Feletheus (also known as Feva, Feba, Foeba, Fevva, Fevvanus, Theuvanus; died 487) was the king of the

Rugii The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians ( grc, Ρογοί, Rogoi), were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his '' Germania'' who called them the ''Rugii'', and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. So ...

from 475 to 487.

Biography

Feletheus was the son of

Flaccitheus Flaccitheus (died c. 475) was the founder of the Kingdom of the Rugii. Biography Little is known about Flaccitheus, but he is mentioned in the work '' Vita Sancti Severini'' by Eugippius. After the Battle of Nedao in 454, the Rugii had settled on ...

, king of the Rugii and founder of the Kingdom of the Rugii. His brother was Ferderuchus. Feletheus was married to the

Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

Gisa Gisa (also written Giso; died 1088) was Bishop of Wells from 1060 to 1088. A native of Duchy of Lorraine, Lorraine, Gisa came to England as a chaplain to King Edward the Confessor. After his appointment to Wells, he English embassy to Rome (1061 ...

, who was probably the cousin of the

Amal Amal may refer to: * Amal (given name) * Åmål, a small town in Sweden * Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party ** Amal Militia, Amal Movement's defunct militia * Amal language of Papua New Guinea * Amal (film), ''Amal'' (film), 2007, directed ...

Ostrogothic The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

king

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...

. After the death of his father, probably in 475, Feletheus succeeded his father as king of the Rugii. Their territory at the time was based in

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. In 476, Feletheus supported Odoacer and his Scirian and

Heruli The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several " Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking ...

an allies in the overthrow of the Roman Emperor

Romulus Augustus Romulus Augustus ( 465 – after 511), nicknamed Augustulus, was Roman emperor of the West from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476. Romulus was placed on the imperial throne by his father, the ''magister militum'' Orestes, and, at that time, ...

. Feletheus was a close confidant of

Severinus of Noricum Severinus of Noricum ( 410 – 8 January 482) is a saint, known as the "Apostle to Noricum". It has been speculated that he was born in either Southern Italy or in the Roman province of Africa. Severinus himself refused to discuss his persona ...

. After the

Eastern Roman Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as l ...

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

attempted to create conflict between the Rugii and Odoacer, Feletheus executed his nephew Fredericus, who supported Odoacer. Odoacer subsequently invaded the Kingdom of the Rugii, utterly defeating them at a battle near present-day

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Feletheus and his wife were captured, and executed in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

in 487. Two years later, under his son

Frideric Frideric ( la, Fredericus; ? - 492/493) was the leader of the Germanic Rugians from 487 to 492/493. Life Frideric was a son of the Rugian king Feletheus. In late 487, Odoacer, the King of Italy, invaded the Rugian kingdom and destroyed it. Fr ...

, the Rugii joined the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, who invaded Italy and defeated and murdered Odoacer in 493.

Primary sources

Eugippius Eugippius (circa 460 – circa 535, Castellum Lucullanum) was a disciple and the biographer of Saint Severinus of Noricum. After the latter's death in 482, he took the remains to Naples and founded a monastery on the site of a 1st-century Roman ...

: '' Vita Sancti Severini'' * Paul the Deacon: ''

History of the Lombards The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate ...

Secondary sources

* '' Pauly-Wissowa. Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE)''. Bd. 6,2. Stuttgart 1909, Sp. 2161f. * Friedrich Lotter: ''Severinus von Noricum, Legende und historische Wirklichkeit: Untersuchungen zur Phase des Übergangs von spätantiken zu mittelalterlichen Denk- und Lebensformen''. Stuttgart 1976. *

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...

u.a.:''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

''. Bd. 1, Cambridge 1971, , {{ISBN, 978-0-521-20159-9 *

Walter Pohl Walter Pohl (born 27 December 1953, in Vienna) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of Auxiliary Sciences of History and Medieval History at the University of Vienna. He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History. Biography Walter ...

: ''Die Gepiden und die gentes an der mittleren Donau nach dem Zerfall des Attilareiches''. In:

Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Sc ...

, Falko Daim (Hrsg.): ''Die Völker an der mittleren und unteren Donau im fünften und sechsten Jahrhundert''. Wien 1980, S. 239ff. Rugian kings 5th-century monarchs in Europe 487 deaths 480s deaths 5th-century deaths