Rekjar

Rekiar or Rechiar (nei 415 – - desimber 456) wie in Seubyske kening fan 448 oant syn dea. Hy wie de earste katolike e was the first Catholic—that is, Athanasian—Germanic king in Europe and one of the most innovative and belligerent of the Suevi monarchs. Despite his orthodox Christianity, Hydatius, the contemporary bishop and chronicler from Galicia who is the sole contemporary source for biographical details of Rechiar, established his reputation as that of a barbarian with little sense of Roman law, culture, or custom.

Oan dizze side wurdt noch wurke! Fier hjir asjebleaft gjin bewurkings út oant de skriuwer mei de side klear is.

Ofbyld:Rechiarius.jpg

Silver coin of Rechiar (438–55). The reverse reads IVSSV RICHIARI REGES, Latin for "by order of King Rechiar".

Religion

Rechiar was almost certainly not raised Catholic, though some scholars have raised the contention that his father raised him that way in order to foster good relations with the Church and bring about the easy conversion of the Suevi. What is certain is the Rechiar had been converted (catholicus factus according to Isidore's Historia Suevorum) before reaching the throne. Rechiar's conversion to Catholicism predated that of the more famous Clovis of the Franks by half a century. The argument was even raised in the late nineteenth century that the Spanish church had primacy over the French because Rechiar's conversion predated Clovis'. Rechiar was the son of the pagan Rechila, whom he succeeded on the throne, and a daughter of the Visigothic king Wallia. The date and circumstances of Rechiar's conversion from paganism are unknown and it is possible that Roman missionaries took some part in it, since he was not converted to the Arianism which was preached by the Visigothic missionaries. Rechiar was one of the only Suevi to convert at that time; his people remained pagan. Hydatius records opposition, possibly secret, to his succession, but the basis of this opposition he does not mention. It is not inconceivable that it was religiously motivated.

Rekjar dy't mei it heidensk leauwen fan de Seuven grutbrocht waard, lit him noch foardat er ta kening kroand wurdt bekeare ta it Katolike leauwen.

Rechiar married an Arian Visigothic princess from Toulouse, the daughter of Theodoric I. The marriage of Catholic to Arian was not advantageous for the church of the former and the influence of Rechiar's queen and another later Arian queen helped bring about the conversion of the Suevi not to Catholicism, but to Arianism. If Rechiar did make any effort to convert his people to his faith, it was entirely ephemeral and "bore no detectable fruit".

Administration

Rechiar was a powerful enough ruler to mint his own coinage, on which he had stamped the legend ivssv rechiari reges. Indeed, he was the first Germanic king to mint coins (siliquae) bearing his name and the first to claim the right (ivssv) to mint them. Three of these coins survive, bearing witness to his complete independence from even nominal Roman authority. Rechiar's kingship was primitive enough, however, that it appears he took the royal thesaurus (treasure) with him on his campaigns. He also did not employ Roman bureaucrats or lawyers, for he did not recognise Roman law nor did he have a formal relationship with the Roman empire or the land on which his men settled, roamed, and marauded. He kept his capital at Braga.

Oarloggen

Rekjar wie in kriichshaftige hearsker dy't oarlogen fierde mei al syn buorren. Yn [[448], as er oan it begjin fan syn bewâld, lit er de Romeinske gûverneur fan Spanje Censorius yn Sevilla fermoarde. Hy slút in ferbûn mei de Bagaudae en teistert de omkrite fan de Ebro. Rechiar ook gedreven de eerste contact tussen de Sueven en de Basken:. maakte hij de oorlog op hen in februari 449 de expeditie kan zijn slechts een raid of een poging tot verovering van de Vasconia als een prelude op de verovering van de Ebro-vallei. <ref> Collins, "de Basken in Aquitaine en Navarra", 6. </ ref> Later in 449 bezocht hij zijn vader-in-law in Gallië. <ref> Thompson, Romeinen en Barbaren, 189. </ ref> bij zijn terugkeer naar huis naar Galicië, Rechiar verenigd met Basilius, de leider van een van de Bagaudae, en overvielen de Ebro-vallei, het aanvallen van Zaragoza en zelfs het invoeren Lerida ( Ilerda) "door een truc". <ref name="Thompson162"> Thompson, Romeinen en Barbaren, 162 . </ ref> Hy nimt in protte finzenen, mar slagget net de regio te feroveren en hiel Spanje yn besit te nimmen. De omkrite fan Tarragona, de provinsjale haadstêd bliuwt Romeinsk.

Nei de moard op generaal Flavius ​​Aëtius en de keizers Falentinianus III en Petronius Maksimus yn 455, oermastert Rekjar de stêd Carthaginiensis. Letter dat jier falt er de provinsje Tarraconensis binnen, de lêste provinsje dy't noch yn hannen is fan de Romeinen. It slagget him lykwols net om dy te feroveren. Neffens Jordanes wie er yn de ferûnderstelling, dat er op grûn fan syn houliksbân mei it Fisigoatyske kening Teodorik II (syn sweager), yn Spanje syn gean koe. Dêrmei makket hy in grutte flater dy't er mei de dea bekeapje moat, want it Romeinske Ryk stjoerd in grut leger op him ôf besteande út Goaten, Franken, en Boergonden. De Sueben wurde ferdreaun en yn de slach by ' Campus Paramus tolve mijl fan Astorga by de Urbicus (Órbigo) ferslein. Yn de slach rekket Rekjar slim ferwûne en flecht er fuort nei Porto yn it midden fan syn keninkryk. Der wurdt er finzen nomd en deaslein yn desimber 456. Nei de dea fan Rekjar falt it Suevyske ryk utien yn elkoar bestridende partijen.

References

• Collins, Roger. "The Basques in Aquitaine and Navarre: Problems of Frontier Government." War and Society in the Middle Ages: Essays in Honour of J. O. Prestwich. edd. J. Gillingham and J. C. Holt. Cambridge: Boydell Press, 1984. Reprinted in Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain. Variorum, 1992.
• Collins, Roger, Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-631-18185-7.
• Edmondson, J. C. "Mining in the Later Roman Empire and Beyond: Continuity or Disruption?" The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 79. (1989), pp 84–102.
• Thompson, E. A. "The Conversion of the Spanish Suevi to Catholicism." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. ed. Edward James. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
• Thompson, E.A., Romans and Barbarians, The Decline of the Western Empire, 1982-Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.