When did the Visigoths in Spain become Catholic?
The Visigoths become Catholic
Los visigodos se hacen católicos
8 May 589. The Visigoths, a Germanic people, first came into Hispania in the 410s, and by the late sixth century they ruled almost all of it from Toledo, their capital.
Where: Spain, Toledo
What happened
The Visigoths, a Germanic people, first came into Hispania in the 410s, and by the late sixth century they ruled almost all of it from Toledo, their capital. They were Arian Christians, while the Hispano-Roman majority they ruled was Catholic. King Recared converted to Catholicism, and at the Third Council of Toledo, which opened on 8 May 589, the kingdom officially did the same. The two peoples now shared one faith, and the bishops gained great power in the state. The Visigothic kingdom lasted until 711.
Say it
Toledo fue la capital del reino visigodo.
Toledo was the capital of the Visigothic kingdom.
Why it matters
One faith for rulers and ruled let the Goths and Hispano-Romans merge into a single people, and made the Catholic councils of Toledo the model later Spanish kings looked back to.
Connected
- Isidore of Seville writes down the ancient world (c. 600–636)
- Isidore of Seville writes down the ancient world (c. 600–636)
- One law for Goths and Romans (654)
- One law for Goths and Romans (654)
Sources
- What motivated Reccared's conversion to Catholicism? — BADDO project, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
- Visigoth — World History Encyclopedia