Battle of Órbigo (456) 456
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 456 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Gothic War in Spain of 456 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of the Suebi, Visigothic Kingdom of Tolosa | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.9899, -5.7066 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Órbigo, also known as the Battle of the Urbicus and the Battle of Campus Paramus took place in 456 when the Visigoths of Theodoric II defeated the Suevi Kingdom and sacked their capital Braga. Although very little is known of the battle the defeat proved a significant blow to the Suevi who would enter a period of decline afterwards and would never fully recover their territory.
The Suevi King Rechiar had been expanding his territory at the expense of the Romans in Hispania, who were unable stop them. The Roman Emperor Avitus requested his allies the Visigoths of Theodoric II and the Burgundians of Gondiloc and Chilperic to attack the Suebi for him. Theodoric agreed and invaded Spain with his army.
Theodoric's campaign went well. The combined army moved towards Galicia and encountered little opposition along the way. Rechiar had deployed his army on the River Urbicus (Órbigo), close to the city Astorga. On 5 October 456, Theodoric defeated Rechiar here in a battle on the Campus Paramus, twelve miles from the city Astorga. Rechiar was injured during the battle, but according to Hydatius he managed to flee to Portuscale (today Porto) in the heart of his kingdom. There he was eventually defeated and captured.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Órbigo (456) (revision 1376663791), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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