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 Ostrogoths and founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom .
28-450: The Amal clan was claimed to have descended from the divine. Jordanes writes: Now the first of these heroes, as they themselves relate in their legends, was Gapt, who begat Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat him who was called Amal, from whom the name of the Amali comes. Athal begat Achiulf and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf and Ermanaric . This provides
56-522: A geography/ethnography of the North, especially of Scandza (16–24). He lets the history of the Goths commence with the emigration of Berig with three ships from Scandza to Gothiscandza (25, 94), in a distant past. In the pen of Jordanes, Herodotus's Getian demigod Zalmoxis becomes a king of the Goths (39). Jordanes tells how the Goths sacked " Troy and Ilium" just after they had recovered somewhat from
84-636: A legal marriage but still a child. Amalaric was carried for safety into Spain , which country and Provence were thenceforth ruled by his maternal grandfather, Theodoric the Great , acting through his vice-regent, an Ostrogothic nobleman named Theudis . The older son, Gesalec , was chosen as king but his reign was disastrous. King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths sent an army, led by his sword-bearer Theudis , against Gesalec, ostensibly on behalf of Amalaric; Gesalec fled to Africa. The Ostrogoths then drove back
112-435: A towel stained with her own blood. Ian Wood noted that although Gregory provides the fullest information for this period, where it touches Merovingian affairs, he often "allowed his religious bias to determine his interpretation of the events." Peter Heather agrees with Wood's implication in this instance: "I doubt that this is the full story, but the effects of Frankish intervention are clear enough." Childebert defeated
140-592: Is one of only two extant ancient works dealing with the early history of the Goths . Other writers, such as Procopius , wrote works on the later history of the Goths. Getica has been the object of much critical review. Jordanes wrote in Late Latin rather than the classical Ciceronian Latin. According to his own introduction, he had only three days to review what Cassiodorus had written and so he must also have relied on his own knowledge. Jordanes writes about himself almost in passing: The Sciri , moreover, and
168-541: The Amali , I also, Jordanes, although an unlearned man before my conversion, was secretary. Paria was Jordanes's paternal grandfather. Jordanes writes that he was secretary to Candac , dux Alanorum , an otherwise unknown leader of the Alans. Jordanes was asked by a friend to write Getica as a summary of a multi-volume history of the Goths by the statesman Cassiodorus that existed then but has since been lost. Jordanes
196-497: The Amali . That was ante conversionem meam ("before my conversion"). The nature and the details of the conversion remain obscure. The Goths had been converted with the assistance of Ulfilas (a Goth), made bishop on that account. However, the Goths had adopted Arianism . Jordanes's conversion may have been a conversion to the trinitarian Nicene Creed , which may be expressed in anti-Arianism in certain passages in Getica . In
224-639: The Annals of Quedlinburg , 'Amulungum'/'Amelung' ("the Amelung") is used to refer to Dietrich himself. This shows that the family's legacy was remembered in oral tradition far into the Middle Ages, long after any stories about Amal himself had ceased to circulate. Jordanes, possibly drawing upon Cassiodorus ' Origo Gothica , describes the Goths moving to the Black Sea, where they split into two factions,
252-740: The Billungs , Dukes of Saxony, also known as the Amelungs or von Ömlingen, and the Solovjovs, Barons of the Russian Empire from 1727 (in German sources, known as the von Solowhoff or Solowhoff von Greutungen). The Solovjovs specifically claimed Ermanaric as their ancestor. Via Amerigo Vespucci (the Italian version of " Amalaric ," or " Amal ruler "), the Amali were the ultimate namesakes of
280-572: The Franks , in the Battle of Vouillé (507), his kingdom fell into disarray. "More serious than the destruction of the Gothic army," writes Herwig Wolfram , "than the loss of both Aquitanian provinces and the capital of Toulose , was the death of the king." Alaric had made no provision for a successor, and although he had two sons, one was of age but illegitimate and the other, Amalaric, the offspring of
308-624: The Sadagarii and certain of the Alani with their leader, Candac by name, received Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia . Paria, the father of my father Alanoviiamuth (that is to say, my grandfather), was secretary to this Candac as long as he lived. To his sister's son Gunthigis, also called Baza, the Master of the Soldiery, who was the son of Andag the son of Andela, who was descended from the stock of
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#1732765292200336-637: The Amali Theodemir , father of Theoderic the Great . However, this idea has since been discredited by historians, who have emphasised the disruption caused by the Huns, as well as the similarity of groups previously treated as discrete ethnic groups. A separate branch of the family were members of the Visigoths . Sigeric , a brief usurper to the Visigothic throne in 415, may have been a member of
364-485: The Amali house was Theodegisclus, son of Theodahad . In the Nibelungenlied and some other medieval German epic poems, the followers of Dietrich von Bern are referred to as 'Amelungen'. In other cases, Amelung is reinterpreted as the name of one of Dietrich's ancestors. The Kaiserchronik also refers to Dietrich/Theoderic's family as the 'Amelungen', and in a letter of bishop Meinhard von Bamberg, as well as
392-727: The Amali, who would later become the Ostrogoths, and the Balthi , who become the Visigoths. Both the Amali and the Balthi are recalled as families of "kings and heroes." However, Wolfram has argued that the tradition of the Amal was popular even before the time of Cassiodorus. This is shown in the naming of the royals, like Theodoric's daughters, Ostrogotho and Amalasuintha , and his sister, Amalafrida , who were all given Amal names. At least two prominent noble families claimed descent from Amali:
