Chindaswinth

Representation of Chindaswinth in the Crónica Albeldense

Chindaswinth ( Flavius ​​Chindasvindus Rex ; * around 563; † September 30, 653 ) was king of the Visigoths from 642 to 653.

Elevation

Chindaswinth came to power through a coup against his predecessor Tulga . His old age of around eighty was apparently no obstacle. He was raised to king by a noble party that disapproved of Tulga's politics on April 17, 642 in Pampilica (probably today's Pampliega in the province of Burgos ), and on April 30, through a formal act (probably in Toledo), he was introduced to the office of king. Tulga was put in a monastery.

Fight against the nobility

Chindaswinth's government was shaped by his struggle against a large part of the nobility, which he waged with extraordinary severity. No other King of the Visigoths took action against the nobility in such a systematic manner. According to the Frankish chronicler Pseudo- Fredegar , 200 members of the high nobility and 500 middle-class aristocrats fell victim to the terror. Chindaswinth distributed the women and daughters of the executed to his followers; their possessions were confiscated and some of them were also distributed. His aim was to prevent future rebellions like the one that brought him to power and to nip any resistance in the bud. In addition, he sought a fundamental transformation of the leadership class; In the future, this should mainly consist of followers of the king, who owed him thanks and were bound to him by a special oath of loyalty. The intention was therefore to largely replace the previous independent nobility with a court nobility (service nobility, officium palatinum ). Many of the noble fled abroad, others entered the clergy. The redistribution of property by the confiscations seriously shook the economy.

The laws that Chindaswinth enacted give an idea of ​​his approach and goals. The death penalty and confiscation of goods were not only provided for activities hostile to the state, but the mere expression of anti-royal intentions was punishable. Planning was classified as the deed itself. In the case of a death sentence pardon, glare was mandatory. Nobles and clerics had to take an oath to adhere to his legislation even after Chindaswinth's death and never to amnesty enemies of the state. Donations to the Church or to friends or relatives with the intention of protecting the property from possible future confiscation have been declared invalid. The king also took tough measures against informers who knowingly made false accusations.

Church politics

In his church policy, Chindaswinth sought to include the dioceses in the administration of the empire, especially in the judiciary. This tendency had already shown itself in the Visigothic empire before his government and was now strengthened, with Eastern Roman conditions serving as a model. The 7th Council of Toledo ( 646 ) placed itself at the service of Chindaswinth's policy and adopted its provisions against enemies of the state in canon law. Conspirators were threatened with excommunication ; if they were clergy they should be removed from their ecclesiastical offices. Even defamation directed against the king should be punished with excommunication. The king was granted the right to revoke excommunications that had taken place in his interest as he saw fit (a power of attorney in the spiritual realm that was unique in the Middle Ages). A letter from Chindaswinth to Bishop Braulio of Saragossa shows the king's view of the religious function of the office of ruler. Chindaswinth assumed in his argument that his decisions were directly inspired by God. He thus claimed to know the will of God better than the bishop, to whom he therefore commanded obedience. On the basis of this sacralization of kingship, Chindaswinth claimed the right to massively intervene in the church's personnel policy.

Death and offspring

For Chindaswinth, the consolidation of royal power was linked to his goal of founding a dynasty. In order to secure the succession of his son Rekkeswinth against the right to vote, he raised him to co-ruler on January 20, 649, and in the course of the following years he increasingly transferred the business of government, as he was already approaching his ninety years of age. The succession to the throne worked, but shortly after Chindaswinth's death (653) at the 8th Council of Toledo, part of his repressive measures had to be reversed. The acts of the council reveal the intensity of the conflicts. Metropolitan Eugene II of Toledo vented his hatred of the late Chindaswinth (to whom he owed his office) in a humiliating poem.

Chindaswinth gave his consubrina (cousin or - more likely - niece) to a refugee from the Eastern Roman Empire named Ardabastus ; a son of this couple named Erwig achieved the royal dignity in 680. In addition, Chindaswinth had a son named Theodefred, whose son Roderich became king of the Visigoths in 710 and fell in the battle against the Muslims the following year.

literature

• Dietrich Claude : Nobility, Church and Royalty in the Visigoth Empire. Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1971, pp. 115-145.
• Hans-Joachim Diesner : Politics and Ideology in the Visigoth Empire of Toledo. Chindasvind . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1979 (session report of the Saxon Academy of Sciences ).
• Stefan Esders : Chindasvinth, the 'Gothic disease', and the Monothelite crisis. In: Millennium 16, 2019, pp. 175–212.
• Gerd Kampers: History of the Visigoths . Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76517-8 , pp. 198ff.

Remarks

1. ^ Dietrich Claude: Nobility, Church and Kingship in the Visigoth Empire. Sigmaringen 1971, p. 115; Edward A. Thompson : The Goths in Spain. Oxford 1969, p. 190.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Pseudo-Fredegar IV 82.
3. ↑ Claude pp. 115-117.
4. ↑ Claude p. 117.
5. ↑ Lex Visigothorum II.1.8, ed. Karl Zeumer, MGH Leges I.1, Hanover 1902, pp. 53–57 (law against high and state treason); Concilium Toletanum VIII, tomus , ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos. Barcelona 1963, p. 263f. (Revocation of the oaths after Chindaswinth's death).
6. ↑ Lex Visigothorum VI.1.6, ed. Karl Zeumer, MGH Leges I.1, Hanover 1902, pp. 255f.
7. ↑ Claude p. 124f.
8. ^ Concilium Toletanum VII , c. 1, ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, pp. 249-253; see Thompson pp. 193f., Claude pp. 125, 128.
9. ↑ Epistolario de San Braulio , ed. Luis Riesco Terrero, Sevilla 1975, p. 134 (No. 32).
10. ↑ Claude pp. 126-130; Diesner p. 18f. (and pp. 26–28 on earlier evidence of Visigothic divine grace).
11. ↑ Concilium Toletanum VIII, tomus , ed. José Vives, Concilios visigóticos e hispano-romanos , Barcelona 1963, pp. 263f., 268ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Tulga	King of the Visigoths 642–653	Rekkeswinth