Editing Goths (section)

==Culture==
===Art===
====Early====
{{See also|Migration Period art|Pietroasele Treasure|Ring of Pietroassa}}
[[File:Ostgoten-fibel.jpg|thumb|upright|An Ostrogothic eagle-shaped [[fibula (brooch)|fibula]], AD 500, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg]]
Before the invasion of the Huns, the Gothic Chernyakhov culture produced jewelry, vessels, and decorative objects in a style much influenced by Greek and Roman craftsmen. They developed a [[polychrome]] style of gold work, using wrought cells or setting to encrust [[gemstone]]s into their gold objects.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}}

====Ostrogoths====
The eagle-shaped [[fibula (brooch)|fibula]], part of the [[Domagnano Treasure]], was used to join clothes c. AD 500; the piece on display in the [[Germanisches Nationalmuseum]] in Nuremberg is well-known.

====Visigoths====
{{Main|Visigothic art and architecture}}
[[File:CoronaRecesvinto01.JPG|right|thumb|upright|Detail of the [[votive crown]] of Recceswinth, hanging in Madrid. The hanging letters spell [R]ECCESVINTHVS REX OFFERET [King R. offers this].{{efn|The first R is held at the [[Musée de Cluny]], Paris.}}]]
[[File:Visigothic - Pair of Eagle Fibula - Walters 54421, 54422 - Group.jpg|thumb|Visigothic – Pair of eagle fibulae found at Tierra de Barros (Badajoz, southwest Spain) made of sheet gold with amethysts and coloured glass]]
In [[Spain]] an important collection of Visigothic metalwork was found in the [[treasure of Guarrazar]], [[Guadamur]], [[Province of Toledo]], [[Castile-La Mancha]], an [[Archaeology|archeological]] find composed of twenty-six [[votive crown]]s and gold [[cross]]es from the royal workshop in Toledo, with Byzantine influence. The treasure represents the high point of Visigothic goldsmithery, according to {{harvp|Guerra|Galligaro|Perea|2007}}.{{sfn|Guerra|Galligaro|Perea|2007}} The two most important votive crowns are those of [[Recceswinth]] and of [[Suintila]], displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; both are made of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suintila's crown was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses in the treasure.

These findings, along with others from some neighbouring sites and with the archaeological excavation of the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Spanish Academy of History (April 1859), formed a group consisting of:
* [[National Archaeological Museum of Spain]]: six crowns, five crosses, a pendant and remnants of foil and channels (almost all of gold).
* [[Royal Palace of Madrid]]: a crown and a gold cross and a stone engraved with the Annunciation. A crown, and other fragments of a tiller with a crystal ball were stolen from the Royal Palace of Madrid in 1921 and its whereabouts are still unknown.
* [[Musée de Cluny|National Museum of the Middle Ages]], Paris: three crowns, two crosses, links and gold pendants.
The aquiliform (eagle-shaped) [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] that have been discovered in [[necropolis]]es such as [[Duratón, Segovia|Duraton]], [[Madrona (Segovia)|Madrona]] or Castiltierra (cities of [[Segovia]]), are an unmistakable indication of the Visigothic presence in Spain. These fibulae were used individually or in pairs, as clasps or pins in gold, bronze and glass to join clothes, showing the work of the goldsmiths of Visigothic Hispania.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eagle Fibula|url=https://art.thewalters.org/detail/16373/eagle-fibula-3/|website=The Walters Art Museum|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030203226/https://art.thewalters.org/detail/16373/eagle-fibula-3/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Visigothic belt buckles, a symbol of rank and status characteristic of Visigothic women's clothing, are also notable as works of goldsmithery. Some pieces contain exceptional [[Byzantine art|Byzantine-style]] [[lapis lazuli]] inlays and are generally rectangular in shape, with copper alloy, garnets and glass.<ref>{{cite web |title=Belt Buckle 550–600 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466162 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-date=2 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902164100/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466162 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|1=Important findings have also been made in the Visigothic [[necropolis]] of Castiltierra ([[Segovia]]) in Spain. See {{cite web |editor=Isabel Arias Sánchez |editor2=Luis Javier Balmaseda Muncharaz |name-list-style=amp |title=La necrópolis de época visigoda de Castiltierra (Segovia) – Excavaciones dirigidas por E. Camps y J. M. de Navascués, 1932–1935 – Materiales conservados en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional: Tomo II, Estudios |language=es |trans-title=The Visigothic necropolis of Castiltierra (Segovia) – Excavations directed by E. Camps and J. M. de Navascués, 1932–1935 – Materials preserved in the National Archaeological Museum, Volume II: Studies |url=http://www.man.es/man/dam/jcr:eb7fea42-15c8-4b6b-b18c-4d940b2656a5/2018-castiltierra-ii.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614011014/http://www.man.es/man/dam/jcr:eb7fea42-15c8-4b6b-b18c-4d940b2656a5/2018-castiltierra-ii.pdf |archive-date=2020-06-14 |url-status=live}}}}

