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{{Short description|418–720 kingdom in Iberia}}
{{Short description|418–720 kingdom in Iberia}}
{{Other uses|Gothic Kingdom (disambiguation){{!}}Gothic Kingdom}}
{{Other uses|Gothic Kingdom (disambiguation){{!}}Gothic Kingdom}}
{{split|Visigothic Spain|Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse|discuss=talk:Visigothic Kingdom#WP:CONSPLIT suggestion|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox former country
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Visigoths
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Goths
| native_name = {{native name|la|Regnum Gothorum}}
| native_name = {{native name|la|Regnum Gothorum}}
| common_name = Visigothic Kingdom
| common_name = Visigothic Kingdom
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| year_end = 720
| year_end = 720
| p1 = Western Roman Empire
| p1 = Western Roman Empire
| flag_p1 = Labarum of the Roman Empire (simple).png
| flag_p1 =
| border_p1 = no
| border_p1 = no
| p2 = Kingdom of the Suebi
| p2 = Kingdom of the Suebi
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*[[Vasconic languages]] (spoken by several tribes throughout almost the entire Pyrenean and pre-Pyrenean region)
*[[Vasconic languages]] (spoken by several tribes throughout almost the entire Pyrenean and pre-Pyrenean region)
*[[Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]] (spoken to a certain extent, during this period, among [[Jews]])
*[[Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]] (spoken to a certain extent, during this period, among [[Jews]])
*[[Scythian_languages#Classification|Alanian]] (spoken by the [[Alans]] of Aurelianum)
}}
}}
| capital = {{plainlist|
| capital = {{plainlist|
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The Visigoths were [[Romanization (cultural)|romanized]] central Europeans who had moved west from the [[Danube|Danube Valley]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kurlansky |first1=Mark |title=The Basque History of the World |date=2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781448113224 |page=35}}</ref> They became [[foederati]] of Rome, and wanted to restore the Roman order against the hordes of [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebi]]. The [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire fell]] in 476&nbsp;AD; therefore, the Visigoths believed they had the right to take the territories that Rome had promised in Hispania in exchange for restoring the Roman order.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Orlandis|first1=José|title=Historia del reino visigodo español : los acontecimientos, las instituciones, la sociedad, los protagonistas|language=es|date=2003|publisher=Rialp|location=Madrid|isbn=8432134694|edition= 2nd}}</ref> Under King [[Euric]]—who eliminated the status of foederati—a triumphal advance of the Visigoths began.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |year=1991 |title=The Goths |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=189 |isbn=9780631165361}}</ref> Alarmed at Visigoth expansion from [[Gallia Aquitania|Aquitania]] after [[Battle of Déols|victory over the Gallo-Roman and Breton armies]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Charles-Edwards |first1=T. M. |title=Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198217312 |page=59}}</ref> at [[Déols]] in 469, Western Emperor [[Anthemius]] sent a fresh army across the Alps against Euric, who was besieging [[Arles]]. The Roman army was crushed in the [[Battle of Arles (471)|Battle of Arles]] nearby and Euric then captured Arles and secured much of southern Gaul.
The Visigoths were [[Romanization (cultural)|romanized]] central Europeans who had moved west from the [[Danube|Danube Valley]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kurlansky |first1=Mark |title=The Basque History of the World |date=2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781448113224 |page=35}}</ref> They became [[foederati]] of Rome, and wanted to restore the Roman order against the hordes of [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebi]]. The [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire fell]] in 476&nbsp;AD; therefore, the Visigoths believed they had the right to take the territories that Rome had promised in Hispania in exchange for restoring the Roman order.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Orlandis|first1=José|title=Historia del reino visigodo español : los acontecimientos, las instituciones, la sociedad, los protagonistas|language=es|date=2003|publisher=Rialp|location=Madrid|isbn=8432134694|edition= 2nd}}</ref> Under King [[Euric]]—who eliminated the status of foederati—a triumphal advance of the Visigoths began.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |year=1991 |title=The Goths |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=189 |isbn=9780631165361}}</ref> Alarmed at Visigoth expansion from [[Gallia Aquitania|Aquitania]] after [[Battle of Déols|victory over the Gallo-Roman and Breton armies]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Charles-Edwards |first1=T. M. |title=Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198217312 |page=59}}</ref> at [[Déols]] in 469, Western Emperor [[Anthemius]] sent a fresh army across the Alps against Euric, who was besieging [[Arles]]. The Roman army was crushed in the [[Battle of Arles (471)|Battle of Arles]] nearby and Euric then captured Arles and secured much of southern Gaul.


Sometimes referred to as the ''Regnum Tolosae'' or '''Kingdom of Toulouse''' after its capital [[Toulouse]] in modern historiography, the kingdom [[Franco-Visigothic Wars|lost much of its territory in Gaul]] to the [[Franks]] in the early 6th century, save the narrow coastal strip of [[Septimania]]. The kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the ''Regnum Toletanum'' or '''Kingdom of Toledo''' after the new capital of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in Hispania. A civil war starting in 549 resulted in an invitation from the Visigoth [[Athanagild]], who had usurped the kingship, to the Byzantine emperor [[Justinian I]] to send soldiers to his assistance. Athanagild won his war, but the Byzantines took over [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]] and a good deal of southern Hispania, until 624 when [[Suintila|Swinthila]] expelled the last Byzantine garrisons from the peninsula, occupying ''Orcelis'', which the Visigoths called ''Aurariola'' (today [[Orihuela]] in the [[Province of Alicante]]). Starting in the 570s Athanagild's brother [[Liuvigild]] compensated for this loss by conquering the [[Kingdom of the Suebi]] in [[Gallaecia]] (corresponding roughly to present-day [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and the northern part of [[Portugal]]) and annexing it, and by repeated campaigns against the [[Basques]].
Sometimes referred to as the ''Regnum Tolosae'' or '''Kingdom of Toulouse''' after its capital [[Toulouse]] in modern historiography, the kingdom [[Franco-Visigothic Wars|lost much of its territory in Gaul]] to the [[Franks]] in the early 6th century, save the narrow coastal strip of [[Septimania]]. The kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the ''Regnum Toletanum'' or '''Kingdom of Toledo''' after the new capital of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in Hispania. A civil war starting in 549 resulted in an invitation from the Visigoth [[Athanagild]], who had usurped the kingship, to the Byzantine emperor [[Justinian I]] to send soldiers to his assistance. Athanagild won his war, but the Byzantines took over [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]] and a good deal of southern Hispania, until 624 when [[Suintila|Swinthila]] expelled the last Byzantine garrisons from the peninsula, occupying ''Orcelis'', which the Visigoths called ''Aurariola'' (today [[Orihuela]] in the [[Province of Alicante]]). Starting in the 570s Athanagild's brother [[Liuvigild]] compensated for this loss by conquering the [[Kingdom of the Suebi]] in [[Gallaecia]] (corresponding roughly to present-day [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and the northern part of [[Portugal]]) and annexing it, and by repeated campaigns against the [[Basques]].


The ethnic distinction between the Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time (the [[Gothic language]] lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths renounced Arianism in 589).<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Remarks about relations between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans in the seventh century|first=Dietrich|last=Claude|title=Strategies of Distinction: Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300–800 |series=Transformation of the Roman World |editor-first=Walter |editor-last=Pohl |isbn=90-04-10846-7 |pages=119–121|postscript=:}} dress and funerary customs cease to be distinguishing features in AD 570/580</ref> This newfound unity found expression in increasingly severe persecution of outsiders, [[History of the Jews in Spain#Visigoth rule – Repression and forced conversions (5th century to 711)|especially the Jews]]. The [[Visigothic Code]], completed in 654, abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and for Visigoths. The 7th century saw many civil wars between factions of the aristocracy. Despite good records left by contemporary bishops, such as [[Isidore of Seville|Isidore]] and [[Leander of Seville]], it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish Goths from Hispano-Romans, as the two became inextricably intertwined. Despite these civil wars, by 625&nbsp;AD the Visigoths had succeeded in expelling the Byzantines from Hispania and had established a foothold at the port of [[Ceuta]] in Africa. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Umayyad troops]] from [[Maghreb|North Africa]] in 711&nbsp;AD, with only the northern reaches of Hispania remaining in Christian hands. These gave birth to the medieval [[Kingdom of Asturias]] when a Visigothic nobleman called [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]] was elected [[princeps]] by the [[Astures]], of [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes|Celtic]] origin, who lived in the mountains, and by the Visigothic population, who had fled from the Muslims and took refuge in Asturias, where they joined Pelagius.
The ethnic distinction between the Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time (the [[Gothic language]] lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths renounced Arianism in 589).<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Remarks about relations between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans in the seventh century|first=Dietrich|last=Claude|title=Strategies of Distinction: Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300–800 |series=Transformation of the Roman World |date=1998 |editor-first=Walter |editor-last=Pohl |isbn=90-04-10846-7 |pages=119–121|postscript=:}} dress and funerary customs cease to be distinguishing features in AD 570/580</ref> This newfound unity found expression in increasingly severe persecution of outsiders, [[History of the Jews in Spain#Visigoth rule – Repression and forced conversions (5th century to 711)|especially the Jews]]. The [[Visigothic Code]], completed in 654, abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and for Visigoths. The 7th century saw many civil wars between factions of the aristocracy. Despite good records left by contemporary bishops, such as [[Isidore of Seville|Isidore]] and [[Leander of Seville]], it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish Goths from Hispano-Romans, as the two became inextricably intertwined. Despite these civil wars, by 625&nbsp;AD the Visigoths had succeeded in expelling the Byzantines from Hispania and had established a foothold at the port of [[Ceuta]] in Africa. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Umayyad troops]] from [[Maghreb|North Africa]] in 711 to 719, with only the northern reaches of Hispania remaining in Christian hands. The medieval [[Kingdom of Asturias]] in northern Spain reputedly began when a Visigothic nobleman called [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]] was elected [[princeps]] and became the leader of the [[ Astures]] and of the Visigoths who had taken refuge in mountains.


The Visigoths and their early kings were [[Arianism|Arians]] and came into conflict with the [[Catholic Church]], but after they converted to [[Nicene Christianity]], the Church exerted an enormous influence on secular affairs through the [[Councils of Toledo]]. The Visigoths also developed the highly influential legal code known in Western Europe as the [[Visigothic Code]] ({{lang-la|Liber Iudiciorum}}), which would become the basis for Spanish law throughout the [[Middle Ages]].
The Visigoths and their early kings were [[Arianism|Arians]] and came into conflict with the Church in Rome, but after they converted to [[Nicene Christianity]], the Church exerted an enormous influence on secular affairs through the [[Councils of Toledo]]. The Visigoths also developed the highly influential legal code known in Western Europe as the [[Visigothic Code]] ({{lang-la|Liber Iudiciorum}}), which would become the basis for [[Law of Spain|Spanish law]] throughout the [[Middle Ages]].


