VISIGOTHS: ORIGIN, INVASIONS, ORGANIZATION, RELIGION, CULTURE - HISTORY - 2025

The Visigoths were a group of peoples of eastern Germanic origin from the branch of the Goths, who solidified as a culture after the union of some Gothic groups. It is conjectured that the Visigoths arose from the Tervingians.

The Visigoth people are very important to the history of the West due to the invasion they carried out in the Roman Empire in 376 AD. Furthermore, after entering the Italian peninsula, this Germanic town defeated the Romans in the well-known Battle of Adrianople, two years after their arrival in Roman lands.

Alaric was one of the most prominent Visigoth kings. Source: Jusepe Leonardo

The invasion was commanded by Alaric I, king of the Visigoths during this war period. Later the Visigoths managed to penetrate the city of Rome and loot it in 410; but the Germanic people wished to culturally appropriate Roman traditions, so they established themselves in Gaul as associates of the Roman Empire under its laws.

After being defeated by the Franks in 507, the Visigoths had to settle in Hispania, allowing them to fill the power vacuum that had developed as a result of the loss of the Western Roman Empire. During this stage the Germanic people lived and mixed with the Hispano-Roman inhabitants.

Previously the Visigoths had also coexisted with the Byzantines, who were in Carthage; with the Swabians, who resided in Gallaecia; and they also maintained certain relationships with the cascoles. However, after several decades the Visigoths were limiting the power of these cultures within the peninsular territories.

The Visigoths were a very vast Germanic culture since they mixed with various western groups and civilizations, which allowed this people to be nurtured by different customs, traditions and laws. The culture that most attracted the attention of the Visigoths was the Roman, due to its technological, economic and social advances.

After the extension of the Visigoths throughout the Iberian Peninsula, this culture was subdued by the Arabs after losing the Battle of Guadalete, carried out in 711. This resulted in the Visigoth people being controlled by the Umayyad Caliphate, which achieved advance to the city of Tours almost unopposed.

Origin

Origin of the term "Visigoth"

As for the Visigothic word, it was not used during the invasions of the Roman Empire, but was an invention introduced in the 6th century by Cassiodorus, a Roman who served Theodoric the Great. Cassiodorus invented the word Visigothi with the intention of making a correspondence with the term Ostrogothi (Ostrogoths).

In this way Cassiodorus was able to differentiate the Eastern Goths (Ostrogoths) from the Western ones. The term was later used by the Visigoths themselves, which is documented as occurring after this culture maintained diplomatic relations with Italy in the 7th century.

First invasions

The invasions of the Roman Empire are very old; there are records that during the third century AD. The Greutungos and the Tervingios realized a series of incursions in the Roman territories. Of these first incursions, those of Thrace and Moesia, which occurred in 251, stand out mainly; and those of Aegean and Athens, which occurred in 259.

These Goth peoples also managed to invade the islands of Crete and Cyprus in 269. In addition, after the Emperor Aurelian left Dacia, the Tervingians decided to occupy this territory in 300. They managed to enter this place thanks to presenting themselves as mercenaries of the Romans.

Flight of the Huns and Roman exploitation

In 370 the people of the Greutungs were ruled by Hermanarico, who had to face the army of the Huns, which was led by Balamber.

After being defeated and being in advanced age, the king of the Germanic decided to kill himself. This king was succeeded by Vitimiro, who also could not defeat the Huns and died trying.

Due to this defeat, the Greutungs were subdued by the Hun army. On the other hand, the Tervingians feared a confrontation with the Huns and therefore asked the Roman Empire to let them settle on the banks of the Danube.

The Romans decided to grant this request, but in return the Tervingians were brutally exploited by Roman officials.

This brought as consequence that the great landowners (to the control of Fritigerno) decided to present / display complaints in front of the Roman general of turn, Lucipino.

Lucipino decided to assassinate Fritigerno, but the attempt failed and the Roman ended up dead. After this attack, Fritigerno and his men decided to rebel in Marcianópolis and won a resounding victory.

Talks

During the battle of Adrianople the Roman emperor Valente was assassinated, who was succeeded in his position by Theodosius.

This Roman fought against the Visigoths for some time; however, he decided to negotiate peace. This was achieved by settling them further into the Empire and giving them an important role within the army.

After this negotiation, the Visigoths participated in a notorious way in the Roman civil wars, which occurred between 388 and 394. When Emperor Theodosius died, the Empire was divided in two: the east was destined for his son Arcadio, while the west was granted to him to Honorius, who was only eleven years old.

General Estilicón was selected as regent governor until Honorius reached the appropriate age to exercise.

During this period Alaric I had managed to obtain a lot of prestige among his soldiers, for which he was feared and admired. Alaric attacked the powerful city of Constantinople and wreaked havoc in Greece between the years 295 and 396.

Stilicho managed to expel them from Greece; However, the emperor decided to assign Alaric the government of the city of Iliria in order to appease the power of Stilicho and to perpetuate peace with the Visigoths.

Invasion of Rome

In 401 the famous King Alaric I decided to march to Rome; However, he was defeated twice: first in Pollentia and then in Verona.

Some sources believe that Stilicho tried to negotiate with Alaric by offering him the title of magister militum and governor of the city of Iliria. However, these actions did not please the nationalist party in Rome, who accused Stilicho of handing over the Empire to the Visigoths. This resulted in a troop revolt.

