Aioulf or Ag(r)iwulf (died June 457) was an obscure

king of Galicia Galicia is an autonomous community and historical nationality in modern-day northwestern Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, which was a major part of the Roman province known as Gallaecia prior to 409. It consists of the provinces of A Coruña, ...

from 456. In 448, after eight years in captivity, the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

ambassador

Censorius Censorius (died 448) was a count (''comes'') of the Western Roman Empire from 432 until his death. He is mentioned in the ''Chronicle'' of Hydatius under the years 432 and 440. In 432, 437, and 440 he was sent into Hispania as an ambassador to th ...

was executed by one Agiulf at

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

(''Hispalis''). This Agiulf has sometimes been identified with Aioulf.Thompson, "The Suevic Kingdom of Galicia," 298 n40. According to the local and contemporary chronicler

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius (c. 400 – c. 469) was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), he ...

, after the sack of

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

and the execution of

Rechiar Rechiar or Flavius Rechiarius (after 415 – December 456) was the third Suevic king of Gallaecia, from 448 until his death, and also the first one to be born in Gallaecia. He was one of the most innovative and belligerent of the Suevi monarch ...

, the previous

Suevi 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 names ...

c king, by the

Visigoths 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 ...

, the Gothic king,

Theodoric 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 Eng ...

, led his army south into Lusitania while one of his commanders, Aioulf, deserted him and remained behind in Galicia hoping to make himself king of the Sueves there.Thompson, "The Suevic Kingdom of Galicia," 168. However, the later,

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

n historian

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...

records that Aioulf was a

Warni The Varini, Warni or Warini were one or more Germanic peoples who originally lived in what is now northeastern Germany, near the Baltic sea. They are first named in the Roman era, and appear to have survived into the Middle Ages. It is proposed ...

c ''cliens'' (retainer) of Theodoric appointed by the king to administer the Suevi and who, being provoked by the Suevi themselves, sought to make himself king but was defeated by Theodoric's army in the first engagement, captured, and executed. According to

E. A. Thompson Edward Arthur Thompson (22 May 1914 – 1 January 1994) was an Irish-born British Marxist historian of classics and medieval studies. He was professor and director of the classics department at the University of Nottingham from 1948 to 197 ...

, Jordanes is less reliable than Hydatius for three reasons: he lived further away both in time and space from events in Galicia, his record for accuracy is less reputable, and his bias for the Goths led him to make the disloyal Aioulf a Warni and to involve the Suevi themselves in the act of betraying Theodoric. More significantly, however, Jordanes mentions the Suevic bishops being greeted by Theodoric "with the reverence due to episcopal rank (''pontificali reverentia'')", an anachronism considering the Suevi were pagans in 457.Thompson, "The Suevic Kingdom of Galicia," 169. After Aioulf, the Suevi chose

Remismund Remismund (or Rimismund) (died 469) was the Suevic king of Galicia from c. 464 until his death. According to Isidore of Seville, Remismund was a son of Maldras. Remismund's early career was spent as an ambassador between Galicia and Gaul, which t ...

to be their king and he was accepted by Theodoric.

Sources

*Thompson, E. A. "The Conversion of the Spanish Suevi to Catholicism." ''Visigothic Spain: New Approaches''. ed.

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherit ...

. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. . *Thompson, E. A
"The End of Roman Spain: Part II."
''Nottingham Mediaeval Studies'', xxi (1977), pp. 3–31. Reprinted as "The Suevic Kingdom of Galicia" in ''Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western Empire''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. pp. 161–187. .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aioulf 457 deaths 5th-century Suebian kings Year of birth unknown Executed monarchs Warini