Thorismund

Who was Thorismund?

Thorismund, also Thorismod or Thorismud, as manuscripts of our chief source confusingly attest became king of the Visigoths after his father Theodoric was killed in the Battle of Châlons in 451 CE. He was murdered in 453 and was succeeded by his brother Theodoric II.

Thorismund appears to have played a pivotal role in the Battle of Châlons as he led a contingent of the Visigoth forces into capturing an important summit at the very early stages of the conflict. The summit seems to have extended to the whole of the left flank of the Ostrogoth and Hun forces. Thorismund descended from the hills during the late stages of the conflict, when the Huns had prevailed over the Alans, and the Ostrogoths were pushing the disorganized Visigoths after the death of their king Theodoric. Thorismund led his force of Visigoths to a decisive charge which, according to Gibbon flanked both the Ostrogoths and subsequently the Huns and snatched the victory from his enemies.