Theodoric II

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Modern fantasy of Theodoric II.

Theodoric II († 466 ) was the second eldest son of the Visigoth king Theodoric I (correct: Theoderid) and from 453 to 466 king of the Visigoths.

Until the assumption of power

Theodoric II, whose maternal grandfather was probably the Visigoth king Alaric I , already established good relations with the later Western Roman Emperor Avitus during the reign of his father , who stayed at the court of the Visigoths in Tolosa for a long time and taught Theodoric II in Latin . When the Romans war against Attila in Gaul in 451 , Avitus brokered a Gothic-Roman alliance, as a result of which Theodoric I, with his entire armed forces and his two sons Thorismund and Theodoric II, took part in the campaign of Aëtius and played a decisive role in the victory over the Huns contributed. However, Theodoric I fell in the battle of the Catalaunian fields , and his eldest son Thorismund was proclaimed the new King of the Visigoths on the battlefield.

Apparently there was already tension between the eldest sons of the fallen king, since Aëtius was able to induce Thorismund to return home quickly to his capital Tolosa by warning of an otherwise threatened takeover of power by his younger brothers. The trigger for the resistance to the government of Thorismund, which actually soon followed, seems to have been his hostile attitude towards the Romans. Together with his younger brother Frederich , Theodoric II finally eliminated Thorismund in 453 and became the new King of the Visigoths.

First phase of rule (453–457): harmony with the Western Roman Empire

The Visigothic kingdom was at the beginning of the government of Theodoric II. One with the Western Roman Empire allied government in today's Aquitaine . On behalf of Rome, his brother Frederich took action in Hispania in 454 against the rebellious Bagauden under Basilius . Apparently under pressure from Theodoric II, his brother-in-law, the Suebi king Rechiar , also returned the Spanish province of Carthaginiensis to the Romans . Theoderic II asked himself whether a federal relationship with Rome was still useful, as Aëtius from Emperor Valentinian III. was eliminated and he was also violently killed on March 16, 455. Avitus therefore first tried to keep the Visigoth king on the pro-Roman course through the officer Messianus , and after his trip to Tolosa he was able to persuade him to renew the alliance with Rome and to support Emperor Petronius Maximus . But because the latter was murdered shortly afterwards on May 31, 455 while fleeing from Rome - which had been devastated by the Vandals - Theodoric II urged Avitus to accept the title of emperor. The two men traveled to Arelate , and Avitus was proclaimed emperor not far from this town in Ugernum on July 9, 455 with the consent of the Gallic senators and then went to Italy accompanied by a Visigoth contingent.

On the Iberian Peninsula, the Suebi Rechiars invaded the province of Carthaginiensis and thus into Roman territory and responded to an appeal for peace by Theodoric II by an embassy by penetrating the Roman province of Tarraconensis . Since a second peace request of the Visigoth king was ignored, he went to the field with the military support of the allied Burgundians under their king Gundioch against Rechiar and defeated him on October 5, 456 on the small river Urbicus (today Órbigo ) not far from Asturica . Rechiar fled to Galicia and was persecuted by Theodoric II, who took the Suebi metropolis, Bracara , on October 28, 456 , and had it cruelly plundered despite the Roman sentiments of its citizens. In December 456 Rechiar was seized in Portus Cale and executed on the orders of the Visigoth King. The Warne Agiulf was appointed by Theodoric II as the new governor of the Suebian kingdom in Galicia, but Maldras was able to rise to be king over part of the Suebi.

The King of the Visigoths then passed through the Baetica , but learned in emerita of the uprising of Agiulf as well as of the fall and soon after that in the beginning of 457 the death of his friend, the emperor Avitus . He therefore decided to return to his kingdom and in April 457 traveled back from Emerita to Gaul. Only part of his armed forces remained stationed in Spain for further fighting. There, however, the Romans also often suffered from attacks by the Goths, although they were considered their protective power. A Gothic army devastated Asturica and Palantia , but suffered a defeat at Castrum Coviacense and returned to Gaul. At least another Gothic army was able to defeat Agiulf. The execution of the rebel took place in June 457 in Portus Cale .

Second period of rule (457–466): Expansion at the expense of the Western Romans

At the latest since the death of Avitus, Theodoric II expanded his empire at the expense of territories of the Western Roman Empire, as the latter only had weak empire power due to constant pretender battles for the imperial throne. In spite of this, the King of the Visigoths continued to pretend to be the representative of Rome without ever exercising any real imperial office. When the King of the Visigoths came back to Gaul from Spain, he prevented Marcellus from being raised to the rank of emperor by the Gaulish nobles. A wealthy climber named Paeonius had made himself Praetorian prefect of Gaul, but the Visigoth king accepted this presumption of office. Meanwhile in Italy Majorian had been proclaimed the new Augustus on April 1, 457. In order to prevent threatening danger from this side, Theodoric II entered into a closer alliance with the Burgundians. The territory of Gundioch was enlarged by parts of the provinces of Maxima Sequanorum and Lugdunensis Prima ; also Lugdunum was occupied by the Burgundians.

