Visigoths

The Visigoths were one of two branches of a Germanic tribe known to our sources as the Goths, the other being the Ostrogoths. Their significance derives from the pivotal role they played in the “fall” of the Western Empire and the development of the post-Roman political settlement in the west. The most important sources for the earlier history of the Visigoths are Ammianus Marcellinus and Jordanes, while John of Biclarum, Isidore of Seville, and Julian of Toledo inform us about their time in Gaul and Spain. In addition a great deal of legal material, primarily records of church councils and royal laws, also survives from the seventh century in particular