Editing Visigoths (section)

=== Visigothic Kingdom ===

{{Main|Visigothic Kingdom}}

[[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Europe at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD]]

The Visigothic Kingdom was a Western European power in the 5th to 8th centuries, created first in Gaul, when the Romans lost their control of the western half of their empire and then in Hispania until 711. For a brief period, the Visigoths controlled the strongest kingdom in Western Europe.{{sfn|Williams|2004|p=51}} In response to the invasion of [[Hispania|Roman Hispania]] of 409 by the [[Vandals]], [[Alans]], and [[Suebi]], [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]], the emperor in the West, enlisted the aid of the Visigoths to regain control of the territory. From 408 to 410 the Visigoths caused so much damage to Rome and the immediate periphery that nearly a decade later, the provinces in and around the city were only able to contribute one-seventh of their previous tax shares.{{sfn|Heather|2005|p=434}}

In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic [[foederati|federates]] by giving them land in [[Gallia Aquitania]] on which to settle after they had attacked the four tribes—[[Suebi]], Asding and Siling [[Vandals]], as well as [[Alans]]—who [[Crossing of the Rhine|had crossed the Rhine]] near [[Roman Mogontiacum|Mogontiacum]] (modern [[Mainz]]) the last day of 406 and eventually were invited into Spain by a Roman usurper in the autumn of 409 (the latter two tribes were devastated). This was probably done under ''hospitalitas'', the rules for billeting army soldiers.{{sfn|Sivan|1987|pp=759–772}} The settlement formed the nucleus of the future Visigothic kingdom that would eventually expand across the [[Pyrenees]] and onto the Iberian peninsula. That Visigothic settlement proved paramount to Europe's future as had it not been for the Visigothic warriors who fought side by side with the Roman troops under general [[Flavius Aetius]], it is perhaps possible that [[Attila]] would have seized control of Gaul, rather than the Romans being able to retain dominance.{{sfn|Burns|2003|p=382}}

The Visigoths' second great king, [[Euric]], unified the various quarreling factions among the Visigoths and, in 475, concluded the peace treaty with the emperor [[Julius Nepos]]. In the treaty the emperor was called a friend (''amicus'') to the Visigoths, while requiring them to address him as lord (''dominus'').{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=186–187}} Though the emperor did not legally recognize Gothic sovereignty, according to some views{{sfn|Barbero|Loring|2005|p=170}} under this treaty the Visigothic kingdom became an independent kingdom. Between 471 and 476, Euric captured most of southern Gaul.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=358}} According to historian J. B. Bury, Euric was probably the "greatest of the Visigothic kings" for he managed to secure territorial gains denied to his predecessors and even acquired access to the [[Mediterranean Sea]].{{sfn|Bury|2000|pp=211–212}} At his death, the Visigoths were the most powerful of the successor states to the Western Roman Empire and were at the very height of their power.{{sfn|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=846}} Not only had Euric secured significant territory, he and his son, [[Alaric II]], who succeeded him, adopted Roman administrative and bureaucratic governance, including Rome's tax gathering policies and legal codes.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|pp=358–359}}

[[File:Visigothic Kingdom.png|thumb|left|Greatest extent of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in light and dark orange, {{circa}} 500. From 585 to 711 Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo in dark orange, green and white (Hispania)]]

At this point, the Visigoths were also the dominant power in the [[Iberian Peninsula]], quickly crushing the [[Alans]] and forcing the [[Vandals]] into [[north Africa]].{{sfn|Carr|2004|p=421}} By 500, the Visigothic Kingdom, centred at [[Toulouse]], controlled Aquitania and [[Gallia Narbonensis]] and most of Hispania with the exception of the [[Kingdom of the Suebi]] in the northwest and small areas controlled by the [[Basques]] and [[Cantabri]]ans.{{sfn|Todd|2000|p=165}} Any survey of western Europe taken during this moment would have led one to conclude that the very future of Europe itself "depended on the Visigoths".{{sfn|Bury|2000|p=213}} However, in 507, the Franks under Clovis I defeated the Visigoths in the [[Battle of Vouillé]] and wrested control of Aquitaine.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=359}} King Alaric II was killed in battle.{{sfn|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=846}} French national myths romanticize this moment as the time when a previously divided Gaul morphed into the united kingdom of [[Francia]] under Clovis.{{sfn|Heather|2013|p=70}}

Visigothic power throughout Gaul was not lost in its entirety due to the support from the powerful Ostrogothic king in Italy, [[Theodoric the Great]], whose forces pushed Clovis I and his armies out of Visigothic territories.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=359}} Theodoric the Great's assistance was not some expression of ethnic altruism, but formed part of his plan to extend his power across Spain and its associated lands.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=359}}

After Alaric II's death, Visigothic nobles spirited his heir, the child-king [[Amalaric]], first to [[Narbonne]], which was the last Gothic outpost in Gaul, and further across the Pyrenees into Hispania. The center of Visigothic rule shifted first to [[Barcelona]], then inland and south to [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp= 243–45}} From 511 to 526, the Visigoths were ruled by Theoderic the Great of the Ostrogoths as ''de jure'' regent for the young Amalaric. Theodoric's death in 526, however, enabled the Visigoths to restore their royal line and re-partition the Visigothic kingdom through Amalaric, who incidentally, was more than just Alaric II's son; he was also the grandson of Theodoric the Great through his daughter Theodegotho.{{sfn|Heather|2013|p=93}} Amalaric reigned independently for five years.{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=245}} Following Amalaric's assassination in 531, another Ostrogothic ruler, Theudis took his place.{{sfn|Carr|2004|p=421}} For the next seventeen years, Theudis held the Visigothic throne.{{sfn|Heather|2013|p=94}}

Sometime in 549, the Visigoth [[Athanagild]] sought military assistance from Justinian I and while this aide helped Athanagild win his wars, the Romans had much more in mind.{{sfn|Carr|2004|p=421}} Granada and southernmost [[Baetica]] were lost to representatives of the [[Byzantine Empire]] (to form the province of [[Spania]]) who had been invited in to help settle this Visigothic dynastic struggle, but who stayed on, as a hoped-for spearhead to a "Reconquest" of the far west envisaged by emperor [[Justinian I]].{{sfn|Roberts|1997|pp=82–85}} Imperial Roman armies took advantage of Visigothic rivalries and established a government at Córdoba.{{sfn|Roberts|1997|p=82}}
[[File:HISPANIA 711.png|thumb|right|Visigothic Hispania and its regional divisions circa 711, before the Muslim conquest]]

The last Arian Visigothic king, [[Liuvigild]], conquered most of the northern regions (Cantabria) in 574, the Suevic kingdom in 584, and regained part of the southern areas lost to the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]],{{sfn|Collins|2000|pp=51–53}} which King [[Suintila]] recovered in 624.{{sfn|Arce|1999|p=4}} Suintila reigned until 631.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=69}} Generally speaking, the Visigothic monarchy in Hispania developed a sophisticated legal tradition that was fundamentally Roman in orientation. Rather than implementing a "Germanic" legal system, Visigothic kings built upon the legacy of imperial jurisprudence. Alaric II’s promulgation of the ''Breviarium Alaricianum'' was based heavily on the ''Codex Theodosianus'', and his successors—including Liuvigild, Chindaswinth, and Recceswinth—continued to issue legal codifications that fused Roman civil law with Christian moral precepts. Far from representing a break with Roman law, these legal texts exemplify the adaptation and continuation of late Roman legal culture in a Gothic context, challenging older historiographical models that sought to sharply distinguish post-Roman "barbarian" governance from its imperial predecessor.{{sfn|Wood|2025|pp=232–233}} 

Only one historical source was written between the years 625 through 711, which comes from Julian of Toledo and only deals with the years 672 and 673.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=70}} [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] was the king of the Visigoths from 672 to 680.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=70}} During his reign, the Visigothic kingdom encompassed all of Hispania and part of southern Gaul known as [[Septimania]]. Wamba was succeeded by King Ervig, whose rule lasted until 687.{{sfn|Collins|2004|pp=102–104}} Collins observes that "Ervig proclaimed Egica as his chosen successor" on 14 November 687.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=105}} In 700, Egica's son Wittiza followed him on the throne according to the ''Chronica Regum Visigothorum''.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=109}}

The kingdom survived until 711, when King [[Roderic]] (Rodrigo) was killed while opposing an invasion from the south by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in the [[Battle of Guadalete]]. This marked the beginning of the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania]], when most of the Iberian Peninsula came under [[Islam]]ic rule in the early 8th century.{{sfn|Roberts|1997|pp=96–100}}

A Visigothic nobleman, [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelayo]], defeated the Umayyad forces in the [[Battle of Covadonga]] in 718 and established the [[Kingdom of Asturias]] in the northern part of the peninsula.{{sfn|Williams|2004|p=60}} 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.{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1975|p=176}} 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.{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1975|p=286}} Other Visigoths who refused to adopt the Muslim faith or live under their rule fled north to the kingdom of the [[Franks]], and Visigoths played key roles in the empire of [[Charlemagne]] a few generations later. In the early years of the [[Emirate of Córdoba]], a group of Visigoths who remained under Muslim dominance constituted the personal bodyguard of the [[Emir]], [[al-Haras]].{{sfn|Wolf|2014|pp=14–15}}

During their long reign in Spain, the Visigoths were responsible for the [[Visigothic Kingdom#Founding of cities|only new cities founded in Western Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries]]. It is certain (through contemporary Spanish accounts) that they founded four: [[Reccopolis]], Victoriacum (modern [[Vitoria-Gasteiz]], though perhaps [[Iruña-Veleia]]), Luceo and [[Olite]]. There is also a possible 5th city ascribed to them by a later Arabic source: ''Baiyara'' (perhaps modern [[Montoro]]). All of these cities were founded for military purposes and three of them in celebration of victory. Despite the fact that the Visigoths reigned in Spain for upwards of 250 years, there are few remnants of the Gothic language borrowed into Spanish.{{sfn |Ostler|2006|p=307}}{{Efn|The Words such as: ''werra'' > ''guerra'' (war), falda > falda (skirt) and skankjan > escanciar (to pour out); See [http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/la-poca-visigoda-0/html/00f49212-82b2-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_2.html La época visigoda Susana Rodríguez Rosique] (Spanish) in Cervantes Virtual. Accessed 15 October 2017.}}{{Efn|The linguistic remnants of the Gothic people in Spain are sparse. A few place names and a mere handful of well-known "Spanish" first names, such as Alfonso, Fernando, Gonzalo, Elvira, and Rodrigo are of Germanic (Visigothic) origin.{{sfn|Todd|2000|p=175}} }}
The Visigoths as heirs of the Roman empire lost their language and intermarried with the Hispano-Roman population of Spain.{{sfn|Nadeau|Barlow|2013|pp=28–35}}

The medieval Spanish nobility has its most remote origin in the Visigothic Monarchy. After the Arab invasion of the peninsula in the eighth century, Christians were forced to retreat to the north of the peninsula where that primitive Visigoth nobility settled. Among these Christians who took refuge in the north were a large part of the nobles linked to the disappeared Visigoth monarchy of Don Rodrigo (King Roderic), and who were welcomed by the local population and later became part of the local nobility.{{sfn|Calderón Ortega|2009|pp=35–52}}