Roderic
For the Spanish composer, see JoaquÃn Rodrigo.Roderic (Roderick;
Rodrigo in
Spanish and
Portuguese.
[See Rurik for etymology.] Ludhriq "لذريق" in
Arabic), is reputed to have been the last king of the
Visigoths (
709â€"
711). He succeeded
Wittiza to the throne and ruled from
Toledo, Spain. His defeat and death at the
Battle of Guadalete by the
Moor Tariq ibn Ziyad was a critical turning point leading to the
Muslim Conquest of Iberia over the following decade. The name Roderic means powerful, rich or famous.
Following the Catholicization of the Visigothic kings, the Catholic bishops increased in power, until, at the synod held at Toledo in
633, they gained the nobles' right to select a king from among the royal family. When
King Ergica died in
701, the throne passed to his son, Wittiza, who had been co-ruler from
693. Upon the deposing or death of King Wittiza in 709, the nobles selected Roderic, the duke of
Baetica, who in turn defeated the heirs of Wittiza who claimed a right to rule.
The family of Wittiza then fled to
Ceuta on the northern shore of the
Maghreb. In Ceuta, Visigothic rivals of Roderic gathered along with
Arians and fleeing forced conversions at the hands of the
Catholic bishops who controlled the Visigothic
monarchy. The surrounding area of the Maghreb had recently been conquered by
Musa Ibn Nosseyr, who established his governor,
Tariq ibn Ziyad, at
Tangier with a
Moorish army of 1,700 men.
Julian, count of Ceuta, who the Arabs called Ilyan, was Roderic's
vassal but also on increasingly good terms with Tariq, and the family of Wittiza. The Egyptian historian of the Muslim conquest,
Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, related a century and a half later that Julian had sent one of his daughters to the Visigothic court at Toledo for education (and
as a gauge for Julian's loyalty, no doubt) and that Roderic had made her pregnant. Later ballads and chronicles inflated this tale â€" she was known in Spanish as
la Cava RumÃa (from Arabic words for "the Christian whore"
[Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, I, chapter 41. Spanish text]) â€" and attributed Julian's enmity to Roderic's poor treatment of his daughter.
Some historians argue that personal power politics may have played a larger part as both Julian and Wittiza's family sought power in the Visgothic kingdom. In exchange for lands in
Andalus (the Arab name for the area the Visigoths still called by its
Roman name
Hispania) Julian's ships carried Tariq's troops across the Straight of Hercules (
Strait of Gibraltar).
In the spring of
711, Roderic was campaigning against the
Basques and
Franks near the north
Iberian town of
Pamplona. Tariq, briefed by Julian, whom he left behind among the merchants, crossed into Iberia with a reconnaissance force of some 1,700 men, sailing by night and keeping their size inconspicuous. Ibn Abd-el-Hakem reported that "the people of Andalus did not observe them, thinking that the vessels crossing and recrossing were similar to the trading vessels which for their benefit plied backwards and forwards." Tariq and his men marched up as far as
Cartagena on the coast, then to
Cordoba, where resistance from the local Visigothic garrison was eventually driven back to the city.
Roderic marched his forces south and met Tariq's men at the Battle of the Rio Barbate or the
Battle of Guadalete in the
Province of Cadiz. The battle occurred on
July 19, 711. Roderic's army of around 25,000 men was defeated by Tariq's force of approximately 7,000.
Roderic is believed to have died in the battle, though his exact fate is unknown. The Visigothic army was defeated when the wings commanded by Roderic's relatives Sisbert and Osbert deserted. His defeat left the Visigoths disorganized and leaderless, and the survivors fled north to
Écija near
Seville.
The great majority of Roderic's
court was also believed killed in the battle. The resulting power vacuum is believed to have assisted Tariq's lord,
Musa ibn Nusair, in conquering most of the Iberian Peninsula by
718.
One Visigothic noble,
Pelayo of Asturias, escaped capture at the Guadalete River, where he may have been one of the bodyguards of King Roderic. Pelayo returned to his native
Asturias (in the northern part of modern day Spain) and became the leader of a rebellion against
Munuza, the Moorish governor of the area.
The English writers
Walter Scott,
Walter Savage Landor, and
Robert Southey had handled the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" in 1811, Landor in his tragedy
Count Julian in
1812, and Southey in
Roderick, the Last of the Goths in
1814.
The American writer
Washington Irving retells the legends in his 1835
Legends of the Conquest of Spain, mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick," "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."
*
Kings of the Visigoths*
Medieval Sourcebook: Ibn Abd-el-Hakem: The Islamic Conquest of Spainwidth=25% align=center|Preceded by:
Wittiza | King of the Visigoths
709–711 | Succeeded by:
Agila II |
>
|
