View source for Attila

{{redirect2|Atilla|Attila the Hun||Attila (disambiguation)|and|Atilla (disambiguation)|and|Attila the Hun (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Ruler of the Hunnic Empire from 434 to 453}}
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{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Attila
| image        = Attila (Képes krónika) (cropped).jpg
| image_size   = 250
| alt          = Gold depiction of a bearded king with a crown on his head, a sabre in his right hand and an orb in his left hand within a blue circle
| caption      = King Attila (''[[Chronicon Pictum]]'', 1358)
| succession   = [[List of Hunnic rulers|King and chieftain]] of the [[Hunnic Empire]]
| reign        = 434{{endash}}453
| predecessor  = [[Bleda]] and [[Rugila|Ruga]]
| successor    = [[Ellac]], [[Dengizich]], [[Ernak]]
| birth_date   = Unknown date, {{circa|406}}{{r|Harvey|p=208}}{{r|Cooper|p=202}}
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = {{nowrap|{{circa|453}} (aged 46–47)}}
| death_place  = 
| burial_place = 
| spouse       = [[Kreka]] and [[Ildico]]
| issue        = 
| father       = [[Mundzuk]]
| religion     = 
| module       = 
}}

'''Attila''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|t|ɪ|l|ə|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Attila.wav}} {{respell|ə|TIL|ə}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Attila |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607052223/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Attila |archive-date=7 June 2021 |title=Attila |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|t|ɪ|l|ə}} {{respell|AT|il|ə}};<ref>{{MW|Attila}}</ref> {{Circa|406 – 453}}), frequently called '''Attila the Hun''', was the ruler of the [[Huns]] from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, [[Ostrogoths]], [[Alans]], and [[Gepids]], among others, in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]].

As nephews to [[Rugila]], Attila and his elder brother [[Bleda]] succeeded him to the throne in 435, ruling jointly until the death of Bleda in 445. During his reign, Attila was one of the most feared enemies of the [[Western Roman Empire|Western]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern]] Roman Empires. He crossed the [[Danube]] twice and plundered the [[Balkans]] but was unable to take [[Constantinople]]. In 441, he led an invasion of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the success of which emboldened him to invade the West.{{r|Peterson}} He also attempted to conquer [[Roman Gaul]] (modern France), crossing the Rhine in 451 and marching as far as Aurelianum ([[Orléans]]), before being stopped in the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Plains]].

He subsequently invaded [[Roman Italy|Italy]], devastating the northern provinces, but was unable to take [[Rome]]. He planned for further campaigns against the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] but died in 453. After Attila's death, his close adviser, [[Ardaric]] of the [[Gepids]], led a Germanic revolt against Hunnic rule, after which the Hunnic Empire [[Battle of Nedao|quickly collapsed]]. Attila lived on as a character in [[Germanic heroic legend]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Reyhner |first=Jon |editor-last=Danver |editor-first=Steven |editor-link=Steven L. Danver |encyclopedia=Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures, and Contemporary Issues |title=Genocide |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-7656-8222-2 |oclc=905985948 |doi=10.4324/9781315702155 |page=732}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hedeager |first=Lotte |author-link=Lotte Hedeager |year= 2011 |chapter=Historical framework: the impact of the Huns |title=Iron Age Myth and Materiality: An Archaeology of Scandinavia AD 400–1000 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |page=192 |isbn=978-0-415-60602-8}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Most scholars have argued that the name [[Attila (name)|Attila]] derives from [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] origin; ''Attila'' is formed from the [[Gothic language|Gothic]] or [[Gepids|Gepidic]] noun ''atta'', "father", by means of the diminutive suffix ''-ila'', meaning "little father" (compare [[Ulfilas|Wulfila]] from ''wulfs'' "wolf" and ''-ila'', i.e. "little wolf").{{r|Maenchen-Helfen|p=386}}{{r|Doerfer|p=29}}{{r|Lehmann|p=46}}{{r|Bonmann}} The Gothic etymology was first proposed by [[Jacob Grimm|Jacob]] and [[Wilhelm Grimm]] in the early 19th century.{{r|Snaedal|p=211}} Maenchen-Helfen notes that this derivation of the name "offers neither phonetic nor semantic difficulties",{{r|Maenchen-Helfen|p=386}} and Gerhard Doerfer notes that the name is simply correct Gothic.{{r|Doerfer|p=29}} Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong (2020) similarly state that Attila's name "must have been Gothic in origin."<ref name= Savelyev /> The name has sometimes been interpreted as a Germanization of a name of [[Hunnic language|Hunnic]] origin.{{r|Doerfer|pp=29–32}}

Other scholars have argued for a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] origin of the name. [[Omeljan Pritsak]] considered ''Ἀττίλα'' (Attíla) a composite title-name which derived from Turkic *''es'' (great, old), and *''til'' (sea, ocean), and the suffix /a/.{{r|Pritsak|p=444}} The stressed back syllabic ''til'' assimilated the front member ''es'', so it became *''as''.{{r|Pritsak|p=444}} It is a nominative, in form of ''attíl-'' (< *''etsíl'' < *''es tíl'') with the meaning "the oceanic, universal ruler".{{r|Pritsak|p=444}} [[J. J. Mikkola]] connected it with Turkic ''āt'' (name, fame).{{r|Snaedal|p=216}} As another Turkic possibility, H. Althof (1902) considered it was related to Turkish ''atli'' (horseman, cavalier), or Turkish ''at'' (horse) and ''dil'' (tongue).{{r|Snaedal|p=216}} Maenchen-Helfen argues that Pritsak's derivation is "ingenious but for many reasons unacceptable",{{r|Maenchen-Helfen|p=387}} while dismissing Mikkola's as "too farfetched to be taken seriously".{{r|Maenchen-Helfen|p=390}} M. Snædal similarly notes that none of these proposals has achieved wide acceptance.{{r|Snaedal|pp=215–216}}

Criticizing the proposals of finding Turkic or other etymologies for Attila, Doerfer notes that King [[George VI]] of the United Kingdom had a name of Greek origin, and [[Süleyman the Magnificent]] had a name of Arabic origin, yet that does not make them Greek or Arab: it is therefore plausible that Attila would have a name not of Hunnic origin.{{r|Doerfer|pp=31–32}} Historian Hyun Jin Kim, however, has argued that the Turkic etymology is "more probable".{{r|Kim|p=30}}

M. Snædal, in a paper that rejects the Germanic derivation but notes the problems with the existing proposed Turkic etymologies, argues that Attila's name could have originated from Turkic-[[Mongolian languages|Mongolian]] ''at'', ''adyy/agta'' ([[gelding]], [[Horses in warfare|warhorse]]) and Turkish ''atlı'' (horseman, cavalier), meaning "possessor of geldings, provider of warhorses".{{r|Snaedal|pp=216–217}}

In 2025, Svenja Bonmann and Simon Fries, as part of their hypothesis that the Huns spoke a [[Yeniseian language]], proposed that the name Attila could come from an Old [[Arin language|Arin]] adjective ''*atɨ-la'', meaning "quicker, quite quick, rather quick, quick-ish".{{r|Bonmann}}

== Historiography and sources ==
[[File:Attila Museum.JPG|thumb|Figure of Attila in a museum in Hungary.]]
[[File:AttilatheHunonhorsebackbyGeorgeSStuart.jpg|thumb|A reconstruction of Attila by [[George S. Stuart]], Museum of Ventura County, USA.]]
[[File:MorThanFeastofAttila.jpg|thumb|[[Mór Than]]'s 19th century painting of ''The Feast of Attila'', based on a fragment of [[Priscus]].]]
The historiography of Attila is faced with a major challenge, in that the only complete sources are written in [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] by the enemies of the Huns. Attila's contemporaries left many testimonials of his life, but only fragments of these remain.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=25}} [[Priscus]] was a [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]] diplomat and historian who wrote in Greek, and he was both a witness to and an actor in the story of Attila, as a member of the embassy of [[Theodosius II|Theodosius&nbsp;II]] at the Hunnic court in 449. He was obviously biased by his political position, but his writing is a major source for information on the life of Attila, and he is the only person known to have recorded a [[#Appearance and character|physical description]] of him. He wrote a history of the late Roman Empire in eight books covering the period from 430 to 476.{{r|Given}}

Only fragments of Priscus' work remain. It was cited extensively by 6th-century historians [[Procopius]] and [[Jordanes]],{{r|Rouche|p=413}} especially in Jordanes' ''[[Getica|The Origin and Deeds of the Goths]]'', which contains numerous references to Priscus's history, and it is also an important source of information about the Hunnic empire and its neighbors. He describes the legacy of Attila and the Hunnic people for a century after Attila's death. [[Marcellinus Comes]], a chancellor of [[Justinian]] during the same era, also describes the relations between the Huns and the [[Eastern Roman Empire]].{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=30}}

Numerous ecclesiastical writings contain useful but scattered information, sometimes difficult to authenticate or distorted by years of hand-copying between the 6th and 17th centuries. The [[Hungary|Hungarian]] writers of the 12th century wished to portray the Huns in a positive light as their glorious ancestors, and so repressed certain historical elements and added their own legends.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=32}}

The literature and knowledge of the Huns themselves was transmitted orally, by means of epics and chanted poems that were handed down from generation to generation.{{r|Rouche|p=354}} Indirectly, fragments of this [[oral tradition|oral history]] have reached us via the literature of the Scandinavians and Germans, neighbors of the Huns who wrote between the 9th and 13th centuries. Attila is a major character in many Medieval epics, such as the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'', as well as various [[Edda]]s and [[saga]]s.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=32}}{{r|Rouche|p=354}}

[[Archaeological]] investigation has uncovered some details about the lifestyle, art, and warfare of the Huns. There are a few traces of battles and sieges, but the tomb of Attila and the location of his capital have not yet been found.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=33–37}}

== Appearance and character ==
There is no surviving first-hand account of Attila's appearance, but there is a possible second-hand source provided by [[Jordanes]], who cites a description given by [[Priscus]].{{r|Bakker}}{{r|Wolfram}}

{{blockquote|He was a man born into the world to shake the nations, the scourge of all lands, who in some way terrified all mankind by the dreadful rumors noised abroad concerning him. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes hither and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit appeared in the movement of his body. He was indeed a lover of war, yet restrained in action, mighty in counsel, gracious to suppliants and lenient to those who were once received into his protection. Short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard thin and sprinkled with grey; and he had a flat nose and swarthy skin, showing evidence of his origin.{{r|Jordanes|p=182–183}}}}

Some scholars have suggested that these features are typically [[East Asian people|East Asian]], because in combination they fit the physical type of people from Eastern Asia, so Attila's ancestors may have come from there.{{r|Wolfram}}{{r|Sinor|p=202}} Other historians have suggested that the same features may have been typical of some [[Scythian]] people.<ref>Wolff, Larry. ''Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment''. Stanford University Press; (1994). pp. 299–230. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-2702-0}}</ref><ref>Fields, Nic. ''Attila the Hun (Command)''. Osprey Publishing; UK ed. (2015). pp. 58–60. {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0887-5}}</ref>

== Early life and background ==
{{Main|Huns}}
[[File:Hunnen.jpg|thumb|left|Huns in battle with the [[Alans]]. An 1870s engraving after a drawing by [[Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger|Johann Nepomuk Geiger]] (1805–1880).]]
The Huns were a group of [[Eurasian nomads]], appearing from east of the [[Volga]], who migrated further into [[Western Europe]] c.&nbsp;370{{r|Grousset}} and built up an enormous empire there. Their main military techniques were [[mounted archer]]y and [[javelin]] throwing. They were in the process of developing [[sedentism|settlements]] before their arrival in Western Europe, yet the Huns were a society of pastoral warriors{{r|Rouche|p=259}} whose primary form of nourishment was meat and milk, products of their herds.

The origin and [[Hunnic language|language of the Huns]] has been the subject of debate for centuries. According to some theories, their leaders at least may have spoken a [[Turkic language]], perhaps closest to the modern [[Chuvash language]].{{r|Pritsak|p=444}}  According to the ''Encyclopedia of European Peoples'', "the Huns, especially those who migrated to the west, may have been a combination of central Asian [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], [[Mongols|Mongolic]], and [[Ugrians|Ugric]] stocks".{{r|Waldman}}

Attila's father [[Mundzuk]] was the brother of kings [[Octar]] and [[Rugila|Ruga]], who reigned jointly over the Hunnic empire in the early fifth century. This form of [[diarchy]] was recurrent with the Huns, but historians are unsure whether it was institutionalized, merely customary, or an occasional occurrence.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=80}} His family was from a noble lineage, but it is uncertain whether they constituted a royal [[dynasty]]. Attila's birthdate is debated; journalist [[Éric Deschodt]] and writer Herman Schreiber have proposed a date of 395.{{r|Deschodt}}{{r|Schreiber}} However, historian [[Iaroslav Lebedynsky]] and archaeologist Katalin Escher prefer an estimate between the 390s and the first decade of the fifth century.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=40}} Several historians have proposed 406 as the date.{{r|Harvey|p=92}}{{r|Cooper|p=202}}

Attila grew up in a rapidly changing world. His people were nomads who had only recently arrived in Europe.{{r|Bona}} They crossed the [[Volga]] river during the 370s and annexed the territory of the [[Alans]], then attacked the Gothic kingdom between the [[Carpathian Mountains]] and the [[Danube]]. They were a very mobile people, whose mounted archers had acquired a reputation for invincibility, and the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] seemed unable to withstand them.{{r|Rouche|p=133–151}} Vast populations fleeing the Huns moved from [[Germania]] into the Roman Empire in the west and south, and along the banks of the [[Rhine]] and Danube. In 376, the Goths crossed the Danube, initially submitting to the Romans but soon rebelling against Emperor [[Valens]], whom they killed in the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378.{{r|Rouche|p=100}} Large numbers of [[Vandals]], Alans, [[Suebi]], and [[Burgundians]] [[crossing of the Rhine|crossed the Rhine]] and invaded Roman [[Gaul]] on December&nbsp;31, 406, to escape the Huns.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=233}} The Roman Empire had been split in half since 395 and was ruled by two distinct governments, one based in [[Ravenna]] in the West, and the other in [[Constantinople]] in the East. The Roman Emperors, both East and West, were generally from the [[Theodosian dynasty|Theodosian]] family in Attila's lifetime (despite several power struggles).{{r|Lebedynsky:Campaign|p=13}}

The Huns dominated a vast territory with nebulous borders determined by the will of a constellation of ethnically varied peoples. Some were assimilated to Hunnic nationality, whereas many retained their own identities and rulers but acknowledged the [[suzerainty]] of the king of the Huns.{{r|Lebedynsky:Campaign|p=11}} The Huns were also the indirect source of many of the Romans' problems, driving various Germanic tribes into Roman territory, yet relations between the two empires were cordial: the Romans used the Huns as [[mercenary|mercenaries]] against the Germans and even in their civil wars. Thus, the usurper [[Joannes]] was able to recruit thousands of Huns for his army against [[Valentinian III|Valentinian&nbsp;III]] in 424. It was [[Flavius Aetius|Aëtius]], later Patrician of the West, who managed this operation. They exchanged ambassadors and hostages, the alliance lasting from 401 to 450 and permitting the Romans numerous military victories.{{r|Rouche|p=111}} The Huns considered the Romans to be paying them tribute, whereas the Romans preferred to view this as payment for services rendered. The Huns had become a great power by the time that Attila came of age during the reign of his uncle Ruga, to the point that [[Nestorius]], the Patriarch of Constantinople, deplored the situation with these words: "They have become both masters and slaves of the Romans".{{r|Rouche|p=128}}

== Campaigns against the Eastern Roman Empire ==
[[File:Huns450.png|thumb|right|The Empire of the Huns and subject tribes at the time of Attila.]]
The death of [[Rugila]] (also known as Rua or Ruga) in 434 left the sons of his brother [[Mundzuk]], Attila and [[Bleda]], in control of the united Hun tribes. At the time of the two brothers' accession, the Hun tribes were bargaining with Eastern Roman Emperor [[Theodosius II|Theodosius&nbsp;II]]'s envoys for the return of several [[wikt:renegade|renegades]] who had taken refuge within the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], possibly Hunnic nobles who disagreed with the brothers' assumption of leadership.

The following year, Attila and Bleda met with the imperial legation at [[Margus (city)|Margus]] ([[Požarevac]]), all seated on horseback in the Hunnic manner,{{r|Howarth}} and negotiated an advantageous [[Treaty of Margus|treaty]]. The Romans agreed to return the fugitives, to double their previous [[tribute]] of 350 Roman pounds (c.&nbsp;115&nbsp;kg) of gold, to open their markets to Hunnish traders, and to pay a ransom of eight ''[[solidus (coin)|solidi]]'' for each Roman taken prisoner by the Huns. The Huns, satisfied with the treaty, decamped from the Roman Empire and returned to their home in the [[Great Hungarian Plain]], perhaps to consolidate and strengthen their empire. Theodosius used this opportunity to strengthen the [[walls of Constantinople]], building the city's first [[sea wall]], and to build up his border defenses along the [[Danube]].

The Huns remained out of Roman sight for the next few years while they invaded the [[Sassanid Empire]]. They were defeated in [[Armenia]] by the Sassanids, abandoned their invasion, and turned their attentions back to Europe. In 440, they reappeared in force on the borders of the Roman Empire, attacking the merchants at the market on the north bank of the Danube that had been established by the treaty of 435.

Crossing the Danube, they laid waste to the cities of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] and forts on the river, including (according to [[Priscus]]) [[Viminacium]], a city of [[Moesia]]. Their advance began at Margus, where they demanded that the Romans turn over a bishop who had retained property that Attila regarded as his. While the Romans discussed the bishop's fate, he slipped away secretly to the Huns and betrayed the city to them.

While the Huns attacked city-states along the Danube, the [[Vandals]] (led by [[Geiseric]]) captured the Western Roman province of Africa and its capital of [[Carthage]]. Africa was the richest province of the Western Empire and a main source of food for Rome. The [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid]] [[Shah]] [[Yazdegerd II of Persia|Yazdegerd&nbsp;II]] invaded [[Armenia]] in 441.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/|access-date=3 June 2021|website=iranicaonline.org|language=en-US}}</ref>

The Romans stripped the Balkan area of forces, sending them to Sicily in order to mount an expedition against the Vandals in Africa. This left Attila and Bleda a clear path through Illyricum into the Balkans, which they invaded in 441. The Hunnish army sacked Margus and Viminacium, and then took [[Singidunum]] ([[Belgrade]]) and [[Sirmium]]. During 442, Theodosius recalled his troops from [[Sicily]] and ordered a large issue of new coins to finance operations against the Huns. He believed that he could defeat the Huns and refused the Hunnish kings' demands.

Attila responded with a campaign in 443.{{r|Dupuy}} For the first time (as far as the Romans knew) his forces were equipped with [[battering ram]]s and rolling siege towers, with which they successfully assaulted the military centers of Ratiara and Naissus ([[Niš]]) and massacred the inhabitants. [[Priscus]] said "When we arrived at Naissus we found the city deserted, as though it had been sacked; only a few sick persons lay in the churches. We halted at a short distance from the river, in an open space, for all the ground adjacent to the bank was full of the bones of men slain in war."<ref>{{cite web|title=Priscus at the court of Attila|website=ucalgary.ca|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/prisfr8.html}}</ref>

Advancing along the [[Nišava|Nišava River]], the Huns next took Serdica ([[Sofia]]), Philippopolis ([[Plovdiv]]), and Arcadiopolis ([[Lüleburgaz]]). They encountered and destroyed a Roman army outside Constantinople but were stopped by the double walls of the Eastern capital. They defeated a second army near Callipolis ([[Gelibolu]]).

Theodosius, unable to make effective armed resistance, admitted defeat, sending the ''[[magister militum|Magister militum per Orientem]]'' [[Anatolius (consul 440)|Anatolius]] to negotiate peace terms. The terms were harsher than the previous treaty: the Emperor agreed to hand over 6,000 Roman pounds (c. 2000&nbsp;kg) of gold as punishment for having disobeyed the terms of the treaty during the invasion; the yearly tribute was tripled, rising to 2,100 Roman pounds (c. 700&nbsp;kg) in gold; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner rose to 12 ''solidi''.

Their demands were met for a time, and the Hun kings withdrew into the interior of their empire.  Bleda died following the Huns' withdrawal from Byzantium (probably around 445). Attila then took the throne for himself, becoming the sole ruler of the Huns.{{r|Haas}}

== Solitary kingship ==
In 447, Attila again rode south into the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] through [[Moesia]]. The [[Roman military history|Roman army]], under [[Goths|Gothic]] ''[[magister militum]]'' [[Arnegisclus]], met him in the [[Battle of the Utus]] and was defeated, though not without inflicting heavy losses. The Huns were left unopposed and rampaged through the Balkans as far as [[Thermopylae]].

Constantinople itself was saved by the [[Isauria]]n troops of ''[[magister militum per Orientem]]'' [[Zeno (consul 448)|Zeno]] and protected by the intervention of prefect [[Constantinus (consul 457)|Constantinus]], who organized the reconstruction of the walls that had been previously damaged by earthquakes and, in some places, to construct a new line of fortification in front of the old. Callinicus, in his ''Life of Saint Hypatius'', wrote:

{{blockquote|The barbarian nation of the Huns, which was in [[Thrace]], became so great that more than a hundred cities were captured and Constantinople almost came into danger and most men fled from it.&nbsp;... And there were so many murders and blood-lettings that the dead could not be numbered. Ay, for they took captive the churches and monasteries and slew the monks and maidens in great numbers.}}

== In the west ==
[[File:Attila in Gaul 451CE.svg|thumb|left|The general path of the Hun forces in the invasion of [[Gaul]].]]
In 450, Attila proclaimed his intent to attack the [[Visigoth]] kingdom of [[Toulouse]] by making an [[military alliance|alliance]] with Emperor [[Valentinian III|Valentinian&nbsp;III]]. He had previously been on good terms with the [[Western Roman Empire]] and its influential general [[Flavius Aetius|Flavius Aëtius]]. Aëtius had spent a brief [[exile]] among the Huns in 433, and the troops that Attila provided against the [[Goths]] and [[Bagaudae]] had helped earn him the largely honorary title of ''[[magister militum]]'' in the west. The gifts and diplomatic efforts of [[Geiseric]], who opposed and feared the Visigoths, may also have influenced Attila's plans.

However, Valentinian's sister was [[Justa Grata Honoria|Honoria]], who had sent the Hunnish king a plea for help—and her engagement ring—in order to escape her forced betrothal to a [[Roman Senate|Roman senator]] in the spring of 450. Honoria may not have intended a proposal of marriage, but Attila chose to interpret her message as such. He accepted, asking for half of the western Empire as dowry.

When Valentinian discovered the plan, only the influence of his mother [[Galla Placidia]] convinced him to exile Honoria, rather than killing her. He also wrote to Attila, strenuously denying the legitimacy of the supposed marriage proposal. Attila sent an emissary to [[Ravenna]] to proclaim that Honoria was innocent, that the proposal had been legitimate, and that he would come to claim what was rightfully his.

Attila interfered in a succession struggle after the death of a Frankish ruler. Attila supported the elder son, while Aëtius supported the younger. (The location and identity of these kings is not known and subject to conjecture.) Attila gathered his [[vassal]]s—[[Gepids]], [[Ostrogoths]], [[Rugians]], [[Scirians]], [[Heruls]], [[Thuringians]], [[Alans]], [[Burgundians]], among others—and began his march west. In 451, he arrived in [[Belgica]] with an army exaggerated by [[Jordanes]] to half a million strong.
[[File:Attila et les Huns par Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse.jpg|thumb|[[Roman villa]] in Gaul sacked by Attila's hordes, by French historial painter [[Georges Rochegrosse]]]]
On April&nbsp;7, he captured [[Metz]]. He also captured [[Sack of Strasbourg (451)|Strasbourg]]. Other cities attacked can be determined by the [[hagiographic]] ''[[biography|vitae]]'' written to commemorate their bishops: [[Nicasius of Rheims|Nicasius]] was slaughtered before the altar of his church in [[Rheims]]; [[Servatus]] is alleged to have saved [[Tongeren]] with his prayers, as Saint [[Genevieve]] is said to have saved Paris.{{r|Hodgkin}} [[Lupus of Troyes|Lupus]], bishop of [[Troyes]], is also credited with saving his city by meeting Attila in person.{{r|"Peterson" }}{{r|Goyau}}

Aëtius moved to oppose Attila, gathering troops from among the [[Franks]], the [[Burgundians]], and the [[Celts]]. A mission by [[Avitus]] and Attila's continued westward advance convinced the Visigoth king [[Theodoric I|Theodoric&nbsp;I]] (Theodorid) to ally with the Romans. The combined armies reached [[Orléans]] ahead of Attila, thus checking and turning back the Hunnish advance. Aëtius gave chase and caught the Huns at a place usually assumed to be near Catalaunum (modern [[Châlons-en-Champagne]]). Attila decided to fight the Romans on plains where he could use his cavalry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/01-02/roman-empire-decline-attila-the-hun|title=Rome Halts the Huns|date=17 January 2017|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128140948/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/01-02/roman-empire-decline-attila-the-hun/|archive-date=28 January 2017}}</ref>

The two armies clashed in the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Plains]], the outcome of which is commonly considered to be a strategic victory for the Visigothic-Roman alliance. Theodoric was killed in the fighting, and Aëtius failed to press his advantage, according to Edward Gibbon and Edward Creasy, because he feared the consequences of an overwhelming Visigothic triumph as much as he did a defeat. From Aëtius' point of view, the best outcome was what occurred: Theodoric died, Attila was in retreat and disarray, and the Romans had the benefit of appearing victorious.

== Invasion of Italy and death ==
[[File:Chronicon Pictum P014 Atilla Aquileiát ostromolja.JPG|thumb|Attila is [[Sack of Aquileia|besieging]] [[Aquileia]] ([[Chronicon Pictum]], 1358).]]
[[File:Leoattila-Raphael.jpg|thumb|[[Raffaello Santi|Raphael]]'s ''The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila'' depicts Leo, escorted by [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]], meeting with the [[Hun]] emperor outside Rome.]]
Attila returned in 452 to renew his marriage claim with [[Justa Grata Honoria|Honoria]], invading and ravaging Italy along the way. Communities became established in what would later become [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] as a result of these attacks when the residents fled to small islands in the [[Venetian Lagoon]]. His army sacked numerous cities and razed [[Sack of Aquileia|Aquileia]] so completely that it was afterwards hard to recognize its original site.{{r|Thompson|p=159}} Aëtius lacked the strength to offer battle, but managed to harass and slow Attila's advance with only a shadow force. Attila finally halted at the [[Po River|River Po]]. By this point, disease and starvation may have taken hold in Attila's camp, thus hindering his war efforts and potentially contributing to the cessation of invasion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8Muzx1VrbwC&q=site%3A+edu+starvation+stops+attila%27s+invasion&pg=PA471|title=A Roman Villa and a Late Roman Infant Cemetery: Excavation at Poggio Gramignano, Lugnano in Teverina|last1=Soren|first1=David|last2=Soren|first2=Noelle|date=1999|publisher=L'Erma di Bretschenider |isbn=978-88-7062-989-7|page=472|language=en}}</ref>

Emperor [[Valentinian III|Valentinian&nbsp;III]] sent three envoys, the high civilian officers [[Gennadius Avienus]] and Trigetius, as well as [[Pope Leo I]], who met Attila at [[Mincio]] in the vicinity of [[Mantua]] and obtained from him the promise that he would withdraw from Italy and negotiate peace with the Emperor.{{r|Kirsch}} [[Prosper of Aquitaine]] gives a short description of the historic meeting, but gives all the credit to Leo for the successful negotiation. Priscus reports that superstitious fear of the fate of [[Alaric I|Alaric]] gave him pause—as Alaric died shortly after sacking Rome in 410.

Italy had suffered from a terrible famine in 451 and crops were a little better in 452. Attila's devastating invasion of the plains of northern Italy this year did not improve the harvest.{{r|Thompson|p=161}} To advance on Rome would have required supplies which were not available in Italy, and taking the city would not have improved Attila's supply situation. Therefore, it was more profitable for Attila to conclude peace and retreat to his homeland.{{r|Thompson|p=160–161}}

Furthermore, an East Roman force had crossed the Danube under the command of another officer also named Aetius—who had participated in the [[Council of Chalcedon]] the previous year—and proceeded to defeat the Huns who had been left behind by Attila to safeguard their home territories. Attila, hence, faced heavy human and natural pressures to retire "from Italy without ever setting foot south of the [[Po (river)|Po]]".{{r|Thompson|p=163}} As [[Hydatius]] writes in his ''Chronica Minora'':
{{blockquote|The Huns, who had been plundering Italy and who had also stormed a number of cities, were victims of divine punishment, being visited with heaven-sent disasters: famine and some kind of disease. In addition, they were slaughtered by auxiliaries sent by the Emperor [[Marcian]] and led by Aetius, and at the same time, they were crushed in their [home] settlements&nbsp;... Thus crushed, they made peace with the Romans.<ref>{{cite book |year=1993 |editor1-last=Burgess |editor1-first=R. W. |title=The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jW1oAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Thus+crushed+they+made%22 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=103 |isbn=978-0-19-814787-9 |access-date=22 March 2018 }}</ref>}}

===Death===
[[File:Ulpiano Checa La invasión de los bárbaros.jpg|thumb|The [[Huns]], led by Attila, invade Italy (''Attila, the Scourge of God'', by [[Ulpiano Checa]], 1887).]]
In the Eastern Roman Empire, Emperor [[Marcian]] succeeded Theodosius II, and stopped paying tribute to the Huns. Attila withdrew from Italy to his palace across the Danube, while making plans to strike at Constantinople once more to reclaim tribute.<ref name="Kershaw">Kershaw, Stephen P. (2013). ''A Brief History of the Roman Empire: Rise and Fall. London.'' Constable & Robinson Ltd. pp. 398, 402–403. {{ISBN|978-1-78033-048-8}}.</ref> However, he died in the early months of 453.

The conventional account from Priscus says that Attila was at a feast celebrating his latest marriage, this time to the beautiful young [[Ildico]] (the name suggests [[Goths|Gothic]] or [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogoth]] origins).{{r|Thompson|p=164}} In the midst of the revels, however, he suffered severe bleeding and died. He may have had a [[Epistaxis|nosebleed]] and choked to death in a stupor. Or he may have succumbed to [[internal bleeding]], possibly due to ruptured [[esophageal varices]]. Esophageal varices are dilated veins that form in the lower part of the [[esophagus]], often caused by years of excessive alcohol consumption; they are fragile and can easily rupture, leading to death by hemorrhage.{{r|Man}}

Another account of his death was first recorded 80 years after the events by Roman chronicler [[Marcellinus Comes]]. It reports that "Attila, King of the Huns and ravager of the provinces of Europe, was pierced by the hand and blade of his wife".{{r|Chadwick}} One modern analyst suggests that he was assassinated,{{r|Babcock}} but most reject these accounts as no more than hearsay, preferring instead the account given by Attila's contemporary Priscus, recounted in the 6th century by [[Jordanes]]:

{{blockquote|On the following day, when a great part of the morning was spent, the royal attendants suspected some ill and, after a great uproar, broke in the doors. There they found the death of Attila accomplished by an effusion of blood, without any wound, and the girl with downcast face weeping beneath her veil. Then, as is the custom of that race, they plucked out the hair of their heads and made their faces hideous with deep wounds, that the renowned warrior might be mourned, not by effeminate wailings and tears, but by the blood of men. Moreover a wondrous thing took place in connection with Attila's death. For in a dream some god stood at the side of Marcian, Emperor of the East, while he was disquieted about his fierce foe, and showed him the bow of Attila broken in that same night, as if to intimate that the race of Huns owed much to that weapon. This account the historian Priscus says he accepts upon truthful evidence. For so terrible was Attila thought to be to great empires that the gods announced his death to rulers as a special boon.

His body was placed in the midst of a plain and lay in state in a silken tent as a sight for men's admiration. The best horsemen of the entire tribe of the Huns rode around in circles, after the manner of circus games, in the place to which he had been brought and told of his deeds in a funeral dirge in the following manner: "The chief of the Huns, King Attila, born of his sire Mundiuch, lord of bravest tribes, sole possessor of the Scythian and German realms—powers unknown before—captured cities and terrified both empires of the Roman world and, appeased by their prayers, took annual tribute to save the rest from plunder. And when he had accomplished all this by the favor of fortune, he fell, not by wound of the foe, nor by treachery of friends, but in the midst of his nation at peace, happy in his joy and without sense of pain. Who can rate this as death, when none believes it calls for vengeance?"

When they had mourned him with such lamentations, a strava, as they call it, was celebrated over his tomb with great reveling. They gave way in turn to the extremes of feeling and displayed funereal grief alternating with joy. Then in the secrecy of night they buried his body in the earth. They bound his coffins, the first with gold, the second with silver and the third with the strength of iron, showing by such means that these three things suited the mightiest of kings; iron because he subdued the nations, gold and silver because he received the honors of both empires. They also added the arms of foemen won in the fight, trappings of rare worth, sparkling with various gems, and ornaments of all sorts whereby princely state is maintained. And that so great riches might be kept from human curiosity, they slew those appointed to the work—a dreadful pay for their labor; and thus sudden death was the lot of those who buried him as well as of him who was buried.{{r|Jordanes|p=254–259}}}}

=== Descendants===
Attila's sons [[Ellac]], [[Dengizich]] and [[Ernak]], "in their rash eagerness to rule they all alike destroyed his empire".{{r|Jordanes|p=259}} They "were clamoring that the nations should be divided among them equally and that warlike kings with their peoples should be apportioned to them by lot like a family estate".{{r|Jordanes|p=259}} Against the treatment as "slaves of the basest condition" a Germanic alliance led by the Gepid ruler [[Ardaric]] (who was noted for great loyalty to Attila{{r|Jordanes|p=199}}) revolted and fought with the Huns in Pannonia in the [[Battle of Nedao]] 454 AD.{{r|Jordanes|p=260–262}} Attila's eldest son Ellac was killed in that battle.{{r|Jordanes|p=262}} Attila's sons "regarding the Goths as deserters from their rule, came against them as though they were seeking fugitive slaves", attacked Ostrogothic co-ruler [[Valamir]] (who also fought alongside Ardaric and Attila at the Catalaunian Plains{{r|Jordanes|p=199}}), but were repelled, and some group of Huns moved to Scythia (probably those of Ernak).{{r|Jordanes|pp=268–269}} His brother Dengizich attempted a renewed invasion across the Danube in 468 AD, but was defeated at the [[Battle of Bassianae]] by the Ostrogoths.{{r|Jordanes|p=272–273}} Dengizich was killed by Roman-Gothic general [[Anagast]] the following year, after which the Hunnic dominion ended.{{r|Maenchen-Helfen|p=168}}

Many of Attila's close relatives are known by name, and some even by deeds, but valid genealogical sources are rare, and there seems to be no verifiable way to trace Attila's descendants beyond a few generations. This has not stopped many genealogists from attempting to reconstruct a [[descent from antiquity|valid line of descent]] to various medieval rulers. One of the most credible claims has been that of the ''[[Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans]]'' for mythological [[Avitohol]] and [[Ernak|Irnik]] from the [[Dulo clan]] of the [[Bulgars]].{{r|Golden|p=103}}{{r|Kim|p=59, 142}}{{r|Biliarsky}} The Hungarian [[Árpád dynasty]] also claimed to be a direct descendant of Attila.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Horváth-Lugossy |first1=Gábor |url=https://mki.gov.hu/assets/pdf/MKI_EN_006_kings_and_saints_B5_web.pdf |title=Kings and Saints – The Age of the Árpáds |last2=Makoldi |first2=Miklós |last3=Neparáczki |first3=Endre |publisher=Institute of Hungarian Research |year=2022 |isbn=978-615-6117-65-6 |location=Budapest, Székesfehérvár}}</ref> Medieval Hungarian chronicles from the [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian royal court]] like ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'', ''[[Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum]]'', ''[[Chronicon Pictum]]'', ''[[Chronica Hungarorum#Buda Chronicle|Buda Chronicle]]'', ''[[Chronica Hungarorum]]'' claimed that the [[Árpád dynasty]] and the [[Aba (genus)|Aba clan]] are the descendants of Attila.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |url=https://mki.gov.hu/assets/pdf/MKI_EN_006_kings_and_saints_B5_web.pdf |title=Kings and Saints – The Age of the Árpáds |publisher=Institute of Hungarian Research |year=2022 |isbn=978-615-6117-65-6 |location=Budapest, Székesfehérvár |page=243}}</ref>

== Later folklore and iconography ==
{{further|Attila in popular culture}}
The name has many variants in several languages: Atli and Atle in [[Old Norse]]; Etzel in [[Middle High German]] ([[Nibelungenlied]]); Ætla in [[Old English]]; Attila, Atilla, and Etele in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] (Attila is the most popular); Attila, [[Atilla (disambiguation)|Atilla]], Atilay, or Atila in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]; and Adil and Edil in [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]] or Adil ("same/similar") or Edil ("to use") in [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]].

=== Attila and Hun tradition in the medieval Hungarian Royal Court ===
[[File:Képes krónika - 10.oldal - Attila király a trónuson.jpg|thumb|King Attila on the throne ([[Chronicon Pictum]], 1358).]]
The basic premise of the Hungarian medieval chronicle tradition that the [[Huns]], i.e. the [[Hungarians]] coming out twice from [[Scythians|Scythia]], the guiding principle of the chronicles was the Hun-Hungarian continuity.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Dr. Szabados |first=György |url=http://real-j.mtak.hu/13031/1/EPA00001_ITK_1998_05-06.pdf |title=Irodalomtörténeti Közlemények, 102 (5–6) |publisher=MTA Irodalomtudományi Intézet (Institute for Literary Studies of Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |year=1998 |pages=615–641 |language=hu |chapter=A krónikáktól a Gestáig – Az előidő-szemlélet hangsúlyváltásai a 15–18. században |trans-chapter=From the chronicles to the Gesta – Shifts in emphasis of the pre-time perspective in the 15th–18th centuries |issn=0021-1486 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/28283729}}</ref> The Hungarian state founder royal dynasty, the [[Árpád dynasty]] claimed to be a direct descendant of the great Hun leader Attila.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |last2=Maróti |first2=Zoltán |last3=Kalmár |first3=Tibor |last4=Maár |first4=Kitti |last5=Nagy |first5=István |last6=Latinovics |first6=Dóra |last7=Kustár |first7=Ágnes |last8=Pálfi |first8=György |last9=Molnár |first9=Erika |last10=Marcsik |first10=Antónia |last11=Balogh |first11=Csilla |last12=Lőrinczy |first12=Gábor |last13=Tomka |first13=Péter |last14=Kovacsóczy |first14=Bernadett |last15=Kovács |first15=László |date=12 November 2019 |title=Y-chromosome haplogroups from Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian period nomadic people of the Carpathian Basin |journal=Scientific Reports |last16=Török |first16=Tibor|volume=9 |issue=1 |page=16569 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-53105-5 |pmid=31719606 |pmc=6851379 |bibcode=2019NatSR...916569N }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |last2=Maróti |first2=Zoltán |last3=Kalmár |first3=Tibor |last4=Kocsy |first4=Klaudia |last5=Maár |first5=Kitti |last6=Bihari |first6=Péter |last7=Nagy |first7=István |last8=Fóthi |first8=Erzsébet |last9=Pap |first9=Ildikó |last10=Kustár |first10=Ágnes |last11=Pálfi |first11=György |last12=Raskó |first12=István |last13=Zink |first13=Albert |last14=Török |first14=Tibor |date=18 October 2018 |title=Mitogenomic data indicate admixture components of Central-Inner Asian and Srubnaya origin in the conquering Hungarians |journal= PLOS ONE|volume=13 |issue=10 |article-number=e0205920 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0205920 |pmid=30335830 |pmc=6193700 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1305920N |doi-access=free }}</ref> Medieval Hungarian chronicles claimed that Grand Prince [[Árpád|Árpád of Hungary]] was the descendant of Attila.<ref name=":0" />

{{Blockquote|''In the 401st year of Our Lord's birth, in the 28th year since the arrival of the Hungarians in Pannonia, according to the custom of the Romans, the Huns, namely the Hungarians exalted Attila as king above themselves, the son of Bendegúz, who was before among the captains. And he made his brother Buda a prince and a judge from the River Tisza to the River Don. Calling himself the King of the Hungarians, the Fear of the World, the Scourge of God: Attila, King of the Huns, Medes, Goths and Danes…''|[[Mark of Kalt]]: ''[[Chronicon Pictum]]''<ref name="mek.oszk.hu">''Mark of Kalt: Chronicon Pictum'' https://mek.oszk.hu/10600/10642/10642.htm</ref>}}

[[Árpád]], Grand Prince of the Hungarians says in the ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'':{{Blockquote|''The land stretching between the Danube and the Tisza used to belong to my forefather, the mighty Attila.''|[[Anonymus (notary of Béla III)|Anonymus]]: ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]''<ref name="discovery.ucl.ac.uk">''Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians'' https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/18975/1/18975.pdf</ref>}}

King [[Matthias Corvinus|Matthias of Hungary]] (1458–1490) was happy to be described as "the second Attila".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Malcolm |first=Noel |title=Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450–1750 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-19-883013-9 |quote=In Hungary, King Matthias Corvinus (r. 1458–90) was happy to be described as 'the second Attila', and the tradition of identifying the Hungarians with 'Scythian' Huns, already present in the writings of earlier Hungarian chroniclers but greatly strengthened in his reign, would continue for hundreds of years.}}</ref> The ''[[Chronica Hungarorum]]'' by [[Johannes de Thurocz|Johannes Thuróczy]] set the goal of glorifying Attila, which was undeservedly neglected, moreover, he introduced the famous "Scourge of God" characterization to the later Hungarian writers, because the earlier chronicles remained hidden for a long time. Thuróczy worked hard to endear Attila, the Hun king with an effort far surpassing his predecessor chroniclers. He made Attila a model for his victorious ruler, King Matthias of Hungary who had Attila's abilities, with this he almost brought "the hammer of the world" to life.<ref name=":32" />

=== Legends about Attila and the sword of Mars ===

[[File:Attila_kardja.jpg|thumb|During the reign of King [[Solomon, King of Hungary|Solomon of Hungary]], in the autumn of 1063, Queen Mother [[Anastasia of Kiev|Anastasia]] presented a richly decorated sabre to [[Otto of Nordheim]], Duke of Bavaria. This weapon was esteemed in the Hungarian royal court as the [[Sword of Attila]].<ref name="Szabados Kezdetek 20022">{{Cite book |last=Szabados |first=György |url=https://www.academia.edu/91850728 |title=A magyar történelem kezdeteiről |work=Hoppál Mihály – Szabados György szerk.: Mítosz és történelem. Második kiadás (Mítosz és Történelem Könyvek 1.) |publisher= |year=2002 |location=Szeged |pages= |language=Hungarian |trans-title=On the Beginnings of Hungarian History}}</ref> According to the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], actually a Hungarian [[sabre]] from the first half of the 10th.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Der "Säbel Karls des Großen" |url=https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/der-saebel-karls-des-grossen-100469-1 |website=Kunsthistorisches Museum.}}</ref>]]

[[Jordanes]] embellished the report of [[Priscus]], reporting that Attila had possessed the "Holy War Sword of the [[Scythians]]", which was given to him by [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and made him a "prince of the entire world".{{r|Geary}}{{r|Oakeshott}}

The German chronicler [[Lambert of Hersfeld|Lampert of Hersfeld]], in his ''Annales'' written up to 1077, recounts that [[Anastasia of Kiev|Anastasia]], the mother of King [[Solomon, King of Hungary|Solomon of Hungary]], gave the [[Sword of Attila]] to [[Otto of Nordheim]], Duke of Bavaria, as a token of gratitude for helping Solomon ascend to the throne.<ref name="Szabados Identitasformak 2014">{{Cite book |last=Szabados |first=György |url=https://www.academia.edu/10391675 |title=Magyar őstörténet – Tudomány és hagyományőrzés |publisher=MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont [Hungarian Academy of Sciences - Research Centre for the Humanities] |year=2014 |isbn=978-963-9627-87-1 |location=Budapest |pages=289–305 |language=Hungarian |trans-title=Hungarian Prehistory – Scholarship and Tradition Preservation |chapter=Identitásformák és hagyományok |trans-chapter=Forms of Identity and Traditions}}</ref>{{r|Rona-Tas}} This sword, a cavalry [[sabre]] now in the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] in Vienna, appears to be the work of Hungarian goldsmiths of the ninth or tenth century.{{r|Fillitz}}

=== Legends about Attila and his meeting with Pope Leo I ===
[[File:Chronicon Pictum P016 Attila és Leó pápa.JPG|thumb|Meeting of Attila with Pope [[Pope Leo I|Leo]] ([[Chronicon Pictum]], 1358).]]
An anonymous chronicler of the medieval period represented the meeting of [[Pope Leo I|Pope Leo]] and Atilla as attended also by [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]], "a miraculous tale calculated to meet the taste of the time"{{r|Robinson}} This apotheosis was later portrayed artistically by the Renaissance artist [[Raphael]] and sculptor [[Algardi]], whom eighteenth-century historian [[Edward Gibbon]] praised for establishing "one of the noblest legends of ecclesiastical tradition".{{r|Gibbon}}

According to a version of this narrative related in the ''[[Chronicon Pictum]]'', a mediaeval Hungarian chronicle, [[Pope|the Pope]] promised Attila that if he left Rome in peace, one of his successors would receive a holy crown (which has been understood as referring to the [[Holy Crown of Hungary]]).

=== Attila in Germanic heroic legend ===
Some histories and chronicles describe Attila as a great and noble king, and he plays major roles in three Norse texts: ''[[Atlakviða]]'',{{r|Atlakvitha }} ''[[Volsunga saga]]'',{{r|Volsunga }} and ''[[Atlamál]]''.{{r|Atlakvitha }} The ''Polish Chronicle'' represents Attila's name as ''Aquila''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early christianity in central and east Europe: Volume 1 of Christianity in east central Europe and its relations with the west and the east|last=Urbańczyk|first=Przemysław|publisher=Instytut Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej|year=1997|isbn=978-83-86951-33-8|page=200}}</ref>

[[Frutolf of Michelsberg]] and [[Otto of Freising]] pointed out that some songs as "vulgar fables" and made [[Theoderic the Great]], Attila and [[Ermanaric]] contemporaries, when any reader of Jordanes knew that [[anachronism|this was not the case]].{{r|Innes}} This refers to the so-called historical poems about [[Dietrich von Bern]] (Theoderic), in which Etzel (German for Attila) is Dietrich's refuge in exile from his wicked uncle Ermenrich (Ermanaric). Etzel is most prominent in the poems ''[[Dietrichs Flucht]]'' and the ''[[Rabenschlacht]]''. Etzel also appears as [[Kriemhild]]'s second noble husband in the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'', in which Kriemhild causes the destruction of both the Hunnish kingdom and that of her Burgundian relatives.

=== Early modern and modern reception ===
[[File:Eugene Ferdinand Victor Delacroix Attila fragment (cropped2).jpg|thumb|A painting of Attila riding a pale horse, by French Romantic artist [[Eugène Delacroix]]  (1798–1863).]]
In 1812, [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] conceived the idea of writing an opera about Attila and approached [[August von Kotzebue]] to write the libretto. It was, however, never written.{{r|Thayer}} In 1846, [[Giuseppe Verdi]] wrote the [[Attila (opera)|opera]], loosely based on episodes in Attila's invasion of Italy.

In World War&nbsp;I, Allied propaganda referred to Germans as the "[[List of terms used for Germans#Hun (pejorative)|Huns]]", based on a [[Hun speech|1900 speech]] by [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Emperor Wilhelm&nbsp;II]] praising Attila the Hun's military prowess, according to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s ''[[Glimpses of World History]]''.{{r|Nehru}} ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' commented on 6 November 1948, that the [[Sword of Attila]] was hanging menacingly over [[Austria]].{{r|DerSpiegel}}

American writer [[Cecelia Holland]] wrote ''The Death of Attila'' (1973), a historical novel in which Attila appears as a powerful background figure whose life and death deeply affect the protagonists, a young Hunnic warrior and a Germanic one.

In modern [[Hungary]] and in [[Turkey]], "Attila" and its Turkish variation "Atilla" are commonly used as a male first name. In Hungary, several public places are named after Attila; for instance, in [[Budapest]] there are 10 Attila Streets, one of which is an important street behind the [[Buda Castle]]. When the [[Turkish Armed Forces]] invaded [[Cyprus]] in 1974, the operations were named after Attila ("The Attila Plan").{{r|Martin}}

The 1954 [[Universal International]] film ''[[Sign of the Pagan]]'' starred [[Jack Palance]] as Attila.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Onegesius]]
* [[Bleda]]
* [[Mundzuk]]{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
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{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name=Atlakvitha>{{Cite web |title=Atlakvitha en Grönlenzka|trans-title=The Greenland Lay of Atli |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe34.htm |work=The Poetic Edda |publisher=Internet Sacred Text Archive |access-date=20 May 2014 |translator=Bellows, Henry Adams |translator-link=Henry Adams Bellows (businessman) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409212740/http://sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe34.htm |archive-date=9 April 2014 |year=1936 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=Babcock>{{Cite book |last=Babcock |first=Michael A. |title=The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun |year= 2005 |publisher=[[Berkley Books]] |isbn=978-0-425-20272-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/nightattiladieds00babc }}</ref>

<ref name=Bakker>{{Cite web |last=Bakker |first=Marco |title=Attila the Hun |url=http://www.reportret.info/gallery/attilathehun1.html |work=Gallery of reconstructed portraits |publisher=Reportret |access-date=9 March 2013}}</ref><!-- archive unavailable -->

<ref name=Biliarsky>{{Cite book |last=Biliarsky |first=Ivan |date=2013 |title=The Tale of the Prophet Isaiah: The Destiny and Meanings of an Apocryphal Text |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbevAAAAQBAJ |publisher=Brill |pages=255–257 |isbn=978-90-04-25438-1}}</ref>

<ref name=Bona>{{Cite book |last=Bóna |first=István |title=Les Huns: le grand empire barbare d'Europe (IVe–Ve siècles) |trans-title=The Huns: The Great Empire of Barbaric Europe IVth–Vth Century |date=8 April 2002 |publisher=Errance |location=Paris |page=15 |isbn=978-2-87772-223-0 |others=Escher, Katalin (translation of the Hungarian) |language=fr}}</ref>

<ref name=Bonmann>*{{cite journal|last1=Bonmann |first1=Svenja |last2=Fries |first2=Simon |title=Linguistic Evidence Suggests that Xiōng-nú and Huns Spoke the Same Paleo-Siberian Language |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |article-number=1467-968X.12321 |year=2025 |volume=0 |doi=10.1111/1467-968X.12321|doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=Chadwick>{{Cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Hector Munro |author-link=Hector Munro Chadwick |title=The Heroic Age |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=London |year=1926 |page=39, n&nbsp;1}}</ref>

<ref name="Cooper">{{cite book |first1=Alan D |last1=Cooper |title=The Geography of Genocide |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7618-4097-8 |publisher=[[University Press of America]]}}</ref>

<ref name=DerSpiegel>{{Cite magazine |title=Attilas Schwert über Oesterreich: Mit ferngelenktem "New Look" |volume=45 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44419693.html |magazine=Vol. 45/1948 |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] |access-date=20 May 2014 |language=de |format=Online |date=6 November 1948 |trans-title=Attila's Sword over Austria: With remote-controlled "New Look" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520220209/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44419693.html |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=Deschodt>{{Cite book |last=Deschodt |first=Éric |title=''Folio Biographies (Book 13)'': Attila |date=1 May 2006 |publisher=[[Éditions Gallimard]] |location=[[Paris]] |isbn=978-2-07-030903-0 |page=24 |language=fr}}</ref>

<ref name=Doerfer>{{cite journal |last=Doerfer |first=Gerhard |title=Zur Sprache der Hunnen |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1–50 |year=1973 }}</ref>

<ref name=Dupuy>{{Cite book |last1=Dupuy |first1=R. Ernest |title=The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 BC to the Present |date=March 1993 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-06-270056-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/harperencycloped0000dupu/page/189 189] |edition=4th |last2=Dupuy |first2=Trevor N. |url=https://archive.org/details/harperencycloped0000dupu/page/189 }}</ref>

<ref name=Fillitz>{{Cite book |last=Fillitz |first=Hermann |title=Die Schatzkammer in Wien: Symbole abendländischen Kaisertums |year=1986 |publisher=Residenz |location=[[Salzburg]] |isbn=978-3-7017-0443-9 |language=de |trans-title=The Vault in Vienna: Symbols of Occidental Imperial Rule |url=http://www.chicagohungarians.com/radics/Origin2a.htm |access-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602155719/http://www.chicagohungarians.com/radics/Origin2a.htm |archive-date=2 June 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Geary>{{Cite book |last=Geary |first=Patrick J. |author-link=Patrick J. Geary |title=Living with the Dead in the Middle Ages |date=28 October 1994 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8014-8098-0 |page=63 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6z9p464GbZgC&pg=PA63 |chapter=Chapter 3. Germanic Tradition and Royal Ideology in the Ninth Century: The ''Visio Karoli Magni''}}</ref>

<ref name=Gibbon>{{Cite book |last=Gibbon |first=Edward |title=History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |others=[[H. H. Milman|Milman, Rev. H. H.]] (notes) |year=1776–1789 |publisher=Strahan & Cadell |location=London |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/733/733-h/733-h.htm#link352HCH0001 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327115248/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/733/733-h/733-h.htm#link352HCH0001 |archive-date=27 March 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Given>{{Cite book |last=Given |first=John |title=The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430–476. |date=2014 |publisher=Arx Publishing |isbn=978-1-935228-14-1 |type=Paperback}}</ref>

<ref name=Golden>{{Cite book |last=Golden |first=Peter Benjamin |author-link=Peter Benjamin Golden |date=1992 |title=An introduction to the History of the Turkic peoples: ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East |url=https://www.academia.edu/12545004 |publisher=[[Harrassowitz Verlag|Otto Harrassowitz]] |place=[[Wiesbaden]] |isbn=978-3-447-03274-2}}</ref>

<ref name=Goyau>{{Cite book |last=Goyau |first=Georges |author-link=Georges Goyau |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia ''vol. 15'' |year=1912 |publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |location=New York |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15067a.htm |chapter=Troyes |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525134819/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15067a.htm |archive-date=25 May 2014 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Grousset>{{Cite book |last=Grousset |first=Rene |title=The Empire of the Steppes |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/38 38] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/38 }}</ref>

<ref name=Haas>{{Cite web |last=Haas |first=Christopher |url=http://www29.homepage.villanova.edu/christopher.haas/embassy.htm |title=Embassy to Attila: Priscus of Panium |publisher=[[Villanova University]] |access-date=18 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221065932/http://www29.homepage.villanova.edu/christopher.haas/embassy.htm |archive-date=21 February 2014 }}</ref>

<ref name=Harvey>{{cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Bonnie |title=Attila the Hun (Ancient World Leaders) |date=2003 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |asin=B01FJ1LTIQ |orig-date=1st Published in 1821 by Chelsea House Publications}}</ref>

<ref name=Hodgkin>{{Cite book |last=Hodgkin |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Hodgkin (historian) |title=Italy and Her Invaders: 376–476. |volume=II. Book 2. The Hunnish Invasion; Book 3. The Vandal Invasion and the Herulian Mutiny |year=2011 |publisher=Adegi Graphics LLC |location=New York |isbn=978-0-543-95157-1}}</ref>

<ref name=Howarth>{{Cite book |last=Howarth |first=Patrick |title=Attila, King of the Huns: The Man and The Myth |year=1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/attilakingofhuns0000howa_s0a2 |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Barnes & Noble Books]] |isbn=978-0-7607-0033-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/attilakingofhuns0000howa_s0a2/page/36 36]–37}}</ref>

<ref name=Innes>{{Cite book |last=Innes |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Innes |title=The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages |year=2000 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-63998-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/usesofpastinearl00heny/page/245 245] |editor=Hen, Yitzhak |editor-link=Yitzhak Hen |editor2=Innes, Matthew |url=https://archive.org/details/usesofpastinearl00heny/page/245 }}</ref>

<ref name=Jordanes>{{Cite book |author=Jordanes |author-link=Jordanes |translator-last=Mierow |translator-first=Charles Christopher|date=1908 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14809 |title=The Origin and Deeds of the Goths |publisher=[[Princeton University]] |place=[[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]] |via=[[Project Gutenberg]] |access-date=24 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119205648/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14809 |archive-date=19 January 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Kim>{{Cite book |author=Hyun Jin Kim |year=2013 |title=The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCpncXFzoFgC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00906-6}}</ref>

<ref name=Kirsch>{{Cite book |last=Kirsch |first=Johann Peter |author-link=Johann Peter Kirsch |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia ''vol. 9'' |year=1910 |publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |location=New York |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09154b.htm |chapter=Pope St. Leo I (the Great) |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701235354/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09154b.htm |archive-date=1 July 2014 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Lebedynsky:Campaign>{{Cite book |last=Lebedynsky |first=Iaroslav |title=La campagne d'Attila en Gaule |trans-title=The Campaign of Attila in Gaul |year=2011 |publisher=Lemme edit |location=Clermont-Ferrand |isbn=978-2-917575-21-5 |author-link=Iaroslav Lebedynsky |language=fr}}</ref>

<ref name=Lebedynsky:Report>{{Cite book |last1=Lebedynsky |first1=Iaroslav |author-link=Iaroslav Lebedynsky |last2=Escher |first2=Katalin |title=Le dossier Attila |trans-title=The Attila Report |date=1 December 2007 |publisher=Editions Errance |isbn=978-2-87772-364-0 |language=fr |type=Paperback}}</ref>

<ref name=Lehmann>{{cite book|last=Lehmann |first=W. |title=A Gothic Etymological Dictionary |year=1986 |location=Leiden}}</ref>

<ref name=Maenchen-Helfen>{{Cite book |last=Maenchen-Helfen |first=Otto |author-link=Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen |date=August 1973 |title=The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CrUdgzSICxcC_2 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-01596-8}}</ref>

<ref name=Man>{{Cite book |last=Man |first=John |author-link=John Man (author) |title=Attila: the Barbarian King Who Challenged Rome |year=2009 |publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]]/[[St. Martin's Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-53939-9 |page=264}}</ref>

<ref name=Martin>{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of World History |date=December 2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-920247-8 |page=41  |edition=2nd |editor=Martin, Elizabeth |quote=The invasion, which was likened to the action of Attila the Hun, put into effect Turkey's scheme for the partition of Cyprus (Atilla Plan).}}</ref>

<ref name=Nehru>{{Cite book |last=Nehru |first=Jawaharlal |author-link=Jawaharlal Nehru |title=Glimpses of World History |year=1934 |publisher=Penguin Books India |location=London |isbn=978-0-14-303105-5 |page=919 |publication-date=30 March 2004}}</ref>

<ref name=Oakeshott>{{Cite book |last=Oakeshott |first=Ewart |author-link=Ewart Oakeshott |title=European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution |date=17 May 2012 |publisher=[[Boydell Press]] |location=[[Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodbridge]], UK |isbn=978-1-84383-720-6 |page=151 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkD86JPgCS4C&pg=PA151 |chapter=Chapter Eight. The Curved and Single-Edged Swords of the Sixteenth Century}}</ref>

<ref name=Peterson>{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=John Bertram |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia ''vol. 2'' |year=1907 |publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |location=New York |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02061b.htm |author-link=John Bertram Peterson |access-date=18 May 2014 |chapter=Attila |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707095032/http://newadvent.org/cathen/02061b.htm |archive-date=7 July 2014 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

<ref name=Pritsak>{{Cite journal |last=Pritsak |first=Omeljan |title=The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan |journal=[[Harvard Ukrainian Studies]] |date=December 1982 |volume=VI |issue=4 |pages=428–476 |url=http://www.huri.harvard.edu/images/pdf/hus_volumes/vVI_n4_dec1982.pdf |access-date=18 May 2014 |author-link=Omeljan Pritsak |issn=0363-5570 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203165626/http://www.huri.harvard.edu/images/pdf/hus_volumes/vVI_n4_dec1982.pdf |archive-date=3 February 2014 }}</ref><!-- No archive available. -->

<ref name=Robinson>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=James Harvey |author-link=James Harvey Robinson |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/attila2.html |title=Medieval Sourcebook: Leo I and Attila |publisher=[[Fordham University]] |date=January 1996 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128165207/http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/attila2.asp |archive-date=28 January 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=Rona-Tas>{{Cite book |last=Róna-Tas |first=András |author-link=András Róna-Tas |title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History |year=1999 |publisher=[[Central European University Press]] |location=[[Budapest]] |isbn=978-963-9116-48-1 |page=425 |others=Bodoczky, Nicholas (translator) |chapter=Chapter XIV. Historical Traditions, Attila and the Hunnish-Magyar Kinship}}</ref>

<ref name=Rouche>{{Cite book |last=Rouche |first=Michel |title=Attila: la violence nomade |date=3 July 2009 |publisher=[[Fayard]] |location=[Paris] |isbn=978-2-213-60777-1 |language=fr |type=Paperback |trans-title=Attila: the Nomadic Violence}}</ref>

<ref name= Savelyev>{{cite journal | last1=Savelyev | first1=Alexander | last2=Jeong | first2=Choongwon | title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West | journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=2 | year=2020 | article-number=e20 | issn=2513-843X | doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18| pmid=35663512 | pmc=7612788 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=Schreiber>{{Cite book |last=Schreiber |first=Hermann |title=Die Hunnen: Attila probt den Weltuntergang |year=1976 |publisher=Econ |location=Düsseldorf |isbn=978-3-430-18045-0 |page=314 |language=de |type=Hardcover |trans-title=The Huns: Attila Rehearses the End of the World}}</ref>

<ref name=Sinor>{{Cite book |last=Sinor |first=Denis|author-link=Denis Sinor |date=1990 |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-24304-9}}</ref>

<ref name=Snaedal>{{Cite journal |last=Snædal |first=Magnús |title=Attila |date=2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/15210847 |journal=Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=211–219 |format=PDF |url-access=registration }}</ref>

<ref name=Thayer>{{Cite book |last=Thayer |first=Alexander Wheelock |author-link=Alexander Wheelock Thayer|title=Thayer's Life of Beethoven |orig-date=1921 |year=1991 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-02717-3 |page=524 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8RIq67v51cC&pg=PA524 |edition=Revised 1967 |editor=Forbes, Elliot |editor-link=Elliot Forbes |quote=...&nbsp;I could not refrain from the lively wish to possess an opera from your unique talent&nbsp;.... I should prefer&nbsp;one from the darker periods, Attila, etc., for instance,&nbsp;...}}</ref>

<ref name=Thompson>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Edward Arthur |author-link=Edward Arthur Thompson |title=The Huns |orig-date=1948 |year=1999 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |location=[[Oxford]] |series=Peoples of Europe Series |isbn=978-0-631-21443-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hunspeoplesofeur00eath }}</ref>

<ref name=Volsunga>{{Cite web |title=Völsunga Saga |url=http://www.northvegr.org/sagas%20annd%20epics/legendary%20heroic%20and%20imaginative%20sagas/volsunga%20saga/index.html |publisher=The Northvegr Foundation |access-date=20 May 2014 |translator1=Morris, William |translator1-link=William Morris |translator2=Magnússon, Eiríkr |translator2-link=Eiríkr Magnússon   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725102614/http://www.northvegr.org/sagas%20annd%20epics/legendary%20heroic%20and%20imaginative%20sagas/volsunga%20saga/index.html |archive-date=25 July 2013 |format=Online |year=1888 }}</ref>

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<ref name=Vovin>{{Cite journal |last=Vovin |first=Alexander |year=2000 |title=Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language? |journal=[[Central Asiatic Journal]] |volume=44 |issue=1 |author-link=Alexander Vovin |issn=0008-9192 |isbn=978-3-447-09164-0|title-link=Xiongnu }}</ref>
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<ref name=Waldman>{{Cite book |last1=Waldman |first1=Carl |title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples |date=1 April 2006 |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |page=393 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA393 |last2=Mason |first2=Catherine |isbn=978-0-8160-4964-6}}</ref>

<ref name=Wolfram>{{Cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |title=The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples |year=1997 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-08511-4 |page=143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC&pg=PA143 |edition=1st |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |others=Dunlap, Thomas (translator) |access-date=18 May 2014 |type=Hardcover}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=Frazee |first=Charles A. |title=Two Thousand Years Ago: the World at the Time of Jesus |year=2002 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-0-8028-4805-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Heather |date=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbUlnaHlHS0C&q=228 |title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-975272-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Heather |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmXFrafifw0C |title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-532541-6}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|2=Attila}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Attila |volume = 2 |last1= Hodgkin |first1= Thomas  |author1-link= Thomas Hodgkin (historian)|pages=885-886 |short=1}}
* {{OL subject|person:attila_(d._453)}}
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/14637 Works about Attila] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{Internet Archive author}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Rugila]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[List of Hunnish rulers|Ruler of the Huns]]|years = 435–453}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[Ellac]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Huns}}
{{The Dietrich von Bern Cycle}}
{{German folklore}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Attila the Hun| ]]
[[Category:5th-century Hunnic kings]]
[[Category:5th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:400s births]]
[[Category:453 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from choking]]
[[Category:Attilid dynasty]]
[[Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy]]