Family Tree Welborn » Theodoric "the Great," of the Ostrogoths king of the Ostrogoths (454-526)

Persoonlijke gegevens Theodoric "the Great," of the Ostrogoths king of the Ostrogoths 

• Hij is geboren in het jaar 454 in Lake Nieusedl, Pannonia (Present Hungary), Hun Empire.

  Let op: Was ouder dan 65 jaar (71) toen kind (Chrotechilde of the Ostrogoths) werd geboren (??-04-525).

• Hij is overleden op 26 augustus 526 in Ravenna, Flaminia et Picenum (Present Provincia di Ravenna), Italia Annonaria (Present Emilia-Romagna), Italy, hij was toen 72 jaar oud.
• Hij is begraven in Mausoleo di Teodorico, Ravenna, Provincia di Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
• Deze gegevens zijn voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 28 oktober 2018.

Gezin van Theodoric "the Great," of the Ostrogoths king of the Ostrogoths

Hij is getrouwd met Audofledis of the Salian Franks.

Zij zijn getrouwd

Kind(eren):

1. Chrotechilde of the Ostrogoths  525-544 

Notities over Theodoric "the Great," of the Ostrogoths king of the Ostrogoths

Theodoric "the Great," king of the Ostrogoths is your 44th great grandfather.
You¬â€ 
¬â€ ¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Henry Marvin Welborn¬â€ 
your father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Emma Corine Bombard¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Emma Elizabeth Bombard¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Isabelle Bynum¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·ÜíRobert W Bynum¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Elizabeth Bynum¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Lydia Mitchell¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Jonathan Wheeler, I¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Martha Wheeler (Salisbury)¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·ÜíWilliam Salisbury, Jr.¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Susannah Salisbury¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Thomas Cotton¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ George Cotton, of Combemere¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Esq. Richard Cotton¬â€ 
his father·Üí¬â€ Sir George Cotton of Combermere, Wilkesley and Pulton¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Cecily de Cotton (de Mainwaring)¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Jane Sutton¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·ÜíSir Lord Lieutenant of Ireland John Sutton, VI, 1st Baron Dudley¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Constance Blount¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Sancha Blount, Lady de Ayala¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·ÜíD. Diego Gómez de Toledo, I se√±or de Casarrubios y Valdepusa¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Gómez P√©rez de Toledo, II¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·ÜíTeresa V√°zquez de Acu√±a, Se√±ora de Villaverde¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Senhorinha Fernandes de Chacim¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Maior Alfonso de Cambra¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·ÜíAfonso Anes de Cambra¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Jo√£o Fernandes de Riba de Vizela¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Fern√£o Peres de Guimar√£es¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Pero Fromarigues de Guimar√£es¬â€ 
his father·Üí¬â€ Fromarigo Guterres¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Flavio Theodozium Thedeo¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Sueiro Belfaguer, 1¬âˆ« Senhor da Casa de Sousa¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·ÜíFl√°vio Teodósio Soares de Coimbra, Conde de Coimbra¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Fl√°vio Alarico "Atanarico" de Coimbra¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·ÜíConde Flavio Ataulfo de Coimbra, Rey de Asturias¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Flavio Sisebuto, conde de Coimbra¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Witiza Fl√°vio, duque de Cantabria¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·ÜíCixilo¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Liubigotona¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Suintila, rey de los visigodos¬â€ 
her father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Clodesinde¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Brunichild¬â€ 
her mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Atanagildo I, rey de los visigodos¬â€ 
her father·Üí¬â€ Amalarico I, rey de los Visigodos¬â€ 
his father¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Theodogotho¬â€ 
his mother¬â€ ·Üí¬â€ Theodoric "the Great," king of the Ostrogoths¬â€ 
her father

Theodoric
Gender: Male
Birth: 454 Lake Nieusedl, Pannonia (Present Hungary), Hun Empire
Death: August 26, 526 (72) Ravenna, Flaminia et Picenum (Present Provincia di Ravenna), Italia Annonaria (Present Emilia-Romagna), Italy
Place of Burial: Mausoleo di Teodorico, Ravenna, Provincia di Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Son of Theodomir, king of the Ostrogoths and Ereleuva, concubine of Theodimir
Husband of Amalaberge of the Franks; Theodora of the Visigoths and Audofledis of the Salian Franks
Partner of Unknown woman of Moesia
Father of Theodogotho; Ostrogotho; Flavia Amalozenta; Theodoric II, king of the Ostrogoths; Amalasuintha, Queen of Italy; Chrotechilde of the Ostrogoths; Arevagni and Theodora of the East Franks ¬´ less
Brother of Argotta of the Ostrogoths and Amalafreda "the Elder", Queen of the Vandals

https://www.geni.com/people/Theodoric-the-Great-king-of-the-Ostrogoths/6000000000495138391

Theodoric "the Great," king of the Ostrogoths is your 46th great grandfather.
You
¬â€  ·Üí Geneva Allene Welborn
your mother ·Üí Henry Loyd Smith, Sr.
her father ·Üí Edith Lucinda Smith
his mother ·Üí William M LEE, Will
her father ·Üí Britton Lee
his father ·Üí William Samuel Lee
his father ·Üí Lemuel Samuel Lee
his father ·Üí Edward Lee, Sr.
his father ·Üí Mary Lee
his mother ·Üí William Bryan, I
her father ·Üí John Smith Bryan
his father ·Üí William Bryan
his father ·Üí Sir Francis Bryan, II, Justicar of Ireland
his father ·Üí Sir Francis Bryan I "The Vicar of Hell", Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
his father ·Üí Margaret Bryan, Lady Bryan
his mother ·Üí Humphrey Bourchier, Sir
her father ·Üí John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners
his father ·Üí Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford
his mother ·Üí Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
her father ·Üí Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of England
his mother ·Üí William III, count of Holland
her father ·Üí Phillipa, countess of Luxembourg
his mother ·Üí Henry de Luxembourg, V
her father ·Üí Ermesinde de Namur, countess of Luxembourg
his mother ·Üí Henri de Namur, comte de Luxembourg
her father ·Üí Godefroid, comte de Namur
his father ·Üí Albert III, comte de Namur
his father ·Üí Albert II, comte de Namur
his father ·Üí Ermengarde
his mother ·Üí Charles de France, duc de Basse-Lotharingie
her father ·Üí Louis IV, king of West Francia
his father ·Üí Charles III "the Simple", King of the Franks
his father ᆒ Adélaïs of Paris
his mother ·Üí Adalhard, count of Paris
her father ·Üí Susanna
his mother ᆒ Alpaïs de Paris, Abbesse de St-Pierre de Reims
her mother ·Üí Theodelinde of Sens
her mother ·Üí Theidlindis de Blois
her mother ·Üí Aubrey II, count of Blois
her father ·Üí Aubrey I, count of Blois
his father ᆒ Saint Adèle of Austrasia
his mother ·Üí Dagobert II, king of Austrasia
her father ·Üí Sigebert III , king of Austrasia
his father ·Üí Dagobert I, king of the Franks
his father ·Üí Chlothar II the Young, King of the Franks
his father ᆒ Frédégonde
his mother ·Üí Chrotechilde of the Ostrogoths
her mother ·Üí Theodoric "the Great," king of the Ostrogoths
her father

The Amali, also called Amals or Amalings, were a leading dynasty of the Goths, a Germanic people who confronted the Roman Empire in its declining years in the west. They eventually became the royal house of the Ostrogoths and founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amali_dynasty

The Amali remained a prominent family as the Greuthungi evolved into the Ostrogoths, became vassals of the Huns and moved west. In 453, the Ostrogoths regained their independence under the Amali, Theodemir. According to Jordanes, "Vultuulf begat Valaravans and Valaravans begat Vinitharius. Vinitharius moreover begat Vandalarius; Vandalarius begat Theodemir and Valamir and Vidimer."[2] Theodemir's son, Theoderic the Great, founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
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 the Amali. Another Visigoth, Eutharic, reunited the branches of the family by marrying Theoderic's daughter Amalasuntha. 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.

MD's Note on picture: This mosaic in Ravenna, when discovered under plaster, was erroneously identified as being a portrait of Justinian, and currently (after restoration) carries a caption above it identifying him as Justinian. But the church was Theodoric's palace church; the mosaic bears no resemblance to other mosaics of Justinian (see another Ravenna mosaic on his Geni profile; and it umistakeably resembles the very fine gold medallion issued by Theodoric. There can be no doubt that this is Theodoric.
Ben M. Angel's summary:
Relationships:
Parents:
King Theodemir of the Ostrogoths (449-474)
Ereleuva, Concubine of Theodemir
Siblings:
1. Amalafrida (d. 523/525), Queen of the Vandals (500-523)
3. Theodimund, military leader in 479 campaign
4. Unknown daughter of Theodemir (d. c479)
Partners and Children: Spouse: Audofledis of the Salian Franks
Child: Amalasuintha (c493 - 535), Queen of Italy
Concubine: Woman of Moesia
Children:
1. Theodegotha/Thiudigotho, wife of Alaric II, King of the Visigoths
2. Ostrogotho (475/480 - before 520), wife of King Sigismund of Burgundy
No other relationships should be attached to this person without a source provided. (Note: A Theodoric I of the Visigoths does exist, who had 8 children, though these should be peeled off this Theodoric's tree by now. There were also Theodoric IIs in both the Amal and Balti families. To underscore the confusion between all the Theodorics, it should be noted that the painting given as a picture of the Ostrogoth Theodoric on the Italian Wikipedia page is actually of the Visigoth Theodoric, who died at the Battle of Chalons.)
Basic information and justifications:
Birth: 454 - Lake Nieusidl, Pannonia (based on Theodoric the Goth, by Thomas Hodgkin, with corroboration by English Wikipedia that names the Neusiedler See/Lake Neusiedl near ancient Carnuntum on the present Austrian-Hungarian border)
Death: 26 August 526 - Ravenna, Italy (no longer Roman Empire after 476)
Burial: Mausoleo di Teodorico (an entry on Find-A-Grave designates this as the Santa Maria Rotonda, but this name does not appear on either the English or Italian Wikipedia entries, and is probably not a locally used name for the mausoleum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Theodoric).
Wedding: c492 (from FMG)
No baptismal information as yet (though it appears that the Mormons have him "christened" in 510 for no readily apparent reason).
Occupation: King of the Ostrogoths (474-526), Roman Viceroy/King of Italy (493-526), Regent for Amalric of the Visigoths (507-526)
Mostly from Wikipedia. He was Roman Viceroy in Italy, but was wholly independent of rule from Constantinople, thus the King label (also, his daughter would become Queen of Italy after his death).
Alternate names: Flavius Amalus Theodericus, Theodericus, √ûiudareiks/Thiudareiks, ÕòյŒÖÕ¥Õ≠ŒÅÕπŒáÕøŒÇ/TheŒÖderichos, √ûƒìodrƒ´c/Theodric, Theoderich der Gro√üe, √ûjóðrekr/Thiodrekr, √ûi√∞rek/Thidrek, Teodorico el Grande, Th√©odoric le Grand, Teoderik den store, Theodorik de Grote, Teodorico il Grande, œ¢Å“µÅ“朥œæ–ÄÅ“âˆâ€“Ö Å“íœµÅ“ªÅ“∏œ∫œ∏œπ/Teodorikh Velikiy, among others; from FMG and Wikipedia (various languages)

