Romilda or Ramhilde (died 611), was a Duchess consort of

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

by marriage to Duke

Gisulf II of Friuli Gisulf II (''Gisulfo II di Friuli''; abt. 545 – 611) was the Duke of Friuli from around 591 to his death. He was the son and successor of Gisulf I. Gisulf and Gaidoald of Trent were at odds with King Agilulf until they made peace in 602 or 603. ...

. She served as regent of Friuli in 611, during the invasion of the

Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...

. Romilda was reportedly the daughter of

Garibald I of Bavaria 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, and the ancestor of the Bavarian dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards. Biography After the dea ...

. She married Gisulf II of Friuli, and became the mother of the sons

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

, Kakko, Radoald and Grimoald, and the daughters Appa and Geila (or Gaila), married to the King of the Alemanni (uncertain) and the Prince of the Bavarians, probably

Garibald II of Bavaria Garibald II (585–625) was Duke of Bavaria from 610 until his death. He was the son of Tassilo I. He married Geila, daughter of Gisulf II of Friuli Gisulf II (''Gisulfo II di Friuli''; abt. 545 – 611) was the Duke of Friuli from around 591 to ...

. In 611, the Duchy of Friuli was invaded by the

under their king

Bayan II Bayan II was an Avar khagan between 602 and 617. 617 deaths 7th-century monarchs in Europe Pannonian Avars Year of birth unknown {{East-Slavic-hist-stub ...

, who is referred to as "Cacan" in the traditional story of Romilda. Gisulf II died on the battle field, and the Avars besieged the main capital Friuli, which was defended by Romilda, who had taken command as regent. Romilda famously offered the Avarian king Bayan II to surrender the city peacefully, if he accepted her peace offering by a marriage between them. Bayan II accepted the offer, and the siege was lifted. However, when Romilda surrendered the city, Friuli was pillaged by Bayan II, who broke his word. He reportedly spent one night with Romilda and raped her, after which he allowed her to be raped by his soldiers. After this, he is claimed to have of had her executed by

impalement Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes aga ...

. Her children managed to escape. Romilda has been given a very bad reputation in history because of

Paul the Deacon 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, s ...

, who in his chronicle from the following century claimed, that she made the offer of marriage to Bayan II out of personal attraction, and betrayed her city out of sexual lust. However, to make peace through proposal of a marriage alliance was in fact a common and accepted political peace method of the time,Dick Harrison: Krigarnas och helgonens tid: Västeuropas historia 400–800 e.Kr. when dipolomatic marriages were common royal norm.

References

{{reflist 7th-century women rulers 611 deaths People executed by impalement 7th-century executions Rape in Italy