Amal dynasty

The Amal clan was claimed to have descended from the divine.{{Cite book|title=History of the Goths|last=Wolfram|first=Herwig|publisher=University of California Press|year=1988|location=Berkeley|pages=32}} Jordanes writes:

Now the first of these heroes, as they themselves relate in their legends, was Gapt, who begat Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat him who was called Amal, from whom the name of the Amali comes. Athal begat Achiulf and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf and Ermanaric.{{Cite book |title=Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths: Studies in a Migration Myth |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AcLDHOqOt4cC}} |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |date=2002-01-01 |isbn=9788772897103 |first=Arne Søby |last=Christensen |author-link=Arne Søby Christensen}}

This provides the following stemma for the earliest rulers of the Goths, before outlining in more detail the two divisions that arose from the son, Achiulf of Athal, the last in this early lineage:

Gapt or Gaut is the Scandinavian god of war. Hulmul or Humli-Hulmul, is considered the divine father of the Danish people. Ermanaric (also referred to as Ermanaricus or Hermanaric), is identified as a Greuthungian king who ruled territories in modern Ukraine. Ermanaric signals the tenth generation, and the first generation to be backed by historical record.

The origins of the Amal Dynasty is unclear. Until the mid-20th century there was a tendency to see the Tervingi and Greuthungi mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus as having evolved into the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, respectively. The Greuthungi had become vassals of the Huns, and were considered to have regained their independence under the Amali Theodemir, father of Theoderic the Great. However, this idea has since been discredited by historians, who have emphasised the disruption caused by the Huns, as well as the similarity of groups previously treated as discrete ethnic groups.Peter Heather, Goths and Romans, 332–489 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 8 ff.

A separate branch of the family were members of the Visigoths. Sigeric, a brief usurper to the Visigothic throne in 415, may have been a member of the Amali. The Visigothic Eutharic married Theoderic's daughter Amalasuntha, and is said to have been an Amal by Cassiodorus and Jordanes; however, it is more likely that this was a fictitious claim designed to bolster Athalaric's legitimacy.Gerda Heydemann, "The Ostrogothic Kingdom: Ideologies and Transitions" in J. Arnold and K. Sessa (eds), A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy (Leiden, 2016), p. 30. Jordanes states "Hermanaric, the son of Achiulf, begat Hunimund, and Hunimund begat Thorismud. Now Thorismud begat Beremud, Beremud begat Veteric, and Veteric likewise begat Eutharic."

The last attested member of the Amali house was Theodegisclus, son of Theodahad.

• Ermanaric, King of the Greuthungi, c. 296–376
• Sigeric, King of the Visigoths, 415
• Valamir, King of the Ostrogoths, 447–469
• Theodemir, King of the Ostrogoths, 469–475
• Theoderic the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, 475–526
• Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths, 526–534
• Amalasuintha, Queen Regnant of the Ostrogoths, 534–535
• Theodahad, King of the Ostrogoths, 534–536
• Theudigisel, King of the Visigoths, 548–549

In the Nibelungenlied and some other medieval German epic poems, the followers of Dietrich von Bern are referred to as 'Amelungen'. In other cases, Amelung is reinterpreted as the name of one of Dietrich's ancestors. The Kaiserchronik also refers to Dietrich/Theoderic's family as the 'Amelungen', and in a letter of bishop Meinhard von Bamberg, as well as the Annals of Quedlinburg, 'Amulungum'/'Amelung' ("the Amelung") is used to refer to Dietrich himself. This shows that the family's legacy was remembered in oral tradition far into the Middle Ages, long after any stories about Amal himself had ceased to circulate.

Jordanes, possibly drawing upon Cassiodorus' Origo Gothica, describes the Goths moving to the Black Sea, where they split into two factions, the Amali, who would later become the Ostrogoths, and the Balthi, who become the Visigoths. Both the Amali and the Balthi are recalled as families of "kings and heroes." However, Wolfram has argued that the tradition of the Amal was popular even before the time of Cassiodorus. This is shown in the naming of the royals, like Theodoric's daughters, Ostrogotho and Amalasuintha, and his sister, Amalafrida, who were all given Amal names.

At least two prominent noble families claimed descent from Amali: the Billungs, Dukes of Saxony, also known as the Amelungs or von Ömlingen, and the Solovjovs, Barons of the Russian Empire from 1727 (in German sources, known as the von Solowhoff or Solowhoff von Greutungen). The Solovjovs specifically claimed Ermanaric as their ancestor.

Via Amerigo Vespucci (the Italian version of "Amalaric," or "Amal ruler"), the Amali were the ultimate namesakes of the Americas.

• The Amali appear as the "Amaling" dynasty in the grand strategy game Crusader Kings 2.

{{familytree/start}}

{{familytree| | | | | Erm | | HOU | | Sig |HOU=HOUSE OF AMAL|Erm=Ermanaric
king of Goths|Sig=Sigeric
king of Visigoths}}

{{familytree| | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| }}

{{familytree| | | | | Thi | | Tdm | | dau |Thi=Thiudimir|Tdm=Theodemir
king of Ostrogoths
∞ Ereleuva|dau=(daughter)
∞ Valamir
king of Ostrogoths}}

{{familytree| | | | | |,|-|-|-|(| | | |,|-|-|-|.| }}

{{familytree| | | | | Alf | | Tdr |~| Add | | Clv |Alf=Amalafrida
∞ 1.(unknown)
2.Thrasamund
king of Vandals|Tdr=Theoderic the Great
king of Ostrogoths, Visigoths|Add=Audofleda|Clv=Clovis I
king of Franks
Merovingian dynasty}}

{{familytree| |,|-|-|-|(| | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| }}

{{familytree| Alb | | Thd | | Ama | | Ost | | par | | Jus | | Vig |Alb=Amalaberga
∞ Hermanafrid
king of Thuringii|Thd=(1?) Theodahad
king of Ostrogoths
∞ Gudeliva|Ama=Amalasuintha
∞ 1.Traguilla
2.Eutharic
consul|Ost=Ostrogotho
∞ Sigismund
king of Burgundians|par=∞ Anicius?|Jus=Justin I
Roman Emperor|Vig=Vigilantia}}

{{familytree| | | | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|.| | | |!| | | | | | | |!| }}

{{familytree| | | | | | | | | Ath | | Mat |~| Ger | | | | | | Jut |Ath=(2) Athalaric
king of Ostrogoths|Mat=(2) Mataswintha
∞ 1.Vitiges
king of Ostrogoths|Ger=2.Germanus
general|Jut=Justinian I
Roman Emperor
Justinian dynasty}}

{{familytree/end}}

• List of kings of the Huns
• Balt dynasty
• The Origin and Deeds of the Goths (Getica)
• Vadamerca

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Henry |title=The Goths, from the Earliest Times to the End of the Gothic Dominion in Spain|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=kyurWUMUwkMC}}|date=December 2009|publisher=General Books LLC|isbn=978-1-150-60725-7}}
• Jones, Arnold. Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Cambridge at the University Press, 1971.
• {{cite book|last=Jordanes|title=The Origin and Deeds of the Goths|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=fAhzBQAAQBAJ|page=551}}|date=12 November 2013|publisher=B & R Samizdat Express|isbn=978-1-4554-3671-2|page=551}}

{{Germanic peoples}}

Category:Amali dynasty

Category:European dynasties

Category:Gothic families

Category:Ostrogoths