Audulf or Audwulf, was a Frisian

Frisians

The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...

 king at the time of the Great Völkerwanderung

Migration Period

The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...

, (around 600).

Nowadays historians mostly think that there has been a Frisian king in the first half of the 7th century with the name Audulf, containing the words adel and wolf. The land this king ruled was probably the central rivers area of the Netherlands. The written sources do not contain any information of this monarch, but there are some golden coins found with the words “Audulfus” and “Frisia” on them. The land where the Frisian people once lived was at that time divided, each with his own ruler. Excavations in the north of Friesland, in the area called Westergo proved that some kind of power has existed in that time in the province of Friesland

Friesland

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

.

The coins were found in the Netherlands at Escharen

Escharen

Escharen is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Grave.Escharen was a separate municipality until 1942, when its territory was divided between Grave and Mill en Sint Hubert....

 in nearby Arnhem

Arnhem

Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...

 and also in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Most are dated between 600 and 630. At the beginning of 2006 a coin stamp of Audwulf with the words AUDWULF FRISIA was found in the Frisian village Wijnaldum

Wijnaldum

Wijnaldum is a village in northwest Friesland, Netherlands. The village lies within the municipality of Harlingen; prior to 1984, it was a part of the municipality of Barradeel...

 at the place which earlier was searched for the keningshal of the Frisian kings.

Another interesting finding that is brought in context with Audulf is the treasure trove of Wiuwert

Wiuwert

Wiuwert is a small village in Littenseradiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around the 260 citizens ....

. One of the coins has the inscription VICTORIA AUDUFO, probably made to remember a remarkable victory on another people. Some think this people were the Franks who fought the Frisian for control of the Rhine delta.

Source

• K.P.H. Faber, Audulfus, een Friese Koning, in Fryslân, Nieuwsblad voor geschiedenis en cultuur, no.4, 4e jaargang, December 1998
• H. Halbertsma, Frieslands Oudheid, Utrecht, 2000, page 68