420-465: The Amali. The Visigothic Eutharic married Theoderic's daughter Amalasuntha , and is said to have been an Amal by Cassiodorus and Jordanes; however, it is more likely that this was a fictitious claim designed to bolster Athalaric 's legitimacy. Jordanes states "Hermanaric, the son of Achiulf, begat Hunimund, and Hunimund begat Thorismud. Now Thorismud begat Beremud, Beremud begat Veteric, and Veteric likewise begat Eutharic." The last attested member of
448-502: The Americas. Jordanes Jordanes ( / dʒ ɔːr ˈ d eɪ n iː z / ; Greek : Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes , was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, widely believed to be of Gothic descent , who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on Roman history ( Romana ) and the other on the Goths ( Getica ). The latter, along with Isidore of Seville 's Historia Gothorum ,
476-654: The Franks and their Burgundian allies, regaining possession of "the south of Novempopulana , Rodez , probably even Albi , and even Toulose". Following the 511 death of Clovis, Theodoric negotiated a peace with Clovis' successors, securing Visigothic control of the southernmost portion of Gaul for the rest of the existence of their kingdom. In 522, the young Amalaric was proclaimed king, and four years later, on Theodoric's death, he assumed full royal power, although relinquishing Provence to his cousin Athalaric . His kingdom
504-488: The Goths after a history spanning 2,030 years. Jordanes wrongly equated the Getae with the Goths. Many historical records which originally related to Dacians and Getae were thus wrongly attributed to Goths. Arne Søby Christensen and Michael Kulikowski argue that in his Getica Jordanes also supplemented his Gothic history with many fictional events such as a Gothic war against Egypt. Caracalla in 214 received
532-550: The Visigothic army and took Narbonne . Amalaric fled south to Barcelona , where according to Isidore of Seville , he was assassinated by his own men. According to Peter Heather, Theodoric's former governor Theudis was implicated in Amalaric's murder, "and was certainly its prime beneficiary." As for Chrotilda, in Gregory's words, she died on the journey home "by some ill chance". Childebert had her body brought to Paris where she
560-587: The following stemma for the earliest rulers of the Goths, before outlining in more detail the two divisions that arose from the son, Achiulf of Athal, the last in this early lineage: Gapt or Gaut is the Scandinavian god of war. Hulmul or Humli-Hulmul, is considered the divine father of the Danish people . Ermanaric (also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as a Greuthungian king who ruled territories in modern Ukraine . Ermanaric signals
588-592: The history of Rome , but his best-known work is his Getica , which was written in Constantinople about 551 AD. Jordanes wrote his Romana at the behest of a certain Vigilius. Although some scholars have identified this person with Pope Vigilius , there is nothing else to support the identification besides the name. The form of address that Jordanes uses and his admonition that Vigilius "turn to God " would seem to rule out this identification. In
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#1732765292200616-425: The letter to Vigilius he mentions that he was awakened vestris interrogationibus – "by your questioning". Alternatively, Jordanes's conversio may mean that he had become a monk , a religiosus or a member of the clergy. Some manuscripts say that he was a bishop, and some even say bishop of Ravenna , but the name Jordanes is not known in the lists of bishops of Ravenna. Jordanes wrote Romana , about
644-545: The preface to his Getica , Jordanes writes that he is interrupting his work on the Romana at the behest of a brother Castalius, who apparently knew that Jordanes possessed the twelve volumes of the History of the Goths by Cassiodorus . Castalius wanted a short book about the subject, and Jordanes obliged with an excerpt based on memory, possibly supplemented with other material to which he had access. The Getica sets off with
672-591: The tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record. The origins of the Amal Dynasty is unclear. Until the mid-20th century there was a tendency to see the Tervingi and Greuthungi mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus as having evolved into the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, respectively. The Greuthungi had become vassals of the Huns , and were considered to have regained their independence under
700-444: The titles "Geticus Maximus" and "Quasi Gothicus" after battles with Getae and Goths. Amalaric Amalaric ( Gothic : 𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, Amalareiks ; Spanish and Portuguese : Amalarico ; 502–531) was king of the Visigoths from 522 until his assassination. He was a son of king Alaric II and his first wife Theodegotha , daughter of Theodoric the Great . When Alaric II was killed while fighting Clovis I , king of
728-526: The war with Agamemnon (108). They are also said to have encountered the Egyptian pharaoh Vesosis (47). The less fictional part of Jordanes's work begins when the Goths encounter Roman military forces in the third century AD. The work concludes with the defeat of the Goths by the Byzantine general Belisarius . Jordanes concludes the work by stating that he writes to honour those who were victorious over
756-403: Was faced with a Frankish threat from the north; according to Peter Heather, this was his motivation for marrying Chrotilda , the daughter of Clovis. However, this was not successful, for according to Gregory of Tours , Amalaric pressured her to forsake Orthodoxy and convert to Arian Christianity , at one point beating her until she bled; she sent to her brother Childebert I , king of Paris ,
784-525: Was selected for his known interest in history and because of his own Gothic background. He had been a high-level notarius , or secretary, of a small client state on the Roman frontier in Scythia Minor , modern southeastern Romania and northeastern Bulgaria . Jordanes was notarius , or secretary to Gunthigis Baza , a nephew of Candac and a magister militum of the leading Ostrogoth clan of
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