1. The document provides historical context on the Visigothic Kingdom that ruled Hispania beginning in the 7th century. It details the various barbarian groups that invaded the Iberian peninsula in the 5th century, including the Vandals, Suebi, Alans, and Visigoths. 2. It then discusses the rise of the Visigothic Kingdom and its kings, including Leovigild who expanded the kingdom in the 6th century through military conquests and administrative reforms. 3. However, religious tensions grew as Hermenegild, the eldest son of Leovigild, converted to Catholicism with his Frankish wife while the Visigoths remained

1. By David Cot
The History of Spain
Podcast
Listen to the podcast for
more and visit
thehistoryofspain.com
VISIGOTHIC
SPAIN
Hispania unified under the Visigothic
Kingdom, 7th century

2. SOCIETY,
ECONOMY AND
CULTURE
VISIGOTHS
VANDALS, ALANS
AND SUEBI IN
HISPANIA
What you will see in this presentation…

3. ● Division of the Roman Empire
● Autocracy
● Constant civil wars
● Western Roman Empire’s armies mainly made up of “Barbarians”
● Declaration of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman
Empire under Theodosius and increasing power of the Church
● Bagaudae movement: widespread brigandage that threatened the
Roman landlord class
● Huns and climate changes provoke migrations of Germanic, Iranian
and Slavic peoples
Context of the Late Roman Empire

4. Map of the
Barbarian
migrations
and their
states after
476 AD

5. ALANS
Iranian steppe peoples from above the
Caucasus. Horsemen and fierce
warriors, yet the smallest group.
Pagans.
Estimation: 30k or less
VANDALS
Germanic confederacy from
Scandinavia and northern Poland.
Divided in two groups, Silingi and
Hasdingi Vandals. Followers of Arian
Christianity.
Estimation: 80k, 20k of whom were
warriors
01 02
WHICH BARBARIANS MOVED TO THE IBERIAN
PENINSULA?
NOTE: Hispania had a population of around 5 or 6
million inhabitants

6. VISIGOTHS
Originally the Goths lived in Sweden,
but they ended up divided between
Visigoths and Ostrogoths in the
Danubian plains. More Romanized and
involved in the Roman armies tan other
groups. Arians.
Estimation: 150k
SUEBI
Confederation of many different small
Germanic tribes. Unlike the Vandals
and Alans, they established a lasting
kingdom in Gallaecia (modern Galicia
and northern Portugal). Pagans.
Estimation: 35k, <10k of whom were
warriors
03 04
WHICH BARBARIANS MOVED TO THE IBERIAN
PENINSULA?

7. 409
Vandals, Alans and Suebi cross
the Pyrenees and settle in
Hispania, after the usurper
Maximus approves this
10 y.o. Honorius declared Roman
Emperor in the West. General
Stilicho rules as regent.
395
410
Visigoths under Alaric I sack
Rome, in retaliation for the
massacre of Germanic families
that served the Roman army

8. Distribution of land, partly by force, partly by reaching legal agreements (foedus)
Map of Hispania, c. 411

9. — David Cot, episode 10 ‘First Barbarian
Invasions: Vandals, Suebi and Alans’
“The Romans that accepted Germanic
kings as representatives of the Roman
Emperor, in a few decades saw them as
legitimate rulers of their own realms.”

10. — Paulus Orosius, 5th century historian
“There are citizens who prefer to bear
liberty with poverty among the
Barbarians that to worry about taxes
among the Romans.”

11. The
Visigothic
dream(s)

12. THE VISIGOTHIC DREAM(S)
King Alaric wanted
to leave Italy for
North Africa. A
storm frustrates
the plan.
King Wallia campaigns
against the Barbarians
of Hispania and
establishes the
Visigothic Kingdom of
Toulouse
Visigoths forced
to cross the
Pyrenees and
occupy Hispania
Tarraconensis
King Ataulf marries Galla
Placidia, half-sister of
Honorius. Ambition to
“restore Roman power
with Gothic vigour”.
410
414
414
418

13. The Alans disappeared as an
independent confederacy and they,
along the Silingi Vandals, headed
north to gather with the Hasdingi
Vandals.
King Gunderic becomes the King of
the Vandals and Alans. They clash
against the Suebi, assisted by the
Romans to prevent the Vandals to
become too strong
Basques and Cantabrians keep living
under no central authority.
Meanwhile, in Hispania…

14. EMPEROR HONORIUS
WAS PLAYING
BARBARIANS AGAINST
BARBARIANS!

15. However, Honorius died and
there were other military
setbacks and rebellions.
This circumstance allowed the
emergence of the Vandal
Kingdom in southern Spain, as
the dominant force in Hispania
with a great fleet.
King Genseric moves the Vandals
and Alans to North Africa in 429
THE PIRATE KINGDOM
OF THE VANDALS

16. WHO WOULD FILL THE
POWER VACCUM LEFT IN
HISPANIA?

17. NOPE, NOT THE VISIGOTHS
(YET). THE SUEBI!

18. ● Not sure if they were a consolidated
hereditary monarchy
● Not sure if they had one or more rival
kings
● Not sure if they mainly lived in the
countryside or in fortified cities
● We know that in 430 they still didn’t
control all Gallaecia
● Meanwhile, the Hispano-Roman elites
ruled much of Hispania autonomously
What do we know about the Kingdom
of the Suebi before 430?

