Euric

For other uses, see Eurico.

For the Suevic king of this name, see Eboric.

Euric (Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, Aiwareiks, see Eric), also known as Evaric (c. 426^[1] – 28 December 484), son of Theodoric I, ruled as king (rex) of the Visigoths, after murdering his brother, Theodoric II,^[2] from 466 until his death in 484. Sometimes he is called Euric II.

Euric
King of the Visigoths
Reign	466 – 28 December 484
Predecessor	Theodoric II
Successor	Alaric II
Born	c. 426
Died	28 December 484(484-12-28) (aged 57–58)
Spouse	Ragnagild
Issue	Alaric II
Dynasty	Balt
Father	Theodoric I
Religion	Arianism

Early years and kingship

Euric was born between 420-430 as the third son of King Theodoric I, who died in 451 against the Huns and Ostrogoths in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. His brothers Thorismund and Theodoric II were his predecessors as kings. Nothing is know about his youth. It is most likely that he grow up in the Gothic capital Toulouse and served in the Roman army like his brother Frederic. Euric's appointment as king was typical of the Gothic succession for that time, where permanent succession was not common. Power was gained through violence and with the support of the aristocracy ^[3]. Euric became king by murdering his older brother Theodoric in 466 in Toledo.^[4] This act was not motivated because of his brother Roman sympathies but rather by Euric's thirst for power. Sidonius Apollinaris described him as determined, intelligent, but also tyrannical and pursuer of Catholic bishops. ^[5]

Wars against the Romans

Uprising and independent from Rome

After his accession to the throne, Euric continued his brother's foreign policy, but he also tryed to make an end of the alliance with the Western Roman Empire. The crisis that arose in 461 after the defeat of the joint Roman fleet in the war against the Vandals, was for Euric the starting point to declare himself independent monarch in Gaul. On behalf of Eurik, the Gothic militias in Spain revolted. The cities of Merikda, Braga, Zaragona, Pamploma and Cluna were occupied or armed^[6], which were a seriously threatening for the Roman rule in Spain.

Emperor Anthemius's attempt to form an anti-Gothic coalition was unsuccessful. Euric destroyed an imperial army in southern Gaul that went to war against him from Italy.

Battles in North and Central Gaul

The territory of the Visigoths around 475

Euric's attempt to take control over Northern Gaul failed due to a strong resistance of the Gallo-Romans and Franks led by Childeric I in 469. Like Theodoric II before him, he suffered a great lost near Orléans. After his defeat, Euric returned to the South. Thanks to the betrayal of Arvandus, the Gallic prefect, he was able to defeat an army who was sent by the British leader Riothamus to help the Romans.^[7][8] Another victory was achieved in the battle near Arles what enabled him tot conquer the area of Berry. As a result of this Euric got a strong foothold in the Provence. Only by strong resistance in Auvergne, the center of Gaul, the Romans could stand against him.

Wars in Spain and Italy

After reaching independence Euric started a new war in 472 agains the Romans. He conquered Hispania with the exception of the northeast around the city of Barcelona who remained in Roman hands. His attempt to extend his power to Italy failed due to diplomatic intervention by Emperor Glycerius in 473. Nevertheless, emperor Julius Nepos, the successor of Glycerius, who needed the support of the Goths, renounced the Provence in 475, as well as the region around Barcelona to Euric.

Separate from the Roman Empire

Previous Visigothic kings had officially ruled only as legates of the Roman emperor but Euric was the first to declare his complete independence from the puppet emperors. In 475 he forced the Western Emperor Julius Nepos to recognize his full independence instead of the status of foederati in exchange for the return of the Provence region of Gaul. The Roman citizens of Hispania then pledged their allegiance to Euric, recognizing him as their king. In the same year Clermont(-Ferrand) surrendered to him after a long siege, and its bishop, Sidonius Apollinaris, sued for peace.

Euric was one of the more learned of the great Visigothic kings and was the first one to formally codify his people's laws. The Code of Euric probably issued around 476^[9] codified the traditional laws that had been entrusted to the memory of designated specialists who had learned each article by heart. He employed many Gallo-Roman nobles in his court such as Leo of Narbonne.

At Euric's death of natural causes in 484 the Kingdom of the Visigoths encompassed a third of modern France and almost all of Iberia (i.e. except the region of Galicia then expanding until the Douro river basin in present-day Portugal and by then ruled by the Suebi).

The fortune of nations has often depended on accidents; and France may ascribe her greatness to the premature death of the Gothic king, at a time when his son by his wife Ragnachildis, Alaric II was a helpless infant [Alaric was at least 18 when his father Euric died], and his adversary Clovis an ambitious and valiant youth.

— Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire