Saint Hermenegild | |
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 El Triunfo de San Hermenegildo byFrancisco Herrera the Younger (1654) | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | Toletum,Visigothic Kingdom |
| Died | c. 13 April 585 Hispalis,Hispania |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | April 13 |
| Attributes | axe, crown, sword, and cross[1] |
| Patronage | Seville, Spain |
SaintHermenegild orErmengild (died 13 April 585;Spanish:San Hermenegildo;Latin:Hermenegildus, fromGothic𐌹𐍂𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌳𐍃 *Airmana-gild, "immense tribute"), was the son of KingLiuvigild of theVisigothic Kingdom in theIberian Peninsula andsouthern France. He fell out with his father in 579, then revolted the following year. During his rebellion, he converted fromArianism toChalcedonian Christianity. Hermenegild was defeated in 584 and exiled.[2] His death was later celebrated as a martyrdom due to the influence ofPope Gregory I'sDialogues, in which he portrayed Hermenegild as a "Catholic martyr rebelling against the tyranny of an Arian father."[3]
Hermenegild was the eldest son of Liuvigild and his first wife.[4] He was a brother ofReccared I and brought up an Arian. Liuvigild made his sons co-regents.[5]
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In 579, he marriedIngund, the daughter of theFrankishKing Sigebert I ofAustrasia who was aChalcedonian. Her mother was the Visigoth princessBrunhilda of Austrasia. The twelve-year-old Ingund was pressured by Hermenegild's stepmother Goiswintha to abjure her beliefs, but she stayed firm in her faith.[6]
Liuvigild sent Hermenegild to the south to govern on his behalf. There, he came under the influence ofLeander of Seville, the older brother ofIsidore of Seville. Hermenegild was converted to Chalcedonian Christianity. His family demanded for him to return to Arianism, but he refused.
Around then, he led a revolt against Liuvigild. Contemporary accounts attribute that to politics, rather than primarily religious differences.[7] He asked for the aid of theByzantine Empire, but it was occupied with defending itself from territorial incursions by theSasanian Empire.[8] For a time, Hermenegild had the support of theSuebi, who had been defeated by Liuvigild in 579, but he forced them to capitulate once again in 583.[5]
Hermenegild fled to Seville and when it fell to a siege in 584, he went toCórdoba. After Liuvigild paid 30,000 pieces of gold, the Byzantines withdrew and took Ingund and her son with them.[5]
Hermenegild sought sanctuary in a church. Liuvigild would not violate the sanctuary. He sent Reccared inside to speak with Hermenegild and to offer peace. That was accepted, and peace was made for some time.[4]
Goiswintha, however, brought about another alienation within the family. Hermenegild was imprisoned inTarragona orToledo. During his captivity in the tower of Seville, an Arian bishop was sent to Hermenegild forEaster but he would not accept theEucharist from him.[9] King Liuvigild ordered him beheaded; he was executed on 13 April 585.[4]
He had one son by his wife named Athanagild after his matrilineal great-grandfather kingAthanagild. They both tried to seek refuge inConstantinople after his execution, but it was refused while they were already inSicily. She then returned to the Frankish Kingdom, where her son remained under her and her mother's custody.
Hermenegild's reputation as a Catholic martyr is not present in contemporary Spanish accounts, such asJohn of Biclaro'sChronicon continuans Victorem Tunnunensem andIsidore of Seville'sHistoria de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, which mention only his revolt and not his conversion.[10] The French chroniclerGregory of Tours, in hisDecem Libri Historiarum, recounts Hermenegild's conversion and credits it as the cause of his rebellion; however, he judges Hermenegild harshly as a traitor.[11] Of Hermenegild, Gregory wrote: "Poor prince, he did not realize that the judgment of God hangs over anyone who makes such plans against his own father, even if that father be a heretic."[12] It is the ItalianPope Gregory I who first identifies Hermenegild as a martyr. Writing in hisDialogues, Pope Gregory states that Hermenegild was killed after refusing communion from an Arian bishop.[13] Pope Gregory credited Hermenegild's death as inspiring his brother Reccared's conversion, and thus the conversion of the Visigoth kingdom, saying that Reccared "could never have effected all this, if king Hermigildus had not died for the testimony of true religion; for, as it is written: Unless the grain of wheat falling into the earth doth die, itself remaineth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit."[13] It is chiefly on Pope Gregory's assessment that Hermenegild's subsequent legacy rests.
As a Catholic martyr, Hermenegild rose to prominence in Spain during the period following theReconquista, during which time there was renewed interest in the Visigothic "golden age".[14] In 1585, at the urging ofPhilip II of Spain,Pope Sixtus V authorized the cult of Hermenegild in Spain; recognition was later extended to the whole church byPope Urban VIII.[15] Saint Hermenegild became celebrated through artistic representation such as poetry, painting, and plays.[14] One example of this isEl mártir del sacramento, San Hermenegildo, a Eucharistic play written in the 1680s by the Mexican nunJuana Inés de la Cruz.[14] Another example is the ItalianCardinalFrancesco Sforza Pallavicino's 1644 tragedyErmenegildo martire, which is considered a masterpiece of seventeenth-centuryJesuit hagiographical drama.[16]Francisco de Herrera the Younger's 1654 paintingThe Triumph of St. Hermenegild, originally for the Church of theDiscalced Carmelites inMadrid, is now in the collection of theMuseo del Prado.[17]
In art and CatholicIconography, Saint Hermenegild is depicted with an ax as well as a crown, sword, and cross.[18] Hermenegild's entry in theRoman Martyrology, translated to English, reads: "In Seville, Spain, St. Hermenegild, Martyr. He was the son of Liuvigild, the Arian king of the Visigoths. He was imprisoned when he confessed the Catholic faith. When he refused to take communion from the Arian bishop during the Easter service, his perfidious father ordered that he be brought down with an axe. Thus he left this earthly realm and entered Heaven as a king and martyr."[18] Hermenegild's feast day is April 13. He is the patron of the "Real Hermandad de Veteranos de las Fuerzas Armadas y la Guardia Civil" ("Royal Brotherhood of Veterans of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard") in Spain.[19] TheRoyal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild, established byFerdinand VII of Spain in 1814, is also named in his honor.
According to the 9th-centuryChronicle of Alfonso III,Erwig was the son of Ardabast, who had journeyed from theByzantine Empire to Hispania during the time ofChindasuinth, and married Chindasuinth's niece Goda.[20] Ardabast (or Artavasdos), was probably an Armenian or Persian Christian exile in Constantinople or inByzantine Africa. In Hispania he was made a count.[21]
17th-century Spanish genealogistLuis Bartolomé de Salazar y Castro gave Ardabast's father as Athanagild, the son of Saint Hermenegild andIngund, and his mother as Flavia Juliana, a daughter ofPeter Augustus and niece of the EmperorMaurice.[22] This imperial connection is disputed byChristian Settipani, who says that the only source for Athanagild's marriage to Flavia Julia isJosé Pellicer, who he claims to be a forger.[23]
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