Dengizich

Last updated
Dengizich
King of the Huns (co-rulership)
Reign454–469
Predecessor Ellac
Successor Ernak
Born5th century
Pannonia
Died469
Pannonia
Dynasty Attilid
Father Attila
Mother Kreka

Dengizich (died in 469), was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over the Huns in dual kingship with his brother Ernak, but separate divisions in separate lands. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The name recorded as Δεγγιζίχ (De(n)gizikh) by Priscus has abbreviated variant Διν[γι]ζι (Din(gi)zi) in Chronicon Paschale, Den(git)zic by Marcellinus Comes, and Din(gi)tzic by Jordanes. [2] Din(t)zic and Denzic render a Germanic pronunciation *Denitsik, with the frequent dropping of "g". [3] Otto Maenchen-Helfen considered it a derivation from Turkic *Däŋiziq, meaning "little lake". [3] Omeljan Pritsak considered the reconstructed form deŋir + čig > deŋičig, with the meaning "ocean-like". [2]

History

The oldest brother Ellac died in 454 AD, at the Battle of Nedao. [4] Jordanes recorded "When Ellac was slain, his remaining brothers were put to fight near the shore of the Sea of Pontus where we have said the Goths settled ... dwelling again in their ancient abodes". [5] Jordanes recounts events in c. 454-455:

"[After the Ostrogoths led by their king Valamir, and his brothers Theodemir and Vidimir received Pannonia] Now it happened that the sons of Attila, regarding the Goths as deserters from their rule, came against them as though they were seeking fugitive slaves and attacked Valamir alone, when his brothers knew nothing of it. He sustained their attack, though he had but few with him, and after harassing them a long time, so utterly overwhelmed them that scarcely a portion of the enemy remained. The remnant turned in flight and sought the parts of Scythia which border on the stream of the river Danaber, which the Huns call in their own tongue Var. Whereupon he sent a messenger of good tidings to his brother Theodemir ... on the very day the messenger arrived ... Theoderic was born [in 454]". [6]

Priscus recorded that in 465-466, Dengizich and his brother Ernak sent diplomats to Constantinople. They wanted a peace treaty, and a market place on Danube "according to the ancient customs" between Romans and Huns, but were rejected. [7] Then Dengizich on his own moved to the bank of the Istros (lower Danube) and threatened to break into Thrace unless he was granted lands and subsidies. [8] [9] He rejected negotiations with Anagast (who defended the Danube in Thrace), and sent diplomats directly to the emperor Leo I. [8] [10] However, Leo I replied that "he was ready to do everything if they came to him and offered him obedience. He took pleasure, he said, in nations which came seeking alliances". [8] [11]

In 467, Dengizich crossed the frozen Danube, and although expected the Huns in the South to join him, large groups of undefined Goths and Scythians moved on their own. [8] [11] Probably after the turning Battle of Nedao, some groups of Goths still remained under Hun authority. [12] Basiliscus, Goths Anagast and Ostryis, and Hun Chelchal were generals who led Roman armies. [13] [11] They managed to besiege the Goths into a valley, and the Scythians "oppresed by hunger and lack of necessities sent an embassy to the Romans that if they were to surrender and be allotted lands, they would obey the Romans in whatever they wanted". [14] The report continues:

"The ambassadors reported the instructions to the Scythians, who arranged themselves into as many segments as Aspar and the Romans formed. Chelchal, a man of the Hunnic race and a subordinate of Aspar's commanders, went to the barbarian segment assigned to them. He summoned the leading men of the Goths (they were in the majority) and began saying that the emperor would give them land, not for their own use but for the Huns among them ... Perturbed by his words but believing that Chelchal had spoken benevolently, the Goths banded together and slew the Huns among them. A violent battle arose on both sides. Aspar and commanders of other camps drew up their troops and killed the barbarians they came upon. When the Scythians figured out the trickery and deceit, they called themselves together and turned against Romans. Aspar's men had destroyed the segment assigned to them... the barbarians fought so violently that their survivors cut through the Roman lines and in this way escaped the siege." [15] [13]

Anagast sent a large group of bucellari against the barbarians, but the war dragged on for two years. [16]

Jordanes recounts events in c. 468:

"Now after firm peace was established between Goths and Romans, the Goths found that what they received from the emperor was not sufficient for them. Furthermore, they were eager to display their wonted valor, and so began to plunder the neighboring peoples around them, first attacking the Sadagis, who held the interior of Pannonia. When Dintzic, king of the Huns, a son of Attila, learned this, he gathered to him the few who still seemed to have remained under his sway, namely, the Ultzinzures, the Angisciri, the Bittugures and the Bardores. Coming to Bassianae (see Battle of Bassianae), a city of Pannonia, he beleaguered it and began to plunder its territory. When the Goths learned this, they abandoned the expedition they had planned against the Sadagis and turned upon the Huns and drove them so ingloriously from their own land that those who remained have been in dread of the arms of the Goths from that time down to the present day." [17]

The war ended in 469. Marcellinus Comes shortly recorded "The head of Dinzic, son of Attila, king of the Huns, was brought to Constantinople". [16] The Chronicon Paschale recounts "Dinzirichus, Attila's son, was killed by Anagastes, general in Thrace. His head was brought to Constantinople, carried in procession through the Middle Street, and fixed on a pole at the Wooden Circus. The whole city turned out to look at it". [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huns</span> Extinct nomadic people in Eurasia (4th–6th centuries)

The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, causing the westwards movement of Goths and Alans. By 430, they had established a vast, but short-lived, empire on the Danubian frontier of the Roman empire in Europe. Either under Hunnic hegemony, or fleeing from it, several central and eastern European peoples established kingdoms in the region, including not only Goths and Alans, but also Vandals, Gepids, Heruli, Suebians and Rugians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bleda</span> Chieftain of the Huns (co-rulership)

Bleda was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Nedao</span> 5th-century internal battle in the Hunnic Empire

The Battle of Nedao was fought in Pannonia in 454 CE between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onegesius</span> Hunnic noble

Onegesius was a powerful Hunnic logades (minister) who supposedly held power second only to Attila the Hun. According to Priscus he "seated on a chair to the right of the king" i.e. Attila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sciri</span> Ancient Germanic people in Eastern Europe

The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people. They are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language. Their name probably means "the pure ones".

