Gundoald was a Bavarian

Bavarii

The Bavarii were a Germanic tribe whose name emerged late in Teutonic tribal times. The full name originally was the Germanic *baio-warioz. This name has been handed down as Baiwaren, Baioaren, Bioras, latinised Bavarii, Baioarii. or Bavarii, Bavarians, Bajuwaren, Bajuvarii, Bajuwaren and Baiern....

 nobleman of the Agilolfing family, a son of Duke Garibald I

Garibald I of Bavaria

Garibald I was Duke of Bavaria from 555 until 591. He stands at the head of the Agilolfings and the Bavarian Dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards....

 and Walderada, and the Duke of Asti from sometime around 589.

In 588 his elder sister Theudelinda was engaged to the king of the Lombards, Authari

Authari

Authari also known as Agilolf, was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. After his father, Cleph, died in 574, the Lombardic nobility refused to appoint a successor, resulting in ten years interregnum known as the Rule of the Dukes.In 574 and 575 the Lombards made the blunder of invading...

. The potential marital alliance with the Lombards sparked an invasion by the Bavarains' overlords, the Franks

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

, in 589. Theudelinda and Gundoald both fled to Italy. There Theudelinda married Authari in May, and Gundoald was invested with the duchy of Asti

Asti

Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

 and the hand of a granddaughter of King Wacho

Wacho

Wacho was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating his uncle, King Tato . Tato's son Ildchis fought with him and fled to the Gepids where he died...

 in marriage. With her had two children, Gundpert and Aripert

Aripert I

Aripert I was king of the Lombards in Italy. He was the son of Gundoald, duke of Asti, who had crossed the Alps from Bavaria with his sister Theodelinda. As a relative of the Bavarian ducal house, his was called the Bavarian Dynasty.He was the first Roman Catholic king of the Lombards, elected...

.

Gundoald was killed by an arrow in 616.

Sources

• Paul the Deacon
  Paul the Deacon
  Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...
  
  , Historia Langobardorum.
• Chronicle of Fredegar
  Chronicle of Fredegar
  The Chronicle of Fredegar is a chronicle that is a primary source of events in Frankish Gaul from 584 to around 641. Later authors continued the history to the coronation of Charlemagne and his brother Carloman on 9 October 768....
  
  , The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations.