The kingdom of the Visigoths, embracing at its fullest extent Portugal and part of southern France as well as virtually the whole of Spain, boasted the most sophisticated civilization to be be found in any of the Romano-barbarian states created out of the ruin of the Western Empire. Yet its fortunes have been the subject of a curious indifference by scholars otherwise well conscious of the supreme significance of the sixth and seventh centuries for a balanced understanding of the Middle Ages. Dr King makes a searching investigation into the structure and ethos of Visigothic society as it is revealed in the legal and other other sources of the time.

The structures of the late ancient Visigothic kingdom of Iberia were rooted in those of Roman Hispania, Santiago Castellanos argues, but Catholic bishops subsequently produced a narrative of process and power from the episcopal point of view that became the official record and primary documentation for all later historians. The delineation of these two discrete projects—of construction and invention—form the core of The Visigothic Kingdom in Iberia. Castellanos reads documents of the period that are little known to many Anglophone scholars, including records of church councils, sermons, and letters, and utilizes archaeological findings to determine how the political system of elites related to local communities, and how the documentation they created promoted an ideological agenda. Looking particularly at the archaeological record, he finds that rural communities in the region were complex worlds unto themselves, with clear internal social stratification little recognized by the literate elites.

This history of Spain in the period between the end of Roman rule and the time of the Arab conquest challenges many traditional assumptions about the history of this period. Presents original theories about how the Visigothic kingdom was governed, about law in the kingdom, about the Arab conquest, and about the rise of Spain as an intellectual force. Takes account of new documentary evidence, the latest archaeological findings, and the controversies that these have generated. Combines chronological and thematic approaches to the period. A historiographical introduction looks at the current state of research on the history and archaeology of the Visigothic kingdom.

Between 376 and 476 the Roman Empire in western Europe was dismantled by aggressive outsiders, "barbarians" as the Romans labelled them. Chief among these were the Visigoths, a new force of previously separate Gothic and other groups from south-west France, initially settled by the Romans but subsequently, from the middle of the fifth century, achieving total independence from the failing Roman Empire, and extending their power from the Loire to the Straits of Gibraltar. These studies draw on literary and archaeological evidence to address important questions thrown up by the history of the Visigoths and of the kingdom they generated: the historical processes which led to their initial creation; the emergence of the Visigothic kingdom in the fifth century; and the government, society, culture and economy of the "mature" kingdom of the sixth and seventh centuries. A valuable feature of the collection, reflecting the switch of the centre of the Visigothic kingdom from France to Spain from the beginning of the sixth century, is the inclusion, in English, of current Spanish scholarship. Dr PETER HEATHER teaches in the Department of History at University College London. Contributors: Dennis H. Green, Peter Heather, Ana Jimenez Garnica, Giorgio Ausenda, Ian Nicholas Wood, Isabel Velazquez, Felix Retamero, Pablo C. Diaz, Mayke de Jong, Gisela Ripoll Lopez, Andreas Schwarcz

The structures of the late ancient Visigothic kingdom of Iberia were rooted in those of Roman Hispania, Santiago Castellanos argues, but Catholic bishops subsequently produced a narrative of process and power from the episcopal point of view that became the official record and primary documentation for all later historians. The delineation of these two discrete projects—of construction and invention—form the core of The Visigothic Kingdom in Iberia. Castellanos reads documents of the period that are little known to many Anglophone scholars, including records of church councils, sermons, and letters, and utilizes archaeological findings to determine how the political system of elites related to local communities, and how the documentation they created promoted an ideological agenda. Looking particularly at the archaeological record, he finds that rural communities in the region were complex worlds unto themselves, with clear internal social stratification little recognized by the literate elites.

*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of ancient accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading The birth of Europe as people know it today was hardly an easy and effortless process. The Old World was reshaped by centuries of continuous wars, raids, and the falls and rises of empires. The most turbulent of these events happened at the beginning of the Middle Ages, from the 3rd-7th centuries CE. This was the time when the old slave society gave way to the feudal system that marked the latter Middle Ages, and it was also a period of battles between the Roman Empire and various barbarian peoples. The Roman Emperors waged wars, made and broke alliances, and bribed and negotiated with chieftains of various "barbarian" tribes to preserve the territorial integrity of their Empires, but the razor-edge division between the civilized world of the Romans and that of the "savages" that threatened their borders was dulling with every decade. In fact, the constant need for army recruits swelled the Roman legions with barbarian foederati, a phenomenon that forced both the Romans and Byzantines to use a very subtle way of playing the barbarian tribes against each other via diplomatic schemes and bountiful rewards. A new religion was also taking root: Christianity became a reason for both unification and division, as different people adopted different variations of its teachings. It goes without saying that the Goths played an integral part in the history of Europe during this time, and they remain among the most notorious and controversial groups in history. By the 4th century CE, The Goths were among the prominent barbarian groups who became a threat to the Roman Empire, but they also had contacts with the Romans well before then, and they even traded for awhile. The two branches of the Goths that are best known, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, stared down the Roman Empire as it neared its collapse and supplanted it with a kingdom in Italy in the 5th and 6th centuries respectively. The Visigoth leader Alaric and the Ostrogoth leader Theodoric are still well-known names due to their deeds and reigns in Europe. In addition to the Visigoths' conflicts with Rome, the ancient author Jordanes has helped keep the Goths relevant with his seminal work The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, which traces the group's history all the way back to about 1500 BCE and covers their migrations and wars on the European continent. While some still discount Jordanes' work as outright fiction, most historians still believe that it's a valuable historical work, and they continue to rely on it in attempts to study and trace the history of the Goths and their various branches over time. What is known is that the Goths established the Kingdom of Tolosa, one of many small kingdoms that emerged during the final years of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Despite its size and limited fame, it has an important place in European history, not necessarily because of its own achievements (it was never a great power) but more for its influence on the course of events following the end of the Western Roman Empire. The Visigoths themselves are a much maligned and misunderstood ethnic group, so the extent of their influence on the emerging political structures of Spain and France, as well as those nations' cultures, is often forgotten. In particular, Tolosa ́s part in halting the seemingly unstoppable advance of Attila and the Huns should be remembered, given its importance for the future history of Europe. Indeed, an exploration of this small kingdom provides invaluable insights into how Western Europe developed in the period commonly referred to as the "Dark Ages," an era that actually had positive impacts on European culture.

How did the breakdown of Roman rule in the Iberian peninsula eventually result in the formation of a Visigothic kingdom with authority centralised in Toledo? This collection of essays challenges the view that local powers were straightforwardly subjugated to the expanding central power of the monarchy. Rather than interpret countervailing events as mere 'delays' in this inevitable process, the contributors to this book interrogate these moments to uncover the hidden agency of individuals and local authorities. What emerges is a story of contested interests seeking cooperation through institutions and social practices that were flexible enough to stabilise a system that was hierarchical yet mutually beneficial for multiple social groups. By examining the Visigothic settlement, the interplay between central and local power, the use of ethnic identity, projections of authority, and the role of the Church, this book articulates a model for understanding the formation of a large and important early medieval kingdom.

Coverage includes research on Visigothic identity in Gaul, regional studies of Galacia and Lusitania, anti-Semitism in Visigothic law, the political grammar of Ildephonsus of Toledo, monasticism and liturgy, numismatics, Roman-Visigothic pottery in Baetica, and urban and rural.

Portrays the power struggles among medieval rulers, sacred and profane