Butiline

Butilin (also Bucelin or Bucilin, Latin Butilinus or Buccelenus ; † 554 near Capua ) was from 536 to 554 on behalf of the Merovingian Alemannic dux (very free: Duke ) in the diocese of Avenches . He was the brother of Leuthari I. His successor as dux was Magnachar .

Butilin and Leuthari are considered the first duces of the Alemanni, who received their authority from the Frankish King Theudebald , but were politically dependent on him. According to the historian Agathias, the two brothers were of Alemannic descent.

After Agathias the Ostrogoths defeated in the Gothic War , who were still able to hold out north of the Po , sent an embassy to the Frankish king Theudebald I to win him over to an alliance against the Eastern Roman army under Narses . While Theudebald refused, the brothers Butilin and Leuthari accepted the alliance. It can be assumed that Theudebald agreed to this venture, as he probably hoped in this way to gain influence over Italy without having to face Justinian I personally and openly .

According to Agathias, Butilin and Leuthari raised an army of 75,000 Alemanni and Francs (which is certainly an exaggeration), which invaded Italy in the spring of 553 and was initially able to establish itself in Parma . An attempt to drive them from there failed. The remaining Goths opened their cities to the Frankish-Alemannic army. This was followed by a foray that led the armies to the Strait of Messina. In the summer of 554 the brothers separated and Leuthari moved north with part of an army, ostensibly to get his booty to safety. After Leuthari had already crossed the Po with his army, he and his host were swept away by an epidemic. The army of Butilin was also decimated and weakened by diseases. Nevertheless, Butilin sought the decisive battle with Narses. He didn't know about his brother's fate. In the autumn of 554 he ended in the crushing defeat of his remaining army in the battle of Casilinus near Capua .

It is possible that the Byzantine poet and historian Agathias tried in retrospect to blame the two brothers for the failure in order to put the Frankish king in a better light. They would have let themselves be carried away by the Goths on this campaign, although their King Theudebald did not like it. Other sources speak of a Franconian company.

swell

• Agathias (530 / 32-582), Historiae , 1.6-2.9.
• Bishop Marius of Avenches (530-594), records for the year 555
• Paul Deacon
• Gregory of Tours 3.32; 4.9.

literature

• Dieter Geuenich : History of the Alemanni (= Kohlhammer Urban pocket books. 575). 2nd, revised edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018227-7 .
• Werner Lütkenhaus :  Leuthari. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 18, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, ISBN 3-11-016950-9 , pp. 303-304. ( online )
• Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Butilinus . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 1085 f.