Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths. The Visigoths are an ancient Germanic tribe. Visigothic kingdom. Visigoths and Ostrogoths Which modern state is located on the territory of the Visigoths

One of the most powerful eastern branches of the Germans has its own state - Visigoths- formed even before the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Suppressed at the end of the 4th century. from the Danube lands by the Huns during the Great Migration of Peoples, the Visigoths first penetrated into the Eastern Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 5th century. - to Italy. Relations with the Roman Empire among the Visigoths were initially based on a military-federal alliance. But by the middle of the century it had become nominal. Throughout the 5th century. the Visigoths gained a foothold in southern Gaul and northern Spain.

At this time, Visigothic society was experiencing an accelerated process of forming a proto-state. Until the middle of the 5th century. People's assemblies played the main role in governance. In the second half of the 5th century. Royal power strengthened: kings appropriated the right to hold court and make laws. A special relationship between the kings and the military nobility developed, which gradually seized the right to elect kings from the people's assemblies. The basis for consolidating the power of the nobility was land grants made in the name of the king. Under King Eirich, the Visigoths eliminated the most important remnants of military democracy, published a set of laws (using Roman experience), and created special judges and administrators - comites.

At the beginning of the 6th century. the Visigoths were driven out of southern Gaul by the Franks (the northern branch of the Germans) and formed Kingdom of Toledo (VI - VIII centuries) in Spain.

Typical of a barbarian state, the Kingdom of Toledo was internally poorly organized and the importance of the central government was small. Geographically, the kingdom was divided into communities (civitas), inherited from the Roman provinces, and into thousands; they all retained significant rights of self-government. Statehood was represented by the royal palace, the importance of which increased by the 6th century, and meetings of the nobility, where the main state and political affairs were decided.

Power king was elective and unstable. Only at the end of the 6th century. one of the Visigothic rulers managed to give it some stability; throughout the 6th century. kings were regularly deposed by murder. Royal Palace(or court) embodied the only centralized administrative principle, palace services from the end of the 5th century. began to acquire national significance. The lower administration consisted of various kinds of officials appointed and removed by the king; for their service they received a monetary salary. Tiufad, the military leader of the Visigothic “thousand”, who also judged the Goths (the Gallo-Roman population submitted to their own justice) had a special status.

The most important role in the Visigothic state was played by meetings of the nobility - hardings. They elected kings, passed laws, and decided some court cases. The Hardings met without a specific system, but their consent was necessary for major political decisions. In the 7th century Along with them, the church councils of Toledo became important in the life of the kingdom, where not only church, but also national affairs were decided. The great role of the meetings of the military, church and administrative nobility of the Visigoths in the state implied an increase in its position in the social system: already from the 6th century. here a hierarchy of land ownership was formed, creating different levels of social subordination and privilege.

The Visigoths left some institutions of Roman statehood in the occupied lands intact: customs duties, coins, and the tax system (land tax and trade tax).

Elements of the pre-state system of the Germans were preserved longer than others in military organization. The army was based on territorial militias, which were collected by special governors; it had the right to a share of the spoils of war. The embryo of the new standing army was the garrisons located in important fortresses. From the end of the 7th century. features characteristic of the feudal-service system appeared in the army: nobility and large landowners were obliged to participate in campaigns with their people.

The evolution of the Visigothic state towards a new statehood was interrupted by the Arab invasion and conquest of Spain in the 8th century. Kingdom of Toledo.

Ostrogothic kingdom

Another part of the East German branch of the tribes is Ostrogoths- after a short federal union with the East Roman Empire, it formed its own state in Italy. Territory Ostrogothic Kingdom (493 - 555) also covered alpine Gaul (modern Switzerland, Austria, Hungary) and the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Ostrogoths seized in their favor up to a third of the lands of the former Roman landowners, previously captured by previous conquerors.

Unlike other Germanic peoples, the Ostrogoths practically retained the former state apparatus of the Roman Empire in their kingdom; The Roman and Gallo-Roman population continued to be subject to their own law, their own administration. The Senate, the praetorian prefect, and municipal authorities continued to exist - and they all remained in the hands of the Romans. The Gothic population was subject to the governance that had developed on the basis of the German military-tribal tradition, which was at the same time national.

The power of the king among the Ostrogoths was very significant from the very time of their conquest of Italy. He was granted the rights of legislation, coinage, appointment of officials, conducting diplomatic relations, and financial powers. This power was considered above the law and outside the laws. A special manifestation of royal power, which began to intensively form new social and legal ties in the state, was the right of patronage (tuitio). Patronage could be provided in law, in jurisdiction, in the imposition of taxes or fines - to individuals, who thereby acquired the special status of those obliged to the king or his free servants. There was no strict order of inheritance of power; during the war, kings were elected by the army, but more often this was influenced by councils of the nobility or councils of elders, which, however, were no longer permanent institutions. The remnants of military democracy among the Ostrogoths were weaker: at the end of the 5th century. There were practically no semblances of public assemblies.

Played a much larger role (than it was even in the Roman Empire) Royal Council. It was both a military council and the highest judicial body. It consisted of the king's advisers, his squire, and the palace entourage - the comitat. The committee was in charge of appointing church ministers and determining taxes.

Palace Administration(the emerging central administration) consisted of the royal master of chancellery (following the late Roman model), whose competence was limited only to the affairs of the palace, the personal secretary of the monarch - the quaestor, the comites of the sacred bounties and the patrimony (managers of general state finances and royal estates, respectively). Mainly, government administration was carried out through territorial rulers and special envoys.

Locally, in special districts, all power belonged to the Gothic comites, or counts, appointed by the king. They had military, judicial, administrative and financial powers over both the Gothic and Roman populations, and they controlled the activities of other officials in their territory. Their tasks also included “maintaining calm” on their lands and police activities. In the border regions, the role of rulers was played by dukes(duces), which, in addition to administrative, military and judicial power, also owned some legislative rights on their territory. Conditional unity in the work of such a semi-state administration was supposed to be brought by royal envoys - sayons, who were entrusted with a variety of tasks, mainly monitoring other managers and officials (without assigning their functions), eliminating offenses or particularly important incidents. Their powers also applied equally to the Roman and Gothic populations. The dukes and counts also commanded the Gothic army, which was already permanent in Italy and was supported by the state.

The traditions of the Roman administrative system not only influenced the powers of many branches of government of the kingdom. Outwardly, the city government remained completely Roman; the Roman tax system and the organization of food purchasing were completely preserved. The continuity in the state organization was so great that the kingdom maintained, in fact, two statehoods - one for the Romans, the other Gothic, each with its own army, courts (civil, in criminal cases there was a single court of counts), practically with its own supreme power . This distinction was also based on social prohibitions (for example, Gothic-Roman marriages were not allowed).

The Ostrogothic kingdom turned out to be short-lived (in the middle of the 6th century, Italy was conquered by Byzantium). But the political system that developed in it was an important historical example of the significant influence of the traditions of the Roman Empire on the formation of a new statehood.

Frankish Merovingian State

At the end of the 5th century. in Northern Gaul (modern Belgium and Northern France) the early state of the Franks, the most powerful union of northern Germanic tribes, emerged. The Franks came into contact with the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, settling from the northern Rhine regions. In the second half of the 4th century. they settled in Gaul as federates of Rome, gradually expanding their possessions and leaving the control of Rome. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Franks (who also called themselves Salic) captured the remnants of Roman possessions in Gaul, defeating the independent semi-kingdoms that had formed there. On the conquered lands, the Franks settled mainly in entire communities-clans, taking partly empty lands, partly the land of the former Roman treasury, and partly the local population. However, in general, the relations of the Franks with the Gallo-Roman population were peaceful. This ensured the further formation of a completely new socio-ethnic community of Celtic-Germanic synthesis.

