Burgundian Revolt of Gunther

The Burgundian Revolt of Gunther consisted two revolts of the Burgundian foederati in the Western Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Valentinian III. The uprisings happened in the Gallic province of Germania Prima and was led by the King of the Burgundian Gunther, his main opponent was General Aetius.

There were two uprisings in this military conflict: one in 435 that was suppressed by Aetius, and the next year again that ended with the death of Gunther and the bloody suppression of the last uprising. The events associated with these insurrections became the subject of a medieval hero legend that was later integrated into the epic Nibelungenlied, the source of inspiration for Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The history of this war is briefly narrated, the main sources are Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455) a Christian Roman writer and Hydatius (400-469), Bishop of Chaves. Others useful contemporary are Sidonius Apollinaris (430-486) and the unnamed Gallic chronicle of 452. The reasons for the uprisings have never been reported and the answer to this are given by later historians.