Elemund (
Latin: ''Elemundus'', died 548) was king of the
Gepids, an east Germanic people, during the first half of the 6th century. He may have been the son of Gunderit, himself son of
Ardaric ascended by overthrowing a rival Ardariking branch. Based on archaeological evidence, István Boná believes that in the 520s or 530s Elemund must have consolidated his power in
Transylvania by submitting or removing minor Gepid rulers. Elemund had a son and daughter, Ostrogotha and
Austrigusa, respectively; the latter was given in marriage to
Wacho, the king of the
Lombards, in 512. The reasons behind the marriage were multiple: on one side it protected the two kings from the threat represented by the
Ostrogothic Kingdom, while on the other it reduced the danger represented to the Lombard king by
Ildechis, a pretender to the Lombard throne. Wacho was eventually to remarry after Austrigusa's death, but this did not compromise the good relations existing between Lombards and Gepids. Elemund died of illness in 548 and was succeeded by
Thurisind, while the legitimate heir was forced into exile.
[Martindale 1992, ''s.v. Elemundus'', p. 435] Ostrogotha found hospitality among the Lombards, but was killed in 552 by his host, King
Audoin, as part of a plan to ease relations between Gepids and Lombards.
[Amory 2003, p. 431]
Notes
References
*
Amory, Patrick. ''People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489 – 554''.
Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003, .
* Boná, István
"From Dacia to Erdöelve: Transylvania in the period of the great migrations (271-896)" ''History of Transylvania''. Béla Köpeczi (ed.). v. 1,
Highland Lakes: Atlantic Research and Publications, 2001, pp. 137 – 331, .
* Boná, István. ''A l'aube du Moyen Age: Gépides et Lombards dans le bassin des Carpates''.
Budapest: Corvina Press, 1974
976 .
* Martindale, John R. (ed.), ''
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire - Volume III: A.D. 527 – 641'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, .
*
Wolfram, Herwig. ''The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples''.
Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1990
997 .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elemund
548 deaths
Gepid kings
6th-century monarchs in Europe
Year of birth unknown