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

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

, a

Germanic people The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

who confronted the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

during the decline of the Western Roman Empire. They eventually became the royal house of the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

and founded the

Ostrogothic Kingdom The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), was a barbarian kingdom established by the Germanic Ostrogoths that controlled Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas between 493 and 553. Led by Theodoric the Great, the Ost ...

Origin

The Amal clan was claimed to have descended from the divine.

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

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 Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of ...
.

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: Gapt or Gaut is the Scandinavian god of war. Hulmul or Humli-Hulmul, is considered the divine father of the

Danish people Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

Ermanaric Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of ...

(also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as a

Greuthungi The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Goths, Gothic people who lived on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe between the Dniester River, Dniester and Don river, Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. T ...

an king who ruled territories in modern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Ermanaric signals the tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record.

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

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

as having evolved into the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

and Ostrogoths, respectively. The Greuthungi had become vassals of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, and were considered to have regained their independence under the Amali Theodemir, father of

Theoderic the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

. 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. 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 Visigothic

Eutharic Eutharic Cilliga (Latin: ''Eutharicus Cillica'') was an Ostrogothic prince from Iberia who, during the early 6th century, served as Roman Consul and "son in weapons" (''filius per arma'') alongside the Byzantine emperor Justin I. He was the son-in- ...

married Theoderic's daughter Amalasuntha, and is said to have been an Amal by

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...

and Jordanes; however, it is more likely that this was a fictitious claim designed to bolster Athalaric's legitimacy.Gerda Heydemann, "The Ostrogothic Kingdom: Ideologies and Transitions" in J. Arnold and K. Sessa (eds), ''A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy'' (Leiden, 2016), p. 30. 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

, 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 *

, King of the Ostrogoths, 475–526 * Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths, 526–534 *

Amalasuintha Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 535) was a ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. Initially serving as regent for her son Athalaric, she became queen regnant after his premature death. Highly educated, Amalasuintha was praised by both ...

, Queen Regnant of the Ostrogoths, 534–535 * Theodahad, King of the Ostrogoths, 534–536 *

Theudigisel Theudigisel (or Theudegisel) (in Latin language, Latin ''Theudigisclus'' and in Spanish language, Spanish, Galician language, Galician and Portuguese language, Portuguese ''Teudiselo'', ''Teudigiselo'', or ''Teudisclo''), ( 500 – December 549) w ...

, King of the Visigoths, 548–549

In literature

In the '' Nibelungenlied'' and some other medieval German epic poems, the followers of

Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodor ...

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 Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

far into the Middle Ages, long after any stories about Amal himself had ceased to circulate. Jordanes, possibly drawing upon

' ''Origo Gothica'', describes the Goths moving to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, where they split into two factions, the Amali, who would later become the Ostrogoths, and the Balthi, who become the Visigoths. Both the Amali and the Balthi are recalled as families of "kings and heroes." 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, like Theodoric's daughters, Ostrogotho and

, and his sister, Amalafrida, who were all given Amal names.

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 The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

from 1727 (in German sources, known as the von Solowhoff or Solowhoff von Greutungen). The Solovjovs specifically claimed Ermanaric as their ancestor. Via

Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci ( , ; 9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence for whom "Naming of the Americas, America" is named. Vespucci participated in at least two voyages of the A ...

(the Italian version of " Amalaric," or "''Amal ruler''"), the Amali were the ultimate namesakes of the Americas.

In popular culture

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

Genealogy

Citations

General and cited sources

* * Jones, Arnold. ''

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Cambridge at the University Press, 1971. * {{Germanic peoples Amali dynasty European dynasties Gothic families Ostrogoths