Heruli

The Heruli (also Eluri, Eruli, Herules, Herulians) were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity. Along with their neighbours the Scirii, Rugii and Gepids, are best known from records from the late 5th century AD and early 6th century, when they lived in a series of relatively small kingdoms established near the Roman frontier along the Middle Danube.

Before the 5th century, the Heruli were apparently forced to move like the Goths and Alans from earlier Eastern European homelands, because of the dramatic entry of the Huns into Europe from the east. Before their appearance near the Danube they are generally equated to the "Elouri" who lived near the Sea of Azov in the third century, and took part in massive raids into Roman provinces in the Balkans and Aegean Sea, attacking not only by land, but notably also by sea. The equation of these "Elouri" with the "Eruli" was made by several later authors, and is still widely accepted. However, some scholars such as Ellegård consider it uncertain, and have proposed that the Heruli homeland may be have been on the Middle Danube. Similar to the Goths, soon after first being noted in contemporary records Heruli began entering the Roman empire and serving in its military, where they developed a particularly notable reputation. Others settled just outside the Roman frontiers and caused disruption inside and outside of the empire. In 405 or 406 Heruli were among the ferocious nations who Saint Jerome described as occupying all of Roman Gaul. Attila and his Huns came to dominate the Danubian region, and the Heruli kingdom probably already existed within his empire, like the kingdoms of the Ostrogoths, Scirii, and Gepids.

After the death of Attila in 453, the Danubian Heruli fought in the Battle of Nedao in 454, although it is not certain which side they took among his various former allies. They also participated in successive conquests of Italy by Odoacer (476), Theoderic the Great (493), Narses (554) and probably also the Lombards (starting in 568). However, their independent kingdom was destroyed by the Lombards by the early 6th century AD. A part of this population subsequently became established inside the Roman empire near Belgrade, and continued contributing fighting men to the Eastern Roman Empire, and participating in Balkan and Italian conflicts. With their last kingdom eventually dominated by Rome, and smaller groups integrated into larger political entities such as the Gepids and Lombards, the Heruli disappeared from history around the time of the conquest of Italy by the Lombards. In this period the Middle Danube was coming under the control of the Pannonian Avars.

Scholars are uncertain of many aspects of Heruli history. The Heruli were mobile, and recorded as active in many parts of Europe. A small group moved from the Danube to Scandinavia, and some scholars believe that the Heruli originated in Scandinavia, and that they were not all descended from those who lived near the Black Sea or the Danube. Notably, there is an old proposal that there was also a western Herule kingdom, somewhere near the Lower Rhine.