Rosamunde (Gepiden)

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Rosamunde forced to drink from her father's skull , Pietro della Vecchia

Rosamunde (also Rosemunda, Rosimunda ; * around 540; † August 572/573 in Ravenna) was the daughter of the Gepid king Kunimund († 567) and the second wife of the Lombard king Alboin , whom she had murdered on June 28, 572 or 573.

Life and Lombard legend

Life and legend are inextricably linked. The contemporary sources only mention her in a few sentences, in some cases she is not even mentioned by name. Two centuries after her death, Paulus Diaconus described her life in greater detail, but already embellished with legend.

Marriage and murder of Alboin

Alboin defeated the Gepids at the head of the Lombards in 567, whose king Kunimund he killed and beheaded. A scala (bowl, drinking vessel) was allegedly made from his brain shell. Alboin also made Kunimund's daughter Rosamunde his wife.

There are various traditions about the murder of Alboin:

According to contemporary Gregor von Tours (539-594), Rosamunde poisoned Alboin, whom she hated as the murderer of her father Kunimund, with her lover (allegedly a slave) who was not named. The also contemporary chronicler Johannes von Biclaro wrote that Alboin was murdered at night by his followers in Verona at the instigation of his wife. Marius von Avenches added that Hilmaegis carried out the murder.

The Origo Gentis Langobardorum (from the 7th century) reports that Alboin was killed in his palace in Verona by Hilmichis and Rosamunde on the advice of Peritheus.

The most detailed, but also strongly legendary, narrative has come down to us through Paulus Diaconus : Alboin had deeply offended Rosamunde when, at a feast in his palace in Verona, he handed her the goblet made from her father's skull and asked her to happy to drink with her father . Rosamunde decides to avenge her father. She allies herself with Helmichis, the scilpor ("weapon bearer ", squire ) and conlactaneus ("milk brother", foster brother) Alboins, who advises her to include Peredeus in the assassination attempt. When the latter refuses, Rosamunde seduces and blackmailed him, "aut tu Alboin interficies, aut ipse te suo gladio extinguet" (either you kill Alboin or you yourself will be judged by his sword). Peredeus advises clamping Alboin's sword in its scabbard and slaying the king in his sleep. Whether Helmichis or Peredeus committed the murder when Alboin was taking his afternoon nap is given differently in the manuscripts.

Escape and death

Rosamunde married Helmichis, who tried to usurp the royal dignity, but could not assert himself. Both fled with Albsuinda, Alboin's daughter from his first marriage, part of the army and the Lombard royal treasure to the Byzantine prefect Longinus in Ravenna. Longinus urged Rosamunde to marry him and to get her accomplices and lover Helmichis out of the way. Rosamunde saw herself as the domina (mistress) of Ravennas when she gave Helmichis a poisoned potion. He noticed that he had drunk his mortis poculum "death cup" and forced her to drink the rest of the poison herself, from which both died. The Gepids and Lombards who joined them were sent by Byzantium to reinforce their troops in Syria.

Modern reception

The legend of Rosamunde has repeatedly inspired poets, playwrights and painters up to our time. Her life was also made a theme in opera, film and novels. The following list shows only an incomplete section of the reception through the centuries.

Alboin and Rosamunde , Peter Paul Rubens (workshop), 1615
  • 1869: The playwright Josef Weil von Weilen treats the Alboin legend in his work "Rosamunde" in free form.
  • In 1959 Gertrud Bäumer's novel Der Berg des König - The Epic of the Longobard People , Wunderlich, Tübingen, was published. a. the legend of Alboin and Rosamunde is told.

See also

swell

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Historia Langobardorum  - Sources and full texts (Latin)
Wikisource: Origo Gentis Langobardorum  - Sources and full texts (Latin)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ z. B. Marius von Avenches , Chronicle ; Johannes von Biclaro , Chronicle
  2. ^ A b Gregory of Tours , Historiae IV, 41
  3. ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum I, 27
  4. ↑ a b Origo Gentis Langobardorum V
  5. ↑ St. John Abbatis Biclarensis, Chronica
  6. ↑ a b Marius von Avenches , Chronik in Mommsen, Theodor: Chronica Minora saec. IV.V.VI.VII (II), Vol .: 2, p. 238, Berlin, (1894) at DMGH (Latin.)
  7. ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum II, 28
  8. ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum II, 29
  9. ↑ Karin Priester: History of the Longobards: Society - Culture - Everyday Life P. 46ff. Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 2004. ISBN 380621848X .
  10. ↑ Max Mendheim :  Uechtritz, Peter Friedrich von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 39, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1895, p. 125 f.
  11. ^ Moritz Fürstenau:  Miltitz, Karl von (composer) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 760 f.
  12. ↑ Alexander von Weilen :  Weil von Weilen, Josef . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 488-490.
  13. ↑ Alboin, King of the Lombards in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data
SURNAME Rosamunde
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rosemunda; Rosimunda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Queen of the Lombards
DATE OF BIRTH at 540
DATE OF DEATH August 572 or August 573
Place of death Ravenna