==History==
==History==


===Federate kingdom===
===Federate kingdom===
[[File:Hispania 418 AD.PNG|thumb|Visigothic settlement and the Iberian peninsula, c. 418|left]]
[[File:Hispania 418 AD.PNG|thumb|Visigothic settlement and the Iberian Peninsula, c. 418|left]]
From 407 to 409 AD, an alliance of Germanic [[Vandals]], Iranian [[Alans]] and Germanic [[Suebi]] [[Crossing of the Rhine|crossed]] the frozen [[Rhine]] and swept across modern France and into the Iberian peninsula. For their part, the Visigoths under [[Alaric I|Alaric]] famously [[Sack of Rome (410)|sacked Rome in 410]], capturing [[Galla Placidia]], the sister of Western Roman emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]].
From 407 to 409 AD, an alliance of Germanic [[Vandals]], Iranian [[Alans]] and Germanic [[Suebi]] [[Crossing of the Rhine|crossed]] the frozen [[Rhine]] and swept across modern France and into the Iberian Peninsula. For their part, the Visigoths under [[Alaric I|Alaric]] famously [[Sack of Rome (410)|sacked Rome in 410]], capturing [[Galla Placidia]], the sister of Western Roman emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]].


[[Athaulf]] (King of the Visigoths from 410 to 415) spent the next few years operating in the Gallic and Hispanic countrysides, diplomatically playing competing factions of Germanic and Roman commanders against one another to skillful effect, and taking over cities such as [[Narbonne]] and [[Kingdom of Toulouse|Toulouse]] (in 413). After he married Placidia, the Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suebi.
[[Athaulf]] (king of the Visigoths from 410 to 415) spent the next few years operating in the Gallic and Hispanic countrysides, diplomatically playing competing factions of Germanic and Roman commanders against one another to skillful effect, and taking over cities such as [[Narbonne]] and [[Kingdom of Toulouse|Toulouse]] (in 413). After he married Placidia, the Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suebi.


{{Main|Gothic War in Spain (416-418)}}
In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic [[foederati|federates]] under King [[Wallia]] (reigned 415–418) by giving them land in the [[Garonne]] valley of [[Gallia Aquitania]] on which to settle. This probably took place under the system of {{lang|la|hospitalitas}}. It seems likely that at first the Visigoths were not given a large amount of land estates in the region (as previously believed), but that they acquired the taxes of the region, with the local Gallic aristocrats now paying their taxes to the Visigoths instead of to the Roman government.<ref name="Cambridge Ancient v. 14">{{cite book|last=Cameron|first=Ward |author2=Perkins and Whitby |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=XIV. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, A.D. 425–600|page=48}}</ref>
In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic [[foederati|federates]] under King [[Wallia]] (reigned 415–418) by giving them land in the [[Garonne]] valley of [[Gallia Aquitania]] on which to settle. This probably took place under the system of {{lang|la|hospitalitas}}. It seems likely that at first the Visigoths were not given a large amount of land estates in the region (as previously believed), but that they acquired the taxes of the region, with the local Gallic aristocrats now paying their taxes to the Visigoths instead of to the Roman government.<ref name="Cambridge Ancient v. 14">{{cite book|last=Cameron|first=Ward |author2=Perkins and Whitby |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=XIV. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, A.D. 425–600|page=48}}</ref>


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{{History of Spain|image=[[Image:Glory of Spain by Tiepelo.jpg|180px]]|caption=[[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|Tiepolo]]'s ''The Glory of Spain''}}
{{History of Spain|image=[[Image:Glory of Spain by Tiepelo.jpg|180px]]|caption=[[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|Tiepolo]]'s ''The Glory of Spain''}}


The [[Vandals]] completed the conquest of [[North Africa]] when they [[Battle of Carthage (439)|took Carthage]] on October 19, 439, and the [[Suebi]] had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor [[Avitus]] now sent the Visigoths into Hispania. [[Theodoric II]] (453–466) [[Battle of Órbigo (456)|invaded and defeated]] the King of the Suebi, [[Rechiar]]ius, at the battle on the river [[Órbigo]] in 456 near Asturica Augusta ([[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]]) and then sacked Bracara Augusta ([[Braga]]), the Suebi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Gallaecia, part of the Suebi Kingdom quite brutally: they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, probably due to the clergy's support of the Suebi.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |page=165}} Theodoric took control over [[Hispania Baetica]], [[Carthaginiensis]] and southern [[Lusitania]]. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor [[Libius Severus]] in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Romans]] under Aegidius; as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, and the revolt ended only in 465.<ref>''Cambridge Ancient'' vol. 14, p. 24.</ref>
The [[Vandals]] completed the conquest of [[North Africa]] when they [[Battle of Carthage (439)|took Carthage]] on October 19, 439, and the [[Suebi]] had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor [[Avitus]] now sent the Visigoths into Hispania. [[Theodoric II]] (453–466) [[Battle of Órbigo (456)|invaded and defeated]] the king of the Suebi, [[Rechiar]]ius, at the battle on the river [[Órbigo]] in 456 near Asturica Augusta ([[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]]) and then sacked Bracara Augusta ([[Braga]]), the Suebi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Gallaecia, part of the Suebi Kingdom quite brutally: they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, probably due to the clergy's support of the Suebi.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |page=165}} Theodoric took control over [[Hispania Baetica]], [[Carthaginiensis]] and southern [[Lusitania]]. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor [[Libius Severus]] in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Romans]] under Aegidius; as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, and the revolt ended only in 465.<ref>''Cambridge Ancient'' vol. 14, p. 24.</ref>


===Kingdom of Toulouse===
===Kingdom of Toulouse===
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{{see also|Protofeudalism}}
{{see also|Protofeudalism}}
[[File:Visigothic - Pair of Eagle Fibula - Walters 54421, 54422 - Group.jpg|thumb|Visigothic pair of eagles on [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] (brooches for fastening garments), Spain|left]]
[[File:Visigothic - Pair of Eagle Fibula - Walters 54421, 54422 - Group.jpg|thumb|Visigothic pair of eagles on [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] (brooches for fastening garments), Spain|left]]
On becoming King, Liuvigild's son [[Reccared I]] (586–601) converted from [[Arianism|Arian]] to [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]. This led to some unrest in the kingdom, notably a revolt by the Arian bishop of Mérida which was put down; he also beat back another Frankish offensive in the north. Reccared then oversaw the [[Third Council of Toledo]] in 589, where he announced his faith in the Nicene creed and denounced Arian. He adopted the name Flavius, the family name of the Constantinian dynasty, and styled himself as the successor to the Roman emperors. Reccared also fought the Byzantines in [[Hispania Baetica]] after they had begun a new offensive.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=346–350}}
On becoming King, Liuvigild's son [[Reccared I]] (586–601) converted from [[Arianism|Arian]] to [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]. This led to some unrest in the kingdom, notably a revolt by the Arian bishop of Mérida which was put down; he also beat back another Frankish offensive in the north. Reccared then oversaw the [[Third Council of Toledo]] in 589, where he announced his faith in the Nicene creed and denounced Arian. He adopted the name Flavius, the family name of the Constantinian dynasty, and styled himself as the successor to the Roman emperors. Reccared also fought the Byzantines in [[Hispania Baetica]] after they had begun a new offensive.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=346–350}}


Reccared's son Liuva II became king in 601, but was deposed by the Visigothic noble [[Witteric]] (603–610), ending the short-lived dynasty. There were various Visigothic Kings between 610 and 631, and this period saw constant regicide. This period also saw the definitive conquest of the Byzantine territories in the south. War continued in the north against the Basques and [[Asturias|Asturians]], as indeed it would continue for the rest of the Visigothic Kingdom's existence. These Kings also worked on religious legislature, especially King [[Sisebut]] (612–621), who passed several harsh laws against Jews and forced many Jews to convert to Christianity. Sisebut was also successful against the Byzantines, taking several of their cities, including [[Málaga]]. The Byzantines were finally defeated by [[Suintila|Swinthila]] (621–631), who had captured all of their Spanish holdings by 625. Suinthila was deposed by the Franks and replaced by [[Sisinand]].{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=350–353}}
Reccared's son Liuva II became king in 601, but was deposed by the Visigothic noble [[Witteric]] (603–610), ending the short-lived dynasty. There were various Visigothic Kings between 610 and 631, and this period saw constant regicide. This period also saw the definitive conquest of the Byzantine territories in the south. War continued in the north against the Basques and [[Asturias|Asturians]], as indeed it would continue for the rest of the Visigothic Kingdom's existence. These Kings also worked on religious legislature, especially King [[Sisebut]] (612–621), who passed several harsh laws against Jews and forced many Jews to convert to Christianity. Sisebut was also successful against the Byzantines, taking several of their cities, including [[Málaga]]. The Byzantines were finally defeated by [[Suintila|Swinthila]] (621–631), who had captured all of their Spanish holdings by 625. Suinthila was deposed by the Franks and replaced by [[Sisinand]].{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=350–353}}


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{{Multiple image
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The instability of this period can be attributed to the power struggle between the kings and the nobility. Religious unification strengthened the political power of the church, which it exercised through church councils at Toledo along with the nobles. The fourth council, held during the brief reign of [[Sisinand]] in 633,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crouch |first=Jace T. |date=1994 |title=Isidore of Seville and the Evolution of Kingship in Visigothic Spain |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41166876 |journal=Mediterranean Studies |volume=4 |pages=9–26 |jstor=41166876 |issn=1074-164X}}</ref> excommunicated and exiled the king, replacing him with [[Chintila]] (636–639). The church councils were now the most powerful institution in the Visigothic state; they took the role of regulating the process of succession to the kingship by election of the king by Gothic noble 'senators' and the church officials. They also decided to meet on a regular basis to discuss ecclesiastical and political matters affecting the Church. Finally, they decided the kings should die in peace, and declared their persons sacred, seeking to end the violence and regicides of the past. Despite all this, another coup took place and Chintila was deposed in 639, and King Tulga took his place; he was also deposed in the third year of his reign and the council elected the noble [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] as king.
The instability of this period can be attributed to the power struggle between the kings and the nobility. Religious unification strengthened the political power of the church, which it exercised through church councils at Toledo along with the nobles. The fourth council, held during the brief reign of [[Sisinand]] in 633,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crouch |first=Jace T. |date=1994 |title=Isidore of Seville and the Evolution of Kingship in Visigothic Spain |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41166876 |journal=Mediterranean Studies |volume=4 |pages=9–26 |jstor=41166876 |issn=1074-164X}}</ref> excommunicated and exiled the king, replacing him with [[Chintila]] (636–639). The church councils were now the most powerful institution in the Visigothic state; they took the role of regulating the process of succession to the kingship by election of the king by Gothic noble 'senators' and the church officials. They also decided to meet on a regular basis to discuss ecclesiastical and political matters affecting the Church. Finally, they decided the kings should die in peace, and declared their persons sacred, seeking to end the violence and regicides of the past. Despite all this, another coup took place and Chintila was deposed in 639, and King Tulga took his place; he was also deposed in the third year of his reign and the council elected the noble [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] as king.


