Roderic
Encyclopedia
Ruderic was the Visigothic King of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

 for a brief period between 710 and 712. He is famous in legend as "the last king of the Goths". In history he actually is an extremely obscure figure about whom little can be said with certainty but that he ruled part of Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

 with opponents ruling the rest and was defeated and killed by invading Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s who soon conquered most of the peninsula
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....

. His widow Egilona
Egilona
Egilona was the wife of the last Visigothic King Roderic in the early years of the 8th Century during the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. When he died in the Battle of Guadalete she was captured by the Moorish leader Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa...

 is believed to have married Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa
Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa
Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr was the first governor of Al-Andalus, in modern-day Spain and Portugal. He was the son of Musa ibn Nusayr, the governor of Ifriqiya...

, who was later assassinated.

Early life

According to the late Chronicle of Alfonso III
Chronicle of Alfonso III
The Chronicle of Alfonso III is a chronicle composed in the early tenth century on the order of King Alfonso III of León with the goal of showing the continuity between Visigothic Spain and the later Christian medieval Spain...

, Roderic was a son of Theodefred, himself a son of king Chindaswinth, and of a lady named Riccilo. Roderic's exact date of birth is unknown but probably was after 687, estimated from his father's marriage having taken place after his exile to Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

 following the succession of King Egica in that year.

Usurpation

According to the Chronicle of 754
Chronicle of 754
The Chronicle of 754 was a Latin-language history in ninety-five chapters with the narrative theme "the ruin of Spain", which was composed in the year 754, in Toledo or Córdoba...

, Roderic "tumultuously [tumultuose] invaded the kingdom [regnum] with the encouragement of [or at the exhortation of] the senate [senatus]." Historians have long debated the exact meaning of these words. What is generally recognised is that it was not a typical palace coup as had occurred on previous occasions, but rather a violent invasion of the palace which sharply divided the kingdom.

It is probable that the "invasion" was not from outside the kingdom; because the word regnum can refer to the office of the king, it is likely that Roderic merely usurped the throne. Nonetheless, it is possible that Roderic was a regional commander (dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....

of Baetica in later, legendary sources) or even an exile when he staged his coup.

The "tumult" which surrounded this usurpation was probably violent, though whether or not it involved the deposition or assassination of the legitimate king, Wittiza
Wittiza
Wittiza was the Visigothic King of Hispania from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Ergica, until 702 or 703.-Joint rule:...

, or was a consequence of his recent natural death has divided scholars. Some scholars believe that the king Achila
Agila II
Achila II was the king of Visigothic Hispania from 710 or 711 until his death....

, who ruled in opposition to Roderic, was in fact Wittiza's son and successor and that Roderic had tried to usurp the throne from him.

The senate with which Roderic accomplished his coup was probably composed of the "leading aristocrats and perhaps also some of the bishops." The participation of churchmen in the revolt is disputed, some arguing that the support of the bishops would not have led to the act being labelled a usurpation. The body of leading temporal and ecclesiastical lords had been the dominant body in determining the Visigothic succession since the reign of Reccared I. The palatine officials, however, had not been much affected by royal measures to decrease their influence in the final decades of the kingdom, as their effecting of a coup in 711 indicates.

Division of the kingdom

After the coup, the division of the kingdom into two factions, with the southwest (the provinces of Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...

 and western Carthaginiensis around the capital Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

) in Roderic's hands and the northeast (Tarraconensis and Narbonensis) in the hands of Achila is confirmed by archaeological and numismatic evidence. Roderic's twelve surviving coins, all bearing the name Rvdericvs, were minted at Toledo, probably his capital, and "Egitania", probably Idanha-a-Velha
Idanha-a-Velha
Idanha-a-Velha is a parish in the east of Portugal, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, and in the district Castelo Branco. It covers an area of 20.98 km² and had a population of 79 as of 2001.-History:...

. The regions in which the coins have been discovered do not overlap and it seems highly probable that the two rulers ruled in opposition from different regions. It is unknown to whom the provinces of Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...

 and Baetica fell. That Roderic and Achila never appear to have come into military conflict is probably best explained by the preoccupation of Roderic with Arab raids and not to a formal division of the kingdom.

A Visigothic regnal list mentions "Ruderigus" as having reigned seven years and six months, while two other continuations of the Chronicon Regum Visigothorum record Achila's reign of three years. In contrast to the regnal lists, which cannot be dated, the Chronicle of 754, written at Toledo, says that "Rudericus" reigned for a year. Roderic's reign is usually dated to begin in 710 (rarely as early as 709) or, more commonly, 711 and to have extended until late in 711 or 712. Achila's reign probably began shortly after Roderic's and lasted until 713.

War with the Arabs

According to the Chronicle of 754, Roderic immediately upon securing his throne gathered a force to oppose the Arabs and Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

 (Mauri) who were raiding in the south of the Iberian peninsula and had destroyed many towns under Tariq ibn Ziyad and other Muslim generals. While later Arabic sources make the conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....

 a singular event undertaken at the orders of the governor Musa ibn Nosseyr of Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya
In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....

