Amalafrida was the daughter of Theodemir

Theodemir

Theodemir was king of the Ostrogoths of the Amal Dynasty, and father of Theodoric the Great. He had two "brothers" actually brothers-in-law named Walamir and Widimir. Theodemir was Arian, while his wife Erelieva was Catholic...

, king of the Ostrogoths, and his wife Erelieva. She was the sister of 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...

, and mother of 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...

, both of whom also were kings of the Ostrogoths.

In 500, to further cement his authority over the Vandals, Theodoric arranged a marriage alliance with Thrasamund

Thrasamund

Thrasamund , King of the Vandals and Alans , was the fourth king of the north African Kingdom of the Vandals, and reigned longer than any other Vandal king in Africa other than his grandfather Genseric....

, king of the Vandals

Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....

, who became Amalfrida's second husband. She brought a very large dowry, but also 5,000 Gothic troops.

After her husband Thrasamund's death, his successor Hilderic

Hilderic

Hilderic was the penultimate king of the Vandals and Alans in North Africa in Late Antiquity . Although dead by the time the Vandal kingdom was overthrown in 534, he nevertheless played a key role in that event....

 issued orders for the return of all the Catholic bishops from exile, and Boniface, a strenuous asserter of orthodoxy, bishop of the African Church. In response, Amalfrida headed a party of revolt; she called in the assistance of the Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

, and battle was joined at Capsa, about three hundred miles to the south of the capital, on the edge of the Libyan desert.

In 523

523

Year 523 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus without colleague...

, Amalafrida's party was beaten, and Hilderic had her arrested and imprisoned in a successful bid to overthrow Ostrogothic hegemony; he also had her Gothic troops killed. She died in prison, exact date unknown.

Amalafrida had two children, the aforementioned Theodahad and 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...

, who married Hermanfrid, king of the Thuringii

Thuringii

The Thuringii or Toringi were a Germanic tribe which appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central Germania around 280, in a region which still bears their name to this day — Thuringia. They evidently filled a void left when the previous inhabitants — the...

. It is not known who the father of these children was.