Visigothic Hispania

Regnum Visigothorum
418–711
Approximate extent of the Visigothic kingdom at its peak. Approximate extent of the Visigothic kingdom at its peak.
Capital	Tolosa (418–507) Barcelona (c. 507–554) Toledo (c. 554–711)
Official languages	Latin
Common languages	Hispanic Romance languages (developing), Basque
Religion	Arian Christianity (until 587) Catholic Christianity (from 587)
Government	Elective monarchy (initially), hereditary (later)
King
• 418	Alaric I (first)
• 710–711	Roderic (last)
Legislature	Aula Regia
Historical era	Late Antiquity – Early Middle Ages
• Settlement in Aquitaine as foederati	418
• Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula	711
Currency	Tremissis, Triens
Preceded by Succeeded by Western Roman Empire Suebi Alans Vandals Al-Andalus Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula

Visigothic Hispania was the kingdom established by the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, between the 5th and 8th centuries.

After their initial settlement in Gallia Aquitania as foederati of the Western Roman Empire, the Visigoths gradually extended their power over the peninsula, coming to dominate it almost completely and establishing an independent kingdom that lasted until the Muslim invasion of 711.

History

Main article: Visigothic Kingdom

Germanic invasions in Hispania

Main articles: Germanic invasions of the Iberian Peninsula and Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse

From the 3rd to the 5th century, two Germanic peoples had crossed the Iberian Peninsula, the Suebi and the Vandals, as well as an Iranian people, the Alans, who still exist in Ossetia, in the Caucasus Mountains. Around 409 or 410, there are reports of the entry through the Pyrenees of an undetermined number of Suebi (some 30,000, although there is no consensus among historians), the Germanic people of greatest cultural complexity, occupying the northwest of the peninsula, which is Gallaecia, with its capital at Braccara Augusta, present-day Braga (Portugal).

The chronicler Hydatius, speaking above all about the occupation of Gallaecia by the Suebi, speaks of all kinds of outrages and brutalities:

The barbarians who had entered the Spains devastate them in bloody struggle [...] As the barbarians spread furiously across the Spains, and the scourge of the plague grew equally cruel, the tyrannical tax collector robs and the soldier plunders the riches and the provisions stored in the cities; a dreadful famine reigns, and wild beasts tear apart even the strongest men.

— C. Sánchez Albornoz and A. Viñas: Lecturas históricas españolas.

Nevertheless, historians currently consider that the sources of the period must be viewed with caution, analyzing not only what is written but also the purpose the author pursued in his time with that work, and that they must be subjected to critical judgment.

Galicia was occupied not only by the Suebi, but also by Hasdingi Vandals. The Alans moved toward Lusitania and Carthaginensis. With the Silingi Vandals in the area of Baetica, only the province of Tarraconensis remained in the power of the Roman Empire. Precisely in order to recover the dominion lost in the Iberian Peninsula, the empire made a pact with the Gothic King Wallia so that they would be the ones to defend the rights of Rome against these Germanic tribes. Thus, in 416 the Visigoths entered as allies of Rome, through a foedus, defeating the Alans and part of the Vandals, whereby the Empire recovered control of the most Romanized regions (Baetica and the south of Tarraconensis).

In 418 the Emperor Honorius moved them away from the rich Mediterranean, resettling them in Aquitaine. The Suebi then occupied a large part of the peninsula, with their capital at Emerita Augusta, present-day Mérida. The Vandals defeated them at Mérida but, around 429, crossed over to Africa. The Alans occupied the center and east of the Peninsula, and ended up being absorbed by the Hispano-Roman population.

Extent of the Visigothic Kingdom around the beginning of the 6th century.

In this situation the Western Roman Empire had recovered at least nominal dominion over the Peninsula, except for the area dominated by the Suebi, who were consolidating their kingdom in the west. Around the year 438 the Suebian King Rechila undertook a determined campaign of conquest of the rest of Hispania, taking possession of Lusitania, Carthaginensis and Baetica. His successor, Rechiar, took advantage of the disturbances of the Bagaudae movement to advance toward the area of Zaragoza and Lleida. Such action prompted the Roman Empire to once again ask the Visigoths, through their king Theodoric II, for the help needed to control Hispania. The Visigothic troops crossed the Pyrenees and in the autumn of 456 took Astorga, the capital of the Suebian kingdom, and captured King Rechiar, the rest of the Suebi remaining in the territory of Gallaecia, in present-day Galicia, part of Asturias and León and the northern half of Portugal. The Suebian kingdom remained independent until the end of the 6th century. The rest of the peninsula remained in Visigothic hands, becoming part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse, with its capital at Tolosa (Toulouse, present-day France). Waves of conquest followed afterward, but now to occupy areas still dominated by the Roman Empire.

By the year 476, the Visigoths had already settled in the Iberian Peninsula, and in 490 the bulk of the migrations from the north came to an end.

The turbulent 6th century

Main article: Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo

Visigothic kingdom after the conquests of Liuvigild, year 585.

The Visigoths did not control the entire Iberian Peninsula. In the northwestern part was the Kingdom of the Suebi. The whole Cantabrian coast from the mountain range to the sea, a little Romanized area, was dominated by Astures, Cantabri and Vascones. The Visigothic monarchy went through a moment of weakness during the 6th century. At least two kings were assassinated in succession, Theudigisel and Agila I, and in different areas of the peninsula there were uprisings of landowners against royal authority (Córdoba, Seville and Mérida, the latter two capitals of the kingdom).

By the end of 552 the Emperor Justinian I had already completed the campaign of conquest of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, acceding that same year to the request for help made in 551 by the Visigothic rebel Athanagild in exchange for a coastal strip from Alicante to the southern Atlantic coast of Portugal, including North Africa and the Balearic Islands. The newly conquered territory was named the Province of Spania, and its capital was established at Carthago Spartaria, present-day Cartagena, controlling a good part of the Hispanic Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar, and with it trade. Eastern collaboration was decisive in tipping the civil war in the Hispanic peninsular kingdom in favor of that candidate against Agila. But the territorial compensation was never a platform for the conquest of ancient Hispania. In fact, the areas granted in 552 began to shrink in the following decades, especially during the reign of Liuvigild, until their disappearance around 624, by then in the time of King Suintila.

At the end of the reign of Theudis the capital was moved to Toledo, and with Athanagild this move was consolidated. Thanks to the determined political action of Liuvigild (573–586), a strengthening of the monarchy took place in the second half of the 6th century, with achievements in various fields. He attained a certain level of stability for the monarchy with monetary reforms, restoring sovereign control over territories that had declared themselves independent in the second half of the 6th century, the conquest of the Suebian Kingdom, as well as against the Byzantine installations, many of which passed back into Visigothic hands.

However, Liuvigild's aim of unifying his kingdoms religiously, on the basis of Arianism, failed. He lived through his worst hours with the uprising in the south of his son Hermenegild, who had converted to Catholicism. Peace would not be restored until 584 with the defeat of the son at the hands of the father. His son and successor Reccared (586–601), Hermenegild's brother, achieved that religious unity, but taking Catholicism as its basis. At the momentous Third Council of Toledo the King and Baddo, his wife, declared their conversion. It is considered that, after this conversion, Visigothic culture in Hispania reached its zenith.

The dark years of the 7th century

Visigothic kingdom after the conquests of Suintila, year 625.

The relative peace that prevailed under Liuvigild and Reccared was cut short once again. Liuva II, Witteric, Gundemar and Reccared II followed one another, and of them, the one who was not assassinated, despite being a minor, died in strange circumstances.

Saint Isidore of Seville presents Suintila (621–631) as the first monarch who reigned over all of Hispania after expelling the Byzantines in 624, and defeating the Vascones in 625, this time obtaining a deditio, an unconditional surrender:

«…Through his admirable success he obtained the glory of a greater triumph than that of the other kings; he was the first to attain monarchical power over all of peninsular Hispania, which none of the previous princes had achieved».

Chindasuinth (642–653) exercised iron control over the rebellious nobility. The sources speak of the execution of two hundred members of the high nobility and five hundred of the middle nobility. Many others had to flee abroad. He also carried out confiscations of their property for the benefit of the Crown. He tried to create a new "nobility of service" by granting its members notable privileges and benefits. To consolidate his family's power against the nobility, he associated his son Recceswinth with the Throne. As Liuvigild had done, he tried to break with the elective monarchy of the nobility and the church, and to establish a hereditary one.

Recceswinth (649–672) would be recognized for his legislative work with the promulgation of the Liber Iudiciorum of 654, with markedly national characteristics, and later improved by his successor Wamba. This code, which compiles laws considered "ancient" from the Code of Liuvigild onward, would have a notable influence on the local fueros from the 10th century to the 19th century.

Wamba (672–680) had to face a rebellion of the Vascones, possibly in coalition with noble factions in the northeast of the Gothic Kingdom. After defeating the Vascones, he managed to recover control of all of Tarraconensis and Septimania by defeating the rebel nobles. In this way, Wamba restored and strengthened the central power of the Monarchy against the feudalizing nobility and clergy.

Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom

Visigothic Hispania around 711, before the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

In a letter to King Æthelred of Mercia, dated 746–747, Saint Boniface attributed the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom to «the moral degeneration of the Goths». For E. A. Thompson, who comments on this in the prologue of The Goths in Spain (1969), «it is by no means evident that modern research, at the point where it stands, has gone much deeper».

Around 710 there were successive clashes over the throne after the death of Wittiza. The claimants to the crown, Roderic (known as Don Rodrigo) and Agila II, the former in the south and the latter in the north of the peninsula, took extreme positions. It is agreed that Wittiza had, before his death, arranged the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in order to control the kingdom. Others maintain that it was Agila II, but hold that the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, having conquered North Africa, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered Toledo, defeating and killing Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete (or of the Laguna de la Janda). Their advance was unstoppable and two years later they besieged Zaragoza.

By means of a series of capitulations, a Visigothic noble belonging to the palatine circles, Theodemir, managed to maintain for a few more decades considerable autonomy in the Kingdom of Tudmir, a vast territory around the City of Orihuela, in the present-day provinces of Murcia and Alicante.

Classical historiography takes it as certain that several Visigothic nobles, as well as part of the Visigothic population fleeing from the Muslims, escaped toward the north of the peninsula, specifically to Asturias, populated by the Astures, of Celtic origin, outside Muslim control, although there may have been a governor in the coastal area (present-day Gijón), Munuza, but the Muslims never came to dominate the mountains, which did serve as a refuge for the Christian resisters, and one of them, an officer of Roderic who was at the battle of Guadalete in the year 711, named Pelayo, managed to defeat in 722 a Muslim expedition of conquest at the Battle of Covadonga. Don Pelayo, who now had the collaboration of the Astures, former enemies of the Visigoths, since they had previously tried to subdue them, was elected Prince of the Astures and thus became the first King of Asturias, and the creation of a small but staunch nucleus of resistance would be achieved, which would give rise to the formation of the first Christian kingdoms, within a historical process that in the 19th century would come to be called the Reconquista. On the other hand, regarding the battle, other historians have doubts and do not know the exact location of the site of the skirmish; nor have they managed to ascertain the precise date, which spans a period between the years 718 and 722. The battles are referred to in the Albelda Chronicle (Chronicon Albeldense or Codex Conciliorum Albeldensis seu Vigilanus) (year 833), which constitutes one of the few surviving sources from the final period of the Hispano-Visigothic monarchy, the invasion and settlement of Umayyad power in the peninsula, and the genesis of the Kingdom of Asturias; the Franco-Belgian historian Adeline Rucquoi says: The Reconquista is a reality and has its history.

By the 9th century the entire peninsula, with the exception of the aforementioned northern part of the peninsula, would be under Muslim rule. There are other minority theories to explain the end of the Visigothic kingdom, replaced by Muslim predominance.

Society of Visigothic Hispania

Crown of Recceswinth from the Treasure of Guarrazar, M.A.N., Madrid.

E. A. Thompson states in his fundamental work The Goths in Spain (1969) that «the only continuous source of information on the reigns of the kings of the Iberian Peninsula from Gesalec to Liuva I (507–568) is the History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi of Saint Isidore of Seville».

Demographic aspects

In any case, the Goths must have formed a minority which, it is assumed, would begin to be integrated into Hispano-Roman society. Their number has not been determined precisely by any historian, but the most reliable estimates speak of between 150,000 and 200,000 Visigoths settled in the peninsula, out of a population that did not reach nine million, according to Saint Isidore of Seville. Other sources speak of 85,000–100,000 Visigoths out of a population of six million Hispano-Romans.

Recently an archaeological study of Visigothic settlement has been carried out, estimating a figure for the Visigothic population of between 130,000 and 150,000 people, which would represent between 3% and 4% of the total Hispanic population.

The Visigoths settled above all in the area of the Northern Plateau, especially in the center of the basin of the Douro river, a sparsely populated area with little urbanization.

This is the period in which Roman building materials were reused for basilicas, churches and other civil constructions (see Visigothic art).

