The Visigothic King Gesalic, Isidore’s Historia Gothorum and the Goths’ Wars against the Franks and the Burgundians in the Years 507–514
The Visigothic King Gesalic, Isidore’s Historia Gothorum and the Goths’ Wars against the Franks and the Burgundians in the Years 507–514
Author(s): Robert KasperskiSubject(s): History, Diplomatic history, Military history, Political history, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries
Published by: Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Gesalic; Visigoths; Ostrogoths; Franks; Theoderic the Great; felicitas; ignavia
Summary/Abstract: Historians dealing with the period of the early Middle Ages do not hold a high opinion of Gesalic, the king of the Visigoths. Gesalic is blamed for the defeats they suffered in the war against the Franks and the Burgundians in 507/08–11. Modern historians’ opinions are based mainly on the work of Isidore of Seville who described Gesalic as a coward and a ruler deprived of luck (felicitas). In this article I argue that to pass an accurate judgment on the king it is necessary to take into account the real politico-military situation of the Visigothic kingdom in the years 508–11.
Journal: Kwartalnik Historyczny
- Issue Year: 124/2017
- Issue No: 01
- Page Range: 7-37
- Page Count: 31
- Language: English