History of the VISIGOTHS in SPAIN

The Visigoths in Spain. In 476 AD the Roman Empire finally collapsed due to serious internal problems including political, military and corruption and also because of the pressure coming from outside its frontiers from the so-called barbarians. At the beginning of the 5th century the Iberian Peninsula had a population of approximately 5 million inhabitants. In the year 409 it was invaded by the Suevs, the Vandals and the Alans from Asia. In 416 the Visigoths, who had become allies of Rome in order to drive the other invading tribes from Hispania, appeared. The Visigoths numbered approximately 80,000 and were at the same time pushed by the Huns and their leader Attila who became king in 434 AD. The Suevs resisted in the northeast of the peninsula which today is Asturias, Galicia and Portugal. The Visigoths, whose capital was in the south of France in Toulouse, were defeated by the French in the Battle of Vouillé and so moved their capital to Toledo in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. In the south the Byzantine Empire, led by Justiniano, managed to establish itself in a large part of the Mediterranean area. In 585 the Visigoth king Leo Vigilo managed to unify the country geographically after a number of military campaigns incorporating the Suev kingdom into the Visigoth one. His son Recarero carried out the religious unification by abandoning the Arian heresies and converting to Catholicism, the main religion in Hispania, at the third council of Toledo. From that moment a strong anti-Jewish policy was followed. In the year 654, when Rethys Vinto came to the throne, the legal text Liber Idicorum, meaning free movement, was formulated based on the principles of Roman law. This text broke about the legal unification of all the products from the Roman population and the Visigoths. Around the year 710, forces of the Caliphate Omea clashed with Rodrigo and his army at the Battle of Guadalete, where Rodrigo died. A few years later the whole Iberian Peninsula, except the north, had been conquered by the Muslims. The great thinkers of the Visigoth era were pastors such as Saint Isidoro and Saint Leandro. Saint Isidoro, who was the Bishop of Sevilla, wrote the Etymologia, the first encyclopedia, where he ordered and explained all the learning of his era based on the origin of words. Regarding architecture, the churches of San Juan de Baños in Palencia, San Pedro de la Nave in Zamora, Santa Comba de Banda in Orense and Quintanilla de las Viñas in Burgos stand out. In metal craftwork, the treasures of Torre Don Gimeno in Jaén and the treasure of Guadalajara, including the crown of Rethys Vinto, are worthy of note.