History of Europe

amalric

Amalric was a Visigoth king . He was born in the year 502 AD. He was the son of Alaric II and his wife Theodegonda (daughter of Theodolito, king of the Ostrogoths of Italy). After Theodoric had overthrown Gesaleic and placed his grandson Amalric on the throne, he kept Provence in return for these services, and ruled his grandson's Visigothic kingdom as regent, entrusting his education of Amalric to the Ostrogoth Theudis. /P>

Theodoric sought the collaboration of the Hispano-Roman aristocracy; he created the prefecture of the praetorium of Gaul (based in Arles) with juridical and legal functions, and put a Hispano-Roman aristocrat at its head; while the military power of the Visigoth kingdom was held by an Ostrogoth, so he established the separation of powers and sought cooperation. He also sought conciliation in the religious field between Catholics and Arians, giving rise to many mixed marriages. On the other hand, the center of Visigothic politics moved to the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Amalric takes kingship

Theodoric declared his grandson Amalric of legal age in the year 526 , and he died soon after, succeeded to the throne by the Ostrogoth of Italy, another grandson of his, called Athalaric. Then the Ostrogoths, who came with their king Theodoric to the Peninsula, returned to their Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy; Thus, the complete independence of the Visigothic government of Hispania from the Ostrogothic government of Italy took place, and, in the year 529, the Visigothic government separated from the prefecture of Gaul. Amalaric made a pact with his cousin Atalaric, through which they established that the Rhodanus river would be the border between the two kingdoms, and that Atalaric would restore, to the Visigoths, the treasures that his grandfather had taken (which was fulfilled) On the other hand , Amalric, to secure peace with the Franks, married Princess Clotilde, daughter of the Frankish King Clovis, but problems soon appeared in the marriage for religious reasons, since Amalric was an Arian fanatic, while his wife was Catholic; wanting the king to make her apostatize from her religion, so that she would embrace the Arian faith, and, not succeeding, he subjected her to a series of ill-treatment for a long time, until she called her relatives to help; His brother Childebert I, King of the Franks, who had succeeded his father Clovis, came immediately. The Frankish army entered the territory of the Visigoths and defeated Amalric's army; Childebert I took his sister Clotilde, who died on the way back to the Frankish court; Following the Visigothic defeat, Amalric died assassinated by his own army, which proclaimed Theudis king in the year 531 . On the occasion of the defeat of Amalric, the last displacement of the Visigoths from Gaul to the Iberian Peninsula took place.


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