 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
TheAmali – also calledAmals,Amalings orAmalungs – were a leading dynasty of theGoths, aGermanic people who confronted theRoman Empire during thedecline of the Western Roman Empire.[1] They eventually became the royal house of theOstrogoths and founded theOstrogothic Kingdom.[2]
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 andErmanaric.[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. Hulmul or Humli-Hulmul, is considered the divine father of theDanish people.[3]Ermanaric (also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as aGreuthungian king who ruled territories in modernUkraine. Ermanaric signals the tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record.[3]
The origins of the Amal Dynasty is unclear. Until the mid-20th century there was a tendency to see the Tervingi and Greuthungi mentioned byAmmianus Marcellinus as having evolved into theVisigoths and Ostrogoths, respectively. The Greuthungi had become vassals of theHuns, and were considered to have regained their independence under the AmaliTheodemir, father ofTheoderic 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 Visigoths.Sigeric, a brief usurper to the Visigothic throne in 415, may have been a member of the Amali. The VisigothicEutharic married Theoderic's daughterAmalasuntha, and is said to have been an Amal byCassiodorus and Jordanes; however, it is more likely that this was a fictitious claim designed to bolsterAthalaric'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 ofTheodahad.
In theNibelungenlied and some other medieval German epic poems, the followers ofDietrich von Bern are referred to as 'Amelungen'. In other cases, Amelung is reinterpreted as the name of one of Dietrich's ancestors. TheKaiserchronik also refers to Dietrich/Theoderic's family as the 'Amelungen', and in a letter of bishop Meinhard von Bamberg, as well as theAnnals of Quedlinburg, 'Amulungum'/'Amelung' ("the Amelung") is used to refer to Dietrich himself. This shows that the family's legacy was remembered inoral tradition far into the Middle Ages, long after any stories about Amal himself had ceased to circulate.
Jordanes, possibly drawing uponCassiodorus'Origo Gothica, describes the Goths moving to theBlack Sea, where they split into two factions, the Amali, who would later become the Ostrogoths, and theBalthi, who become the Visigoths. Both the Amali and the Balthi are recalled as families of "kings and heroes."[3] 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, likeTheodoric's daughters,Ostrogotho andAmalasuintha, and his sister,Amalafrida, who were all given Amal names.[3]
At least two prominent noble families claimed descent from Amali: theBillungs, Dukes of Saxony, also known as the Amelungs or von Ömlingen, and the Solovjovs, Barons of theRussian Empire from 1727 (in German sources, known as the von Solowhoff or Solowhoff von Greutungen). The Solovjovs specifically claimed Ermanaric as their ancestor.
ViaAmerigo Vespucci (the Italian version of "Amalaric," or "Amal ruler"), the Amali were the ultimate namesakes of the Americas.
| Ermanaric king of Goths | HOUSE OF AMAL | Sigeric king of Visigoths | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thiudimir | Theodemir king of Ostrogoths ∞Ereleuva | (daughter) ∞Valamir king of Ostrogoths | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amalafrida ∞ 1.(unknown) 2.Thrasamund king ofVandals | Theoderic the Great king of Ostrogoths, Visigoths | Audofleda | Clovis 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
