Amalric's Retreat, 19th Century sketch by Aiden O'Sullivan
Chapter 20
The Crow’s Carrion Call
“Should we sink now, into the ignominy of defeat, know this: we shall forever be scorned by our ancestors who came to this land and made it their own. Heed my words, for the Waelings shall show no mercy; they will make carrion of our sons, and slaves of our daughters, and the living will surly envy the living! The Waelings are wicked and craven, and know only the peace of the sword!” – Empress Brunhilde the Bold
The Glory of Emaneric’s Heirs: the Lectures of Dr. Valamir Fralet
Trans. Edwin Smith
Bern [OTL: Verona, Italy]: Skipmann and Sons Publishing, 1997
Shortly after his return of the campaign against the Suebi, likely in the year 561, Amalaric received word that the Lombards had been crushed in battle against the Gepids and were seekingly asylum within the Empire. This must have struck Amalaric as a magnificent opportunity; the Lombards had survived their defeat as a coherent entity, and giving them succor would likely win their loyalty for the next generation, at least. Finally, the region of Dalmatia, had been greatly ravaged during Theodemir and Germanus’ war for the crown of Rhomania. Settling the Lombards in this territory would bring order to the region, and they settlers would be able to act as a bulwark against any aggression by the Gepids, Avars or Rhomans.
The news was not well received within the Latin population of the Empire. According to Sigisbairht the Frodgibands, in his “History of the Goths,” composed in the late 8th century:
“The coming of the Lombards caused the Romans great anxiety. They feared that Amalaric was building a coalition of Germans against them, and sought to dominate the West through these allies, at the expense of the Romans. Although they feared to rebel, and draw the ire of the new Emperor, they none the less began to talk amongst themselves.” – “History of the Goths” by Sigibrairt the Frodquithan. [FN1]
Amalaric appeared either unaware to the whispering against him, or chose to deafen himself to the opposition. Two years later, in 663, the Orthodox Pope Simplicius II passed away; and news of this event must have been met with great relief in the court in Ravenna. Simplicius had feuded openly with Theodemir the Great, had openly protested the Gothic king’s assuming of the title of Emperor, and been a foe of the Arian church.
As the Western Orthodox bishops met to select Simplicius’ successor, Amalaric made his move, traveled to Rome with a force of Gothic militia. He claimed this force was meant merely to secure the deliberations from violence by the Roman mob and other outside forces, which made marred previous papal elections. However, the election of Pelagius I, who was well known to speak about peaceful relations between the Arian and Orthodox communities, convinced many that Amalaric had influenced the proceedings with his show of force.
If so, Amalaric was simply exercising is prerogative as Emperor of Rome. However, in the West, the action was unprecedented, as the Roman Orthodox Church had been free from the meddling of an Emperor for nearly a century. Even Theodemir, after assuming the title of Emperor, and at the height of his own power, had refused to interfere with the workings of the Orthodox Church; even when the Pope was an outspoken foe of his rule.
However, it’s important to note that Amalaric had not sought to impose an Arian upon the Western Church, but had simply chosen to support a candidate which would be supportive of his own rule. By this time, the schism between the Arians and Western Orthodox churches had likely grown too great to mend by forcing an Arian upon the Western church. In every way, the new Emperor was still following the rule of the Declaration of Rome which had established religious tolerance between the Arian and Orthodox communities within the realm.
The Orthodox within the realm refused to see it in this light. For years there had been great dissatisfaction amongst the Orthodox clergy at the prominence of the Arian faith. With Theodemir’s victory over the Franks, Arianism had become the prestige faith amongst the German peoples, and had been pushing back the Orthodox in most non-Latin territories in Europe. in the minds of the faithful, the new Emperor was seeking to dominate the one true church, and force upon them an unsavory candidate as Bishop of Rome. Riots immediately sprouted in Rome, and several other Italian cities, when news reached of the “Black Conclave.” [FN2]
According to Sigisbrairt, “The Emperor was confused by the turmoil, and greatly wounded by the refusal of his subjects to recognize the authority of Pelagius. Although he wished to reach peace with the Latins of the Empire, the Emperor could not allow civil disobedience to diminish his power. Reluctantly, he ordered his soldiers, bolstered with supporters of the Senate, to engage the rioters and drive them back to their homes.” Although Amalaric’s soldiers quelled the initial riots, there was a longstanding grievance forming amongst the Latins within the Empire.
