Amalfrida Ostrogoths (455 - 523)

Ancestors

Descendants

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Amalfrida Ostrogoths was a member of aristocracy in ancient Europe. Join: Medieval Project Discuss: medieval

Biography

Name

• Amalafrida ^[1]
• Amalfridam (Latin) ^[1]
• Amfleda. This name is current in a number of popular genealogies.

Geography

Ostrogoths

About the year 450, there are records for the Ostrogoths in the area of Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. The Hun empire, which had subjugated the Ostrogoths, collapsed after the Battle of Nedao in 453, and Ostrogoths then migrated westwards towards Illyria and the borders of Italy. Under Theodoric the Great most of the Ostrogoths moved first to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Kingdom of Italy of the Germanic warrior Odoacer. In 493, Theodoric the Great established a kingdom in Italy. ^[2]

Vandals

Originating before the common era in Poland or Scandanavia, the Vandals had located in the area of Pannonia by around 400. At that time, raids by the Huns forced many Germanic tribes to migrate into the territory of the Roman Empire. Fearing the Huns, the Vandals moved to the west, crossing the Rhine into Gaul along with other tribes in 406. ^[3]

In 409 the Vandals crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula, where their main groups, the Hasdingi and the Silingi, settled in Gallaecia (northwest Iberia) and Baetica (south-central Iberia) respectively. After the Visigoths invaded Iberia in 418, the Iranian Alans and Silingi Vandals voluntarily subjected themselves to the rule of Hasdingian leader Gunderic, who was pushed from Gallaecia to Baetica by a Roman-Suebi coalition in 419. ^[3]

In 429, under king Genseric (reigned 428–477), the Vandals entered North Africa. By 439 they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province, and sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Emperor Justinian I's forces managed to reconquer the province for the Eastern Roman Empire.^[3]

455 Birth Year Estimation

Achiuf has a birth year of 273. Adding succeeding generations at 30 year intervals gives the following estimated birth years. These estimates are purely speculative and used only for placing persons in their approximate time frame.

• Vultwulf, estimated birth 305
• Valaravans, estimated birth 335
• Vinitharius, estimated birth 365
• Vandalarius, estimated birth 395
• Theodemir, estimated birth 425
• Amalfrida, estimated birth 455

Parents

Amalafrida's father was Theodemir, King of the Ostrogoths of the Amal Dynasty. Her mother's name is not known. ^[1]

Siblings

Amalafrida was a half-brother of Theoderic the Great ^[4]

487 Ambassador

In 487 Emperor Zeno used Amalafrida as an ambassador to her half-brother Theodoric to thwart his attack on Constantinople^[1]

First Marriage to Hugo

Amalafrida married firstly Hugo, before the year 500.^[1] The Widukindi Res Gestæ Saxonicæ names "Huga rex Francorum…unicam filiam Amalbergam" who married "Irminfredo regi Thuringorum", but there is no indication to whom "Huga rex Francorum" could refer. ^[1]

500 Second Marriage to Thrasamund

About the year 500 Amalafrida married secondly Thrasamund, King of the Vandals and Alans. Thrasamund was born before 460, the son of Gento the Vandal or Gelimer the Vandal.^[1][5]

The Vandal capital at the time was Carthage in North Africa, which had been the capital of the Roman province of Africa. ^[3] Iordanes names "Amalfridam" as the wife of "Africa regi Vandalorum…Thrasamundo". ^[1]

Amalafrida's second marriage was arranged by her half-brother, Theodoric King of Italy, as part of his efforts to foster the support of the Vandals. Amalafrida's dowry was Lilybæum in western Sicily. ^[1]

523 Prison and Death

After the death of her husband, Amalfrida unsuccessfully protested his successor's withdrawal of support from her brother, but she was outmanœuvred and killed. ^[1]

Amalfrida was first incarcerated by Hilderic ^[6] (Thrasmund's 1st cousin) and then murdered by him in the time period 523-525. ^[1][5]

Issue

First Marriage

Amalafrida & her first husband had two children:

1. Theodohad b. 480. (disputed) Theodahad (d. Dec 536) ^[1][7][8]

1. [[Ostrogoths-40|Amalberga (Ostrogoths) Thüringen b. 507 (disputed) Amalaberga ^[1][8] m. Hermanfrid, King of the Thuringii ^[9] Iordanes names "Amalfridam germanam suam [Theoderici]" as the mother of "Theodehadi" ^[1]

The following other children, sometimes connected in popular genealogies, have been disconnected:

1. Hildis. Hildis (Hildericsdottir b. 483 was formerly shown as the daughter of Amalfrida but in the absence of any evidence that Amalfrida had such a daughter, she has been disconnected.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13} Charles Cawley. Foundation. for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database Amalafrida
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Ostrogoths Accessed July 30, 2018 jhd
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Wikipedia; Vandals Accessed July 30, 2018 jhd
4. ↑ Wikipedia: Theoderic_the_Great
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Wikipedia: Amalafrida
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Hilderic
7. ↑ Wikipedia: Theodahad
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} father UNKNOWN (Wikipedia).
9. ↑ Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Thuringia

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Vandalen-1 created through the import of jefflorrie(1).ged on Sep 10, 2011 by Jeff Johnson.