Aioulf
Encyclopedia
Aioulf or Agiwulf (died June 457) was an obscure King of Galicia from 456. In 448, after eight years in captivity, the Roman
ambassador Censorius
was executed by one Agiulf at Seville
(Hispalis). This Agiulf has sometimes been identified with Aioulf.
According to the local and contemporary chronicler Hydatius
, after the sack of Braga
and the execution of Rechiar
, the previous Suevic king, by the Visigoths, the Gothic king, Theodoric II
, led his army south into Lusitania
while one of his commanders, Aioulf, deserted him and remained behind in Galicia hoping to make himself king of the Sueves there.
However, the later, Pannonia
n historian Jordanes
records that Aioulf was a Warnic cliens (retainer) of Theodoric appointed by the king to administer the Suevi and who, being provoked by the Suevi themselves, sought to make himelf king but was defeated by Theodoric's army in the first engagement, captured, and executed. According to E. A. Thompson, Jordanes is less reliable than Hydatius for three reasons: he lived further way both in time and space from events in Galicia, his record for accuracy is less reputable, and his bias for the Goths led him to make the disloyal Aioulf a Warni and to involve the Suevi themselves in the act of betraying Theodoric. More significantly, however, Jordanes mentions the Suevic bishops being greeted by Theodoric "with the reverence due to episcopal rank (pontificali reverentia)", an anachronism considering the Suevi were pagans in 457.
After Aioulf, the Suevi chose Remismund
to be their king and he was accepted by Theodoric.
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
ambassador Censorius
Censorius
Censorius was a count of the Western Roman Empire from 432 until his death. He is mentioned in the Chronicle of Hydatius under the years 432 and 440....
was executed by one Agiulf at Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
(Hispalis). This Agiulf has sometimes been identified with Aioulf.
According to the local and contemporary chronicler Hydatius
Hydatius
Hydatius or Idacius , bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia was the author of a chronicle of his own times that provides us with our best evidence for the history of the Iberian Peninsula in the 5th century.-Life:Hydatius was born around the year 400 in the...
, after the sack of Braga
Braga
Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...
and the execution of Rechiar
Rechiar
Rechiar or Rechiarius was the Suevic King of Galicia from 448 until his death. He was the first Catholic Germanic king in Europe and one of the most innovative and belligerent of the Suevi monarchs...
, the previous Suevic king, by the Visigoths, the Gothic king, Theodoric II
Theodoric II
Theodoric II was King of Visigoths from 453 to 466.Theoderic II, son of Theodoric I, obtained the throne by killing his elder brother Thorismund...
, led his army south into Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
while one of his commanders, Aioulf, deserted him and remained behind in Galicia hoping to make himself king of the Sueves there.
However, the later, Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
n historian Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
records that Aioulf was a Warnic cliens (retainer) of Theodoric appointed by the king to administer the Suevi and who, being provoked by the Suevi themselves, sought to make himelf king but was defeated by Theodoric's army in the first engagement, captured, and executed. According to E. A. Thompson, Jordanes is less reliable than Hydatius for three reasons: he lived further way both in time and space from events in Galicia, his record for accuracy is less reputable, and his bias for the Goths led him to make the disloyal Aioulf a Warni and to involve the Suevi themselves in the act of betraying Theodoric. More significantly, however, Jordanes mentions the Suevic bishops being greeted by Theodoric "with the reverence due to episcopal rank (pontificali reverentia)", an anachronism considering the Suevi were pagans in 457.
After Aioulf, the Suevi chose Remismund
Remismund
Remismund was the Suevic King of Galicia from c. 464 until his death.According to Isidore of Seville, Remismund was a son of Maldras. Remismund's early career was spent as an ambassador between Galicia and Gaul, which trip he made several times...
to be their king and he was accepted by Theodoric.