Universidade de Brasília – UnB Depto. de Línguas Estrangeiras – LET No. de Identificação da Disciplina: 146129

Instituto de Letras – IL Professor: Dr. João Sedycias História da Língua Espanhola

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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Goths –

Member of a Germanic people whose two branches, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths, for centuries harassed the Roman Empire. According to their own legend, reported by the mid-6th-century Gothic historian Jordanes, the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia and crossed in three ships under their king Berig to the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they settled after defeating the Vandals and other Germanic peoples in that area. Tacitus states that the Goths at this time were distinguished by their round shields, their short swords, and their obedience toward their kings. Jordanes goes on to report that they migrated southward from the Vistula region under Filimer, the fifth king after Berig and, after various adventures, arrived at the Black Sea.

This movement took place in the second half of the 2nd century AD, and it may have been pressure from the Goths that drove other Germanic peoples to exert heavy pressure on the Danubian frontier of the Roman Empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Throughout the 3rd century Gothic raids on the Roman provinces in Asia Minor and the Balkan peninsula were numerous, and in the reign of Aurelian (270-275) they obliged the Romans to evacuate the trans-Danubian province of Dacia. Those Goths living between the Danube and the Dniester rivers became known as Visigoths, and those in what is now the Ukraine as Ostrogoths.

The Ostrogoths –

Member of a division of the Goths; the Ostrogoths developed an empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established the Gothic kingdom of Italy.

Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths built up a huge empire stretching from the Don to the Dniester rivers (in present-day Ukraine) and from the Black Sea to the Pripet Marshes (southern Belarus). The kingdom reached its highest point under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an advanced age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them about 370. Although many Ostrogothic graves have been excavated south and southeast of Kiev, little is known about the empire. The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed.

After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. But a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths preserved their identity through the Middle Ages. After the collapse of the Hun empire (455) the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great began to move again, first to Moesia (c. 475-488) and then to Italy. Theodoric became king of Italy in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued in the ruling dynasty, provoking the Byzantine emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to wrest Italy from their grasp. The war continued with varying fortunes for almost 20 years and caused untold damage to Italy, and the Ostrogoths thereafter had no national existence. They had been converted to Arian Christianity, it seems, soon after their escape from the domination of the Huns, and in this heresy they persisted until their extinction. All extant Gothic texts were written in Italy before 554.

The Visigoths –

Member of a division of the Goths. One of the most important of the Germanic peoples, the Visigoths separated from the Ostrogoths in the 4th century AD, raided Roman territories repeatedly, and established great kingdoms in Gaul and Spain.

The Visigoths were settled agriculturists in Dacia (now in Romania) when they were attacked by the Huns in 376 and driven southward across the Danube River into the Roman Empire. They were allowed to enter the empire but the exactions of Roman officials soon drove them to revolt and plunder the Balkan provinces, assisted by some Ostrogoths. On Aug. 9, 378, they utterly defeated the army of the Roman emperor Valens on the plains outside Adrianople, killing the emperor himself. For four more years they continued to wander in search of somewhere to settle. In October 382 Valens' successor, Theodosius I, settled them in Moesia (in the Balkans) as federates, giving them land there and imposing on them the duty of defending the frontier. It was apparently during this period that the Visigoths were converted to Arian Christianity. They remained in Moesia until 395, when, under the leadership of Alaric, they left Moesia and moved first southward into Greece and then to Italy, which they invaded repeatedly from 401 onward. Their depredations culminated in the sack of Rome in 410. In the same year Alaric died and was succeeded by Ataulphus, who led the Visigoths to settle first in southern Gaul, then in Spain (415).

In 418 they were recalled from Spain by the patrician Constantius, who later became emperor as Constantius III, and were settled by him as federates in the province of Aquitania Secunda between the lower reaches of the Garonne and Loire rivers. Their chieftain Wallia died soon after the settlement in Aquitaine was carried out, and he was succeeded by Theodoric I, who ruled them until he was killed in 451 fighting against Attila in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Theodoric I is the first Visigothic leader who can properly be described as a monarch.

While persistently trying to extend their territory, often at the empire's expense, the Visigoths continued to be federates until 475, when Theodoric's son Euric declared himself an independent king. Euric also codified the laws issued by himself and his predecessors and fragments of his code, written in Latin, have survived. It was under him, too, that the Gallic kingdom, of which the capital was at Toulouse, reached its widest extent. It stretched from the Loire to the Pyrenees and to the lower reaches of the Rhône River and included the greater portion of Spain. Euric, a fervent Arian, was succeeded by his tolerant son Alaric II, who in 507 was defeated and killed by Clovis and the Franks at the decisive battle of Vouillé near Poitiers.

