The Visigothic Kingdom ruled Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal) from 416 to 711. It began when the Visigoths, a Germanic people originally from Eastern Europe, were invited by the Romans to expel other barbarian groups from the Iberian Peninsula. Over time, the Visigoths established control over most of Hispania and unified the territory through religious and legal conversions in the 6th-7th centuries. However, internal conflicts and challenges to royal authority weakened the kingdom prior to its conquest by the Umayyad Caliphate in 711.

1. VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM (416-711)

2. Since the end of the 2nd century different peoples had come into the Roman Empire,
taking advantage of the increasing difficulties the Romans had to defend the Empire.
Hispania was invaded
by:
-the Mauri, from the
North of Africa
(172-176)
-the Franks and the
Alamanni (260- 276),
who sacked many cities
and accelerated their
decline.

3. At the beginning of the 5th
century the River Rhine froze
and several Germani peoples
crossed it, pushed by the
Huns, and settled down in
Gaul. Constantine III, ruler of
Gaul, revolted against
Emperor Honorius and in
year 409 facilitated the
entrance of the Sueves,
Vandals and Alans in the
Iberian Peninsula.
The crossing of the
Rhine

4. In 411 they reached an agreement
to divide the Peninsula:
-The Sueves settled down in the
Western part of Gallaecia
-the Vandals Hasdingi settled down
in the interior of Gallaecia
-the Vandals Silingi received the
Baetica
-the Alans received the Lusitania
and the Carthaginensis
Only the Tarraconensis wasn’t
affected by this division, because
this province continued to be under
the imperial control.
When Emperor Honorius recovered the control of Gaul, he asked the Visigoths, another
Germanic people, for help to expel the Sueves, Vandals and Alans from Hispania

5. WHO WERE THE VISIGOTHS?
The Visigoths originally came from the
Baltic Sea, from a region in Sweden
called Gothland, but during the 1st
century they had moved to the plains of
Central Europe and settled down in in
Western Ukraine and North Romania.

6. - In 376 they came into the Roman
Empire. Emperor Valens let them
settle down there with the condition
of serving in the Roman army and in
exchange for food supplies.
- As Valens didn’t keep his promises, in
378 the Visigoths revolted and
defeated the Romans in the Battle of
Adrianople and provoked a big crisis
in the Empire, which made Emperor
Theodosius decide to divide the
Empire into two parts. Theodosius
signed peace with the Visigoths,
allowed them to settle down in the
Empire and assigned them a role in
the army in exchange for food
supplies.
- In 410 Honorius, Theodosius’ son,
didn’t keep his promises and the
Visigoths attacked and sacked Rome,
commanded by king Alaric I. Gala
Placidia, Honorius’ sister, was taken
hostage
King Alaric I Gala Placidia
The sack of Rome

7. King Ataulf, Alaric I’s succesor,
married Gala Placidia and settled
down in the South of Gaul,
establishing the capital city in
Narbonne.
In 415 the Visigoths came into
Hispania for the first time.
Ataulf was killed in Barcelona and
Walia, his successor, signed an
agreement (foedus) with Emperor
Honorius, which meant:
-setting Gala Placidia free
-helping expel the Sueves, Vandals
and Alans from Hispania in exchange
for food supplies
Ataulf seizing Narbone, medieval miniature
Honorius
Walia

8. Between 416 and 418 the Visigoths
launched several attacks against
Hispania on Rome’s behalf and defeated
the Vandals Hasdingi and the Alans.
After this, they went back to Gaul,
settled down in Aquitaine and
established their capital city in
Toulouse. Theodoric I was the first king
of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse.
Theodoric I

9. In 429 the Vandals Silingi were expelled to the
North of Africa, where they created a
kingdom.
In 451 the Visigoths, commanded by
Theodoric, contributed to stop the Hun
thread. The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields,
where Theodoric I died, stopped the Huns’
advance in Western Europe
Vandal Kingdom in the North of Africa
Battle of the Catalaunian Fields or Plains, developed in Châlons- sur-Marne

10. The Sueves, who tried to expand to
present Portugal, were defeated by the
Visigoths in the Battle of River Órbigo
(456) and confined in Gallaecia.
With King Euric (466-484), the Visigoths
controlled almost all the Peninsula. Euric
also:
-compiled the Goth customary law in the
Codex Euricianus
-forced the penultimate emperor, Julius
Nepos, to recognize the full
Independence of the Visigothic kingdom
in 476 Codex Euricianus
(Code of Euric)

11. The Visigoths’ intervention in Hispania
was well received by the Hispano-
Roman elites, because they imposed
order and suffocated the bagaudas
attacks. According to Roman
hospitalitas, they were given land
(1/3), supplies and even part of the tax
colection. During Euric’s reign, the
Hispano-Roman citizens swore
allegiance to him.
When the Western Roman Empire
disappeared, the Visigoths controlled a
vast territory including the South of
Gaul and most of Hispania.

