Hermanfrid (also Hermanifrid or Hermanafrid; , died 532) was the last independent king of the

Thuringii The Thuringii, Toringi or Teuriochaimai, were an early Germanic people that appeared during the late Migration Period in the Harz Mountains of central Germania, a region still known today as Thuringia. It became a kingdom, which came into c ...

in present-day Germany. He was one of three sons of King

Bisinus Bisinus (sometimes shortened to Bisin) was the king of Thuringia in the 5th century AD or around 500. He is the earliest historically attested ruler of the Thuringians. Almost nothing more about him can be said with certainty, including whether al ...

and the Lombard

Menia Menia (fl. c. 500) was the queen of the Thuringians by marriage and the earliest named ancestor of the Gausian dynasty of the Lombards. She became a legendary figure after her death, strongly associated with gold and wealth. Only one other person ...

. His siblings were

Baderic Baderic, Baderich, Balderich or Boderic (ca. 480 – 529), son of Bisinus and Menia, was a co-king of the Thuringii. He and his brothers Hermanfrid and Berthar succeeded their father Bisinus. After Hermanfrid defeated Berthar in battle, he ...

;

Raicunda Raicunda (? - 512), also known as Radikunda, Radegunda or Ranikunda was a Lombardic queen consort. She was the daughter of the Thurinigian king Bisinus and his Lombard wife Menia. She had three brothers named in the sources, Hermanafrid, Bertac ...

, married to 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 assa ...

; and

Bertachar Bertachar (or Berthachar) was a king of Thuringia from about 510 until about 525, co-ruling with his brothers Hermanfrid and Baderic. Bertachar was probably not a Thuringian himself. Frankish sources, such as Venantius Fortunatus, make the three ...

. Hermanfrid married Amalaberga, daughter of

Amalafrida Amalafrida (fl. 523), was the daughter of Theodemir, king of the Ostrogoths, and his wife Erelieva. She was the sister of Theodoric the Great, and mother of Theodahad, both of whom also were kings of the Ostrogoths. In 500, Theodoric, ruler over ...

who was the daughter of Theodemir, between 507 and 511. Amalberga was also the niece of

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 ...

. It is unclear when Hermanfrid became king, but he is called king (''rex thoringorum'') in a letter by Theodoric dated to 507. He first shared the rule with his brothers Baderic and Bertachar, but later killed Bertachar in a battle in 529, leaving the young Radegund an orphan. According to

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 Floren ...

, Amalaberga now stirred up Hermanfrid against his remaining brother. Once she laid out only half the table for a meal, and when questioned about the reason, she told him "A king who owns only of half of his kingdom deserved to have half of his table bare." Thus roused, Hermanfrid made a pact with the king of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

, Theuderic I, to march against Baderic. Baderic was overcome by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

and beheaded, but Hermanfrid refused to fulfill his obligations to Theuderic, which led to enmity between the two kings. In 531 or 532, Theuderic, his son

Theudebert I Theudebert I (french: Thibert/Théodebert) ( 500 – 547 or 548) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald. Sources Most of what we know about Theudebert comes f ...

, and his brother King Clotaire I of

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital o ...

attacked the Thuringii. The Franks won a battle near the river Unstrut and took the royal seat at Scithingi (modern Burgscheidungen). Hermanfrid managed to flee, but the Franks captured his niece Radegund (see

Venantius Fortunatus Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus (, ), was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerate ...

, ''De excidio Thoringae'') and his nephews. Theuderic gave Hermanfrid safe conduct, ordered him to come to

Zülpich Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for th ...

, and gave him many gifts. While Hermanfrid talked with Theuderic, somebody pushed him from the town walls of Zülpich and he died.Oman, Charles. ''The Dark Ages, 476-918'', Rivingtons, 1908, p. 114
/ref> Gregory mentions that certain people had ventured to suggest that Theuderic ''might'' have had something to do with it. Radegund was then forced to marry King Clotaire, while Hermanfrid's wife Amalaberga fled to the

Ostrogoth 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 ...

s with her children Amalafrid and Rodelinda. She was later captured by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

general

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terr ...

and sent to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, where Amalafrid later became an imperial general and Rodelinda was married to the Lombard king

Auduin Alduin (Langobardic: ''Aldwin'' or ''Hildwin'', ; also called Auduin or Audoin) was king of the Lombards from 547 to 560. Life Audoin was of the Gausi, a prominent Lombard ruling clan, and according to the ''Historia Langobardorum'', the so ...

. The Thuringian kingdom ended with Hermanfrid. The area east of the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saal ...

river was taken over by Slavic tribes, north Thuringia by the Saxons. The fall of the Thuringian dynasty became the subject of numerous epic treatments, the best known of which is in the '' Rerum gestarum saxonicarum libri tres'' by

Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume '' Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...

, a Saxon foundation

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

written in 967. Rudolph of Fulda tells a related story. In this version, it is the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

under Duke Hadugato, as allies of the Franks, who win the great battle on the Unstrut.

About the Sources

The main source for this period is Gregory of Tours, who represents the Frankish viewpoint. Widukind is much later and has clearly incorporated mythical elements into his account.

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

only mentions the events in passing as far as they affect

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

References

2. Hermanfried (c.490 - c.533) - Genealogy (geni.com){{Authority control Kings of the Thuringians 6th-century monarchs in Europe