The Kingdom of the Suebi (Latin: Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Galicia (Latin: Regnum Galicia) or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia (Latin: Galicia suevorum regnum), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from the Roman Empire. Based in the former Roman provinces of Gallaecia and northern Lusitania, the de facto kingdom was established by the Suebi about 409, and during the 6th century it became a formally declared kingdom identifying with Gallaecia. It maintained its independence until 585, when it was annexed by the Visigoths, and was turned into the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania.
History
Origins
Little is known about the Suebi who crossed the Rhine on the night of 31 December 405 AD and entered the Roman Empire. It is speculated that these Suevi are the same group as the Quadi, who are mentioned in early writings as living north of the middle Danube, in what is now lower Austria and western Slovakia, and who played an important part in the Germanic Wars of the 2nd century, when, allied with the Marcomanni, they fought fiercely against the Romans under Marcus Aurelius. The main reason behind the identification of the Suevi and Quadi as the same group comes from a letter written by St. Jerome to Ageruchia, listing the invaders who were in Gaul in 409, in which the Quadi are listed and the Suevi are not. The argument for this theory, however, is based solely on the disappearance of the Quadi in the text and the emergence of the Suevi, which conflicts with the testimony of other contemporary authors, such as Orosius, who did indeed cite the Suevi among the peoples traversing the Rhine in 406, and side by side with Quadi, Marcomanni, Vandals and Sarmatians in another passage. Sixth century authors identified the Sueves of Gallaecia with the Alamanni, or simply with Germans, whilst the 4th century Laterculus Veronensis mentions some Suevi side by side with Alamanni, Quadi, Marcomanni and other Germanic peoples.
Additionally it has been pointed out that the lack of mention of the Suevi could mean that they were not per se an older distinct ethnic group, but the result of a recent ethnogenesis, with many smaller groups—among them part of the Quadi and Marcomanni—coming together during the migration from the Danube valley to the Iberian Peninsula. Other groups of Sueves are mentioned by Jordanes and other historians as residing by the Danube regions during the 5th and 6th centuries.
Although there is no clearly documented reason behind the migration of 405
, a widely accepted theory is that the migration of the various Germanic peoples west of the Rhine was due to the westward push of the Huns during the late 4th century, which forced the Germanic peoples westward in response to the threat. This theory has created controversy within the academic community, because of the lack of convincing evidence.
Whether displaced by the Huns or not, the Suevi along with the Vandals and Alans crossed the Rhine on the night of 31 December 405. Their entrance into the Roman Empire was at a moment when the Roman West was experiencing a series of invasions and civil wars; between 405 and 406, the Western regions of the empire saw the invasion of Italy by Goths under Radagaisus, as well as a steady stream of usurpers. This allowed the invading barbarians to enter Gaul with little resistance, consequently allowing for the barbarians to cause considerable damage to the northern provinces of Germania Inferior, Belgica Prima, and Belgica Secunda before the empire saw them as a threat. In response to the barbarian invasion of Gaul, the usurper Constantine III halted the masses of Vandals, Alans, and Sueves, confining them to northern Gaul. But in the spring of 409, Gerontius led a revolt in Hispania and set up his own emperor, Maximus. Constantine, who had recently been elevated to the title of Augustus, set off to Hispania to deal with the rebellion. Gerontius responded by stirring up the barbarians in Gaul against Constantine, convincing them to mobilize again, and, in the summer of 409, the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi began pushing south towards Hispania.
Settlement and integration
The civil war that erupted in the Iberian Peninsula between the forces of Constantine and Gerontius left the passes through the Pyrenees either purposely or inadvertently neglected, leaving southern Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula vulnerable to barbarian attack. Hydatius documents that the crossing into the Iberian Peninsula by the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi took place on either 28 September or 12 October 409. Some scholars take the two dates as the beginning and the end of the crossing of the formidable Pyrenees by scores of thousands, since this could not have been accomplished in one day. Hydatius writes that upon entering Hispania, the barbarian peoples, and even the Roman soldiers, spent 409–410 in a frenzy, plundering food and goods from the cities and countryside, which caused a famine that, according to Hydatius, forced the locals to resort to cannibalism: "[driven] by hunger human beings devoured human flesh; mothers too feasted upon the bodies of their own children whom they had killed and cooked with their own hands."
In 411 the various barbarian groups brokered a peace and divided the provinces of Hispania among themselves sorte, "by lot". Many scholars believe that the reference to "lot" may be to the sortes, "allotments," which barbarian federates received from the Roman government, which suggests that the Suevi and the other invaders had signed a treaty with Maximus. There is, however, no concrete evidence of any treaties between the Romans and the barbarians: Hydatius never mentions any treaty, and states that the peace in 411 was brought about by the compassion of the Lord, while Orosius asserts that the kings of the Vandals, Alans and Sueves were actively pursuing a pact similar to that of the Visigoths at a later date. The division of the land among the four barbarian groups went as such: the Siling Vandals settled in Hispania Baetica, the Alans were allotted the provinces of Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis, and the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi shared the northwestern province of Gallaecia.