During the conquest of Gaul, the leader of one of the tribes rose to power among the Franks - Clovis. By 510, he managed to destroy other leaders and declare himself, as it were, a representative of the Roman emperor (the nominal preservation of political ties with the empire was one of the ways of proclaiming his special rights). Throughout the 6th century. Remnants of military democracy remained, the people still participated in legislation. However, the importance of royal power gradually grew. To a large extent, this was facilitated by the increase in income of the kings, who established regular collection of taxes in the form of polyudye. In 496 (498 -?) Clovis, with his retinue and part of his fellow tribesmen, adopted Christianity, which provided the emerging statehood with the support of the Gallo-Roman church.

Previously, the state of the Franks was weakly centralized, reproducing tribal division in the territorial structure. The country was divided into counties, counties into districts (pagi), the former Roman communities; the lowest unit, but very important, was the hundred. Districts and hundreds retained self-government: district and hundred people's assemblies resolved court cases and were in charge of the distribution of taxes. The count was not a general ruler, he ruled only the king's possessions in the county (in other areas such rulers were called satsebarons); by virtue of domain rights, he had judicial and administrative powers in relation to the subject population.

The basis of state unity initially consisted mainly military organization. The annual meeting of the militia - the “March fields” - played a significant role in resolving state and political issues, in particular war and peace, the adoption of Christianity, etc. By the end of the 6th century. they are out of the ordinary. But in the 7th century. restored again, although they acquired a different content. By the 7th century Not only the Franks, but also the Gallo-Roman population began to be recruited for military service, and not only free, but also dependent land holders - the Lithuanians. Military service began to turn into a national duty, and the “March Fields” became, for the most part, reviews of the military service population.

By the 8th century. there was a significant increase royal power. It has practically lost contact with the institution of the leader of military democracy, but the correct legacy of power has not yet been established: the dynasty Merovingian, descended from Clovis from the Merovei family, retained more royal power. Legal monuments of the era began to mention the legislative rights of kings, the sacred nature of royal power, and the exclusivity of its rights. Even the idea of ​​high treason appeared (and therefore implied the obligatory obedience to state institutions of royal power).

Center of public administration in the 6th century. became royal court. Under King Dagobert (VII century), they established themselves as permanent positions of referendar (also the keeper of the king's seal), royal count (highest judge), head of finance, keeper of treasures, and abbot of the palace. The courtyard and immediate surroundings, mainly church, formed royal council, which influenced the conclusion of contracts, appointments of officials, land grants. Officials for special affairs, financial, trade and customs agents were appointed by the king and removed at his discretion. The dukes, the rulers of several united districts, had a somewhat special position.

Occurred up to twice a year meetings of the nobility(bishops, counts, dukes, etc.), where general political affairs, mainly church affairs, and grants were decided. The spring ones were the most numerous and important; the autumn ones were narrower in composition and more palace-like.

One of the most important powers of royal power was the issuance of grants - land holdings. First of all, such awards affected the royal warriors, who from serving soldiers began to turn into vassals - in the 7th century. The term itself came into use in relation to this layer of the royal entourage. Control over land holdings and services strengthened the national powers of the royal palace.

By the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th century. changes affected the position of the county government. The counts became the main figure in the local administration; the powers of the former committees of the empire to command garrisons, the judiciary, and control over officials were transferred to them. This traditionalism in the formation of statehood was all the more real since more than half of those known in the 6th century. Frankish regional rulers-counts were Gallo-Roman in origin. Such connections with local communities naturally strengthened decentralization tendencies.

But by its nature, the early Frankish state was not strong. From the turn of the VI-VII centuries. a noticeable separation of three regions of the kingdom began: Neustria (northwest with a center in Paris), Austrasia (northeast), Burgundy. By the end of the 7th century. Aquitaine stood out in the south. The regions differed markedly in the composition of the population, the degree of feudalization, and the administrative and social system.

The ongoing collapse of the state primarily caused a weakening of royal power (especially since back in 511, dividing power between the heirs of Clovis, the church council declared a unique structure in the form of a “shared kingdom”). At the end of the 7th century. real powers were in the hands of the royal majordomos- rulers of palaces in certain regions. The mayors took over the matter of land grants, and with it control over the local aristocracy and vassals. The last Merovingian kings withdrew from power (for which they received the nickname “lazy kings” in history).

Goths

Goths - tribes of East Germans, lived in the 1st century. on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and in the area of ​​the lower Vistula, where they came from Scandinavia. From the end of the 2nd century. began to move south and settled in the territory from the Don to the Danube. From the 3rd century. divided into Ostrogoths and Visigoths.

The Goths are a group of Germanic tribes who came from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe around the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd century. n. e. and captured their territories up to the Black Sea coast in the south, the lower reaches of the Don in the east and the Danube in the west. The Goths were divided into two main groups: the eastern, or Ostrogoths (Ostrogoths, Greuthungs) and the western, or Visigoths (Visigoths, Tervingi). Powerful flow Hunnic destroyed the invasion, partly displaced the Goths in the southern Russian steppes. Small Gothic groups survived until the 12th century. on the Black Sea coast, on the Taman Peninsula and in Crimea. They are mentioned and "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" . There is an assumption that in the remote forest region of the Slavic tribe of the Drevlyans, the nest of the Gothic princes Amal remained for centuries.

Ostrogoths

Ostrogoths, Ostrogoths, Greuthungs - a Germanic tribe, the eastern branch of the Goths. From the 3rd century. settled along the Dnieper. Under King Ermanaric, they formed an extensive tribal union and occupied the territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea. They were defeated by the Huns and partially entered the Hunnic tribal association, and partially moved beyond the Danube to Roman territories. After the collapse of the Hunnic union, they settled in the Danube regions. Under King Theodoric the Great (474-526), ​​the Ostrogoths conquered Italy and founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom with its capital at Verona. They were defeated by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the middle of the 6th century. The Ostrogoths most clearly showed themselves in the historical process by capturing Italy and creating their kingdoms there

Visigoths

Briefly:

Visigoths, Tervingi - Germanic tribe, western branch of the Goths. From the 3rd century. occupied the territory from the Dniester to the mouth of the Danube. In 376, fleeing from the Huns, they received permission to settle on the territory of the Roman Empire. In 377 they rebelled against the Romans and defeated the troops of Emperor Valens at Adrianople (378). After this, they received permission to settle on the Balkan Peninsula and occupied the territories of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia. From here they launched devastating raids on Constantinople, and under the king Alaric I (395-410) - trips to Italy. In 410, Rome was captured and sacked. Under King Ataulf (410-415), they settled in Aquitaine, where they founded the first barbarian kingdom on the territory of the Roman Empire with its capital in Toulouse. In the second half of the 6th century. under King Eric (466-484) they conquered Auvergne, Provence and a significant part of the Iberian Peninsula. In 507, after the defeat of the Frankish king Clovis I on the plain of Vouilleux Poitiers and the subsequent loss of Aquitaine, the center of the Visigothic kingdom moved to Spain (the Kingdom of Toledo). In the 8th century The Visigothic state fell under the onslaught of the Arabs.

