Wacho or
Waccho (probably Waldchis) was king of the
LombardsThe Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks...
before they entered
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
from an unknown date (perhaps circa 510) until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating (or having assassinated) his uncle, King
TatoTato an early 6th century king of the Lombards. He was the son of Claffo and a king of the Lething Dynasty.According to Procopius the Lombards were subject to the Heruli at this time and paid tribute. In 508 he fought with king Rodolph of the Heruli who was slain. It was a devastating blow to the...
(again, probably around 510). Tato's son Ildchis fought with him and fled to the Gepids where he died. Wacho had good relations with the
FrankFrancia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
s.
Wacho married three times.
Wacho or
Waccho (probably Waldchis) was king of the
LombardsThe Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks...
before they entered
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
from an unknown date (perhaps circa 510) until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating (or having assassinated) his uncle, King
TatoTato an early 6th century king of the Lombards. He was the son of Claffo and a king of the Lething Dynasty.According to Procopius the Lombards were subject to the Heruli at this time and paid tribute. In 508 he fought with king Rodolph of the Heruli who was slain. It was a devastating blow to the...
(again, probably around 510). Tato's son Ildchis fought with him and fled to the Gepids where he died. Wacho had good relations with the
FrankFrancia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
s.
Wacho married three times. His first marriage was to Radegund, daughter of
BisinusBisinus, Basinus, Besinus, or Bisin was the king of the Thuringii .According to Gregory of Tours, he supplied refuge from Childeric I, the Frankish king who was exiled by his own people...
, King of the Thuringi. His second marriage was to Austrigusa, a Gepid possibly named after her maternal descent from Ostrogothic rulers. Austrigusa was the mother of two daughters: Wisigarda (who married
Theudebert ITheudebert I was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald....
of Austrasia) and
WaldradaWaldrada, widow of Theudebald, King of Austrasia , repudiated wife of Chlothar I, King of the Franks , was the daughter of Wacho, King of the Lombards and his second wife Ostrogotha, a Gepid...
(who married firstly
TheudebaldTheudebald or Theodebald , son of Theudebert I and Deuteria, was the king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it's variously called—from 547 or 548 to 555.He was only thirteen years of age when he succeeded and of ill health...
of Austrasia, secondly Chlothar I, King of the Franks, and thirdly Garibald I of Bavaria). Wacho's third marriage was to Silinga, a Heruli-mother of Waltari.
A modern descendant is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.