Gundeberga

Gundeberga or Gundeperga ( – after 653) was queen of the Lombards in 626–652 by marriage to the kings Arioald (king of the Lombards; 626–636) and his successor Rothari (king of the Lombards; 636–652).

Life She was the daughter of Theodelinda and her second husband, the Lombard king Agilulf. As her mother was the daughter of duke Garibald I of Bavaria, Gundeberga is considered part of the Bavarian Dynasty of Lombard royalty.

She married Arioald, (king of the Lombards; 626–636), becoming queen of Lombardy. After the death of her husband in 636, she married his successor Rothari, (king of the Lombards; 636–652).

There is some archaeological and genetic evidence that Gundeberga left Italy in 653 and sought refuge at the royal Allemanic court at Burgheim (near Lahr/Germany). A flight to exile at the Allemanic court would have made logical sense, because Gundeberga's first cousin Appa was married to an Allemanic nobleman. At Burgheim church, the oldest church on the right bank of the river Rhine, in the late 20th century an archeological dig under archeologist Knausenberger discovered the undisturbed crypt of the presumed founder of the church. It happened to be a likely Lombard princess from Northern Italy who must have lived in the 7th century, as could be deduced from the artefacts found. There is additional YDNA evidence that a subclade which was local to Northern Italy in the 7th century (sample CL63 of the Collegno dig) suddenly appeared in Burgheim afterwards, as can be deduced from living descendants with proven patrilineal roots in medieval Burgheim. Hence it may be the case that the Italian princess buried in grave no. 10 at Burgheim church may be Gundeberga, who may have died in exile at the royal Allemanic court.