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Sisenand
| Sisenand | |
|---|---|
| King of the Visigoths | |
.jpg) Imaginary portrait of Sisenand, King of the Visigoths, by Bernardino Montañés. 1856. (Museo del Prado, Madrid). | |
| Reign | March 26, 631 – March 12, 636 |
| Predecessor | Suintila |
| Successor | Chintila |
| Died | March 12, 636 Toledo |
Sisenand (? – March 12, 636) was the twenty-sixth King of the Visigoths in Hispania, reigning from 631 to 636.[1]
Life
As Duke of Septimania, Sisenand helped to dethrone Suintila by conquering Tarraconensis with the help of Dagobert I of Neustria.
Some authors infer from the sources a certain popular sympathy toward Suintila and greater opposition to him among the nobility. The rival faction undoubtedly took advantage of certain laws proposed by Suintila, which favored the people but harmed the magnates, to increase its chances of rebellion. Despite this, the tendency once represented by Witteric had been greatly weakened by his poor government and by the purges that surely followed his fall. It appears that Suintila had the support of the military leaders, and that the hostility toward him among counts and dukes was not unanimous, because they lacked the necessary support of the people around them. The nobility opposed to Suintila considered it impossible to overthrow this King by their own means, and in 630 they sent one of the conspiring nobles, named Sisenand, Duke of Septimania, to the court of the King of Neustria, Dagobert, to ask him for an army to serve their purposes. As a reward, a golden dish was offered (given by the general Aetius to King Thorismund in 451), along with 200,000 solidi.
The army gathered at Tolosa in March 631. Shortly afterward Zaragoza was conquered almost without a fight, Septimania rebelled, and the undecided nobles joined the rebels, fighting against the King's forces. Even the King's brother, Geila, rebelled. The speed of the revolt forced Suintila to abdicate and flee. The rebels marched on the capital, Toledo, where they proclaimed Sisenand King on March 26. Suintila was captured and imprisoned for two years, and was then exiled together with his wife and children, dying of natural causes in 634.
Sisenand had to face several rebellions sympathetic to the previous King, especially in the province of Baetica. Geila was the leader of these new rebels, supported even by part of the clergy, which led to a civil war. Sisenand regained control of the situation, again thanks to King Dagobert, and defeated the rebels.
He convened the Fourth Council of Toledo under the direction of Isidore of Seville, at which collections of laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, were formulated; among the former is the famous Liber Iudiciorum (Fuero Juzgo), and among the latter, twenty-nine canons concerning the discipline and administration of the Church. Its purpose was to give greater strength to the King and stability to the Gothic race; the council confirmed Sisenand's election and declared Suintila a tyrant for his crimes, his iniquity, and his accumulation of wealth at the expense of the poor.[1] Clerics were declared exempt from all taxes and burdens, and penalties were enacted against those who broke the oaths of fidelity made to their King or rebelled against him, in an attempt to prevent others from following Sisenand's own example. In addition, Geila was exiled and his property confiscated. Sisenand pledged to be a moderate, benevolent, just, and pious monarch.
Clerics who took up arms against the King were condemned and were to be confined in a monastery to do penance. Clerics were forbidden to receive or send secret messages outside Hispania. The clergy had probably negotiated an alliance between the rebels and some foreign power. Anyone who rebelled, whether cleric or noble, would suffer the penalty of excommunication and exile.
With regard to succession to the throne, he made no concession to the principle of hereditary succession. Thus, kings would henceforth be elected solely by the magnates and the bishops. The attitude of the bishops seems to indicate that, rather than anathematizing, what Sisenand did with Suintila gave rise to a crisis in 632 that caused the Council to be delayed until the end of 633 because of the rebellion of Iudila.
Although he is not mentioned in any literary source, there are two coins minted in Mérida and in Granada (Iliberris) bearing the inscription Iudila Rex,[2] presumably minted during the reign of Sisenand. Moreover, the seventy-fifth canon and the delay in holding the council could explain that Iudila had attempted to usurp the throne.
Sisenand died in Toledo in the year 636, five years into his reign, and was succeeded by Chintila.[1]
Policy toward the Jews
At the Fourth Council of Toledo the problem of the Jews was examined again, reaffirming the policies established at the Third Council, but also making the penalties harsher and the prohibitions more extensive.
It was established that the children of Jews were to be separated from their parents. According to modern historians, such a drastic law could not have been implemented, and it referred only to baptized children. It was also established that converted Jews could not have dealings with unconverted Jews. The penalty for this offense was harsh: the unconverted Jew would be handed over as a slave to a Christian, and the convert would be publicly flogged.
Since it was believed that the Jews bribed Christians to avoid the application of these laws, the penalty of excommunication and anathematization was established.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "La Corte Visigoda de Toledo - Sisenando". Fuenterrebollo Portal (in español).
- ↑ "La Corte Visigoda de Toledo - Iudilia". Fuenterrebollo Portal (in español).
External links
