Wikipedia
Chararic or Chararich was the King of Galicia (c. 550 – 558/559) according to Gregory of Tours, who is the only primary source for a Suevic king of this name.
Following Gregory's account (the Historia Francorum, written between 573 and 579), leprosy was a common disease in Galicia during the mid-sixth century and the king's son was a victim. The Suevi at that time were Arians, but Chararic, having heard of Martin of Tours, promised to accept the beliefs of the saint if only his son would be cured, and so he sent for some relics from Tours. When the relics were brought to Galicia and his son was healed by the intercession of Saint Martin, Chararic and the entire royal household converted to the Nicene faith. Gregory also notes that on the same day that Martin's relics entered the Galician harbour, another ship was landing bearing Martin of Dumio, future archbishop of Braga and saint. Gregory is unreliable on this point, however, because he adds further in his De Virtutibus S. Martini that the relics and the future bishop had both left on their journeys to Galicia on the same day as well, but as the relics travelled velociter and Martin travelled from Pannonia, their trips could not have been of identical length.
Gregory's account has come under criticism in modern times, largely because it is at odds with the other accounts of the Catholicisation of the Suevi, namely Isidore of Seville, John of Biclaro, and the minutes of the First Council of Braga. If, as Gregory relates, Martin died about the year 580 and had been bishop for about thirty years, then the conversion of Chararic must have occurred around 550 at the latest. Attempts to fix the chronology and the identities of the three kings associated with the Catholicisation—Chararic, Theodemir, and Ariamir—have been numerous. Reinhart suggested that Chararic was converted first through the cure of his son and that Theodemir was converted later through the preaching of Martin of Dumio. It has also been alleged that if Chararic existed he must have been a successor of Ariamir's, since Ariamir was the first Suevic monarch to lift the ban on Catholic synods. Ferreiro believes the conversion of the Suevi was progressive and stepwise and that Chararic's public conversion was only followed by the lifting of a ban on Catholic synods in the reign of his successor, which would have been Ariamir. Chararic has also been equated with Theodemir, some even saying that the latter was the name he took upon baptism (Dahn). It has also been suggested that Theodemir and Ariamir were the same person and the son of Chararic. In the opinion of some historians, Chararic is nothing more than an error on the part of Gregory of Tours and never existed.
Chararic introduced the cult of Martin of Tours to Galicia and made him the beatus patronus of the province. He died no later than 1 May 559 and no earlier than 2 May 558, the dates between which Ariamir succeeded to the throne.
Chararic may refer to two early Germanic kings, both mentioned by Gregory of Tours:
- Chararic (Frankish king), reigned from sometime before 486 until his death sometime after 507
- Chararic (Suebian king), reigned c. 550 – 558/559
Chararic was a Frankish king from sometime before 486 until his death sometime after 507. The primary source for his career is Gregory of Tours.
Clovis I had asked Chararic for assistance in his war against Syagrius in 486, but Chararic held back, standing off to the side and awaiting the outcome before choosing whom he would support. When Clovis finally turned against Chararic, he trapped and captured him and his son. They were imprisoned and tonsured; Chararic was ordained a priest and his son a deacon. According to Gregory, when Chararic complained to his son of their dishonour, his son replied with a remark suggesting that they allow their hair to grow long. This conversation was reported to Clovis, who consequently had them killed and annexed their kingdom and treasure.
Ian Wood notes it is surprising that Clovis waited over twenty years to deal with his rivals like Chararic, writing, "Clovis ought to have eradicated Frankish opposition earlier in his reign." However, the fact that he had Chararic tonsured clearly points to some time after Clovis' own conversion to Christianity, which Wood dates to soon after Clovis' victory over the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Wood concludes, "If Gregory's ordering of events here is right, and there are no means of testing this part of his account, then the last years of Clovis' reign were concerned with the internal power politics of the Franks."
Other Frankish kings Clovis removed from power at this time, according to Gregory of Tours, include Ragnachar, who had supported Clovis against Syagrius, and Ragnachar's two brothers. Before he deposed Chararic, Clovis had persuaded Chlodoric of Strassburg to assassinate his father Sigismund the lame, then had Chlodoric killed. After all these murders Gregory tells us that Clovis lamented that he was left with no family, implying that amongst these casualties were close relatives.