Hermeric
Hermeric (died 441[1]) was the king of the Suevi from at least 419 and possibly as early as 406 until his abdication in 438.
Biography
Before 419
Nothing is known for sure about Hermeric before 419, the year in which he is first mentioned; namely, he became king of the Suebi (or Suevi) in the city of Braga (Bracara Augusta) according to bishop Hydatius (who wrote his chronicle around the year 470).[1] Although bishop Isidore of Seville, writing his Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum two centuries after the fact, claims that Hermeric was already king of the Suebi from 406,[2] Isidore based himself on primarily on Jerome, Hydatius, Prosper of Aquitaine and Orosius, none of whom mentions Hermeric prior to 419.[1]
Hermeric was a
According to Thompson (1982)'s interpretation of Isidore, Hermeric led the Suevi
After 419
In 419, after a personal dispute between Hermeric and the Vandal king Gunderic, the Vandals attacked the Suevi and trapped Hermeric in the Narbasian (Erbasian) Mountains before the Roman general Asterius intervened and the Vandals retreated.[5] Thereafter, until the Vandals left Iberia for Africa in 429, Hermeric remained peaceful, but in 430 he began to raid Gallaecia.[5]
In 431 a Gallaecian named
In 435, "on episcopal intervention", possibly Hydatius', Hermeric made peace with the Gallaecians.
After seven years of illness, Hermeric was forced to retire from the kingship in 438 and pass it on to his son
In 429, there appeared briefly a Suevic military leader named Heremigarius operating in Lusitania who may have been a joint monarch with Hermeric, but there is no primary source to prove it.[9]
Misspelling issues
Hermeric has been sometimes misspelled as or confused with Hermeneric in written documents. This is a quite significant issue among scholars and in academia.[citation needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9789004288607. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ Thompson, 217. He was first mentioned by Hydatius in 419, it being Isidore who makes him king from 406.
- ^ a b Thompson, 129 and 306n32.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, 153–154.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, 165.
- ^ Thompson, 178.
- ^ a b Thompson, 179 and 301n94.
- ^ Thompson, 120.
- ^ a b Thompson, 166.
Sources
- ISBN 0-299-08700-X.
- Kulikowski, Michael. "The Career of the 'Comes Hispaniarum' Asterius." Phoenix, Vol. 54, No. 1/2. (Spring–Summer, 2000), pp. 123–141.