Maldras (or Masdras) (died February 460) was the

Suevi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...

c king of Galicia from 456 until his death. After the execution of Rechiar by the victorious Visigoths, the Suevi are said to have established Maldras on the throne. During his reign the Suevic nation became fragmented. Maldras was the son of Massilia (or Massila) and was not said to be related to the dynasty of Hermeric, which had ruled the Suevi since 406.Thompson, 166. The wording of the contemporary chronicler Hydatius may be taken to signify that the Suevi population had some part in electing Maldras. They certainly had a part in dividing the kingdom in 457, when part of them refused to accept him as their leader and chose instead

Framta Framta, Framtan or Framtane (Latin: ''Framtanus'', Spanish: ''Frantán''; died 457) was one of the kings of the Suevi in Galicia in 457. After the death of the Suevic king Rechiar, executed by the conquering Visigoths, and the Warnic king Aioulf, ...

. The two Suevic kings acted independently and on Framta's death within a few months his followers are found led by Rechimund, though scholars dispute whether or not the two parties rejoined.Thompson, 167. In 457, while Framta was still ruling, Maldras led his people in a large raid on

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

. They sacked

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

by pretending to come in peace and, once admitted by the citizens, plundering the city.Thompson, 171. Maldras is also accused of having murdered his brother. In 458 he received envoys from the Visigoths and the Vandals. His people continued to plunder western Lusitania until Maldras was strangled, perhaps by his own men, in February 460. Maldras' people turned to Frumar as their war-leader then. Afterwards Remismund became king and reunited the Suevic people. He is claimed by

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

to be a son of Maldras, but there is some doubt on this.Thompson, 218–219.

Sources

* Thompson, E. A. ''Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western Empire''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. .

Notes

, - {{Galician monarchs 5th-century Suebian kings 460 deaths Germanic warriors Year of birth unknown 5th-century murdered monarchs Deaths by strangulation