From the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy page on Italy:
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ITALY,%20Kings%20to%20962.htm#TheodericKingGothsItaly
THEODORIC, son of THEODEMIR King of the Ostrogoths in Pannonia & his concubine Ereleuva --- ([451][262]-Ravenna 30 Aug 526).
Iordanes names "Theodericum" as son of Theodemir, in a later passage naming his mother "Erelieva concubina"[263]. Herimannus names "Theodericus, Theodmari filius, rex Ostrogothorum" when recording his arrival in Italy[264].
He was sent as a hostage to Constantinople at the age of 7 in [459/61], returning in [469/70] to assume control of the part of the kingdom formerly ruled by his uncle Valamir, under his father as overall king[265].
He left Pannonia with his father in [473], settling at Kyrrhos in Macedonia where his father named him as his successor in 474. However, by 476 Theodoric had moved back across the Danube and settled in lower Moesia in the city of Novae-Svištov.
While Emperor Zeno was planning to resettle his contingent in Dacia, Theodoric marched westwards to join his relative Sidimund at Durazzo[266]. He marched against Greece in 482 and forced Emperor Zeno to conclude a treaty under which Theodoric was named consul for 484 at Constantinople and given Dacia ripensis and parts of lower Moesia[267].
He acquired Roman citizenship to serve as consul, adopting the name FLAVIUS AMALUS THEODERICUS[268]. Procopius records that ·Äúduce Theoderico·Äù was "patricius" and later was appointed to the "consularem" by Byzantium[269].
In 487, he began an offensive against Constantinople, but was bought off by rich presents brought by his half-sister Amalafrida. He led the Ostrogoths on the move again in 488 into Italy, where he put King Odovacar to flight in Aug 489. Theodoric captured Verona, then Milan and Pavia, establishing his capital in the latter[270]. King Odovacar counter-attacked, but was again defeated 11 Aug 490. He compromised with Theodoric in Feb 493, agreeing to joint rule over Italy, but Theodoric captured and personally killed Odovacar after entering Ravenna[271].
He was proclaimed THEODORIC "the Great" King of Italy[272] by the Gothic army in Mar 493, with his capital at Ravenna. He was recognised as ruler in the west by Emperor Anastasius at Constantinople in 498[273]. Relations with the Franks, cemented by King Theodoric's marriage in [492], deteriorated somewhat in [506] when the Franks persecuted the Alamanni who were under Theodoric's protection[274]. However, despite the close family ties with the Visigothic kingdom after his daughter's marriage with the Visigothic king, King Theodoric was unable or unwilling to provide the necessary military support for his son-in-law against the Franks at the battle of the Vouillé in 507[275].
King Theodoric acted nominally as regent in the kingdom of the Visigoths 507-526 during the minority of his grandson Amalric King of the Visigoths, but declared himself king of the Visigothic kingdom in 511, although he appointed his sword-bearer Teudis (who later succeeded as king of the Visigoths) as governor[276]. He annexed the Visigothic territory between the Alps and the Rhône to the kingdom of Italy, and re-established the Gallic prefecture at Arles in 510[277].
The Marii Episcopi Aventicensis Chronica records the death in 526 of "Theudoricus rex Gothorum in urbe Ravenna"[278]. He died from dysentery[279].
m ([492]) AUDOFLEDIS, daughter of CHILDERIC I King of the Franks & his wife Basina ---.
Gregory of Tours names Audofleda as the sister of King Clovis, recording that she married Theodoric King of Italy[280]. Iordanes records the marriage of Theodoric and "Lodoin Francorum regem filiam eius Audefledam" and names her brothers "Celdebertum et Heldebertum et Thiudebertum"[281], although this is presumably an incorrect reference to her nephews and great-nephew with similar names.
Concubine: ---.
Iordanes records that Theodoric's two daughters were born "ex concubinaဦin Moesia" before his marriage to Audofledis[282]. The name of the concubine of Theodoric is not known.
King Theodoric & his wife had one daughter:
1. AMALASUINTHA [Amalswinde] ([493]-murdered [30 Apr] 535).
Iordanes names "Amalasuentham" as daughter of Theodoric[283]. Gregory of Tours records that King Theodoric left his wife Audofleda "with a small daughterဦAmalasuntha" when he died[284], although this appears misleading with regard to her age bearing in mind the chronology of events established in other sources. In a passage which appears to be a complete fabrication, Gregory records that Amalasuntha eloped with one of her slaves, Traguilla, who was later killed by her mother's emissaries who brought Amalasuntha back after "a good beating". Gregory then recounts that she murdered her mother by poisoning her communion chalice, but was herself killed by "Theudat King of Tuscany" whom the people had called to rule over them[285]. This story may have been Gregory's way of justifying King Theodebert's subsequent attack on Italy, the account of which follows in the succeeding paragraph. She was regent in Italy for her son in 526. Procopius records that လex filia nepos Atalaricusဝ succeeded on the death of "Theoderico" under the rule of "Amalasuntha matre"[286]. She renounced the territory north of the River Durance in favour of the Burgundians in 530 in the name of her son[287]. On the death of her son in 534, she declared herself AMALASUINTHA Queen of Italy, appointing her cousin Theodahad as co-regent. Theodahad arrested her end-534 and imprisoned her on an island in Lake Bolsena, where "after spending a very few days in sorrow, she was strangled in the bath by his hirelings" according to Jordanes[288].