, according to the Chronicle, which was written much nearer in date to the actual events, the Arabs began disorganised raids and only undertook to conquer the peninsula with the fortuitous death of Roderic and the collapse of the Visigothic nobility. Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...

's Historia Langobardorum, records that the Saracens invaded "all Hispania" from Septem (Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...

).

Roderic made several expeditions against the invaders before he was deserted by his troops and killed in battle in 712. The chronicler of 754 claims that some of the nobles who had accompanied Roderic on his last expedition did so out of "ambition for the kingdom", perhaps intending to allow him to die in battle so that they could secure the throne for one of themselves. Whatever their intentions, most of them seem to have died in the battle as well. Other historians have suggested that low morale amongst the soldiery because of Roderic's disputed succession was the cause of defeat. The majority of Roderic's soldiers may have been poorly trained and unwilling slave conscripts; there were probably few freemen left fighting for the Goths.

The location of the battle is debatable. It probably occurred near the mouth of the Guadalete river, hence its name, the Battle of Guadalete
Battle of Guadalete
The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...

. According to Paul the Deacon, the site was the otherwise unidentifiable "Transductine promontories".

According to the Chronicle of 754, the Arabs took Toledo in 711 and executed many nobles still in the city on the pretense that they had assisted in the flight of Oppa, a son of Egica. Since this took place, according to the same chronicle, after Roderic's defeat, either the defeat must be moved back to 711 or the conquest of Toledo pushed back to 712; the latter is preferred by Collins. It is possible that the Oppa who fled Toledo and was a son of a previous king was the cause of the "internal fury" which wracked Hispania at the time recorded in the Chronicle. Perhaps Oppa had been declared king at Toledo by Roderic and Achila's rivals, either before Roderic's final defeat or between his death and the Arab capture of Toledo. If so, the death of the nobles who had "ambition for the kingdom" may have been Oppa's supporters who were killed in Toledo by the Arabs shortly after the battle in the south.

According to a ninth-century chronicle, a tombstone with the inscription Hic requiescit Rodericus, rex Gothorum (here rests Roderic, king of the Goths) was found at Egitania (modern Idanha-a-Velha, Portugal). According to the legend of Nazaré the king fled the battlefield alone. Roderic left a widow, Egilo, who later married one of the Arabic governors of Hispania.

In literature

The Scottish writer Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....

, and the English writers Walter Savage Landor
Walter Savage Landor
Walter Savage Landor was an English writer and poet. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem Rose Aylmer, but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity...

 and Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...

, handled the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" in 1811; Landor in his tragedy Count Julian in 1812; and Southey, in "Roderick the Last of the Goths
Roderick the Last of the Goths
Roderick the Last of the Goths is an 1814 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The origins of the poem come from Southey wanting to write a poem discussing Spain and the story of Rodrigo. The poem was originally titled as "Pelayo, the Restorer of Spain" but was later retitled to reflect the change...

" in 1814.

The American writer Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...

 retold the legends in his Legends of the Conquest of Spain (1835), mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick", "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain", and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."

Roderic has been the subject of two opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s: Rodrigo by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

 and Don Rodrigo
Don Rodrigo
Don Rodrigo is an opera in three acts by Alberto Ginastera, the composer's first opera, to an original Spanish libretto by Alejandro Casona. Ginastera composed the opera on commission from the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first performance was at the Teatro Colón,...

by Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...

.

Sources

  • Bachrach, Bernard S.
    Bernard Bachrach
    Bernard S. Bachrach is an American historian and a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. He specialises in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of Medieval warfare, Medieval Jewry, and early Angevin history...

     "A Reassessment of Visigothic Jewish Policy, 589-711." The American Historical Review, Vol. 78, No. 1. (Feb., 1973), pp 11–34.
  • Collins, Roger. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–97. Blackwell Publishing, 1989.
  • Collins, Roger. Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
  • Hodgkin, Thomas
    Thomas Hodgkin
    Thomas Hodgkin was a British physician, considered one of the most prominent pathologists of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. He is now best known for the first account of Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphoma and blood disease, in 1832...

    . "Visigothic Spain." The English Historical Review
    The English Historical Review
    The English Historical Review is an academic journal founded in 1886 and published by the Oxford University Press. It publishes articles on British, European, and World history since the classical era....

    , Vol. 2, No. 6. (Apr., 1887), pp 209–234.
  • Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
    Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
    Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam was an Egyptian chronicler who wrote the History of the Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain.His work is invaluable as the earliest Arab account of the Islamic conquests of those countries. This work was written about 150-200 years after the events it describes, and...

    . "The Islamic Conquest of Spain."
  • Shaw, R. Dykes. "The Fall of the Visigothic Power in Spain." The English Historical Review, Vol. 21, No. 82. (Apr., 1906), pp 209–228.
  • Thompson, E. A.
    Edward Arthur Thompson
    Edward Arthur Thompson was a British classicist, medievalist and professor at the University of Nottingham from 1948 to 1979. He wrote from a Marxist perspective, and argued that the Visigoths were settled in Aquitaine to counter the internal threat of the peasant bagaudae...

    . The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
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