19. 1. 439: Rearguard secured by
making peace with the peoples
of northern Gallaecia
2. 440: Conquest of Mérida
3. 441: Conquest of Seville
4. Occupation of parts of
Carthaginensis
APOGEE OF THE KINGDOM OF THE SUEBI
KING RECHILA

20. Nonetheless, the map is tricky, because with
10k soldiers at most, Suebic control over
large parts of the Iberian Peninsula was
brief. Their limited manpower made them
look like an organized group of bandits who
lived off pillaging. Essentially, gangsters.

21. Rechiar succeeded his father in 448.
He was a Catholic, predating the conversion
of Clovis by 50 years.
He married a daughter of Theodoric I, King of
the Visigoths, and formed an alliance with a
bagaudae leader to raid the Ebro valley.
The future of the Kingdom of the Suebi
looked bright…
KING RECHIAR

22. UNTIL THE BATTLE OF THE
CATALAUNIAN PLAINS
OCCURRED IN 451
The threat of the Huns led by Attila forced
the Visigoths and Romans to put their
differences aside and form a coalition, along
other Barbarian federations.
This marked the end of the brief Visigothic-
Suebic alliance.

23. Visigothic campaign
against the Suebi
In 456 the Romans order the
Visigoths to restore their
(nominal) authority in
Hispania and defeat the
Suebi. They achieved so in
the Battle of Órbigo.

24. ● Anarchy dominated Gallaecia
● The unified Kingdom of the Suebi disappeared for a
while, but rival Suebic bands fought among each other
● Some Visigoths remained in Hispania, although control
was weak compared to the Visigothic power in
southern France
So, what happened to the
Suebi?

25. The Gallo-Roman Emperor Avitus, friend of
the Visigoths, was overthrown by the
Germanic general Ricimer and the Roman
Majorian.
Ricimer thought he could make Majorian his
puppet emperor, but he didn’t expect him to
be as brilliant and ambitious as he proved
to be.
Meawhile, in Italy…
MAJORIAN
HAD A
DREAM…

26. Restore the
glory of the
Western Roman
Empire!

27. 460
Vandal spies destroy the great fleet of
Majorian
Majorian defeats the Visigoths and
force them to give up Hispania
459
461
Ricimer arrests and executes Majorian.
The fate of the Western Roman
Empire is sealed.

28. 476472466
King Remismund
reunifies the Suebi,
becomes a vassal of
the Visigoths, and
converts to Arian
Christianity
The emergence of a new world
The Visigoths control
most of Hispania,
except for northern
Spain
The Western Roman
Empire falls as
Odoacer proclaims
himself King of Italy

29. ● Euric promulgated the Code of
Euric, first written collection of
Germanic laws
● Alaric II consolidated Visigothic
control over Hispania
● Breviary of Alaric: collection of
Roman laws to apply to the non-
Visigothic subjects
Map of the Visigothic Kingdom
at its territorial peak, under
King Euric and Alaric II

30. Everything was going well until the disastrous Battle of
Vouillé (507)
The Kingdom of the Franks was an
emerging power unified under the
Catholic Clovis I. They controlled
northern France and Belgium.
Clovis launched a decisive offensive
against the Visigothic Kingdom of
Toulouse with the pretext of liberating
the Gallo-Romans from Arian rulers.

31. • King Alaric II was killed in action
• The Franks conquered the Visigothic possessions of France,
except for the región of Septimania. Some Visigoths remained
there under Frankish rule.
• The Balti dynasty (ruling dynasty of the Visigoths since 395) lost
its prestige
• The Visigoths suffered from instability and unrest the following
decades
• It ended the supremacy of the Visigoths and their claim of heirs
of Rome
• The capital of the Visigoths eventually moved from Toulouse to
Toledo, making the Visigothic Kingdom purely Spanish-based
Consequences of the Battle of Vouillé

32. In this context, Theodoric
the Great, King of the
Ostrogoths, had an idea…

33. Reunite the Goths!

34. It’s not clear if we can classify him
as regent of the Visigothic Kingdom
or King of its own right
Theodoric had the ambition to
unite the Goths to have better
chances against the Franks. He also
restored some Imperial
institutions.
He died in 526, and that’s how the
“Ostrogothic interval” ended
Theodoric the Great

35. 1. Premature death of the heir
apparent of Theodoric
2. Opposition of much of the
Visigothic aristocracy
3. The sword-bearer of Theodoric,
Theudis, ruled the Visigothic
Kingdom quite autonomously
Why the Gothic union failed?

