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Euric,
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Euric, also known as Evaric, Erwig, or
Eurico in
Spanish, (c.
415–
484), was the younger brother of
Theodoric II and ruled as king of the
Visigoths, with his capital at
Toulouse, from
466 until his death.
He inherited a large portion of the Visigothic possessions in the
Aquitaine region of
Gaul, an area that had been under Visigothic control since
415. Over the decades the Visigoths had gradually expanded their holdings at the expense of the weak Roman government, advancing well into
Hispania in the process.
Upon becoming king, Euric defeated several other Visigothic kings and chieftains in a series of civil wars and soon became the first ruler of a truly unified Visigothic nation. Taking advantage of the Romans' problems, he extended Visigothic power in Hispania, driving the Suevi into the northwest of Iberia. By the time the western empire ended in
476 he controlled nearly the entire
Iberian peninsula.
In
470 Euric defeated an attempted invasion of Gaul by the
Celtic magnate
Riothamus and expanded his kingdom even further north, possibly as far as the
Somme River, the March of Frankish territory.
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 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. He divided the
Western Roman Empire with
Odoacer.
Euric was one of the more learned of the great Visigothic kings and was the first German to formally codify his people's laws. The
Code of Euric of
471 codified the traditional laws that had been entrusted to the memory of designated specialists who had learned each article by heart.
At Euric's death in
484 the Kingdom of the Visigoths encompassed all of Iberia except for the region of
Galicia (ruled by the
Suebi) and more than two-thirds of modern
France.
Edward Gibbon, in Chapter 38 of the
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, remarks:
: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
Alaric was a helpless infant, and his adversary
Clovis an ambitious and valiant youth.
External links
*Edward Gibbon,
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,
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/g/g43d/chapter38.html History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 38
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Preceded by:Theodoric II|width=25% align=center|
King of the Visigoths466–484
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Succeeded by:Alaric II|-
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Category:415 birthsCategory:484 deathsCategory:Kings of the VisigothsCategory:Ancient Roman enemies and alliesca:Euriccs:Eurichde:Euriches:Euricofr:Euricit:Euriconl:Eurikno:Eurikpl:Eurykpt:Euricoru:Эврихsk:Eurichsv:Eurik