Gundahar

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Gundahar ( Latin Gundaharius , Greek Gyntiarios ; also passed down as Gundohar, Gundihar, Gundichar, Gunthahar and Guntiar; † 436 ) was the Burgundian rex in the early 5th century.

Burgundian warriors, together with other barbarians, had used the inner turmoil in the Roman Empire on New Year's Eve 406 to cross the Rhine at Mogontiacum (Mainz) and had plundered Gaul (see Migration ). Presumably they were already being led by Gundahar at that time.

According to the information of the contemporary Greek historian Olympiodoros of Thebes , whose important historical work went into detail on the events in the West , but has only survived to us in fragments, Gundahar 411, together with the Alan leader Goar, was involved in the elevation of the Gallor -Roman Jovinus to the position of anti -emperor . A remark by the historian Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus , which is preserved in the work of Gregory of Tours , suggests that the Burgundians also accompanied Jovinus to southern Gaul. But after Jovinus was defeated in 413 by loyal troops of the emperor Honorius , Gundahar's Burgundians settled as foederati on the Rhine. Gundahar probably moved into his residence on the Rhine in the Worms area .

Under Gundahar there was a certain strengthening of the position of the rex . However, when the Burgundians - perhaps due to Hunnic pressure, perhaps taking advantage of a civil war in Italy - tried to expand their sphere of influence to the west into the province of Belgica I , this encountered resistance from the Romans under the army master Flavius ​​Aëtius . In 435 Gundahar was repulsed by Western Roman troops, and in 436 the Burgundian empire was attacked and destroyed by Hunn auxiliary troops of Aëtius. Gundahar fell, and the remains of his warrior band were resettled by the Romans a few years later on the upper Rhone .

The events around the smashing of the first Burgundian empire and the death of Gundahar can be seen as the oldest historical core of the Nibelungen saga, which tells of the annihilation of the Burgundians under Gunther by Hunnic warriors.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Olympiodoros, Fragment 17 (Edition Müller). See also Ralf Scharf: Iovinus - Kaiser in Gallien In: Francia , 20, 1993, pp. 1–13.
  2. ^ Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum , 2, 9.
  3. ↑ For a long time it was disputed whether the Burgundian empire was subsequently formed on the Upper Rhine. The more recent research, however, tends to do this again: Cf. Hans Hubert Anton: Gundahar. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. 2nd Edition. Volume 13, Berlin / New York 1999, p. 193. Reinhold Kaiser: Die Burgunder. Stuttgart 2004, pp. 27-29.
  4. ↑ Reinhold Kaiser: The Burgundy. Stuttgart 2004, p. 31 ff.
predecessor Office successor
Gibica King of the Burgundies
406–436 		Gundioch
personal data
SURNAME Gundahar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gundaharius (Latin); Gundohar; Gundihar; Guntiar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Leader of the Burgundy
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 436