36. Amalaric of the Balti dynasty could finally rule the
Visigoths himself. The Visigoths stopped paying
annual tribute to the Ostrogoths, but they had to
cede Provence.
Amalaric had his residence in Narbonne, because
he still hoped to reconquer Toulouse. We cannot
speak yet about the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo.
He tried to get rid of the influence of Theudis, but
he failed. He was assassinated in 531, marking the
end of the Balti dynasty. Theudis became King.
The rule of Amalaric

37. ● Long-term political instability until the last days of the
Visigothic Kingdom
● Loyalty of the aristocracy towards the ruling dynasty
disappeared
● Legitimacy of the ruler weakend
● Succession from father to son always became very
complicated, and no more than 3 members of a same
dynasty ever ruled the Visigothic Kingdom
Consequences of the end of the
Balti dynasty

38. Meanwhile, in Constantinople,
the Roman Emperor Justinian
had a plan…
Restore the Roman
Empire!

39. • Conquest of the Vandal
Kingdom, including the
Balearic Islands and Ceuta
• Conquest of the Ostrogothic
Kingdom (well, in 553), thus
removing the main allies of
the Visigoths
• War against the Sasanian
Empire
• New collection of Roman
laws
What had Justinian
accomplished by 550?

40. Next target? Hispania!

41. Meanwhile in
Spain…
550-569
● Theudis and his immediate successor
were assassinated
● Civil war between two pretenders, Agila
I and Athanagild
● Diminishing Visigothic control over
Hispania
● The Kingdom of the Suebi and the
northern peoples remained independent
● Conversion of the Suebi to Catholicism
● Emergence of other independent cities
and regions

42. —Gregory of Tours, 6th century Gallo-Roman historian
“The Goths had adopted the reprehensible
habit of killing out of hand any king who
displeased them and replacing him on the
throne by someone they preferred.”

43. Byzantine conquest of Spania

44. ● 552: Justinian sends a small contingent to support the rebel Athanagild, who
accepted to cede the coasts of southern Spain from Cádiz to Cartagena.
Establishment of the Byzantine province of Spania.
● 554: Since the Gothic War had ended, Justinian was able to send a much larger
army. Seeing that the Visigothic Kingdom may disappear if they remained
divided, the supporters of Agila assassinated him.
● The exhausted finances of the Byzantine Empire, the Justinian plague and the
end of the civil war among the Visigoths prevented the full-scale Roman invasión
● Spania was never strategically important. The Byzantines only kept a small
contingent, mainly in Cartagena and Málaga, to prevent a Visigothic invasion in
North Africa and to secure their commercial interests.
Byzantine conquest of Spania

45. Map of
Hispania,
c.560

46. ● The Frankish threat in the north and Byzantine threat in
the south
● Independent Kingdom of the Suebi
● North out of Visigothic control
● The Hispano-Roman nobility of certain regions were
autonomous
● Broken finances
● Political fragility of the central state, with constant
power struggles between aristocratic factions
The situation for the Visigoths didn’t look
good…

47. And then Liuva I
became King in 567
He was the Duke of Septimania,
responsible to protect the Visigothic
Kingdom from Frankish attacks.
The Franks took Arles in 569, and that’s
when Liuva decided to associate his
brother Leovigild to the throne and let
him govern Hispania, while he would
continue to protect Septimania.
Liuva was a man of action, like Jon Snow

48. Leovigild starts a
brilliant reign

49. 572
Conquest of Córdoba. Leovigild sends a
message: there wil be bloodshed if the
rebels decide to fight. Death of Liuva.
Campaign against the Byzantine
province of Spania. Conquest of Baza,
Cádiz and Medina Sidonia.
570-571
573-575
Conquest of Sabaria (modern Zamora
and Braganza) and most of Asturias
and Cantabria (but weak control).
Conquests of Leovigild

50. 577
Conquest of Orospeda, in Sierra Morena,
and supression of a peasant revolt.
Hostilities between Leovigild and Miro,
King of the Suebi. Quick campaign that
ended in peace.
576
578
Leovigild takes a break. He founded
Recópolis, in Guadalajara, a city to
honor his son Reccared.
Conquests of Leovigild

