The triumph of a linear, providentialist, and teleological history, forged by authors such as John of Biclaro and Isidore of Seville in the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo could prompt equally linear readings of its content. This chapter examines how John and Isidore – the principal narrative sources in the construction of the Visigothic past – portrayed relations between central and local powers with a particular focus on the lexicon of conquest. This does not necessarily imply a rigid vision between centre and periphery, but rather an exploration of the role that these relations played in the construction of a linear history by clerics, monks, and bishops in seventh-century Hispania.

Consolidation of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania

Recent research has undoubtedly demonstrated that consolidation of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania did not occur through a linear process of conquest. As we shall see below, while it is true that dominion was sometimes achieved through military conquest in the strict sense of the word, it is no less true that these conquests formed the basis of more complex processes related to negotiated – and sometimes imposed – mechanisms such as taxation, administration, and pacts with the Catholic Church, aspects that are beyond the scope of this chapter but which form the backdrop to the subject under study.

The Goths, who from the time of Cassiodorus, Jordanes, and Procopius of Caesarea came to be known as Visigoths in the sources, formed their kingdom in Hispania in gradual stages. Their defeat at the hands of the Franks at Vouillé (507) undoubtedly represented a turning point, but was not the only reason why the Visigoths settled in Hispania.