Amalaric spent the remainder of 561 traveling between his courts in Ravenna, Rome and Toulouse. In October of that year Queen Brunhilde gave birth to Amalaric’s first son, who he named Theodebert after his own brother. In 562, news reached the Emperor of renewed raids by the Franks deep into Gaul, which was still suffering from the depopulation wrought by the Harrying of Gaul. Amalaric quickly marshaled his forces and set forth to beat back the Frankish raiders.
By the end of the military season, the Emperor had beat back two Frankish incursions, and decided to winter his forces in Sens, which had escaped the worst of his father’s depredations against Gaul. By the time the winter had ended, he would find himself fighting for his very life and crown.
…
Although the realm of Gotland had been established by Theodemir the Great, and many of the great Gallo-Roman and Italian-Roman landlords had been bought out and resettled by the state, a number of prominent landholders still remained within the region. By some estimations, the Goths still made up only 60 to 65 percent of the nobility of Gotland during the middle of the 7th century. Nearly all of these nobles were of the Orthodox faith, and most deeply resented the imposing of Gothic law upon them. When the Goths were strong under Theodemir, they had been cowed into obedience; but the actions of Amalaric had convinced many that they held one last chance to throw of the Gothic yoke and reestablish true Roman rule in the West.
Throughout the winter of 662/3, the rebels marshaled their forces and declared their intention of restoring a Roman Emperor to the throne of the West. Hearing the news, Amalric gathered his own forces and hurried south. He met the rebels at the town of Bourg, and engaged in the Battle of the Bulakrs. It was here that Amalaric suffered the first great military defeat of his reign. [FN3]
Sigibrairt has this to say of the encounter:
“Seeing the rebels in front of him, Amalaric was driven to a great wrath, much like those of his own Father, and ordered his loyal Reiks to attack directly. However, the rebels had hidden a third of their army within the forests and, seeing the Emperor’s forces engaged, they surged out and caught the Goths by surprise and drove them from the field.”
The Battle of Bulakrs was to go down as one of the more famous military encounter during the reign of Amalaric, largely due to a Lay which was, likely, written decades after the actual battle, which lists the valiant efforts of the Goths to push back against the rebels, as well as lists all of the dead which includes members of Amalaric’s own household and, not surprisingly, given when it was first composed, the names of the founders of several prominent Gothic houses.
Despite its importance in folklore, the actual sight of the Battle of Bulakrs, has never been fully determined. The name seems to suggest that it took place in a large field or pasture, which isn’t surprising as the region around Bourg is known to this day for his cattle industry. Several prominent spots have been suggested and, it seems, each has received a commemorative marker for the sake of local antiquarians and tourists, but historians have been unable pin down the actual site.
Amalaric was able to withdraw his force and keep it from being a complete route, but his army had been badly beaten. Although historians recount many stories of Amalaric’s flight and subsequent battles against the rebels who continued to harry his army as it retreated, he was eventually able to pull north to a safe location. The rebels, perhaps overestimating their own strength, marched through Gotland, calling for allies; they were met by indifference, at best, from Gothic lords, and oftentimes, violence. Still, they pressed on and, through a show of force, were able to secure the surrender of Massalbaurgs without a fight. At Massalbaurgs, the rebels announced their support for local lord Flavius Mauronitus as Emperor, and then marched upon Ravenna. [FN4]
…
The Siege of Ravenna has long been remembered in the history of the Goths for its heroism. During the height of the siege, Empress Brunhilde, took control of the defenses, after giving a rousing speech to the defenders where she held her young son over the walls and declared, “should you wish to surrender, then do so. But know this; I shall die as an Empress and my son as a Prince. I should rather throw us both from these walls and die free, than suffer the depredations of the Walings!” The entirety of the speech owed much to classical oration, and can be found in Sigibraiht and later works. [FN5]
For his part, the Emperor spent the next several months in Lyons, meeting with supporters and building a new army. The entire time, he was in contact with supporters throughout Gotland and Italia, who gave him news of the progress of the siege. By April of 563, early for campaigning in the region, Amalaric led his army south and into Gotland proper, where they were met by supporters who swelled their ranks.
