Alduin ( Langobardic: ''Aldwin'' or ''Hildwin'', ; also called Auduin or Audoin) was

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

from 547 to 560.

Life

Audoin was of the Gausi, a prominent Lombard ruling clan, and according to the ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' () is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 796, maybe at ...

'', the son of Menia, the Lombard wife of Basinus, king of the Thuringii.Wolfram Brandes, "Das Gold der Menia: Ein Beispiel transkulturellen Wissenstransfers", ''Millennium'' 2 (2005): 175–226, esp. 181ff. Audoin was half-brother to Hermanafrid (king of the Thuringii peoples) and Raicunda, the wife of the Lombard king

Wacho Wacho (also Waccho; probably from ''Waldchis'') was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date (perhaps c. 510) until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating (or having assassina ...

. According to the ''Decem Libri'' 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 ...

, in 531, Hermanafrid was defeated at the Battle of Unstrut, and so

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

was annexed to 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 ...

. Hermanafrid traveled under

safe conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually, an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

to meet with Theuderic at Zülpich. While walking along the city walls with Theuderic, Hermanafrid was thrown from the ramparts to his death. According to

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

(History of the Wars V, 13), after Hermanafrid's death, his widow Amalaberga fled with her children, Amalafrid and Rodelinda, to her brother Theodahad who was at that time (534–536) king of the Ostrogoths. Around 539, during the Gothic War, they were captured by the Byzantine general

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

and sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

made Amalafrid a general and married off his sister Rodelinda to Audoin. Around 540, Audoin was elected regent for Walthari, the minor son of King Wacho and his third wife Silinga. He led the Lombards to

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, where they were settled by Justinian I and in 541 signed a treaty becoming fœderati of the Byzantines, entrusted with the task of securing the Danube border against the Franks. Audoin probably killed Waltari before he reached manhood, in order to gain the throne for himself around 546, and led the Lombards into Pannonia. After Walthari's death around 547, Audoin became king of the Lombards. Beginning in 551, Audoin was obliged to send troops to serve

Narses Narses (also spelled Nerses; ; ; ; c. 478–573) was a distinguished Byzantine general and statesman of Armenian heritage, renowned for his critical role in Emperor Justinian I’s military campaigns. Alongside the famed Belisarius, Narses was ...

in Italy in the Gothic War against 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 ...

. The next year, he sent over 5,000 men to defeat the Goths on the slopes of

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...

. That same year Audoin had been able to inflict a heavy defeat on the

Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...

with the help of his brother-in-law Amalafrid.Wolfram, Herwig. ''The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples''. University of California Press, 1997, p. 283. The Gepid king

Thurisind Thurisind (Latin: ''Turisindus'', died ) was king of the Gepids, an East Germanic Gothic people, from c. 548 to 560. He was the penultimate Gepid king, and succeeded King Elemund by staging a coup d'état and forcing the king's son into exile. ...

lost his eldest son, Turismod, in the Battle of Asfeld. Turismod was killed by

Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was List of kings of the Lombards, king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migration period, migrations by settling in Kingdom of the Lombards, Italy, the northern ...

, son of Audoin. He died in 563 or 565 and was succeeded by his son, Alboin, who brought the Lombards into the Italian peninsula.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audoin 6th-century Lombard monarchs Lombard warriors Gausian dynasty 560s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain