Visigoths: Map & History
The Visigoths were a Gothic people who emerged in the Balkans during late antiquity.
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The Visigoths were a Gothic people who emerged in the Balkans during late antiquity. Probably descended from the Thervingi who entered the Roman Empire in 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople (378), they were first united under Alaric I (395–410), whose forces alternately fought and allied with Rome before famously sacking the city in 410.
Modern Countries Once Part of Visigoths
At its mapped extent, Visigoths covered territory in 5 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Vatican (Holy See)407–413 CE · nearly all
- Greece396–401 CE · a large part
- Albania397–406 CE · a small part
- France414–425 CE · a small part
- Italy402–413 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Visigoths's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Visigoths in Depth
History
The Visigoths emerged from the Gothic tribes, probably a derivative name for the Gutones, a people believed to have their origins in Scandinavia and who migrated southeastwards into eastern Europe. This understanding of their origins is largely the result of Gothic traditions, and their true genesis as a people is as obscure as that of the Franks and Alamanni. The Visigoths spoke an eastern Germanic language that was distinct by the 4th century. Eventually the Gothic language died as a result of contact with other European people during the Middle Ages.
Long struggles between the neighboring Vandili and Lugii people with the Goths may have contributed to their earlier exodus into mainland Europe.
Culture
The Visigothic Code of Law (Latin: Forum Iudicum), also called Liber Iudiciorum (English: Book of the Judges) and Lex Visigothorum (English: Law of the Visigoths), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–653 AD) that had been part of aristocratic oral tradition and were set in writing in the year 654. This book survives in two separate codices preserved at el Escorial (Spain). It goes into more detail than a modern constitution commonly does and reveals a great deal about Visigothic social structure. The code abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Romans (leges romanae) and Visigoths (leges barbarorum), and under which all the subjects of the Visigothic kingdom ceased being romani and gothi and instead became hispani.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Visigoths (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Visigoths: Key Facts
| Religion | Visigothic arianism |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q23693 (CC0).
Visigoths Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Visigoths appears, with the other states of the time.
Visigoths Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 44,637 km² in 399 CE.
Visigoths: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Visigoths exist?
Visigoths is dated to 396 CE – 425 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Visigoths at its peak?
At its peak in 399 AD Visigoths covered about 44,637 km².