51. Code of Leovigild
New legal
code that
hasn’t
survived. It’s
not clear if it
was applied
to everyone or
only the Visigoths.
Strenghtening royal
power
Emulation of the
centralization of
the Byzantine
Empire.
Royal symbols,
minting of coins,
and hereditary
monarchy.
New administrative
division
Division in
provinces
governed by
dukes and
counts.
Leovigild was also an excellent
administrator

52. Administrative
division of the
Visigothic
Kingdom, 7th
century

53. Not everyone was happy
though…

54. ■ Hermenegild was the eldest son of
Leovigild
■ He married the 12 y.o. Frankish
and Catholic princess Ingund
■ Queen Goiswintha was an Arian
fanatic and she wanted Ingund to
convert to Arianism
■ Ingund refused, Goiswintha beat
her up - important to understand that one
of her daughters had been forced to convert
to Catholicism and was strangled by her
Frankish husband
■ Leovigild sent Hermenegild
and Ingund to Baetica to
reduce tensions and let his
son rule there
■ But… The powerful
Hispano-Roman and
Catholic elite of Seville, the
most prosperous city of
Visigothic Spain, convined
Hermenegild to convert to
Catholicism and rebel
Hermenegild’s Rebellion (580-584)

55. Who supported Hermenegild?
- Part of the Hispano-Roman nobility and
Catholic clergy (notably Leander of Seville,
brother of Isidore of Seville)
- Kingdom of the Suebi
- Byzantine Empire
Justification?
Supposed religious persecution of Catholics,
even though that didn’t actually happen.
Hermenegild’s Rebellion
(580-584)

56. Actual reason?
- Political ambition of Hermenegild
- Nobles and clergy wanted more autonomy,
they opposed the centralizing policies of
Leovigild
- The Suebi and Byzantines wanted a weak
Visigothic Kingdom
Interpretation of the rebellion?
Just another civil war, not a religious war of
Catholics vs Arians, nor Visigoths vs Hispano-
Romans.
Hermenegild’s Rebellion
(580-584)

57. Leovigild’s response?
Reformed, quasi-Catholic version of
Arianism, to make it the state religion
and bring religious unity among Visigoths
and Hispano-Romans

58. However, that didn’t work

59. Hermenegild’s Rebellion (580-584) and
campaign against the Basques
Campaign
against the
Basques.
Foundation of a
new city,
Victoriacum.
Conquest of
Córdoba, as
Hermenegild
surrendered.
Conquest of
Seville and defeat
of the Suebi.
Conquest of Mérida.
Byzantines didn’t
honor the alliance, as
they had other fronts
opened.
581
582
583
584

60. Leovigild had promised to spare the
life of Hermenegild…
But he was executed the
following year.

61. The son of King Miro was deposed by a relative
named Audeca.
Leovigild saw this as the perfect pretext to
annex the Kingdom of the Suebi, since the
deposed Suebic King was considered his vassal.
The Franks, allies of the Suebi, attempted to
invade Septimania and they also send a naval
fleet. They were crushed.
The Suebi, without aid, couldn’t resist and the
kingdom was quickly annexed. Now, only part of
the southern coast wasn’t under Visigothic
control, although control over the north was weak.
Visigothic conquest of the Kingdom of the Suebi (585)

62. ● Revigoured and expanded Visigothic kingdom, with the
imposition of Visigothic authority over much of Hispania
● Annexation of the Kingdom of the Suebi and parts of the
Byzantine province of Spania
● More centralized state, with strengthened royal
authority
● Efforts to unite the Visigothic and Hispano-Roman
population religiously and legally, as during his reign the
official prohibition of mixed Visigothic and Hispano-
Roman marriages ended and the Visigoths already
adopted most elements of Hispano-Roman culture.
Emergence of Hispano-Gothic culture
The Legacy of Leovigild

63. His son Reccared inherited
the religious problem… But
why was there a conflict?

64. By the mid-6th century, before the mixed marriage ban was
lifted, marriages between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans
were already very common.
Visigoths adopted the Hispano-Roman traditions, clothes, diet,
burial customs, abandoned their native Gothic language, and
even their Arian faith.
The pillars of the Visigothic Kingdom were destabilized.
The distinct Visigothic culture was
starting to disappear

65. A NEW CULTURE AND
RACE: HISPANO-GOTHS
VISIGOTHS HISPANO-ROMANS

66. Possible outcomes:
- Revolts
- Street violence between Arians and
Catholics
- Civil war
- Foreign state interventions
- Regicide
But the political risk of converting the
Visigoths to Catholicism was very high…
SO HOW DID KING RECCARED PULL IT OFF?

