View source for Euric

{{Short description|King of the Visigoths from 466 to 484}}
{{Other uses|Eurico (disambiguation){{!}}Eurico}}
{{for|the Suevic king of this name|Eboric}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession   = [[King of the Visigoths]]
| reign        = 466 – 28 December 484
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Theodoric II]]
| successor    = [[Alaric II]]
| spouse       = [[Ragnagild]]
| issue        = [[Alaric II]]
| dynasty      = [[Balt dynasty|Balt]]
| father       = [[Theodoric I]]
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = {{circa}} 426
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = {{death date and age|484|12|28|426|df=y}}
| death_place  = 
| place of burial = 
| religion     = [[Arianism]]
}}
'''Euric''' ([[Gothic language|Gothic]]: 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, ''Aiwareiks'', see ''[[Eric]]''), also known as '''Evaric''' ({{circa}} 426{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=157}} – 28 December 484), son of [[Theodoric I]], ruled as king (''rex'') of the [[Visigoths]], after murdering his brother, [[Theodoric II]],<ref>Ian Wood, ''The Merovingians Kingdoms: 450–751'', (Longman Group, 1994), 16.</ref> from 466 until his death in 484. Sometimes he is called Euric II.

== Early years and kingship ==
Euric was born between 420 and 430 as the third son of King [[Theodoric I]], who died in 451  in the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Fields]] against the [[Huns]] and [[Ostrogoths]]. His brothers [[Thorismund]] and [[Theodoric II]] were his predecessors as kings. Nothing is known about his youth. He likely grew up in the Gothic capital [[Toulouse]] and served in the Roman army, like his brother [[Federico (Visigoth general)|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.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=182}} Euric became king by murdering his older brother Theodoric in 466 in Toledo.<ref>{{Aut|[[Hydatius]]}}, Chronicles 237f., in: MGH AA 11, S. 34; Chronica Gallica von 452, 643, in: MGH AA 9, S. 664; Chronica Caesaraugusta, ad annum 466, in: MGH AA 11, S. 222; Marius von Avenches, Chronicle, ad annum 467, in: MGH AA 11, S. 233; Jordanes, De origine Getarum 44, 234 – 45, 235</ref> This act was not motivated because of his brother's Roman sympathies but rather by Euric's thirst for power. [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] described him as determined, intelligent, but also a tyrannical pursuer of Catholic bishops.<ref>Sidonius Apollinaris, ''Letters'', vii 6</ref>

== Wars against the Romans ==
{{Main|Gothic revolt of Euric|Spanish War of Euric}}

=== Uprising and independent from Rome===
After his accension to the throne, Euric continued his brother's foreign policy, but he also tried 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 [[Vandal War (461–468)|war against the Vandals]], was for Euric the starting point to declare himself independent monarch in Gaul. On behalf of Euric, the Gothic militias in [[Spain]] revolted. The cities of Merikda, Braga, Zaragona, Pamploma and Cluna were occupied or armed,<ref>''{{Aut|Ramón de Abadal y Vinyals, Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier}},''(1960), ''Del reino de Tolosa al reino de Toledo'', Real Academia de la Historia</ref> seriously threatening 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 ===
[[File:Hispania 476 AD.svg|thumb|right|250px|The territory of the Visigoths around 475]]

Euric's attempt to take control over Northern Gaul failed due to the strong resistance of the Gallo-Romans and Franks led by [[Childeric I]] in 469. Like Theodoric II before him, he suffered a great loss 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 sent by the British leader [[Riothamus]] to help the Romans.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=183}}<ref>{{Aut|[[Isidore of Seville]]}}, ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum''</ref> Another victory was achieved in the [[Battle of Arles (471)|battle near Arles]], which enabled him to conquer the area of [[Berry (province)|Berry]]. As a result, Euric got a strong foothold in [[Provence (France)|Provence]]. Only by strong resistance in [[Auvergne]], the center of Gaul, could the Romans stand against him.

=== Wars in Spain and Italy ===
After reaching independence, Euric started a new war in 472 against the Romans. He conquered [[Hispania]] with the exception of the northeast, around the city of Barcelona, which 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 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; 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|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,<ref>King P.D. 1972 Law and society in the Visigothic Kingdom, p 7</ref> 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 (Spain)|Galicia]], then expanding until the Douro river basin in present-day [[Portugal]] and by then ruled by the [[Suebi]]).

{{Blockquote|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 I|Clovis]] an ambitious and valiant youth.|[[Edward Gibbon]]|''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''|}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite encyclopedia |title=Euric (c.420-484) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Frassetto |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2003 }}
*{{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Door Herwig |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |title=History of the Goths |year=1988 |translator-last=Dunlap |translator-first=Thomas J. |url=https://books.google.nl/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-06983-8}}

==External links==
*Edward Gibbon, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050313090853/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/g/gibbon/edward/g43d/chapter37.html ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' Chapter 37]
*Edward Gibbon, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040817020717/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/g/g43d/chapter38.html ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' Chapter 38]

{{commons category-inline|Eurico}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Balti dynasty]]||415||484|name=King Euric of the Visigoths}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Theodoric II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Visigothic Kingdom#List of kings|King of the Visigoths]]|years=466 – 28 December 484}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alaric II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Visigothic kings}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:420s births]]
[[Category:484 deaths]]
[[Category:Balt dynasty]]
[[Category:5th-century Visigothic monarchs]]
[[Category:Gothic warriors]]