It was a society that has been considered pre-feudal or transitional to feudalism, since a series of characteristics converge in it that would be typical of later stages of the Middle Ages and that distinguish it from Roman Hispania. In the first place, there was a gradual social ruralization, with the large cities being abandoned in some places and smaller population centers forming around the Roman villas. On the other hand, there was a tendency toward self-sufficiency, and ties of personal dependence developed that anticipated feudalism. Thus, the gardingi depended on the kings as clients. The nobles, in turn, had the bucellarii. And the colonists depended on the great landowners.

In this period slavery was replaced by the colonate as the form of relationship regarding the exploitation of the land, something that had already begun in the Late Empire. The colonists made up the broad mass of society. The humiles, small free landowners, were a social class in decline. The upper class was made up of the potentes, the great noble landowners, both Goths and Hispano-Romans. The harshness of the living conditions of the lower classes ended up producing peasant revolts on occasion, which were sometimes confused with heresies such as Priscillianism.

Within society, a distinction was made between the Visigoths and the Hispano-Romans, each governed by their own laws. However, over the centuries there was a tendency toward the fusion of both social groups, with mixed marriages being permitted. An attempt to put an end to the legal diversity was the Liber Iudiciorum (published in 654), which sought to compile Roman law together with the practices, already seigneurial, that had gradually been imposed in the peninsula regarding property rights.

Arians, Catholics and Jews

As for religion, the Visigoths followed Arianism, which had spread in the Roman Empire in the 4th century, although there were no significant clashes with the Catholics, who constituted the majority of the Hispano-Roman population. At the Councils of Toledo, especially during the third, held in 589, the division caused by Arianism was resolved thanks to the conversion of Reccared. This process, not without ups and downs, led to a unification of both confessions. The situation favored the full integration between the Gothic and Hispano-Roman communities and the emergence of fundamental figures of the new culture such as Isidore of Seville, a bishop, whose Etymologiae are considered by some to be the first great work of the Middle Ages. The church gained great social influence, legitimizing the kings from 672 onward, and the bishopric of Toledo would become the most important of all those in the peninsula.

Relations with the Jews were always tense. Although at the beginning of the Visigothic period the problems were minor, the conversion to Catholicism would lead to greater discrimination against the Jews, as a result of which many of them converted falsely. Especially strict were Sisebut and Egica, who confiscated their properties, accusing them of conspiring against the crown. The most common measures were the prohibition of mixed marriages, even in the case of converted Jews; the prohibition of Jews owning Christian slaves; and the constant economic reparations to which they were subjected for no reason at all.

Economy

Visigothic society was dominated by agricultural and livestock activities. In this respect they continued the same economic activity as Roman Hispania, with the same crops, introducing some new ones, such as spinach or artichoke. The exploitation of the land remained organized around large villae. A villa was divided into the reserve and the mansi. However, the labor force was no longer enslaved, but consisted of colonists, something that had begun in the period of the Late Empire.

However, other features of the Roman period changed. Thus, the importance of the large cities, of trade and of mining disappeared. The circulation of coinage was scarce. The only trade of some importance was that in luxury goods coming from the Mediterranean, which was managed by international merchants.

Political institutions

The monarchy

Chronological tree.

The King was the supreme head of the community. The monarchical institution had long been established among the Visigothic people when they arrived in the Peninsula. The kings had to be of noble status and acceded to the throne by means of an elective system in which the bishops and the palatine magnates took part. But only three kings were enthroned under that system (Chintila, Wamba and Roderic). Association with the throne was, in practice, the most common way, together with usurpations, of taking power. The Monarch was anointed by God and owed his legitimacy to Him; royalty thus possessed a sacred character, which was supposed to deter any attempt against the King. But that was not enough, and assassinations of monarchs, rebellions, conspiracies and usurpations were commonplace in the Visigothic kingdom.

Alongside the King was the Aula Regia, an advisory council made up of nobles.

Territorial administration

The Visigoths accepted the provincial division of Roman Hispania. At the head of the provinces they placed the duces (singular, dux; in English, «dukes») and at the head of the cities the comites (comes, «counts»).

The municipal institutions, on the other hand, fell into decline. The municipal curiales, responsible for collecting taxes in the cities, continued and accentuated their downfall. They were stripped of their tax-collecting power, which fell into the hands of the duces and the comes. These would take on a large part of the administrative work of the kingdom and would govern provinces or regions with full powers in administration and justice, thus beginning a process of proto-feudalization.

