A Misty History of Portugal : The Visigoth Monarchy 585 to 711 CE

Despite this victory, the Visigoths led an unwelcomed existence in present-day Bulgaria until 410 CE when, united under the leadership of King Alaric I, they rebelled and marched through the Balkans and Italy to sack Rome. In return, the weak Roman government followed its usual foreign policy of “if you cannot beat them, join them” by making the Visigoths federati of the Empire and awarding them a new homeland in west central Gaul with its capital at Toulouse.

This new status coincided with the entry of the Suevi, Vandals and Alans into Iberia where, following despoliation of the Romano-Celtic tribes living in the mesetas, they too were made federati. As recorded in my previous essay in this series, the three tribal groups made territorial claims against each other as well as damaging the Roman system of governance which they had promised to uphold. The Emperor Honorius then decided to employ the Visigoths as his enforcers and they succeeded in defeating the Vandals and Alans who fled to north Afrika in 429 AC leaving the Suevi in subjective control of Lusitania and Galicia. This was the only intervention by a superior authority into the Suevian monarchy until 585 CE when the Visigoths took possession.

In 507 CE the Visigoths lost control of their Gallic land to the Franks and moved their kingdom southwards to occupy nearly all of Iberia with their capital at Toledo. They ended their status as federati by declaring their independence from the disintegrated western Empire although they allowed the Byzantines, who had subjugated the eastern Empire, to maintain a protectorate along part of the southern region of Andalucia.

The Visigoths garrisoned the key cities and occupied the best rural locations for their estates and villas. However, they respected the Roman system of local government on condition that taxes were paid to them as “lords of the manor”. Initially, they lived apart from the indigenous people but gradually began a process of assimilation which was accelerated by two major catalysts: religion and the law.

During their sojourn in the region Thrace (after 378 AC) the Visigoths had converted from paganism to the Arian doctrine of Christianity which denied trinitarian beliefs by positioning Christ as the messenger, not the son, of God. This they steadfastly followed until 589 AC when their king Reccared led them into the beliefs of Catholicism. This was confirmed at the third Council of Toledo following which papal authority took a firm hold on matters of societal governance

The second great change was the consolidation, in 654 CE, of Roman and Gothic law into one code, the Liber Ludiiciorum, This was was liberal in concept by, for example, ending the ban on ethnic inter-marriage and establishing the right of women to own property but, also, it was severe in the treatment of felonies, heresies and crimes against the State.

The new code was so comprehensive that is became the accepted basis for law in neighbouring territories and the foundation for the legal systems of Spain, France and Italy until the end of the 15^th century. Curiously, its prowess was not matched by literary progress. Until their termination by the Moorish invasion, the Gothic and Suevic cultures were very limited. No great works of the Arts were created and such records as were kept were largely those of the Church with little to tell us about the features of everday society. Similarly, architecture consisted of making use of existing Roman buildings and such structures as were built mere later destroyed or modified to the taste of later eras. However, in the creation of jewellery, ornaments, weapons and body armour they were proficient and many fine examples can be seen in national museums.

The final years of the Suevian monarchy were marred by internecine strife and an endemic weakness in the administration which led to factions claiming towns and territories as being their own. In this King Leovigild saw the opportunity to complete the Visigoth conquest of the entire peninsulaCantabria. Commencing in year 573 he campaigned in the north by capturing the regions of Orense in Galicia and Cantabria causing the Suevian king Miro to seek a truce. He then sent his son Hermenegild to govern the Byzantine province of Baetica but the boy was converted by St. Leander of Seville to Catholicism and then rebelled against his father by seeking the help of both the Byzantines and Suevi. This attempt was quickly defeated and the young prince was executed by his father. The Suevians who had marched to Seville were then forced once again to seek a truce. King Miro died and passed the throne to prince Eboric who was swiftly usurped by his brother-in-law, tonsured and confined to a monastery. Leovigild saw his chance, deposed the usurper Andeca and, in turn, had him tonsured and imprisoned

This led inevitably to the annexation of the territory of the Suevic kingdom by King Leovigild in 585 CE. However, it brought little change to the lives of its citizens. Although the Visigoths replaced the Suevi as the ruling elite, they were few in number and content to allow the assimilation already in progress to proceed calmly with little alteration to the established “pecking order” of a society which now spoke Latin as it first language. More importantly, the coincidental conversion in 587 AC of the Visigoths from Arianism to the Nicene code brought about the fusion of religions and created the ingredients for a new “Hispanic” nation which observed only Catholicism as its State Faith.

From this point until 711 AC, historians are frustrated in their attempt to build a portrait of secular life in the provinces of Lusitania and Galicia. No rebellions or civil strife are recorded. One must assume that this “melting-pot” of tribes and religions worked reasonably well and was increased by the absorption of the Moors with the resultant foundation of a Portuguese nation.