560-636), the Historia Wambae Regis by bishop Julian of Toledo (642-690), the Decem Libri Historiarum by bishop Gregory of Tours (538-594), and the Chronicle of Fredegar (mid-seventh century). 621), the Chronicle and the Historia Gothorum by Isidore of Seville (c. I will focus on narrative sources composed in Hispania and Gallia, including, but not limited to, the following texts: the Chronicle of John of Biclar (c. 672) during the reign of King Wamba (672-680). In order to carry out this analysis, I took three cases of military activities which took place during sixth- and seventh-century Hispania: the aforementioned Battle of Vouillé (507), the attempt of the Frankish dux Boso to capture Carcassonne on the orders of the Merovingian King Guntram (561-592), and finally, the rebellion of Dux Paul (c. The information was used, then, in this way, as an attempt to create cohesion and foster unity among the elites of the regnum Visigothorum. ![]() My argument is that such information had an ideological value as well, since it could be used to persuade certain aristocratic circles and local or regional powers to prevent them from organizing revolts against the legitimate ruler or to establish alliances with other entities, such as the Merovingians. ![]() This situation presents a challenge, since such information would have been useful for the authorities of the regnum for different purposes, ones which traverse the activities related to conflict and violence. Most (if not all) the information related to battles and military events lies in the narrative sources, which were composed almost exclusively by clergymen during this time. Precise information on military activities in the context of the Regnum Visigothorumis almost lacking. To conceptualize the contemporary historiography of this major event, I will focus on the possible character of the audiences and the authorial intentions (political, ideological, and cultural) behind these fragments of military information. The aim of this essay is to analyze the manner in which sources composed in Hispania, compared as well as to sources written outside the Regnum, describe warfare and military events related to the Visigoths during the sixth and seventh centuries. 485-507), and the theft of the royal Visigothic treasure. The negative portrayal of the episode is magnified by two events that are present in most of the sources: the death of King Alaric II (r. Despite previous and lingering historiographical disagreements, most contemporary and near-contemporary sources of the period describe the Battle of Vouillé and its consequences as a catastrophic event for the Visigoths. Such information has been transmitted amongst various political circles and, partly because of that, there exists different interpretations of the most important events in the history of the Visigoths. (*En Portugués aquí En Español aquí En français ici)īattles, as well as the information related to military matters, always have been an important part of Visigothic history – medieval and modern. ![]() Military Matters in the Visigothic Kingdom: Initial Considerations ( pdf)
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