Visigoths

Visigoths, Germanic people who flourished under the late Roman Empire and into the early Christian era from the 1st century to the 8th century ad. According to Pliny the Elder, the Goths inhabited an area around the western Baltic Sea. During the following three centuries one group, who became known as the Visigoths, moved south-east into Dacia. In the 4th century the Visigoths were converted to Arianism, receiving their own bishop, Ulfilas, in 341. Under pressure from the Huns in the second half of the 4th century, the Visigoths were allowed by Emperor Valens to settle south of the River Danube within the Roman Empire; however, a Visigothic revolt followed, culminating in the disastrous Roman defeat and Valens' death at Adrianople (modern Edirne) in 378. After a brief peace, the Visigoths under Alaric I invaded Italy in 401 and sacked Rome in 410. By 419 the Visigoths had become official allies of Rome; they were settled by Constantius III in the province of Aquitaine, with their capital at Toulouse. In the 5th century, Euric ruled the Visigoths as an independent king, introducing a system of laws and other aspects of Christian Roman culture. His successor Alaric II introduced the famous Breviary of Alaric. In 507 the Visigoths were defeated by Clovis I, King of the Franks, and withdrew to Spain, where they had already established a strong presence, making their capital at Toledo. In 711, initially in response to a request for military assistance, Moors from North Africa arrived in Spain. Within a few years Roderick, the last Visigothic king, was dead and the Visigothic kingdom was almost wholly under Muslim rule, with the Visigoths entrenched in a small kingdom protected by the mountains of Asturias in the north. The Visigoths produced a distinctive art, combining Germanic skills in metalwork with classical and Christian forms. The most famous example is the 7th-century crown of King Recceswinth (now in the Archaeological Museum, Madrid).