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Ostrogoth Rulers

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Contents

Migration Patterns

Scandza, Scandanavia

Jordanes, in his Getica, written in the mid-500s, wrote that the earliest migrating Goths sailed from Scandza (Scandinavia) under King Berig in three ships. One shipload settled near the Vistula. They then moved into an area along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea which was inhabited by the Rugians, and expelled them. [1]

Vistula Basin: Poland, Ukraine, Dacia

Greuthungi: The Amali dynasty, Amals, Amaler, or Amalings of the Greuthungi ("steppe dwellers" or "people of the pebbly coasts"), called later the Ostrogothi. [2]

The Amali dynasty, Amals, Amaler, or Amalings of the Greuthungi ("steppe dwellers" or "people of the pebbly coasts"), called later the Ostrogothi.

  1. Amal (Amala), the Fortunate, born fl. 110 or c. 123 [2]
  2. Hisarna, (Isarna), the Iron One, born fl. 140 or c. 153[2]
  3. Ostrogotha, the Patient, born fl. 170 or c. 183, died c. 250 in Ukraine[2]
  4. Hunuil ("Immune to Magic") a.k.a. Ginvila, born fl. 210 or c. 213[2]
  5. Athal (Athala), the Noble One, born fl. 240 or c. 243 in Ukraine[2]
  6. Achiulf (Agiulf), born fl. 270 or c. 273 in Ukraine[2]
  7. Wultwulf (Vultuulf, Vulthulf, Vuldulf), born fl. 300 in Ukraine, died fl. 370, prince of the Goths[2]
  8. Ermanaric (Hermanaric, Ermanarich, Hermanarik), born c. 303 in Ukraine, king of the Getae/Greutungi/Ostrogoths (335 or 350 – 375 or 376)[2]
  9. Winithar (Vinitharius), Conqueror of the Venedi-Slavs (Antes), born fl. 345 or c. 353 in Ukraine, the last independent king of the Ostrogoths (376–380)[2]
  10. Hunimund ("Protege of the Huns"), the Beautiful, born c. 326 in Ukraine, the first Hunnic vassal prince of the Ostrogoths (376-fl.405)[2]

378 Pannonia

The territory now known as Hungary formed part of the Roman province of Pannonia. It lay in the path of successive waves of so-called barbarian invaders who migrated into Europe from central Asia between the 4th and 9th centuries. Their influence was widespread in Balkan Europe north of the Byzantine empire but for convenience the families of these invaders are shown in this document concerning Hungary, where many of them settled at least temporarily. [3]

The territory of "Pannonia" was organised as a separate province of the Roman empire, centred on what is today Hungary, in AD 10. It was heavily fortified as protection against barbarian incursions from the east. [3]

Loss of Roman control of Pannonia was confirmed when Emperor Valens was defeated by the Goths in 378 at the battle of Adrianople, in neighbouring Thrace. [3] See Wikipedia: Battle_of_Adrianople

In the last decades of the 4th century, the Ostrogoths migrated into Pannonia from the area north of the Danube and used it as their base from which to launch their onward migration into Italy. The mythical origins and later history of the Goths is recorded by Jordanes in his mid-6th century Getica. Well-connected with the contemporary ruling class in Italy, and not too distant in time at least from the later events which he records, it is reasonable to suppose that his narrative is broadly accurate, although impossible to identify the precise moment in the text when myth evolves into fact. The Ostrogoth settlements in Pannonia came under pressure from the Huns who were competing for territory. While Hun/Ostrogoth collaboration at the battle of the Catalaunian fields in Gaul indicates some early coordination between the two groups, the onward migration of the Ostrogoths from Pannonia in the 470s was probably motivated in part by pressure from the Huns. [3]

Italy

Theoderic the Great

The Line of Descent in Jordanes and Cawley

Jordanes [4] provides a line of descent for the rulers of the Goths. This line has been repeated and supplemented by Charles Cawley [5]in his medieval lands database. Cawley states that "Nothing is known about the Amal Goth leaders, supposed descendants of Athal, who are shown below apart from the sparse amount of information which has been extracted from Iordanes." [5]

The following line of descent follows Jordanes and Cawley and is supplemented by facts and comments from other sources.

Estimated years of birth are given in 30 year increments beginning with the year 30 of the Common Era, modified by actual dates where available.

Group 1: Gods and Legends -- No separate sentences in FMG

  1. Gapt, born, say, 30; no further information. [6] Herwig Wolfram, writing in 1988, [7] stated that Gapt or Gaut is the Scandinavian god of war. Profile Reviewed Oct 2018 jhd.
  2. Hulmul, son of Gapt, born, say 60. [6] Herwig Wolfram, writing in 1988, [7] stated that Hulmul or Humli-Hulmul, is considered the divine father of the Danish people. Profile Reviewed Oct 2018 jhd.
  3. Augis; son of Humul, born, say, 90 [6] Profile Reviewed Oct 2018 jhd.
  4. Amal, son of Augus, born, say, 120, from whom the name of the Amali comes. [6]
  5. Hisarnis, son of Amal, born, say, 150.[6]
  6. Ostrogotha, son of Hisarnis, born, say, 180[6]
  7. Hunuil, son of Ostrogotha, born, say 210.[6]

Group 2: Legends and Facts -- separate sentences in FMG

  1. Athal, son of Hunuil, born, say, 240, son of Hunuil.
  1. Achiulf, son of Athal, born, say, 274 and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat [4]
  2. Ansila, son of Achiulf, born , say, 304 and Ediulf, Vultuulf and Hermanaric. And Vultuulf begat [4]
  3. Valaravans, son of Ansila, born, say, 334 and Valaravans begat [4]
  4. Vinitharius, son of Valaravans, born, say, 364. Vinitharius moreover begat [4]
  5. Vandalarius; son of Vinitharius, born, say, 394, (80) Vandalarius begat [4]

