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VISIGOTHS, KINGS OF TOULOUSE In 419, the Visigoths settled in south-western Gaul upon a decision by the Western Roman Empire, on a territory chosen by the Emperor Honorius and his patrician Constance. Toulouse was their royal residence. Over the course of time and the growing independence of the Goths, it became the capital of a kingdom often referred to by historians as the Kingdom of Toulouse. In the space of almost a century, the Visigoth kings established a dynasty and extended their authority from the Loire to the south of Spain, thereby establishing one of the first Barbarian kingdoms in the West. This kingdom came to an end in the south-west at the start of the 6th century, following the death of Alaric II in 507. If all these events are relatively well known thanks to contemporary Latin authors, the material traces of a Germanic presence in our region were believed to be minimal. However, the recent discoveries brought to light in the south- west now contradict this belief. The 1,600th anniversary of the settling of the Visigoths in Toulouse is a great opportunity for the Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse’s Archaeology Museum, to present to the public a part of its history that is often overlooked, by focusing the subject of the exhibition on the capital Tolosa and its territory in the 5th century. In connection with written sources, the exhibit will present the results of archaeological research, including some of the most recent and as of yet, unpublished campaigns. It will explore the origin of the Visigoths and the Roman context in which they lived during the last days of the Roman Empire, as well as the material culture typical of this people and specific customs known for the most part thanks to mortuary archaeology. 2 3 THE VISIGOTH, A BARBARIAN LIKE THE OTHERS? “During the reign of the emperors, Toulouse was decorated with the name of colony and its Duumvirs erected sumptuous monuments […]. However, those days of glory and peace passed quickly. The north regurgitated its savage hordes, the empire was destroyed and the Goths, victors over the King’s People, established the seat of their authority in this city. Therefore, everything that once bore the imprint of good taste, or was connected to Roman domination, was shattered by the club of ignorance […].” Jean-Paul Lucas, Catalogue du Musée de Toulouse, 1806 This rather harsh judgment by Jean-Paul Lucas, curator of the Musée de Toulouse at the beginning of the 19th century, perfectly illustrates the dual difficulty faced by the Visigoths. Firstly, because they belonged to the so-called “Barbarian” peoples, their history has remained in the shadow of the Roman Empire, a model of civilization, of which they are believed to have brought about the downfall. Secondly, because they were not the Franks, the heroes of the national novel, the Visigoths were long ignored by so-called “Merovingian” archaeology (relating to Mérovée, the mythical ancestor of Clovis). In Spain, where they are celebrated as the founders of the nation, their existence has long been a subject of study by researchers. Over the centuries, many artists have made use of the figure of the “Barbarian” and the Visigoth. They can be found in painting, sculpture, literature, comics, audio-visual productions, advertising and even video games. However, they are usually represented in the same stereotypical fashion: 2 3 brutal, bestial figures, surviving by means of plundering and destruction. The adjective “Gothic” which refers to a well-known medieval architectural style is a Renaissance creation. In contrast to “Romanesque” art, considered more ancient and therefore nobler, this term was coined to denigrate the medieval style by giving it a “barbaric” origin. In turn, the medieval and romantic counter-culture movement known as “Gothic” in the late 1970s also borrowed its name. These pictures are obviously a far from faithful representation of the Visigoths. The term “Barbarians” actually refers to an ensemble of ancient peoples speaking neither Latin nor Greek, living in Western Europe in the Barbaricum, i.e., beyond the Roman borders of the Rhine and the Danube. The Goths belonged to the same linguistic group as the Eastern Germanic peoples (tribes originally located between the Elbe and the Vistula) with notably the Vandals, Burgundians and the Gepids. The Franks belonged to the group of so-called Western Germanic peoples (between the Rhine and the Elbe). Although there was no political unity and even less a “Germanic race” on an anthropological level, these peoples shared some cultural traits at the beginning of their history: polytheistic pantheon, aristocratic and warrior values, as well as the placing of mortuary items or artefacts in their tombs. 4 5 WHERE DO THE GOTHS COME FROM? The Goths were first mentioned in the 1st century AD by Roman authors who located them in the north of present-day Poland. Nothing is known of their older origins, but according to a legend reported by Jordanes (6th century), a small group, guided by King Berig, is believed to have left Scandinavia on board several ships to settle in new territory. The myth however, may contain a grain of truth in terms of the actual archaeological reality: to the west of the mouth of the river Vistula (Poland), archaeologists have discovered tombs whose architecture in stone mounds is identical to those known in southern Sweden, Norway and the Gotland Islands. These tombs may bear witness to the integration of Scandinavian Germanic tribes into indigenous populations in northern Poland during the first century AD. The Goths may have been born from this fusion, along with the associated archaeological culture known as Wielbark. JORDANES AND THE HISTORY OF THE GOTHS In the 550s, Jordanes, himself a Goth, wrote a work called Getica (History of the Goths). This was a summary of the work, now lost, of his contemporary Cassiodorus. Combining legends and historical fact, this work is the oldest account of the history of the Goths, from their origins to the mid-6th century. 4 5 THE GOTHS AND WIELBARK CULTURE The archaeological culture of Wielbark developed in the Vistula basin from the 1st century AD onwards and takes its name from a Polish village where a cemetery with over 3,000 graves was discovered. Wielbark culture is common to several Germanic ethnicities. The homogeneity of practices and artefacts does not allow researchers to differentiate one group from the other, but written Roman sources suggest that the Goths occupied an important place within this mosaic of populations. The Goths from the Wielbark territory bordered the Baltic Sea and the Slavs in the east, and other Germanic groups to the west and south. They controlled part of the Amber Road and maintained commercial relations with the Roman Empire. Life was organized in open villages where livestock farming, agriculture, and various craft activities were practised, as well as the extraction of iron. Funeral rites involved both cremation and burial, and various items were placed in graves to accompany the deceased. 6 7 THE GOTHS ON THE SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA Between the end of the 2nd century and start of the 3rd century, carriers of the Wielbark culture left the Vistula basin to head south. We can follow these movements, over a generation or so, via the dissemination of typical archaeological objects and sites. This was the beginning of a great Gothic migration, which took place, according to Jordanes, under King Filimer. This journey took the Goths to the shores of the Black Sea, the Scythia of ancient authors (current-day Ukraine), but also to the plains of Moldova and Romania, on the banks of the Danube, on the borders of the Roman Empire. There, the Goths formed alliances with other groups (Gepids, Herules, Carps, Dacians, Alans, Sarmatians, etc.) and formed a veritable coalition who, from 238 onwards, launched repeated attacks on the Roman provinces. The material culture that corresponds to this period is called Chernyakhov. Very homogeneous, it can be attributed both to the Goths and their allies. GOTHS = OSTROGOTHS + VISIGOTHS It was in the third century that, for the first time, two branches of the Goths were mentioned in written sources: the Greuthungi-Ostrogoths (in Ukraine) and the Tervinges- Visigoths (in Romania and Moldova). Cassiodorus and Jordanes translated Ostrogoths by “Goths of the East” and Visigoths by “Goths of the West”. However, for other authors, the name Visigoth is linked to the adjective “weis” or “wiss” meaning “informed, educated”. In other words, the Visigoths were the “wise, educated Goths”, while the Ostrogoths were the “brilliant Goths”. 6 7 GOTHS AND RELIGION In the first centuries of their history, the Goths practised a polytheistic religion. It was when they settled on the banks of the Danube (in the Roman province of Dacia) that the Visigoths were Christianized by the bishop Ulfilas, circa 340. Ulfilas practised a variant of Christianity: Arianism. Thus, the Visigoths were Arians. According to this doctrine, forged by the priest Arius (256-336), Christ did not have the same nature as God. God was uncreated and eternal while Christ was created and did not have the same degree of divinity (he was subordinate to the Father). Arianism was considered heresy by other Christians, especially after the Council of Nicaea (in present-day Turkey), organized in 325 at the instigation of the Emperor Constantine. ULFILAS Originally from a Roman Christian family captured by the Goths, Ulfilas is believed to have grown up amongst Barbarians whose language he mastered. In 341, he became the bishop of Gothia (the lands occupied by the Goths). He had a great cultural influence on his adopted people. For example, he translated the Bible into the Gothic language using an alphabet combining Greek, Latin and runic characters.

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