Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula

In the year 409 the Sueves, Vandals and Alans entered the Iberian Peninsula. They were Germanic tribes from the north of Europe that had been at war for many years against the Romans. The Romans asked the Visigoths for help against these invaders. This way, the Visigoths entered the Iberian Peninsula and pushed out the Vandals and the Alans. The Sueves resisted longer in the Northwest of the Peninsula.

The Visigoths mantained the Roman división of the Peninsula in 5 provinces. The governor of each province was called “Dux”, and was named by the king. Each province was then divided into counties, and each of them was governed by a count.

The Visigoth invasion was not a rupture with the Hispano-Romanic culture because: -Visigoths had already lived as part of the Roman Empire and had adopted their culture and their language (Latin). -Visigoths were a clear minority of the population, so they couldn’t really change the social or economic structure.

At first, Visigoths didn’t have a regular army, only a Royal Guard and some militias at frontiers or important cities. By law, the army was formed by all the free men that lived in a radius of 100 miles from the place were the conflicto appeared. With time, the nobles started organizing their own private armies.

The Sueves and the Visigoths ruled together over the Peninsula for around 80 years. Then, the Visigoths defeated and pushed the Sueves out of the Peninsula.

-Peasants were the majority -Nobles had the political and militar power. They were the owners of the majority of the land and very rich. -Peasants were the majority of the population. Some had their own land, but usually they worked in the lands of the nobles in exchange of food and a place to live. Visigoth society was formed by two big social classes: Nobles and peasants.

Visigoth economy consisted mainly in farming the land. When they arrived at the Peninsula they continued this activity. But they made a big change, farmers were not slaves any longer, instead they were settlers. Visigoth made lots of laws, to try and maintain a balance between farming and animals.

Visigoth didn’t build new roads, bridges or public buildings; instead they used the ones that the Romans had already built. Most of the Visigoth art is jewellery and religious buildings. In jewellery, they did many objects using metals and precious stones like spindles, crucifixes, earrings, bracelets and crowns. ART AND CULTURE

Religious architecture The Church started building their own buildings. We don’t have many churches left from the Visigoths. Main characteristics: -Small buildings -Usually the shape of the building is a cross -They used wood for the ceilings -They used Horseshoe arches

One of the most important Visigoth kings was Liuvigild One of the most important Visigoth kings was Liuvigild. This king made Toledo the capital city of the kingdom and was able to defeat the Sueves and Basques. He also tried to unite the Visigoths and the Hispano-Romans. To do this, he allowed Visigoths to marry with the original population of the Peninsula. .

Visigoths were Christian, but they were not Catholic Visigoths were Christian, but they were not Catholic. This made it difficult for the Hispano-Romans and Visigoths to join together. In 587, King Reccared converted to Catholicism and proclaims it as the official religion of the kingdom. This way, he managed to make Hispano-Romans participate in politics, and the Church strated being an important presence in the Peninsula. With King Reccared, the Visigoth Kingdom was at its best moment, until half of the 8TH century.

Recceswinth was another very important Visigoth King. He wrote a general law code for all the population of the Peninsula, which was a great advancement in the unification of the people from all over kingdom.

Don Rodrigo was defeated by them in the Battle of Río Guadalete. In the year 711, the Visigoth kingdom was divided into two sides that were fightinting a civil war. When King Wittiza died, Don Rodrigo was made king; but Wittiza’s sons asked help to the Muslims that lived in the North of Africa. Don Rodrigo was defeated by them in the Battle of Río Guadalete. But the Muslims didn’t stop there. Knowingthat the Visigoths were not at their best moment, they continued conquering the Peninsula. With the death of Don Rodrigo, the Visigoth kingdom disappears, and the Islamic empire of Al-Andalus starts.

Guía de Uso Didáctico 1-Nombre de la actividad: Edad Media: Hispania Visigoda 2-Curso: 5º de Educación Primaria 3-Área/Materia/Asignatura: Conocimiento del Medio 5-Objetivo fundamental: Conocer y comprender quiénes eran los visigodos y su paso por la Península Ibérica. 6-Breve descripción del proceso: Se puede utilizar: a) como material de apoyo para la explicación del profesor b) como material para que los alumnos en grupos aborden estos aprendizajes y expongan posteriormente lo que han aprendido.