historical snapshots between barbarians and civilisation
I. Sixty years before Don Pelayo
Each chief — or duke (dux) — was king in his own district, and
free to lead a life of idleness
and crime. If the Goths still fought
well, it was only against each other
From the 33
recognised kings, only 15 died peacefully.
Chindasuinth (642–653)
strengthened the monarchy at the expense of the nobility, he executed some 700
nobles, forced dignitaries to swear oaths, and in the seventh council of Toledo
laid down his right to excommunicate clergy who acted against the government.
King Ervig (680–687)
held further church councils and repealed the previous harsh laws of Wamba,
though he still made provisions for the army. Ervig had his son-in-law Egica
made king. Despite a rebellion by the bishop of Toledo, the 16th council, held
in 693, denounced the bishop's revolt. The 17th council in 694 passed harsh
laws against the Jews, citing a conspiracy, and many were enslaved, especially
those who had converted from Christianity.
II. Waiting for the
Arabs
Following Goth
las, the king couldn't be a bloind
man; so the rulers mangaed to put out the eyes of possible conspirators who
were blinded....
The enmity between the royal families of Chindasuintho and
Wamba was one main cause of the
destruction of the kingdom, the
latter party having assisted in be*
traying their country to the Moors for the gratification of their own
revenge. Theodofred and Favila
were younger sons of King Chindasuintho ; King Witiza, who was of Wamba's
family, put out the eyes of Theodofred, and murdered Favila, at the instigation
of that Chieftain's wife, with whom he lived in adultery. Pe- layo, the son of Favila, and afterwards
the founder of the Spanish
monarchy, was driven into exile.
Roderick, the son of Theodofred,
recovered the throne, and put out Witiza's eyes in vengeance for his father
Why was this? The chroniclers gave answer without
hesitation--"Peccatis exigentibus, victi sunt Christiani." The Goths (as they proudly called
themselves) "have so offended Thee, O Lord, by their pride, that they
deserved a fall by the sword of the Saracen."
III. Barbarian at the eyes of the others.
In the year 1064 a.d. the Aragonese town of Barbastro was taken by an army made up ...before whom there appeared a Jew, commissioned to ransom the daughters of the ... 84 From this chronicle it was copied by Ibn
Bassam:
When the French crusaders captured Barbastro in northeast Spain in 1064 each of the
principal knights received a house with all that it contained, women, children
and furniture.
Ibn Bassam has
preserved the report of a Jewish envoy who was sent to the town to ransom the
daughters of one of the leading citizens. He found the crusader in Moorish
dress seated on a divan surrounded by Moslem girls who were waiting for him.
He refused all the offers of
the Jew on the ground that he had married the daughter of the former owner and
hoped that she would him descendants.
"Her Moslem ancestors
did the same to our women when they possessed themselves of this country. Now
we do likewise. Thus do we succeed." He then turned to the girl and in
broken Arabic said: take your lute and sing some songs for this
gentleman". The Jew adds: I was surprised to see the count show great
enthusiasm as if he understood the words, though he continued drinking."
Medieval
Essays (The Works of Christopher Dawson - page 199)
Some cultural consequences:
one of the crusaders was Guillaume
VIII, duke of Aquitania, father of the first troubadour. (N Davies - Vanished Kindgdoms -page
167)
