Agilolfings

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Theodelinda (c. 570–628), the daughter of Garibald I, fresco by Zavattari

The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the

suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards
intermittently from 616 to 712. They are mentioned as the leading dynasty in the Lex Baiuvariorum (c. 743). Their Bavarian residence was at Regensburg.

The dynasty's eponymous ancestor is

Theoderic II, who was executed in 457.[1]

The first duke identified with the Agilolfing line in German historiography is Garibald I (Gariwald). However, doubt has been cast on Garibald's membership in the Agilolfing family in modern scholarship,[2] which makes Tassilo I (r. 591–610) the first ascertained member of the dynasty.

The Agilolfings had close ties to the Merovingians. Garibald I himself married Waldrada, the widow of Merovingian king Theudebald, in 555, after her marriage to Chlothar I was annulled on grounds of consanguinity. As they had their fate intertwined with the Merovingian dynasty, they opposed the rise of the

mayors of the palace
, who finally deprived the Agilolfings of their power.

Rulers of Bavaria

Rulers of Italy

At the Austrasian court

References

  1. ^ Jörg Jarnut: Agilolfingerstudien. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte einer adligen Familie im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart 1986. Diese Ansicht wird weitgehend geteilt in: Wilhelm Störmer: Die Baiuwaren. Von der Völkerwanderung bis Tassilo III. München 2007.
  2. ^ Carl I. Hammer: From Ducatus to Regnum. Ruling Bavaria under the Merovingians and early Carolingians. 2007; Britta Kägler: „Sage mir, wie du heißt …“. Spätantik-frühmittelalterliche Eliten in den Schriftquellen. Das Beispiel der frühen Agilolfinger. In: Hubert Fehr, Irmtraut Heitmeier (eds.): Von Raetien und Noricum zur frühmittelalterlichen Baiovaria. EOS, St. Ottilien 2012, S. 183–196.

Further reading

  • Oman, Charles (1914). The Dark Ages, 476–918. London: Rivingtons. .
  • Pearson, Kathy Lynne Roper (1999). Conflicting Loyalties in Early Medieval Bavaria. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. .

External links