[[File:Chindasuinth.jpg|thumb|King Chindaswinth from the [[Codex Vigilanus|Códex Albedense.]]|left]]
[[File:Chindasuinth.jpg|thumb|King Chindaswinth from the [[Codex Vigilanus|Códex Albedense.]]|left]]
The reigns of [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] and his son [[Recceswinth]] saw the compilation of the most important Visigothic law book, the {{lang|la|[[Liber Iudiciorum]]}} ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: {{lang|es|Fuero Juzgo}}, [[English language|English]]: Book of Judgements), also called {{lang|la|Lex Visigothorum}} or the [[Visigothic Code]] promulgated by king [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] (642–653 AD), and completed in 654 by his son, king [[Recceswinth]] (649–672), abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and Visigoths. The new laws applied to both Gothic and Hispano-Roman populations who had been under different laws in the past, and it replaced all older codes of law.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Callaghan|first1=Joseph|title=A History of Medieval Spain|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmedieva00ocal|url-access=limited|date=1975|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, New York|isbn=9780801492648|pages=48–49}}</ref> The code included old laws by past kings, such as Alaric II in his {{lang|la|Breviarium Alarici}}, and Leovigild, but many were also new laws. The code was based almost wholly on Roman law, with some influence of Germanic law in rare cases. Among the eliminated old laws were the harsh laws against Jews. The {{lang|la|Liber}} showed the old system of military and civil divisions in administration was changing, and dukes ({{lang|la|duces provinciae}}) and counts ({{lang|la|comites civitatis}}) had begun taking more responsibilities outside their original military and civil duties. The servants or slaves of the king became very prominent in the bureaucracy and exercised wide administrative powers. With the Visigoth law codes, women could inherit land and title and manage it independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, and could represent themselves and bear witness in court by age 14 and arrange for their own marriages by age 20. Chindaswinth (642–653) strengthened the monarchy at the expense of the nobility; he executed some 700 nobles, forced dignitaries to swear oaths, and in the seventh council of Toledo laid down his right to excommunicate clergy who acted against the government. He was also able to maneuver his son [[Recceswinth]] on the throne, sparking a rebellion by a Gothic noble who allied with the Basques, but was put down. Recceswinth (653–672) held another council of Toledo, which reduced sentences for treason and affirmed the power of the councils to elect kings.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=356-360}}
The reigns of [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] and his son [[Recceswinth]] saw the compilation of the most important Visigothic law book, the {{lang|la|[[Liber Iudiciorum]]}} ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: {{lang|es|Fuero Juzgo}}, [[English language|English]]: Book of Judgements), also called {{lang|la|Lex Visigothorum}} or the [[Visigothic Code]] promulgated by king [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] (642–653 AD), and completed in 654 by his son, king [[Recceswinth]] (649–672), abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and Visigoths. The new laws applied to both Gothic and Hispano-Roman populations who had been under different laws in the past, and it replaced all older codes of law.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Callaghan|first1=Joseph|title=A History of Medieval Spain|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmedieva00ocal|url-access=limited|date=1975|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, New York|isbn=9780801492648|pages=48–49}}</ref> The code included old laws by past kings, such as Alaric II in his {{lang|la|Breviarium Alarici}}, and Leovigild, but many were also new laws. The code was based almost wholly on Roman law, with some influence of Germanic law in rare cases. Among the eliminated old laws were the harsh laws against Jews. The {{lang|la|Liber}} showed the old system of military and civil divisions in administration was changing, and dukes ({{lang|la|duces provinciae}}) and counts ({{lang|la|comites civitatis}}) had begun taking more responsibilities outside their original military and civil duties. The servants or slaves of the king became very prominent in the bureaucracy and exercised wide administrative powers. With the Visigoth law codes, women could inherit land and title and manage it independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, and could represent themselves and bear witness in court by age 14 and arrange for their own marriages by age 20. Chindaswinth (642–653) strengthened the monarchy at the expense of the nobility; he executed some 700 nobles, forced dignitaries to swear oaths, and in the seventh council of Toledo laid down his right to excommunicate clergy who acted against the government. He was also able to maneuver his son [[Recceswinth]] on the throne, sparking a rebellion by a Gothic noble who allied with the Basques, but was put down. Recceswinth (653–672) held another council of Toledo, which reduced sentences for treason and affirmed the power of the councils to elect kings.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=356-360}}


Following Recceswinth, King [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] (672–680) was elected king. He had to deal with [[Flavius Paulus]]' revolts in Tarraconensis and [[Hilderic of Nimes]], and because of this, he felt a need to reform the army. He passed a law declaring all dukes, counts and other military leaders, as well as bishops, had to come to the aid of the kingdom once danger became known or risk harsh punishment. Wamba was eventually deposed in a bloodless coup. King Ervig (680–687) held further church councils and repealed the previous harsh laws of Wamba, though he still made provisions for the army. Ervig had his son-in-law Egica made king. Despite a rebellion by the bishop of Toledo, the 16th council, held in 693, denounced the bishop's revolt. The 17th council in 694 passed harsh laws against the Jews, citing a conspiracy, and many were enslaved, especially those who had converted from Christianity. Egica also raised his son [[Wittiza]] as coruler in 698. Not much is known about his reign, but a period of civil war quickly ensued between his sons (Achila and Ardo) and King Roderic, who had seized Toledo.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=360-369}}
Following Recceswinth, King [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] (672–680) was elected king. He had to deal with [[Flavius Paulus]]' revolts in Tarraconensis and [[Hilderic of Nimes]], and because of this, he felt a need to reform the army. He passed a law declaring all dukes, counts and other military leaders, as well as bishops, had to come to the aid of the kingdom once danger became known or risk harsh punishment. Wamba was eventually deposed in a bloodless coup. King Ervig (680–687) held further church councils and repealed the previous harsh laws of Wamba, though he still made provisions for the army. Ervig had his son-in-law Egica made king. Despite a rebellion by the bishop of Toledo, the 16th council, held in 693, denounced the bishop's revolt. The 17th council in 694 passed harsh laws against the Jews, citing a conspiracy, and many were enslaved, especially those who had converted from Christianity. Egica also raised his son [[Wittiza]] as coruler in 698. Not much is known about his reign, but a period of civil war quickly ensued between his sons (Achila and Ardo) and King Roderic, who had seized Toledo.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=360-369}}


===Muslim conquest===
===Muslim conquest===
{{main|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|}}
{{main|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|}}
[[File:King Roderich, Qusayr Amra.jpg|thumb|upright=0.4|Copy of a mural from [[Qusayr Amra]], depicting king Roderic]]
[[File:King Roderich, Qusayr Amra.jpg|thumb|upright=0.4|Copy of a mural from [[Qusayr Amra]], depicting king Roderic]]
In 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, a Muslim [[Berber people|Berber]] client of [[Musa bin Nusair]], the governor of Islamic Africa, invaded Spain with about 7,000 Berber men, while [[Roderic]] was in the north fighting the [[Basques]]. The tale that [[Julian, Count of Ceuta]], facilitated the invasion because one of his daughters had been dishonored by Roderic is possibly mythical. By late July, a battle took place at the [[Guadalete River]] in the province of [[Cádiz]]. Roderic was betrayed by his troops, who sided with his enemies, and the king was killed in battle. The Muslims then took much of southern Spain with little resistance, and went on to capture Toledo, where they executed several Visigothic nobles. In 712, Musa, the governor of [[Ifriqiya]], arrived with another army of 18,000, with large Arab contingents. He took [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] in 713 and invaded the north, taking [[Saragossa]] and [[Kingdom of León|León]], which were still under King Ardo, in 714. After being recalled by the [[Caliph]], Musa left his son Abd al-‘Aziz in command. By 716, most of the Iberian Peninsula was under Islamic rule, with [[Septimania]] taken between 721 and 725. The only effective resistance was in Asturias, where a Visigothic nobleman named Pelagius revolted in 718, and defeated the Muslims at the [[battle of Covadonga]]; this was the beginning of the Reconquest.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
In 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, a Muslim [[Berber people|Berber]] client of [[Musa bin Nusair]], the governor of Islamic Africa, invaded Spain with about 7,000 Berber men, while [[Roderic]] was in the north fighting the [[Basques]]. The tale that [[Julian, Count of Ceuta]], facilitated the invasion because one of his daughters had been dishonored by Roderic is possibly mythical. By late July, a battle took place at the [[Guadalete River]] in the province of [[Cádiz]]. Roderic was betrayed by his troops, who sided with his enemies, and the king was killed in battle. The Muslims then took much of southern Spain with little resistance, and went on to capture Toledo, where they executed several Visigothic nobles. In 712, Musa, the governor of [[Ifriqiya]], arrived with another army of 18,000, with large Arab contingents. He took [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] in 713 and invaded the north, taking [[Saragossa]] and [[Kingdom of León|León]], which were still under King Ardo, in 714. After being recalled by the [[Caliph]], Musa left his son Abd al-‘Aziz in command. By 716, most of the Iberian Peninsula was under Islamic rule, with [[Septimania]] taken between 721 and 725. The only effective resistance was in Asturias, where a Visigothic nobleman named Pelagius revolted in 718, and defeated the Muslims at the [[battle of Covadonga]]; this was the beginning of the [[Reconquista]].{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}


