Amalo

Amalo (* around 530; † 589 ) was a Burgundian nobleman and under the rule of the Merovingians Dux des Pagus Attoriensis in the area around Dijon .

Origin and family

Amalo's family belonged to the Burgundian people, as the formation of his personal name from the East Germanic Amal tribe suggests, and came to the Saône plain as part of the expansion of Burgundian rule under King Gundobad . The Battle of Autun in 532 ended the Burgundian independence, but the family remained wealthy and influential in the area between Dijon and Besançon even under Frankish rule .

Amalo had at least one son, who is not mentioned in the contemporary sources; It therefore remains uncertain whether he succeeded his father in the office of Attoarian Duke.

Amalo's grandson Amalgar, on the other hand, is well attested as Dux des Pagus Attoriensis, especially through the Chronicle of Fredegar and Merovingian documents, and was one of the most influential greats of the Franconian Empire of his time.

Under Eticho , Amalo's great-great-grandson and progenitor of the ducal family of Etichonen , the noble family finally came into hereditary possession of Alsace in the middle of the 7th century .

Representation by Gregory of Tours

Amalo is one of the few dukes among the early Merovingian rulers, here Chlothar I , whose existence is secured by contemporary sources - Amalo is mentioned several times in the Ten Books Stories of the Bishop and Historian Gregor von Tours .

Gregor reports that in addition to an apartment ( mansio ) , the Attoariandux also owned at least one estate ( villa ), probably near Autun , which, according to the customs of the time, was probably managed by his wife.

The description of the duke is consistently negative for Gregor von Tours - this is how the historian characterizes Amalo as a violent drunkard and libertine who did not shy away from attempting to rape a young woman. Correspondingly violent, Gregor also describes the death of Amalos:

When Dux Amalo had sent his wife to another country estate to take care of the economy there, he became enthusiastic about a young girl of his class. And when he was drunk with wine that night, he sent servants to kidnap the girl and take her to her bed. She resisted and was forcibly kidnapped into his house, slapping her face so that her nose bled and blood covered her, which is why the Duke's bed was stained with it. He also gave her fists, slaps and other things, then took her in his arms and was overwhelmed by sleep. But she stretched out her hand above the man's head and took his sword. She pulled it out of its sheath and hit his head with it like Judith's that of Holofernes. He gave a scream and the servants gathered. But when they wanted to kill her, he shouted, “I beg you, don't kill her. I have sinned by trying to violate chastity… ”As he spoke this, he breathed out his spirit. The girl fled some fifty kilometers into a church, threw herself at the king's feet and lamented her suffering. He puts them under his protection. We have learned that through God's assistance, the girl's chastity was in no way violated by her savage kidnapper.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] Laury Sarti: Characteristics and social significance of arms bearers in Merovingian Gaul in the 6th century. Scientific term paper to obtain the academic degree of a Magister Artium from the University of Hamburg. Hamburg 2007. pp. 62 and 64.
2. ^ Gregory of Tours: Decem libri historiarum. IX, 27

literature

• Karl Ferdinand Werner: Important noble families in the empire of Charlemagne: a personal historical contribution to the relationship between royalty and nobility in the early Middle Ages. In: Helmut Beumann (ed.): Karl der Große. Personality and history. Düsseldorf 1967, p. 22.