From the encyclopedia:

Goths, Gotons(lat. Gothi, Gothones), tribes of the East Germans who lived at the beginning of the century. e. to the south the coast of the Baltic Sea and along the lower Vistula. Moving to the south-east, in the 1st half. 3rd century reached the North Black Sea region, where they mixed with local tribes. The influence of the higher culture of the Scythian-Sarmatian tribes and cities of the North. and Zap. Black Sea region, captured by G. ca. 260, accelerated the development of the Gothic tribes. The cities were divided into tribal groups, headed by leaders (kings). Military G.'s unions were created only during wars. hikes. They carried out devastation and invasions of Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula. As a result of these campaigns, the Roman Empire was forced to cede Dacia to them (274). In the 4th century. G. adopted Christianity. G. were divided into Visigoths and Ostrogoths. All R. In the 4th century, due to the need to defend against the Huns advancing from the east, an extensive alliance of tribes was formed from the Don to the Danube and the Baltic Sea, led by the Ostrogothic king Ermanaric (Germanaric). In 375, the Huns defeated G. Part of the Ostrogoths was forced out of the North. Black Sea region (part of them remained in Crimea, the so-called Crimean Goths). The Visigoths crossed the Danube and settled in Thrace.

Visigoths, Visigoths(Visigothi), Thervingi (Thervingi), Germanic tribe, western branch of the Goths. V., who lived in the 3rd-4th centuries. to the east of the Dniester, participated (from the 70s of the 4th century) in the Great Migration of Peoples. Began in the 4th century. the invasion of the Huns and their defeat of the Goths in 375 prompted V. to cross the Eastern border. Rome. empire, the government decided to give them lands on the Danube, so that they would serve in Rome. army. Imperial military leaders and officials cruelly exploited the V. and sold them into slavery. This caused V.'s uprising, which was joined by slaves, columns, and peasants. The spontaneous actions of the rebels were led by the Visigothic leader Frithigern. The revolt grew into a war against Rome. In 378, Frithigern's army defeated the Roman army. imp. Valens (see Battle of Adrianople 378). The Romans lost 40 thousand people, Valens died. Britain's campaigns in Italy, which began in the 5th century, merged with the uprisings of Rome. slaves who went over to their side. This allowed King V. Alaric to capture Rome in 410. With the help of the Gallo-Roman rebels against the empire. the population of V. captured the South. Gaul was founded here in 418 for the first time. Zap. Rome. empire barbarian state - Kingdom of Toulouse V. In the 2nd half. 5th century V. conquered most of Spain. Capture of the South by the Franks. Gaul, which ended with Britain's defeat at the Battle of Poitiers (507), limited Britain's dominance mainly to Spain (the capital was Toledo). Close contact with Rome. orders contributed to the transition of V. from the tribal system to the early feudal one. From the end 6th century V. and local Spanish-Roman. the population began to have equal rights, which accelerated the process of assimilation. In 711 - 718 the state of Vietnam was conquered by the Arabs.

Materials from the Soviet Military Encyclopedia in 8 volumes, volume 2 were used.

VISIGOTHS (Visigoths, Tervingi), the western branch of the Gothic tribe, which occupied the 3rd century. AD a vast area north of the lower Danube and the Black Sea. Around the middle of the same century, the Visigoths crossed the Danube and invaded the Roman Empire, but a few years later, under Emperor Aurelian, they were pushed back, although he had to evacuate the left bank of Dacia. In 376, the Visigoths, fleeing the Huns, crossed the Danube again and received permission from the Romans to settle south of it, in Lower Moesia. Two years later, dissatisfied with Roman officials, the Visigoths rebelled, defeated the imperial army at the Battle of Adrianople and killed Emperor Valens. Theodosius I managed to pacify the Visigoths, and they settled in the territory of the empire as peaceful settlers and federated allies, however, after the death of Theodosius in 395, when the empire was divided between his weak and inexperienced sons, Arcadius and Honorius, the Visigoths, led by a decisive and skillful Alaric carried out a devastating raid on Greece. Then they moved to Italy, where Honorius, who executed his famous barbarian commander Stilicho in 408 on charges of treason, was unable to resist them. In 410 the Visigoths took Rome. Soon after the death of Alaric, they, led by Ataulf, moved to southern Gaul. Ataulf took with him Galla Placidia, Honorius's sister, and made her his wife. Having settled near Toulouse, the Visigoths began to conquer Spain from the Vandals, Alans and Suebi who had recently captured this country. In 451, the Visigoths helped the Roman commander Aetius defeat the Hun army led by Attila in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in Gaul. In 475 they declared their independence from Rome. At their peak, the Visigoths' possessions included all of Spain and Gaul as far as the Loire in the north. Driven out of most of Gaul by the Franks in the early 6th century, the Visigoths retained their kingdom in Spain until the Muslims put an end to their rule there in 711–713. Although the Visigoths were originally Arians, in 589 they converted to orthodox Catholicism.

Materials from the encyclopedia “The World Around Us” were used.

