Garibald I (also Garivald; la, Garibaldus; born 540) was Duke (or King) of Bavaria from 555 until 591. He was the head of the

Agilolfings The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. The ...

, and the ancestor of the

Bavarian dynasty The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588. The Bava ...

that ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards.

Biography

After the death of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

king

Theudebald Theudebald or Theodebald (in modern English, ''Theobald''; in French, ''Thibaut'' or ''Théodebald''; in German, ''Theudowald'') (c. 535–555), son of Theudebert I and Deuteria, was the king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is va ...

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the Fr ...

, his successor

Chlothar I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" ( French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. Chlothar's father, Clovis I, divided the kingd ...

had "begun to have intercourse with""History of the Franks" IV.9, by Gregory of Tours his widow

Waldrada Waldrada (also Vuldetrada) (531572), wife (firstly) of Theudebald, King of Austrasia (ruled 548–555), reputed mistress (secondly) of Chlothar I, King of the Franks (ruled until 561), was the daughter of Wacho, King of the Lombards (ruled ''ca''. ...

(531–572), daughter of the Lombard king

Wacho Wacho (also Waccho; probably from ''Waldchis'') was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date (perhaps c. 510) until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating (or having assass ...

. Chlothar's bishops objected, so he gave Waldrada to Garibald to marry in 556. Not only did this grant Garibald prestige, but it created lasting political ties between the

Bavarii The Baiuvarii or Bavarians (german: Bajuwaren) were a Germanic people. The Baiuvarii had settled modern-day Bavaria (which is named after them), Austria, and South Tyrol by the 6th century AD, and are considered the ancestors of modern-day Bavar ...

and the Lombards of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...

. This would have consequences after the Lombards moved into Italy in 568. Some time before 585, the Merovingian court attempted to bind Duke Garibald more closely to its interests by arranging a marriage between his daughter

Theodelinda Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when he ...

and King

Childebert II Childebert II (c.570–596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, as the only son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia; and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his d ...

of Austrasia. At the same time the Merovingians were attempting to normalise relations with

Authari Authari (c. 550 – 5 September 590) was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. He was considered as the first Lombard king to have adopted some level of "Roman-ness" and introduced policies that led to drastic changes particularly in t ...

, the Lombard king, by arranging a marriage between Childebert's sister and Authari. Both these proposals fell through. The offended Authari was engaged to Theodelinda in 588. Fearing an anti-Frankish axis, the Franks sent an army into Bavaria. Garibald's children

Gundoald Gundoald or Gundovald was a Merovingian usurper king in the area of southern Gaul in either 584 or 585. He claimed to be an illegitimate son of Chlothar I and, with the financial support of the Emperor Maurice, took some major cities in souther ...

and Theodelinda fled to Italy. Authari married Theodelinda in May 589 and named his brother-in-law, Gundoald, Duke of

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...

. In 590, the Franks invaded

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

with help from

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' con ...

, but were defeated. In 591, Childebert normalised relations with the Lombards and

. After King Authari died in 590, the Lombard dukes asked Theodelinda to marry again. She chose Authari's cousin

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to the A ...

as her husband, and he was accepted as the next king. They then negotiated a peace with Childebert which lasted for decades. According to

Paulus Diaconus Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...

, peace with Bavaria was restored when Childebert named Tassilo ''rex'' (king). It is unknown whether Garibald was deposed or died. Nor is it clear what Tassilo's relationship to Garibald was; though if not his son, he was certainly a close relation. He was reportedly also the father of Romilda of Friuli.

Sources

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florent ...

''History of the Franks: Books I-X''
Book IV, Chapter 9 *Störmer, Wilhelm. "Die Baiuwaren: Von der Völkerwanderung bis Tassilo III." pp 59 – 64. Verlag C. H. Beck, 2002, .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garibald 01 Of Bavaria 540 births 6th-century dukes of Bavaria Agilolfings Year of death unknown