Cyrila operated in the Baetica as a Visigoth general in 458 and was replaced by Sunierich the next year . In addition, messengers from Theodoric II, but also from the Vandal King Geiseric, were among the Suebi in 458; they were probably trying, albeit in vain, to forge a common alliance against the new Roman emperor. Majorian's friend, the Gallic army master Aegidius , won the support of the Salfranken and was able to occupy the important city of Arelate, seat of the Gallic prefecture, even before Theodoric II. The siege of this city by the Visigoths was lifted by a relief army brought in by the Roman emperor at the beginning of 459, which defeated the Gothic army together with the troops of the besieged Aegidius. But Majorian did not want any hostility with Theodoric II because of other plans and renewed the old treaty.

Majorian intended to use war against the Vandals and to recapture the province of Africa from them. He entrusted the King of the Visigoths with fighting the Suebi, to whom he also provided Roman units under the command of the army master Nepotianus as reinforcement. The allied Romans and Visigoths were briefly victorious at Lucus in Gallaecia and tried in vain to make peace with the Suebi through messengers. After Sunierich had won a victory at Scallabis in Lusitania , the Sueb leader Frumarius released the bishop and chronicler Hydatius , who had been imprisoned for three months, under Gothic pressure in November 460 .

The Patricius Ricimer had Emperor Majorian murdered on August 7, 461 and appointed Libius Severus on November 19, 461 as the new Augustus , who was fought by the former army master Aegidius. Theodoric II allied himself with Ricimer and had Narbo occupied by his brother Frederich in 462 under the pretext of supporting the new emperor . With this, the Visigoths secured the long-desired access to the Mediterranean and connections to the Iberian Peninsula. In return, the brother of the King of the Visigoths, Frederich, campaigned for the Roman emperor against Aegidius, who, however , had secured the help of the Salfranken under Childerich I. Although Frederich was able to oust his adversary from southern Gaul and throw him back to the Loire , he was defeated by Aegidius in 463 at today's Orléans and fell during the battle; the Visigoths then had to withdraw.

In Spain, Theodoric II had deposed the imperial general Nepotianus in 462; Arborius took his place . The pretender struggles between the aspirants to rule over the entire Suebian kingdom continued. Palagorius sent envoys to the Visigoths from Gallaecia. Remismund (or Rechimund), who rivaled Frumarius for the throne , turned to Theodoric II for help and negotiated twice with him personally. However, he was only able to gain sole control over all the Suebi after the death of Frumarius in 464 and now allied himself with Theodoric II. However, the Roman Empire no longer had a share in this treaty. To confirm the alliance, Remismund received a Visigoth (probably from the royal family) as his wife. In addition, the Suebi were to be converted to Arianism by the Visigoth missionary Ajax (sent 464 or 466) . Presumably, the boundaries of the Suebian Empire were also determined at that time in such a way that it now occupied the northern province of Lusitania and the province of Gallaecia, which was smaller in the east. There Theodoric II occupied the campi Gallaecia and Palantia, through which strategically important roads led from Aquitaine to northwestern Spain. Although he was not yet able to make any lasting conquests in southern Spain, the Visigoths nevertheless advanced to become the strongest power in Spain in 464.

After the conclusion of the alliance with the Suebi, Theodoric II brought troops from Spain (as well as the Arborius) back to Gaul in order to be prepared for further battles with Aegidius, who however died in 464. Thereupon the Visigoths advanced north, but without being able to take Orléans. Salla went to the court of Remismund in 466 as the envoy of Theodoric II.

Whether the Edictum Theoderici goes back to Theodoric II is disputed.

In 466 Theodoric II was murdered by his younger brother Eurich in Tolosa, who then succeeded him as Visigoth king and achieved formal independence from the Roman Empire.