Stilicho sought refuge in a church but was assassinated by General Olympus, who was following the orders of Emperor Honorius. Alaric reached an agreement with the emperor, who promised him a series of concessions; however, the young Roman did not keep his word and this angered the Visigoths.

Consequently, the Germanic army marched to Rome in order to support the proclamation of Prisco Attalus, an Ionian usurper. Prisco assured that he would grant Alaric the title of magister militum; However, Atalo did not keep his word either and the Visigoth king decided to besiege the important capital of the Empire.

Latest negotiations

For the first time in the history of the Empire, the capital had fallen to foreign might. Once the city was taken, Alaric finished off the usurper and ordered to sack Rome for several days.

After this they left the city, but took Gala Placidia (Honorius's sister) and Attalus as war spoils.

Alaric died during the invasion of the city of Cosenza and was succeeded by Ataúlfo, his brother-in-law. The new king of the Visigoths decided to agree with the emperor Honorius his departure from Italy if he was granted the territories of Gaul.

After the fall of Rome, the Empire did not manage to be the same as in past times: it was a very hard blow for the Romans.

Invasions of the Visigoths

As mentioned in previous paragraphs, on several occasions the Visigoths entered the Roman territories of the Italian peninsula, sometimes for the lust for power and others with the aim of escaping the brutality of the Hun army.

The first invasion of the Roman Empire by this Germanic people occurred in 251, when they managed to occupy Thrace and Moesia. Later they managed to penetrate the coast of the Black Sea, which allowed them to invade a series of important islands such as Aegean and Ephesus; this occurred in 258 AD. C.

In 269 they attacked the island of Thessaloniki and later invaded Dacia, a region that was near the Danube River. They finally entered Rome in 401 and after this they remained in the peninsular territories until 711 AD. C., when the Muslims defeated this culture in the battle of Guadalete.

Political and social organization

The political organization of the Visigoths was supported mainly by Germanic law, which established the existence of an assembly made up of free men.

These men were the highest authority in the kingdom; however, they chose a king to lead them. For this reason the Visigoth political organization consisted of an elective monarchy.

Later the Visigoth kings wanted to modify the Germanic organization to implement some Roman notions such as absolutism. However, this system could never make it stable, so the Visigothic kingdom was subjected to a notable political imbalance.

Some historians consider that this instability in the kingdom was one of the reasons why the Visigoth people could not successfully control the Muslim invasion in 711.

The Visigoth kings had a series of clients who had to accompany them in all their actions. The kings were to provide this retinue with sustenance and protection.

Likewise, the king was assisted by the officium palatinum, where two institutional bodies intervened: the King's Council and the Councils of Toledo. Only people of high rank and with a certain military or intellectual power could participate in the palatinum.

Religion

As for the religion of the Visigoths, they followed Arianism, a non-Trinitarian Christian belief that spread notably throughout the Roman Empire during the 4th century.

However, no forceful confrontations occurred with the Catholics since they constituted the majority of the Hispano-Roman peoples.

In the Councils of Toledo the Visigoths decided to resolve the division that existed between Arianism and Catholicism. This process had its difficulties but it could be carried out, which allowed the union of both religious currents.

Culture

Visigothic society

The Visigoths were a group of peoples that acquired new traditions, cultures and laws as they invaded and conquered the different territories to which they had access.

For example, during their occupation in Hispania, at the beginning, marriage between the Visigoths and the Hispano-Romans was forbidden, but in later decades a code called Liber Iudiciorum or "jurisdiction" was established.

This code officially established a unification between Visigothic and Hispano-Roman laws, which indicates the mutual understanding that existed between both cultures of different origins.

Visigothic art

Within Visigothic society, the development of handicrafts was fundamental, which is why they stood out in a notorious way in the manufacture of brooches, ornaments and buckles. In addition, its main artistic manifestations consisted in the handling of goldsmithing and architecture.

Windows in Visigothic architecture have two arches; that is, they are twin windows. Among its most famous buildings are the San Pedro de la Nave church, located in Zamora; and the San Juan de Baños church, located in Palencia.

Among its goldsmith objects, the Guarrazar Treasure, found in Toledo, and a series of crowns made of solid gold inlaid with valuable stones stand out.

Main kings

Alaric I

He was one of the most important Visigoth kings due to his acclaimed feats of war and his invasions of the Roman Empire. His reign lasted from approximately 395 to 410.

Ataulfo

He was brother-in-law and cousin of Alarico I and his importance lies in the fact that he was the first Visigothic king to rule within the peninsula. His rule lasted only five years, from 410 to 415.

Sigerico

This Visigothic monarch assassinated Ataúlfo and later proclaimed himself king. However, he only reigned for a week during 415, specifically in August.

Walia

Walia was Ataúlfo's brother and Sigerico's rival. He ruled from 415 to 418 and managed to defeat the Silingo vandals and the Alans in the city of Hispania.

References

1. Conde, L. (2017) The Visigoths: the forgotten people. Retrieved on June 18, 2019 from IDUS: idus.us.es
2. Rosique, S. (nd) The Visigothic period. Retrieved on June 19, 2019 from Universal Virtual Library: Biblioteca.org.ar
3. A. (nd) The barbarian invasions. The Visigothic kingdom: instructions and culture. Retrieved on June 18, 2019 from History of the 20th century: historiesiglo20.org
4. A. (sf) Visigoth people. Retrieved on June 18, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
5. A. (nd) Visigothic Kingdom. Retrieved on June 18, 2019 from History of Spain: historiaespana.es