67. 1. Reccared secretly converts to
Catholicism in 587
2. Convince key Visigothic nobles and
held meeting with Arian bishops,
promising to integrate them in the
Catholic Church
3. Suppress three Arian rebellions
4. Call the Third Council of Toledo in
589, abjure the Arian heresy and
embrace Catholicism
Conversion of the Visigoths to
Catholicism: a Step-by-Step Guide

68. Conversion of the Visigoths to
Catholicism
The conversion was also a political
alliance between the Catholic Spanish
Church and the Visigothic monarchy, to
reduce the influence of the nobility.
Reccared adopted the role of protection
and vigilance over the Church, similar to
the caesaropapism of the Byzantine
Empire. The role of the monarch became
sacred, while the Church was granted
more privileges.
It also supposed the start of anti-Jewish
policies.

69. — David Cot, episode 16 ‘Visigothic
conversion to Catholicism’
“The religious policy of Reccared may
be seen as opposite to that of his father,
but in the end they shared the same
vision and objective: to unify and
strengthen the Kingdom and its
peoples.”

70. A NEW NATION WAS
BORN?

71. Debated, but usually defined as a
community of peoples who share a
common history, ethnicity, culture
or language.
Principle of popular sovereignty:
legitimacy of a state is sustained by
the consent of its people.
But what does nation mean?
MODERN DEFINITION MEDIEVAL DEFINITION
Very imprecise. In Catholic
countries, a nation required a
common biblical ancestor.
Idea of motherland that links
every human being to the land
where each person was born.

72. He made the Visigoths Spanish:
“Seven sons of Japeth are named: Magog,
from whom people think the Scythians
and the Goths took their origin. Tubal,
from whom came the Iberians, who are
also the Spaniards, although some think
that the Italians also sprang from him”
Not only he connected the Visigoths and
Hispano-Romans, but also made the
Visigoths the legitimate heirs of
Rome. Isidore of Seville also talked
about the mater Spania (mother
Spain)
Isidore of Seville, Visigothic
Spain’s greatest intellectual,
made his contribution…

73. —Isidore of Seville, scholar and archbishop of Seville
Prologue of De Laude Spaniae
“Of all the lands from the west to the Indies, you, Spain, O sacred and
always fortunate mother of princes and peoples, are the most beautiful.
Rightly are you now the queen of all provinces, from which not only the west
but also the east borrows its shining lights. You are the pride and ornament of
the world. [..] Rightly did golden Rome, the head of the nations, desire you
long ago. And although this same Romulean power, initially victorious,
betrothed you to itself, now it is the most flourishing people of the Goths, who
in their turn, after many victories all over the world, have eagerly seized you
and loved you: they enjoy you up to the present time amidst royal emblems
and great wealth, secure in the good fortune of empire.”

74. ● He rewarded the nobles too, and by granting privileges to both the
Church and nobility he weakened royal authority
● The Basques made raids in the Ebro valley, because they were
growing demographically and their economy was very primitive
● Reccared wanted to maintain the status quo in relation to the
Basques, Byzantines and Franks
● Liuva II succeeded him in 601, but he was deposed and executed in
603. That ended the dynasty of Leovigild, the longest reigning
dynasty since the Balti dynasty fell.
Going back to Reccared…

75. Reccared had the dubious honor to be
the first Visigothic king to issue anti-
Semitic decrees.
But Sisebut was the man who REALLY
started the systematic and increasingly
extreme anti-Semitic policies of the 7th
century Visigothic Kingdom, in the name
of religious unity.
That created the problem of fake
conversions or crypto-Jews.
Sisebut (612-621)

76. ● Sisebut aimed for the religious unity of the
kingdom and its peoples, like Leovigild and
Reccared aimed.
● Banned mixed marriages between Jewish
men and Christian woman
● Banned Jewish proselytism
● Banned Jews from owning Christian slaves
● Jewish offspring forced to convert to
Catholicism
The beginning of antisemitism in the
Visigothic Kingdom

77. WHY ANTI-JEWISH POLICIES STARTED?
Not for economic reasons, because Jews weren’t
particularly wealthy.
It had more to do with the rivalry between Christians
and Jews to proselytze, the role of the monarch of
protector against the sin, and the elimination of a fifth
column (the Jews had helped the Sasanians in their
invasion of the Byzantine Empire)
The objective was religious unity.
The beginning of antisemitism in the
Visigothic Kingdom

78. Political
unity
Religious
unity
How?
Through diplomacy,
wars and
religious
persecutions
The cultural and
ethnic mix of
Hispano-Romans and
Visigoths created the
Hispano-Gothic
identity
The objectives of many Visigothic Kings

79. Strangely enough, the Church didn’t put
pressure on Sisebut to force the
conversion of the Jews.
Isidore of Seville and much of the clergy
didn’t like the idea, but they didn’t
actively opposed it either.
They later criticized it more openly, but
since those who converted got baptized,
their conversion was irreversible.
Sisebut (612-621)

80. 621
King Suintila defeats the Basques and he
accepts their unconditional surrender.
Foundation of the stronghold of Olite.
Conquest of Málaga and Ceuta. Only
Cartagena and Balearic Islands in
Byzantine hands.
615
625
Conquest of Cartagena and unification of
Hispania under the rule of the Visigoths.
Balearic Islands under nominal Byzantine
control, but very autonomous.
Final reconquest of Spania and unification of Spain

81. King Suintila
unifies Spain in
625
Although the Visigothic Kingdom
had weak control over Asturias,
Cantabria and Vasconia.

