Garibald I (also Garivald; ; born 540) was Duke (or King) of Bavaria from 555 until 591. He was the head of the

Agilolfings The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. They ...

, and the ancestor of the

Bavarian dynasty The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588. The B ...

that ruled the

Kingdom of the Lombards The Kingdom of the Lombards, also known as the Lombard Kingdom and later as the Kingdom of all Italy (), was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part ...

Biography

After the death of the

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 ...

king

Theudebald Theudebald (in modern English, ''Theobald''; in French, ''Thibaut'' or ''Théodebald''; in German, ''Theudowald'') (534 – 555), son of Theudebert I and Deuteria, was the king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called ...

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

, his successor

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 ...

had "begun to have intercourse with" his widow Waldrada (531–572), daughter 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 ...

. Chlothar's bishops objected, so he gave Waldrada to Garibald to marry in 556. Not only did this grant Garibald prestige, but it created lasting political ties between the

Bavarii The Baiuvarii or Bavarii, sometimes simply called Bavarians (; ) were a Germanic people who lived in and near present-day southern Bavaria, which is named after them. They began to appear in records by the 6th century AD, and their culture, lang ...

and the Lombards of

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 ...

and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. This would have consequences after the Lombards moved into

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 568. Sometime before 585, the Merovingian court attempted to bind Duke Garibald more closely to its interests by arranging a marriage between his daughter

Theodelinda Theodelinda, also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570 – 628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when ...

and King

Childebert II Childebert II ( – 596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted son of his uncle Guntram. Childh ...

of Austrasia. At the same time, the Merovingians were attempting to normalise relations with the Lombard king

Authari Authari ( 550 – 5 September 590) was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. He was considered the first Lombard king to have adopted some level of ''Romanitas'' (Roman-ness) and introduced policies that led to drastic changes, particul ...

by arranging a marriage between Childebert's sister and Authari. Both these proposals fell through. The offended Authari was engaged to Theodelinda in 588. According to the ''

Nuremberg Chronicle The ''Nuremberg Chronicle'' is an illustrated encyclopedia consisting of world historical accounts, as well as accounts told through biblical paraphrase. Subjects include human history in relation to the Bible, illustrated mythological creatures, ...

'', Chilperic, king of the Franks, was a bitter enemy of Authari. Fearing an anti-Frankish axis, Chilperic sent an army into Bavaria and overran the kingdom of Garibald and drove him out of Bavaria. Garibald fled to his son-in-law.Schedel, Hartmann. ''Liber chronicarum'', Morse Library, Beloit College
/ref> Authari married Theodelinda at

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

in May 589 and named his brother-in-law, Gundoald, Duke of

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

. In 590, the Franks invaded

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

with help from

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

, but were defeated. In 591, Childebert normalised relations with the Lombards and

. After King Authari died in 590, the Lombard dukes asked Theodelinda to marry again. She chose Authari's cousin

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to t ...

as her husband, and he was accepted as the next king. They then negotiated a peace with Childebert which lasted for decades. According to Paulus Diaconus, peace with Bavaria was restored when Childebert named Tassilo ''rex'' (king). It is unknown whether Garibald was deposed or died. Nor is it clear what Tassilo's relationship to Garibald was; if not his son, he was certainly a close relation. Garibald was reportedly the father of Romilda of Friuli.

References

Sources

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 ...

''History of the Franks: Books I–X''
Book IV, Chapter 9 *Störmer, Wilhelm. "Die Baiuwaren: Von der Völkerwanderung bis Tassilo III." pp. 59–64. Verlag C. H. Beck, 2002, {{DEFAULTSORT:Garibald 01 Of Bavaria 540 births 6th-century dukes of Bavaria Agilolfings Year of death unknown