The Presbyters Project

Huic (cui P) Eboricus filius in regnum succedit, quem adulescentiam Audeca sumpta (adsumpta P) tyrannide regno privat et monachum factum in monasterio damnat. pro quo non diu (om. P) dilata est sententia. 'nam' (mox enim P) Leuvigildus Gothorum rex Suevis mox (om. P) bellum inferens obtento eodem regno Audecanem deiecit atque detonsum (detonso eo P) post regni honorem presbyteri officio mancipavit (consecravit P). sic enim oportuit, ut quod ipse regi suo fecerat, rursus idem (ab alio ins. P) congrua (meriti ins. P) vicissitudine pateretur. Regnum autem Suevorum deletum in Gothis transfertur, quod 'mansisse CLXXVII annis scribitur' (mansit annis CXXVI P).

(ed. Mommsen 1894: 303)

His son Eboric succeeded him in kingship, but when he was still a young man, Audeca seized despotic power, deprived him of kingship, and after making him a monk sentenced him to a monastery. But condemnation for this deed was not long delayed. Leovigild, king of the Goths, soon made war upon the Suevi and after conquering their kingdom and dethroning Audeca, tonsured him and subjected him to the office of the priesthood after the dignity of royal power. For this was necessary in order that he might suffer with fitting requital the same thing which he had done to his king. But the kingdom of the Suevi was destroyed and transferred to the Goths; it is written that it lasted 177 years.

(transl. Donini and Ford 1970: 42)

Discussion:

In this passage Isidore's account is based on the chronicle of John of Biclar (ca AD 590).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

About the source:

Author: Isidore of Seville
Title: History of the Goths, Wandals and Sueves, De origine Getarum, Vandalorum, Sueborum, Historia Gothorum
Origin: Seville (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Isidore, bishop of Seville (Iberian Peninsula) wrote History of the Goths with appended Histories of the Vandals and History of the Sueves probably during the reign of King Sisebut (AD 612-621), possibly at his behest. He then modified it in AD 625 (two versions survived; in Mommsen`s edition the variants are put in brackets). As his sources Isidore used the chronicles of Eusebius, Hydatius, Prosper of Aquitaine, John of Biclar (see Wolf 1999: 10-21).

Edition:

T. Mommsen ed., Isidori Iunioris episcopi Hispalensis Historia Gothorum, Wandalorum, Sveborum ad a. DCXXIV (624), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11, Berlin 1894, 267-390

R.A. Cristóbal ed., Las Historias de los godos, vándalos y suevos de Isidoro de Sevilla: estudio, edición crítica y traducción, León 1975

Translations:

Isidore of Seville’s History of the kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, trans. G. Donini, G.B. Ford, Leiden 1966.

Isidore of Seville, History of the Kings of the Goths, in: K.B. Wolf, Conquerors and chroniclers of early medieval Spain, Liverpool 1999, 67-91 (without the history of the Vandals and Suevi).

Categories:

Non-Latin Origin - Suevic

PR52.

Social origin or status - Monarchs and their family

PR52.

Food/Clothes/Housing - Hairstyle

PR52.

Reasons for ordination - Involuntary ordination

PR52.

Act of ordination

PR52.

Conflict

PR52.

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

PR52.

Administration of justice - Secular

PR52.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER32, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=32