Today we are going to look at one of the great female figures of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo and of the 6th century in general: Queen Goiswintha.
Upon the death of her husband, King Athanagild (554-567), whom she had supported in his uprising against the previous Visigothic king, Agila (549-554), she remarried, this time to King Leovigild (569-586).
Her position and political power were fundamental in helping Leovigild establish himself at the court of Toledo.
The marriage between Goiswintha’s daughter, Brunequilda, and the Frankish king Sigebert (561-575) produced her granddaughter Ingund. She married Hermenegild, Leovigild’s eldest son, in 579.
According to Gregory of Tours, Goiswintha acted violently against her granddaughter, the Catholic Ingund, whom he says she tried to force to renounce her faith and convert to Arianism.
It should be noted that Gregory of Tours, a Catholic bishop of the Frankish kingdom, had an interest in portraying the Visigoths as perfidious Arians. Goiswintha was possibly a victim of this agenda.
Hermenegild led a revolt against his father (580-584), and Goiswintha’s role in this is unclear. However, some contemporary sources, such as John of Bichlar, portray her negatively as the instigator of the revolt.
But why did this queen, who had acted supposedly violently against her own granddaughter, support the revolt of the Catholic Hermenegild?
According to those who support this theory, her support for Hermenegild was intended to ensure that someone from her family would occupy the throne of the kingdom.
In this way, both her granddaughter Ingunda as queen and her son Atanagild would attain power in the Visigothic kingdom. Goiswintha thus ensured her dynastic line. But the revolt failed.
The hypothesis that Hermenegild’s baptism was a ‘historical falsification’ has also been considered (Castillo Lozano, 2019). This theory is based on the lack of contemporary sources to prove it. This would better explain the support of the Arian Goiswintha.
After the death of Leovigild, Goiswintha was appointed queen mother of his successor, King Reccared (586-601). In 589, according to John of Biclaro, she led a insurgent movement alongside the Arian bishop Udila against Reccared. Once again, the Visigothic queen is presented as a fervent Arian. But it should also be borne in mind that the Catholic bishop John of Biclaro wrote this when the Visigoths finally converted to Catholicism. Therefore, the Arian Goiswintha, who in theory had supported Hermenegild and was now rising up against Reccared, could not be portrayed in a favourable light.
Some researchers have seen Goiswintha’s possible involvement in Uldila’s revolt as being motivated by political rather than religious interests. These interests would have stemmed from Reccared’s distancing himself from the Frankish court of Austrasia after his marriage with Baddo (Isla Frez, 1990).
Goiswintha’s end came in 589, but it is unknown whether she was executed for her alleged participation in the revolt alongside Uldila or whether she died of natural causes due to her age. The sources are ambiguous on this point.
Alfonso García Sánchez
