Northvegr
Search the Northvegr™ Site



Powered by   Google.com
 
Get Dreamhost to Host Your Domain!
  Home | Site Index | Heithinn Idea Contest |
The Guthones


 

In the year 453, a rebellion broke out, because Dorismantas was preparing for a war against Rome. During this rebellion Dorismantas was assassinated.

No coins of Dorismantas are known.
10. TAUTARIKIS II, became the king of the Balthagoths in the year 453. He was educated, refined, graceful in manners and pleasing in person. But he was capable of treachery and the basest cruelty. At that time he was the most powerful king in Western Europe. Tautarikis II often mixed in the internal affairs of Rome, and the Roman Senate never dared to oppose him. Even candidates for the Emperors of Rome were designated by Tautarikis II.
In the year 466 Tautarikis II was murdered by his own younger brother Eirikis. There are no coins with the Second Tautarikis' name in existence. Only some Roman coins with Tautarikis' counterstamp are known. So far, shillings were the native money of the Balthagoths.
11. EIRIKIS (Eireiks). In Latin he was called Euricus. There are very many inhabitants in Lithuania whose names have the root "Ei", namely: Ei-baras, Ei-butas, Ei-dikas, Ei-gaila, Ei-noras, Ei-mantas, Ei-rimas, and there is even a surname EIRIKIS.
Eirikis became the king of the Balthagoths in 466 A.D. He was a wise and skillful ruler. During his reign the Balthagothic power rose to its highest point. He conquered the whole of the Spanish peninsula, he drove out of Gaul the remnants of the Roman army, he conquered the Suevic petty kings and made them his vassals.

The majority of the population in Spain was Catholic, but Eirikis was a follower of Arian belief. When Eirikis discovered that Catholic bishops were rebellious against him, he put many of them to death, others he banished, and forbade the consecration of new bishops. The banished bishops were spreading alarm. Many of the Catholics dioceses remained without bishops, parishes without priests. Now the danger began to brew over the Balthagothic nation.

Eirikis died in 485. None of his coins are known.
12. ALKRIKIS II, the son of Eirikis, became the king of the Balthagoths in 485 A.D.
During his reign, the Balthagothic dominion was in tumult. Religious hatred between the Catholics and the Arians was culminating. Alkrikis II was in a critical state of affairs.

A.D. 496, the king of the Franks (Germans) Chlodovech (Clovis) forsook his heathen religion and received baptism according to the Catholic rites.

A.D. 507, the German king Chlodovech declared war against the Balthagoths. There were no motives for this war, because Alkrikis strived to maintain friendly relations with the Frankish people. And this was the first incident in history that one Christian nation made war against another Christian nation simply for religious differences. Chlodovech, declaring war, said: "Really it is a shame that the Arians should possess the best land in Gaul, therefore it is my duty, as a Catholic king, to drive them out of there, and to add their country to my own dominions". At the place called Voclad, near Poitiers, the German (Frankish) and the Balthagothic armies clashed. The Balthagoths were totally defeated, and Alkrikis was killed on the battlefield.

What had been built up by Alkrikis I, was lost by Alkrikis II. All the territories that belonged to the Balthagoths, were occupied by the Germans (Franks) and the "Kingdom of Toulouse" was no more. The Germans would have grabbed the whole of Spain, but the Ostrogothic king Tautarikis (Theodoric) the Great, who at that time was the ruler of Italy, took up the cause of his kinsmen, raised his mighty fist, and the Germans didn't dare to proceed any further. The Balthagoths were allowed to remain masters of Spain.

There are no coins known with the legend of Alkrikis II. Shillings and Roman coins were the currency of the Balthagoths.
13. AMALARIKIS, a six year old boy, the son of Alkrikis II, was proclaimed king of the Balthagoths in 507.
After Alkrikis II was killed in war by the Germans, the Balthagoths were fleeing with his son towards Southern Spain. When Tautarikis the Great learned about the calamites that had befallen the Balthagothic nation, he declared himself protector of Amalarikis. And in order to check the German invasion of Spain, Tautarikis sent the Ostrogothic army, and the Germans were severely beaten up. Then the German king Chlodovech had to beg for peace; he acknowledged Amalarikis king of the Balthagoths, and with the remnants of his army he withdrew from Spain.