They arrived in Ravenna in June and were met with a horror. The rebel army had been reduced greatly by disease and malnutrition. Expecting Ravenna to fall quickly, the rebels had not planned for a prolonged settlement. In this, Flavius Mauronitus must have been, in some part, at fault, for he proved an incompetent commander; his name, remembered as Flavio, is remembered in Waling folklore to this day as a tragic buffoon, and as a traitorous coward in Gothic lore, to this very day.
Truly, the potential revolution had been doomed when the Roman Senate met and chose to not respond to Flavius’ requests for aid in the siege. Whether out of loyalty or fear, the Senate had declared its full support for Amalaric. Without the soldiers and, more importantly, supplies, that Italia could provide, the siege bled out, especially with the emergence of those diseases which had destroyed sieges so often in the past. [FN6]
Finding his foes in such condition, Amalaric fell upon them and quickly dispersed the rebel army, capturing those leaders who had not died in battle, and had them executed. Flavius, the self styled Emperor of Rome, was bound between four horses and ripped apart, and his skull was gilded, and remained in the Gothic palace for years.
Although small rebellions would sputter for years, especially within Hispania, Amalaric had met the first great crisis of his rule and won. The lessons he would learn from the encounter would help shape the policies of his reign until the very end, and greatly reshape the Empire for generations to come.
[FN1] translated into English, the name would be Sigbert the Wisdomspeaker, or Loremaster. Just another attempt to create a Gothic term which, as far as I can determine, did not come down to us!
[FN2] For those of you who had mentioned that the relations between the Arians and Orthodox had been too smooth, may I submit for your approval, the Black Conclave and its repercussions. I always figured that there would be a growing tension in the realm between the two faiths, only quelled by the power of Theodemir. Once he was out of the picture … well, it just takes one dumb move to set that powder keg alight,
[FN3] This region is known for its Cattle and Chickens to this very day, and so having a battle at a cow pasture doesn’t seem all that unlikely. Finding a suitable Gothic name was somewhat difficult. Akrs was a Gothic word for field, but I could not come up with a definite word for Cow or Bull. I eventually settled on ‘Bul’ which is similar enough to other Germanic languages and, I figured, the name might have been slurred through history somewhat. Also, this Battle exists for those who think that the Goths may have had too easy of a run in the last few decades; trust me, they can lose battles, will lose plenty more before it’s all done, and are very very human.
[FN4] The Mauronitus were a prominent family in Marseilles during the period of late Antiquity. Here, one of their members gets a bit too ambitious for his own good and, as often the case with people of that sort, proves that he is not nearly as capable as he believes. Massalbaurgs is a *Gothic name for the city as Marseilles, which is in common usage in the *present of the ATL.
[FN5] Strong warrior women in late Antiquity may be a bit hard to swallow (no matter what Hollywood keeps trying to tell us), but a weak woman by the name of Brunhilde? That is just unfathomable! Also, if you really believe she spoke just these words … well, you know very little of the practices of ancient and medieval chroniclers! Whatever the case, Brunhilde overcomes expectations of her gender, and manages to secure the city against the rebels. Expect to see more of her in the future!
[FN6] Why did the Roman Senate not support their co-nationals against the Goths? Maybe because the rebels were a bunch of uncouth hicks, maybe because the Senate was terrified of Amalaric, or possibly because of a whole stew of issues which have largely been lost by history.
Okay, and so now you have seen the beginning of certain forces, which have been building under the reign of Theodemir, finally begin to burst out into the open. This will not be the last time it happens, although it may well be the most dramatic. Hopefully this counters some, well deserved in my mind, criticism that the Goths have had far too easy of a ride so far. The new Emperors may well find that conquering an Empire is much easier than ruling one!
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