The Visigoths, otherwise Visigoths and Tervingi, are part of the Gothic people who occupied from the beginning of the 3rd century. until the second half of the 4th century. lands between the Lower Danube and the Dnieper. Their ancient history coincides with the history of the Ostrogoths, they are a separate nation only in their Pontic dwellings, and for a long time they still formed one political whole with the Ostrogoths, but they probably had a certain amount of independence, that is, special local princes who recognized only the supreme power of the Ostrogothic king. They became completely independent even before the Hunnic invasion, probably in the first years of the reign of Ermanarik (about 350). The first undoubtedly independent prince of the Visigoths is Athanaric (366 - 381). His power did not extend, however, to the entire Visigothic people, but only to most of them. The rest recognized the power of another prince, Friedigern. Athanaric wages a three-year struggle with the Roman Empire (366 - 369), which ended in a peace favorable to the Visigoths. When, around 376, the Huns, having defeated the Ostrogoths, attacked their western neighbors, Athanaric alone made an attempt at resistance, fortifying himself on the right bank of the Dniester. Not being able to resist the enemies, he, nevertheless, did not submit to them, but withdrew with all his people to the mountains of Transylvania and occupied the Semigrad region. The rest of the Visigoths, fleeing the Huns, crossed the Danube under the command of Friedigern and Alaviv; Emperor Valens gave them lands in Thrace. Tormented by hunger and oppressed by Roman governors, the Goths soon rebelled. Emperor Valens, who opposed them, was defeated and killed by them at Adrianople (378). Friedigern died soon after this (c. 380); his place at the head of the Visigoths was taken by Athanaric, who, for unknown reasons, could not stay in Transylvania. He immediately made peace with Theodosius the Great. Although he soon died, nevertheless, the agreement he concluded with the empire remained in force until the death of Theodosius; many noble Visigoths entered the Roman army and often achieved very prominent positions. The state of affairs changed when Theodosius the Great died in 395. His weak successor, Arkady, failed to maintain friendship with the Goths; the latter were indignant and in 395 they elected a king in the person of Alaric - the first to unite in his hand power over all the Visigoths. He devastated the entire Balkan Peninsula. The ruler of the Western Empire, Stilicon, hastened to the aid of Byzantium and forced Alaric to conclude a peace treaty (396). According to this treaty, Epirus was given to the Visigoths. But already in 400, Alaric undertook his first campaign in Italy, which ended in peace in 402, according to which Alaric again retreated to Illyria. When Stilicon fell at the hands of an assassin in 408, Alaric again invaded Italy. The weak-willed Emperor Honorius had neither troops nor generals. Alaric penetrated unhindered to the southern extremities of the peninsula. Since negotiations with Honorius did not lead to anything (Alaric demanded food, tribute and lands for his people in the northeastern provinces of the empire), the Visigoth king occupied and plundered Rome in August 410. After a failed attempt to take possession of Africa (a storm destroyed the Gothic fleet), Alaric died in the same year 410. His son-in-law and successor Ataulf (410 - 415) continued negotiations and struggle with Honorius, but seeing that it was impossible to establish himself in Italy, in 412 with all his people he retired to southern Gaul, which, perhaps, was formally ceded to him by Honorius. He defeated and killed the usurper Jovinus, occupied the most important cities (Narbonne, Toulouse, Bordeaux), but he failed to establish a solid Visigothic kingdom here, despite the fact that he married Placidia, sister of Honorius, in 414, and sought peace with empire. Valya (415 - 419) successfully fought against the Vandals, Alans and Suevi in ​​Spain for several years in a row. Returning to southern Gaul, he received from the empire, by virtue of a formal agreement, the entire province of Aquitaine (the “second”), where he founded the first Visigothic state, which, based on the main city of Toulouse, received the name “Toulouse” (“Tolosan”). Valli's successor was Theodoric I (419 - 451), who significantly expanded his state and fell in battle on the Catalaunian fields. In the fight against Attila, the Visigoths were allies of the Roman commander Aetius, while their relatives, the Ostrogoths, subject to Attila, formed part of the Hunnic army. Theodoric was succeeded by his eldest son Thorismund (461 - 453); but since he wanted to destroy the alliance with Rome, the Roman party, headed by the king’s brother, Theodoric, killed him, after which Theodoric II (453 - 466) ascended the throne, who was also killed by his younger brother, Euric. During the reign of Eurich (466 - 484), the Visigothic state reached its highest degree of power. He destroyed the last remnants of Roman supremacy, which remained in the form of a union. By the end of his reign, the Visigothic state embraced all of southern and central Gaul (as far as the Loire to the north and the Rhone to the east) and almost all of Spain (only the northwestern corner of this peninsula was still independent under the rule of the Sueves). He also took care of the internal improvement of his state and ordered the compilation of a code of Visigothic customary law. He treated Roman culture and his Roman subjects favorably. Some of the most prominent statesmen of his reign were Romans. Only the Catholic Church and its highest representatives, the bishops, were persecuted by him, but not out of fanaticism (he, like the entire Visigothic people, adhered to the Arian heresy), but out of political calculation: he was right in seeing Catholicism as the worst enemy of Visigothic rule. - His son, Alaric II (485 - 507), had to fight against new enemies, the Franks, who since 486, after the victory of Clodovic over Syagrius, became the closest neighbors of the Goths on the Loire. This neighborhood became especially dangerous for Alaric, because Clodovic, who converted to Christianity in the form of Catholicism, found support in the Roman population of Gali, who was burdened by the power of the Visigoth heretics. Open struggle began in 506 and ended with the defeat of the Goths at Poitiers in 507; Alaric himself fell in the battle, and the Visigoths forever lost most of their possessions in Gaul. The five-year-old son of the murdered king, Amalaric (507 - 531), escaped to Spain, while Gesalich (507 - 511), the illegitimate son of Alaric II, who took possession of the royal treasures, continued to fight for some time in Gaul. A strong Ostrogothic army came to the aid of Amalarich, sent by his grandfather: Theodoric the Great; it kept the Franks from further conquests and saved part of the Visigothic possessions in southern Gaul. Narbonne was now the main city of the Visigoths. Amalaric married the daughter of Clodovic, but fell already in 531 in the fight with his son-in-law Childibert I. The Ostrogoth Theudis (531 - 548) took the throne. He continued to fight the Franks, unsuccessfully fought against Byzantium and was killed in 548. The same fate befell his successor Theodegisel (548 - 549), who oppressed Catholics. During the reign of Agila (549 - 554), a strong Byzantine army appeared in Spain: Emperor Justinian, having destroyed the states of the Vandals and Ostrogoths, thought to conquer Spain. This plan failed. Although Agila was defeated by the Byzantines, the indignant soldiers killed the mediocre king and elevated the brave and energetic Atanagild (554 - 567) to the throne, who successfully repelled the enemies; some heavily fortified cities remained, however, with the Byzantines. Looking for allies, Atanagild married his two daughters to the Frankish kings Sigibert and Chilperic. His successor Leova (568 - 572) ceded Spain to his brother Leovigild, who, after the death of Leova, ruled the entire state alone (572 - 586). It was now a difficult time for the Visigoths. Dangerous enemies threatened from all sides: the Franks, Suevi, Byzantines, who, being true believers, found open and secret allies in the Roman population of the country. Leovigild energetically and skillfully took up the defense of his throne. Relying on the lower classes of the people, he was able to significantly reduce the power of the local Gothic magnates, dangerous enemies of royal power. He executed those who resisted; their property became the property of the king, as a result of which the financial situation of the country began to improve. But Leovigild brought a new danger to the state by marrying his son Hermenegild in 580 to the Frankish princess Inguntis, a zealous Catholic. She managed to persuade her husband to accept Catholicism; he began an open struggle against Leovigild, but was defeated and executed. At the same time, Leovigild conquered the Suevian kingdom. After a new victory over the Franks, he died in 586 in Toledo, which he made the main city of the state. - His youngest son and successor Recared I (586 - 601) immediately upon ascending the throne adopted Catholicism and tried in every possible way to persuade his people to accept this faith. Whether this unexpected step was the result of religious conviction is difficult to say; it is more likely that political considerations were decisive. Recared wanted to destroy once and for all the religious antagonism between the Visigoths and the native Romanesque population, which was draining the people's strength. But in doing so, he destroyed the last obstacle that prevented the Romanization of the Goths. The state quickly came under the influence of the Catholic clergy, who from that time ruled the country almost in addition to the kings. The Visigoths, who had long been prone to religious fanaticism, soon became zealous Catholics, and the further history of the internal development of their state turned almost exclusively into the history of church councils. After Rekared, kings quickly succeeded - Leova II (601 - 603), Viterich 603 - 10), Guntimar (610 - 612), Sisibut (612 - 620), during whose reign the persecution of Jews began in the Visigothic state, Rekared II (620 - 621 ), after whose death Svintila, a brave commander and energetic ruler, ascended the throne (621 - 631). He took away the last of their possessions in Spain from the Byzantines and successfully defended royal power against the claims of the clergy and secular magnates. By this he incurred the vengeance of the latter. One of the aristocrats, Sisinant, supported by the clergy, rebelled against the king; having defeated the latter and tonsured him as a monk, he took the throne (631 - 36); he and his successors, Kindia (636 - 640) and Tulga (640 - 641), were blind tools in the hands of the bishops. The last attempt to restore royal power to its former strength was made by Kindasving (641 - 652), who equally energetically and strictly persecuted rebellious bishops and magnates. He ordered the compilation of a set of Visigothic laws, making them binding on all his subjects. With his son. Rekisvinte (652 - 672) everything went as before and the clergy continued to rule the state. Secular power strengthened somewhat under Wamba (672 - 680), a brave warrior, but not for long: Wamba was overthrown from the throne by the party of the clergy, which chose Ervich (680 - 687) as king, who surrendered entirely to the hands of the bishops; the same should be said about his successor Egika (687 - 701), who persecuted the Jews in the most cruel way. We know very little about Vitik (701 - 710), and even less about the last king of the Visigoths, Roderic (710 - 711). Soon after his accession to the throne, the Arabs came to Spain, called here, according to legend, by one of the magnates whom the king had insulted. The Visigothic state no longer had the strength to resist its enemies; the latter's victory at Jerez de la Frontera destroyed the Visigothic kingdom forever. King Roderic disappeared without a trace: he was probably killed in battle. In a few weeks, the Muslims occupied almost the entire peninsula. From that time on, the name of the Visigoths disappeared from history. Their last remnants, strongly mixed with the native Romanesque element, defended their independence in the mountainous region of Asturias. A new state was born here, but not Gothic, but Spanish. His first hero, Pelayo, the ancestor of the Castilian kings, was, according to legend, the grandson of the Visigothic king Kindasvint. How strong the Gothic element was in this new nation is proven by the mass of Spanish personal names that still retain traces of their Gothic origin (Rodrigo, Alfonso, Hernando, etc.), and numerous words that passed from Gothic into Spanish and Portuguese. These words, together with a fairly extensive onomastic material preserved in Visigothic charters, acts, coins and inscriptions, and with a few remnants of Gothic words in the code of Visigothic laws, constitute all that we know about the language of the Visigoths in Spain. Complete written monuments in their language have not reached us, although they undoubtedly existed. No Visigothic copy of Wulfila's translation of the Holy Scriptures has yet been found. We don’t know how long their language lasted after the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. We find the last trace of the Visigothic language in Gaul at the beginning of the 9th century: this is a collection of Gothic and Frankish personal names compiled by Smaragd, abbot of the monastery of St. Michael, on the Meuse River. Smaragd was himself a Visigoth, probably from southern France.