Mundzuk was a Hunnic chieftain, brother of the Hunnic rulers Octar and Rugila, and father of Bleda and Attila by an unknown consort. Jordanes in Getica recounts "For this Attila was the son of Mundzucus, whose brothers were Octar and Ruas, who were supposed to have been kings before Attila, although not altogether of the same [territories] as he".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akatziri</span> Historical ethnical group

The Akatziri, Akatzirs or Acatiri were a tribe that lived north of the Black Sea, though the Crimean city of Cherson seemed to be under their control in the sixth century. Jordanes called them a mighty people, not agriculturalists but cattle-breeders and hunters. Their ethnicity is undetermined: the 5th-century historian Priscus describes them as ethnic Scythians, but they are also referred to as Huns. Their name has also been connected to the Agathyrsi. However, according to E. A. Thompson, any conjectured connection between the Agathyrsi and the Akatziri should be rejected outright.

Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over Huns in dual kingship with his brother Dengizich, but in separate divisions in separate lands.

Rugila or Ruga, was a ruler who was a major factor in the Huns' early victories over the Roman Empire. He served as an important forerunner with his brother Octar, with whom he initially ruled in dual kingship, possibly a geographical division where Rugila ruled over Eastern Huns while Octar over Western Huns, during the 5th century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uldin</span> Chieftain of the Huns

Uldin, also spelled Huldin is the first ruler of the Huns whose historicity is undisputed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellac</span> King of the Huns (co-rulership)

Ellac was the oldest son of Attila (434–453) and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his empire crumbled, and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He ruled briefly and died at the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD. Ellac was succeeded by his brothers, Dengizich and Ernak.

Octar or Ouptaros was a Hunnic ruler. He ruled in dual kingship with his brother Rugila, possibly with a geographical division, ruling the Western Huns while his brother ruled the Eastern Huns.

By the name Edeko are considered three contemporaneous historical figures, whom many scholars identify as one:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kreka</span>

Kreka or Hereka was the wife of Attila. She was described by Eastern Roman diplomat Priscus in his account of his stay at Attila's court in 448 or 449 AD. She and Attila had three sons: Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernak, who split among themselves what remained of Attila's empire after his death in 453.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balamber</span> Hun chieftain

Balamber was ostensibly a chieftain of the Huns, mentioned by Jordanes in his Getica. Jordanes simply called him "king of the Huns" and writes the story of Balamber crushing the tribes of the Ostrogoths in the 370s; somewhere between 370 and more probably 376 AD.

The Battle of Bolia, took place in 468 between the Ostrogoths and a coalition of Germanic tribes in the Roman province of Pannonia. It was fought on the south side of the Danube near its confluence with the river Bolia, in present-day Hungary. The Ostrogoths won, achieving supremacy in Pannonia, but soon migrated south towards richer lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Huns</span>

The history of the Huns spans the time from before their first secure recorded appearance in Europe around 370 AD to after the disintegration of their empire around 469. The Huns likely entered Western Asia shortly before 370, from Central Asia: they first conquered the Goths and the Alans, pushing a number of tribes to seek refuge within the Roman Empire. In the following years, the Huns conquered most of the Germanic and Scythian tribes outside of the borders of the Roman Empire. They also launched invasions of both the Asian provinces of Rome and the Sasanian Empire in 375. Under Uldin, the first Hunnic ruler named in contemporary sources, the Huns launched a first unsuccessful large-scale raid into the Eastern Roman Empire in Europe in 408. From the 420s, the Huns were led by the brothers Octar and Ruga, who both cooperated with and threatened the Romans. Upon Ruga's death in 435, his nephews Bleda and Attila became the new rulers of the Huns, and launched a successful raid into the Eastern Roman Empire before making peace and securing an annual tribute and trading raids under the Treaty of Margus. Attila appears to have killed his brother, and became sole ruler of the Huns in 445. He would go on to rule for the next eight years, launching a devastating raid on the Eastern Roman Empire in 447, followed by an invasion of Gaul in 451. Attila is traditionally held to have been defeated in Gaul at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, however some scholars hold the battle to have been a draw or Hunnic victory. The following year, the Huns invaded Italy and encountered no serious resistance before turning back.

Chelchal was a Hun commander serving as lieutenant general under the Byzantine Empire.

Eskam was Hun living in 5th-century Pannonia, then under the Hunnic Empire. He was possibly a shaman. His daughter was one of the numerous wives of Attila the Hun.

References

  1. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 86.
  2. 1 2 Pritsak 1982, p. 446.
  3. 1 2 Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 407.
  4. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 144.
  5. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 149.
  6. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 156.
  7. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 165–166, 187.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 166.
  9. ↑ Given 2015, p. 151.
  10. ↑ Given 2015, p. 151–152.
  11. 1 2 3 Given 2015, p. 152.
  12. ↑ Heather 2007, p. 356, 363.
  13. 1 2 Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 167–168.
  14. ↑ Given 2015, p. 152–153.
  15. ↑ Given 2015, p. 153–154.
  16. 1 2 3 Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 168.
  17. ↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, p. 163–164.

Sources

Preceded by King of the Huns
454 – 469		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.