kingdom · Germany and Central Europe
Kingdom of the Thuringians
Origins
The Thuringians appear around 400 in a Roman veterinary text that praises their horses. They likely descended in part from the Hermunduri and Angles, and formed a kingdom centred on the Thuringian basin, extending at its height from the Harz to the Danube and from the Werra to the Elbe.
Rule and society
In the early 6th century King Herminafrid married Amalaberga, niece of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, linking Thuringia to the Ostrogothic alliance system. Rich graves, horse burials and the trade in horses show an aristocratic warrior society. Little is known of its institutions, as it left no written records of its own.
Decline and legacy
After Theodoric's death removed Ostrogothic protection, the Frankish kings Theuderic I and Chlothar I defeated the Thuringians on the Unstrut in 531; Herminafrid was killed soon after at Zülpich. The north went to Saxon allies, the rest to the Franks, later forming the Duchy of Thuringia.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Kingdom of the Thuringians was conquered by Kingdom of the Franks531 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of the Thuringians. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-thuringians
- MLA
- “Kingdom of the Thuringians.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-thuringians. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of the Thuringians.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-thuringians.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of the Thuringians’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-thuringians (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