82. Nonetheless, the
reign of Suintila
didn’t end well..
Suintila named his son co-ruler and
confiscated several ecclesiastical
properties. Many within the nobility
and clergy didn’t like that.
The Duke of Septimania Sisenand,
supported by the Franks, overthrew
Suintila in 631.

83. ● Presided by Isidore of Seville
● It defined the elective system of the
Visigothic monarchy, stating that the
noble and ecclesiastical magnates had to
meet upon the death a king to elect a
successor
● Based on Isidore’s political theory, if the
King turned into a tyrant, the Church could
excommunicate him and a coup would be
justified
Fourth Council of Toledo (633)

84. ● Imposition of some restrictions on the
clergy to prevent their participation in
revolts
● Suintila and his family were sent into exile
and all their properties were confiscated.
That happened to other Visigothic kings
throughout the 7th century.
● Clergy exempted from all taxes
● Unification of the Spanish liturgy, creating
the Hispanic rite, later known as
Mozarabic rite
● More antisemitic legislation
Fourth Council of Toledo (633)

85. He feared for his life. There were several
conspiracies against him. Difficult economic
times in Europe. Loss of strong control over
more regions. He banned the presence of any
non-Christian in Spain.
MORE INSTABILITY
CHINTILA (636-639)
TULGA (639-642)
Son of Chintila, the faction of the nobility and
clergy in power elected him to maintin their
cohesion. Weak rule as his father. He was
overthrown in 642 by the 79-year-old
general Chindasuinth a veteran of Leovigild’s
campaigns.

86. REWARD
Redistribute the
wealth (and women)
of your enemies
among your
supporters.
RELIGIOUS
POWER
Intervene in religious
affairs. Remove
ecclesiastical
privileges, while
being a great
benefactor of the
Church.
PERSECUTE
Execute 700 nobles
and exile many
more.
01
Amass estates for
the royal family and
use slaves loyal only
to you.
02
Chindasuinth and the 4-step guide to consolidate power
GET RICH
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87. Chindasuinth (642-653)
He embraced the Byzantine ideal of a
caesaropapist ruler (political+religious
power), like Leovigild had done.
Chindasuinth was determined to
strengthen central power and his
personal power.
His son Recceswinth was named co-ruler in
649, because Chindasuinth’s supporters
wanted to preserve their wealth.

88. • He had to suppress a revolt
• Conciliatory policies with the persecuted
nobility and clergy, as opposed to the
centralizing and tyrannical policies of his
father
• Recceswinth was forced to renounce to
some of the properties his father had
confiscated
• Increasingly polarized society, as a
landowner class only got richer and the
peasantry lived in very poor conditions
• More brigandage due to the widespread
poverty
Recceswinth (653-672)

89. Also known as Visigothic Code or Liber
Iudiciorum. It combined elements of
Roman, Germanic and Catholic laws.
It’s the first Visigothic legal code that
treated its subjects equally (except for the
Jews).
There was no distinction between
Visigoths and Hispano-Romans, and
instead the subjects became Hispano-
Gothic or Spanish.
Code of Recceswinth (654)

90. It was the most important
legal code of the Visigothic
kingdom. It outlived the
kingdom and it continued to be
used throughout the Middle
Ages, with modified versions
used in parts of Spain as late
as in the 19th century.
Code of Recceswinth (654)

91. He was supported by the same faction of
suppoters of Chindasuinth. There were two
rebellions at the start of his reign, but he
suppressed them.
It became increasingly difficult to recruit
soldiers, that’s why Wamba promulgated a
law to force everyone to defend the
kingdom in case of external attack.
Wamba tried to limit the power of the
nobility and clergy.
Wamba (672-680)

92. The archbishop Julian of Toledo
and a group of nobles
conspired to drug Wamba and
tonsure him, which disqualified
him as a monarch. When
Wamba recovered, he had no
other option but to accept that
a man named Erwig
succeeded him.
Wamba was deposed

93. Julian of Toledo
He was the archibishop of Toledo. He
descended from a family of Jewish
conversos, but he was fervently
antisemitic.
He supported the coup against Wamba
because he had tried to curb the
authority of Julian by creating a
new see in Toledo.