According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the {{lang|la|gens Gothorum}} or the {{lang|la|Hispani}}. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native [[Astures]], [[Galicians]], [[Cantabri]], [[Basques]] and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.<ref name="O'Callaghan2013">{{Cite book |first=Joseph F. |last=O'Callaghan |title=A History of Medieval Spain |date=15 April 2013 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-6872-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cq2dDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 176]}}</ref>
According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the {{lang|la|gens Gothorum}} or the {{lang|la|Hispani}}. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native [[Astures]], [[Galicians]], [[Cantabri]], [[Basques]] and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.<ref name="O'Callaghan2013">{{Cite book |first=Joseph F. |last=O'Callaghan |title=A History of Medieval Spain |date=15 April 2013 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-6872-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cq2dDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 176]}}</ref>


Resistance also continued in the regions around the [[Pyrenees]] with the establishment of the [[Marca Hispanica]] from 760 to 785. The [[Berber people|Berbers]] settled in the south and the [[Meseta Central]] in [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]]. Initially, the Muslims generally left the Christians alone to practise their religion, although non-Muslims were subject to Islamic law and treated as second-class citizens.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=369-370}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=II: c. 700&nbsp;– c. 900 |pages=256–258, 275–276}}</ref>
Resistance also continued in the regions around the [[Pyrenees]] with the establishment of the [[Marca Hispanica]] from 760 to 785 by the [[Frankish Empire]]. The [[Berber people|Berbers]] settled in the south and the [[Meseta Central]] in [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]]. Initially, the Muslims generally left the Christians alone to practise their religion, although non-Muslims were subject to Islamic law and treated as second-class citizens.{{sfn |Fouracre |2005 |pages=369-370}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=II: c. 700&nbsp;– c. 900 |pages=256–258, 275–276}}</ref>


==Settlements==
==Settlements==
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Liuvigild's son and namesake of the first Visigothic city founded his own sometime around 600. It is referred to by [[Isidore of Seville]] as {{lang|la|Lugo id est Luceo}} in the [[Asturias]], built after a victory over the Asturians or [[Cantabri]].<ref name="Thompson"/>
Liuvigild's son and namesake of the first Visigothic city founded his own sometime around 600. It is referred to by [[Isidore of Seville]] as {{lang|la|Lugo id est Luceo}} in the [[Asturias]], built after a victory over the Asturians or [[Cantabri]].<ref name="Thompson"/>


The fourth and possibly final city of the Goths was ''Ologicus'' (perhaps ''Ologitis''), founded using Basque labour in 621 by [[Suintila|Swinthila]] as a fortification against the recently subjected Basques. It is to be identified with modern [[Olite]].<ref name="Thompson"/>
The fourth and possibly final city of the Goths was ''Ologicus'' (perhaps ''Ologitis''), founded using Basque labour in 621 by [[Suintila|Swinthila]] as a fortification against the recently subjected Basques. It is to be identified with modern [[Olite]].<ref name="Thompson"/>


The possible fifth Visigothic foundation is ''Baiyara'' (perhaps modern [[Montoro]]), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the ''Geography'' of [[Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar]].<ref>Lacarra, "Panorama de la historia urbana en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo V al X", ''La città nell'alto medioevo'', '''6''' (1958:319&ndash;358), in ''Estudios de alta edad media española'', p. 48.</ref>
The possible fifth Visigothic foundation is ''Baiyara'' (perhaps modern [[Montoro]]), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the ''Geography'' of [[Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar]].<ref>Lacarra, "Panorama de la historia urbana en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo V al X", ''La città nell'alto medioevo'', '''6''' (1958:319&ndash;358), in ''Estudios de alta edad media española'', p. 48.</ref>
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==Culture and classical heritage==
==Culture and classical heritage==
[[File:Couronne Wisigoth.jpg|upright=0.5|thumb|Elaborate [[votive crown]] of king [[Recceswinth]], part of the [[Treasure of Guarrazar]]. Spain]]
[[File:Couronne Wisigoth.jpg|upright=0.5|thumb|Elaborate [[votive crown]] of king [[Recceswinth]], part of the [[Treasure of Guarrazar]]. Spain]]
The Visigothic rule has often been attributed to be a part of the so-called [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], a time of cultural and scientific decay reversed only by Muslim [[Al-Andalus|Andalusia]]. Through the course of their existence the Visigoths supposedly remained "men of the woods never strayed too far from there," as [[Thomas F. Glick]] puts it.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=57–59}}
The Visigothic rule has often been misattributed to be a part of the so-called [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], a time of supposedly cultural and scientific decay. Through the course of their existence the Visigoths supposedly remained "men of the woods never strayed too far from there," as [[Thomas F. Glick]] puts it.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=57–59}}


[[File:Recopolis - Basilica (Exterior).jpg|left|thumb|220x220px|Remains of the basilica of [[Reccopolis]]. Spain]] However, in fact, the Visigoths were preservers of the classical culture.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|p=238}} The bathing culture of Andalusia, for example, often said to be a Muslim invention, is a direct continuation of Romano-Visigothic traditions. Visigothic [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] housed baths supplied with water by [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]]s, and such aqueducts are also attested in [[Cordoba (Spain)|Cordoba]], [[Cadiz]] and Recopolis. Excavations confirm that Recopolis and Toledo, the Visigothic capital, were heavily influenced by the contemporary Byzantine architecture.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=68–70}} When the Muslims looted Spain during their conquest they were amazed by the fine and innumerable Visigothic treasures.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|pp=60–64|2016}} A few of these treasures were preserved as they were buried during the invasion&nbsp;– e.g., the [[votive crown]]s from the [[treasure of Guarrazar]].{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|p=41, note 94|2016}}
[[File:Recopolis - Basilica (Exterior).jpg|left|thumb|220x220px|Remains of the basilica of [[Reccopolis]]. Spain]] However, in fact, the Visigoths were preservers of the classical culture.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|p=238}} The bathing culture of Andalusia, for example, often said to be a Muslim invention, is a direct continuation of Romano-Visigothic traditions. Visigothic [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] housed baths supplied with water by [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]]s, and such aqueducts are also attested in [[Cordoba (Spain)|Cordoba]], [[Cadiz]] and Recopolis. Excavations confirm that Recopolis and Toledo, the Visigothic capital, were heavily influenced by the contemporary Byzantine architecture.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=68–70}} When the Muslims looted Spain during their conquest they were amazed by the fine and innumerable Visigothic treasures.{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|pp=60–64|2016}} A few of these treasures were preserved as they were buried during the Muslim invasions&nbsp;– e.g., the [[votive crown]]s from the [[treasure of Guarrazar]].{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|p=41, note 94|2016}}


While only the senior monks were allowed to read books of non-Christian or heretic authors{{sfn|Kampers|2008|p=321}} this did not prevent the rise of intellectuals such as, most prominently: [[Isidore of Seville]], one of the most quoted scholars of the Middle Ages, known for the breadth of his literary output, highlighted by his ''[[Etymologiae|Etymologies]]'', an encyclopedia of the knowledge of the epoch that was known and translated throughout medieval Europe; [[Eugenius I of Toledo]], an expert in [[mathematics]] and [[astronomy]]; or [[Theodulf of Orléans]], a theologian and poet who, after he had fled to the Frankish kingdom, participated in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=68–69}} A Muslim source referred to Visigothic [[Seville]] as the "abode of the sciences".{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|p=70}} The {{lang|la|Institutionum disciplinae}} from the mid seventh/early eight century confirms that Visigothic nobles were not only taught in reading and writing, but also in medicine, law and philosophy.{{sfn|Kampers|2008|p=322}} An example of a highly educated nobleman was king [[Sisebut]], who was a patron of learning and writer of poems, one of them about astronomy.{{sfn|Fear|1997|loc=XXII-XXIII}}
While only the senior monks were allowed to read books of non-Christian or heretic authors{{sfn|Kampers|2008|p=321}} this did not prevent the rise of intellectuals such as, most prominently: [[Isidore of Seville]], one of the most quoted scholars of the Middle Ages, known for the breadth of his literary output, highlighted by his ''[[Etymologiae|Etymologies]]'', an encyclopedia of the knowledge of the epoch that was known and translated throughout medieval Europe; [[Eugenius I of Toledo]], a theologian and poet expert in [[mathematics]] and [[astronomy]]; or [[Theodulf of Orléans]], a theologian and poet who, after he had fled to the Frankish kingdom, participated in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|pp=68–69}} A Muslim source referred to Visigothic [[Seville]] as the "abode of the sciences".{{sfn|Fernández-Morera|2016|p=70}} The {{lang|la|Institutionum disciplinae}} from the mid seventh/early eight century confirms that Visigothic nobles were not only taught in reading and writing, but also in science, medicine, law and philosophy.{{sfn|Kampers|2008|p=322}} An example of a highly educated nobleman was king [[Sisebut]], who was a patron of learning and writer of poems, one of them about astronomy.{{sfn|Fear|1997|loc=XXII-XXIII}}
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==Military==
==Military==
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**[[Reccimer]] (626–631), son and associate
**[[Reccimer]] (626–631), son and associate
*[[Sisenand]] (631–636)
*[[Sisenand]] (631–636)
**[[Iudila]] (632–633), rebel
**[[Iudila]] (632–633), rebel
*[[Chintila]] (636–640)
*[[Chintila]] (636–640)
*[[Tulga]] (640–641)[[File:Inscription de Narbonne.jpg|thumb|Funerary [[stele]] from [[Narbonne]] at the 7th-century beginning of the reign of Egica. The text begins with the Latin phrase {{lang|la|[[Rest in peace|requiescunt in pace]]}}. In various sources it is described as a "Christian inscription",<ref name="ECDS">{{cite web|url=http://db.edcs.eu/|title=EDCS-28300234|last1=Clauss|first1=Manfred|author-link=:de:Manfred Clauss|last2=Slaby|first2=Wolfgang A.|last3=Kolb|first3=Anne|author-link3=:de:Anne Kolb|last4=Woitas|first4=Barbara|work={{ill|Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby|de|Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss-Slaby}}|publisher=[[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]]|language=de|oclc=435767433|id=EDCS-28300234 |access-date=2020-09-26|df=mdy-all}} (Click on search link and enter above EDCS-ID.)</ref> an "inscription relating to the Jews of France",<ref name="JE1906">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Broydé|first=Isaac Luria|author2=Executive Committee of the Editorial Board|display-authors=1|editor1-last=Funk|editor1-first=Isaac Kaufmann|editor1-link=Isaac K. Funk|editor2-last=Singer|editor2-first=Isidore|editor2-link=Isidore Singer|editor3-last=Vizetelly|editor3-first=Frank Horace|editor3-link=Frank Horace Vizetelly|encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia|The Jewish Encyclopedia]]|title=France|hdl=2027/mdp.39015064245445?urlappend=%3Bseq=583|year=1906|publisher=[[Funk & Wagnalls|Funk and Wagnalls Company]]|volume=V|location=New York and London|oclc=61956716|page=445|df=mdy-all}}</ref> or as a Jewish inscription dated with the local calendar—the [[regnal year]] of Egica—rather than the [[Hebrew calendar]].<ref name="noms">{{cite book|last1=Fellous|first1=Sonia|author-link1=:fr:Sonia Fellous|date=2018-05-03|chapter=Les noms des juifs à Paris (XIIᵉ-XIVᵉ siècle)|url=https://books.openedition.org/pan/1018|editor1-last=Nadiras|editor1-first=Sébastien|title=Noms de lieux, noms de personnes: la question des sources|language=fr|doi=10.4000/books.pan.951|isbn=9791036512308|oclc=1193020908|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529105842/https://books.openedition.org/pan/1018|archive-date=2020-05-29|access-date=2020-09-26|df=mdy-all|quote=Mais la date du décès est calculée en fonction du calendrier local, ici celui du règne du roi [[Egica]], et non en fonction du calendrier juif comme au bas Moyen Âge.}}</ref>]]
*[[Tulga]] (640–641)[[File:Inscription de Narbonne.jpg|thumb|Funerary [[stele]] from [[Narbonne]] at the 7th-century beginning of the reign of Egica. The text begins with the Latin phrase {{lang|la|[[Rest in peace|requiescunt in pace]]}}. In various sources it is described as a "Christian inscription",<ref name="ECDS">{{cite web|url=http://db.edcs.eu/|title=EDCS-28300234|last1=Clauss|first1=Manfred|author-link=:de:Manfred Clauss|last2=Slaby|first2=Wolfgang A.|last3=Kolb|first3=Anne|author-link3=:de:Anne Kolb|last4=Woitas|first4=Barbara|work={{ill|Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby|de|Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss-Slaby}}|publisher=[[Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt]]|language=de|oclc=435767433|id=EDCS-28300234 |access-date=2020-09-26|df=mdy-all}} (Click on search link and enter above EDCS-ID.)</ref> an "inscription relating to the Jews of France",<ref name="JE1906">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Broydé|first=Isaac Luria|author2=Executive Committee of the Editorial Board|display-authors=1|editor1-last=Funk|editor1-first=Isaac Kaufmann|editor1-link=Isaac K. Funk|editor2-last=Singer|editor2-first=Isidore|editor2-link=Isidore Singer|editor3-last=Vizetelly|editor3-first=Frank Horace|editor3-link=Frank Horace Vizetelly|encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia|The Jewish Encyclopedia]]|title=France|hdl=2027/mdp.39015064245445?urlappend=%3Bseq=583|year=1906|publisher=[[Funk & Wagnalls|Funk and Wagnalls Company]]|volume=V|location=New York and London|oclc=61956716|page=445|df=mdy-all}}</ref> or as a Jewish inscription dated with the local calendar—the [[regnal year]] of Egica—rather than the [[Hebrew calendar]].<ref name="noms">{{cite book|last1=Fellous|first1=Sonia|author-link1=:fr:Sonia Fellous|date=2018-05-03|chapter=Les noms des juifs à Paris (XIIᵉ-XIVᵉ siècle)|url=https://books.openedition.org/pan/1018|editor1-last=Nadiras|editor1-first=Sébastien|title=Noms de lieux, noms de personnes: la question des sources|language=fr|doi=10.4000/books.pan.951|isbn=9791036512308|oclc=1193020908|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529105842/https://books.openedition.org/pan/1018|archive-date=2020-05-29|access-date=2020-09-26|df=mdy-all|quote=Mais la date du décès est calculée en fonction du calendrier local, ici celui du règne du roi [[Egica]], et non en fonction du calendrier juif comme au bas Moyen Âge.}}</ref>]]
* [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] (641–653)
* [[Chindasuinth|Chindaswinth]] (641–653)
*[[Recceswinth]] (649–672), son, initially co-king
*[[Recceswinth]] (649–672), son, initially co-king
**[[Froia]] (653), rebel
**[[Froia]] (653), rebel
*[[Wamba, Visigothic king|Wamba]] (672–680)
*[[Wamba, Visigothic king|Wamba]] (672–680)
**[[Hilderic of Nîmes|Hilderic]] (672), rebel
**[[Hilderic of Nîmes|Hilderic]] (672), rebel
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*[[Erwig]] (680–687)
*[[Erwig]] (680–687)
*[[Egica]] (687–702)
*[[Egica]] (687–702)
**[[Suniefred]] (693), rebel
**[[Suniefred]] (693), rebel
*[[Wittiza]] (694–710), son, initially co-king or sub-king in Gallaecia
*[[Wittiza]] (694–710), son, initially co-king or sub-king in Gallaecia
*[[Roderic]] (710–711), only in Lusitania and Carthaginiensis
*[[Roderic]] (710–711), only in Lusitania and Carthaginiensis
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*[[Councils of Toledo]]
*[[Councils of Toledo]]
*[[Germanic peoples]]
*[[Germanic peoples]]
*[[Barbarian kingdoms|Barbarian Kingdoms]]
*[[Visigothic script]]
*[[Arianism]]
*[[Arianism]]
*[[Protofeudalism]]
*[[Protofeudalism]]
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*[[J. M. Wallace-Hadrill|Wallace-Hadrill, John Michael]]. ''The Barbarian West, 400–1000''. 3rd ed. London: Hutchison, 1967.
*[[J. M. Wallace-Hadrill|Wallace-Hadrill, John Michael]]. ''The Barbarian West, 400–1000''. 3rd ed. London: Hutchison, 1967.
*{{Cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgoths0000wolf/mode/1up |title=History of the Goths |date=1988 |others=Thomas J. Dunlop, translator |isbn=0-520-05259-5 |edition=Revised |publisher=University of California Press }}
*{{Cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgoths0000wolf/mode/1up |title=History of the Goths |date=1988 |others=Thomas J. Dunlop, translator |isbn=0-520-05259-5 |edition=Revised |publisher=University of California Press }}
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{{Early Germanic Kingdoms |state=expanded}}
{{Spanish Kingdoms |state=expanded}}
{{Spanish Kingdoms |state=expanded}}
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{{Authority control}}

Latest revision as of 15:39, 12 June 2024

For other uses, see Gothic Kingdom.
Kingdom of the Goths
Regnum Gothorum (Latin)
418–720
Tremissis depicting Liuvigild (568–586) of Visigothic Kingdom
Tremissis depicting Liuvigild (568–586)
Extent of the Visigothic Kingdom, c. 500 (total extent shown in orange, territory lost after Battle of Vouillé shown in light orange: Kingdom of the Suebi was annexed in 585).
Extent of the Visigothic Kingdom, c. 500 (total extent shown in orange, territory lost after Battle of Vouillé shown in light orange: Kingdom of the Suebi was annexed in 585).
Capital
Common languages
Religion
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• 415–418
Wallia
• 418–451
Theodoric I
• 466–484
Euric
• 484–507
Alaric II
• 511–526
Theodoric the Great
• 568–586
Liuvigild
• 586–601
Reccared
• 612–621
Sisebut
• 621–631
Swintila
• 649–672
Recceswinth
• 694–710
Wittiza
• 710–711
Roderic
• 714–720
Ardo
History 
410
• Established
418
451
507
• Annexation of the Suebic Kingdom
585
• Conquest of Byzantine Spania
624
• Battle of Guadalete and Umayyad conquest of Toledo
711
• Umayyad occupation of
Septimania
720
Area
484[3]500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi)
580[3]600,000 km2 (230,000 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Western Roman Empire
Kingdom of the Suebi
Hispania
Umayyad Caliphate
Kingdom of Asturias
Today part of

The Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Spain or Kingdom of the Goths (Latin: Regnum Gothorum) occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of Gallia Aquitania in southwest Gaul by the Roman government and then extended by conquest over all of Hispania. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, whose attempts to re-establish Roman authority in Hispania were only partially successful and short-lived.

The Visigoths were romanized central Europeans who had moved west from the Danube Valley.[4] They became foederati of Rome, and wanted to restore the Roman order against the hordes of Vandals, Alans and Suebi. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD; therefore, the Visigoths believed they had the right to take the territories that Rome had promised in Hispania in exchange for restoring the Roman order.[5] Under King Euric—who eliminated the status of foederati—a triumphal advance of the Visigoths began.[6] Alarmed at Visigoth expansion from Aquitania after victory over the Gallo-Roman and Breton armies[7] at Déols in 469, Western Emperor Anthemius sent a fresh army across the Alps against Euric, who was besieging Arles. The Roman army was crushed in the Battle of Arles nearby and Euric then captured Arles and secured much of southern Gaul.

Sometimes referred to as the Regnum Tolosae or Kingdom of Toulouse after its capital Toulouse in modern historiography, the kingdom lost much of its territory in Gaul to the Franks in the early 6th century, save the narrow coastal strip of Septimania. The kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the Regnum Toletanum or Kingdom of Toledo after the new capital of Toledo in Hispania. A civil war starting in 549 resulted in an invitation from the Visigoth Athanagild, who had usurped the kingship, to the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to send soldiers to his assistance. Athanagild won his war, but the Byzantines took over Cartagena and a good deal of southern Hispania, until 624 when Swinthila expelled the last Byzantine garrisons from the peninsula, occupying Orcelis, which the Visigoths called Aurariola (today Orihuela in the Province of Alicante). Starting in the 570s Athanagild's brother Liuvigild compensated for this loss by conquering the Kingdom of the Suebi in Gallaecia (corresponding roughly to present-day Galicia and the northern part of Portugal) and annexing it, and by repeated campaigns against the Basques.

The ethnic distinction between the Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time (the Gothic language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths renounced Arianism in 589).[8] This newfound unity found expression in increasingly severe persecution of outsiders, especially the Jews. The Visigothic Code, completed in 654, abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and for Visigoths. The 7th century saw many civil wars between factions of the aristocracy. Despite good records left by contemporary bishops, such as Isidore and Leander of Seville, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish Goths from Hispano-Romans, as the two became inextricably intertwined. Despite these civil wars, by 625 AD the Visigoths had succeeded in expelling the Byzantines from Hispania and had established a foothold at the port of Ceuta in Africa. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by Umayyad troops from North Africa in 711 to 719, with only the northern reaches of Hispania remaining in Christian hands. The medieval Kingdom of Asturias in northern Spain reputedly began when a Visigothic nobleman called Pelagius was elected princeps and became the leader of the Astures and of the Visigoths who had taken refuge in mountains.