Public treasury

It was made up of the Royal Treasure, the patrimony of the crown and tax revenues.

The Royal Treasure consisted of the large quantities of gold, silver and jewels that the Visigoths had obtained through plunder throughout their history. The person in charge of its custody was the comes thesauri, and it went through various vicissitudes. After the defeat of Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507, the treasure passed to Ravenna under the custody of the Ostrogoths and was restored in 526 after the death of the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great.

It was divided into two clearly differentiated groups (different locations):

Gold tremissis of Erwig issued in Bracara Augusta between 680 and 687.

• New treasure: gold and silver coins with which they paid the army, the administration, etc.
• Old treasure: with the jewels stored from the plundering. Among these pieces was certainly the «Table of Solomon», and it is speculated that the «Seven-Branched Candelabrum» was also there, both objects captured in the sack of Rome by Alaric.

The Royal Treasure constituted a very important reserve for the Visigothic kingdom, and its monarchs did not hesitate to use it to pay allies in their internal struggles.

The patrimony of the crown was immense and consisted above all of the large amount of land that the monarchs amassed. This came from several sources: land expropriated through the constant purges carried out among the nobility, deserted or uninhabited lands, and lands coming from the Roman fisc. These lands were leased to serfs who cultivated them and paid a rent. All of them were administered by the count of the patrimony. At the Eighth Council of Toledo, under the reign of Recceswinth, a separation was established between the patrimony of the monarch and that of the State.

Visigothic mints.

Taxes in the Visigothic kingdom are not a clear matter. It is known that small landowners and the serfs who cultivated the royal lands paid a tribute. It seems that there was also a tax on the clergy, but it did not continue over time. The Jews were subjected to a special tax. Bishops and numerarii set the conversion from money to kind, and officials of the central administration were in charge of its collection; at the head of the fiscal organization was the count of the patrimony.

Councils of Toledo

Between the years 400 and 702, eighteen councils were held in Toledo in which, gathered in assembly, the bishops of all the dioceses of Hispania submitted for consideration matters of both a political and religious nature, regardless of the power to which they were subject (Suebian, Visigothic or Byzantine).

Among these not strictly religious issues were the rules for the election of kings, the approval of dethronements or the condemnation of rebels. It was also in the councils that decisions were made regarding the persecution of the Jews.

Ecclesiastical division

Cathedral of Braga.

To learn about the Visigothic ecclesiastical geography, several sources can be used, such as the Hitación de Wamba from the end of the 7th century, the signatures of prelates in the acts of the Councils of Toledo, the works of Hydatius or of Isidore of Seville, and the so-called Nomina sedium episcopalium studied by Claudio Sánchez Albornoz.

The provinces coincided in their boundaries with the old Roman provinces, with the exception of the Kingdom of the Suebi, whose territory was divided into two ecclesiastical provinces, whose capitals were Braga and Lugo. The Archdiocese of Braga comprised four dioceses that had formerly belonged to Lusitania: Lamecum, Viseum, Conimbriga and Egitania. In the mid-7th century they came to depend on Mérida.

At this time Narbonensis was a region belonging to the Visigothic state, which had six metropolitan sees:

• Gallaecia, capital Braga.
• Lusitania, capital Mérida.
• Baetica, capital Seville.
• Carthaginensis, capital Toledo.
• Tarraconensis, capital Tarragona.
• Narbonensis, capital Narbonne.

Visigothic art of Hispania

Visigothic church of San Pedro de la Nave in El Campillo (Zamora).

Aquiliform fibulae from Alovera, National Archaeological Museum (Madrid).

Visigothic aquiliform fibula of Alovera (6th century), made of bronze and glass paste, from Alovera (Guadalajara). Made using the cell-work or partitioned technique (cloisonné). National Archaeological Museum of Spain.

Architecture

Today we can still see various Visigothic religious buildings such as San Pedro de la Nave, in the town of El Campillo (Zamora), from the 7th century, the Church of Santa María de Melque, in San Martín de Montalbán (Toledo), which began as part of a monastic complex in the 7th century, and others, as detailed below:

• Hermitage of Santa María, located in the Burgos town of Quintanilla de las Viñas
• Church of San Juan, in Baños de Cerrato (Palencia), of the Latin basilica type
• Churches of San Martín and of Santa Comba de Bande, both in Ourense and of a more or less Byzantine type in the shape of a Greek cross
• Chapel of San Fructuoso de Montelius in Braga, Portugal
• Church of Santa Lucía del Trampal in Alcuéscar, Cáceres
• Crypt of San Antolín, in the cathedral of Palencia

The horseshoe arch, which would later be adopted by the Muslims, is characteristic of Visigothic architecture.

