The Kingdom of the Burgundians, or First Kingdom of Burgundy, was one of the so called "barbarian kingdoms" of the late Western Roman Empire in the fifth and sixth centuries. It began in what is now western Switzerland and southeastern France, and was ruled by Burgundian kings who were successors of the older House of Gibichung, but also held office as Roman military officers. In 451, the Burgundians helped the Roman-led allies defeat Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, and in 455, they helped Roman-mandated forces led by Theodoric II, king of the Visigothic Kingdom, to defeat the Kingdom of the Suebi. After this, the Burgundians were able to expand their territories and their role in the Roman empire, and they moved their capital from Geneva to Lyon. In 534, the rule of the Burgundian kings ended and the kingdom became part of Francia.
The kingdom grew out of the 443 Imperial Roman resettlement of allied Burgundians to the region of Sapaudia, which at that time included Lake Geneva. These Burgundians were built around the remnants of a previous Roman-allied Burgundian kingdom which the Romans had allowed to settle on the western bank of their Rhine border at Borbetomagus, probably near Worms, having previously been Roman allies living east of the Rhine, outside the empire. The tribal ruler who was responsible for this move was Gundahar. In about 436, Gundahar and many of the people he led were killed by the Roman military leader Flavius Aetius working with his Hun allies.