m (515) EUTHARICH [Eutarico], son of VETERIC & his wife --- (-[522/23]). Iordanes names "Eutharicum" as son of "Vetericus" and as husband of "Amalasuentham" and father of their two children[289]. The Chronicle of Cassiodorus records the marriage in 515 of "Theodericus filiam usam dominam Amalasuintam" and "gloriosi viri dn Eutharici"[290]. Eutharic was adopted by Emperor Justin in recognition of his father-in-law's decision to designate him as his successor after his marriage. He was given Roman citizenship and became first consul in 519 as FLAVIUS EUTHARICUS CILLIGA[291]. Wolfram estimates that Eutharich died in [522/23][292]. Jordanes specifies that Eutharich predeceased King Theodoric's nomination of his son Athalaric as his successor.
Eutharic & Amalasuintha had two children.
King Theodoric had two illegitimate daughters by his concubine:
2. THEODEGOTHA [Thiudigotho].
Iordanes names "unamဦThiudigoto et aliam Ostrogotho" as the two daughters of Theodoric born "ex concubinaဦin Moesia" before his marriage to Audofledis, specifying that they came to Italy and were married "unam Alarico Vesegotharum et aliam Sigismundo Burgundzonorum"[300]. Procopius records that လregi Visigothorum Alaricoဝ married "TheodericiဦTheudichusam virginem filiam"[301].
m ([494][302]) ALARIC II King of the Visigoths, son of EURIC King of the Visigoths & his wife --- (-killed in battle Poitiers 507).
3. OSTROGOTHO ([475/80]-before [520]).
Iordanes names "unamဦThiudigoto et aliam Ostrogotho" as the two daughters of Theodoric born "ex concubinaဦin Moesia" before his marriage to Audofledis, specifying that they came to Italy and were married "unam Alarico Vesegotharum et aliam Sigismundo Burgundzonorum"[303]. Her father arranged her marriage as part of his negotiations for an alliance with the Burgundians. According to Settipani[304], this marriage took place soon after Theoderic arrived in Italy. Wolfram suggests[305] that Theodoric's alliance with the Burgundians was settled in 496.
m ([494/96]) as his first wife, SIGISMUND of Burgundy, son of GONDEBAUD King of Burgundy & his wife Caratena (-murdered 523, bur Agaune). He succeeded his father in 516 as SIGISMUND King of Burgundy.
References:
[262] Wolfram, H. (1998) History Of The Goths (Berkeley, California), p. 262. [263] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, pp. 77 and 128. [264] Herimanni Augiensis Chronicon 482, MHG SS V, p. 84. [265] Wolfram (1998), p. 267. According to Settipani, C. and Kerrebrouck, P. van (1993) La préhistoire des Capétiens 481-987, 1ère partie, Mérovingiens, Carolingiens et Robertiens (Villeneuve d'Ascq), p. 52, Theoderic returned in [475]. [266] Wolfram (1998), pp. 270-4. [267] Wolfram (1998), p. 277. [268] Wolfram (1998), pp. 277 and 286. [269] Procopius, Vol. II, De Bello Gothico I.1, p. 7. [270] Wolfram (1998), p. 289. [271] Wolfram (1998), pp. 281-3. [272] His title was Flavius Theodericus rex, rather than rex Gothorum, see Wolfram (1998), p. 286. [273] Wolfram (1998), p. 284. [274] Wolfram (1998), p. 314. [275] Wolfram (1998), p. 309. [276] Wolfram (1998), p. 245. [277] Wolfram (1998), p. 309. [278] Marii Episcopi Aventicensis Chronica 526, MGH Auct. ant. XI, p. 235. [279] Wolfram (1998), p. 331. [280] Gregory of Tours III.31, p. 187. [281] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 131. [282] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 131. [283] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 77. [284] Gregory of Tours III.31, p. 187. [285] Gregory of Tours III.31, pp. 187-8. [286] Procopius, Vol. II, De Bello Gothico I.2, p. 12. [287] Wolfram (1998), p. 312. [288] Jordanes, LIX, p. 51. [289] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 77 and 123. [290] Cassiodori Senatoris Chronica 515, MGH Auct. ant. XI, p. 159. [291] Wolfram (1998), p. 328. [292] Wolfram (1998), p. 521 footnote 490.. [300] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 131. [301] Procopius, Vol. II, De Bello Gothico I.12, p. 65. [302] Date estimated on the basis of the marriage taking place soon after King Theoderic came to Italy, which is suggested by Iordanes. [303] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 131. [304] Settipani (1993), p. 61, footnote 97. [305] Wolfram (1998), p. 311.
-------------------------------------------------------------
English Wikipedia page on Theodoric the Great:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodoric_the_Great
