Amalafrida

Amalafrida (* around 460; † around 525) was the sister of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great .

Soon after the death of her first husband, Amalafrida was married to the Vandal King Thrasamund in 500 when he formed an alliance with Theodoric. Both spouses were Arians . Probably from her first husband, Amalafrida had her son Theodahad and daughter Amalaberga . These two children stayed behind in Italy when Amalafrida, accompanied by many Gothic warriors whom they had received from the Ostrogoth king, went to her second husband in North Africa. Her rich dowry also included the Sicilian port city of Lilybaeum .

After Thrasamund's death in 523, Amalafrida fled from his successor Hilderich , who took her prisoner, initially imprisoned her and had her killed around 525 together with her Gothic entourage. Hilderich presumably saw a danger in her because he had broken with Theodoric and turned away from Arianism.

Amalafrida's daughter Amalaberga had become the wife of the Thuringian king Herminafried around 510 . Her son Theodahad was the last male descendant of the Amal family from 534 to 536, and was Ostrogothic king.

literature

M. Cristini: Il seguito ostrogoto di Amalafrida: confutazione di Procopio, Bellum Vandalicum 1.8.12. In: Klio 99 (2017), pp. 278–289.
Martina Hartmann , The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-018473-2 , p. 8f .; 14; 28ff .; 32; 35; 140; 154ff .; 180; 186.
JR Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire , vol. 2, Cambridge 1980, p. 63 f.
Felix Dahn : Amalafrida . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, p. 761 f.
Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Amalafrida . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, column 1714 f.

Remarks

↑ Anonymus Valesianus 12, 68; Prokop , De bello Vandalico 1,8 ; Jordanes , Getica 58, 299; Cassiodorus , Variae 5, 43.
^ Prokop, De bello Gothico 1, 3 and 1, 12; Jordanes, Getica 58, 299.
↑ Martina Hartmann , The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 8.
^ Prokop, De bello Vandalico 1, 9; Cassiodor, Variae 9, 1; Victor von Tunnuna , Chronicle ad annum 523; on this Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 9.

personal data
SURNAME	Amalafrida
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Sister Theodoric the Great and second wife of Thrasamund
DATE OF BIRTH	at 460
DATE OF DEATH	at 525

[1] Anonymus Valesianus 12, 68; Prokop , De bello Vandalico 1,8 ; Jordanes , Getica 58, 299; Cassiodorus , Variae 5, 43.

[2] Prokop, De bello Gothico 1, 3 and 1, 12; Jordanes, Getica 58, 299.

[3] Martina Hartmann , The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 8.

[4] Prokop, De bello Vandalico 1, 9; Cassiodor, Variae 9, 1; Victor von Tunnuna , Chronicle ad annum 523; on this Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 9.