Kingdom of the Gepids (Second Kingdom)

This article is about the specific polity Kingdom of the Gepids (Second Kingdom) and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

The Gepids were an East germanic Tribe. They created a second Kingdom in the Eastern Carpathian basin in 454 AD, during the Migration periods. The Gepid Kingdom was destroyed by the Avars and Lombards in 567.

Establishment

January 455: After the Battle of Nedao, the Hunnic Empire disintegrated and the Gepids became the dominant power in the eastern regions of the Carpathian Basin. According to Jordanes, the Gepids "by their own might won for themselves the territory of the Huns and ruled as victors over the extent of all Dacia, demanding of the Roman Empire nothing more than peace and an annual gift" after their victory.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Hunnic Wars

Were a series of conflicts that saw the Huns, an invading tribe probably from Central Asia, fighting against the Romans as well as the Germanic tribes of Europe.

1.1.Germanic-Hunnic Wars

Was the conflict between the Germanic Tribes of central and eastern Europe against the Huns.

1.1.1.Battle of Nedao

The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 CE between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. It was decisive Germanic victory.

2. Gepid Annexion of Sirmium

After the Ostrogoths left Pannonia in 473, the Gepids captured Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia), a strategically important town on the road between Italy and Constantinople.

January 474: After the Ostrogoths left Pannonia in 473, the Gepids captured Sirmium, a strategically important town on the road between Italy and Constantinople.

3. Gepid invasion of Sirmium

The Gepids invaded Sirmium, which was part of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths at the time.

January 505: Theoderic the Great dispatched one comes Pitzia to launch a campaign against the Gepids who either tried to capture Sirmium or wanted to get rid of Theoderic's suzerainty in 504. Comes Pitzia expelled the Gepid troops from Sirmium without much resistance.

January 531: After the death of Theoderic the Great in 526, the Gepids, led by their king Vitiges, invaded Sirmium in 528 or 530. However, they were ultimately defeated by the forces of the Kingdom of the Gepids (Second Kingdom).

February 531: After the death of Theoderic the Great in 526, the Gepids invaded Sirmium in 528 or 530. However, Vitiges, who was the king of the Ostrogoths at the time, successfully defeated the Gepids in Sirmium in 531.

4. Expansion of the Gepids in Sirmium and Singidunum

The Gepids reached the zenith of their power after 537, settling in the rich area around Singidunum (today's Belgrade). For a short time, the city of Sirmium (present-day Sremska Mitrovica) was the center of the Gepid State.

January 538: The Gepids reached the zenith of their power after 537, settling in the rich area around Singidunum. For a short time, the city of Sirmium was the center of the Gepid State and the king Cunimund minted golden coins in it.