Brockhaus and Efron. Encyclopedic Dictionary. St. Petersburg, 1880

Literature:

Korsunsky A.R. On the development of feudal relations in Gothic Spain in the V-VII centuries. - In the book: Middle Ages. Vol. 10, 15, 19. M., 1957-61

Wed. R. Kopke, "Dle Anfangedes Konigthums bei deo Gothen" (Berlin, 1859); R. Pallmann, Die Geschichte des Volkerwanderung" (I, Gotha, 1863, II Weimar, 1864); Felix Dahn, "Die Konige der Germanen" (II, Munich, 1861; V, Wurzb., 1870; VI, 2nd ed. , Leipz., 1885); his, “Urgeschichte d. Germanischen n. romanischen Yolker" (Vol. I, "Allgem. Gesch." ed. Oncken, II, Berlin, 1881). For Visigothic names, see Bezzenberger, "Ueber die A - Reibe der gotischen Sprache" (Göttingen, 1874); Dietrich, "Ueber die Aussprache des Gothischen" (Marb., 1862); Forstemann, "Geschichte des deutschen Sprachstammes, II" (p. 150 s.). The name book of Smaragd was printed by Massmann in "Zeitschrift fur dentsches Alterthum" (I, 1841 , p. 388 ss.). Finally, see Mackel, "Die germanischen Elemente im altfranzosischen und altprovencalischen" (1884); Goldscbmidt, "Zur Kritik der aitgerman. Elemente im Spanischen" (Lingen, 1887); Kluge, "Romanen und Germanen in ihren Wechselbeziehungen", in "Grundriss der roman. Philologie" ed. Grober, Liefer, II, 1886.

Kingdom of the Visggoths the first of the so-called barbarian kingdoms that emerged on the territory of the Western Roman Empire.

Visigoths, Visigoths or lat. Tervingi - an ancient Germanic tribe that made up the western branch of the Gothic tribal association, which by the middle of the 3rd century split into two tribal groups: the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. They are considered one of the distant ancestors of modern Spaniards and Portuguese. The Goths had two royal families. The first is more influential, this is the Amal clan, to which the kings of the Ostrogoths belonged, and from the second clan - the Balts - came the Visigothic kings.

Migration of the Visigoths

The ancient Goths occupied territories on the island of Gotland, in southern Scandinavia, on the lower Vistula and further east on the Baltic Sea coast. In the 2nd century, they began to move to the southeast, to the Black Sea and settled in the basin of the Dniester and Dnieper rivers, mixing with the local population and adopting their culture. Around the middle of the 3rd century, the Visigoths crossed the Danube and invaded the Roman Empire, but a few years later, under Emperor Aurelian, they were pushed back. In 270, the Romans abandoned the province of Dacia, and the Visigoths settled in the abandoned territories.

In 376, the Visigoths, increasingly oppressed by the Huns, led by their leader Fritigern, turned to Emperor Valens with a request to allow them to settle in Thrace, on the southern side of the Danube. Valens agreed. The Visigoths pledged to guard the border and supply auxiliary troops. They settled in compact masses under the control of their leaders, who sought to get rich, first of all, in Roman military service.

The Visigoths, after the invasion of the Huns, crossed the Danube and invaded the territory of the Roman Empire.

By the time of the crossing of the Danube, most of the Visigoths were pagans. They decided to accept Christianity only after entering the territory of the empire. Since Emperor Valens, who concluded an agreement with them, adhered to the Arian religion, the Visigoths accepted Arianism, but isolated cases of the preservation of paganism were noted in the 4th century.

As soon as the Visigoths settled in the Balkans, relations with Byzantine officials became openly hostile, and very quickly the Visigoths turned from allies-federates of the Byzantine Empire into its enemies. Near Adrianople in 378, the Visigoths defeated the troops of Valens. This battle was a turning point in European history, changing the balance of power in favor of the Germanic peoples. The victories of the Goths over the Romans showed the peoples living beyond the Rhine and Danube that it was possible to take possession of Roman lands. Soon after 378, the Visigoths allowed military recruitment among them, although their fellow tribesmen fought against Theodosius. Under Theodosius, the Germans, including numerous Visigoths, even occupied a significant part of the leadership positions in the army. The process of Germanization of the army - and thus the empire - has proceeded at a very rapid pace since then.

After the death of Theodosius, the Visigoths in 395, having lost their federal status, elected Alaric as king and moved to Constantinople, devastating the areas on their way. Then they turned to Macedonia and Thessaly, penetrated through Thermopylae, burned Corinth, devastated the Peloponnese, Athens escaped sack, but was forced to pay a heavy indemnity. The disparate tribal groups that followed Alaric to Italy, performing federal functions, became increasingly consolidated; they not only supported the power of the emperor of the “alien people” and state, but also demonstrated to the Empire their readiness and desire to serve their king. After 378, in the history of the Danube and the detachments of the Primeotian Goths that joined them, the process of forming the “people” of the Visigoths began to actively unfold. The migration of Gothic tribes that began after the end of the war led to the capture of Rome.

Over the course of a number of years, Visigothic military actions against Rome periodically gave way to alliance agreements. The commander of the Emperor Honorius, Stilicho, was a barbarian by birth, and for a long time held back the onslaught of the Visigoths on Italy. But Stilicho's successes were short-lived: as a result of court intrigues, he was removed from office and soon killed. From 408 the onslaught of the Visigoths intensified.

The Gothic king Alaric again attempted to resettle his people in Italy. Visigothic demands for cash payments and settlement in Pannonia were rejected. Alaric entered Italy and besieged Rome, which soon surrendered to the mercy of the winner due to lack of food. Alaric demanded that Honorius, who was holed up in Ravenna, give him the title of commander of the imperial troops, power over part of the empire, and pay annual tribute in gold and grain. But Honorius contemptuously rejected the barbarian's claims. Then Alaric again marched on Rome in 409, besieged the city and doomed it to famine. Negotiations with Honorius dragged on. Rome was besieged for the third time; On August 24, 410, the city fell victim to betrayal. Although Rome was subjected to major looting, the churches and their property were preserved. The capture of the exhausted city did not bring any benefits to the Visigoths. They needed grain.

In 410 A.D. The Visigoths, led by Alaric, crushed Rome.

There was no plan behind the Visigothic campaigns to destroy the Roman Empire. Alaric always sought to negotiate with the Roman authorities. He never considered the possibility of forming his own state, completely legally independent from Rome. While maintaining their relative independence, the Goths sought to build relations with the Empire through peace treaties and pledges of loyalty. Through Campania, Alaric moved to Southern Italy in order to cross from there to Africa, but this idea failed due to a storm in the Strait of Messina. After this, Alaric led his troops back to the north. During this campaign in 410, he died; Alaric died near the city of Cosenza in Bruttium (Calabria).

Alaric's successor was his relative Ataulf, who, abandoning his African plans, moved to Gaul. The highest official in Gaul, the praetorian prefect Dardanus, encouraged Ataulf to enter into negotiations with Honorius. Both sides were ready to compromise. The empire provided the barbarians with its border territories on the Danube for settlement, not only without imposing taxes on them, but also undertaking to pay a certain tribute, they received consent to supply the grain they needed so much. The Visigoths did not receive access to the Mediterranean Sea, maintaining power over which remained the emperor’s primary task. The Visigoths considered this a violation of the treaty and captured Narbonne in 413.

The cessation of all food supplies by the Ravenna government eventually forced the Visigoths to withdraw from Gaul. In winter 414-415. Ataulf moved to Spain; in August 415 he was killed in Barcelona by his vigilante out of personal revenge. His successor Siegerich suffered the same fate a week later. The new king Valia returned to Alaric's plan in a slightly modified form and tried to cross to Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar. However, this attempt also ended in failure.

The Roman Empire struggled for existence against avalanches of invasions; as one of the methods of self-preservation, it set some groups of barbarians against others. Thus fulfilling the duties of federates, the Visigoths set out on a campaign against the Alans and Siling Vandals in Spain. Between 416 and 418 destroyed their main forces. The return to Gaul encountered Roman resistance, and Valia was forced to negotiate peace. After the end of the war in Spain, the Visigoths were given the Second Province of Aquitaine and adjacent lands in the Province of Novempopulana and the First Province of Narbonne to settle.

Territory allocated to the Visigoths in 418 by treaty between the Visigothic king Valia and the Roman emperor Honorius

For their part, they pledged to fight for the empire as federates, did not elect a king, and served the emperor faithfully. As a result of the treaty of alliance concluded by the Visigothic king Valia with the emperor Honorius arose in 418 kingdom of the Visigoths with its capital in Toulouse . It was not yet a kingdom in the generally accepted sense of the word: it combined elements of the ancient Roman state system and the German tribal organization. With the emergence of the barbarian "kingdoms", a struggle began to expand or preserve the lands belonging to these "kingdoms". In the conditions of the weakening of the empire, the Visigoths, although they did not deny the formal supreme power of Rome, acquired complete independence.

Soon after their settlement in Aquitaine, the Visigoths divided the land with the local population, receiving two-thirds of the arable land and half of the other lands belonging to Roman landowners, primarily the lands of the imperial fiscus and large Roman magnates. The Visigoths gradually overcame the remnants of the tribal system and traditional military democracy, moving to more civilized forms of economic management. However, the demands of new times and the mixing of their customs with classical Roman ones led to the development of new relations between rich and poor, colons and landowners, and an early feudal state took shape. The era of migrations became for the Visigoths a period of transition from old, politically primitive forms to the formation of a state on Roman soil and under Roman influence.

The rise to power of Theoderic I (418/419-451) coincides with the colonization of the province of Aquitaine II and the border parts of neighboring provinces by the Visigoths. The invasion of a common enemy, the Huns, led to a new unification of the Visigoths and Romans. The Visigothic and Roman armies, together with auxiliary troops of other peoples: the Burgundians, Franks, Saxons, etc., gave battle to Attila, who was helped by various Germanic tribes. Not far from Chalons on the Marne, on the Catalaunian fields, Attila was defeated in 451. Theodoric I, who fought valiantly, died in this battle. The change of ruler, which occurred in 453, also entailed changes in Visigothic foreign policy: Theoderic II (453-466) pursued a pro-Roman policy and restored federal relations. He took possession of the throne after the violent death of his brother Thorismund. Theoderic II wanted to become the main support of Rome, recognizing the theoretical supremacy of the empire.

Most of the Visigoth army, led by Theoderic II, moved to Northern Spain to repel the attacks of the Suevi, who were ravaging Roman lands. It was as federates that the Visigoths were sent to the Iberian Peninsula. Their task was to expel the hordes of Alans, Vandals and Suevi. They quickly gained the upper hand over the Alans and Vandals, but the struggle with the Suevi turned out to be protracted and difficult. With the emergence of the barbarian "kingdoms", a struggle began to expand or preserve the lands belonging to these "kingdoms". After the Suevi were pushed into the mountainous regions of Galicia, the Visigoths captured Hispania of Tarracona. The Visigoth king in 462, under the pretext of helping Libius Severus, took possession of Narbonne, which he had long wanted to annex to his possessions. The Visigoths, going on the offensive, also captured lands in the middle reaches of the Loire.

Eurich was the fourth son of Theodoric I. He achieved the throne by killing his brother Theodoric II. The first years of Eurich's reign were marked by a significant revival of diplomatic activity, most likely directed against the Roman Empire, since the Suevi and, above all, the Vandals appeared as Eurich's allies. He resigned his federal status. Plans for concluding alliances with other tribes show that Eurich intended to continue and even develop the policy of expanding the boundaries of his state, the foundations of which were laid by his predecessors. News of a major Roman naval expedition prompted him to immediately recall his envoys from Carthage.

Eurich intended to subjugate all of Gaul - presumably with the exception of the Burgundian lands, but the implementation of these plans was prevented by the powerful defensive alliance that the Romans concluded with the Franks, Bretons and Burgundians.

Then in 469 he turned his attention to Spain, where it was unlikely that such strong resistance could be expected; the Visigoths captured Merida. Another Visigothic army marched against the Bretons, who, led by their king Riotam, occupied the area around Bourges. A battle took place at Déol in which the Bretons were defeated. Now Eurich turned his troops against Roman Southern Gaul, achieving the greatest successes, first of all, on the Mediterranean coast and in 470 reaching the Rhone.

The Roman army that entered Gaul was defeated by Eurich in 471 on the eastern bank of the Rhone. The Visigoths captured lands on the left bank of the river south of Valence, which were soon recaptured from them by the Burgundians. The rest of the province of Aquitanica I very quickly fell into the hands of the Visigoths; only in Clermont, the former prefect of Rome and the current bishop Sidonius Apollinaris, together with Ecdicius, the son of the emperor Avitus, offered fierce resistance until 475. Realizing his powerlessness, Emperor Nepos entered into negotiations with Eurich. In 475, a peace treaty was concluded, according to which the Romans, against the will of the Auvergne aristocracy, abandoned Clermont and the lands captured by the Visigoths. Rome recognized the complete independence of Eurich.

King Eurich, not without reason, saw the Orthodox Nicene church as the worst enemy of Visigothic rule and for this reason created obstacles for its highest hierarchs, preventing the replacement of vacant episcopal sees, as a result of which the Orthodox communities were left without a head.

