Aguila I - king of the Visigoths , reigned in 549 - 554 years .
Aguila I | |||||||
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Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌰 (Agila) lat Agila, Akhila, Achila | |||||||
18th century engraving | |||||||
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Predecessor | Teudigiesel | ||||||
Successor | Atanagild | ||||||
Birth | |||||||
Death | 554 Merida | ||||||
Religion | Arianism | ||||||
Content
Biography
Coming to power
Information about the rule of Agila is extremely scarce. How he ascended the throne and what earned such an honor is unknown. It is possible that he was one of the conspirators or even the head of the conspiracy, as a result of which Teudigizel was deprived of life. But there is no evidence of this. Isidore of Seville writes that he was made king. [1] The use of this verb may also speak about some decision of the gothic nobility, but we do not know how this decision was formalized. Subsequently, Aguila took a sharp anti-Roman and anti-Orthodox position. Therefore, it cannot be excluded that the murder of Teudigizel and the nomination of Agila was a reaction of the Visigothic aristocracy (and, perhaps, of the leaders of the Arian church) to the policy of Teudis and, possibly, Teudigizel. An indirect argument in favor of this could be that in one of the versions of the Chronicles of the West Goths (text A) Aguila was not even mentioned, and the years of his rule were added to the rule of Teudigizel. Grigory of Tours also characterizes him negatively, claiming that his rule laid a heavy burden on the people. [2] [3]
Attack on Cordova
In one respect, Aguila continued the policy of Teudis - the real submission of southern Spain. But he abandoned the approximate aspect of this policy and began to act decisively and rudely. Strengthened in power, Aguil in 550 moved with the troops against Cordoba . This most important city, apparently, still retained its independence, although nothing is known about its history or its internal structure. First, the king was successful, and the Gothic troops entered Cordoba. Aguila and his warriors acted in Cordoba as in a defeated hostile city. In particular, the sacred burial place of the Atsisklia was desecrated with the remains of dead enemies and their horses. The behavior of the king caused outrage in Cordoba, the consequence of which was an uprising, which led to the expulsion of Agila troops from the city. The son of the king remained on the battlefield, together with a significant part of the army, and even the royal treasury fell into the hands of the inhabitants of Cordoba. [1] The conquered Aguila fled to Merida in fear. [4] The city regained its independence. The loss of a part of the treasury made it difficult for the soldiers to pay money, which could not but cause their discontent and led to a decrease in the authority of the king. [five]
Atanagilda's rebellion and the Byzantine invasion
After some time, a rebellion broke out in Seville , headed by Atanagild . Agila’s attempt to suppress the rebellion led to a new failure. Nevertheless, it seems that the subsequent battles proceeded unsuccessfully for Atanagilda, as he was forced to turn to Justinian I for help. Although the war against the Ostrogoths in Italy was not yet complete, the Byzantine emperor decided to intervene in the Spanish events. Justinian made a contract with Atanagild, the content of which remains unknown to us. The Byzantine army under the command of Liberia in 552 occupied the southern coast of Spain [6] . Liberia was the best Westgoth connoisseur Justinian had. He came from a Roman senatorial family and until the year 529 ruled the restored Gallic prefectory of the pretoria , in whose jurisdiction probably was also Spain. In the Gothic War, Liberia held a command position in the army. Even then ( 550 year ) they spoke about him as a highly gifted figure; by the time of the Spanish expedition he was about 80 years old. If Justinian resorted to the services of this old man, appointing him the head of an important military enterprise, although in 550 he freed him from all his posts due to his old age, the reasons for such a decision should be sought solely for the political purposes of the emperor. Most likely, he believed that the appearance of Liberia would have a significant propaganda effect, as he was well known in Spain.
Liberia defeated Agila’s troops, captured a number of cities along the Mediterranean coast and inland, and returned southern Spain ( Betika - Andalusia ) to the emperor. Shortly after Liberia landed on the Spanish coast, the situation changed again: in 554, Aguila was killed in Merida by outraged soldiers, and his former supporters joined Atanagild, [4] who now sought to get rid of his Byzantine allies [7] [8] [9] .
Aguila ruled for 5 years, 6 months, 13 days. [1] [10] [11] Agila’s contemporary was the historian Jordan . In his work On the Origin and Act of the Geth , written in 551, he mentions the revolt of Atanagilda against Agila, but does not produce his results, since, apparently, he did not yet know them at the time of writing his book.
Dynasty of the Visigothic Kings | ||
Predecessor: Teudigiesel | king of the visigoths 549 - 554 | Successor: Atanagild |
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Isidore of Seville . The story is ready, ch. 45 .
- ↑ Gregory of Tours . History of Franks, Vol. Iv , 8.
- ↑ Tsirkin Yu. B. Spain from antiquity to the Middle Ages. - p. 219-220.
- ↑ 1 2 Isidore of Seville . The story is ready, ch. 46 .
- ↑ Tsirkin Yu. B. Spain from antiquity to the Middle Ages. - p. 220.
- ↑ Jordan. Gettika. 303
- ↑ Isidore of Seville . The story is ready, ch. 47
- ↑ Tsirkin Yu. B. Spain from antiquity to the Middle Ages. - pp. 220–222.
- ↑ Clauda Dietrich. History of the Visigoths. - p. 50.
- ↑ Chronicle of Westgoth kings, ch. 15
- ↑ Saragosskaya chronicle , 545 year ( electronic version ).
Literature
- Gregory of Tours . Franks history = Historia Francorum . - M .: Science , 1987. - 464 p.
- Chronicle of the Westothic Kings // Millennium Experience. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance: life, morals, ideals / Comp. M. Timofeev, V. Dryakhlov, Oleg Kudryavtsev, I. Dvoretskaya, S. Krykin. - M .: Yurist, 1996. - 576 p. - 5000 copies - ISBN 5-7357-0043-X .
- Jordan On the origin and deeds of the Geth / Int. article, lane., comments. E. Ch. Skrzhinskoy . - SPb. : Aletheia, 2013. - 512 p. - (Byzantine library. Sources). - ISBN 978-5-91419-854-8 .
- Clauda Dietrich. History of the Visigoths / Trans. with him. S.V. Ivanova. - SPb. : Eurasia Publishing Group, 2002. - 285 p. - 2 000 copies - ISBN 5-8071-0115-4 .
- Cirkin Yu. B. Antique and Early Medieval Sources on the History of Spain. - SPb. : Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University; Publishing house of S.-Petersburg. University, 2006. - 360 p. - 1000 copies - ISBN 5-8465-0516-3 , ISBN 5-288-04094-X .
- Tsirkin Yu. B. Spain from antiquity to the Middle Ages. - SPb. : Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University ; Nestor History, 2010. - 456 p. - 700 copies - ISBN 978-5-98187-528-1 .
- Western Europe . // The rulers of the world. Chronological genealogical tables on world history in 4 vols. / Compiled by V. V. Erlikhman . - T. 2.