12. Europe after Romulus Augustus deposition in 476

13. Breviarium Alarici
The contact with the Romans
provoked changes in the
Visigothic customs:
-the optimates (warriors)
started losing influence, while
kings struggled to increase
their authority
-in 506 King Alaric II issued a
new law code, the Breviarium
Alarici, previously approved by
an assembly of noblemen and
clergymen
Jurisconsults King Alaric II

14. King Clovis
Battle of Vouillé, Clovis killing Alaric II,
miniature of the 15th century
In 507 the Franks, allied
with the Byzantines and the
Burgundians and
commanded by the
Merovingian King Clovis,
defeated the Visigoths in
the Battle of Vouillé (near
Poitiers). Alaric II died in
this battle. As a
consequence of this, the
Visigoths had to leave Gaul
and settle down in
Hispania. Septimania was
the only territory they kept
in Gaul.

15. Around 300,000 Visigoths settled down in
Hispania. They mainly settled down in the Tajo
Valley and established their capital city in Toledo.
Main features:
-A minority of warriors held the most important
posts of the administration and kings received
the advice of the Aula Regia
-Territory divided into provinces, commanded by
dukes (duces).
-Elective monarchy, although some kings tried to
make it hereditary
-Different law codes for the Visigoths and
Hispano-Romans
-Intercultural marriages were forbidden
-Religion: the Visigoths were Arians (heresy of
Christianity whose followers didn’t believe in the
divine nature of Jesus Christ).
Visigothic kingdom under Athanagild (6th century)

16. LIST OF THE VISIGOTHIC KINGS
33 monarchs

18. During the Visigothic reign, there was a
consolidation of the process originated
in the last moments of the Roman
Empire:
-ruralization: decline of urban activity
- growth of proto-feudalization:
reinforcement of personal relations Kings
gave land for usufruct to magnates
(gardingi) in exchange for military help
and fidelity and the latter did the same
with the bucellarii (military men), who
worked for the magnates in exchange for
land of part of the plunder after the
battles.

19. In 552 the Byzantines conquered a big part of the South of the Peninsula, commanded by
Emperor Justinian. This occupation was favoured by the Visigoths’ weakness (involved in a civil
war for the throne, between Agila I and Athanagild) and the hostility of the Hispano-Roman
landowners against the Visigoths. The territories conquered by the Byzantines were called
Province of Spania.

20. TERRITORIAL UNIFICATION
King Liuvigild (568-586) had an important role in the consolidation of the Visigothic kingdom:
-He tried to reinforce royal authority, adopting many symbols from the Roman Empire (throne, crown…)
-He was the first to mint coins with his efigy (tremises or trientes)
-He abolished the prohibition of intercultural marriages
He also fought against the Byzantines in the South,
defeated the Sueves definitively and annexed this
kingdom and defeated the Cantabrians and the
Basques.
Liuvigild fighting against the Cantabrians, represented
on a marble trunk of San Millán de la Cogolla Monastery
Liuvigild’s campaigns

21. Liuvigild’s son Hermenegild converted to
Catholicism, influenced by his wife and Leander,
Seville’s bishop, and Liuvigild considered it treason.
Hermenegild revolted against his father with the
support of the Baetica province, the Byzantines, the
Franks and the Sueves, but the expected help from
the Byzantines never arrived. Liuvigild conquered
Seville and banished his son and other supporters.
Hermenegild was finally killed.
During Liuvigild’s reign the city of Recópolis (near
Zorita de los Canes, Guadalajara) was built to honour
his son Reccared and also the city of Victoriacum
(Vitoria) was founded.
Hermenegild, declared
martyr of the Church
in 1585, on Philip II’s
demand. He’s the
patron saint of the
converts
Ruins of Recópolis, abandoned in the 9th century The Visigothic Kingdom at Liuvigild’s death (586)

