Amalo ( 530 – 589) was a Burgundian

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

in the area around

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

. He is best known from his appearance in the works of

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

, and was an early progenitor of the

Etichonid The Etichonids were an important noble family, probably of Frankish- Burgundian origin, who ruled the Duchy of Alsace in the Early Middle Ages (7th–10th centuries). The dynasty is named for Eticho (also known as Aldarich), who ruled from 673 t ...

clan, from which the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

originate.

Origin

Amalo was likely a Burgundian, judging from his name's formation from the East Germanic ''Amal'' tribe, with his family migrating as part of the expansion of Burgundian rule under King

Gundobad Gundobad (; ; 452 – 516) was King of the Burgundians (473–516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Empire in 472–473, three years before its collapse, suc ...

. The Battle of Autun in 532 had ended Burgundian independence, but the family remained wealthy and influential in the area between Dijon and

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

even under Frankish rule. Amalo had at least one son, who is not mentioned in the contemporary sources; it therefore remains unclear whether he succeeded his father as a duke. Amalo's grandson

Amalgar Amalgar, also ''Amalgarius'' (643), was a Burgundian duke from the area around Dijon. He was also the proprietor of multiple monasteries, and was a progenitor of the Etichonid clan, from which the Habsburgs originate. Life Amalgar's family bel ...

, on the other hand, is well attested as Duke of ''Pagus Attoriensis'' (

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

), especially through the ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

'' and

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

documents, and was one of the most influential greats of the

Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...

of his time. Under

Eticho Adalrich (; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Adalrik''; died after 683 AD), also known as Eticho, was the Duke of Alsace, the founder of the family of the Etichonids and an important and influential figure in the power politic of late-seventh-century A ...

, Amalo's great-great-grandson and ancestor of the Ethichonid family, the noble family finally came into the hereditary possession of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

in the middle of the 7th century.

Representation by Gregory of Tours

Amalo is one of the few dukes among the early Merovingian rulers, here

Chlothar I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire from the original French version, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. With his eldes ...

, whose existence is secured by contemporary sources—Amalo is mentioned several times in the ''Ten Books Stories'' of the bishop and historian

. Gregory reports that in addition to an apartment, the duke also owned at least one estate, probably near

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

, which, according to the customs of the time, was probably managed by his wife. Gregory of Tours' description of the duke is consistently negative—the historian characterizes Amalo as a violent drunkard and libertine who did not shy away from attempting to rape a young woman. Correspondingly violent, Gregory also describes the death of Amalo:

References

Etichonid dynasty Burgundian people 6th-century Germanic people {{nobility-stub