Kingdom of Galicia

Kingdom of Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia; Reino de Galicia or Galiza (in Galician); Reino de Galicia (in Spanish); Reino da Galiza (in Portuguese); Galliciense Regnum (in Latin)
	409–1833
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Hoc hic misterium fidei firmiter profitemur; "Here is the mystery of faith that we strongly profess"
	Anthem: Antiga Marcha do Reino de Galicia
	The location of the Kingdom of Galicia in the 11th century CE, in red
Capital	Santiago de Compostela1
Common languages	Latin; Vulgar Latin; Galician-Portuguese; Astur-Leonese; Castilian; A few speakers of Brittonic, Visigothic, Vandalic and Suebic
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 409–438	Hermeric (first)
• 1813–1833	Ferdinand VII (last)
Legislature	Junta
History
• Founded by Hermeric	409
• Dissolved	1833
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Western Roman Empire
Spain
County of Portugal
Couto Misto
	1 Previously Lugo and Braga. From the 16th century the capitality was disputed.

Arms of the Kingdom of Galicia, illustrated in L´armorial Le Blancq, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1560

The Kingdom of Galicia (Galician: Reino de Galicia, or Galiza; Spanish: Reino de Galicia; Portuguese: Reino da Galiza; Latin: Galliciense Regnum) was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga,^[1] being the first kingdom which adopted Catholicism officially and minted its own currency (year 449). It was part of the Kingdom of the Spanish Visigothic monarchs from 585 to 711. In the 8th century Galicia became a part of the newly founded Christian kingdoms of the Northwest of the peninsula, Asturias and León, while occasionally achieving independence under the authority of its own kings.^[2] Compostela became capital of Galicia in the 11th century, while the independence of Portugal (1128) determined its southern boundary. The accession of Castilian King Ferdinand III to the Leonese kingdom in 1230 brought Galicia under the control of the Crown of Castile, the kingdom of Galicia becoming a political division within the larger realm.

Galicia resisted central control, supporting a series of alternative claimants, including John of León, Galicia and Seville (1296), Ferdinand I of Portugal (1369) and John of Gaunt (1386), and was not brought firmly into submission until the Catholic Monarchs imposed the Santa Hermandad in Galicia. The kingdom of Galicia was then administered within the Crown of Castile (1490–1715) and later the Crown of Spain (1715–1833) by an Audiencia Real directed by a Governor which hold also the office of Captain General and President. The representative assembly of the Kingdom was then the Junta or Cortes of the Kingdom of Galicia, which briefly declared itself sovereign^[3] when Galicia alone remained free of Napoleonic occupation (1808–1809). The kingdom and its Junta were dissolved by Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Regent of Spain, in 1834.

Origin and foundation (409)

Theodemar (or Ariamir), king of Galicia with the bishops Lucrecio, Andrew, and Martin. Codex Vigilanus (or Albeldensis), Escurial library

The origin of the kingdom lies in the 5th century, when the Suebi settled permanently in the former Roman province of Gallaecia. Their king, Hermeric, probably^[4] signed a foedus, or pact, with the Roman Emperor Honorius, which conceded them lands in Galicia. The Suebi set their capital in the former Bracara Augusta, setting the foundations of a kingdom which was first acknowledged as Regnum Suevorum (Kingdom of the Suebi), but later as Regnum Galliciense (Kingdom of Galicia).

A century later, the differences between Gallaeci and Suebi people had faded, leading to the systematic use of terms like Galliciense Regnum^[5] (Galician Kingdom), Regem Galliciae^[6] (King of Galicia), Rege Suevorum (King of Suebi), and Galleciae totius provinciae rex (king of all Galician provinces),^[7] while bishops, such as Martin of Braga, were recognized as episcopi Gallaecia^[8] (Bishop of Galicia).

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