Reccared (the uniform spelling in coins and
inscriptions), younger son of
by his
first marriage. For his parentage and life till
the death of his father see
and
. Between Apr. 12 and May 8, 586 (Hübner, Insc. Hisp. n. 155; Tejada y Ramiro, ii. 217), he succeeded his father without opposition, having been already associated with him in the kingdom. He first allied himself to his stepmother Goisvintha, the mother of Brunichild and grandmother of Childebert II. By her advice he sent ambassadors to Childebert and to his uncle (2), the Frankish king of Burgundy, proposing peace and a defensive alliance. The former alone were received.
Then followed the great event of Reccared's
reign, his conversion from Arianism to Catholicism. We can only conjecture whether, as Dahn supposes, his motives were mainly political, or whether he yielded to the influence of the Catholic leaders such as Leander or Masona. In Jan. 587 he declared himself a Catholic, and, convening a synod of the Arian bishops, induced them and the mass of the Gothic and Suevic nations to follow his example. Some Arians did not submit quietly, and 587–589 saw several dangerous risings, headed by coalitions of Arian bishops and ambitious nobles. Perhaps, from the geographical situation, the most formidable was that of Septimania, headed by bp. Athaloc, who, from his ability, was considered a second Arius. Amongst the secular leaders of the insurrection the counts Granista and Wildigern are named. They appealed for aid to Guntram, whose desire for Septimania was stronger than his detestation of Arianism, and the dux Desiderius was sent with a Frankish army. Reccared's army defeated the insurgents and their allies with great slaughter, Desiderius himself being slain (Paul. Em. 19; J. Bicl.; Greg. T. ix. 15). The next conspiracy broke out in the West, headed by Sunna, the Arian bp. of Merida, and count Seggo. Claudius, the dux Lusitaniae, put down the rising, Sunna being banished to Mauritania and Seggo to Galicia. In the latter part of 588 a third conspiracy was headed by the Arian bp. Uldila and the queen dowager Goisvintha, but they were detected, and the former banished.
Reccared, after his conversion, had again
sent to Guntram and Childebert in 587. The
implacable Guntram refused his embassy, asking how could he believe those by whose machinations his niece Ingunthis had been
imprisoned and banished and her husband
slain? Childebert and his mother Brunichild
accepted the present of 10,000 solidi, and were
satisfied with Reccared's declarations that he
was guiltless of the death of Ingunthis. In the
spring of 589 Guntram, perhaps in concert
with Goisvintha, made one more attempt on
Septimania. It was defeated with great loss
by the Goths under Claudius. The rest of his
reign was peaceful, except for some expeditions
against the Romans and Basques.