94. Late 7th century Visigothic Spain was
marked by Nazi levels of antisemitism.
King Erwig (680-687) called for the “root
extirpation of the Jewish plague”.
King Egica (687-702) called for the
“enslavement of all Jews”
They issued very harsh anti-Jewish laws,
although the enforcement of these
laws was very limited, that’s why the
“Jewish problem” persisted.
Antisemitism reached a whole
new level

95. — David Cot, episode 19 ‘Visigothic Twilight’
“Julian of Toledo justified the
antisemitic policies comparing Jews to a
disease, saying that a good Christian
king should remove them before they
spread the disease.”

96. Meanwhile, the
Umayyad
Caliphate was
expanding rapidly

97. The late Visigothic Kingdom was characterized
by:
• Social unrest
• Weak state
• Famines and plagues
• Conspiracies
• Little to no control over Basque Country
King Wittiza (700-710) weakened even more
central authority by returning confiscated
properties. He was the last King of the united
Visigothic Kingdom.
Erwig, Egica and Wittiza

98. The coup divided the kingdom, as there was another
pretender, Agila II, who ruled the northeastern part of
the Visigothic Kingdom. There was also a brother of
Wittiza named Oppas, who betrayed Roderic soon
afterwards.
Then Roderic
(probably) deposed
and killed Wittiza

99. To sum it up, the situation
was very chaotic and
confusing. The kingdom was
in a state of civil war.

100. And then, the Muslims
arrived and took advantage
of this situation.

101. They had already conquered the
coasts of North Africa, depriving the
Byzantine Empire from extremely
important possessions.
By 708, they had conquered the
región fo Maghreb too. The next
logical step was Spain.
The Islamic forces were
conquering new territories at
an amazing speed

102. OVEREXTENSION
By the time the Muslims started
the conquest of the Visigothic
Kingdom, symptoms of
overexension were already clear.
SEARCH FOR
OPPORTUNITIES
To keep the momentum and unity
of the Umayyad Caliphate and
avoid dealing with the uncomtable
internal issues, the Umayyad
Caliphate continued to expand
looking for new lands, booty and
slaves.
ARAB RULE
The Arabs became a tiny ruling
minority as new territories were
annexed. Their racial discrimination
later caused the fall of the
Umayyad Caliphate.
POOR
ISLAMIZATION
As the Arabs conquered many new
lands in a very short time, many
soldiers weren’t truly Islamicized
and Arabicized. The Berbers formed
the bulk of the invading force of
Spain.
Characteristics of the Umayyad Caliphate, c. 700

103. 710
Reconnaissance raid in the southern
coast of Spain. First alliances with the
locals.
Musa ibn Musa, governor of Ifriqiya,
appoits his Berber client Tariq ibn Ziyab to
raid Spain. Submission of Don Julián, lord
of Ceuta.
709
711
Umayyad army of 7k-12k soldiers, mostly
Berbers, land in Gibraltar on April.
Muslim conquest of Spain

104. In July, Roderic led a larger army
against the invading force of
Tariq. The brothers of Wittiza,
Oppas and Sisebut, defected
during the battle and left the
flanks open.
The Visigothic army loyal to
Roderic was crushingly defeated
and Roderic was killed in action.
BATTLE OF
GUADALETE (711)

105. — David Cot, episode 20 ‘Muslim Umayyad conquest of Spain’
It’s not like Oppas and Sisebut had made an alliance with the
Muslims, instead the brothers of Wittiza thought that the Muslims
would defeat Roderic, raid southern Spain and then leave. What
neither the Muslim nor Christian forces expected was the crushing
defeat that the Visigoths suffered in the Battle of Guadalete. King
Roderic himself was killed and Visigothic losses were very high. The
situation was very similar to that of 507 when the Franks defeated
the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouillé and killed the King of the
Visigoths. The key difference was that this time the Visigoths had no
ally such as the Ostrogoths to back them in this critical moment. In a
single battle, the fate of the Visigothic Kingdom was sealed.

106. The objective of the expedition
changed from a large-scale
raid to a full-scale invasion.
Only Córdoba, Seville and
Mérida offered a remarkable
resistance.
Musa ibn Nusayr was worried
that Tariq would keep all the
glory and wealth for himself, so
he departed with a 10k-strong
army of Arabs.
Muslim conquest of
Spain (711-720)

107. ● The Visigothic Kingdom was in chaos even
before the Muslims arrived, but the death of
Roderic left the Visigoths leaderless
● The quick fall of Toledo supposed a
psycological blow that ended any possibility
of an organized resistance
● The Hispano-Gothic society had been very
demilitarized
● The Umayyads offered very attractive
conditions of surrender. Many Hispano-
Gothic nobles kept their estates, power,
religion and laws.
Why was the Muslim conquest of
Spain completed so quickly?