When Eurich died in 484, the Visigothic state was at the height of its power, it covered not only most of Spain, but also southern and central Gaul to the Loire in the north and the river. The Rhone is in the east, which led to the Franks becoming neighbors. The Frankish problem began to take on increasingly threatening shape during the reign of Eurich's son and successor.

On December 28, 484, Alaric II (484-507) took the throne of his father in Toulouse. The Franks, united under their rule by Clovis, defeated the Roman Syagrius, who had previously independently ruled Northern Gaul, near Soissons. Syagrius fled to Toulouse, where Alaric initially gave him refuge. However, later, when Clovis, under the threat of declaring war, demanded his extradition, realizing the military superiority of the Franks, the Visigoths yielded. Nevertheless, the campaign that Alaric II undertook in 490 in support of Theoderic the Great was very successful. The Ostrogoths who invaded Italy encountered certain difficulties in the war against Odoacer, which were overcome with the help of the Visigoths.

In 507, between the Frankish army of King Clovis I and the army of the Visigothic king Alaric II, the Visigoths were defeated at the Battle of Poitiers. Alaric II died in battle. The Visigoths were defeated and lost part of their territories in Gaul. The winners quickly penetrated into the central regions of the Visigothic state and took Bordeaux and Toulouse. After the Franks conquered most of the Visigothic possessions in Gaul, the Visigoths moved to Spain in large numbers. This country henceforth became their new homeland, and the remnants of possessions in Southern Gaul, called Septimania, lost their former significance. The growing mobility of the Germanic tribes was increasingly concentrated in two regions of the Western Empire - in the dioceses of Gaul and Spain. On the territory of Gaul formed during the 5th century. two kingdoms.

In Spain, the Visigoths left unchanged the administrative structure that existed in the Roman Empire and did not introduce new laws. Roman officials were replaced by military leaders, who later became known as counts, dukes, and marquises. The municipal system also remained unchanged. Marriages between the Visigoths, Romans, and Byzantines were prohibited. The lands of the Visigoths were free from taxes. Throughout the existence of the Visigothic kingdom, processes of consolidation were going on in it: the Visigoth conquerors gradually became closer to the population of Roman Spain they had conquered. This was manifested both in language and in the legal sphere.

Under Alaric II, the Roman Law of the Visigoths, also known as the Breviary of Alaric, was compiled. The Code of Alaric II played a major role in the future fate of Roman law in Western Europe; for several centuries, Roman law was known only in the form that the jurists of the Visigothic king gave it

From this time on, the Catholic clergy gained enormous influence on royal politics. Episcopal assemblies developed binding laws that concerned not only internal church issues, but also general administration. The councils placed their authority above that of the king.

St. had a particularly great influence. Leander is the Archbishop of Seville and his younger brother and successor in the spiritual department, Isidore of Seville, a famous scientist, author of “Etymology, or the origin of things”, “History of the kings of the Goths, Vandals and Sueves”. Both prelates tried to strengthen the privileges of the church, which led to the fact that the Visigothic monarchy acquired a theocratic overtones. (THEOCRACY is a form of government in which the head of the clergy, church is the head of state).

The revival of the Visigothic Kingdom began under Leovigild in Iberia. To strengthen the declining royal power, the new king was not content with pacifying the nobility and revived the foundations of royal dignity. The first steps of King Leovigild in 570 were actions against the most dangerous enemy, the Byzantines. Already on his first campaign, Leovigild crossed Betis (modern Guadalquivir), and was content with devastating the surrounding cities of Bastetania (modern Basy) and Malacitana (modern Malaga). He could not take the cities of Bastetania (modern Basy) and Malacitana (modern Malaga). In 571, the fortress of Asidona (modern Medina Sidonia), an important trading city that brought significant income to the Byzantine treasury, fell. In 572, when he captured the most important city of Corduba (modern Cordoba) and its surroundings. Cordoba, after its reconquest by Leovigild, became an important stronghold ensuring Visigothic power in Baetica. Leovigild created 8 provinces, headed by royal representatives.

The Visigothic border moved closer to Cartagena, the capital of the Byzantine possessions. But the lack of a fleet did not allow Leovigild to complete the ousting of the Byzantines from Spain. A truce was concluded in 572, and under its terms the entire Betis valley came under the rule of Leovigild.

Taking advantage of the turmoil and struggle for the throne that arose in the Suevian state after the death of Miro, the Visigoths invaded their territory, captured King Audeka, his capital and his treasures. The Franks tried to help the Suevi and sent them a merchant fleet. However, the ships that sailed from Gaul to Galicia were plundered by order of King Leovigild. The Kingdom of the Sueves, which included large areas of the ancient Roman provinces of Gallaecia and Lusitania, became the sixth province of the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo. Spain was an area of ​​concentration and consolidation of tribes and the threshold on the path to statehood that the Vandals crossed, but the Suevi could not overcome.

Kingdom of the Visigoths
Political map of southwestern Europe around 600. Three areas of the Visigothic state after the loss of Aquitaine: Roman Spain, Gallaecia and Septimania

The territories in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, captured by the Byzantines in 552, were mostly retaken under Leovigilda.

Having annexed the Iberian Peninsula to the rest of their lands, the Germans created a state, the capital of which, by the will of King Leovigil, was Toledo, advantageously located geographically and perfectly fortified by nature itself. History has not preserved the exact date when this ancient city was founded.

If you believe the legends, the settlement on the banks of the Tagus River was founded by the Celts, who mixed with the Iberian tribes who came here several centuries earlier. By the arrival of the Romans in 193, it was a small, well-fortified city of Toletum, as Roman historians called it. The townspeople resisted the legionnaires until water and food ran out, and then they opened the gates themselves, surrendering to the mercy of the consul Marcus Fulvius Nobilius. Having become part of the huge empire called Toledo, the city experienced its first prosperity. Theaters, circuses, baths, and temples were offered to people far from civilization.

Having become the capital of the Visigothic kingdom, Toledo became one of the main cities in Europe.

Religious strife greatly hindered the merging of the Roman and Visigothic populations into a single mass of the king’s subjects, sometimes escalating into open hostility. Leovigild's attempt to unify his state using a slightly modified Arianism as a basis caused unrest that burdened the reign of his son and successor Reccared.

Realizing that it was impossible to impose a minority religion on the vast majority of the country's population, and being surrounded by Orthodox Nicene states, Reccared decided to make Orthodox Nicene Christianity the single state religion. In the first year of his reign, he switched from Arianism to the confession of the Nicene Creed. At the same time, the Arian bishops who accepted the Nicene Creed retained their rank. The transition of the Visigoths who ruled Spain from the Arian heresy to Orthodoxy at the Third Council of Toledo in 589 marked the beginning of a remarkable cultural flowering. One of the manifestations of this flourishing was church construction, the scope of which Gothic Spain surpassed all contemporary countries of Western Europe. Although in 589 the Visigothic king Reccared I converted to Catholicism, this did not eliminate all contradictions; religious strife only intensified. By the 7th century all non-Christians, especially Jews, were faced with a choice: exile or conversion to Christianity.

Otherwise, Reccared continued the policy bequeathed to him by his father. He ended the war with the Franks with a major victory, which was won by the Gothic army under the command of the Lusitanian Duke Claudius.

The reign of Reckesvint was the last relatively calm period of the Visigothic kingdom. In 654, King Recceswintus published the first set of laws, Liber Judiciorum. This code of laws abolished all legal differences between the Visigoths and the indigenous peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. The policy towards Jews provided for conversion to Judaism, including the death penalty. After his death, a fierce struggle for power began. The elective monarchy of the Visigoths provided inexhaustible opportunities for this. The king's power was weakening at an alarming rate. Bloody internecine wars did not stop until the fall of the Visigothic kingdom in 711.