===Society===
{{Further|Palace of Omurtag}}
Archaeological evidence in Visigothic cemeteries shows that social stratification was analogous to that of the village of [[Sabbas the Goth]]. The majority of villagers were common [[peasant]]s. Paupers were buried with funeral rites, unlike slaves. In a village of 50 to 100 people, there were four or five elite couples.{{sfn|Bóna|2001|p=}} In Eastern Europe, houses include sunken-floored dwellings, surface dwellings, and stall-houses. The largest known settlement is the [[Criuleni District]].{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}} Chernyakhov cemeteries feature both [[cremation]] and [[inhumation]] burials; among the latter the head aligned to the north. Some graves were left empty. Grave goods often include pottery, bone combs, and iron tools, but hardly ever weapons.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}}

Peter Heather suggests that the freemen constituted the core of Gothic society. These were ranked below the nobility, but above the [[freedmen]] and slaves. It is estimated that around a quarter to a fifth of weapon-bearing Gothic males of the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] were freemen.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=66}}

===Religion===
{{Further|Gothic paganism|Gothic persecution of Christians|Gothic Christianity}}

[[File:Bischof Ulfilas erklärt den Goten das Evangelium.jpg|thumb|upright|''Ulfilas explains the gospel to the Goths'', 1900]]
Initially practising [[Gothic paganism]], the Goths were gradually converted to [[Arianism]] in the course of the 4th century.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}} According to [[Basil of Caesarea]], a prisoner named Eutychus taken captive in a raid on Cappadocia in 260 preached the gospel to the Goths and was martyred.{{sfn|Cassia|2019|p=22}} It was only in the 4th century, as a result of missionary activity by the Gothic bishop [[Ulfilas]], whose grandparents were Cappadocians taken captive in the raids of the 250s,{{sfn|Cassia|2019|p=22}} that the Goths were gradually converted.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}} Ulfilas devised a [[Gothic alphabet]] and translated the [[Gothic Bible]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}}

During the 370s, Goths converting to Christianity were subject to [[Gothic persecution of Christians|persecution]] by the Thervingian king Athanaric, who was a pagan.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=64–72}}

The Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania converted to Catholicism in the late 6th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=371}}

The Ostrogoths (and their remnants, the Crimean Goths) were closely connected to the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] from the 5th century, and became fully incorporated under the [[Metropolitanate of Gothia]] from the 9th century.{{sfn|Vasiliev|1936|pp=117–35}}

===Law===
{{Further|Ancient Germanic law|Kindins|Reiks|Edictum Theodorici|Visigothic Code|Code of Euric|Councils of Toledo}}

===Warfare===
{{Main|Gothic and Vandal warfare}}
{{Further|Gothic Wars|Upper Trajan's Wall|Athanaric's Wall|Montes Serrorum}}

[[File:Roman Europe Germanic Spears (28138612604).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Germanic spearheads]]

Gothic arms and armour usually consisted of wooden shield, spear and often swords. 'Rank and file' troops did not wear much protection, while warriors of higher social class were better equipped, as was common for most tribal peoples of the time.

Armour was either a chainmail shirt or lamellar cuirass. Lamellar was popular among horsemen. Shields were either round or oval with a central boss grip. They were decorated with tribe or clan symbols, such as animal drawings. Helmets were often of spangenhelm type, often with cheek and neck plates. Spears were used both for thrusting and throwing, although specialized javelins were also in use. Swords were one handed, double edged and straight, with a very small crossguard and large pommel. It was called the Spatha by the Romans, and it is believed to have first been used by the Celts. Short wooden bows were also used, as well as occasional throwing axes.<ref name="Kevin F. Kiley 2013">{{cite book |author= [[Kevin F. Kiley]] |year= 2013|title=Uniforms of the Roman world}}</ref>
Missile weapons were mainly short throwing-axes such as [[Fransica]] and short wooden bows. Specialized javelins such as [[angon]] were more rare but still used.<ref name="Kevin F. Kiley 2013"/>

===Economy===
Archaeology shows that the Visigoths, unlike the Ostrogoths, were predominantly farmers. They sowed wheat, barley, rye, and flax. They also raised pigs, poultry, and goats. Horses and donkeys were raised as working animals and fed with hay. Sheep were raised for their wool, which they fashioned into clothing. Archaeology indicates they were skilled potters and blacksmiths. When peace treaties were negotiated with the Romans, the Goths demanded free trade. Imports from Rome included wine and cooking-oil.{{sfn|Bóna|2001|p=}}

Roman writers note that the Goths neither assessed [[taxes]] on their own people nor on their subjects. The early 5th-century Christian writer [[Salvian]] compared the Goths' and related people's favourable treatment of the poor to the miserable state of peasants in [[Roman Gaul]]:
<blockquote>
For in the Gothic country the barbarians are so far from tolerating this sort of oppression that not even Romans who live among them have to bear it. Hence all the Romans in that region have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in that district that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarians.{{sfn|Kristinsson|2010|p=172}}
</blockquote>

===Architecture===
====Ostrogoths====
The [[Mausoleum of Theodoric]] ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Mausoleo di Teodorico'') is an ancient monument just outside [[Ravenna]], [[Italy]]. It was built in 520 AD by [[Theodoric the Great]], an Ostrogoth, as his future tomb.

