Definition of Visigoth People

Since the lll century AD. C the civilization Roman is immersed in a process of crisis and decline caused by the struggle for power. This situation favored the entry of the so-called barbarian peoples of northern Europe into the interior of the Roman empire.

At the same time, Emperor Constantine decreed the Liberty religious and during his mandate promoted Christianity and this caused the church to begin to consolidate its social influence.

In the Roman territories of Hispania the Spanish-Roman oligarchy allied with the high ecclesiastical positions, but among the lower social classes, the Christian doctrine of the Priscillian was consolidated, which was based on the distinction between good and wrong. Prisciliano was considered like heretic and finally executed. Due to the economic crisis and the migratory movements towards the countryside, the Germanic peoples arrived en masse in the Roman cities and a situation of social chaos ensued.

The arrival of the Visigoths to the Iberian Peninsula

Towards the V century d. C some barbarian peoples of Germanic origin crossed the borders of the Roman Empire and, taking advantage of the weakness from Rome, they entered the Iberian Peninsula. The Alans settled in the plateau central, the Vandals to the south and the Swabians to the northwest. The Visigoths were the barbarian people who settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigoths were mercenaries who were accompanied by their families and obtained land in exchange for military protection in the new territories.

Initially the Visigoths came to the peninsula as allies of Rome in order to expel the Alans, Vandals and Swabians from Hispania. With the passage of time, the relationship between Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was generating political tensions and and with the fall of the city of Tarraco, 700 years of Roman rule on the peninsula ended. Iberian. Thus, Eurico became the first king of a territory independent Visigoth that encompassed southern Gaul and large territories in Hispania.

The Visigoth monarchs formed an alliance with the Catholic Church, but internal confrontations led to the invasion of Arabs and Berbers in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Visigoth kings gradually eliminated the obstacles that prevented their acceptance by the population Roman Hispanic. The Visigoth monarchs were converted to Catholicism and they formed a solid alliance with the Catholic Church.

The Visigothic Kingdom was characterized by constant internal struggles and this circumstance was taken advantage of by the troops Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, who finally defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete in the year 711.

In a short time, the Arabs took control of large territories of the Iberian Peninsula and in this way the Visigothic period in Hispania was extinguished.

Photos: Fotolia - Adrian Hillman / Acrogame