As a result of Vouillé the Visigoths lost all their possessions in Gaul apart from Septimania, a strip of land stretching along the coast from the Pyrenees to the Rhône with Narbonne as its capital, which the Franks were never able to wrest from them. Henceforth, until they were finally destroyed by the Muslims in 711, the Visigoths ruled Septimania and much of Spain, with Toledo as their capital.

History of Spain –

Visigothic Spain to c. 500

Large-scale invasions during the 5th century by the Germanic tribes settled along the imperial frontiers undermined Roman rule in Spain. The Visigoths, a people located along the Danube River and converted to Arian Christianity, were authorized by the emperor Valens to settle in the empire in 376. However, they soon turned against the Romans. Their triumph over Valens in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 signaled the beginning of the barbarian onslaught against Rome. Under their king Alaric the Visigoths invaded Italy and in 410 sacked Rome, sending shock waves throughout the empire. Taking advantage of the Visigothic threat to Italy, the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi (Suevi) crossed into Gaul and then into Spain. After ravaging the country for two years, the Suebi and the Asding Vandals settled in the northwestern province of Galicia (Gallaecia). The Siling Vandals occupied Baetica in the south, and the Alans, an Iranian people, settled in the central provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis. For the time being, only Tarraconensis remained entirely under Roman control.

After abandoning Italy, the Visigothic king Athaulf moved into southern Gaul, but, failing to win recognition for his people as federati, or allies, of the empire, he was forced into Tarraconensis, where he was assassinated in 415. Under his successor, Wallia (415-418), the Romans acknowledged the Visigoths as allies and encouraged them to campaign against the other barbarian tribes in the peninsula. Those Alans and Siling Vandals who survived Visigothic attacks sought refuge with the Asdings and the Suebi in Galicia. The Roman emperor Honorius, in 418, authorized the Visigoths to settle in Gaul in the provinces of Aquitania Secunda and Narbonensis.

The Suebi and the Asding Vandals meanwhile continued to lay waste Spain. Led by King Gaiseric (Genseric), the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa in 429. They subjugated that province and governed it and the Balearic Islands until the Byzantine reconquest in 534. In Spain, the Suebi, initially pagans, accepted Arianism, but in the middle of the 6th century they were converted to orthodox Christianity by St. Martin of Dumio, bishop of Braga. Their independent kingdom in Galicia survived until the Visigoths subdued it in 585.

The Visigoths, as allies of Rome, aided in the defense of Gaul against Attila and the Huns. The unchecked deterioration of the Western empire, however, resulted in the rupture of the fragile alliance between Rome and the Visigoths. Under the rulership of Euric (466-484) the Visigoths founded an independent kingdom in southern Gaul, centred at Toulouse. In Spain the Visigoths drove the Suebi back into Galicia and occupied Tarraconensis and part of Lusitania. For the moment the provinces of Baetica and Carthaginiensis were left to take care of themselves.

Despite the collapse of imperial rule in Spain, Roman influence remained strong. The majority of the population, probably about 6,000,000, were Hispano-Romans, as compared to 200,000 barbarians. Hispano-Romans held many administrative positions and continued to be governed by Roman law embodied in the Theodosian Code. Euric's Code, completed about 475, was written in Latin but was probably intended for the use of the Visigoths. In 506 Euric's son Alaric II (484-507) published a compilation, known as the Breviary of Alaric, which was based on the Theodosian Code and meant to serve the needs of the Roman population.

Visigothic dominance over southern Gaul came to an end when Clovis and the Franks defeated Alaric II at Vouillé in 507. As a consequence of Frankish expansion, the Visigoths were compelled to penetrate more deeply into Spain, where their kings eventually established themselves at Toledo (Toletum). In the meantime the Byzantine emperor Justinian took advantage of struggles among the barbarians to regain control of the southern and eastern coasts of Spain. For about 70 years the Byzantines maintained a foothold in that part of the peninsula.

Although the Visigoths had been in contact with the Roman world for more than a century before their effective settlement in Spain and had acquired a veneer of Romanization, significant legal, cultural, social, and religious differences kept them apart from the Hispano-Roman population. Aside from different languages and disparities in education, these diverse peoples were subject to distinct bodies of law. The Visigoths, while Christian, held to the Arian heresy against the orthodoxy of the Hispano-Romans. The Visigothic king was theoretically ruler of only his own people whereas the Hispano-Romans continued to profess allegiance to a rapidly vanishing imperial authority. A Roman law that prohibited intermarriage between the two peoples was, however, abolished in the late 6th century. Still, the task of bringing the two peoples together and of achieving some sort of political and cultural unity was a formidable one.