The current structure of the [[mausoleum]] is divided into two [[decagon]]al orders, one above the other; both are made of [[Istria]] stone. Its roof is a single 230-tonne [[Istrian stone]], 10 meters in diameter. Possibly as a reference to the Goths' tradition of an origin in Scandinavia, the architect decorated the [[frieze]] with a pattern found in 5th- and 6th-century Scandinavian metal adornments.{{sfn|Näsman|2008|p=31}}{{sfn|Stenroth|2015|p=142}} A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral [[Liturgy|liturgies]]; a stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the floor is a circular [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] stone grave, in which Theodoric was buried. His remains were removed during [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] rule, when the mausoleum was turned into a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]]. In the late 19th century, silting from a nearby rivulet that had partly submerged the mausoleum was drained and excavated.

The [[Palace of Theodoric]], also in Ravenna, has a symmetrical composition with arches and monolithic marble columns, reused from previous Roman buildings. With capitals of different shapes and sizes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ostrogodos y Visigodos en Italia y Francia |trans-title=Ostrogoths and Visigoths in Italy and France |url=http://editorial.dca.ulpgc.es/estructuras/construccion/1_historia/16_visigoda/c162.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194712/http://editorial.dca.ulpgc.es/estructuras/construccion/1_historia/16_visigoda/c162.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 |website=Editorial.dca |language=es}}</ref> The Ostrogoths restored Roman buildings, some of which have come down to us thanks to them.

====Visigoths====
During their governance of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches of [[basilica]]l or [[cruciform#Cruciform architectural plan|cruciform]] floor plan that survive, including the churches of [[San Pedro de la Nave]] in El Campillo, [[Santa María de Melque]] in [[San Martín de Montalbán]], Santa Lucía del Trampal in Alcuéscar, Santa Comba in Bande, and [[Hermitage of Santa María de Lara|Santa María de Lara]] in Quintanilla de las Viñas; the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[crypt]] (the Crypt of San Antolín) in the [[Palencia Cathedral]] is a [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] chapel from the mid 7th century, built during the reign of [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] to preserve the remains of the martyr [[Antoninus of Pamiers|Saint Antoninus of Pamiers]], a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rutasconhistoria.es/loc/cripta-visigoda-de-san-antolin|title=Cripta visigoda de San Antolín|last=Salvador Conejo|first=Diego|website=Rutas con historia|url-status=dead|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003020010/http://www.rutasconhistoria.es/loc/cripta-visigoda-de-san-antolin}}</ref>

[[File:Crypt of Saint Antoninus, Cathedral of Palencia 031.jpg|thumb|Visigothic crypt of Saint Antoninus, Palencia Cathedral]]
[[Reccopolis]] (Spanish: ''Recópolis''), located near the tiny modern village of [[Zorita de los Canes]] in the [[Guadalajara (province)|province of Guadalajara]], Castile-La Mancha, Spain, is an archaeological site of one of at least four cities founded in [[Hispania]] by the [[Visigoths]]. It is the only city in Western Europe to have been founded between the fifth and eighth centuries.{{efn|1=According to {{harvp|Thompson|1963}}, the others were (i) ''Victoriacum'', founded by Leovigild and may survive as the city of [[Vitoria-Gasteiz|Vitoria]], but a twelfth-century foundation for this city is given in contemporary sources, (ii) ''Lugo id est Luceo'' in the [[Asturias]], referred to by [[Isidore of Seville]], and (iii) ''Ologicus'' (perhaps ''Ologitis''), founded using [[Basques|Basque]] labour in 621 by [[Suinthila]] as a fortification against the Basques, is modern [[Olite]]. All of these cities were founded for military purposes and at least Reccopolis, Victoriacum, and Ologicus in celebration of victory. A possible fifth Visigothic foundation is ''Baiyara'' (perhaps modern [[Montoro]]), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the fifteenth-century geographical account, ''[[Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar]]''.{{sfn|Lacarra|1958}}}} According to Lauro Olmo Enciso who is a professor of archaeology at the [[University of Alcalá]], the city was ordered to build by the Visigothic king [[Liuvigild|Leovigild]] to honor his son [[Reccared II|Reccared]] I and to serve as Reccared's seat as co-king in the Visigothic province of [[Celtiberia]], to the west of [[Carpetania]], where the main capital, Toledo, lay.