Rechared, of Visigoths

Reccared I (Latin Reccaredus, reigned 586-601) was king of the Visigoths in Hispania and Septimania, succeeding his father Leovigild. He is best remembered for his conversion from Arian to Nicene (Catholic) Christianity, which he proclaimed for himself and his kingdom at the Third Council of Toledo in 589, ending the religious split between the Gothic ruling elite and the Hispano-Roman population and decisively shaping the religious and political identity of early medieval Spain. His reign brought him into correspondence with Pope Gregory the Great, who congratulated him on his conversion and sent him relics and admonitions; Gregory's Register preserves the most notable of these exchanges.