Egica, Ergica, or Egicca (''c''. 640 – 701/703), was the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

and

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

from 687 until his death. He was the son of Ariberga and the nephew of Wamba.

Accession

He was married (''c''. 680) to Cixilo (also known as Cixilona, Cioxillo, or Cixila), the daughter of his royal predecessor

Erwig Erwig (; after 642 – 687) was a king of the Visigoths in Hispania (680–687). Parentage According to the 9th-century '' Chronicle of Alfonso III'', Erwig was the son of Ardabast, who had journeyed from the Byzantine Empire to Hispania during ...

and wife Liuvigoto. On his deathbed on 14 November 687, Erwig confirmed Egica as his heir and sent him with the royal court to

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

to be crowned. He was anointed on 24 November. Upon Egica's marriage to Cixilo, Erwig had made him swear an oath to protect Erwig's children. Before his death Erwig required a second oath, swearing not to deny justice to the people. Shortly after taking the throne, Egica called the Fifteenth Council of Toledo on 11 May 688, at which he claimed the two oaths were contradictory (because to do justice to the people required "harming" Erwig's children) and asked the council of bishops to release him from one or the other. Egica, however, met the opposition of

Julian of Toledo Julian of Toledo (642–690) was born in Toledo, Hispania. He was well educated at the cathedral school, was a monk and later abbot at Agali, a spiritual student of Saint Eugene II, and archbishop of Toledo. He was the first bishop to have pr ...

. The council allowed Egica to abandon his wife but only partially rescinded the oath to protect Erwig's children. Egica waited until Julian's death in 690 to call a second provincial council of

Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was t ...

, which resulted in Erwig's widow, Liuvigoto, being sent to a convent.

Notable events

In 691, Egica oversaw the beginning of the building of the Church of

San Pedro de la Nave San Pedro de la Nave ("St. Peter of the Nave") is an Early Medieval church in the province of Zamora, Spain. It is in the locality of El Campillo in the municipal unit of San Pedro de la Nave-Almendra. It was moved from its original site near th ...

in Zamora. In 693, the metropolitan of Toledo, Sisebert, led a rebellion against Egica in favor of raising a man named

Suniefred Suniefred ( 700) was a Visigothic nobleman who rebelled during the reign of Egica and briefly ruled as king from Toledo. A single coin that is related stylistically to those of the sole reign of Egica indicates that a king of the name of SVNIEF ...

to the throne. The rebels controlled Toledo for a time, because they were able to mint coins in the potential usurper's name. The plan to assassinate Egica, the dowager queen Liuvigoto, and several main counsellors failed, and Sisebert was

defrocked Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

and his descendants were barred from holding office. The other rebels and their descendants were sold into slavery.

Legislation

In 693, Egica enacted severe anti-

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

laws described as the most significant such laws by a Visigothic king yet. This was in response, so he claimed, to the

Seventeenth Council of Toledo The Seventeenth Council of Toledo first met on 9 November 694 under Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic King Egica. It was the king's third council and primarily directed, as was the Sixteenth Council of Toledo, Sixteenth, against the Jews, for whom Egi ...

, to a conspiracy of domestic and foreign Jews to overthrow Christian leaders. Egica declared all Jewish-held land forfeit, all Jews to be enslaved to Christians, and all Jewish children over the age of seven to be taken from their homes and raised as Christians. Jewish-owned Christian slaves were to be invested with the Jews' property and to be responsible for paying the taxes on the Jews. This law was not applied in towns where Jews were deemed indispensable to the economy. Indeed, as a result of disintegrating Visigothic power, it was hardly enforced beyond the capital city of Toledo itself. Shortly before he died, Egica amended a law that stated that anyone accused of theft of goods worth 300 ''

solidi The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; : ''solidi'') or ''nomisma'' () was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. It was introduced in the early 4th century, replacing the aureus, and its weight of about 4 ...

'' was to undergo a trial by boiling water. Under Egica's changes, anyone accused of theft for whatever amount would have to undergo this ordeal. At the same time, Egica published several laws that dealt harshly with the issue of fugitive slaves, while simultaneously rescinding laws that permitted slaveholders to mutilate their slaves as punishment. Egica also remitted taxes, but this does not seem to have raised his popularity. He got the bishops to order prayers to be said in his name and that of his family in every cathedral in Hispania.

Death and succession

As early as 694 he co-ruled with

Wittiza Wittiza (''Witiza'', ''Witica'', ''Witicha'', ''Vitiza'', or ''Witiges''; 687 – probably 710) was the king of the Visigoths from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Egica, until 702 or 703. Joint rule Early in his reign, Egica m ...

, his son by Cixilo, even though Wittiza was a minor. In one of his very last acts he had Wittiza anointed in 700. Egica died in his bed, with his succession secured, sometime between 701 and 703. His other two sons were

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

Oppas Oppas (died after 712), also spelled Oppa, was a member of the Visigothic elite in the city of Toledo on the eve of the Muslim conquest of Hispania. He was a son of Egica and therefore a brother or half-brother of Wittiza. After the defeat ...

, and Sisebuto. Don Oppas, who was possibly a bastard son, was

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and joined Musa bin Nusair and

Tariq ibn Ziyad Tariq ibn Ziyad ( ; ), also known simply as Tarik in English, was an Umayyad commander who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal) against the Visigothic Kingdom in 711–718 AD. He led an army and ...

against

Roderic Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...

during the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

. Sisebuto became the

Comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

of the Christians of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, as did his son Ataulfo, his grandson Atanarico and his great-grandson Teudo in 770, 801/802 and 805.

Sources

* Collins, Roger. ''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–97''. Oxford University Press, 1989. * Collins, Roger. ''Visigothic Spain, 409–711''. Blackwell Publishing, 2004. *

Thompson, E. A. Edward Arthur Thompson (22 May 1914 – 1 January 1994) was an Irish-born British Marxist historian of classics and medieval studies. He was professor and director of the classics department at the University of Nottingham from 1948 to 1979, ...

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

Notes

{{Authority control 7th-century Visigothic monarchs 8th-century Visigothic monarchs Genocide perpetrators