Rekkared I.

Rekkared I (also written Reccared or Richaredus , Latin Flavius Reccaredus Rex ; † December 601 in Toledo ) was King of the Visigoths from April / May 586 to December 601.

Co-regency

Rekkared was the younger of the two sons of King Leovigild . He was appointed co-regent in 573 together with his brother Hermenegild von Leovigild. This was not linked to any division of the empire or the assignment of a separate domain; the measure with which Leovigild followed the Eastern Roman model was only intended to enforce the dynastic succession to the throne against the right to vote. In 578 Leovigild founded the city of Reccopolis , which he named after Rekkared. This naming showed a preference for the younger son even then.

At that time, the royal family still professed the Arian faith according to Visigoth tradition , while the majority of the imperial population was Catholic. In 579 Hermenegild was sent by his father to Seville , from where he was supposed to rule over the southern part of the Visigoth Empire. There Hermenegild converted to Catholicism. He started an uprising against his father, which was suppressed in 582-584. The historian Gregory of Tours reports that Rekkared persuaded his brother, who had fled to a church, to give up and ask his father for mercy. Hermenegild remained in captivity and was murdered in 585. Thus Rekkared fell to the role of heir to the throne. On behalf of Leovigild, he repulsed an attack by the Merovingian Frankish king Guntram I on Visigoth Septimania .

Government and conversion to Catholicism

After Leovigild's death (586), Rekkared succeeded him without any problems. Like his father, he also strived for the religious unity of the empire; However, he realized that Arianism as a minority denomination could not fulfill this function, and decided on the other solution: In 587 he converted to Catholicism. This led to unsuccessful conspiracies by Arian circles in Lusitania and at court. Rekkared's Arian stepmother Goswintha (Goiswintha) was involved in the court intrigues, but she died in 588. Guntram I supported Arian rebels in Septimania, although he was a Catholic himself. The victory of Rekkared's troops over the rebels and the Franks allied with them made a great impression on contemporaries; it was interpreted as a sign of divine grace.

In 589 the king called the 3rd Council of Toledo , which met under his chairmanship and whose subjects he determined. The Arian bishops were promised that they would be allowed to keep their ecclesiastical offices when converting to Catholicism. The council recognized the essential role of the king in the church to a very large extent, which greatly increased his power. Following the Eastern Roman model, the Council Fathers described Rekkared as a "orthodox king" (in analogy to the "orthodox emperor") and his activities as "apostolic" (an allusion to the "apostle-like" emperor); they called him "most holy prince", "filled with divine spirit". The council decisions also included measures against the Jews; Among other things, they were forbidden from marrying Christian women or having Christian concubines , and children from such pre-existing relationships had to be baptized.

Family relationships and succession

Leovigild had betrothed Rekkared to Rigunth , a daughter of King Chilperich I of Neustria, but the marriage did not materialize. As king, Rekkared was married to Baddo, of whom no further details are known; the marriage was concluded in 589 after another Frankish marriage project (with a daughter of King Sigibert I of Austrasia ) had failed. Rekkared's son and successor Liuva II did not come from this marriage, but was born out of wedlock in 583/584; his mother was of low origin.

literature

Georg Scheibelreiter : Reccared . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Vol. 24, 2003, pp. 200-203.
Dietrich Claude : Nobility, Church and Royalty in the Visigoth Empire . Sigmaringen 1971, pp. 77-91.

Remarks

^ Dietrich Claude: Nobility, Church and Kingship in the Visigoth Empire . Sigmaringen 1971, pp. 77-91, here: 59-61; Georg Scheibelreiter: Reccared . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 24, 2003, pp. 200–203, here: 200.
↑ Historia Francorum 5.38.
↑ Concilium Toletanum III , ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, pp. 107f., 116f.
^ Concilium Toletanum III c. 14, ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, p. 129.
↑ On marriage policy see José Orlandis: Baddo, gloriosa regina , in: De Tertullien aux mozarabes , Vol. 2, Paris 1992, pp. 83–91. Orlandis speculatively suspects that Baddo himself could have been that woman of low origin and gave birth to Liuva II, heir to the throne, before she was made queen.

predecessor	Office	successor
Leovigild	King of the Visigoths 586–601	Liuva II.

personal data
SURNAME	Rekkared I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Richaredus; Reccared
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of the Visigoths
DATE OF BIRTH	6th century
DATE OF DEATH	December 601
Place of death	Toledo

[1] Dietrich Claude: Nobility, Church and Kingship in the Visigoth Empire . Sigmaringen 1971, pp. 77-91, here: 59-61; Georg Scheibelreiter: Reccared . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 24, 2003, pp. 200–203, here: 200.

[2] Historia Francorum 5.38.

[3] Concilium Toletanum III , ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, pp. 107f., 116f.

[4] Concilium Toletanum III c. 14, ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, p. 129.

[5] On marriage policy see José Orlandis: Baddo, gloriosa regina , in: De Tertullien aux mozarabes , Vol. 2, Paris 1992, pp. 83–91. Orlandis speculatively suspects that Baddo himself could have been that woman of low origin and gave birth to Liuva II, heir to the throne, before she was made queen.