands of the Rhomans?”
“No, certainly not,” Amalaric said, “I would never betray my brother-Emperor in such a way. Justin had always shown us the highest of honors. But, I will say this, should you agree to forsake any claim to the lands of the Gepids, I might be … slow to respond to any call to arms from my brother.”
The Khan nodded, “and what would the price for this, slowness be? I would be willing to swear off any future encursions against the Gepids, but there must be more than that.”
The Emperor laughed then, and it was a cold dry laugh which the Khan, hardened by years of war, was taken aback by. “Oh, certainly. Of course. You have been defeated after all. Utterly.” At this he leaned across the table so that he was staring deep into the eyes of the Avar Khan, “I had m men sweep out today to count the dead, and I saw that you had lost almost two thirds of your men. You have been beaten.”
The Khan leaned back in the face of his enemy’s stare. All he could say was, “yes, that is true.”
“Good,” the Emperor said, “you admit it. Then we can talk. What I require from you is a pledge from you, and your sons, that you will never harass the Gepids again.”
“Agreed.”
The Emperor held up his hand, “I’m not finished yet. I also will need both of your sons. We will take them as hostages, and will tutor them in the ways of the West. As long as you do not break your pledge, they will be returned to you more knowledgable and better capable of leading your people.”
The Khan grimaced; the thought of putting his sons into the hands of an enemy pained him deeply.
“Don’y worry,” the Emperor continued, seeing the Khan’s stricken look, “they will be well cared for, as long as you honor your end of the agreement. But there is one more thing.”
“And that is?”
“You will accept baptism by a member of my church, and will accept the Son as your savior, and will forswear any future dealings with the heretics of the East.”
“I believe, “ Khan Bayar said, “that that could be arranged.”
“Good,” Amalric said, “then I believe we shall have a lasting peace between our peoples.”
“A History of the Goths”
By: Sigisbairht the Frodgibands
Trans. Tadhg Au’Domnhal
[New Land Press, Bhá na Deataigh, Republic of Tir na Dóiteáin, 1983]
After the Battle of Tháiteisháiþ, Amalric parted ways with Bayar, Khan of the Avars, as friends. No longer would the two peoples fight as enemies. Meanwhile, Thurisric reaffirmed his loyalty and alliance with the Goths for their efforts to liberate his own people. Although he refused to accept the position as Federates, he pledged that the Gepids would forever be close allies with the Goths and would work to preserve the Empire against all foes, within and without. [FN8]
[FN1] Okay, I’m a bit of a literature nerd; anyone who gets this reference gets 100 counterfactual points
[FN2] Ga-Run is a translation from Gothic for “counsil” and is fairly close to what the English would later call a Thing or a Moot; a meeting ofnobles to decided thefate of the realm.
[FN3] A reference to the growing legend of Ardaric Kingslayer who, following his escape from the Gepids, is claimed to hae stalked the countryside as a werewolf for some time; this is a reference to the legends of Sigurd who the same thing was said of.
[FN4] it’s a bit more complicated than this. As you will remember, the Gepids received Rhoman support to beat the Lobmrds to drive them from Sigidunum. However, they refused to give up the city once it had been captured. The Rhomans are desperate to retake it for a number of reasons; first of all, they can not bare the thought of losing Imperial territory, especially to treachery. Secondly, with the depopulation going on in the Balkans, they feel that the city and its fort are central to continuing their efence of teir own terrtiroy. Finally, with the settlement of the Lombards the Rhomanian Emperor fears the possibility of raids from te West.
[FN5] This is actually a bit of a spoiler, which I really hesitated about sharing. I eventually decided to, but I’m not telling you what this place is in OTL
If anyone wants to deceipher it, I will give you 1000 counterfactual points!
[FN6] Arians believe that Jesus was created by God the creator and, so, is NOT the unbegotten son of the Father. As a result, they see him as a creation, or creature; sharing in the Father’s substance, but not exactly the same, and, as a result, lesser. These words, then, are coming into the Arian Church to describe Jesus and his relationship to the Father.
[FN7] This is the same place as the OTL battle of the Breadfield against the Ottomans by the Hungarians. The ATL name translates into Wheatfield and so has much of the same sense.
[FN8] You might gather some fundamental truths about the personality and goals of Amalaric from this exchange and its aftermath. Although not the warrior that his father was, he is certainly not foolish and is willing to use diplomacy to reach his goals.
Okay, at long last, we return to the Western Empire of the Goths, even as it works to extend it authority outside of its traditional realm of authority. I hope you have enjoyed it, and a further look into the character of Amalaric I. After this, I feel like I should catch up on the events of the Eastern Empire before returning to show the end of Amalaric's reign. Then we'll take a look at the Vandals and finally turn our eyes towards Britain which, as I've hinted, has been impacted heavily by butterflies.
