
The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...
on behalf of their
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the
Kingdom of the Lombards
The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...
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
Agilulf, a semi-legendary prince of the
Suebi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own name ...
and descendant of
Hermeric, the 5th-century Suevic king of
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
, possibly identical with one Agilulf, a steward of the
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...
king
Theoderic II
Theodoric II, ''Teodorico'' in Spanish and Portuguese, ( 426 – early 466) was the eighth King of the Visigoths, from 453 to 466.
Biography
Theoderic II, son of Theodoric I, obtained the throne by killing his elder brother Thorismund. The Engli ...
, who was executed in 457.
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,
[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.] 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
Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I.
Chlothar's father, Clovis I, divided the kingd ...
was annulled on grounds of
consanguinity
Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor).
Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...
.
As they had their fate intertwined with the Merovingian dynasty, they opposed the rise of the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...
mayors of the palace, who finally deprived the Agilolfings of their power.
Rulers of Bavaria
*
Garibald I, Duke of Bavaria 548–591
*
Tassilo I, King of Bavaria 591–610
*
Garibald II, Duke of Bavaria 610–630
*
Theodo, Duke of Bavaria 680–716
*
Lantpert, son of Theodo, murderer of
Emmeram of Regensburg
*
Uta
Uta or UTA may refer to:
Universities
*University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States
*University of Tarapacá, in Chile
*University of Tampere, in Finland
Sports
* FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad
* A c ...
, daughter of Theodo
*
Theodbert, son of Theodo, Duke in
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
ca. 702–719
*
Theobald Theobald is a Germanic name, Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements ''theodiscus, theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Norman Conquest, Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, incl ...
, son of Theodo, Duke of parts of Bavaria ca. 711–719
*
Tassilo II, son of Theodo, Duke in
Passau ca. 716–719
*
Grimoald, son of Theodo, Duke in
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
ca. 716–725, later ruling all of Bavaria
*
Hugbert, son of Theudbert, Duke of Bavaria 725–737
*
Odilo, son of
Gotfried of Allemania, Duke of Bavaria 737–748
*
Grifo, 748 (half-Carolingian usurper)
*
Tassilo III, son of Odilo, Duke of Bavaria 748–788, deposed by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...
*
Theodo, son of Tassilo III, became a monk
Rulers of Italy
*
Gundoald, Duke of Asti, son of Garibald I
*
Theodelinda, daughter of
Garibald I of Bavaria, Queen of the Lombards
*
Adaloald, son of Theodelinda and
Agilulf, King of the Lombards 616 to 626
*
Gundeberga, daughter of
Agilulf and Theodelinda, married King
Arioald
*
Aripert I
Aripert I (also spelled ''Aribert'') was king of the Lombards (653–661) in Italy. He was the son of Gundoald, Duke of Asti, who had crossed the Alps from Bavaria with his sister Theodelinda. As a relative of the Bavarian ducal house, his was ...
, son of Gundoald, King of the Lombards 653–661
*
Godepert, eldest son of Aripert, King of the Lombards 661–662 jointly with
*
Berthari, younger son of Aripert, King of the Lombards 661–662 and 672–688
*
Cunincpert, son of Berthari, King of the Lombards 688–700
*
Liutpert, son of Cunincpert, King of the Lombards 700–701
*
Raginpert, son of Godepert, King of the Lombards 701
*
Aripert II, son of Raginpert, King of the Lombards 701–712
At the Austrasian court
*Chrodoald, nobleman at the court of
Dagobert I
Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dy ...
, killed in 624
*Fara, opponent to
Sigebert III
Sigebert III ( 630–656) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 633 to his death around 656. He was described as the first Merovingian '' roi fainéant'' —do-nothing king—, in effect the mayor of the palace ruling the kingdom throug ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Biographies of some AgilolfingiansTentative Genealogy of Early Agilolfings, according to Jörg Jarnut
{{Authority control
Duchy of Bavaria
Lombard families
Merovingian period
Baiuvarii