Tautarikis the Great appointed the Ostrogothic general Tautis protector and regent of Amalarikis. In name Amalarikis was considered the king of Spain, but in reality Tautis was the real sovereign. As long as Tautarikis lived, Tautis treated Amalarikis properly; but after Tautarikis died, he began to wrong Amalarikis. In the year 531, Amalarikis was murdered in the church of Barcellona by the orders of Tautis.

Coins with the name of Amalarikis do not exist.
14. TAUTIS (Theudis). The Balthagoths elected him for their king A.D. 531..
There are many inhabitants in Lithuania bearing such names as: Tautis, Taucius, Tautila, Taut-gaila, Taut-girdas, By-tautas, Got-tautas, Jo-tautas, Nu-tautas, Vyt-tautas etc., etc.

King Tautis reigned in Spain for 17 years. In the year 543, the German kings Hildibert and Hlotair invaded Spain, but Tautis repulsed them. The Balthagoths overtook the German invaders at the foot of the Pyrenean mountains, and they would have been utterly annihilated, but the German leaders bribed the Gothic generals to allow the Germans to make their escape.

In the year 548, Tautis was mortally wounded by a certain lunatic. The dying king expressed his great sorrow for his share in the murder of Amalarikis, and with tears begged that the life of his assassin might be spared.

There are no coins bearing the name of Tautis.
15. TAUTAGIZIS (Theudagiseis), the most prominent of the Balthagothic generals, became the king of Spain in the year 548.
His name is composed of two words: Theuda (= Tauta in Lith.) and giseis (= gizis in Lithuanian). In Lithuania we find such names as: Gizis, Kizis, and near the town of Paliepiu, there is an ancient village called Il-giziai.

Tautagizis became tyrannically cruel. He reigned only for 18 months, and was assassinated in a banquet by his drunken guests. Tautagizis didn't strike any of his own coins.
16. AKYLA (Agila) was elected king by the Northern part of Spain, but the Southern part refused to acknowledge him. A civil war broke out, which lasted for five years. At last Akyla was defeated and killed in the year 553.
There are some inhabitants in Lithuania bearing such names as: Akyla, Akelaitis (the noted Lithuanian writer) etc.

No coins with the name of Akyla are known.
17. VADAGILTIS (v'Athan-hildis) was elected king by Southern Spain, but the Northern part of Spain did not recognize him. In the civil war he was victorious, and in the year 553 he became the sole ruler of Spain.
The name of Vadagiltis is composed of two Balthagothic terms: the Gothic word v'Athan (= vada in Lithuanian) means a leader, and hildis (= giltis in Lithuan.) means death bearer.

Vadagiltis ruled over Spain for 14 years. The people of Spain were glad, because during his reign there was peace and prosperity. One of Vadagiltis' daughters, Brangilda (Brun-hilda), was married to king Sigebert of the East Franks (Germans); and the older daughter, by name Gelesvinta (Gelesvintha), was married to Chilperik, king of the Northwest Germans.

Vadagiltis died in the year 567, in Toledo, beloved by his own subjects and respected by foreign people. He was the first Balthagothic king since Eirikis' times who died a natural death.

No coins with the name of Vadagiltis are known to me.
18. LIOBA (Liuba) was chosen king in the year 568. He was without any ambition. Nothing good nor evil was accomplished by him. Although he wore the king's crown, he let his brother Liobagiltis rule the Country.
Lioba died in the year 571. No coins with the name of Lioba are known.
19. LIOBAGILTIS (Liobagilths) occupied the throne in the year 568.
There are many inhabitants in Lithuania having surnames such as: Lioba, Lioba-ras, Liubar-tas, Liub-gela, Leba-nas etc.

Liobagiltis was really a capable ruler, because he managed to annex the Suevic kingdom to Spain; wrested away several of the cities which were under Roman occupation; compiled and published the code of laws for Spain; built fortresses and founded new cities; established many schools and reorganized the whole system of the Spanish government.

