Deoteria

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gold Solidus Theudeberts based on the Eastern Roman model, around 545.

Deoteria (also Deuteria ) was a Romanesque aristocrat in the 6th century. She was Theudebert I's lover and Theudebald's mother .

Deoteria came from a noble Gallo-Roman family from what is now southern France. Only a few dates of Gregory of Tours have come down to us from her life .

She first met Theudebert in 532 when he was preparing to recapture the Cabrières fortress, which had fallen to the Visigoths after the death of Clovis I. Shortly before, Theudebert had liberated the fortress of Dio-et-Valquières near Béziers and sent a messenger to Cabrières to ask the fortress to surrender. The Roman woman was in command of the fortress because her husband had fled from the advancing Australian troops of Theodobert to Béziers, which was still occupied by the Visigoths. He had left his wife and daughter behind in Cabrières. They capitulated and recognized Theudebert as ruler. The Franconian moved into Cabrières without a fight and fell in love with Deoteria. Theudebert, who had been betrothed to the Lombard princess Wisigarde at the instigation of his father, King Theuderich I , since 531 , took the Romaness as his concubine .

After the death of Theudebert's father in 533, he no longer felt bound by his engagement to Wisigarde and married Deoteria. The Roman woman briefly became Queen of Austrasia. Theudebald emerged from this connection around 537. In response to renewed political pressure, Theudebert also repudiated the Roman woman around 537 and married Wisigarde.

According to Gregory of Tours, one reason for Theudebert's separation was the murder of Deoteria's daughter from his first marriage. According to Tour tradition, Deoteria noticed that her daughter from her first marriage had grown into a beautiful young woman. She now feared that Theudebert might desire the girl. She had her daughter put in a Basterna , a closed mule litter for ladies, near Verdun . However, the mules had previously been replaced by two bulls that - got out of control - caused the vehicle to crash on a bridge. Deoteria's daughter drowned in the Meuse .

No further information about Deoteria has come down to us after 537.

swell

  • Gregory of Tours, Historiarum III, 20, 27

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gregor von Tours, Historiae III, p. 21 ff.
  2. ↑ Gregory of Tours, Historiae III, p. 22.
  3. ^ Gregory of Tours, Historiae III, 26.
personal data
SURNAME Deoteria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Deuteria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mistress of Theudebert I.
DATE OF BIRTH before 520
DATE OF DEATH after 538