Gunderit

The main narrative sources about Gundery are the eulogy of Theodoric the Great Enodius , the chronicle of Cassiodorus and Jordan's Origin and Acts of the Getae ^{[1] [2]} .

Gunderit probably came from the Gepid royal family. Although there is no information about his kinship in early medieval sources, modern historians suggest that he could be the youngest son of King Trapstila ^[3] .

According to Ennodius, under the rule of Gunderith were the gepids living on the north bank of the Danube ^[4] . Nothing is known about the relationship of Gunderith with the king of the Gepides, Trazaric , whose capital was Sirmius . One part of modern historians suggests that Gunderith and Trazaric were co-regent kings who shared power over the lands of the Gepids after the death of Trapstila in 488 ^{[3] [5]} ; the other believes that Gunderit did not carry the royal title, but was only the leader of the military detachments consisting mainly of hepids, who lived due to predatory raids ^[2] . Probably one of the main targets of these attacks was the eastern lands of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths . The long-standing feud between Gunderith and Theodorich the Great is evidenced by the data of a panegyric written by Ennodius ^[6] . Perhaps it was the hostility of some of the gepids to the Ostrogoths that led to the division of power in the kingdom between Gunderit and Trazarich ^[7] .

Gunderit is only once mentioned in primary sources in reports on the campaign of the Ostrogothic military leader Pitza on hepids in 504. This year ^[8] there was an armed conflict between King Trazaric and the ruler of the Ostrogoths Theodoric the Great. Although, according to the testimonies of Ennodius and Cassiodorus, on the eve of the clash, the Gepid ambassadors were at the Ostrogothic royal court in Ravenna and presented Theodoric with requirements unacceptable from his point of view ^[9] , modern historians consider the ruler of the Ostrogoths to be the initiator of the war. Probably at the top of his power, Theodoric intended to regain power over Sirmius , which belonged to the Ostrogoths until 474, and then, with the consent of the Byzantines, was the capital of the kingdom of the Gepids ^[10] . It is possible that one of the reasons for the outbreak of war was also the desire of the Ostrogoth King to prevent the rapprochement between Trazarich and Gunderit and the unification of the Gepids under the authority of one ruler, as this would create a serious threat to the eastern regions of his state ^{[4] [6]} . As the executor of his will, Theodoric the Great sent a comit to Pitts on a trip to the Gepids. He led a large army marched in Illyrik and defeated the army of Trazarich and his allies, the Geperids and Bulgars, in the battle of Sirmia. King Trazaric fled the battlefield, and Sirmius was captured by the Ostrogoths. Among the captives here was the mother of the ruler of the Gepids ^[2] . Then, with the help of Mund, Petz defeated the army of the military master Illyric Flavius ​​Sabinian in the battle of Gorreum Marga ^[11] . These victories not only allowed the Ostrogoths to establish power over the lands around Sirmia, but also annexed the territories of the former Roman provinces of Pannonia Second and Upper Moesia with the city of Singidun ^{[10] [12] [13] [14]} .

Nothing is known about the future fate of Gunderit ^[2] . After the defeat of Sirmia, the hepids fell under the control of the Ostrogoths. They managed to free themselves from this dependence only after the death of Theodorich the Great ^[10] . The next after Trazarich, the famous ruler of the Gepids, who wore the royal title, was Gelemund , mentioned in historical sources in the 540s ^[15] .