Usdibad

Usdibad (Latin: Usdibadus, Uzdibaldus;[a] fl. 566–567) was a Gepid military commander (dux) and fugitive that received refuge by Byzantine Emperor Justin II (r. 565–574) during the Lombard–Gepid War (567).

In 566, Lombard king Alboin concluded a treaty with the Pannonian Avars, to whom he promised the Gepids' land in case they won over them.[1] The Gepids were destroyed by the Avars and Lombards in 567.[1][2] Gepid king Cunimund was killed by Alboin himself.[1] The Avars now occupied "Gepidia", forming the Avar Khaganate.[1] The Byzantine Emperor intervened and took control of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), also giving refuge to Gepid leader Usdibad, but the rest of Gepidia was taken by the Avars.[2] According to István Bóna, Usdibad was probably a secret rival of Cunimund, and crossed the Sava to the Byzantines after the defeat.[3]

Annotations

1. The name is a Germanic dithematic name, formed by *uzda-[4] and *-badwō (-badus). The second root is found in the names of other Eastern Germanic military leaders, such as Gepid Asbadus and Burgundian Gundibadus,[5] and means "battle".[6]

References

1. Schutz 2001, p. 81.
2. Collins 2010, p. 201.
3. Bóna 1976, p. 97.
4. Schröder, Franz Johannes Heinrich (1966). Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift. p. 16.
5. North-western European Language Evolution. Vol. 23–24. Odense University Press. 1994. p. 26. ISBN 9788774929932.
6. Gerhard Vetter (1938). Die Ostgoten und Theoderich. Kohlhammer. p. 95.

Sources

• Bóna, István (1976). À l'aube du Moyen Age: Gépides et Lombards dans le bassin des Carpates. Corvina. ISBN 978-963-13-4494-3.
• Collins, Roger (2010). Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 201–. ISBN 978-1-137-01428-3.
• Schutz, Herbert (2001). Tools, Weapons and Ornaments: Germanic Material Culture in Pre-Carolingian Central Europe, 400-750. BRILL. pp. 81–. ISBN 90-04-12298-2.