Segga was a

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

usurper who briefly claimed the kingship in 587 before being defeated by Reccared I. Following Reccared's conversion from

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, a conspiracy, led by Sunna, the Arian bishop of Mérida, arose to place the Arian Segga on the throne and probably also to kill the Catholic Méridan bishop, Masona, and the duke of the province of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

.Thompson, 102.Collins, "King Leovigild and the Conversion of the Visigoths", 3. In response, Reccared sent Claudius to put it down. The conspirators were betrayed by one of their own,

Witteric Witteric (; Portuguese language, Portuguese and Galician language, Galician: ''Viterico''; 565 – April 610) was the Visigoths, Visigoth Visigoth Kingdom, King of Hispania, Septimania and kingdom of Galicia, Galicia. He ruled from 603 to 610. R ...

, and Segga was captured. According to John of Biclarum, Segga had hands cut off (the penalty for usurpers) and was banished to Galicia.Collins, ''Visigothic Spain'', 68. The revolt had the support of several Visigothic counts, all Arians probably, but not rebelling necessarily out of devotion to their theological principles. The low-level conspirators were deprived of their property and offices and sent into exile, but one of the chief rebels, Vagrila, took refuge in the basilica of Saint Eulalia. Claudius was told, upon request, to give Vagrila, his family, and his possessions over to the church of Mérida, which he did. Masona, however, released Vagrila and his family and returned his property to him.

Sources

*Thompson, E. A. ''The Goths in Spain''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. . *Collins, Roger. ''Visigothic Spain, 409–711''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. . *Collins, Roger. "King Leovigild and the Conversion of the Visigoths." ''Law, Regionalism and Culture in Early Medieval Spain''. Variorum, 1992. .

Notes

{{reflist Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 6th-century people from the Visigothic Kingdom Usurpers