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The Taifals, '''Taifali''', '''Taifalae''', or '''Tayfals''' were a Barbarian people settled by the late Roman Empire in Poitou in the Fourth Century . They served as '' Laeti '' in the Roman and subsequently Merovingian militaries. They were a bellicose people, fighting primarily as Cavalry . Ambrose Of Milan and Gregory Of Tours are the best primary sources for the Taifal history. The Taifals were probably not Germanic (though some sources consider them closely related to the Goths ), but rather related to the Sarmatians , with whom they emigrated from the Central Asia tic steppes. They settled on the Danube and initially fought the Goths in the Balkans (332)Lenski, 157. and were subsequently made '' Foederati '' of the Romans, from whom they obtained the right to settle in Oltenia . Some were settled in Phrygia in the diocese of Nicholas Of Myra around 336, when they revolted against Constantine The Great and were put down by the generals Herpylion, Virius Nepotianus, and Ursus.Barnes, "Forty", 226. Ibid, "Constans", 331–332. With the Iazyges and the Carpi they were harassing Dacia in the mid fourth century. They allied with the Goths of Farnobius against Rome in 377, but were defeated and officially resettled as '' Colonii '' to farm lands in Northern Italy and Gaul . Abandoned Oltenia was settled by the Huns c. 400. Some Taifals allied with the Huns as early as 378, and some were later still allied with them at the Battle Of Chalons (451). However, the Victory Of Adrianople in 378 meant that those Taifals who remained with the Visigoths fought against their cousins at Chalon. In 412, the Taifals entered Aquitaine in the train of the Visigoths. Sometime before their conversion to Christianity , Ammianus Marcellinus wrote:
The Taifals were often teamed with the Sarmatians and the ''Citrati iuniores'' by the Romans and subsequently by Clovis I . According to the '' Notitia Dignitatum '' of the early fifth century, there was a unit called the Equites Taifali established by Honorius under the '' Comes Britanniarum '' in Britannia between 395 and 398. Possibly this unit may have been sent to the island by Stilicho in 399, and they may have been the same unit as the Equites Honoriani seniores mentioned around the same time. Thus, the Equites Honoriani Taifali seniores served in Britain while the Equites Honoriani Taifali iunores served in Gaul under the '' Magister Equitum ''. They used the dragon-and-pearl device on their shields.Nickel, 139. Also according to the ''Notitia'', there was a ''praefectus Sarmatarum et Taifalorum gentilium, Pictavis in Galia'', that is, a Sarmatian and Taifal Prefect in Poitiers in Gaul .Bachrach, ''Merovingian'', 12 n30. The region of Poitou was even called Thifalia or '''Theiphalia''' in the sixth century. The Taifals were instrumental in defeating the Visigothic cavalry hand to hand at the Battle Of Vouillé in 507.Ibid, 17. Finally, the ''Notitia'' refers to a troop called the ''Comites Taifali'' who were formed by Theodosius The Great and served in the Eastern Empire .Nischer, 51. Under the Merovingians, Theiphalia had its own '' Dux '' ( Duke ).Bachrach, ''Merovingian'', 29 and 38. It is possible that the Taifal ''laeti'' who had served the Romans also served as garrisons for the Franks, but this is not referred to in primary records. The ''laeti'' were formally integrated into the Merovingian military establishment under Childebert I .Ibid, 44. The last mention of the Taifals as a distinct group dates from year 561. One of the most famous Taifals was in Corrèze , Toufailles and Toufailloux in Aquitaine, and Chauffailles (formerly ''Taïfailia'') in Burgundy owe their names to Taifal settlement. Perhaps the town of Tafalla in the Navarre owes its name to these people, but if so, it is unknown if the Taifals were established in Hispania (probably to tame the Basques ) by the Romans before 412 or by the Visigoths after that. SOURCES
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