(Italian Wikipedia page: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodorico_il_Grande )
Theodoric the Great (Gothic: √ûiudareiks; Latin: FlƒÅvius Theodericus; Greek: ÕòյŒÖÕ¥Õ≠ŒÅÕπŒáÕøŒÇ, (TheŒÖ'√∞erichos, [Õ∏…õuà√∞…õrixos]); Old English: √ûƒìodrƒ´c; German: Theoderich der Gro√üe; Old Norse: √ûjóðrekr, √ûi√∞rek; 454 ·Äì August 30, 526), was king of the Ostrogoths (471-526),[1] ruler of Italy (493·Äì526), regent of the Visigoths (511·Äì526), and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire.
His Gothic name "√ûiuda reiks" translates into "people's king". He became a hero of Germanic legend.
Youth
The man who ruled under the name of Theodoric was born in 454 AD on the banks of the Neusiedler See near Carnuntum, a year after the Ostrogoths had thrown off nearly a century of domination by the Huns. The son of the King Theodemir and Erelieva, Theodoric went to Constantinople as a young boy, as a hostage to secure the Ostrogoths' compliance with a treaty Theodemir had concluded with the Byzantine Emperor Leo.
He lived at the court of Constantinople for many years and learned a great deal about Roman government and military tactics, which served him well when he became the Gothic ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized "barbarian people". Treated with favor by the Emperors Leo I and Zeno, he became magister militum (Master of Soldiers) in 483, and one year later he became consul. Afterwards, he returned to live among the Ostrogoths when he was 31 years old and became their king in 488.
Reign
Maximum extent of territories ruled by Theodoric, in 523.At the time, the Ostrogoths were settled in Byzantine territory as foederati (allies) of the Romans, but were becoming restless and increasingly difficult for Zeno to manage. Not long after Theodoric became king, the two men worked out an arrangement beneficial to both sides. The Ostrogoths needed a place to live, and Zeno was having serious problems with Odoacer, the King of Italy who had overthrown the Western Roman Empire in 476. Ostensibly a viceroy for Zeno, Odoacer was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights of Roman citizens in Italy. At Zeno's encouragement, Theodoric invaded Odoacer's kingdom.
Theodoric came with his army to Italy in 488, where he won the battles of Isonzo and Verona in 489 and at the Adda in 490. In 493 he took Ravenna. On February 2, 493, Theodoric and Odoacer signed a treaty that assured both parties would rule over Italy. A banquet was organised in order to celebrate this treaty. It was at this banquet that Theodoric, after making a toast, killed Odoacer with his own hands.
Like Odoacer, Theodoric was ostensibly only a viceroy for the emperor in Constantinople. In reality, he was able to avoid imperial supervision, and dealings between the emperor and Theodoric were as equals. Unlike Odoacer, however, Theodoric respected the agreement he had made and allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman judicial system. The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs. In 519, when a mob had burned down the synagogues of Ravenna, Theodoric ordered the town to rebuild them at its own expense.
Theodoric the Great sought alliances with, or hegemony over, the other Germanic kingdoms in the west. He allied with the Franks by his marriage to Audofleda, sister of Clovis I, and married his own female relatives to princes or kings of the Visigoths, Vandals and Burgundian. He stopped the Vandals from raiding his territories by threatening the weak Vandal king Thrasamund with invasion, and sent a guard of 5,000 troops with his sister Amalafrida when she married Thrasamund in 500. For much of his reign, Theodoric was the de facto king of the Visigoths as well, becoming regent for the infant Visigothic king, his grandson Amalric, following the defeat of Alaric II by the Franks under Clovis in 507. The Franks were able to wrest control of Aquitaine from the Visigoths, but otherwise Theodoric was able to defeat their incursions.
Thedoric's achievements began to unravel even before his death. He had married his daughter Amalasuntha to the Visigoth Eutharic, but Eutharic died in 522 or 523, so no lasting dynastic connection of Ostrogoths and Visigoths was established. In 522, the Catholic Burgundian king Sigismund killed his own son, Theodoric's grandson, Sergeric. Theodoric retaliated by invading the Burgundian kingdom and then annexing its southern part, probably in 523. The rest was ruled by Sigismund's Arian brother Godomar, under Gothic protection against the Franks who had captured Sigismund. This brought the territory ruled by Theodoric to its height (see map), but in 523 or 524 the new Catholic Vandal king Hilderic imprisoned Amalfrida and killed her Gothic guard. Theodoric was planning an expedition to restore his power over the Vandal kingdom when he died in 526.
Family and Issue
Theodoric was married once.
He had a concubine in Moesia, name unknown, and had two daughters:
1. Theodegotha (ca. 473 ·Äì ?). In 494, she was married to Alaric II as a part of her father's alliance with the Visigoths.
