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Julian of Toledo's Historia Wambae Wolfram Drews The Imageofthe Christian Ruler in the Catholic Monarchy of Visigothic Spain: Julian of Toledo’s Historia Wambae King Wamba(672– 680) was arguably the last strong ruler of Visigothic Spainable to assert royal power against aristocratic factions and ecclesiastical authorities alike. He is famous in medievalhistory first and foremost for the ecclesiastical inaugura- tion ritual at the beginning of his reign, which involved the first attested royal unc- tion in medieval Europe. The description of Wamba’sroyal inauguration comes from bishop Julian of Toledo, who was later involved in Wamba’sdeposition. In his Histor- ia Wambae,hedescribes Wamba as an exemplary Christian ruler,aprinceps religio- sus,imbued with Christian virtues. He contrasts the ideal figureusing the usurper Paul as an example of abad, un-Christian ruler,depicted as atyrant supported by hostileforces from the outside. The Historia Wambae mayhavebeen written after Wamba’sdeposition, reflectingpolitical interests of aristocratic elites duringthe reign of his second successor,king Egica.The literary figure of Wambaiscompletely different from the historical Wamba. Julian of Toledo aptlyconstructs the imageofan ideal Christian ruler,following literary models from the Roman past,such as Sallust, and the Old Testament.Christian kingship appears as afusion of both Roman and biblical traditions but geared to the conditions of late Visigothic Spain and, in par- ticular,toits leadingecclesiastical circles,which interestingly had been in opposition to the historical Wamba. The ideal Christian king appears to be aliterary projection serving the political interests of particular social elites. The Deposition of King Wamba In the Visigothic kingdom, succession wasalways adangerous matter; the anony- mous Frankish chronicler,known since the earlymodernperiod as Fredegar,de- scribes the Gothsassuffering from aGothic disease because they repeatedlymur- dered their kings.¹ Such occurrences are attested until the beginning of the seventh century,but even afterwards violent successions resulting from usurpation occasionallytook place. The fathersofthe FourthCouncil of Toledo tried to counter- act these tendencies in 633 in the well-known royal canon declaring the person of a ruler “anointed by God” to be inviolable;² in practice,however,these provisions that Fred.,chron. 4.82 (MGH SRM 2, 163): morbus Gotorum. IV Tol. c. 75 (La colección canónica hispana,ed. Gonzalo Martínez Díez /Félix Rodríguez, vol. 5: Concilios hispanos II, Monumenta HispaniaeSacra 5, Madrid 1992, 248–259). OpenAccess. ©2021Wolfram Drews, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725612-015 312 Wolfram Drews weresupposed to prevent usurpations wereoften ignored. An especiallydrastic vio- lation occurred duringthe deposition of king Wambain680.After having suddenly lost consciousness – latersources speak of enemieshaving administered atempora- ry poison – the king went into aperpetual state of penitenceatthe instigation of courtiers and with the help of the metropolitan bishop Julian of Toledo (in office from 680 to 690) in order to therebyprepare him for his supposedlyimminent death.³ When the ruler recovered consciousness he could no longer discharge his governing duties,especiallymilitary ones; accordingly,hewas compelled to sign sev- eral documents, among them the designation of his successor Erwig (ruled from 680 to 687).⁴ This succession, unusual by anyaccount,definitelydid not complywith the royal canon of 633; therefore, Erwig had himself (re)legitimised duringthe 12th Coun- cil of Toledo presided over by archbishop Julian. The same churchassemblyalso granted Julian the newlycreated position of Primate of the Visigothic church. Consid- ering this, it is not surprising that those who had obviouslygainedthe most politi- callywerelater accused of orchestrating abloodless coup against Wamba in the As- turian chronicle.⁵ The onlycontemporary source can be found in the acts of the 12th Toletanum of 681: Idem enim Vuamba princeps,dum ineuitabilis necessitudinis teneretur euentu, suscepto religionis debito cultu et uenerabili tonsurae sacrae signaculo,mox per scripturam definitionis suae hunc inclitum dominum nos- trum Eruigium post se praelegit regnaturum et sacerdotali benedictione unguendum (c. 1; La colección canónica hispana, ed. Gonzalo Martínez Díez /Félix Rodríguez, vol. 6: Concilios Hispánicos:Tercera Parte,Monumenta Hispaniae Sacra 6, Madrid 2002,135–204, 151–152). Subsequently, the problem of how to deal with unconscious penitents whowanted to leave this status upon awakening was dis- cussed by the fathers.This has often been understood as beingconnected to the end of Wamba’s reign