Chindasuinth (also spelled Chindaswinth, Chindaswind, Chindasuinto, Chindasvindo, or Khindaswinth (
Latin: Chintasvintus, Cindasvintus; 563 – 30 September 653) was
Visigothic King of
Hispania, from 642 until his death in 653. He succeeded
Tulga, from whom he took the throne in a
coup. He was elected by the nobles and anointed by the bishops on April 30, 642.
Life
Despite his great age (he was already 79 years old), a veteran of the
Leovigild campaigns and the religious rebellions after conversions from
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
were forced, his tyrannical and cruel character made the clergy and noblesse submit to him out of fear of execution and banishment. He cemented his control by preempting an alleged revolt: in a short period of time he executed over 200 Goths of the most noble families and 500 more from the
petty nobility. Additionally, he arranged for the
banishment of many potential adversaries and confiscation of their property. All this took place before any rebellion actually occurred and without any investigation or trial or, for that matter, actual belief that a revolt was pending.
The
Seventh Council of Toledo The Seventh Council of Toledo commenced on 18 November 646 and was attended by 41 bishops either personally or by delegation. It was the first of Chindasuinth's two councils.
The law against treason was strengthened with the addition of a penal ...
, held on 16 October 646, consented to and backed his actions, toughening the punishments applied to those who rose against the sovereign and extended them even to members of the clergy.

Smothering all opposition, he brought peace to the realm and a degree of order not known previously. To continue his legacy, he had his son
Recceswinth, at the urging of
Braulio of Zaragoza, crowned co-king on 20 January 649 and attempted to establish, as many had before, a hereditary monarchy. His associate-son was thence forth the true ruler of the Visigoths, presiding in the name of his father until 653, the year of Chindasuinth’s passing.
Notwithstanding the vigorous nature of political activities, Chindasuinth is recorded in religious annals as a great benefactor of the church, donating many lands and bestowing privileges upon clerics. He improved public estates with the confiscated goods of the dispossessed nobility as well as through improved taxation methods. In the military arena, he undertook campaigns against rebellious
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
and
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...
ns.
He did promulgated many laws dealing with civil matters. With the help of Braulio, bishop of
Zaragoza, he began the elaboration of a territorial code of law to cover both the Gothic and Hispano-Roman populations. A draft form of that work, the ''
Liber Iudiciorum'', was promulgated in the second year of his reign. It underwent refinement throughout the rest of his sovereignty and was finished by his son in 654. In 643 or 644 it superseded both the
Breviary of Alaric used by the natives and the
Code of Leovigild used by the Goths.
According to
Edward Gibbon, during his reign, Muslim raiders began harassing
Iberia: "As early as the time of
Othman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic proph ...
(644–656), their piratical squadrons had ravaged the coast of
Andalusia". However, this reading poses a problem difficult to overcome: the Muslim
Rashiduns
, image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png
, caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia
, known_for = Companions of ...
were still struggling to conquer
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
in present-day Libya. Chindasuinth spent the last years of his life, as so many mediaeval monarchs did, in acts of piety for the sake of his immortal soul. He commissioned
St Fructuosus to build the
monastery of
San Román de Hornija
San Román de Hornija is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear resear ...
on the
Douro, with the intention of having it house his tomb. His remains rest there next to those of his wife, Riciberga. Nevertheless,
Eugene II,
bishop of Toledo
This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana). , provided a judgment on the life of this king by writing the following inscription:
: I, Chindasuinth, ever the friend of evil deeds: committer of crimes Chindaswinth I, impious, obscene, ugly and wicked; not seeking the best, valuing the worst.
[Translation from Peter Heather, ''The Goths'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996), p. 290]
Legacy
Chindasuinth was succeeded by his eldest son, Recceswinth, who continued his reforms. A younger son, Theodofred, was blinded by
Wamba.
Sources
*Collins, Roger. ''Visigothic Spain, 409–711''. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
*King, P. D. "King Chindasvind and the First Territorial Law-code of the Visiogothic Kingdom." ''Visigothic Spain: New Approaches''. ed.
Edward James. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980. pp 131–157.
*
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 197 ...
''The Goths in Spain''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
Notes
External links
*
Edward Gibbon, ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
Chapter 51(from the
University of Adelaide)
Visigothic Law Code text. The preface was written in 1908, and should be read with reservations. Look at ''Book VI: Concerning Crimes and Tortures'', under ''Title III: Concerning Abortion'', the seventh article, which is not "ancient law", as so many others, but the words of Flavius Chintasvintus Rex
{{Authority control
7th-century Visigothic monarchs
563 births
653 deaths