Catalaunian Fields

(in Latin, Campi Catalaunici), a plain in northeastern France, named for the city of Catalaunum, present-day Chálons-sur-Marne. In the second half of June, a.d. 451, the “battle of the peoples” was fought west of the present-day city of Troyes. In the battle the Roman troops (under the command of Aetius) and their Germanic allies, the Visigoths, Burgundians, Franks, Alani, and other tribes, defeated the Huns, led by Attila. This stopped the advance of the Huns into Europe and led to the collapse of their “empire.”