Suebic Kingdom of Galicia - Settlement and Integration

Settlement and Integration

The civil war that erupted in the Iberian Peninsula between the forces of Constantine and Gerontius left the passes through the Pyrenees either purposely or consequently neglected, making southern Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula susceptible to barbarian attack. Hydatius documents that the crossing into the Iberian Peninsula by the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi took place on either the 28 September or the 12 October 409. Some scholars take the two dates as the beginning and the end to the crossing of the Pyrenees mountain range into the Iberian Peninsula, since the crossing over of such a formidable barrier by scores of thousands could not have possibly been done in a twenty-four hour time frame. Hydatius writes that upon entering of Hispania the barbarian peoples —and even so the same Roman soldiers— spent two years 409–410 in a frenzy, plundering food and goods from the cities and countryside, causing a famine in the process that, according to Hydatius, forced cannibalism amongst the locals, “ by hunger human beings devoured human flesh; mothers too feasted upon the bodies of their own children whom they had killed and cooked with their own hands.” In 411 the various barbarian groups decided on the establishment of a peace and divided the provinces of Hispania among themselves sorte, “by lot”. Many scholars believe that the reference to “lot” may be to the sortes, “allotments,” which barbarian federates received by the Roman government, which suggests that the Suevi and the other invaders were under a treaty with Maximus’s government. There is, however, no concrete evidence of any treaties between the Romans and the barbarians: Hydatius never mentions any treaty, and states that the peace in 411 was brought about by the compassion of the Lord, while Orosius asserts that the kings of the Vandals, Alans and Sueves were actively pursuing a pact similar to that of the Visigoths at a later date. The division of the land between the four barbarian groups went as such: the Siling Vandals settled in Hispania Baetica, the Alans were allotted the provinces of Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis, and the Hasding Vandals and the Suevi shared the northwestern province of Gallaecia.

The division of Galicia between the Suevi and the Hasding Vandals placed the Suevi in the western of the province, by the Atlantic Ocean shores, most probably in lands now between the cities of Porto in Portugal, in the south, and Pontevedra in Galicia, in the north. Soon Braga would become their capital, later expanding themselves into Astorga, and in the region of Lugo and in the valley of the Minho river, with no evidence suggesting that the Suevi inhabited any other cities in the province prior to 438. The initial relation between Galicians and Suevi were not as calamitous as sometimes suggested, as Hydatius mentions not war or conflict with the locals between 411 and 430. In the other hand, Orosius affirmed that the newcomers turned their swords into ploughs once they received their new lands.

Based on some toponimical data, it has been proposed that another Germanic group accompanied the Suebi and settled in Galicia, the Buri, allegedly in the region between the rivers Cávado and Homem, in the area known as Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri), known in the High Middle Ages as Burio.

As the Suebi quickly adopted the local Vulgar Latin language, few traces were left of their Germanic tongue in the Galician and Portuguese languages. Anyway the words most usually attributed to the Sueves are rural in its nature, relative to animals, agriculture, and country life: laverca 'lark' (from Proto-Germanic *laiwazikōn 'lark'), meixengra 'titmouse' (same word as Old Nordic meisingr 'titmouse', from *maisōn 'titmouse'), lobio or lóvio 'vinegrape' (to *lauban 'foliage'), britar 'to break' (from *breutanan 'to break'), escá 'bushel' (from ancient scala 'bowl', from *skēlō 'bowl'), ouva 'elf, spirit' (from *albaz 'elf'), marco 'boundary stone' (from PGmc *markan 'frontier, limit'), groba 'gully' (from *grōbō 'groove'), among others.

Most notable were their contribution to local toponymy and anthroponymy, as personal names bore by the Sueves were in use among Galicians up to the Low Middle Ages, whilst East Germanic names in general were the most common names among locals during the High Middle Ages. From these names is derived also a rich toponymy, found mainly in Galicia and northern Portugal, and made up of several thousands of place names derived directly from Germanic personal names, expressed as Germanic or Latin genitives: Sandiás, medieval Sindilanes, Germanic genitive form of the name Sindila; Mondariz from the Latin genitive form Munderici Munderic's; Gondomar from Gundemari and Baltar from Baltarii, both in Portugal and Galicia; Guitiriz to Witterici. Another group of toponyms which point to old Germanic settlements are the places named Sa, Saa, Sas, in Galicia, or Sá in Portugal, all derived from the Germanic word *sal- 'house, hall', and distributed mostly around Braga and Porto in Portugal, and in the Minho river valley and around Lugo in Galicia, totalling more than a hundred.

Additionally, in modern Galicia, four parishes and six towns and villages are still named Suevos or Suegos, from the medieval form Suevos, all of them from the Latin Sueuos 'Sueves', and referring to old Suevi settlements.