The 'Battle of Nedao,' named after the
Nedava, a tributary of the
Sava, was a
battle fought in
Pannonia in
454. After the death of
Attila the Hun, allied forces of the
Germanic subject peoples under the leadership of
Ardaric, king of the
Gepids, defeated the
Hunnic forces of the Ellac, son of Attila, who had struggled with his half-brothers Irnik and Dengizich for supremacy after Attila's death, and eventually killed him in single combat. According to the 6th century historian
Jordanes:
:''And so the bravest nations tore themselves to pieces. For then, I think, must have occurred a most remarkable spectacle, where one might see the Goths fighting with pikes, the Gepidae raging with the sword, the Rugi breaking off the spears in their own wounds, the Suavi fighting on foot, the Huns with bows, the Alani drawing up a battle-line of heavy-armed and the Heruli of light-armed warriors.''
[1]
Hunnic dominance in Central and Eastern Europe was broken as a result. The handful of
Hunic forces left retreated to the Hunnivar (
CorneÅŸti,
TimiÅŸ County,
Romania) before being expelled by Ardaric after a long siege.
The battlefield was not confirmed by archeology until 2007.
References
1. Jordanes, ''Origins and History of the Goths'', l.261, (huh?).