2. Ostrogotha or Arevagni (ca. 475 ·Äì ?). In 494 or 496, she was married to the king Sigismund of Burgundy as a part of her father's alliance with the Burgundians.
Married to Audofleda in 493 and had one daughter:
2a. Amalasuntha, Queen of the Goths. She was married to Eutharic and had two children: Athalaric and Matasuentha (the latter being married to Witiges first, then, after Witiges' death, married to Germanus Justinus, neither had children). Any hope for a reconciliation between the Goths and the Romans in the person of a Gotho-Roman Emperor from this family lineage was shattered.
After his death in Ravenna in 526, Theodoric was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric. Athalaric was at first represented by his mother Amalasuntha, who was a regent queen from 526 until 534. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, however, began to wane and was conquered by Justinian I starting after the rebellion of 535 and finally ending in 553 with the Battle of Mons Lactarius.
Legend
Dietrich catches the dwarf Alfrich (1883), by Johannes Gehrts.Theodoric was included into epic poetry as Dietrich von Bern, who is depicted as the archetype of the wise and just ruler. The Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) noted that "the legendary history of Dietrich differs so widely from the life of Theodoric that it has been suggested that the two were originally unconnected." Anachronisms abound, for example in making Ermanaric (died 376) and Attila (died 453) contemporary with Theodoric (born 454). Bern is the Middle High German form of Verona, which was one of the historical Theodoric's residences.
Dietrich figures in a number of surviving works, and it must be assumed that these draw on long-standing oral tradition. He first appears in the Hildebrandslied and the Nibelungenlied, in neither of which is Dietrich a central character, and other epics, which were composed or written down after 1250. In Scandinavia he appears on the Rök Stone, carved in Sweden in the 800s, in Gu√∞r√∫narkvi√∞a II and III of the Poetic Edda and in √ûi√∞rekssaga. He moreover appears in the Old English Waldere, Deor and Widsith poems.
The earliest evidence of the legend is provided by the heroic lay, the Hildebrandslied, recorded in around 820. In this, Hadubrand recounts the story of his father Hildebrand's flight eastwards in the company of Dietrich, to escape the enmity of Odoacer (this character would later become his uncle Ermanaric). Hildebrand reveals that he has lived in exile for 30 years. Hildebrand has an arm ring given to him by the (unnamed) King of the Huns, and is taken to be an "old Hun" by Hadubrand. The obliqueness of the references to the Dietrich legend, which is just the background to Hildebrand's story, indicates an audience thoroughly familiar with the material. In this work Dietrich's enemy is the historically correct Odoacer (though in fact Theodoric the Great was never exiled by Odoacer), indicating that the figure of Ermaneric belongs to a later development of the legend.
In the heroic epic the Nibelungenlied (c. 1200), Dietrich is living in exile at the court of Etzel (Attila), the Hunnish King. He fights on Etzel's side against the Burgundians, and his whole retinue apart from Hildebrand is slain. He ends the conflict by capturing Hagen and then Gunther in single combat.
The Norse saga deals with Dietrich's return home. The most familiar version is that by an Icelandic or Norwegian author writing in Norway in the 13th century, who compiled a consecutive account of Dietrich, with many additional episodes. This Norse prose version, known as the √ûi√∞rekssaga (Thidrek's saga), incorporates much extraneous matter from the Nibelungen and Weyland legends.
The late Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg reinspected the Old Swedish version of the Thidreks saga for the historical information it supposedly contained, and firmly believed in its topographical accuracy. He theorized that these oldest of the "Dietrich" sources cannot refer to Theodoric the Great of the Goths, whose movements are moderately well known, mainly because of topographical contradictions. Ritter-Schaumburg proposed that their narration relates instead to a contemporary of the famous Goth, who bore the same name, rendered Didrik in Old Swedish. Moreover, he identified Berne as Bonn to which was ascribed, in the medieval age, an alternative (Latinized) name Verona of unknown origin. According to Ritter-Schaumburg, Dietrich lived as a Frankish petty king in Bonn.[2] This theory has found much opposition by other scholars.[3]
Another modern author, Rolf Badenhausen, starts from Ritter-Schaumburg's approach but ends up with a different result. He claims Berne, where Thidrek/Didrik started his rise, to be identical with Varne, south of Aachen, the Roman Verona cisalpina, in the district of the northern Rhine/Eiffel lands. Thidrek/Didrik could be identified with Theuderich son of Clovis I, a royal Frank mentioned with approval by Gregory of Tours and in Fredegar's royal Frankish chronicle.