The division of Gallaecia between the Suevi and the Hasding Vandals placed the Suevi in the west of the province, by the Atlantic Ocean shores, most probably in lands now between the cities of Porto in Portugal, in the south, and Pontevedra in Galicia, in the north. Soon Braga would become their capital, and their domain later expanded into Astorga, and in the region of Lugo and in the valley of the Minho river, with no evidence suggesting that the Suevi inhabited any other cities in the province prior to 438. The initial relation between Gallaeci and Suevi were not as calamitous as sometimes suggested, as Hydatius mentions no conflict among the locals between 411 and 430. Furthermore, Orosius affirmed that the newcomers "turned their swords into ploughs" once they received their new lands.
The Suebi spoke a Germanic language and classical sources refer to a Suebian language. In particular, the Suebi are associated with the concept of an "Elbe Germanic" group of early dialects spoken by the Irminones, entering Germany from the east, and originating on the Baltic. In late classical times, these dialects, by now situated to the south of the Elbe, and stretching across the Danube into the Roman empire, experienced the High German consonant shift that defines modern High German languages, and in its most extreme form, Upper German.
Based on some toponymical data, another Germanic group accompanied the Suebi and settled in Portugal, the Buri in the region between the rivers Cávado and Homem, the area known as Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri), named Burio until the High Middle Ages.
The kingdom during the 5th century
King Hermeric
In 416, the Visigoths entered the Iberian Peninsula, sent by the emperor of the West to fight off the barbarians arriving in 409. By 418, the Visigoths, led by their king, Wallia, had devastated both the Siling Vandals and Alans, leaving the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi, undisturbed by Wallia's campaign, as the two remaining forces in the Iberian Peninsula. In 419, after the departure of the Visigoths to their new lands in Aquitania, a conflict arose between the Vandals under Gunderic, and the Suevi, led by king Hermeric. Both armies met in the Battle of the Nerbasius mountains, but the intervention of Roman forces commanded by the comes Hispaniarum Asterius ended the conflict by attacking the Vandals and forcing them to move to Baetica, in modern Andalusia, leaving the Suevi in virtually sole possession of the whole province.
In 429, as the Vandals were preparing their departure to Africa, a Swabian warlord named Heremigarius moved to Lusitania to plunder it, but was confronted by the new Vandal king Gaiseric. Heremigarius drowned in the river Guadiana while retreating; this is the first instance of an armed Suebi action outside the provincial limits of Gallaecia. Then, after the Vandals left for Africa, the Swabians were the only barbarian entity left in Hispania.
King Hermeric spent the remainder of his years solidifying Suevic rule over the entire province of Gallaecia. In 430 he broke the old peace maintained with the locals, sacking central Gallaecia, although the barely romanised Gallaeci, who were reoccupying old Iron Age hill forts, managed to force a new peace, which was sealed with the interchange of prisoners. However, new hostilities broke out in 431 and 433. In 433 king Hermeric sent a local bishop, Symphosius, as ambassador, this being the first evidence for collaboration between Sueves and locals. However, it was not until 438 that an enduring peace, which would last for twenty years, was reached in the province.
King Rechila
In 438 Hermeric became ill. Having annexed the entirety of the former Roman province of Gallaecia, he made peace with the local population, and retired, leaving his son Rechila as king of the Sueves. Rechila saw an opportunity for expansion and began pushing to other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In the same year he campaigned in Baetica, defeating in open battle the Romanae militiae dux Andevotus by the banks of the Genil river, capturing a large treasure. A year later, in 439, the Sueves invaded Lusitania and entered into its capital, Mérida, which briefly became the new capital of their kingdom. Rechila continued with the expansion of the kingdom, and by 440 he fruitfully besieged and forced the surrender of a Roman official, comes Censorius, in the strategic city of Mértola. Next year, in 441, the armies of Rechila conquered Seville, just months after the death of the old king Hermeric, who had ruled his people for more than thirty years. With the conquest of Seville, capital of Baetica, the Suevi managed to control Baetica and Carthaginensis. It has been said, however, that the Suevi conquest of Baetica and Carthaginensis was limited to raids, and Suevi presence, if any, was minute.
In 446, the Romans dispatched to the provinces of Baetica and Carthaginensis the magister utriusque militiae Vitus, who, assisted by a large number of Goths, attempted to subdue the Suevi and restore imperial administration in Hispania. Rechila met and defeated the Goths; Vitus fled in disgrace and no more imperial attempts were made to retake Hispania. In 448, Rechila died as a pagan, leaving the crown to his son, Rechiar.