Testimony of Sidonius Apollinaris

Sidonius Apollinaris reports in a letter to his brother-in-law Agricola, a son of the Roman emperor Avitus, very vividly about the appearance and behavior of Theodoric II as well as about his court. The letter reports, among other things, the daily participation of the king in the service, but not out of inner conviction. Both the writer and the addressee were of Roman descent, which accordingly determines the perspective of the letter quoted as well as the friendship between the two men and the Visigoth ruler. Although this description in an epistle does not of course give a complete description of Theodoric II and his court, it represents the best biographical testimony of a Germanic king before Einhard's biography of Charlemagne .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Name variants in ancient authors: Theodericus, Theodoricus, Theudoricus, Theoderidus and others, compiled with documents from Wilhelm Enßlin (1934) Sp. 1740.
  2. ↑ This is concluded from a statement by Sidonius Apollinaris ( carmen 7, 505), where Theodoric II describes Alaric as grandfather, because the author may not have allowed himself any poetic freedom when specifying this relationship; so Wilhelm Enßlin (1934) Sp. 1740.
  3. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Carmen 7, 495ff.
  4. ↑ Jordanes , De origine Getarum 36, 187-41, 215 et al
  5. ↑ Jordanes, De origine Getarum 41, 216.
  6. ↑ Prosper Tiro , Chronik 1371, in: MGH , Auctores antiquissimi (AA) 9 (= Chronica minora 1), p. 483; Hydatius , Chronik 156, in: MGH AA 11 (= Chronica minora 2), p. 27; Isidor , Historia Gothorum, Vandalorum, Suevorum 30, in: MGH AA 11, p. 279; Gregory of Tours , Ten Books of Stories 2, 7.
  7. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 158, in: MGH AA 11, p. 27.
  8. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 168, in: MGH AA 11, p. 28.
  9. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Carmen 7, 398ff.
  10. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Carmen 7, 366ff .; 7, 398ff .; 7, 431ff.
  11. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Carmen 7, 506ff .; 7, 571ff .; Hydatius, Chronik 163, in: MGH AA 11, p. 27; Marius von Avenches , Chronik , ad annum 455, in: MGH AA 11, p. 232; Johannes Antiochenus, Fragment 202 from Karl Müller (Ed.), Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) 4, 616.
  12. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 168–170, in: MGH AA 11, p. 28; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 229ff.
  13. ↑ Hydatius, Chronik 172f., In: MGH AA 11, p. 28; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 231f .; Chronica Caesaraugusta , ad annum 458, in: MGH AA 11, p. 222
  14. ↑ Hydatius, Chronik 174f., In: MGH AA 11, p. 29; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 232
  15. ↑ Cf. Matthias Springer : Warning . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . No. 33 . de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018388-7 , p. 274-281 . , P. 277.
  16. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 180, in: MGH AA 11, p. 29; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 233.
  17. ↑ a b Hydatius, Chronik 186, in: MGH AA 11, p. 30
  18. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 187, in: MGH AA 11, p. 30; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 234
  19. ^ Marius von Avenches, Chronik , ad annum 457, in: MGH AA 11, p. 232; Fredegar 2, 46
  20. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 193, in: MGH AA 11, p. 31
  21. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 192, in: MGH AA 11, p. 31
  22. ↑ Hydatius, Chronik 197, in: MGH AA 11, p. 31, Priskos , Fragment 27, in: FHG 4, 103; Paulinus von Périgueux , De vita sancti Martini 6, 111ff., In: CSEL 16, 193ff.
  23. ↑ Hydatius, Chronik 201–208, in: MGH AA 11, p. 32
  24. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 217, in: MGH AA 11, p. 33
  25. ^ Hydatius, Chronik 218, in: MGH AA 11, p. 33; Marius von Avenches, Chronik , ad annum 463, in: MGH AA 11, p. 232; Chronica Gallica of 452 , 638, in: MGH AA 9, p. 664; Priskos, fragment 30, in: FHG 4, 104; Gregory of Tours, Ten Books of Stories 2, 18
  26. ^ Hydatius, Chronicle 219f .; 223; 226; 230, in: MGH AA 11, p. 33
  27. ↑ Hydatius, Chronicle 228; 230; 237, in: MGH AA 11, p. 33f.
  28. ↑ Hydatius, Chronik 237f., In: MGH AA 11, p. 34; Chronica Gallica of 452 , 643, in: MGH AA 9, p. 664; Chronica Caesaraugusta , ad annum 466, in: MGH AA 11, p. 222; Marius von Avenches, Chronik , ad annum 467, in: MGH AA 11, p. 233; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 234-45, 235
  29. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Letter 1,2; Excerpts translated into: Norman Davies, Disappeared Reiche , Darmstadt 2013, p. 32 f.

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Commons : Teodorico II  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Thorismund Visigoth kings
453–466 		Eurich
personal data
SURNAME Theodoric II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION younger son of the Visigoth king Theodoric I.
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century or 5th century
DATE OF DEATH 466