In the Book of Bern (Buch von Bern) written in the late 13th century partly by Henry the Fowler, Dietrich tries to regain his empire with the help of the Huns.
In the collection of the Heldenbuch ("Book of Heroes"), Dietrich's story is related in Dietrichs Flucht ("Dietrich's Flight"), the Rabenschlacht ("The Battle of Ravenna") and Alpharts Tod ("Alphart's Death")
The legendary figure of Dietrich also appears in the 13th-century Rosengarten zu Worms ("Rosegarden at Worms"), the Epos of Biterolf, of Goldemar, of Ecke, Sigenot and Laurin.
An impressively researched, though fictionalized, version of Theodoric's career is presented in Raptor, a novel by Gary Jennings.
Notes
1.^ Grun, Bernard (1991) [1946]. The Timetable of History (New Third Revised Edition ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 30·Äì31. ISBN 0-671-74271-X. 2.^ Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg: Dietrich von Bern. König zu Bonn. Herbig: Munich / Berlin 1982 3.^ See, for example, the critical review by Henry Kratz, in The German Quarterly 56/4 (November 1983), p. 636-638.
References
Peter Heather, 1996, "The Goths" (Blackwell, Oxford) O'Donnell, James J. 1979, Cassiodorus. (University of California Press) [1] Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911: "Dietrich of Bern" Rolf Badenhausen, "Merovingians by the Svava?": discussion based on the Skokloster Svava, Stockholm catalogued as Skokloster-Codex-I/115&116 quarto, E 9013. John Moorhead, 1992. Theoderic in Italy (Oxford: Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-814781-3. Theodoric the Great at MiddleAges.net Theodoric the Goth, 1897, by Thomas Hodgkin, from Project Gutenberg Theodoric the Great at the Catholic Encyclopedia FMG on Theodoric the Great, King of Italy
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The following passages, from Jordanes, Gaetica [The Origin and Deeds of the Goths], translated by Charles C. Mierow (Princeton Univ. Press, 1915) describes the family relationships of King Theodoric.
(Ben M. Angel notes: Gaetica, about as close as you'll come to primary source material on Theodoric and the Ostrogoths, is available online at:
http://www.boudicca.de/jordanes4-e.htm ) https://archive.org/stream/gothichistoryofj00jorduoft/gothichistoryofj00jorduoft_djvu.txt
The Origin and Deeds of the Goths
It was in the third year after his entrance into Italy, as we have said, that Theodoric, by advice of the Emperor Zeno, laid aside the garb of a private citizen and the dress of his race and assumed a costume with a royal mantle, as he had now become the ruler over both Goths and Romans. He sent an embassy to Lodoin, king of the Franks, and asked for his daughter Audefleda in marriage.
(296) Lodoin freely and gladly gave her, and also his sons Celdebert and Heldebert and Thiudebert, believing that by this alliance a league would be formed and that they would be associated with the race of the Goths. But that union was of no avail for peace and harmony, for they fought fiercely with each other again and again for the lands of the Goths; but never did the Goths yield to the Franks while Theodoric lived.
LVIII
(297) Now before he had a child from Audefleda, Theodoric had children of a concubine, daughters begotten in Moesia, one named Thiudigoto and another Ostrogotho. Soon after he came to Italy, he gave them in marriage to neighboring kings, one to Alaric, king of the Visigoths, and the other to Sigismund, king of the Burgundians.
(298) Now Alaric begat Amalaric. While his grandfather Theodoric cared for and protected him--for he had lost both parents in the years of childhood--he found that Eutharic, the son of Veteric, grandchild of Beremud and Thorismud, and a descendant of the race of the Amali, was living in Spain, a young man strong in wisdom and valor and health of body. Theodoric sent for him and gave him his daughter Amalasuentha in marriage.
(299) And that he might extend his family as much as possible, he sent his sister Amalafrida (the mother of Theodahad, who was afterwards king) to Africa as wife of Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, and her daughter Amalaberga, who was his own niece, he united with Herminefred, king of the Thuringians.
(300) Now he sent his Count Pitza, chosen from among the chief men of his kingdom, to hold the city of Sirmium. He got possession of it by driving out its king Thrasaric, son of Thraustila, and keeping his mother captive. Thence he came with 2,000 infantry and 500 horsemen to aid Mundo against Sabinian, Master of the Soldiery of Illyricum, who at that time had made ready to fight with Mundo near the city named Margoplanum, which lies between the Danube and Margus rivers, and destroyed the Army of Illyricum.
