The usurper has been usurped! Find out how the Basques keep Basquing, why a great-grandmother is holding up a baby in battle, and how good a painting Gundemar had in this episode.
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Categories
Conquistadores
The Basque campaign is extremely successful. Isidore writes that he “devastated” them, which is pretty strong language. However, the Basque Country is far from integrated into the Visigothic realm, and the next several kings will also have Basque campaigns, so it’s hard to judge how effective Gundemar’s campaign really is.
He also has a campaign against the Byzantines, during which he “besieged” them, according to Isidore. No further details about this action either.
Score
Peter: 3
Sarah: 3
Total: 6
No Me Digas
This category is about how you would expect from an older king with a pious wife. A count from Narbonne writes that Gundemar treats exiles and the persecuted with kindness, which may or may not be true, as the point of the letter was how terrible the former king Witteric was and how he exploited the people.
Score
Peter: 2
Sarah: 1
Total: 3
Ortodoxia
Again, not much here. His wife is strongly Nicene in her Christianity, meaning, not-Arian. But we really don’t have much to go on here either.
Score
Peter: 2
Sarah: 3
Total: 5
El Rey-sto
Children: Probably none
Length of Reign: 2 years
Death: Natural
He is so forgettable that Fredegar completely forgets to even mention him. According to Fredegar, Witteric dies in 607, not 610 as actually happens, and Sisebut is crowned and reigns until 630, which also definitely didn’t happen.
Score
Peter: 3
Sarah: 3
Total: 6
¿Fuero o Fuera?
Sources
Primary
History of the Kings of the Goths, Isidore of Seville. As translated in Wolf, Kenneth Baxter (1999). Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain.
Secondary
Thompson, E. A. (1969). The Goths in Spain.
Collins, Roger (1995). Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400-1000.
O’Callaghan, Joseph F. (1975). A History of Medieval Spain.
The Spanish ArPodA 