Amalaberga was the 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 ...

, daughter of

Theodemir Theodemir, Theodemar, Theudemer or Theudimer was a Germanic name common among the various Germanic peoples of early medieval Europe. According to Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (9th century), the form ''Theudemar'' is Frankish and ''Theudemir'' is Gothi ...

, king of the

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

. Her father is unknown, her uncle was

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 b ...

. Around 510, she was married to

Hermanfrid Hermanfrid (also Hermanifrid or Hermanafrid; , died 532) was the last independent king of the Thuringii in present-day Germany. He was one of three sons of King Bisinus and the Lombard Menia. His siblings were Baderic; Raicunda, married to the L ...

, son of the Thuringian ruler Bisinus and his Lombard wife Menia. Hermanfrid and his brothers

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 in ...

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 ...

succeeded their father as co-rulers, while their mother returned to her people, where their sister,

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

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 assassi ...

, king of the Lombards. Hermanfrid and Amalaberga had two children: a son named

Amalafrid Amalafrid ( la, Amalafridas, el, 'Αμαλαφρίδας Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 50) was the son of the last Thuringian king Hermanafrid and his wife Amalaberga, daughter of Amalafrida and niece of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the ...

and a daughter Rodelinda. Amalaberga is said to have encouraged Hermanfrid to make war on his brothers and become sole ruler. Bertachar was killed in battle, possibly as early as 525. Hermanfrid then sought the help of

Theuderic I __NOTOC__ Theuderic I (c. 485 – 533/34) was the Merovingian king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called—from 511 to 533 or 534. He was the son of Clovis I and one of his earlier wives or concubines (possibly a Franc ...

, the Merovingian king of Austrasia, to attack Baderic and seize control of all of Thuringia. After Baderic was defeated and beheaded by the Franks, Hermanfrid reneged on certain promised land concessions. Theuderic then persuaded his brother,

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 kin ...

, Merovingian king at Soissons, to join him in attacking Hermanfrid. Clothar had married Baderic's daughter,

Ingund Ingonde, Ingund, Ingunda, or (in Latin) Ingundis (born c. 499, Thuringia d. 546) was a queen of the Franks by marriage to Clotaire I, son of Clovis. She was the daughter of King Baderic of Thuringia (c. 480 - c. 529). She became concubine to C ...

, and later, his daughter,

Aregund Aregund, Aregunda, Arnegund, Aregonda, or Arnegonda (c. 515/520–580) was a Frankish queen, the wife of Clotaire I, king of the Franks, and the mother of Chilperic I of Neustria. She is one of the rare historical figures whose tomb has been ide ...

. According to the ''Decem Libri'' of

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 Florenti ...

, in 531, Hermanfrid was defeated at the battle of

Unstrut The Unstrut () is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin. It ...

and Thuringia was annexed to the Frankish empire. Hermanfrid traveled under

safe conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

to meet with Theuderic at

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 the ...

. While walking along the city walls with Theuderic, Hermanfrid was thrown from the ramparts to his death. According to Procopius (History of the Wars V, 13), after Hermanfrid's death, Amalaberga fled with her children to her brother

Theodahad Theodahad, also known as Thiudahad ( la, Flavius Theodahatus , Theodahadus, Theodatus; 480 – December 536) was king of the Ostrogoths from 534 to 536. Early life Born at in Tauresium, Theodahad was a nephew of Theodoric the Great through ...

who was at that time (534-36) King of the

.Procopius (History of the Wars V, 13) During the

Gothic War (535–554) The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last o ...

, they were captured by the Byzantine 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 terri ...

and sent to Constantinople.

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

made Amalafrid a general and married off his sister Rodelinda to the Lombard king

Audoin 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 son ...

References

Consorts of Thuringia Ostrogothic women 6th-century Ostrogothic people Amali dynasty 6th-century women {{Europe-royal-stub