The Visigothic kingdom fell as a result of the Arab invasion. Their advance into Europe was accelerated by a conspiracy by a group of Visigothic aristocrats led by Count Julian against the last Visigothic king, Rodrigo.

The conspirators turned to the ruler of North Africa, Musa, for help and assisted in the landing of Arab troops in the south of the Iberian Peninsula ...The Arab commander Tariq, from the top of a lonely rock, watched as ships filled with hundreds of warriors moored to the shore one after another. More and more new detachments, like a storm, rolled onto the coast of Spain. Neither Tariq nor his warriors, who crossed the Pillars of Hercules in 711, knew, and could not have known, that this event would determine the fate of all of Europe for many centuries. And the mountain from which the Arab commander watched the landing of his army will henceforth be called Jebel al-Tariq - “Mount Tariq” or, in European style, Gibraltar.

The two armies met at the end of July on the banks of the Guadalete (Guadalete) River near the present city of Jerez de la Frontera. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Visigoths. The reasons for the defeat of the Visigoths in this battle can be explained by the lack of time to prepare for the battle, the quick death of the king and his closest associates, the probable betrayal of some of the army, and the advantages of the Arab cavalry.

After the battle, the gates of Andalusia were opened to Tariq. In addition, he was supported by part of the local population, who saw the Arabs as liberators rather than invaders. Many Jews became allies of the conquerors; it was the Jews who opened the gates of Toledo to the Arabs. With the death of Roderic, the organized resistance of the Visigoths was broken. After the victory, Tariq had to return home, but he was tormented by two desires: to spread his religion to the country of the infidels and to seize the legendary treasures of King Solomon, which are supposedly located in the Toledo region. By 714, the Moors had established control over most of the peninsula. The Arab conquest liberated the Jews from their disenfranchised position. In Septimania, which was part of the Visigothic kingdom and subject to all its secular and ecclesiastical laws, the attitude towards Jews was more lenient than south of the Pyrenees, and in the second half of the 7th century Septimania became a refuge for many Jews who fled or were expelled from there.

The last years of the existence of the Visigothic state are associated with the legend of King Roderich and his love for the beautiful Florinda, daughter of the Toledo Count Julian. Having lost the battle with the Arabs, Roderich fled from the battlefield and soon died without seeing his beloved. The tragedy of a ruler who failed to protect his subjects was reflected in the drama of the great Spanish playwright Lope de Vega “The Last Goth.” Residents of Toledo still remember the ancient legend and take care of everything that proves its veracity. Guests of the city are certainly shown the place on the banks of the Tagus, where Florinda swam under a canopy of rocks. More unremarkable, since time immemorial this area has been called Bagno de la Cava ("Bath of Cava"). Nearby on the rock rises the Tower of Rodrigo - a massive structure in the Romanesque style, from the window of which the king looked at the beautiful countess.

Today it is rare to find traces of the Goths’ presence on Portuguese soil. This is explained by their small numbers and the fact that the level of their culture was lower than the level of culture of the indigenous population. The barbarian world, faced with a more developed Roman culture, later adopted a lot from it

One of the Visigothic monuments that has survived to this day is the walls of Carcassonne. The main attraction of Carcassonne is the fortress, surrounded by 52 towers and 2 rows of fortress walls with a total length of 3 km.

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Visigothic Kingdom

One of the most powerful eastern branches of the Germans, the Visigoths, had its own state even before the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Suppressed at the end of the 4th century. from the Danube lands by the Huns during the Great Migration of Peoples, the Visigoths first penetrated into the Eastern Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 5th century. - to Italy. Relations with the Roman Empire among the Visigoths were initially based on a military-federal alliance. But by the middle of the century it had become nominal. Throughout the 5th century. the Visigoths gained a foothold in southern Gaul and northern Spain.

At this time, Visigothic society was experiencing an accelerated process of forming a proto-state. Until the middle of the 5th century. People's assemblies played the main role in governance. In the second half of the 5th century. Royal power strengthened: kings appropriated the right to hold court and make laws. A special relationship between the kings and the military nobility developed, which gradually seized the right to elect kings from the people's assemblies.

The basis for consolidating the power of the nobility was land grants made in the name of the king. Under King Eirich, the Visigoths eliminated the most important remnants of military democracy, published a set of laws (using Roman experience), and created special judges and administrators - comites.

At the beginning of the 6th century. the Visigoths were driven out of southern Gaul by the Franks (the northern branch of the Germans) and formed the Kingdom of Toledo (VI – VIII centuries) in Spain.

Typical of a barbarian state, the Kingdom of Toledo was internally poorly organized and the importance of the central government was small. Geographically, the kingdom was divided into communities (civitas), inherited from the Roman provinces, and into thousands; they all retained significant rights of self-government. Statehood was represented by the royal palace, the importance of which increased by the 6th century, and meetings of the nobility, where the main state and political affairs were decided.

The king's power was elective and unstable. Only at the end of the 6th century. one of the Visigothic rulers managed to give it some stability; throughout the 6th century. kings were regularly deposed by murder. The royal palace (or court) embodied the only centralized administrative principle, palace services from the end of the 5th century. began to acquire national significance. The lower administration consisted of various kinds of officials appointed and removed by the king; for their service they received a monetary salary. Tiufad, the military leader of the Visigothic “thousand”, who also judged the Goths (the Gallo-Roman population submitted to its own justice) had a special status.

The most important role in the Visigothic state was played by meetings of the nobility - the Hardings. They elected kings, passed laws, and decided some court cases. The Hardings met without a specific system, but their consent was necessary for major political decisions. In the 7th century Along with them, the church councils of Toledo became important in the life of the kingdom, where not only church, but also national affairs were decided. The great role of the meetings of the military, church and administrative nobility of the Visigoths in the state implied an increase in its position in the social system: already from the 6th century. here a hierarchy of land ownership was formed, creating different levels of social subordination and privilege.

The Visigoths left some institutions of Roman statehood in the occupied lands intact: customs duties, coins, and the tax system (land tax and trade tax).

Elements of the pre-state system of the Germans were preserved in the military organization longer than others. The army was based on territorial militias, which were collected by special governors; it had the right to a share of the spoils of war. The embryo of the new standing army was the garrisons located in important fortresses. From the end of the 7th century. features characteristic of the feudal-service system appeared in the army: nobility and large landowners were obliged to participate in campaigns with their people.

The evolution of the Visigothic state towards a new statehood was interrupted by the Arab invasion and conquest of Spain in the 8th century. Kingdom of Toledo.

Visigoths or Visigoths(Visigoth, West Goth, i.e. Western Goths), a powerful people of Germanic origin who lived in the first centuries of our era from the Dnieper to the Tisa, while the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) of the same tribe lived from the Don to the Dnieper. When the Ostrogoths, weakened by the division, fell under the rule of the Huns in the Great Migration of Nations, the Visigoths went to the mountains and received from the Byzantine emperor Valenta permission to settle in the devastated province of Moesia (later Romania). But soon Valens, who repented that he was in a hurry to let the violent Goths into the borders of his state, stopped listening to their complaints about Roman officials, especially during the terrible famine that raged in Moesia. Driven to despair, the Goths rebelled under the command of their leader Friedigern, devastated Moesia and Thrace (Bulgaria), and defeated Valens in a bloody battle of Adrianople(378), in which this emperor himself died.