The King has been overthrown! Long live the king! This should go great . . . right? Come hear about regifting a medieval fruitcake, getting the clergy in your pocket, and why that 4 year old is preaching Mass in Sisenand’s episode!
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Conquistadores
Sisenand was a noble Goth who was probably born around the turn of the 7th century. When we first meet him in the sources, he is the governor of Septimania, so it’s not really surprising that when the nobility of Spain wants to overthrow Suintila and need Frankish help, they send the guy who’s basically already in France. So Sisenand goes off to King Dagobert to ask for help. The agreement seems to be that Sisenand himself will get to be king if he can bring back the Frankish armies.
Now, Dagobert is pretty interested in kicking some Gothic butt, but when Sisenand approaches him, Dagobert wants to know what’s in it for him. Because if he gets involved in this coup and there’s no upside for France, he’s less interested. So Sisenand sweetens the deal a little bit. He tells Dagobert that the Goths have a dish made of pure gold and weighing 500 pounds. Not only that, but this dish is historical – it was supposedly given to the Goths by the Roman general Aetius back in the year 451, as a thank you to the Goths for helping Rome to fight back Attila the Hun. And if Dagobert helps Sisenand and the other nobles overthrow Suintila, then they will give Dagobert the 200-year-old, 500-pound solid gold plate. Dagobert agrees.
Dagobert raises an army in Toulouse, at which point Septimania declares for Sisenand. The mostly Burgundian army then marches on Zaragoza. Any wavering nobles in Spain saw the writing on the wall and voiced their support for Sisenand, including Suintila’s own brother, Gelia. The army took Zaragoza almost without a fight, then continued on to Toledo, where Sisenand was crowned king in March of 631.
Score
Peter: 3
Sarah: 3
Total: 6
No Me Digas
Sisenand takes Sisebut’s anti-Jewish laws back up and uses much of the Fourth Council of Toledo to give them political heft. He mentions that Jews should not be forced to convert, but also mandates that any Jewish person who has been forcibly converted must remain Christian.
The Fourth Council of Toledo also mandates that Jewish children should be taken away from their parents to be raised as Christians. Scholars think that this may have been an error and that the Council meant to state that the children of mixed marriages should be raised Christian. There is also no evidence that this ever happened. However . . . it’s what the Fourth Council says.
Score
Peter: 7
Sarah: 7
Total: 14
Ortodoxia
While his anti-Jewish laws may turn our stomachs in the modern age, Sisenand’s rejection of forcible conversions actually put him more in line with acceptable behavior according to the Church in Rome.
Score
Peter: 5
Sarah: 5
Total: 10
El Rey-sto
Children: Unknown
Length of Reign: 5 years
Death: Natural
Score
Peter: 4
Sarah: 3
Total: 7
¿Fuero o Fuera?
Sources
Primary
Chronicle, Fredegar. As translated in Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (1960). The Fourth Book of the Chronicles of Fredegar.
Proceedings from the Fourth Council of Toledo. Included in Remie Constable, Olivia (1997). Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources.
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 