Rosamunde (Gepiden)
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.
- Hans Sachs (1494–1576), Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803), and Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843) mention them in their poetry.
- 1823: The play Rosamunde by Helmina von Chézy with the incidental music of Franz Schubert deals with the subject very freely.
- In 1824 the string quartet No. 13 Rosamunde in A minor op. 29 D 804 by Franz Schubert was performed in Vienna , the second movement of which varied a melody from Schubert's theatrical music of the same name .
- In 1830 the poet Peter Friedrich von Uechtritz (1800–1875) wrote the tragedy "Rosamunde"
- 1835: Karl Borromäus von Miltitz composed the romantic opera "Alboin and Rosamunde"
- 1860: poet Algernon Swinburne wrote his work Rosamond.
- 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.
- 1962: Carlo Campogalliani's film adaptation under the title Alboin, King of the Lombards (in the original Rosmunda e Alboino ) focuses on Alboin's confrontations with the Gepids and focuses on the relationship with Rosamunde. The actors include Jack Palance , Eleonora Rossi Drago , Guy Madison and Mirella d'Angelo .
See also
swell
- Paulus Diaconus , Historia Langobardorum , ed. Ludwig Bethmann and Georg Waitz , in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI – IX , Hahn, Hanover 1878
- anonymous, Origo Gentis Langobardorum
- Marius von Avenches , Chronicle
- Johannes von Biclaro , Chronicle
literature
- Wilfried Menghin : The Lombards . Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 1985.
Web links
- Paulus Diaconus: History of the Langobards (English)
- Iohannis Abbatis Biclarensis, Chronica in Mommsen, Theodor: Chronica Minora saec. IV.V.VI.VII (II), Bd .: 2, p. 213, Berlin, (1894) at dMGH (Latin.)
- Marius von Avenches , Chronicle in Mommsen, Theodor: Chronica Minora saec. IV.V.VI.VII (II), Bd .: 2, p. 238, Berlin, (1894) at dMGH (Latin.)
- Rosamunde at medieval genealogy (GenMA)
Individual evidence
- ↑ z. B. Marius von Avenches , Chronicle ; Johannes von Biclaro , Chronicle
- ^ A b Gregory of Tours , Historiae IV, 41
- ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum I, 27
- ↑ a b Origo Gentis Langobardorum V
- ↑ St. John Abbatis Biclarensis, Chronica
- ↑ 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.)
- ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum II, 28
- ^ Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum II, 29
- ↑ Karin Priester: History of the Longobards: Society - Culture - Everyday Life P. 46ff. Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 2004. ISBN 380621848X .
- ↑ Max Mendheim : Uechtritz, Peter Friedrich von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 39, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1895, p. 125 f.
- ^ Moritz Fürstenau: Miltitz, Karl von (composer) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 760 f.
- ↑ Alexander von Weilen : Weil von Weilen, Josef . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 488-490.
- ↑ 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 |