108. Don’t get it wrong though,
it wasn’t peaceful (as any
other conquest)
The Muslim conquerors
confiscated many properties,
plunder was common, they
demanded captives, a few
towns were burned,
occassional massacres
occurred, and some people
were enslaved

109. The last domains to be
conquered were those of Ardo,
the successor of the pretender
Agila II, who ruled Septimania.
Resistance continued and
restarted in either 718 or 722,
with the Battle of Covadonga in
Asturias.
The conquest ended in
720

110. The most important legacy was intangible:
the idea of a Catholic and Spanish kingdom.
The idea to restore the Visigothic Kingdom
and unify Spain (the Iberian Peninsula)
politically and religiously, marked the
Middle Ages and Early Modern Era, with
the expulsion the Jews and Muslims and
the Iberian Union in 1580.
This is known as Neo-Gothicism, or the
Reconquista ideology if you prefer it.
The Legacy of the Visigoths

111. ● Continuation of the Roman past – preservation of
Roman intellectual tradition, administration, bath
culture, etc.
● Spread of Catholicism and Romanization in remote
areas
● New identity, the Hispano-Goths, with subjects equal
before the law – except for the Jews
● Antisemitism
The Legacy of the Visigoths

112. • Two trends inherited from the
Late Roman Empire:
ruralitzation and slavery
substituted by colonus, who
unlike slaves couldn’t be sold
separately from land property
• Free privileged estates:
Hispano-Gothic nobility and
clergy
• Non-privileged estates: free
peasants and urban workers
Society of Visigothic Spain
Society
Ruralization
of the
society
High social
and
economic
inequalities
Religious
conflicts
Rising
importance
of the
Church
Colonus:
peasants in
semi-
slavery
Slavery in
decadence

113. ● Predominantly agrarian, as any other pre-industrial economy
● Land as the source of economic and political power
● Subsistence agriculture (frequent famines, flood, droughts,
plagues…)
● Stockbredding and hunting became more important
● Concentration of people and plots around a villae of a landlord.
● Autarky: very limited trade, due to the insecurity and decay of
land and maritime trade routes. Foreign trade only to export and
import luxury products.
● Decadence of cities and manufacturing activities
● Most mines closed down, as coins lost importance
Economy of Visigothic Spain

114. HISPANO-ROMANS
Bulk of the population,
perfectly Romanized.
VISIGOTHS
Ruling minority that
largely adopted
Hispano-Roman culture
GALLO-ROMANS
Natives of Septimania
SUEBI
Independent until 585,
they were also
integrated into Hispano-
Roman culture
BASQUES
Regularly kept in check,
but they were largely
independent during
most of Visigothic rule.
Many were Pagan and
not Romanized.
ASTURIANS &
CANTABRIANS
They were progressively
incorporated,
Romanized and
Christianized
Ethnicities of the Visigothic Kingdom
JEWS
There weren’t many, but
in the 7th century they
were fiercely repressed
OTHERS
Greeks, Berbers, Bretons,
Africans, etc.

115. Leading figures: Isidore of Seville, Julian of Toledo, Ildefonsus of
Toledo, and Fructuosus of Braga.
They wrote works that remained influential in the Iberian
Peninsula and abroad for centuries.
Preservation of Greco-Roman texts and rare books from
Constantinople and North Africa. Importance of African monks.
Foundation of monasteries.
Visigothic Kingdom, the intellectual and
cultural center of 7th century Western Europe

116. The metropolitan of Toledo, in
the capital of the kingdom,
had the Primacy of Spain
(primate above all the
episcopal sees of Spain)
Bishops heavily intervened in
the secular administration,
and their provincial
resolutions were equal to a
law.
Secular and religious
authorities cooperated.
The Six dioceses of the
Visigothic Kingdom

117. Monks and hermits established
monasteries in remote and isolated
areas.
They were extremely important to
spread Christianity in Asturias,
Cantabria and Basque Country.
The role of monasteries

118. — David Cot, episode 18 ‘Tyranny and Peace’
“The Christianization of those
mountainous regions would eventually
transform them from the most backward
parts of the peninsula into bastions of
resistance to Islam and birth places of
new Christian kingdoms.”

119. The quasi-feudal organization of the society and economy made it extremely difficult
to establish a centralized state
Why the Visigothic Kingdom failed to
establish a strong, centralized state?
Monarchy
Landlord
class

120. THANKS
Do you have any questions?
davidcot@thehistoryofspain.com
thehistoryofspain.com
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