Amalafrid was the son of the last Thuringian king Hermanafrid

Hermanafrid

Hermanfrid was the last independent king of the Thuringii. He was one of three sons of King Bessinus and the Lombard Menia...

 and his wife Amalaberga

Amalaberga

Amalaberga was the daughter of Amalafrida, daughter of Theodemir, king of the Ostrogoths. Her father is unknown, her uncle was Theodoric the Great. She married Hermanfrid, king of the Thuringii. They had a son named Amalafrid and a daughter Rodelinda, who married the Lombard king Audoin...

, daughter of Amalafrida

Amalafrida

Amalafrida was the daughter of Theodemir, king of the Ostrogoths, and his wife Erelieva. She was the sister of Theodoric the Great, and mother of Theodahad, both of whom also were kings of the Ostrogoths....

 and niece of the Ostrogoth

Ostrogoth

The Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy....

ic king Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...

.

After the fall of the royal Thuringian seat of Scithingi to the king of Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, Theuderic I

Theuderic I

Theuderic I was the Merovingian king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called—from 511 to 533 or 534....

 in 531

531

Year 531 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Probus...

, Amalaberga fled to the Ostrogothic king Theodahad

Theodahad

Theodahad was the King of the Ostrogoths from 534 to 536 and a nephew of Theodoric the Great through his sister Amalafrida. He might have arrived in Italy with Theodoric and was an elderly man at the time of his succession...

, her brother, with Amalafrid and his sister Rodelinda

Rodelinda (6th century)

Rodelinda was a Lombard queen who lived in the 6th century. She was the wife of king Audoin and mother of king Alboin.She was the first wife of Audoin, regent for the infant king of the Lombards Walthari from 540 to 546/547 and king in his own right from 546/547 to an uncertain date after 552, and...

. They were captured by the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 general Belisarius

Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....

 and sent to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, together with the captured Ostrogothic king Witiges

Witiges

Witiges or Vitiges was King of the Ostrogoths in Italy from 536 to 540.He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War, as Belisarius had quickly captured Sicily the previous year and was currently in southern Italy at the head of the forces of Justinian I, the Eastern...

 (or Wittigis). Justinian made Amalafrid a general and married off his sister Rodelinda to the Lombard king Audoin

Audoin

Alduin, Auduin, or Audoin was king of the Lombards from 546 to 560. The Lombards became, under him, fœderati of the Byzantines , signing a treaty with Justinian I which gave them power in Pannonia and the north. Beginning in 551, he was obliged to send troops to serve Narses in Italy against the...

.

When the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 applied to the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I

Justinian I

Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...

 for help against the Gepids, he sent an army under the command of Justinus

Justin (consul 540)

Flavius Mar Petrus Theodorus Valentinus Rusticius Boraides Germanus Iustinus, commonly simply Iustinus was an East Roman aristocrat and general, who was appointed as one of the last Roman consuls in 540....

 and Justinianus

Justinian (general)

Justinian was an East Roman aristocrat and general, and a member of the ruling Justinian dynasty. As a soldier, he had a distinguished career in the Balkans and in the East against Sassanid Persia...

, the sons of Germanus; Aratius

Aratius

Aratius was an Armenian military commander of the 6th-century. He served at first the Sassanid Empire, then defected to the Byzantine Empire. He is primarily known for his activities in the Iberian War, and the Gothic War. He was eventually killed in an ambush. Primary sources about him include...

 and Suartuas (a former ruler of the Heruli

Heruli

The Heruli were an East Germanic tribe who are famous for their naval exploits. Migrating from Northern Europe to the Black Sea in the third century They were part of the...

); and Amalafrid. All the former remained in Ulpiana

Ulpiana

Ulpiana was an ancient Roman city located in what is today Kosovo. It was also named Justiniana Secunda. Ulpiana is situated in the municipality of Lipljan...

, Illyria

Illyria

In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

, to decide on a question of doctrine among the local Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s. Amalafrid led part of the Roman army against the Gepids. As Audoin afterwards sent envoys to Justinian to complain about the lack of Imperial help, this seems to have been only a small part of the original army. Nevertheless, Amalafrid and the Lombard host under Audoin won a mayor victory over the Gepids.

Amalafrid had a son named Artachis (see Venantius Fortunatus

Venantius Fortunatus

Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was a Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the early Catholic Church. He was never canonised but was venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus during the Middle Ages.-Life:Venantius Fortunatus was born between 530 and 540 A.D....

, Carm. App. 3) but nothing further is known of his fate.

Sources

• Procopius
  Procopius
  Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
  
  , Gothic War
  Gothic War (535–552)
  The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was fought from 535 until 554 in Italy, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It is commonly divided into two phases. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with the fall of Ravenna and the apparent...
  
  VII, 25
• Venantius Fortunatus, Carm. App. 3