Ostrogotho

Ostrogotho (480 - before 516) was the daughter of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, and the wife of the Burgundian king Sigismund.

Her mother is not mentoned by name. According to Jordanes, her mother was a concubine. According to Anonymus Valesianus, her mother was Theodoric's wife. Jordanes also mentions a sister Theudigotho. According to both, Ostrogotho was born while Theodoric was staying in Moesia (before 489).

Ostrogotho was probably baptized in Constantinople with the name Ariadne or Ariagne, named after Ariadne, the wife of emperor Zeno. In order to distinguish her from the empress, she was nicknamed Ostrogotho, and this nickname eventually superimposed her actual name.

Ostrogotho and her sister accompanied Theodoric on his campaign from Constantinople to Italy. During the fight against Odoacer, she was left by her father in Ticinum (Pavia). In 494, after Theodoric had consolidated his rule in Italy, he arranged the marriage of Ostrogotho with Sigismund, son of the Burgundian king Gundobad. From this marriage came a son Sigric, and a daughter, Suavegotha. Suavegotha was later married to the Frankish king Theuderic I. Sigric was eventually murdered on the order of Sigismund. His second wife, whom he had married after the death of Ostrogotho, had convinced him that Sigric was plotting to overthrow him.

Sources

• Helmut Castritius: Ostrogotho. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2. Auflage. Band 22, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017351-4, S. 350.
• Felix Dahn: Ostrogotho. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, S. 528.
• Maria Assunta Nagl: Ostrogotho. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Band XVIII,2, Stuttgart 1942, Sp. 1687 f.