Suintila, or ''Suinthila'', ''Swinthila'', ''Svinthila''; ( 588 – 633/635) was

Visigothic 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 ...

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 ...

and Galicia from 621 to 631. He was a son of Reccared I and his wife Bado, and a brother of the

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Geila. Under Suintila there was an unprecedented peace and unity across the Kingdom of the Visigoths. As a direct result, by 624 the king was able to muster the forces necessary to retake those lands that had been under the control of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Life

Under the orders of King Sisebut, Suintila fought against the Byzantines, who had invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 620. The following year he was elected king, after the death of Reccared II and Sisebut. Once on the throne, Suintila secured a peace unknown in Hispania, as no foreign troops were on its soil for decades. He even managed to eject the Byzantines from their various strongholds in the Levante and according to

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

, was the first to rule all of Spain. What Sisebut had begun by retaking Cartagena, Malaga, Sagunto, and Assidonia from the Byzantines, Suintila finished in 624 when he seized what his predecessor had not at Algarve. Byzantine power was severely weakened by Suintila's successes in the former enclave of the Eastern Empire, which was accompanied by a reduction in the enclave’s standing army. Like

Liuvigild Liuvigild, Leuvigild, Leovigild, or ''Leovigildo'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese), ( 519 – 586) was a Visigoths, Visigothic Visigothic Kingdom, king of Hispania and Septimania from 569 to 586. Known for his Codex ...

before him, Suintila also attempted to bring the Basques under his command, which led to the creation of a new town named Ologicus—believed to be the site of the later Olite in Navarre—but this has yet to be confirmed by archaeologists. Isidore of Seville characterized Suintila as a man of "faith, prudence, industry, strenuousness in examination in the passing of judicial sentences, outstanding care in the exercise of rulership, munificence towards all, generosity to the poor, a disposition towards quick forgiveness; so that not only is he worthy to be called the ruler of the people but also the father of the poor." Many did not share this view according to the ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

'', which reports Suintila had become a hated figure for attempting to make the kingdom hereditary, appointing his son Reccimer as co-regent in 626. The text goes on to relate that from among the nobility through which Suintila had risen, emerged one named Sisenand, who in 631, led a rebellion in the Ebro valley after securing a promise of military aide from the Frankish king

Dagobert I Dagobert I (; 603/605 – 19 January 639) was King of the Franks. He ruled Austrasia (623–634) and Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dynasty to wield real royal power, after which the ...

. The Frankish king dispatched his forces under the generals Abundancio and Venerando, who, once arriving at Saragossa, declared Sisenand king of the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

. At the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633, Sisenand's seizure of power was legitimized by the Council, while Suintila was accordingly accused of various iniquities, forced to renounce his power, excommunicated, stripped of his possessions, and exiled along with his family. In 1858, a farmer's plough uncovered what was to become the Treasure of Guarrazar and Torredonjimero, which consisted of eleven votive crowns, three of them had names on them; these names included those of Suintila, Recceswinth, and Sónnica.

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External links

Coins of King Suintila
{{Authority control 7th-century Visigothic monarchs 630s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown