Ellak [K 1] ( Greek Έllac ; about 425 - no later than 455 ) - the eldest son and successor of the king of the Huns, Attila (453 - no later than 455 years).
Ellak | |||||||
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Greek Έllac | |||||||
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Predecessor | Attila | ||||||
Successor | Dengizik | ||||||
Birth | about 425 | ||||||
Death | no later than 455 | ||||||
Father | Attila | ||||||
Mother | Crack |
Content
Biography
The main historical sources telling about the life of Ellak are the writings of Priscus Pansky [2] and Jordan [3] .
According to these authors, Ellak was the eldest son of Attila and one of his wives, Kreka [4] [5] . The first news of Ellak dates back to the year 448, when, after the Huns subjugated the Akatir tribe, he was appointed by his father to control part of this people. On a trip to his new possessions, he was accompanied by Oebars , Attila's uncle by his father, and the second most important person after the king in the Hunnish state . However, in 449 for unknown reasons, Ellak returned to the court of his father again. Priscus reports that on the way back, Ellak fell from his horse and broke his right arm [6] [7] .
The life of Ellak before the death of Attila, who suddenly died in the year 453, is unknown. After the death of his father, Ellak, as the eldest and most beloved of his sons, inherited his father’s authority over the Hunnish state [8] . However, almost immediately after this, his younger brothers began to demand the allocation of their own possessions to them. Family quarrel led to the fact that the sons of Attila decided to divide by lot the power over the lands conquered by their father. This decision, which caused outrage among the leaders subordinate to Attila, led to the deposition of many dependent tribes from the Huns. The rebels were led by the king of Gepids, Ardarich , formerly one of the most faithful companions of the deceased king. The opposing sides came together in a battle at the River Nedao , dated by historians 453 [9] , 454 [8] [10] or 455 [7] [11] [12] a year. Against the Huns, led by Ellak, a large army of Gepids, Skyrians , Rugs , Svevs and Heruli led by Ardarich came forward. Despite Ellak’s personal courage, the Huns and their allies suffered a crushing defeat, losing, according to Jordan, about 30,000 soldiers. Among the fallen on the battlefield was Ellak himself [8] [13] .
After the defeat at Nedao, the Huns, headed by the brothers Ellak Dengizik and Ernak , retreated to the east, occupying territories in the lower Danube and in the Black Sea steppes [14] . Perhaps after the death of his brother, Dengizik inherited the title of supreme king of the Huns, while Ernak limited himself to managing the eastern lands of the Hunnic possessions [12] . Although information about the further history of the Huns is presented only partially in the writings of contemporary authors, historians believe that the Hunnish state as a whole ceased to exist by the mid-460s [15] .
Comments
- ↑ The historian Otto Maenchen-Guelfen suggests that the word “Ellak” was the title of the eldest son of Attila, meaning “ruler” or “king” and mistakenly adopted by Latin and Greek authors for his personal name [1] .
Notes
- ↑ Maenchen-Helfen, O. J., 2010 , p. 482.
- ↑ Prisk Paniysky . Gothic story (Fragment 8).
- ↑ Jordan . On the origin and deeds of the Geth (chapters 259-262).
- ↑ Thompson, E. A., 2008 , p. 139.
- ↑ Hungary, kings (English) (inaccessible link) . Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. The appeal date is May 1, 2013. Archived May 12, 2013.
- ↑ Thompson, E. A., 2008 , p. 120, 134 and 137.
- 2 1 2 Martindale JR Ellac // Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire / AM Jones , JR Martindale. - Cambridge University Press , 1980. - Vol. II: AD 395–527. - P. 391. - ISBN 0-521-20159-4 [2001 reprint].
- ↑ 1 2 3 Ellak (German) (inaccessible link) . Genealogie Mittelalter. The appeal date is May 1, 2013. Archived March 4, 2016.
- ↑ Skrzhinskaya E. Ch. Comments to the “Getika” of Jordan (comments No. 634 and 635) // Jordan. Gettika. - SPb. : Aletheia, 1997. - p . 335 .
- ↑ Jaques T. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges . - Westport, Connecticut - London: Greenwood Press , 2007. - P. 719. - ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5 .
- ↑ Thompson, E. A., 2008 , p. 184.
- ↑ 1 2 The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1990. - p. 197-198. - ISBN 978-0-5212-4304-9 .
- ↑ Maenchen-Helfen, O. J., 2010 , p. 181-182.
- ↑ Maenchen-Helfen, O. J., 2010 , p. 188.
- ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. - Vol. Xiv. Late Antiquity Empire and Successors. AD 425-600. - P. 18. - ISBN 978-0-521-32591-2 .
Literature
- Maenchen-Gelfen O. J. World of the Huns . - Princeton: Word, 2010. - 526 p. - ISBN 978-5-9835-6114-4 .
- Thompson E. A. Huns. Terrible warriors of the steppes. - M .: CJSC: “Tsentrpoligraf” , 2008. - 256 p. - ISBN 978-5-9524-3492-9 .