Source: Funk and Wagnalls Multimedia Encyclopedia

The Goths –

Ancient Teutonic people, who in the 3rd to the 6th century AD were an important power in the Roman world. According to the Gothic historian Jordanes (fl. 530–52), the Goths came from Sweden across the Baltic Sea to the basin of the Vistula River. By the 3d century AD they had migrated as far south as the lower Danube, around the Black Sea. During that century Gothic armies and fleets ravaged Thrace, Dacia, and cities in Asia Minor and along the Aegean coast. They captured and plundered Athens, 267–68, and threatened Italy itself. For about a century, wars between the Roman emperors and Gothic rulers devastated the Balkan territory and the northeastern Mediterranean region. Other tribes joined the Goths, and under the great king Ermanaric (fl. 350–76), a kingdom was established that extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

About 370 the Goths divided into two separate groups. The Ostrogoths (Low Lat. Ostrogothae, "the eastern Goths") inhabited a large kingdom east of the Dnestr River on the shores of the Black Sea (part of modern Ukraine and Belarus). The Visigoths (Low Lat. Visigothi, "the good Goths" or "the noble Goths") were the western Goths, with a domain extending from the Dnestr to the Danube.

Visigoths

In 376 the Visigoths, threatened by the Huns, sought the protection of the Roman emperor Valens, and they were given permission to settle into the empire's province of Moesia (south of the Danube). When Gothic soldiers were maltreated by Roman officers, the Goths revolted, and the resulting war was climaxed by a decisive battle in 378 near Adrianople (now Edirne), in which Valens was killed. The victorious Goths then threatened Constantinople. Theodosius I, who succeeded Valens as emperor in the East, made peace with the Goths and incorporated their army into the Roman forces; from that time on, the Visigoths were an important influence in the Roman Empire. Many who had settled in Moesia became farmers and were known as Moeso-Goths. For the most part, they became Arian Christians.

On the death of Theodosius in 395, the Visigoths renounced their allegiance to Rome and chose Alaric I as their ruler. Alaric invaded Greece and then Italy, and in 410 he captured and pillaged the city of Rome. He was succeeded by Ataulf (r. 410–15), who led the Visigoths across the Pyrenees into Spain.

Under the next ruler, Wallia (r. 415–18), the Visigoths extended their realm over a great part of Spain and southern Gaul, with Toulouse as their capital. Wallia was succeeded by the reputed son of Alaric, Theodoric I (r. 418–51), who lost his life fighting as an ally of Rome against the Huns at the Battle of Châlons. The most notable of the Spanish Visigothic kings was Euric (420?–84), a son of Theodoric I. Under Euric, who declared his rule to be independent of any federation with Rome, the kingdom of Toulouse included almost all of Spain and most of Gaul west of the Rhône River and south of the Loire River. Euric introduced many aspects of Roman civilization and drew up a code of law combining Roman and German elements. The kingdom was, however, continually beset by both internal and external difficulties. The kingship was nominally elective, and the powerful Visigothic nobles stood against attempts to found a hereditary royal house. Externally, the Byzantine Empire and the Franks menaced the Visigothic lands. In order to instill greater loyalty in his rebellious Roman and Christian subjects, Alaric II in 506 introduced the collection of laws known as the Breviary of Alaric. A year later, Clovis I, king of the Franks, defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouillé, in which Alaric II was killed. Most of Provence was separated from the Gothic lands, and the Visigothic kingdom was confined almost entirely to Spain. Despite the attempts of a long line of Gothic kings to hold the kingdom together, the power of the Visigoths steadily declined. The last king, Roderick, was defeated and probably killed by the Muslims in the Battle of Río Barbate in 711. By 713 Spain was partially conquered by the Moors, and the Visigothic power survived in the independent Christian kingdom of Asturias.

Ostrogoths

When the Huns swept into Europe about AD 370, many of the Ostrogoths were conquered and compelled to aid their conquerors; they joined the king of the Huns, Attila, in his expedition against Gaul in 451 and fell by the thousands under the swords of their kinsfolk, the Visigoths, at the Battle of Châlons. When the Huns were finally forced back, the Ostrogoths again became independent. With the permission of Rome, they settled in Pannonia (modern western Hungary, Slovenia, and eastern Austria), where they were joined by other Ostrogoths who had taken refuge within the Roman Empire at the coming of the Asians. In 474 Theodoric, the greatest of the Ostrogothic kings, was elected to the throne. After various periods of warfare and alliance with Zeno, the Byzantine emperor, Theodoric invaded Italy in 488 (with the consent and advice of the emperor), slew Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy (c. 435–93), and became ruler himself. He held the power although not the title of the Western Roman emperors; a Roman consul was given nominal authority, and the two peoples lived together amicably, with Roman culture greatly influencing the Teutons.