As for archaeological remains of Visigothic civil architecture, Recópolis stands out, an ancient city of Visigothic origin located near Zorita de los Canes (Guadalajara). It was ordered to be built by Liuvigild in honor of his son Reccared in 578. It functioned as an important urban center, capital of a Visigothic province called Celtiberia, with imprecise boundaries, to the east of Carpetania (Toledo, the capital of the kingdom). The complex is considered «one of the most significant sites of the Middle Ages, as it is the only newly planned city built on state initiative at the beginning of the Early Middle Ages in Europe», according to Lauro Olmo Enciso, professor of archaeology at the University of Alcalá. The remains of a palatine complex, a Visigothic basilica, dwellings and craft workshops have been identified.

Goldsmithing

Votive crowns and crosses

One of the most striking examples of Visigothic art in Hispania is due to the discovery of the Treasure of Guarrazar, a treasure of Visigothic goldsmithing composed of crowns and crosses that several kings of Toledo offered in their day as an ex-voto. It was found between 1858 and 1861 at the archaeological site called the huerta de Guarrazar, located in the town of Guadamur, very close to Toledo. The pieces are divided among the Cluny Museum in Paris, the Armoury of the Royal Palace and the National Archaeological Museum, both in Madrid.

Of the crowns, the Crown of Recceswinth is the most striking for its goldsmithing and beauty, with letters hanging from it, on which one can read «Reccesvinthvs Rex offeret» («King Recceswinth offered [it]»).

Aquiliform fibulae

The aquiliform (eagle-shaped) fibulae that have been discovered in necropolises such as Duratón, Madrona or Castiltierra (towns in the province of Segovia), of great archaeological importance, are unmistakable evidence of the Visigothic presence in Spain. These fibulae were worn singly or in pairs, as a brooch or safety pin of gold, bronze and glass to fasten clothing, the work of the goldsmiths of Visigothic Hispania; archaeologically there is no doubt that these fibulae belonged to the Visigothic people, present in Hispania from the 5th century of our era. Those found in Alovera (Guadalajara) stand out, and can be seen in the illustration above these lines.

Belt plate and buckle. Cast bronze and iron with glass-paste decoration following the cell-mosaic or cloisonné technique. 5th–7th centuries. From the Visigothic necropolis of Castiltierra, Segovia. Museum of Málaga, Spain.

Belt plates and buckles

The belt plates and buckles found in Spain are objects with a dual function, of everyday and ornamental use, a symbol of rank and distinction of Visigothic women; they are large, rectangular buckles. Some pieces contain exceptional lapis lazuli inlays in the Byzantine style. Those found in the Visigothic necropolis of Castiltierra (Segovia), from the 5th–7th centuries, are of cast bronze and iron, with glass-paste decoration following the cell-mosaic enamel or cloisonné technique, a technique that can use inlays of precious stones, glass or other materials.

Historians such as G. G. Koenig see in the pieces from Spain characteristics similar to the Danubian style of dress of the 5th–6th centuries. According to Professor Michel Kazanski, research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), this style developed north of the Black Sea around the year 400, and the Germanic peoples later brought it to the West.

There is considerable variety in the decoration; noteworthy are the goldsmith pieces from the Visigothic tombs of Aguilafuente (Segovia), especially those found in the tomb of a woman, believed to be from the 6th century, in which the buckle was accompanied by two fibulae and several pieces of jewelry characteristic of Visigothic female dress. In the Visigothic necropolises there are also bracelets of different metals, pearl necklaces and earrings with colored glass inlays. All these jewels have been found in tombs of central Visigothic Hispania, as is the case of the necropolis of Madrona (Segovia), which has a fairly varied set of these ornamental elements. The Aguilafuente site comprises more than two hundred tombs.

Legislators of the Gothic era.

Linguistic influence on the Spanish language

For the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, language was not a distinguishing factor between them and the Hispano-Romans (who lived in the territory before their arrival); both groups spoke the same language, Vulgar Latin. Despite this, the original Gothic language and other aspects of Visigothic culture had a linguistic impact on some aspects of present-day Castilian. In other words, there are linguistic reflections of the social contact between the Hispano-Romans and the Visigoths in the Spanish language today.

