Editing Quadi (section)

===Kingdom of the Suevi in Gallaecia===
[[File:Alan kingdom hispania.png|thumb|Hispania divided]]
{{Main|Kingdom of the Suebi}}
Many scholars believe that the Quadi listed by Jerome in 409, and perhaps most of those listed, must have previously entered Gaul in a large and coordinated [[crossing of the Rhine]] involving Vandals and Alans, which is traditionally dated to 31 December 406 AD. According to this proposal the Quadi changed their name to Suevi, never used the old name anymore, and then coordinated with the Vandals and Alans to conquer Hispania.<ref>For example, {{harvtxt|Wolfram|1997|pp=160-162}}, {{harvtxt|Goffart|2006|pp=82-83}}, {{harvtxt|Halsall|2007|pp=211}}, and {{harvtxt|Heather|2009|pp=173-174}}. For criticism of the assumption see {{harvtxt|Reynolds|1957}}.</ref>  Because of the incomplete records, scholars take different positions about the proposal that significant numbers of Quadi moved to Hispania, but Castritius, for example, believed that the ''majority'' of the Quadi became Suevi and finished up in Spain.{{sfn|Castritius|2005}} Not all scholars agree. Others propose that the Hispania Suevi were from other Suevian groups. For example, medieval historians such as [[Gregory of Tours]] understood them to be Alemanni. Reynolds proposed that the Spanish Suevi were from present-day northern Germany, and could have come by ship.{{sfn|Reynolds|1957|pp=27ff}} Some modern scholars propose that the Quadi among the Spanish Suevi lost their name because this was a mixed group which included Quadi along with other types of Suevi.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=111}}

There is no record which specifically connects Quadi with the crossing of 406, but there are two near-contemporary records which imply that Suevi were involved. [[Hydatius]] says that in the autumn of 409 when the Alans, and the Hasdingi and [[Silingi]] Vandals,  entered Hispania they were together with Suevi. [[Orosius]] specified that they fought at the same crossing when the [[Franks]] attempted to defend Gaul against the Vandals. He even believed that the Suevi, Vandals, Alans and [[Burgundians]] were all part of a heretical movement driven by the Roman military leader [[Stilicho]], whose father was a Vandal officer in the Roman army, and who wanted to destabilize Gaul for his own benefit. (Such accusations against Stilicho are not accepted by modern scholars.) On this basis many scholars therefore suggest that the Quadi in Gaul must have changed their name to "Suevi".<ref>Key primary sources referred to by scholars include Orosius, [http://attalus.org/translate/orosius7B.html Book 7].</ref>

Arguing against the proposal that the Quadi changed name to Suevi and moved to Spain, Reynolds argued in 1957 that if the Suevi in Spain were Quadi, then it is inconceivable that they and others writing about them would give up and even forget this famous name after leaving Gaul. He also argued that Hydatius and Orosius are not reliable for the events involved.{{sfn|Reynolds|1957|p=21}} He noted for example that in disagreement with Hydatius, the ''[[Gallic Chronicle of 452]]'' registered the Suevi as arriving in Hispania already in 408, before the letter of Jerome, and before the Vandals and Alans.{{sfn|Reynolds|1957|p=25}} 

When the Vandals, Alans and Suevi arrived in Hispania, it was under the control of a rebel Roman general [[Gerontius (magister militum)|Gerontius]] who came to agreements with them as military allies in his struggle against Roman forces. The four groups proceeded to divide Hispania between themselves into four kingdoms, with the agreement of Gerontius. After the defeat of Gerontius, the Roman authorities rejected these agreements and the Visigoths began to work against the four kingdoms.{{sfn|Castritius|2005}}{{sfn|Reynolds|1957}} After many of the Vandals and Alans moved to Carthage, the Suevi were the last of them to hold an independent kingdom, which they succeeded to hold until 585, when the kingdom was absorbed by the Visigothic kingdom.