O rei suevo Hermerico no Corpus Pelagianum (BNE Mss 1513)

Hermeric (died 441) 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 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 name ...

(or Suevi) in the city of

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

(Bracara Augusta) according to bishop

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius (c. 400 – c. 469) was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), he ...

(who wrote his chronicle around the year 470). 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, Isidore based himself on primarily on

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

, Prosper of Aquitaine and

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Western Roman Empire, Roman priest, historian and theology, theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Au ...

, none of whom mentions Hermeric prior to 419. Hermeric was a pagan and an enemy of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

throughout his life. He is given a reign of thirty-two years in most manuscripts of Isidore of Seville's '' Historia Suevorum'', but one manuscript does list his reign as fourteen years.Thompson, 129 and 306n32. According to Thompson (1982)'s interpretation of Isidore, Hermeric led the Suevi

across the Rhine ''Across the Rhine'' (known in Europe as ''1944: Across the Rhine'') is a 1995 computer wargame developed by MPS Labs and published by MicroProse. The game was re-released digitally using DOSBox, supporting Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, and L ...

along with the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area be ...

and

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the ...

in December 406. They crossed

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

and the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

and settled in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: His ...

. Kulikowski (2000 & 2015) argued that the Suebi probably stayed in northern Gaul throughout 407 to 409, and moved to Galicia between 409 and 411. While

Theodore Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

believed the Suevi were '' foederati'' and Ernst Stein seconded the notion by believing they had made an agreement with the

Roman usurper Roman usurpers were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without legitimate legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during the Roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third centu ...

Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in ...

whereby they received the western half of Iberia, there is no primary evidence for any alliance between the Suevi and Rome.Thompson, 153–154. In 411 (according to Ludwig Schmidt) or 417 (according to

Felix Dahn Felix Dahn (9 February 1834 – 3 January 1912) was a German law professor, German nationalism, German nationalist author, poet and historian. Biography Ludwig Julius Sophus Felix Dahn was born in Hamburg as the oldest son of Friedrich (1811–1 ...

), Hermeric made a treaty with the Roman emperor Honorius, but in fact the only event of note in 411 was the division of Iberia ''sorte'' (by lot) between the barbarian peoples. The east of the province of

Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities include ...

with its capital of

(Bracara Augusta) fell to the Suevi, while the west of the province went to the populous

Hasdingi The Hasdingi were one of the Vandal peoples of the Roman era. The Vandals were Germanic peoples, who are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language, and were first reported during the first centuries of the Roman empire in the area which is ...

. Between 416 and 418, the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

under

Wallia Wallia or Walha ( Spanish: ''Walia'', Portuguese ''Vália''), ( 385 – 418) was king of the Visigoths from 415 to 418, earning a reputation as a great warrior and prudent ruler. He was elected to the throne after Athaulf and then Sigeric wer ...

made war on Hermeric on behalf of Rome.

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 Nervasian (Erbasian) Mountains before the Roman general Asterius intervened and the Vandals retreated.Thompson, 165. Thereafter, until the Vandals left Iberia for Africa in 429, Hermeric remained peaceful, but in 430 he began to raid Gallaecia. In 431 a Gallaecian named

went to

Flavius Aëtius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed po ...

to plead for help against the Suevi, but Aëtius delayed until 432 the sending of the

comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

Censorius. According to Hydatius' ''Chronicle'' of contemporary events, the Gallaecian ''plebs'' in the better-fortified strongpoints defeated Hermeric and his men, inflicting heavy casualties and taking many prisoners, which forced the Sueves to release the Gallaecian families they had taken captive (430).Thompson, 178. In 435, "on episcopal intervention", possibly Hydatius', Hermeric made peace with the Gallaecians.Thompson, 179 and 301n94. In that same year, Hermeric negotiated through the Catholic bishop Symphosius directly with the Western Roman Emperor. In 437, Censorius made a second expedition accompanied by Fretimund. After seven years of illness, Hermeric was forced to retire from the kingship in 438 and pass it on to his son

Rechila Rechila (died 448) was the Suevi 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 ...

. The story, recorded in Isidore, that Hermeric sent Rechila to

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic d ...

to defeat Andevotus, ''Romanae militiae dux'', is false, as there is no contemporary evidence that Hermeric retained any authority after his abdication.Thompson, 120. There appears to have been no principle of elective monarchy among the Suevi and the successes of their raids may have accounted for the contentment of their people. Hermeric's royal line lasted until 456. 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.Thompson, 166.

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.

Notes

Sources