However, the religious differences amongst his subjects, occasionally caused some trouble. Arminegildas, the son of Liobagiltis, embraced the Catholic faith, and took arms against his own father, who was a heretic. A civil war, which lasted for more than two years, broke out between the father and the son.

Liobagiltis began to regard the Catholic Church as an enemy to his government, and he began to persecute the clergy. Liobagiltis died in the year 587.

This king probably was the first of the Balthagoths to strike coins with his effigy and name. There are the following known types of his coins as described on page 167.
20. ARMINEGILDAS (Ermenegld) rebelled against his father Liobagiltis in 582.
The most probable cause of this rebellion was Arminegildas' mother Gaisvinta (Goisvintha). Arminegildas married a Catholic wife named Ingunda, and her uncle Leander being the bishop of Seville, persuaded Arminegildas to become a Catholic. But Gaisvinta was a bigoted Arian, and once she grabbed her daughter-in-law by the hair, and dragged her to an Arian priest for baptism. Arminegildas became angry at his mother and on account of this he quarreled with his father.

Arminegildas was the favourite son of Liobagiltis, and it was pitiful for his father to punish him. Neither entreates nor threats would bend Arminegildas. Shutting himself in the stronghold of Seville, at the headquarters of the Catholics, he declared war against his father Liobagiltis. Seville was surrounded by Liobagiltis, and after two years of siege, the city was captured. Then quietly Arminegildas took refuge in Cordova, but was betrayed by some people. Arminegildas then threw himself at his father's feet imploring his mercy, and the father, bursting into tears, clasped his son in his arms and kissed him. Later the son was sent to live at Valencia.

Nevertheless Arminegildas was unfaithful to his father. In the year 584, he sent away his wife to Constantinople, while he himself was secretly seeking for allies amongst the Franks. Constantinople and the Germans always were enemies to the Balthagoths. His plans were detected, and the officers of Liobagiltis captured Arminegildas and put him into prison. Liobagiltis once more attempted to persuade his son not to listen to the Catholic bishops, promising him freedom and the privileges of a successor. But Arminegildas renounced everything and did not care to listen to his father. Later, an Arian bishop visited him, and even he did not succeed in persuading him. Once an Arian bishop came to him carrying a Blessed Sacrament, but Arminegildas grossly insulted that bishop by calling him "the devil's servant". The maddened father commanded that Arminegildas be put to death. The executioners immediately entered the prison and cut his head off with an axe. Later, the Catholic Church made Arminegildas a saint martyr.





<< Previous Page   Next Page >>



© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.

> Northvegr™ Foundation
>> About Northvegr Foundation
>> What's New
>> Contact Info
>> Link to Us
>> E-mail Updates
>> Links
>> Mailing Lists
>> Statement of Purpose
>> Socio-Political Stance
>> Donate

> The Vík - Online Store
>> More Norse Merchandise

> Advertise With Us

> Heithni
>> Books & Articles
>> Trúlög
>> Sögumál
>> Heithinn Date Calculator
>> Recommended Reading
>> The 30 Northern Virtues

> Recommended Heithinn Faith Organizations
>> Alfaleith.org

> NESP
>> Transcribe Texts
>> Translate Texts
>> HTML Coding
>> PDF Construction

> N. European Studies
>> Texts
>> Texts in PDF Format
>> NESP Reviews
>> Germanic Sources
>> Roman Scandinavia
>> Maps

> Language Resources
>> Zoëga Old Icelandic Dict.
>> Cleasby-Vigfusson Dictionary
>> Sweet's Old Icelandic Primer
>> Old Icelandic Grammar
>> Holy Language Lexicon
>> Old English Lexicon
>> Gothic Grammar Project
>> Old English Project
>> Language Resources

> Northern Family
>> Northern Fairy Tales
>> Norse-ery Rhymes
>> Children's Books/Links
>> Tafl
>> Northern Recipes
>> Kubb

> Other Sections
>> The Holy Fylfot
>> Tradition Roots



Search Now:

Host Your Domain on Dreamhost!

Please Visit Our Sponsors




Web site design and coding by Golden Boar Creations