A ruler of the stature of Theodoric was necessary to preserve the unity of Romans and Goths. After his death in 526, disruption in Italy became so violent that in 535 the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent his general Belisarius to conquer the peninsula. The Byzantines broke the Gothic power in 555, and the throne of Italy was filled by the exarchs (Byzantine governors) of Ravenna.

The Ostrogoths themselves gradually became absorbed into other tribes, such as the Alani, Vandals, Franks, and Burgundians, who had established themselves in the dominions of the old Roman Empire.

Source: Infoplease Encyclopedia (from The Columbia Encyclopedia)

The Visigoths –

(West Goths), division of the Goths, one of the most important groups of Germans. Having settled in the region W of the Black Sea in the third century A.D., the Goths soon split into two divisions, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.

In the Roman Empire

By the 4th cent. the Visigoths were at the borders of the East Roman Empire, raiding across the Danube River, and peacefully infiltrating the trans-Danubian provinces. Constantine I was troubled by the Visigoths, but they became a real menace only after the middle of the 4th cent. At that time groups of Visigoths had settled in Dacia as agriculturalists, and many had accepted Arian Christianity, partly as a result of the work of Ulfilas. About 364 a group of Visigoths devastated Thrace, and punitive measures were undertaken against them. They were also involved in the revolt (366) of Procopius.

Until 369 Emperor Valens waged war successfully against the Visigoths, who were led by Athanaric. Athanaric asserted his supremacy over Fritigern, a rival Visigothic leader who then retired into the Roman Empire and obtained Roman aid against Athanaric. However, the internal affairs of the Goths became of secondary importance to the invasion (c.375) of their lands by the Huns. Athanaric retired to Transylvania, and the majority of the Visigoths joined Fritigern and fled (376) into the empire. Subjected to oppressive measures by Roman officials, these Visigothic settlers soon rose in revolt. Opposed by Emperor Valens at Adrianople in 378, the Goths won a decisive victory. They then swept across the upper Balkan Peninsula and ravaged Thrace. Theodosius I immediately took up arms against them. In 382 peace was finally concluded, and the Goths under Athanaric were settled in Thrace. Friction, however, continued.

In 395, after the death of Theodosius I, the Visigothic troops in Roman service proclaimed Alaric I their leader; under his strong guidance they first developed the concept of kingship. Alaric led a revolt in the Balkan Peninsula but was checked by Stilicho. In 401 Alaric began his attacks on Italy; he was halted by Stilicho, but after Stilicho's death he succeeded in his invasion, and the Visigoths became masters of Italy. Negotiations between Alaric and Emperor Honorius failed, and in 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome. Alaric died soon afterward.

In Spain

Under Ataulf the Visigoths left (412) Italy and went into S Gaul and N Spain. They increased their territories in Spain (which was evacuated by the Vandals, acquired Aquitaine, and extended their influence to the Loire valley, making Toulouse their capital. The height of Visigothic power was reached under Euric (466–84), who completed the conquest of Spain. In 507, Alaric II was defeated at Vouillé by the Franks under Clovis, to whom he lost nearly all his possessions N of the Pyrenees. Toledo became the new Visigothic capital, and the history of the Visigoths became essentially that of Spain.

Weakened by warfare with the Franks and the Basques and by Byzantine penetration in S Spain, the kingdom recovered its vigor in the late 6th cent. under Leovigild and under Recared, whose conversion to Catholicism facilitated the fusion of the Visigothic and the Hispano-Roman populations of Spain. King Recceswinth imposed (c.654) a Visigothic common law on both his Gothic and his Roman subjects, who previously had lived under different codes. The church councils of Toledo became the main force in the government, and the royal power was weakened accordingly.

King Wamba, who succeeded Recceswinth, was deposed after a civil war, and thereafter the kingdom was torn by civil strife. When the last king, Roderick, seized the throne, his rivals appealed to the Muslim leader Tarik ibn Ziyad, whose victory (711) in a battle near Medina Sidonia ended the Visigothic kingdom and inaugurated the Moorish period in the history of Spain.

Bibliography

See Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, Vols. I–III (2d ed. 1892–96, repr. 1967); E. A. Thompson, The Goths in Spain (1969).

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