shortlybefore.However,Mayke de Jong has pointed to the fact that Chindaswinth had previous- ly vacatedthe throne as apenitent in 653after his son Reccesvinth had been designated his successor years in advance; Erwigalso yielded the thronetoEgica as apenitent in 687; see MaykedeJong,Add- ing InsulttoInjury.Julian of Toledo and his Historia Wambae,in: The Visigoths from the migration period to the seventh century.Anethnographic perspective,ed. Peter J. Heather,Woodbridge et. al. 1999,373 – 402, 374: “Whatever the political pressures involved, something of apattern suggests itself: the old ruler stepping down as apenitent,with his honour unimpaired, while apotentiallydis- ruptive struggle for succession was contained by a designatio.” Cf. also RogerCollins,Julian of Toledo and the Education of Kings in Late Seventh-Century Spain, in: id., Law, cultureand regionalism in earlymedieval Spain, Aldershot et al. 1992, vol. 3, 1– 22,16: “… the act of designation had clearlybe- comeanecessary or useful constitutional fiction.” On Wamba’sdeposition, see Suzanne Teillet,Ladéposition de Wamba. Un coup d‘état au VIIe siè- cle, in: De Tertullien auxMozarabes, II. Antiquitétardive et Christianisme ancien (VIe–IXe siècles). Mélangesofferts àJacques Fontaine (Collection des études augustiniennes. Série moyen âgeet temps modernes 26), ed. Louis Holtz, Jean Claude Fredouille, Paris 1992, 99–113. Cf. De Jong (cf. fn. 3) 373; Francis X. Murphy, Julian of Toledo and the Fall of the Visigothic King- dom in Spain, Speculum27(1952), 1–27,3f. and 16f.; Gregorio García Herrero, Sobre la autoríadela Insultatio ylafecha de composición de la Historia Wambae de Julián de Toledo, in: JornadasInter- nacionales “Losvisigodos ysumundo”.AteneodeMadrid, noviembrede1990 (Arqueología paleon- The Imageofthe Christian Ruler in the Catholic MonarchyofVisigothic Spain 313 Wamba’sElevation to Kingship With this in mind, acomparison to the perspective in Julian’sonlyhistoriographical work is all the more surprising – ahistory of none other than king Wamba. Here, Wambaisdepicted as a princeps religiosus chosen by God, who successfullyputs down ausurpation. Comparing the beginning of the Historia Wambae to the circum- stances of his deposition described aboveisespeciallyrevealing.Julian of Toledo re- ports that king Recceswinth, who had come to power in 649 as his father Chindas- winth’sco-regent in defiance of the royal canon of 633, haddied on the 1st of September 672onhis estate at Gérticos evidentlywithout leaving behind ason or designated heir.⁶ Subsequently, the royal canon wasobserved for the first and onlytime in Visigothic history.⁷ AccordingtoJulian’saccount,the attendant courti- ers, amongst whom remarkablyenough no bishopsorclerics are mentioned, spon- taneously agreed upon Wambaasthe new ruler⁸ who, as was customary,initiallyre- fused to accept the royal honours offered to him; onlyupon threats of forcedid he reluctantlyconsent to assuming the royal office.⁹ At no point does Julian of Toledo indicate that Recceswinth had designated an heir before his death, which is surprising consideringprevious,often conflict- laden successions. It is alsoconspicuous thatthose present apparentlyagreed on Wambaassuccessor so quickly.¹⁰ Julian takes care to emphasise the lawful appoint- ment of the king,which in his opinion is expressed by Wamba’srefusal to allow the royal unction to be carried out then and there; instead he is said to have stressed wanting to be consecrated and anointed in the customary location, meaning in Tol- tologíayetnografía4), ed. Antonio Méndez Madariaga,Teresa Montoro, Maria Dolores Sandoval León, Madrid 1998, 185–214, 201–203. RogerCollins,Julian of Toledo and the RoyalSuccessioninLate Seventh-Century Spain, in: Early Medieval Kingship, ed. Peter HayesSawyer, Ian. N. Wood, Leeds 1977,30–49,30. Gregorio García Herrero, Julián de Toledo ylarealeza visigoda, Antigüedad ycristianismo. Mono- grafías históricas sobrelaAntigüedad tardía8(1991), 201–256, 206. Cf. Collins (cf. fn. 3) 15: “It seems,therefore,that Wamba was formallychosen by those present at the old king’sdeath bed.” While Wamba had been elevated by consensus,the usurper Paul later al- lowed himself to be hastily “elected” without the necessary consensus,asJulian makes clear in his narration; cf. De Jong (cf. fn. 3) 379. On the “class of court-based administrators” as executers of the (at first) apparentlyunopposedchange of ruler in 672 Joaquín Martínez Pizarro, The Story of Wamba. Julian of Toledo’s Historia Wambae regis,Washington, D.C.2005,37. On the topical character of his refusal, see Collins (cf. fn. 6) 43;Martínez Pizarro(cf. fn. 8) 122. According to Julian’sreport, the principal elements of the first part of the inauguration were
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