Special Topics in European History

Lecture 3, 01/27/25

Fro empire to kingdoms : political situation 276

• Germanic : non roman

Germanic invasions of the roman empire

• Visigots and other groups fought the military forces of the roman empire

  • Also made alliances with the roman emporers. Groups manpower to use against other germanic groups in exchange for land and money

• Germanic ppl didnt want to destroy the roman empire but wanted to join it on their own terms though it did lead tothe collapse of the roman empire. The empire gave everything away in these alliances 

Odoacer rejects the imperial crown

• Odoacer returns key to the east while ruling italy independently

Enduring romanitas : romance languages in modern europe

• Social and economic system persists

• Same ppl existed, they werent expelled so its just an addition of barbarian/germanic group ruling over them

• Rule of the empire is gone but romaness (romanitas) continues in that local groups continue to assist in ruling

Dark Ages?

• Literacy rates declined

• Post roman decline

Early Medieval Art, Italy

• Replaced by new creations

• Theres is a blending of Roman legacy and new germanic traditions 

The Visigoths : Establishing a Kingdom

Political Situation 476

• Visigoths are the dominant power until french leader defeats them, confining them to spain

• Northwest kingdom on their own, the sueve is defeated by the visigoths but not really controlled. Ensures the visigoths wont be attacked from that direction

Roman comeback? Justinians conquests

• Eastern area tried to take back the western area, gaining italy and the area around carthage before being pushed back again

Elective Monarchy - Fragile Unity

• Visigtohs : members of the aristocracy and church leaders choose a new leader 

• Benefits : whoever was chosen had political support and theoretically be the most suitable

• Cons : usually only the one least offensive and weak ppl are chosen to be kings

• Unity in choosing a weak ruler to protect their power but weakness in a weak man.

Government : Continuity and Change

• Echo of ramintaaas : ruins of reccopolis

• Visigoths dont destroy and make monuments for themselves, preserving roman tradition

• Churches kept the same architecture

• Visigoths held roman traditions the best of all the post-roman kings

Two PPls in One

Common Christianity: The chi rho

• Visigoths and Romans are christian. Still debated what the official teachings an practices would be, one debate of this was what the nature of God is. The romans followed the teachings of Nicene, rejecting the teachings of Arian. Arian was adopted by the visigoths previous to their conquering.

  • Main diff: relationship between God and jesus.

    • Nicene believed the one God had 3 distinct ppl within him. Visigtohs thought it was God, then Jesus below him

Third Council of Toledo - Visigoths adopts Nicene Beliefs 589

• After the conversion, the visigtoh church held services in toledo, a religious center in the kingdowm

• In the thrid council, the kign converts the kingdom to Nicene faith

Church and State

• Church built many churches in the same style

• Repressive laws are passed against jewish communities

• Unity among Christians by enforcing the ‘outsiders’

One Law : Liber Ludiciorum (the visigothic code)

• Abolition of legal differences between groups and creation of book to rule all the citizens (LL)

• Books inspired by roman law, Christianity, and the germanic law

A powerful kingdom : treasure of guarrazr

• The king makes laws now which is different from before where only the communities create law

  • He takes on a roman emperor role

• Very pretty treasure on screen. ONE PIECEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Isidore of Seville (560-636)

• From a high ranking family in roman times, his family stayed locally important through the visigtohs

• Showed an adapting to the times rather than drastic change

• Old families in roman times stayed important after the empire fell apart, just taking on slightly different roles

• Dude of nacene while visigtohs were still arian, brother was exile because of this but letter came back with the third council of toledo

The Man who Knew Everything : Etymologies

• Wrote history of the goths, wrote them in a very pretty light, maintaining political favor

• Preserved roman documents, still having access to the lost kingdom

Roman Ruins Near Seville

• Under Visigoth rule, we end of with catholic, nicene roman speaking ppl carrying on many of the cultural and political traditions of the Roman empire. The king and army are still firmly Visigoths but it wasn't visible to the eye, they all looked the same

Umuyyad invasion of 711

• Example of visigoth invasion

• After this, the new islamic leaders built their kingdom based on what was already there

Conclusion

Visigoth followed a post roman blend of christian society, maintaining roman culture and religion and important buildings which adding a new group to the mix

Key Terms:

Key Dates and Terms

• 476 – Fall of Western Rome

• 589 – Third Council of Toledo,

Visigoths Convert to Nicene

Christianity

• 654 – Visigothic Code Issued,

One Law for All

• Isidore of Seville (560-636)

• Romanitas

• Germanic Peoples