Chindasuinth, the oldest noble alive, has taken the throne! How will he fare against a restless church and nobility? Come hear about edicts against treason, a revised law code, and a killer epitaph when we review King Chindasuinth!
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Categories
Conquistadores
There are definitely indications that warring went on during Chindasuinth’s reign. For example, there survives a tombstone of a man named Oppila, who died in battle against the Basques in 642. Braulio writes explicitly in his letter that he wanted Reccesuinth to be named co-ruler so that Reccesuinth could take up wartime duties, Chindasuinth being too old to do so. But we have no details on any sustained campaigns.
Score
Peter: 2
Sarah: 2
Total: 4
No Me Digas
So the epitaphs. These were written by Bishop Eugenius of Toledo, and they were both written at the same time, in about 650. They are both written as if they were from Chindasuinth’s point of view – one is for Chindasuinth himself, and one is for his wife Recciberga. The Recciberga one is pretty standard; here’s a portion of it: “Hence I, O wife, unable to overcome fate,/Commit you with these rites to the care of the saints/So that, when devouring flames come to consume the earth,/You may arise a worthy member of their company.” Pretty standard stuff. The final line is interesting, though: “The pact of our marriage endured almost seven years;/She was then twice eleven years old, plus eight months.” It’s unclear to me whether “then” refers to the beginning or the end of the marriage, but it means that Chindasuinth and Recciberga got married either when she was 15 or 22, and they were married for only 7 years before she died. This also means she had been dead a long time by the time Chindasuinth died, but she was buried in the same monastery as Chindasuinth, so where the heck was her body for all those years?!?!
Chindasuinth’s epitaph is . . . less kind. It’s important to point out here that Eugenius was appointed by Chindasuinth himself, and that since Chindasuinth actually died in 652, it’s possible that he was still alive when it was written. Here’s a choice quote:
I am Chindasuinth, ever the friend of mischief;
Perpetrator of crimes Chindasuinth am I.
Impious, obscene, scandalous, shameful, wicked,
Never willing the best, always up to the worst.
Whatever depraved desire can do, injury seeking,
That I have done, and have been even worse.
There was no crime I did not wish to commit,
In vice I was always the best and the first.
Score
Peter: 7
Sarah: 7
Total: 14
Ortodoxia
Chindasuinth was clearly not one for religion. With the exception of the end of his life, he makes no donations to the church, and rarely refers to God at all when proclaiming edicts, which was de rigure at the time. Reccared and Sisebut LOVED to invoke God in their political pronouncements, but Chindasuinth was clearly less pious.
Score
Peter: 1
Sarah: 1
Total: 2
El Rey-sto
Children: 2, possibly 4
Length of Reign: 7 years as sole king
Death: Natural
Score
Peter: 6
Sarah: 6
Total: 12
¿Fuero o Fuera?
Sources
Primary
Proceedings of the Seventh Council of Toledo. Excerpted in Thompson, E. A. (1969). The Goths in Spain.
Chronicle, Fredegar. As translated in Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (1960). The Fourth Book of the Chronicles of Fredegar.
Epitaphs, Eugenius II. 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.
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