(301) For this Mundo, who traced his descent from the Attilani of old, had put to flight the tribe of the Gepidae and was roaming beyond the Danube in waste places where no man tilled the soil. He had gathered around him many outlaws and ruffians and robbers from all sides and had seized a tower called Herta, situated on the bank of the Danube. There he plundered his neighbors in wild license and made himself king over his vagabonds. Now Pitza came upon him when he was nearly reduced to desperation and was already thinking of surrender. So he rescued him from the hands of Sabinian and made him a grateful subject of his king Theodoric.
(302) Theodoric won an equally great victory over the Franks through his Count Ibba in Gaul, when more than thirty thousand Franks were slain in battle. Moreover, after the death of his son-in-law Alaric, Theodoric appointed Thiudis, his armor-bearer, guardian of his grandson Amalaric in Spain. But Amalaric was ensnared by the plots of the Franks in early youth and lost at once his kingdom and his life. Then his guardian Thiudis, advancing from the same kingdom, assailed the Franks and delivered the Spaniards from their disgraceful treachery. So long as he lived he kept the Visigoths united.
(303) After him Thiudigisclus obtained the kingdom and, ruling but a short time, met his death at the hands of his own followers. He was succeeded by Agil, who holds the kingdom to the present day. Athanagild has rebelled against him and is even now provoking the might of the Roman Empire. So Liberius the Patrician is on the way with an army to oppose him. Now there was not a tribe in the west that did not serve Theodoric while he lived, either in friendship or by conquest.
LIX
(304) When he had reached old age and knew that he should soon depart this life, he called together the Gothic counts and chieftains of his race and appointed Athalaric as king. He was a boy scarce 10 years old, the son of his daughter Amalasuentha, and he had lost his father Eutharic. As though uttering his last will and testament Theodoric adjured and commanded them to honor their king, to love the Senate and Roman People and to make sure of the peace and good will of the Emperor of the East, as next after God.
(305) They kept this command fully so long as Athalaric their king and his mother lived, and ruled in peace for almost eight years. But as the Franks put no confidence in the rule of a child and furthermore held him in contempt, and were also plotting war, he gave back to them those parts of Gaul which his father and grandfather had seized. He possessed all the rest in peace and quiet. Therefore when Athalaric was approaching the age of manhood, he entrusted to the Emperor of the East both his own youth and his mother's widowhood. But in a short time the ill-fated boy was carried off by an untimely death and departed from earthly affairs.
(306) His mother feared she might be despised by the Goths on account of the weakness of her sex. So after much thought she decided, for the sake of relationship, to summon her cousin Theodahad from Tuscany, where he led a retired life at home, and thus she established him on the throne. But he was unmindful of their kinship and, after a little time, had her taken from the palace at Ravenna to an island of the Bulsinian lake where he kept her in exile. After spending a very few days there in sorrow, she was strangled in the bath by his hirelings.
LX
(307) When Justinian, the Emperor of the East, heard this, he was aroused as if he had suffered personal injury in the death of his wards. Now at that time he had won a triumph over the Vandals in Africa, through his most faithful Patrician Belisarius. Without delay he sent his army under this leader against the Goths at the very time when his arms were yet dripping with the blood of the Vandals.
(308) This sagacious general believed he could not overcome the Gothic nation, unless he should first seize Sicily, their nursing-mother. Accordingly he did so. As soon as he entered Trinacria, the Goths, who were besieging the town of Syracuse, found that they were not succeeding and surrendered of their own accord to Belisarius, with their leader Sinderith. When the Roman general reached Sicily, Theodahad sought out Evermud, his son-in-law, and sent him with an army to guard the strait which lies between Campania and Sicily and sweeps from a bend of the Tyrrhenian Sea into the vast tide of the Adriatic.
(309) When Evermud arrived, he pitched his camp by the town of Rhegium. He soon saw that his side was the weaker. Coming over with a few close and faithful followers to the side of the victor and willingly casting himself at the feet of Belisarius, he decided to serve the rulers of the Roman Empire. When the army of the Goths perceived this, they distrusted Theodahad and clamored for his expulsion from the kingdom and for the appointment as king of their leader Vitiges, who had been his armor bearer.
(310) This was done; and presently Vitiges was raised to the office of king on the Barbarian Plains. He entered Rome and sent on to Ravenna the men most faithful to him to demand the death of Theodahad. They came and executed his command. After King Theodahad was slain, a messenger came from the king--for he was already king in the Barbarian Plains--to proclaim Vitiges to the people.

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