What is "germanus"

Germanus (; died 550) was an East Roman ( Byzantine) general, one of the leading commanders of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). Germanus was Emperor Justinian's cousin, and a member of the ruling dynasty. He held commands in Thrace, North Africa, and the East against Persia, and was slated to command the final Byzantine expedition against the Ostrogoths. Having married into the Gothic Amal royal line through his second wife Matasuntha and a distinguished service record, at the time of his sudden death, he was considered the probable heir to Emperor Justinian.

Germanus is the Latin term referring to the Germanic peoples. A probably related meaning for the word in Latin is " brother", cognate to gernan " seed" (whence Spanish hermano " brother"). 1

People named Germanus (Latin) or Germanos ( Greek) include:

• Trebius Germanus, governor of Roman Britain around 126
• Germanus, Spanish martyr-saint (see Servandus and Cermanus)
• Germanus of Auxerre (378–448), bishop of Auxerre who founded the Carolingian abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre named for the same saint
• Germain of Paris (496–576), also Saint Germain of Paris
• Germanus (cousin of Justinian I) (died 550), general of the Byzantine Empire
• Germanus (Caesar), son-in-law of Tiberius II Constantine
• Germanus (patricius) (died 605/606), leading senator in the reign of Emperor Maurice
• Germanus (general under Phocas) (d. 604)
• Germanus of Granfelden (612–675), Saint
• Germanus of Man (410–475), Saint
• Germanus I, Patriarch of Bulgaria c. 972 – c. 990
• Germanus of Winchester (died c. 1013) English abbot
• Nicolaus Germanus, 15th century cartographer
• Henricus Martellus Germanus, 15th century cartographer
• Moses Germanus (died 1701) or Johann Peter Spaeth, a German convert to Judaism
• Gyula Germanus (1884–1979) was a Hungarian writer and islamologist of Jewish origin, member of the Hungarian Parliament and member of multiple Arabic academics of sciences, who made significant contributions to the arabic language science, language history and culture history

;Greek clerics
* Saint Germanus I (died ~733), 39th Patriarch of Constantinople
* Germanus II of Constantinople (died 1240), 95th Patriarch of Constantinople
* Germanus III of Constantinople (died 1267), 101st Patriarch of Constantinople
* Germanos III of Old Patras (1771–1826), metropolitan bishop of Patras and participant in the Greek War of Independence
* Germanus IV of Constantinople (died 1853), 213th Patriarch of Constantinople
* Germanus II of Athens, Archbishop of Athens (1889–1896)
* Patriarch Germanus V of Constantinople (died 1918), 225th Patriarch of Constantinople
* Germanos Karavangelis (died 1935), Metropolitan Bishop of Kastoria, Amaseia, Ioannina, and Exarch of Central Europe. Institutions

• Sanctus Germanus, a Titular See in the Roman Catholic Church

Germanus, called "patricius" (Greek: πατρίκιος), was a leading member of the Byzantine Senate during the reign of Maurice.

Germanus (; died 604) was a Byzantine general who served under Emperor Phocas (r. 602–610) in the early stages of the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628.

Germanus was a Caesar of the Byzantine Empire. He married Charito, a daughter of Tiberius II Constantine and Ino Anastasia.

According to The Emperor Maurice and His Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan warfare (1988) by Michael Whitby, Germanus was a patrician and governor of the praetorian prefecture of Africa. He was chosen by the dying Tiberius II as a viable heir for his throne in 582. "In a dual ceremony on 5 August Germanus ... and Maurice were elevated to the rank of Caesar and betrothed to Tiberius' two daughters, Charito and Constantina.".

Whitby regards the arrangement as indicating Tiberius' plans to have two co-rulers as successors. He suggests that the dying emperor might have even been trying to reintroduce the concept of a Western and Eastern Roman Emperor, with Germanus and Maurice chosen for their respective connections to the western and eastern provinces of the Empire. Whitby identifies this Germanus with a similarly named son born to Germanus (d. 550) and Matasuntha.

According to a statement in Jordanes' Getica, the senior Germanus was a descendant of the noble Roman clan of the Anicii. The exact nature of his connection however, if it is anything more than a literary device to indicate noble descent, is unclear. Theodor Mommsen hypothesized that his mother could have been a daughter of Anicia Juliana. Matasuntha was a daughter of Eutharic and Amalasuntha. She was a sister of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths. Their maternal grandparents were Theodoric the Great and Audofleda. Whitby suggests that a dual origin from the Anicii and Ostrogoth royalty would indeed give the new Caesar a strong claim to ruling Africa and the Praetorian prefecture of Italy. However, the common name "Germanus" may hint to these figures being related to each other but there are insufficient evidence for identifications.

The Chronicle of John of Nikiû records on the death of Tiberius: "He died in peace in the third year of his reign. It was owing to the sins of men that his days were so few; for they were not worthy of such a Godloving emperor, and so they lost this gracious and good man. Before he died he gave orders that his son-in-law, named Germanus, should be raised to the imperial throne. Now he had formerly been patrician. But owing to his humility of heart he refused to be emperor. Thereupon Maurice, who was of the province of Cappadocia, was made emperor." Whitby considers this to be the only primary source for Tiberius preferring Germanus over Maurice. He feels it has more to do with John's bias against Maurice than accuracy. John of Nikiû vehemently criticizes the religious policies of Maurice and even calls him a pagan

The narrative of John of Nikiû is contradicted by the Historia Francorum of Gregory of Tours which also records Byzantine events. He depicts Maurice as hand-picked to be heir, first by dowager empress Sophia and then by Tiberius II.

Germanus disappears from sources following his marriage. He may have resurfaced as the patricius Germanus mentioned in the 7th century, whose daughter married Maurice's eldest son Theodosius. Once again, the identification is uncertain.