Ereleuva (born before AD 440, died c. 500?) was the mother of the

Ostrogothic 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 ...

king

Theodoric 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 ...

. She is often referred to as the concubine of Theodoric's father,

Theodemir Theodemir, Theodemar, Theudemer or Theudimer was a Germanic name common among the various Germanic peoples of early medieval Europe. According to Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (9th century), the form ''Theudemar'' is Frankish and ''Theudemir'' is ...

, although that Gelasius refers to her as ''regina'' ("queen") suggests that she had a prominent social position despite the informality of her union with Theodemir. Ereleuva was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and was baptised with the name Eusebia. Ereleuva is regarded as having taken to Christianity quite seriously, as indicated by her correspondence with

Pope Gelasius I Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 21 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.The title of his biography by Walter Ullma ...

and mention of her in Ennodius's ''Panegyric of Theoderic''. As she had been baptized as a Catholic and Theodemir, like most Ostrogoths, was probably a follower of

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

, their marriage was not considered entirely religiously valid. Ereleuva's name was variously spelled by historians in antiquity as Ereriliva (by the fragmentary chronicle of Anonymus Valesianus, c. 527See
Anonymus Valesianus Pars Posterior: Chronica Theodericiana
'. The Latin Library.) and Erelieva (by

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 ...

), and is now largely known to modern historians as Ereleuva, as she was addressed most frequently by

References

{{Reflist 5th-century births 6th-century deaths Converts to Catholicism from Arianism Ostrogothic queens consort 5th-century Christians 5th-century Ostrogothic people Year of birth uncertain 5th-century queens consort