Valamir or Valamer ( – 465) was an

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

ic king in the former Roman province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

from AD 447 until his death. During his reign, he fought alongside the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

against the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and then, after

Attila the Hun Attila ( or ; ), 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 and East ...

's death, fought against the Huns to consolidate his independent control over a large group of Goths.Heather, Peter. The fall of the Roman Empire. A new history. Paperback 2006, Pan Books, . Hardback London, Macmillan, 2005. . pp 356–357. Valamir was the son of Vandalarius and cousin to king Thorismund. An important and trusted

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

, Valamir participated in Attila's raids of the provinces of the Danube (447), and commanded an Ostrogothic contingent of Attila's force at the

Battle of Chalons The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a victorious coalition, led by the Wester ...

. After Attila's death (453), Valamir, by force and diplomacy, became the leader of the large grouping of Goths who were settled by the Emperor

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

in Pannonia. In the subsequent fight for independence from the Huns from 456 to 457, Valamir defeated the sons of Attila. In 459 Valamir's Ostrogoths did not receive their accustomed annual tribute from the Romans and felt that Theoderic Strabo was getting more honour than they were. Valamir and his brothers therefore attacked Illyricum from 459 to 462, when the emperor Leo I agreed to pay the Goths 300 pounds of gold yearly. During a

Sciri The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people. They are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language. Their name probably means "the pure ones". The Sciri were mentioned already in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the ...

an raid in the mid 460s, before the Battle of Bolia, Valamir was thrown from his horse and killed.

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in his

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

may have confused his name (Βαλαμέρ in the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...

), giving " Balamber" a fictitious existence as a king of the Huns about 375.

References

{{Authority control Ostrogothic kings Amali dynasty Gothic warriors Huns Ancient Hungary 420 births 460s deaths 5th-century monarchs in Europe 5th-century Ostrogothic people