The Visigoths and their early kings were Arians and came into conflict with the Church in Rome, but after they converted to Nicene Christianity, the Church exerted an enormous influence on secular affairs through the Councils of Toledo. The Visigoths also developed the highly influential legal code known in Western Europe as the Visigothic Code (Latin: Liber Iudiciorum), which would become the basis for Spanish law throughout the Middle Ages.

History[edit]

Federate kingdom[edit]

Visigothic settlement and the Iberian Peninsula, c. 418

From 407 to 409 AD, an alliance of Germanic Vandals, Iranian Alans and Germanic Suebi crossed the frozen Rhine and swept across modern France and into the Iberian Peninsula. For their part, the Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked Rome in 410, capturing Galla Placidia, the sister of Western Roman emperor Honorius.

Athaulf (king of the Visigoths from 410 to 415) spent the next few years operating in the Gallic and Hispanic countrysides, diplomatically playing competing factions of Germanic and Roman commanders against one another to skillful effect, and taking over cities such as Narbonne and Toulouse (in 413). After he married Placidia, the Emperor Honorius enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suebi.

Main article: Gothic War in Spain (416-418)

In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates under King Wallia (reigned 415–418) by giving them land in the Garonne valley of Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This probably took place under the system of hospitalitas. It seems likely that at first the Visigoths were not given a large amount of land estates in the region (as previously believed), but that they acquired the taxes of the region, with the local Gallic aristocrats now paying their taxes to the Visigoths instead of to the Roman government.[9]

Theodoric I by Fabrizio Castello (1560–1617)

The Visigoths with their capital at Toulouse, remained de facto independent, and soon began expanding into Roman territory at the expense of the feeble Western empire. Under Theodoric I (418–451), the Visigoths attacked Arles (in 425[10] and 430[11]) and Narbonne (in 436),[11] but were checked by Litorius using Hunnic mercenaries. This resulted at first in Theodoric's defeat at the Battle of Narbonne in 436, but then in 439 at the Battle of Toulouse the Visigoths defeated the allied forces of Romans and Huns. By 451, the situation had reversed and the Huns had invaded Gaul; now Theodoric fought under Flavius Aetius against Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Attila was driven back, but Theodoric was killed in the battle.[12]

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The Vandals completed the conquest of North Africa when they took Carthage on October 19, 439, and the Suebi had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor Avitus now sent the Visigoths into Hispania. Theodoric II (453–466) invaded and defeated the king of the Suebi, Rechiarius, at the battle on the river Órbigo in 456 near Asturica Augusta (Astorga) and then sacked Bracara Augusta (Braga), the Suebi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Gallaecia, part of the Suebi Kingdom quite brutally: they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, probably due to the clergy's support of the Suebi.[13] Theodoric took control over Hispania Baetica, Carthaginiensis and southern Lusitania. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor Libius Severus in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by Gallo-Romans under Aegidius; as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, and the revolt ended only in 465.[14]

Kingdom of Toulouse[edit]

The Iberian peninsula around 476

In 466, Euric, who was the youngest son of Theodoric I, came to the Visigothic throne. He is infamous for murdering his elder brother Theodoric II who had himself become king by murdering his elder brother Thorismund. Under Euric (466–484), the Visigoths began expanding in Gaul and consolidating their presence in the Iberian peninsula. Euric fought a series of wars with the Suebi who retained some influence in Lusitania, and brought most of this region under Visigothic power, taking Emerita Augusta (Mérida) in 469. Euric also attacked the Western Roman Empire, capturing Hispania Tarraconensis in 472, the last bastion of (Western) Roman rule in Spain. By 476, he had extended his rule to the Rhone and the Loire rivers which comprised most of southern Gaul. He also occupied the key Roman cities of Arles and Marseilles. In his campaigns, Euric had counted on a portion of the Gallo-Roman and Hispano-Roman aristocracy who served under him as generals and governors. The Visigothic Kingdom was formally recognized as an independent kingdom in former Roman territory instead of having the status of foederati when the Western emperor Julius Nepos (474–475) signed in 475 an alliance with Euric, granting him the lands south of the Loire and west of the Rhone in exchange for military service and the lands in Provence (including Arles and Marseilles). The lands in Hispania remained under de facto Visigothic control. After Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, Euric quickly recaptured Provence, a fact which Odoacer formally accepted in a treaty.[15]

By 500, the Visigothic Kingdom, centered at Toulouse, controlled Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis and most of Hispania with the exception of the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia in the northwest and small areas controlled by independent Iberian peoples, such as the Basques and the Cantabrians. Euric's son Alaric II (484–507) issued a new body of laws, the Breviarium Alarici, and held a church council at Agde.

Clovis I fights the Visigoths

The Visigoths now came into conflict with the Franks under their King Clovis I, who had conquered northern Gaul. Following a brief war with the Franks, Alaric was forced to put down a rebellion in Tarraconensis, probably caused by recent Visigoth immigration to Hispania due to pressure from the Franks. In 507, the Franks attacked again, this time allied with the Burgundians. Alaric II was killed at the Battle of Campus Vogladensis (Vouillé) near Poitiers, and Toulouse was sacked. By 508, the Visigoths had lost most of their Gallic holdings save Septimania in the south.[16]

Arian Kingdom of Hispania[edit]

After Alaric II's death, his illegitimate son Gesalec took power until he was deposed by Theodoric the Great, ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, who invaded and defeated him at Barcelona. Gesalec fled and regrouped, but was defeated again at Barcelona, and was captured and killed. Theodoric then installed his grandson Amalaric (511–531), the son of Alaric II, as king. Amalaric, however, was still a child and power in Spain remained under the Ostrogothic general and regent, Theudis. Only after Theodoric's death (526) did Amalaric obtain control of his kingdom. His rule did not last long, as in 531, Amalaric was defeated by the Frankish king Childebert I and then murdered at Barcelona.

Visigothic pseudo-imperial gold tremissis in the name of Emperor Justinian I, 6th century: the Christian cross on the breast defines the Visigothic attribution. (British Museum)

Afterwards, Theudis (531–548) became king. He expanded Visigothic control over the southern regions, but he was also murdered after a failed invasion of Africa. Visigothic Spain suffered a civil war under King Agila I (549–554), which prompted the Roman/Byzantine emperor Justinian I to send an army and carve out the small province of Spania for the Byzantine Empire along the coast of southern Spain. Agila was eventually killed, and his enemy Athanagild (552–568) became the new king. He attacked the Byzantines, but he was unable to dislodge them from southern Spain, and was obliged to formally acknowledge the suzerainty of the Empire.

Visigothic Hispania and the Byzantine province of Spania, circa 560 AD

The next Visigothic king was Liuvigild (569 – April 21, 586). He was an effective military leader and consolidated Visigothic power in Spain. Liuvigild campaigned against the Eastern Romans in the south in the 570s and he took back Cordova after another revolt. He also fought in the north against the Galician Kingdom of the Suebi and various small independent states, including the Basques and the Cantabrians. He pacified northern Spain, but was unable to completely conquer these peoples. When Liuvigild established his son Hermenegild as joint ruler, a civil war ensued between them. Hermenegild became the first Visigothic king to convert to Nicene Christianity due to his ties with the Romans, but he was defeated in 584 and killed in 585.[17] By the end of his reign, Liuvigild had united the entire Iberian peninsula, including the Suebic Kingdom which he conquered in 585 during a Suebi civil war that ensued after the death of King Miro. Liuvigild established amicable terms with the Franks through royal marriages, and they remained at peace throughout most of his reign. Liuvigild also founded new cities, such as Reccopolis and Victoriacum (Vitoria), the first barbarian king to do so.[18][19]

Catholic Kingdom of Toledo[edit]

See also: Protofeudalism
Visigothic pair of eagles on fibulae (brooches for fastening garments), Spain

On becoming King, Liuvigild's son Reccared I (586–601) converted from Arian to Chalcedonian Christianity. This led to some unrest in the kingdom, notably a revolt by the Arian bishop of Mérida which was put down; he also beat back another Frankish offensive in the north. Reccared then oversaw the Third Council of Toledo in 589, where he announced his faith in the Nicene creed and denounced Arian. He adopted the name Flavius, the family name of the Constantinian dynasty, and styled himself as the successor to the Roman emperors. Reccared also fought the Byzantines in Hispania Baetica after they had begun a new offensive.[20]

Reccared's son Liuva II became king in 601, but was deposed by the Visigothic noble Witteric (603–610), ending the short-lived dynasty. There were various Visigothic Kings between 610 and 631, and this period saw constant regicide. This period also saw the definitive conquest of the Byzantine territories in the south. War continued in the north against the Basques and Asturians, as indeed it would continue for the rest of the Visigothic Kingdom's existence. These Kings also worked on religious legislature, especially King Sisebut (612–621), who passed several harsh laws against Jews and forced many Jews to convert to Christianity. Sisebut was also successful against the Byzantines, taking several of their cities, including Málaga. The Byzantines were finally defeated by Swinthila (621–631), who had captured all of their Spanish holdings by 625. Suinthila was deposed by the Franks and replaced by Sisinand.[21]

Map showing the conquests of Leovigild, c. 586
Visigothic Hispania and its regional divisions from 625 to 711, prior to the Muslim conquest

The instability of this period can be attributed to the power struggle between the kings and the nobility. Religious unification strengthened the political power of the church, which it exercised through church councils at Toledo along with the nobles. The fourth council, held during the brief reign of Sisinand in 633,[22] excommunicated and exiled the king, replacing him with Chintila (636–639). The church councils were now the most powerful institution in the Visigothic state; they took the role of regulating the process of succession to the kingship by election of the king by Gothic noble 'senators' and the church officials. They also decided to meet on a regular basis to discuss ecclesiastical and political matters affecting the Church. Finally, they decided the kings should die in peace, and declared their persons sacred, seeking to end the violence and regicides of the past. Despite all this, another coup took place and Chintila was deposed in 639, and King Tulga took his place; he was also deposed in the third year of his reign and the council elected the noble Chindaswinth as king.

King Chindaswinth from the Códex Albedense.

The reigns of Chindaswinth and his son Recceswinth saw the compilation of the most important Visigothic law book, the Liber Iudiciorum (Spanish: Fuero Juzgo, English: Book of Judgements), also called Lex Visigothorum or the Visigothic Code promulgated by king Chindaswinth (642–653 AD), and completed in 654 by his son, king Recceswinth (649–672), abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Hispano-Romans and Visigoths. The new laws applied to both Gothic and Hispano-Roman populations who had been under different laws in the past, and it replaced all older codes of law.[23] The code included old laws by past kings, such as Alaric II in his Breviarium Alarici, and Leovigild, but many were also new laws. The code was based almost wholly on Roman law, with some influence of Germanic law in rare cases. Among the eliminated old laws were the harsh laws against Jews. The Liber showed the old system of military and civil divisions in administration was changing, and dukes (duces provinciae) and counts (comites civitatis) had begun taking more responsibilities outside their original military and civil duties. The servants or slaves of the king became very prominent in the bureaucracy and exercised wide administrative powers. With the Visigoth law codes, women could inherit land and title and manage it independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, and could represent themselves and bear witness in court by age 14 and arrange for their own marriages by age 20. Chindaswinth (642–653) strengthened the monarchy at the expense of the nobility; he executed some 700 nobles, forced dignitaries to swear oaths, and in the seventh council of Toledo laid down his right to excommunicate clergy who acted against the government. He was also able to maneuver his son Recceswinth on the throne, sparking a rebellion by a Gothic noble who allied with the Basques, but was put down. Recceswinth (653–672) held another council of Toledo, which reduced sentences for treason and affirmed the power of the councils to elect kings.[24]

Following Recceswinth, King Wamba (672–680) was elected king. He had to deal with Flavius Paulus' revolts in Tarraconensis and Hilderic of Nimes, and because of this, he felt a need to reform the army. He passed a law declaring all dukes, counts and other military leaders, as well as bishops, had to come to the aid of the kingdom once danger became known or risk harsh punishment. Wamba was eventually deposed in a bloodless coup. King Ervig (680–687) held further church councils and repealed the previous harsh laws of Wamba, though he still made provisions for the army. Ervig had his son-in-law Egica made king. Despite a rebellion by the bishop of Toledo, the 16th council, held in 693, denounced the bishop's revolt. The 17th council in 694 passed harsh laws against the Jews, citing a conspiracy, and many were enslaved, especially those who had converted from Christianity. Egica also raised his son Wittiza as coruler in 698. Not much is known about his reign, but a period of civil war quickly ensued between his sons (Achila and Ardo) and King Roderic, who had seized Toledo.[25]

Muslim conquest[edit]

Main article: Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Copy of a mural from Qusayr Amra, depicting king Roderic

In 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad, a Muslim Berber client of Musa bin Nusair, the governor of Islamic Africa, invaded Spain with about 7,000 Berber men, while Roderic was in the north fighting the Basques. The tale that Julian, Count of Ceuta, facilitated the invasion because one of his daughters had been dishonored by Roderic is possibly mythical. By late July, a battle took place at the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz. Roderic was betrayed by his troops, who sided with his enemies, and the king was killed in battle. The Muslims then took much of southern Spain with little resistance, and went on to capture Toledo, where they executed several Visigothic nobles. In 712, Musa, the governor of Ifriqiya, arrived with another army of 18,000, with large Arab contingents. He took Mérida in 713 and invaded the north, taking Saragossa and León, which were still under King Ardo, in 714. After being recalled by the Caliph, Musa left his son Abd al-‘Aziz in command. By 716, most of the Iberian Peninsula was under Islamic rule, with Septimania taken between 721 and 725. The only effective resistance was in Asturias, where a Visigothic nobleman named Pelagius revolted in 718, and defeated the Muslims at the battle of Covadonga; this was the beginning of the Reconquista.[citation needed]

According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the gens Gothorum or the Hispani. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native Astures, Galicians, Cantabri, Basques and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.[26]

Resistance also continued in the regions around the Pyrenees with the establishment of the Marca Hispanica from 760 to 785 by the Frankish Empire. The Berbers settled in the south and the Meseta Central in Castile. Initially, the Muslims generally left the Christians alone to practise their religion, although non-Muslims were subject to Islamic law and treated as second-class citizens.[27][28]

Settlements[edit]

Visigothic settlements were concentrated along the Garonne River between Bordeaux and Toulouse in Aquitaine during the 5th century, according to contemporary sources under the terms of the late Roman Empire as foederatii, or allies, and assigned billeting obligations to provide lodging for Roman soldiers, more or less as the imperial military had done in other provinces.

Later in the century, following annexations made by King Euric in Gaul and Hispania once the Roman Empire of the West had collapsed, specially after the Battle of Vouille, many Goths and their federated peoples, such as the Vandals, Ostrogoths and Sarmatians, moved to settle more freely under their kindred clans' rulers, the reiks, who received dukedom territories or comital offices as counts over smaller territories or key urban locations within the provinces of Hispania and in southwestern Gaul and its Mediterranean coast. Their settlements were made around the Roman cities of Emerita Augusta (Mérida), Barcino (Barcelona), Hispalis (Seville), Toletum (Toledo) and Septimanian Narbonne, which would be the main bases of Gothic power politically as well as militarily during the rest of the kingdom's history, as well as other settlements that were dispersed in rural farming areas between the upper reaches of the Douro, Ebro and Tagus rivers, in an area between Tierra de Campos, also known as Campi Gothorum, around Central Castile and León and Rioja, and Toledo to the east and south. After the fall of the Galician Kingdom of the Suebi, some further settlements were made along the Tagus river north of Lisbon, by Oporto and Astorga former strongholds of the Suebi. Little Visigothic settlement occurred elsewhere in the kingdom.[29]

Founding of cities[edit]

Church of Santa Maria de Lara, most likely built just before the Muslim invasion

The Visigoths founded the only new cities in Western Europe between the fifth and eighth centuries. It is certain (through contemporary Spanish accounts) that they founded four, and a possible fifth city is ascribed to them by a later Arabic source. All of these cities were founded for military purposes and three of them in celebration of victory.

Conversion of Reccared to Chalcedonian Christianity, painted by Muñoz Degrain. Senate Palace Spain.

The first, Reccopolis, was founded by Liuvigild in 578 after his victory over the Franks, near what is today the tiny village of Zorita de los Canes. He named it after his son Reccared and built it with Byzantine imitations, containing a palace complex and mint, but it lay in ruins by the 9th century (after the Arab conquest).

At a slightly later date, Liuvigild founded a city he named Victoriacum after his victory over the Basques.[30] Though it is often supposed to survive as the city of Vitoria, contemporary 12th-century sources refer to the latter city's foundation by Sancho VI of Navarre.

Liuvigild's son and namesake of the first Visigothic city founded his own sometime around 600. It is referred to by Isidore of Seville as Lugo id est Luceo in the Asturias, built after a victory over the Asturians or Cantabri.[30]

The fourth and possibly final city of the Goths was Ologicus (perhaps Ologitis), founded using Basque labour in 621 by Swinthila as a fortification against the recently subjected Basques. It is to be identified with modern Olite.[30]

The possible fifth Visigothic foundation is Baiyara (perhaps modern Montoro), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the Geography of Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar.[31]

Culture and classical heritage[edit]

Elaborate votive crown of king Recceswinth, part of the Treasure of Guarrazar. Spain

The Visigothic rule has often been misattributed to be a part of the so-called Dark Ages, a time of supposedly cultural and scientific decay. Through the course of their existence the Visigoths supposedly remained "men of the woods never strayed too far from there," as Thomas F. Glick puts it.[32]

Remains of the basilica of Reccopolis. Spain

However, in fact, the Visigoths were preservers of the classical culture.[33] The bathing culture of Andalusia, for example, often said to be a Muslim invention, is a direct continuation of Romano-Visigothic traditions. Visigothic Mérida housed baths supplied with water by aqueducts, and such aqueducts are also attested in Cordoba, Cadiz and Recopolis. Excavations confirm that Recopolis and Toledo, the Visigothic capital, were heavily influenced by the contemporary Byzantine architecture.[34] When the Muslims looted Spain during their conquest they were amazed by the fine and innumerable Visigothic treasures.[35] A few of these treasures were preserved as they were buried during the Muslim invasions – e.g., the votive crowns from the treasure of Guarrazar.[36]

While only the senior monks were allowed to read books of non-Christian or heretic authors[37] this did not prevent the rise of intellectuals such as, most prominently: Isidore of Seville, one of the most quoted scholars of the Middle Ages, known for the breadth of his literary output, highlighted by his Etymologies, an encyclopedia of the knowledge of the epoch that was known and translated throughout medieval Europe; Eugenius I of Toledo, a theologian and poet expert in mathematics and astronomy; or Theodulf of Orléans, a theologian and poet who, after he had fled to the Frankish kingdom, participated in the Carolingian Renaissance.[38] A Muslim source referred to Visigothic Seville as the "abode of the sciences".[39] The Institutionum disciplinae from the mid seventh/early eight century confirms that Visigothic nobles were not only taught in reading and writing, but also in science, medicine, law and philosophy.[40] An example of a highly educated nobleman was king Sisebut, who was a patron of learning and writer of poems, one of them about astronomy.[41]

List of kings[edit]

Terving kings[edit]

These kings and leaders – with the exception of Fritigern and possibly Alavivus – were pagans.

Balti dynasty[edit]

These kings were Arians (followers of the theological teaching of Arius). They tended to succeed their fathers or close relatives on the throne and thus constitute a dynasty, the Balti.

Post-Balti kings[edit]

The Visigothic monarchy took on a completely elective character with the fall of the Balti, but the monarchy remained Arian until Reccared I converted in 587 (Hermenegild had also converted earlier). Only a few sons succeeded their fathers to the throne in this period.

Family tree[edit]

Kings of the Visigoths family tree
Rothesteus
Sub-king of
the Visigoths 		Theodosius I
the Great
Roman Emperor
347–379–395 		?
Athanaric
?–381
Atharid Alaric I
King of the
Visigoths
370/375–395–410 		UnknownGalla Placidia
388–450 		Ataulf
King of the
Visigoths
≈370–410–415 		Wallia
King of the
Visigoths
≈385–415–418
Theodoric I
King of the
Visigoths
≈393–418–451 		UnknownTheodosius
414–415		Rechila
Suevic
King of Galicia
?–438–448 		Unknown
Thorismund
King of the
Visigoths
≈420–451–453 		Theodoric II
King of the
Visigoths
≈426–453–466 		Frederic
?–466		Euric
King of the
Visigoths
415–466–484 		RagnachildisRetimerHimnerithTheodoric
the Great
K. of Ostrogoths
454–475–526
Regent
r.511–526
Remismund
King of
the Suevi
?–464–469 		UnknownOdoacer
King of Italy
433–476–493		Evochilde
446–?		Alaric II
King of the
Visigoths
≈458/466–484–507		Theodegotha
476?–524		Clovis I
King of the Franks
466–509–511–511
Gesalec
King of the
Visigoths
?–507–511–513		Amalaric
King of the
Visigoths
502–511–531		Clotilde
≈500–531		Eustere
494?–521		Theuderic I
King of Metz
485–511–533/4		Chlothar I
King of
the Franks
497–558–561
Liuva I
King of the
Visigoths
?-568–571/2		TheodosiaLiuvigild
King of the
Visigoths
≈519–568–586		GoiswinthaAthanagild
King of the
Visigoths
≈517–554–567
Galswintha
540–568		Chilperic I
King of Neustria
c.539–561–584		Brunhilda
of Austrasia
c.543–613		Sigebert I
King of Austrasia
c.535–561–c.575
BaddoReccared I
King of the
Visigoths
559–586–601		Chlodosind
569-?		Hermenegild
?–585		Ingund
568/567–585		Merovech
Liuva II
King of the
Visigoths
584–601–603		UnknownSisebut
King of the
Visigoths
565–612–621		Atanagildo
≈583–?		Witteric
King of the
Visigoths
≈565–603–610
Reccared II
King of the
Visigoths
?–621		Theodora
≈590–?		Suintila
King of the
Visigoths
≈588–621–
631–633/635		GeilaErmenberga
≈590–?		Theuderic II
King of Burgundy
587–595–613
Chintila
King of the
Visigoths
≈606–636–640		Sisenand
King of the
Visigoths
605–631–636		Ricimer
≈610–631		Chindasuinth
King of the
Visigoths
563–641–653		Recciberga
??
Tulga
King of the
Visigoths
?-640–641–?		 Recceswinth
King of the
Visigoths
?–649–672		Theodofred
Duke of
Cordoba		Favila
Duke of Cantabria
≈684–701		GadaArdabasto
???
?
Giscila		AribergaWamba
King of the
Visigoths
≈643–672–
680–687/688		Roderic
King of the
Visigoths
?–710–712		Pelagius
King of Asturias
685–718–737		Erwig
King of the
Visigoths
aft.642–680–687		Liuvigoto
620–?
Kings of the
Kingdom of
Asturias		?
Egica
King of the
Visigoths
610–687–701/703		CixiloPeter
Duke of
Cantabria
?–730
Wittiza
King of the
Visigoths
≈687–694–710?		Oppas
Bishop of Seville
?–712		SisebutoAlfonso I
King of Asturias
≈693–739–757		Fruela
of Cantabria
?–758
?
Achila II
King of the
Visigoths
?–711–714?		Kings of the
Kingdom of
Asturias		Kings of the
Kingdom of
Asturias
Monarchs of the
Iberian Peninsula

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Following the death of Amalaric (531). See: Barnish, S. J. B.; Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Stress (2007). The Ostrogoths from the migration period to the sixth century: an ethnographic perspective. Boydell & Brewer. p. 369.
  2. ^ Capital of the Visigothic kingdom by the end of the reign of Athanagild (died 567). Collins, Roger (2004). Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 44.
  3. ^ a b Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 126. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
  4. ^ Kurlansky, Mark (2011). The Basque History of the World. Random House. p. 35. ISBN 9781448113224.
  5. ^ Orlandis, José (2003). Historia del reino visigodo español : los acontecimientos, las instituciones, la sociedad, los protagonistas (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Madrid: Rialp. ISBN 8432134694.
  6. ^ Heather, Peter (1991). The Goths. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 189. ISBN 9780631165361.
  7. ^ Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2013). Wales and the Britons, 350–1064. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780198217312.
  8. ^ Claude, Dietrich (1998). "Remarks about relations between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans in the seventh century". In Pohl, Walter (ed.). Strategies of Distinction: Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300–800. Transformation of the Roman World. pp. 119–121. ISBN 90-04-10846-7: dress and funerary customs cease to be distinguishing features in AD 570/580
  9. ^ Cameron, Ward; Perkins and Whitby. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. XIV. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, A.D. 425–600. p. 48.
  10. ^ Tucker 2010, p. 365.
  11. ^ a b Barrett 2018, p. 1475.
  12. ^ Cambridge Ancient vol. 14, p. 113.
  13. ^ Fouracre 2005, p. 165.
  14. ^ Cambridge Ancient vol. 14, p. 24.
  15. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 167–171.
  16. ^ Cambridge Ancient vol. 14, pp. 113–114.
  17. ^ Previté-Orton, Charles William (1979). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge University Press. p. 145.
  18. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 183–209.
  19. ^ Cambridge Ancient vol. 14, pp. 122–124.
  20. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 346–350.
  21. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 350–353.
  22. ^ Crouch, Jace T. (1994). "Isidore of Seville and the Evolution of Kingship in Visigothic Spain". Mediterranean Studies. 4: 9–26. ISSN 1074-164X. JSTOR 41166876.
  23. ^ O'Callaghan, Joseph (1975). A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780801492648.
  24. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 356–360.
  25. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 360–369.
  26. ^ O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (15 April 2013). A History of Medieval Spain. Cornell University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8014-6872-8.
  27. ^ Fouracre 2005, pp. 369–370.
  28. ^ The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. II: c. 700 – c. 900. pp. 256–258, 275–276.
  29. ^ World and Its Peoples: Europe. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7614-7883-6.
  30. ^ a b c Thompson, "The Barbarian Kingdoms in Gaul and Spain".
  31. ^ Lacarra, "Panorama de la historia urbana en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo V al X", La città nell'alto medioevo, 6 (1958:319–358), in Estudios de alta edad media española, p. 48.
  32. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, pp. 57–59.
  33. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, p. 238.
  34. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, pp. 68–70.
  35. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, pp. 60–64.
  36. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, p. 41, note 94.
  37. ^ Kampers 2008, p. 321.
  38. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, pp. 68–69.
  39. ^ Fernández-Morera 2016, p. 70.
  40. ^ Kampers 2008, p. 322.
  41. ^ Fear 1997, XXII-XXIII.
  42. ^ Clauss, Manfred [in German]; Slaby, Wolfgang A.; Kolb, Anne [in German]; Woitas, Barbara. "EDCS-28300234". Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby [de] (in German). Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. OCLC 435767433. EDCS-28300234. Retrieved September 26, 2020. (Click on search link and enter above EDCS-ID.)
  43. ^ Broydé, Isaac Luria; et al. (1906). "France". In Funk, Isaac Kaufmann; Singer, Isidore; Vizetelly, Frank Horace (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. V. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Company. p. 445. hdl:2027/mdp.39015064245445. OCLC 61956716.
  44. ^ Fellous, Sonia [in French] (May 3, 2018). "Les noms des juifs à Paris (XIIᵉ-XIVᵉ siècle)". In Nadiras, Sébastien (ed.). Noms de lieux, noms de personnes: la question des sources (in French). doi:10.4000/books.pan.951. ISBN 9791036512308. OCLC 1193020908. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020. Mais la date du décès est calculée en fonction du calendrier local, ici celui du règne du roi Egica, et non en fonction du calendrier juif comme au bas Moyen Âge.

Sources[edit]

  • Bachrach, Bernard S. "A Reassessment of Visigothic Jewish Policy, 589–711." American Historical Review 78, no. 1 (1973): 11–34.
  • Collins, Roger. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1989. Reprinted 1998.
  • Collins, Roger. Law, Culture, and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain. Great Yarmouth: Variorum, 1992. ISBN 0-86078-308-1.
  • Collins, Roger. Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-631-18185-7.
  • DeHondt, Justin (2012). The Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse: Conflict and Cooperation with the Roman Empire. Albion College.
  • Drayson, Elizabeth (2007). The King and the Whore. King Roderick and La Cava. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403974365.
  • Fouracre, Paul, ed. (2005). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 1 c.500-c.700. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36291-7.
  • Halsall, Guy (2003). Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450–900. Routledge. ISBN 0415239400.
  • Heather, Peter. The Goths. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
  • James, Edward, ed. Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-19-822543-1.
  • Fernández-Morera, Darío (2016). The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise. Muslims, Christians and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain. ISI Books. ISBN 9781504034692.
  • Fernández, Damián; Lester, Molly; Wood, Jamie (2023). Rome and Byzantium in the Visigothic Kingdom: Beyond Imitatio Imperii. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-94-6372-641-2.
  • Fear, A. T. (1997). Lives of the Visigothic Fathers. Liverpool University. ISBN 0853235821.
  • Kampers, Gerd (2008). Geschichte der Westgoten (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. ISBN 9783506765178.
  • Lacarra, José María. Estudios de alta edad media española. Valencia: 1975.
  • Barrett, Graham (2018). "Theodoric I the Visigoth". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Vol. II. Oxford University Press.1475
  • Martínez Jiménez, Javier; Isaac Sastre de Diego; Carlos Tejerizo García. (2018) The Iberian Peninsula between 300 and 850. An Archaeological Perspective. Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia 6. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789089647771
  • Sivan, Hagith. "On Foederati, Hospitalitas, and the Settlement of the Goths in A.D. 418." American Journal of Philology 108, no. 4 (1987): 759–772.
  • Reinhart, Wilhelm (1951). "Germanische Helme in westgotischen Münzbildern" (PDF). Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte (in German). Richard Pflaum: 43–46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  • Thompson, E. A. "The Barbarian Kingdoms in Gaul and Spain", Nottingham Mediaeval Studies, 7 (1963:4n11).
  • Thompson, E. A. The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
  • Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. I. ABC-CLIO.
  • Vázquez, Federico Gallegos (2011). "El ejército visigodo: el primer ejército español". In Leandro Martínez Peñas; Manuela Fernández Rodríguez (eds.). Reflexiones sobre poder, guerra y religión en la Historia de España. pp. 11–56. ISBN 978-84-615-2931-5.
  • Wallace-Hadrill, John Michael. The Barbarian West, 400–1000. 3rd ed. London: Hutchison, 1967.
  • Wolfram, Herwig (1988). History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlop, translator (Revised ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05259-5.
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