As for phonetics, there are no traces. However, there are traces of their language in the morphology and lexicology of Spanish. For example, certain words retain the Gothic suffix -ing, which would become -engo. We can see examples of this in the words «abolengo» and «realengo».

More examples of Spanish words with Gothic origins.

Certain types of words reflect the two cultures and their own languages; we can see the linguistic influence of the Visigoths on Spanish in words related to trade, agriculture, industry, housing and law. At first, the words were probably borrowings from the Gothic language, but they gradually developed to become more similar to Spanish and easier to pronounce for a speaker of vernacular Latin and, later, for a Spanish speaker.

The Hispano-Romans also took words from the Goths and adapted them to their vernacular language; for example, the word jabón (soap) derives from a Gothic word: saipo → sapone → jabón. The Visigoths introduced a concept to the Hispano-Romans (in this case, the new concept of soap) and adapted the original Gothic word (from saipo) so that it would be easier to pronounce and more similar to a Romance language; likewise, «rico» (rich) comes from the Gothic word reiks. Other words in the Castilian language come from Gothic words related to military or diplomatic matters. The word «guerra» (war) replaced the Latin word bellum. «Guerra» derives from the Gothic language as follows: werra → guerre → guerra; the word «guardia» (guard) derives from the Gothic wardja; the word «tregua» (truce) derives from the Gothic triggwa.

Of particular interest is the impact of the Visigoths on anthroponymy, a branch of onomastics that studies proper names. In fact, many common Spanish names have their origins in the Gothic language because of the presence of the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula for more than two hundred years. For example, the name «Fernando» derives from a combination of two Gothic words: frithu ('peace') and nanth ('daring'). Gradually the Hispano-Romans adapted them until they formed a new name, Fridenandus, which finally became «Fernando». We can also see this process in the name «Álvaro», which derives from the words all and wars, meaning respectively 'all' and 'prepared'. «Alfonso» is composed of a combination of all and funs ('ready'). Other anthroponyms of Gothic origin are Rodrigo (from hrod, 'fame, glory', and reiks, 'powerful, rich', meaning 'warrior', 'famous warrior'), Rosendo, Argimiro, Elvira, Gonzalo, Alberto, etc.

See also

• Visigothic art
• Visigothic law
• Visigothic army
• Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo
• Visigothic Kingdom
• Visigothic kings
• Visigothic script
• Visigothic notation
• Visigothic people
• Gothic people
• Germanic peoples
• Isidore of Seville
• List of Gothic kings
• Science and technology in Visigothic Hispania
• Persecution of the Jews in Visigothic Hispania
• Proposed origin of Spain in the Visigothic Hispania of Toledo

Bibliography

• Díaz Villanueva, Fernando. Los godos y otros bárbaros del norte
• Caerols, José Joaquín. El encuentro entre godos e hispanorromanos (un análisis filológico), Rome, 2001, pp. 199–238. Encuentro, 2002.
• Fontaine, J. Isidoro de Sevilla. Génesis y originalidad de la cultura hispánica en tiempos de los visigodos, Madrid.
• García Moreno, L. A. Historia de España Visigoda. Ed. Cátedra, Madrid, 2008.
• González, A. and García Moreno, L. Los visigodos. Historia y civilización, Murcia, 1986.
• Livermore, Harold. Orígenes de España y Portugal. Barcelona 1988.
• Orlandis, José. Historia del reino visigodo español, Madrid, 2003.
• Sánchez Albornoz, Claudio. Estudios visigodos. Rome, 1971.
• Thompson, E. A. Los godos en España, Madrid, 1971.

External links

• John of Biclaro: Chronicle, which continues where Victor ends (Chronicon, continuans ubi Victor desinit). Bilingual text in Latin and French, with introduction and annotations in the latter language, on the website of Philippe Remacle (1944–2011).
• Los visigodos on the web portal of José I. Lago
• Los visigodos en Hispania, a comprehensive and up-to-date article
• Historia de la lengua castellana o española
• Orígenes y evolución del castellano
• Léxico: estudio diacrónico: germanismos
• «Las cuatro mentiras sobre los godos», by Jurate Rosales
• «El idioma que hablaron los godos», by Jurate Rosales
• La pérdida de Hispania (2018 documentary) on IMDb