Saturday, February 14, 2015

Battle of Chalons (My 100th Post!!!!)

When Honoria, the sister of the emperor of the Western Roman Empire offered to marry Attila the Hun, and her wedding gift would have been half of the Roman Empire. However, the emperor refused this and this enraged Attila. Attila then prepared his army for war. Both armies were multi-ethical with the Hunnic armies being made out of the Huns and several Germanic peoples like the Ostrogoths, Rugians, Scirii and other Gemanic tribes. The Roman Army was made out of Alans, Visigoths, and Franks. The causalities were unknown but it is said that so many people died that "it was knee deep in corpses". When Theodoric, one of the Visigoth Kings, was killed, it was said that their were so many dead bodies that it took several days to find Theodoric's corpse. When Theodoric's body was finally found, legend has it that it was buried under a pile of corpses. The Huns are also said to have their movements limited by the bodies. The Battle of Chalons was tacitly inconclusive, but Attila's army was damaged enough to force it to retreat. Historians ferociously debate the importance of the battle. Some historians believe that the Battle stopped the Huns from conquering Europe, thus cutting off the Christan world from having its almost limitless effect on the Western world. Other historians believe that other campaigns in Italy and other campaigns were more essential to the defeat of the Huns. Regardless of the importance of the battle, the battle reflects on the alleged invincibility of the Hunnic Empire.

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