Ruccones
Encyclopedia
The Ruccones were a people group, probably related to the Astures, who lived semi-autonomously in Hispania
in the fifth and sixth centuries.
notes that "the Suevic king Miro, son of Theudemir, in the year 572, attacked and lorded it over the Arragones and the Rucones." In the same author's Historia Gothorum, he writes, under the heading Sisebutus rg. an. VIII° (the eighth year of Sisebut) that Astures et Ruccones in montibus reuellantes humiliabit et suis per omnia benibolus fuit ("the Astures and Ruccones, surrounded in the mountains, he [Sisebut] humiliated and forced to submit"). The tenth-century Chronica Albeldensis copies the record of Isidore:
(duke) and is recorded as scoring a victory over the Ruccones. Campaigns against the Ruccones may be related to the foundation of a mint at Pésicos, which coined trientes for Gundemar
and Sisebut. The Visigoths are known to have established mints in territories recently conquered as a way of spreading their authority.
. On another hypothesis they may be the Araucones, who lived in a semi-autonomous state on the border of the Visigothic and Suevic kingdoms. According to the Parroquial Suevo they were attached to the diocese of Astorga by king Miro. Based on toponymic evidence, they may have inhabited the region around Villuercas, along the banks of the Ruecas and Árrago rivers in the modern Extremadura
between Trujillo and Logrosán
, which was a Suevic territory in the fifth century. Finally, they may be identified with the Luggones, one of the principal peoples of the Asturias
. Among scholars assenting to this last suggestion are the archaeologist José Luis Maya, who follows Diego Santos, and Miguel Calleja Puerta, who regards it as at least an increasing possibility.
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Primary sources
The Chronica of John of Biclar says, under the sixth year of the Emperor Justin II and the fourth of Leovigild, that is, 572, Miro Suevorum rex bellum contra Runcones movet ("Miro, king of the Suevi, moved [to make] war on the Runcones"). The Historia Suevorum of Isidore of SevilleIsidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
notes that "the Suevic king Miro, son of Theudemir, in the year 572, attacked and lorded it over the Arragones and the Rucones." In the same author's Historia Gothorum, he writes, under the heading Sisebutus rg. an. VIII° (the eighth year of Sisebut) that Astures et Ruccones in montibus reuellantes humiliabit et suis per omnia benibolus fuit ("the Astures and Ruccones, surrounded in the mountains, he [Sisebut] humiliated and forced to submit"). The tenth-century Chronica Albeldensis copies the record of Isidore:
- Iste potestate Iudeos ad fidem Xpi perduxit. Eclesiam sancte Leocadie Toleto opere miro fundabit. Astures et Ruccones in montibus reuellantes humiliabit et suis per omnia benibolus fuit. Hunc uni proprio morbo, alii inmoderato potionis austo asserunt interfectum sub imperatore Eraclio. Tune nefandus Mahomat in Africa nequitiam legis stultis populis predicabit.
History
In 572 Miro, the king of the Suevi of Galicia, campaigned against the Ruccones, as much to prevent them from falling under the sway of the Visigoths as to reassert his own sovereignty over them. In 616 the Visigothic king Sisebut is recorded as having reduced some Asturian rebels and then surrounded the Ruccones in the mountains and defeated them. Under Sisebut the general Suinthila attained the rank of duxDux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
(duke) and is recorded as scoring a victory over the Ruccones. Campaigns against the Ruccones may be related to the foundation of a mint at Pésicos, which coined trientes for Gundemar
Gundemar
Gundemar was a Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia .Gundemar continued a policy of amity with Clotaire II of Neustria and Theodobert II of Austrasia. To this end, he sent grand sums of money to support their cause against their relative Theuderic II of Burgundy...
and Sisebut. The Visigoths are known to have established mints in territories recently conquered as a way of spreading their authority.
Identification
Scholars have worked out many identifications for the obscure Ruccones with more well known peoples. Ignacio Fernández de Mata identified them with the CantabriCantabri
The Cantabri were a pre-Roman Celtic people which lived in the northern Atlantic coastal region of ancient Hispania, from the 4th to late 1st centuries BC.-Origins:...
. On another hypothesis they may be the Araucones, who lived in a semi-autonomous state on the border of the Visigothic and Suevic kingdoms. According to the Parroquial Suevo they were attached to the diocese of Astorga by king Miro. Based on toponymic evidence, they may have inhabited the region around Villuercas, along the banks of the Ruecas and Árrago rivers in the modern Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
between Trujillo and Logrosán
Logrosán
Logrosán is a municipality of province of Cáceres in Extremadura, Spain. Head of administrative area, commercial subarea of Don Benito-Villanueva. Town of certain entity in the first half of the 20th century with stately houses that speak to us about a past of major explendor...
, which was a Suevic territory in the fifth century. Finally, they may be identified with the Luggones, one of the principal peoples of the Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
. Among scholars assenting to this last suggestion are the archaeologist José Luis Maya, who follows Diego Santos, and Miguel Calleja Puerta, who regards it as at least an increasing possibility.