Vadamerca or Valadamarca ( fl. 370s) may have been a Gothic princess and Goth royal family member by birth, and consort of the '' Rex Hunnorum''

Balamber Balamber (also known as Balamir, Balamur and many other variants) was ostensibly a chieftain of the Huns, mentioned by Jordanes in his ''Getica'' ( 550 AD). Jordanes simply called him "king of the Huns" () and writes the story of Balamber crushin ...

, possibly the first ruler of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

. The only extant source that mentions her or Balamber is

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...

' ''Getica'', and it is possible that both are unhistorical.

Name

The first element is probably Gothic ''valdan'', or ''waldan'', meaning 'to rule (a household), to govern’, from an earlier PGmc ''walđanan''. The second element is ''marka'', 'horse', from PGmc *''marχaz'', an early loan from Celtic. Another female name with the same second element is attested from

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

, ''Childomarca''.

Biography

The only source that mentions the existence of a Gothic princess named Vadamerca or her husband

' ''Getica'', which may derive mention of both from Gothic oral tradition. According to Jordanes, Vadamerca was the granddaughter of

Vinitharius Vinitharius (Vinithar) was possibly a king of the Greuthungian GothsTerpilovsky, R. Vinithar (ВІНІТАР)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 2003 around 375-376 AD. Vinitharius is mentioned by Gothic historian Jordanes in Getica. According ...

, king of the Goths, and a member of the

Amal dynasty The Amali – also called Amals, Amalings or Amalungs – were a leading dynasty of the Goths, a Germanic people who confronted the Roman Empire during the decline of the Western Roman Empire. They eventually became the royal house of the Ostrogot ...

. Arne Søby Christensen notes several chronological problems with Jordanes's narrative surrounding Vadamerca and suggests that it may not be historical. Her grandfather Vinitharius fought three battles against the Huns, who were led by

. He was successful in the first two clashes, but eventually lost the third fight, which took place by the river Erac. Vinitharius died on this occasion, as he was killed by king Balamber with an arrow shot to his head. After the victory, Balamber, the first known king of the Huns, took Vadamerca in marriage. Such marriage consolidated his rule over the Goths. These type of royal intermarriages (cf. ''

Heqin ''Heqin'', also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese monarchs marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeaseme ...

'') were part of the Hun mode of conquest. He ruled the Goths peacefully and consented them to be governed by a Goth. However, the Huns would themselves choose their Gothic ruler.

References

Works cited

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