Attila the Hun - ATTILA'S WESTERN TRAVELS
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The French city of Orleans successfully resisted Attila the Hun and his troops during the 5th century. This vintage image provides a view of Orleans as it appeared circa 1890-1900. Photochrom print by Photoglob Zürich, between 1890 and 1900, from the Photochrom Prints Collection at the Library of Congress. Click on the image for a better view.
Historians record the Huns caused death and destruction on their westward trek. A few towns, however, were able to resist the onslaught.
- From the area of the Danube, the Huns traveled to the Rhineland. Although scholars are unsure where Attila crossed the Rhine, at some point he and his men began to follow the Moselle (also known as the Mosel) River.
- Historians believe the Huns captured Trier, today a German city on the Mosel.
- Metz (now a French university town and home of St. Etienne Cathedral) was besieged, then fell on the 7th of April, 451.
- Orleans, in an unusual event, successfully resisted Attila.
- So did Paris - thanks, it is said, to St. Genevieve.
- At Troyes, St. Loup met with Attila, successfully negotiating to keep the Huns from destroying the town.
After decimating the French towns, Attila encountered his childhood acquaintance, Flavius Aetius. Their deadly battle is still known as one of the most famous ever fought in the history of the world.
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