Thurisind was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He succeeded King Elemund by staging a coup d’état and forcing the king’s son into exile. His kingdom, known as Gepidia, was located in Central Europe and had its centre in Sirmium. His reign was marked by multiple wars with the Lombards, a Germanic people who had arrived in the former Roman province of Pannonia. He also had to face the hostility of the Byzantine Empire, which was anxious to diminish Gepid power.
About Thurisind in brief
Thurisind was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He succeeded King Elemund by staging a coup d’état and forcing the king’s son into exile. Thurisind’s kingdom, known as Gepidia, was located in Central Europe and had its centre in Sirmium. His reign was marked by multiple wars with the Lombards, a Germanic people who had arrived in the former Roman province of Pannonia under the leadership of their king, Audoin. He also had to face the hostility of the Byzantine Empire, which was anxious to diminish Gepid power in the Pannonian Basin, a plain covering most of modern Hungary and partly including the bordering states. The only one providing independent evidence of the king, accounts of Justinian’s wars, and a detailed account of the relations between GepIDS and Lombards and their kings is De Bellis. In about 560, Thur isind died and was succeeded by his remaining son Cunimund, who was killed by Alboin in 567. His death marked the beginning of the conquest of their territories by the Lombard allies, the Avars, a nomadic people migrating from the Eurasian Steppe. Although details of his early life are not known, he is believed to have risen to power in about 548. After the death of the previous king, he seized the throne in a coup and forced his son Ostroga into exile and his followers found refuge in western Hungary, Romania and northern Serbia.
He had just settled there when he was killed in a battle with his enemies, the Lombarded people. The Lombard–Gepid wars are well described in Procopius’ work, as the conflict played an important part in the Byzantine plans to invade Italy by a land route. According to James O’Donnell, the two works share a pessimistic view of human life in which all secular accomplishments are insignificant compared to religious goals. Paul the Deacon was the most important Italian writer of the 8th century. He entered the clergy early, and eventually became a monk of the monastery of Monte Cassino. His most famous work is the Historia Langobardorum, a history of the Lombardy nation. Written after 787, it is a continuation of his previous major historical work, the Histia Romana, with six books added describing historical events up to Justinian’s empire. Both books also mention the duel between the kings’ sons, an event which is thought to have originated through oral tradition. The last passages of the Romana and the Getica mention ThurisIND and the third Lombard-Gepids War, which represent the only overlap between the History of the Lotharingi and Historia Romana. Jordanes does not explicitly mention ThurIsind in theRomana, but speaks of the third Lotharian War, in which ThurisInd participated, in the last passages.
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This page is based on the article Thurisind published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
