- Amalafrid
Amalafrid (
Latin : "Amalafridas") was the son of the lastThuringian kingHermanafrid and his wifeAmalaberga , daughter ofAmalafrida and niece of theOstrogoth ic kingTheodoric the Great .After the fall of the royal Thuringian seat of Scithingi to the king of
Metz ,Theuderic I in531 , Amalaberga fled to the Ostrogothic kingTheodahad , her brother, with Amalafrid and his sisterRodelindis . They were captured by the Byzantine generalBelisarius and sent toConstantinople , together with the captured Ostrogothic kingWitiges (or Wittigis). Justinian made Amalafrid a general and married off his sister Rodelindis to the Lombard kingAuduin .When the
Lombards applied to theByzantine Emperor Justinian I for help against theGepids , he sent an army under the command of Justinus and Justinianus, the sons of Germanus; Aratius and Suartuas (a former ruler of theHeruli ); and Amalafrid. All the former remained inUlpiana ,Illyria , to decide on a question of doctrine among the localChristian s. Amalafrid led part of the Roman army against the Gepids. As Auduin afterwards sent envoys to Justinian to complain about the lack of Imperial help, this seems to have been only a small part of the original army. Nevertheless, Amalafrid and the Lombard host under Auduin won a mayor victory over the Gepids.Amalafrid had a son named Artachis (see
Venantius Fortunatus , Carm. App. 3) but nothing further is known of his fate.ources
*
Procopius , Gothic War VII, 25
*Venantius Fortunatus, Carm. App. 3
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