Group 3: Documented As Factual

  1. Thiudimer, son of Vandalarius, born, say, 424; and Valamir and Vidimer; and Thiudimer begat [4]
  2. Theodoric, son of Thiudemir, born 454. (Theoderic the Great (454 – 30 August 526), often [4]referred to as Theodoric was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), ruler of Italy (493–526), regent of the Visigoths ...[8]) Theodoric begat
  3. Amalasuentha; Amalasuentha, daughterof Theoderic. Bore [4]
  4. Athalaric and Mathesuentha to her husband Eutharic, whose race was thus joined to hers in kinship. (81) [4]

For the aforesaid Hermanaric, the son of Achiulf, begat [4]

  1. Hunimund, son of Hermanaric, and Hunimund begat [4]
  2. Thorismud, son of Hunimund. Now Thorismud begat [4]
  3. Beremud, son of Thorismud, Beremud begat [4]
  4. Veteric, son of Beremud, and Veteric likewise begat [4]
  5. Eutharic, son of Veteric, who married Amalasuentha and begat Athalaric and [4]Mathesuentha. Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and Mathesuentha married Vitiges, to whom she bore no child. Both of them were taken together by Belisarius to Constantinople. When Vitiges passed from human affairs, Germanus the patrician, a cousin of the Emperor Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her a Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also called [4]
  6. Germanus. But upon the death of Germanus, she determined to remain a widow. Now how and in what wise the kingdom of the Amali was overthrown we shall keep to tell in its proper place, if the Lord help us.[4]

Medlands Database

Charles Cawley [3]addresses the Amal Goths, but primarily only from the 5th century onward.

Other Historical Figures

Ermanaric

Herwig Wolfram, writing in 1988, [7] stated that Ermanaric (also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as a Greuthungian king who ruled territories in modern Ukraine. Wolfram noted that Ermanaric signals the tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record.

Eutharic

Theoderic claimed that Eutharic was a descendant of the Gothic royal house of Amali and it was intended that his marriage to Theoderic's daughter Amalasuintha would unite the Gothic kingdoms, establish Theoderic's dynasty and further strengthen the Gothic hold over Italy. [9]

Eutharic's ancestry has been traced back through his father Veteric, son of Berismund, son of Thorismund, son of Hunimund, son of Hermanaric, son of Achiulf.[10]

Eutharic was descended through five generations from Hermanric, whilst Theoderic was a descendant of Hermanric's older brother Vultwulf.[11]

Eutharic's status in both the Gothic and Roman world was elevated by the attentions of Theoderic the Great who he was related to distantly through their mutual connection with Hermanric.[12] [13] Hermanric was an Ostrogoth chief who ruled much of the territory north of the Black Sea. [9]

Recent studies suggest that Eutharic's Amali ancestry may have been a deliberate invention on the part of Theoderic to aid his ambitions of establishing dynastic credibility.[14]

According to Gesta Theoderici Eutharic belonged to the Gothic house of Alan rather than the house of Amal.[15]

Whilst Jordanes, in his history of the Goths, does make reference to Eutharic's prudentia et virtus, or pride and valour, this too may have been a fabrication on the part of Theoderic.[16]

Those qualities were recognised as requirements of Gothic ethnographic ideology, expressed in their code of civilitas. It would have been highly beneficial for Theoderic's chosen son-in-law to possess them. [16]

Eutharic grew up in Iberia (modern-day Spain) where he had a reputation for being "a young man strong in wisdom and valor and health of body".[12][17]

Sources

  1. ↑ Wikipedia: Goths
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Wikipedia: List of Ukrainian rulers
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database Hungary Accessed October 8, 2018 jhd
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 Jordanes. Getica Chapter XIV, Paragraph 79. Accessed Oct 8, 2018 jhd
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Hungary Dynasty of the Amal Goths Accessed October 8, 2018 jhd
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Named in line of descent by Cawley, Dynasty of the Amal Goths who simply reports Jordanes Getica Chapter XIV, Paragraph 79, who names them as heroes, reported "as they themselves relate in their legends.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Herwig Wolfram. History of the Goths. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 32. Cited by Wikipedia: Amali Dynasty Accessed 10/10/2018 jhd
  8. ↑ Wikipedia:Theoderic_the_Great Accessed Octover 8, 2018 jhd
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wikipedia: Eutharic
  10. ↑ Jones, Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire.Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  11. ↑ O'Donnell, James J. (1979). Cassiodorus. University of California Press. Ch. 2. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bury, John Bagnell (1958). History of the later Roman Empire from the death of Theodosius I to the death of Justinian. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-20398-0. p. 151. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  13. ↑ Goetz, Werner; Jarnut, Jorg; Pohl, Walter (eds.). Regna and Gentes: The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World. Brill Academic. ISBN 90-04-12524-8. p. 93 Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  14. ↑ Wolfram, Herwig (1988). History of the Goths. tr. Thomas J. Dunlap. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06983-8. p. 328. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  15. ↑ Bachrach, Bernard S. (1973). A History of the Alans in the West from Their First Appearance in the Sources of Classical Antiquity through the Early Middle Ages. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 97. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Amory, Patrick (1997). People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57151-0. Pages 489-554, p. 58 and p. 451. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd
  17. ↑ Jordanes, Getica tr. Mierow, Charles (2007). The Origin and Deeds of the Goths. Dodo Press. ISBN 1-4065-4667-4. p. 298. Cited by Wikipedia: Eutharic Accessed October 11, 2018 jhd




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Categories: Ostrogoth Ruling Families