Alaric II

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The Visigoth Empire at the time of Alaric II.

Alaric II († 507 ) was king of the Visigoths from 484 to 507. With him the era of the Tolosan Empire ended , in which the Visigothic Empire had its focus in Gaul and Tolosa ( Toulouse ) was the capital.

Alaric was very young when he came to power. The empire inherited from his father Eurich included not only most of the Iberian Peninsula , but also Aquitaine and most of Provence (see Gallo-Roman culture ). Like his predecessors , Alaric was an Arian ; this resulted in a religious contrast to the Romanesque population of his empire, which was Catholic. In contrast to his father, Alaric did not try to paralyze the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, but sought a compromise with the Catholics and allowed the Catholic bishops to hold the Council of Agde in 506 .

Incipit of a copy of the Lex Romana Visigothorum , dated 10/11. Century.

He had Romansh lawyers create a code of law in which the provisions of Roman law that regulated the everyday legal life of his Romance subjects were compiled. This code of law, which came into effect in 506 and is known as Lex Romana Visigothorum , is also called Breviarium Alaricianum after its author .

Alaric was married to Thiudigotho, daughter of Theodoric the Great , king of the Ostrogoths . He sent Visigoth troops to Italy to support his father-in-law in the fight against Odoacer .

Alaric held fast to the peace treaty that his father had made with the Franks . When the Roman ruler Syagrius , defeated by the Franks in 486/87, fled to the Visigothic Empire, Alaric handed him over to the Frankish king Clovis I at a time that was not exactly datable in order to avoid a war with the Franks. Clovis may have interpreted this indulgence as a sign of military weakness; if the extradition took place later than 487, the now very strong position of Clovis in Gaul may also have played a role. In any case, the Frankish king wanted to finally conquer the Visigothic part of Gaul. As early as the nineties of the 5th century there was fighting between Franks and Visigoths, with the Franks advancing to Bordeaux . Alaric allied himself with Gundobad , the king of the Burgundians . Peace was made around 502; Alaric and Clovis met on an island in the Loire on the border between their empires.

A few years later the Frankish king broke the peace; his troops advanced again on Visigoth territory. Clovis, who had adopted the Catholic faith, found a pretext for war in Alaric's Arianism. Alaric found diplomatic support from his father-in-law; Theodoric threatened Clovis with an Ostrogoth entry into war in the event of an attack on the Visigoth Empire. But this did not deter Clovis from his plan. His army penetrated deep into the Visigoth region in 507. In the battle of Vouillé (near Poitiers ) in the late summer of 507 the Goths were defeated. Alaric was captured on the run and slain, allegedly by Clovis himself. Subsequently, the Franks annexed most of the Gallic territory of the Visigoths, which ended the Tolosan Empire of the Visigoths.

According to legend, the king's tomb is located in a cave in the Montagne d'Alaric mountain range .

literature

predecessor Office successor
Eurich Visigoth kings
484–507 		Gesalech
personal data
SURNAME Alaric II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Visigoths
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century
DATE OF DEATH 507