22. In 624 King Suintila completed the territorial unification, expelling the Byzantines

23. RELIGIOUS UNIFICATION
Reccared with some bishops in the
3rd Council of Toledo (589)
In 586 King Reccared converted to Catholicism.
Many Arian nobles and priests followed his example,
but there were revolts especially in Septimania and
Lusitania, crashed by Reccared using force.
The 3rd Council of Toledo (589) sealed the public
conversion of the king and the declaration of
Arianism as heresy:
-Visigothic kings became protectors of Catholicism,
chose the bishops and promoted culture in monastic
and episcopal schools.
-The Church held a privileged position in the
kingdom.
-Councils or synods were not only religious
meetings, but also had political content and were
frequently dedicated to discuss about affairs related
to the monarchy.

24. LEGISLATIVE UNIFICATION
King Chindasuinth started the elaboration of a unified law code for Hispano-Romans and
Visigoths, concluded by his son Recceswinth in 654. This unified law code was the Liber
Iudiciourum (Fuero Juzgo), which included 515 laws (324 of which were old laws)
Chindasuint, Recceswint and Egica,
Visigothic kings in the 6th and 7th centuries
Liber Iudiciorum

25. The Visigothic Kingdom in 700
The power of the Visigothic kings was
constantly questioned by:
-dynastic fights
-military uprisings
-the power of the Church
-nobles’ resistance.
The weakness of the monarchy favoured the
increasing independence of local lords, who
improved their control over the lands they
administered, cultivated by peasants linked to
them.
Some kings tried to associate their children to
the throne and make monarchy hereditary.
Sometimes they were successful (like Livigild
with Reccared or Chindasuinth with
Recceswinth), but in other occasions they
found resistance.

26. END OF THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM
The end of the Visigothic kingdom was related to
succession:
- At the beginning of the 8th century King Witiza
appointed his son Agila as his successor, but the
nobles chose Roderic.
-Witiza’s relatives and allies sent emissaries to the
North of Africa and asked the Muslims for help to
dethrone Roderic.
-The Muslims sent two armies:
 Tariq ibn Ziyad disembarked in Algeciras in
April 711 with an army of 15,000 soldiers
and in July defeated the Visigoths in the
Battle of Guadalete, where Roderic died.
 In 712 a second army of 18,000 men
commanded by Musa ibn Nusayr arrived in
the Peninsula and conquered almost all the
territory without much resistance.
Many Hispano-Romans and Visigothic
noblemen signed agreements with the
conquerors in order to keep their
properties.
King Roderic
Muslim conquest of the Peninsula

27. VISIGOTHIC CULTURE
Etymologies
Saint Isidore of Seville
teaching, miniature of a
manuscript of the 11th
century
Visigothic culture was lower than
Roman culture. For this reason, the
Visigoths adopted Latin and many
Roman traditions. Little has
remained from their original
language.
The main literary work of this period
was Etymologies (Etymologiae or
Origenes), a compilation of all the
knowledge of Antiquity, made by
bishop Isidore of Seville. This work
was extendedly used in Europe
during the Middle Ages.

28. San Juan de Baños (Palencia)
San Pedro de la Nave (Zamora)
Recceswinth votive
crown Precious metal work
More information about the Guarrazar Treasure, found
in Guadamur (Toledo)
http://www.guadamur.net/tesoro.htm

29. During Franco’s dictatorship, archaeologist Julio Martínez
Santa-Olalla invented the connexion between the Eagle of
Saint John with one of the Visigothic brooches. The Eagle
was included in Isabella the Catholic’s personal shield for
the first time before she was proclaimed queen of Castile,
because she was a devote of Saint John. Later it was
included in the Catholic Monarchs’ shield and copied by
Franco in 1938.
The Visigothic tradition was used to
legitimize different ideas throughout the
history of Spain:
-the medieval Christian kingdoms
affirmed to be the heirs of the Visigoths
to justify the “Reconquest”
-the monarchs of the Modern Era
looked back to the Visigoths to
consolidate their absolute power
-the liberal historians of the
Contemporary Era used the Visigothic
Kingdom of Toledo as the beginning of
the construction of Spain as a unified
State.
-the Visigothic period was also glorified
during Franco’s dictatorship as the
origin of a Catholic unified State, from
German origin (Arian blood) and
responsible for having stopped the
Muslims. Children had to learn the list of
the Gothic kings at school.