Saint Hermenegild or Ermengild (died 13 April 585; es, San Hermenegildo; la, Hermenegildus, from

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

''*Airmana-gild'', "immense tribute"), was the son of king

Liuvigild Liuvigild, Leuvigild, Leovigild, or ''Leovigildo'' (Spanish and Portuguese), ( 519 – 586) was a Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania from 568 to 586. Known for his Codex Revisus or Code of Leovigild, a law allowing equal rights between the ...

of the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic peoples, Germanic su ...

in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. He fell out with his father in 579, then revolted the following year. During his rebellion, he converted from

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Hermenegild was defeated in 584 and exiled. His death was later celebrated as a martyrdom due to the influence of

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

's ''Dialogues'', in which he portrayed Hermenegild as a "Catholic martyr rebelling against the tyranny of an Arian father."

Marriage to Ingund

Hermenegild was the eldest son of Liuvigild and his first wife.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Saint Hermengild." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 Jan. 2013
/ref> He was a brother of

Reccared I Reccared I (or Recared; la, Flavius Reccaredus; es, Flavio Recaredo; 559 – December 601; reigned 586–601) was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of Arianis ...

and brought up an Arian. Liuvigild made his sons co-regents. Baptismo de Santo Hermenegildo (século XVII) - attrib

In 579, he married

Ingund Ingonde, Ingund, Ingunda, or (in Latin) Ingundis (born c. 499, Thuringia d. 546) was a queen of the Franks by marriage to Clotaire I, son of Clovis. She was the daughter of King Baderic of Thuringia (c. 480 - c. 529). She became concubine to C ...

, the daughter of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

King Sigebert I of

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

who was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Her mother was the Visigoth princess

Brunhilda of Austrasia Brunhilda (c. 543–613) was queen consort of Austrasia, part of Francia, by marriage to the Merovingian king Sigebert I of Austrasia, and regent for her son, grandson and great-grandson. In her long and complicated career she ruled the eastern ...

. The twelve-year-old Ingund was pressured by Hermenegild's stepmother Goiswintha to abjure her beliefs, but she stayed firm in her faith. Liuvigild sent Hermenegild to the south to govern on his behalf. There, he came under the influence of

Leander of Seville Leander of Seville ( es, San Leandro de Sevilla; la, Sanctus Leandrus; 534 AD, in Cartagena – 13 March 600 or 601, in Seville) was the Bishop of Seville. He was instrumental in effecting the conversion of the Visigothic kings Hermengild and ...

, the older brother of

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

. Hermenegild was converted to Chalcedonian Christianity. His family demanded for him to return to Arianism, but he refused. Around then, he led a revolt against Liuvigild. Contemporary accounts attribute that to politics, rather than primarily religious differences. He asked for the aid of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, but it was occupied with defending itself from territorial incursions by the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

.Butler Alban. ''The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saint,'' Volume 4 by the Revereand Alban Butler, D & J Sadlier and Company, 1864
/ref> For a time, Hermenegild had the support of the

Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...

, who had been defeated by Liuvigild in 579, but he forced them to capitulate once again in 583. Hermenegild fled to Seville and when it fell to a siege in 584, he went to Córdoba. After Liuvigild paid 30,000 pieces of gold, the Byzantines withdrew and took Ingund and her son with them. Hermenegild sought sanctuary in a church. Liuvigild would not violate the sanctuary. He sent Reccared inside to speak with Hermenegild and to offer peace. That was accepted, and peace was made for some time.

Imprisonment and death

Goiswintha, however, brought about another alienation within the family. Hermenegild was imprisoned in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

. During his captivity in the tower of Seville, an Arian bishop was sent to Hermenegild for

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

but he would not accept the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

from him. King Liuvigild ordered him beheaded; he was executed on 13 April 585. He had one son by his wife named Athanagild after his matrilineal great-grandfather king

Athanagild Athanagild ( 517 – December 567) was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. He had rebelled against his predecessor, Agila I, in 551. The armies of Agila and Athanagild met at Seville, where Agila met a second defeat. Following the death of ...

. They both tried to seek refuge in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

after his execution, but it was refused while they were already in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. She then returned to the Frankish Kingdom, where her son remained under her and her mother's custody.

Parentage

According to the 9th-century ''

Chronicle of Alfonso III The ''Chronicle of Alfonso III'' ( la, Chronica Adefonsi tertii regis) is a chronicle composed in the early tenth century on the order of King Alfonso III of León with the goal of showing the continuity between Visigothic Spain and the later Chris ...

'',

Erwig Erwig ( la, Flavius Ervigius; after 642 – 687) was a king of the Visigoths in Hispania (680–687). Parentage According to the 9th-century '' Chronicle of Alfonso III'', Erwig was the son of Ardabast, who had journeyed from the Byzantine Empire ...

was the son of Ardabast, who had journeyed from the

to Hispania during the time of

Chindasuinth Chindasuinth (also spelled Chindaswinth, Chindaswind, Chindasuinto, Chindasvindo, or Khindaswinth (Latin: Chintasvintus, Cindasvintus; 563 – 30 September 653) was Visigothic King of Hispania, from 642 until his death in 653. He succeeded Tulga, ...

, and married Chindasuinth's niece Goda. Ardabast (or Artavasdos), was probably an Armenian or Persian Christian exile in Constantinople or in Byzantine Africa. In Hispania he was made a count. 17th-century Spanish genealogist

Luis Bartolomé de Salazar y Castro Luis_Bartolomé_de_Salazar_y_Castro

, and his mother as Flavia Juliana, a daughter of Peter Augustus and niece of the Emperor

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

. This imperial connection is disputed by

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorbo ...

, who says that the only source for Athanagild's marriage to Flavia Julia is

José Pellicer José Pellicer de Ossau y Tovar (1602-1679) was a Spanish publicist for Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, poet, genealogist, and historian of Castile and Aragon. Life José Pellicer was born in Zaragoza. He published a commentary on Lu ...

, who he claims to be a forger.Christian Settipani, ''Les ancêtres de Charlemagne'', p. 431.

Footnotes

Sources

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External links