Uta Bavarian

Origin

The main historical source that tells of Utah is the life of St. Emmeram , written around 772 by Aribo Freising ^{[1] [2]} . It is also assumed that information about the life of Uta is contained in the “ History of the Lombards ” by Paul Deacon ^{[3] [4]} .

Evidence of the Life of Emmeram

According to The Life of Emmeram, the father of Uta was the ruler of Bavaria, Theodon I, and his mother was Gleisnot. In the second half of the 7th century, Uta lived in the ducal residence of her father, located in Regensburg . Here he lived, preaching Christianity among the Bavars , and St. Emmeram. When Uta became pregnant from Sigipald, one of the courtiers, she, fearing the wrath of her father, turned to Emmeram for help. He advised her, if necessary, to say that he is the father of her unborn child. The saint hoped that the glory of his piety would not allow Theodon I to act cruelly with either his daughter or anyone who dishonored her. Soon after, Emmeram went on a pilgrimage to Rome . Then the Bavarian duke from Uta became aware that the father of her child, allegedly, was a preacher who had left. Wanting to avenge Uta's dishonor, her brother Lantpert caught Emmeram on the way and subjected the saint to cruel torture, from which he soon died. On this the evidence of Utah in life ends ^{[1] [2] [4] [5] [6]} .

It is not known how the facts cited by Aribo Freisingsky correspond to historical reality. It is assumed that most of the information contained in the life about the death of Corbinianus is legendary. Probably, Aribo combined in his work reliable information about the situation in Bavaria in the second half of the 7th century with unlikely traditions about the martyrdom of the saint and the miracles created by them ^[6] .

Testimonies of the History of the Lombards by Paul Deacon

A number of historians identify Utah with Paul Deacon Ita, mentioned in The History of the Lombards, ^{[3] [4] [7]} . According to this historian, Ita, who was imprisoned, was taken as a wife by the Duke of Benevento Grimoald I , who later became the king of the Lombards . Three children were born in this marriage: the son of Romuald and two daughters, one of whom died about 672 in Sicily captured by the Byzantines , and the other, whose name is unknown, became the wife of Duke Spoleto Trazimund I in 663 ^[3] .

Proponents of the veracity of the marriage of Grimoald with the daughter of Duke Theodon I believe that after the death of Emmeram she was sent to Italy as a punishment for adultery ^[4] . The murder of a saint, according to the " Annals of the Dukes of Bavaria, " dates back to 652 ^[7] . However, the assumption of the identity of Uta and Ita contradicts the data of other sources ^[7] , according to which the murder of Emmeram occurred in the last third of the 7th century ^{[2] [6]} , and the wife of King Grimoald was from a noble Lombard family ^[8] .