500A.D - 800A.D
The Visigoths are descendants of Goths an ancient Germanic tribal people. The Goths were divided into two separate groups of peoples, the eastern Goths or Ostrogoths and the western Goths, or Visigoths. The Ostrogoths inhabited a kingdom east of the Dniester River on the shores of the Black Sea, part of modern day Ukraine and Belarus, in about 370A.D. The Visigoth territory stretched from the Dniester to the Danube rivers.
The Visigoths were well known for their aggression, especially in the area of military combat. Yet, they were threatened by the Huns, a nomadic Asian people of great military horsemanship who contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries. The Visigoths sought out allegiance with the Roman Emperor Valens, who allowed them to settle within the Empire's border in Thrace, the southeast Balkan region near today's Greek-Turkish border. During the two years of their settlement the Visigoth soldiers were severely maltreated by the Romans. Unable to endure the dehumanization any further they retaliated, killing Emperor Valens in the process.
With a renewed sense of empowerment the Visigoths pushed westward sweeping into Hispania, annihilating the Romans. In essence they invaded the Roman Empire settling in areas, which included Hispania.
The successor of Valens made peace with the Visigoths, who assimilated their army with the Romans'. This made them become an overpowering influence in the Roman Empire. The Romans pleaded with them to get rid of the Suevi, Vandals, and Alans, other Germanic tribes sharing the same ambition to conquer parts of the Roman Empire.
The Suevi had invaded and settled in northwestern Hispania by 411A.D. By 452 A.D. they were established in Castile and had converted to Christianity, practicing the Roman Catholic rites and passages.
The Vandals were very much the Germanic tribe whose name reflected its character. They were known to be hostile by looting bootees and plundering properties of other settlements and peoples. They finally settled in central and southern Hispania.
Lastly, the Alans, who also migrated westward, settled in southwestern Hispania, then further south to North Africa.
In the name of the Roman Empire, the Visigoth migrated into Hispania from France defeating these tribal Germanic invaders. They conquered most of their settlements pushing them south and eventually into North Africa. The Visigoths finally took control of Hispania for Rome. They however broke their allegiance to Rome, thereby conquering and now ruling all of Hispania, with the exception of the Byzantine Empire located on a strip in the south.
The Visigoths ruled Hispania for over two centuries, from early 500A.D. to about 800A.D. At first they had great difficulty integrating with the Hispania-Roman population. Their subjects far outnumber them, thus, they ruled primarily by means of military force. They practiced Arianism, a form of Christianity considered heretical by their subjects, and dealt harshly with the Hispania-Roman people, who were Orthodox Christians. In 589, their elected King Recared converted to Catholicism, thereby, adopting Roman Catholic as the Monarch of Visigoth's religion. This conversion pacified the hostility between the two religions.
The Visigoth never developed a strong centralized bureaucratic Visigoth system because they elected their king from among their own ranks. As a consequence, frequent power struggles between Dynasties ensued. Under King Leovigild (569-586) and his son Recared (586-601) the last remaining Byzantine stronghold was conquered. This was the high point of their monarchy. The reign of King Recceswinth (649-672) completed of a single code of law for the entire kingdom. The Liber Ludiciorum, written in 654, integrated Roman law and Germanic customary law. This is considered the greatest achievement of the Visigoths having unified Visigoth-Spain as the largest region of Roman Catholicism Christians throughout the spread of Christianity. Although the Visigoths was able to establish a foundation during their rule of Hispania, this fragmented system remained unchangeable, for it reflects the governing structure of Spain today.
The Visigoth's internal dynastic struggle made their rule unstable and weak. "Their monarchy depended heavily on the church and Roman governance to collect taxes, educate the population and administer justice." Continued internal struggles amongst themselves weakened their military strength. This lack of unity led to their fall. As a consequence, the Visigoth eventually became more romanized converting to Roman Catholicism including learning and communicating in Latin.
Yet, with this unstable political and military structure, Visigoth-Spain was able to strive for nearly 300 years when the spread of Islam had begun. The Moors from North Africa, a Muslim Arabic people, began to show interest in Hispania about 800 A.D.
