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New Directions in the Study of Visigothic Spain
Author(s) -
Wood Jamie,
Martínez Jiménez Javier
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/hic3.12294
Subject(s) - antique , period (music) , politics , history , middle ages , literacy , identity (music) , power (physics) , archaeology , political science , law , art , aesthetics , physics , quantum mechanics
Since the fall of the Visigothic kingdom in 711, analysis of its history has been tied to contemporary Spanish politics. Political and economic developments in Spain since the 1970s have driven research into the late antique and early medieval period. Most notably, archaeological evidence has come to play a much more prominent role in analyses of the Visigothic period in Spain. This article synthesises archaeological and historical research from the past 20 years. It draws on recent developments in urban and rural archaeology in order to examine key avenues of research on the period: the negotiated nature of power, post‐Roman identity politics, and law and literacy.