page_title: Visigothic Kingdom
section_title: Culture and classical heritage
hierarchical_section_title: Visigothic Kingdom / Culture and classical heritage
context_page_description: The Visigothic Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Visigoths was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of Gallia Aquitania in southwest Gaul by the Roman government and then extended by conquest over all of Hispania. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, whose attempts to re-establish Roman authority in Hispania were only partially successful and short-lived.
  The Visigoths were romanized central Europeans who had moved west from the Danube Valley. They became foederati of Rome, and wanted to restore the Roman order against the hordes of Vandals, Alans and Suebi. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD; therefore, the Visigoths believed they had the right to take the territories that Rome had promised in Hispania in exchange for restoring the Roman order. Under King Euric—who eliminated the status of foederati—a triumphal advance of the Visigoths began.
context_section_description: The Visigothic rule has often been attributed to be a part of the so-called Dark Ages, a time of cultural and scientific decay reversed only by Muslim Andalusia. Through the course of their existence the Visigoths supposedly remained "men of the woods never strayed too far from there," as Thomas F. Glick puts it.
   However, in fact, the Visigoths were preservers of the classical culture. The bathing culture of Andalusia, for example, often said to be a Muslim invention, is a direct continuation of Romano-Visigothic traditions. Visigothic Merida housed baths supplied with water by aqueducts, and such aqueducts are also attested in Cordoba, Cadiz and Recopolis. Excavations confirm that Recopolis and Toledo, the Visigothic capital, were heavily influenced by the contemporary Byzantine architecture. When the Muslims looted Spain during their conquest they were amazed by the fine and innumerable Visigothic treasures. A few of these treasures were preserved as they were buried during the invasion – e.g., the votive crowns from the treasure of Guarrazar.
  While only the senior monks were allowed to read books of non-Christian or heretic authors this did not prevent the rise of intellectuals such as, most prominently: Isidore of Seville, one of the most quoted scholars of the Middle Ages, known for the breadth of his literary output, highlighted by his Etymologies, an encyclopedia of the knowledge of the epoch that was known and translated throughout medieval Europe; Eugenius I of Toledo, an expert in  mathematics and astronomy; or Theodulf of Orléans, a theologian and poet who, after he had fled to the Frankish kingdom, participated in the Carolingian Renaissance. A Muslim source referred to Visigothic Seville as the "abode of the sciences". The Institutionum disciplinae from the mid seventh/early eight century confirms that Visigothic nobles were not only taught in reading and writing, but also in medicine, law and philosophy. An example of a highly educated nobleman was king Sisebut, who was a patron of learning and writer of poems, one of them about astronomy.
caption: Elaborate votive crown of king Recceswinth, part of the Treasure of Guarrazar. Spain
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