Amal dynasty

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Amali – also called Amals, Amalings or Amalungs – were a leading

decline of the Western Roman Empire.[1] They eventually became the royal house of the Ostrogoths and founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom.[2]

Origin

The Amal clan was claimed to have descended from the divine.[3] 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.[4]

This provides 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:

Early rulers/kings
Gapt
Hulmul
Augis
Amal
Hisarnis
Ostrogotha
Hunuil
Athal[5]

Gapt or Gaut is the Scandinavian god of war.

Danish people.[3] Ermanaric (also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as a Greuthungian king who ruled territories in modern Ukraine. Ermanaric signals the tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record.[3]

History

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

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.[6]

A separate branch of the family were members of the

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.[7]
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 the Amali house was Theodegisclus, son of Theodahad.

Amali rulers

  • Ermanaric, King of the Greuthungi, c. 296–376
  • Sigeric, King of the Visigoths, 415
  • Valamir, King of the Ostrogoths, 447–469
  • Theodemir, King of the Ostrogoths, 469–475
  • Theoderic the Great
    , King of the Ostrogoths, 475–526
  • Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths, 526–534
  • Amalasuintha, Queen Regnant of the Ostrogoths, 534–535
  • Theodahad, King of the Ostrogoths, 534–536
  • Theudigisel, King of the Visigoths, 548–549

In literature

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 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.

Amalasuintha, and his sister, Amalafrida, who were all given Amal names.[3]

Legacy

At least two prominent noble families claimed descent from Amali: 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.

The name of the 6th-century

Visigothic king Amalaric – meaning "Amal ruler," though he actually belonged to the Balt dynasty – was the source of the continental toponyms of North and South America, via the Italian variant
"Amerigo."

In popular culture

  • The Amali appear as the "Amaling" dynasty in the grand strategy game
    Crusader Kings 2
    .

Genealogy

Ermanaric
king of Goths		HOUSE OF AMALSigeric
king of Visigoths
ThiudimirTheodemir
king of Ostrogoths
∞ Ereleuva		(daughter)
∞ Valamir
king of Ostrogoths
Theoderic the Great
king of Ostrogoths, Visigoths
AudofledaClovis I
king of Franks
Merovingian dynasty
Amalaberga
∞ Hermanafrid
king of Thuringii		(1?) Theodahad
king of Ostrogoths
∞ Gudeliva		Amalasuintha
∞ 1.Traguilla
2.Eutharic
consul		Ostrogotho
∞ Sigismund
king of Burgundians		∞ Anicius?Justin I
Roman Emperor		Vigilantia
(2) Athalaric
king of Ostrogoths		(2) Mataswintha
∞ 1.Vitiges
king of Ostrogoths		2.Germanus
general		Justinian I
Roman Emperor
Justinian dynasty

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "FamilyTreeDNA – Genetic Testing for Ancestry, Family History & Genealogy". FamilyTreeDNA. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  2. ISBN 978-0-520-06983-1
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e Wolfram, Herwig (1988). History of the Goths. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 32.
  4. ISBN 9788772897103
    .
  5. The Journal of Roman Studies
    , Vol. 79 (1989), p. 104
  6. ^ Peter Heather, Goths and Romans, 332–489 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 8 ff.
  7. ^ Gerda Heydemann, "The Ostrogothic Kingdom: Ideologies and Transitions" in J. Arnold and K. Sessa (eds), A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy (Leiden, 2016), p. 30.

General and cited sources

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