Wittiza

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wittiza (Witiza, Witica, or Vitiza) (died between 708 and 710)) was the son of Ergica, king of the Visigoths in Hispania, and ruled jointly with him from 693 or 697 to 701. In the latter year Ergica died and Wittiza became sole ruler until his deposition or death. Some sources have Wittiza ascending the throne as early as 700 or as late as 702. His capital was at Tuy in the northeast.

In the conflicts between Arian and Catholic at court he was a moderate. However, some authors and historians believe him and his family to have been partial to the Arian cause and, when faced with the advance of Islamic forces, secretly converted to Islam.

According to Washington Irving, in the first part of his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, Wittiza's reign initially showed great promise. "He redressed grievances, moderated the tributes of his subjects, and conducted himself with mingled mildness and energy in the administration of the laws." However, the honeymoon lasted only a short while. Soon Wittiza "showed himself in his true nature, cruel and luxurious."

As the story goes, Wittiza sought to better secure his throne by ending the careers of two of his relatives: Favila, duke of Cantabria, and Theodofred, duke of Córdoba, who lived in retirement at court. Wittiza had Favila killed and had Theodofred blinded and imprisoned. The son of Favila, Pelayo, was elsewhere at the time and thus was spared for the major role he would later play in history. The son of Theodofred was Roderic, duke of Baetica, who escaped to Italy.

Wittiza now ruled tyranically as well as contrary to Christian custom and began exhibiting his supposed covert Moslem beliefs by dropping many of the Christian customs and engaging in Islamic celebrations. For example, following the habit of Muslim rulers, he "indulged in a plurality of wives and concubines." His lack of resolve toward the Saracen power and the Jewish insurrection paradoxically resulted in less attacks by either groups. His dissolution at court soon demoralized the remainder of the country and was mimicked by much of the populace. As chroniclers of later ages would sum it up, "Wittiza the Wicked taught all Spain to sin."

Roderic, in response, declared the King a heretic, a Muslim sympathizer and gathered an army. Roderic ultimately met the royal forces engaged the king in battle, and defeated him. Sources vary as to when Wittiza might have been deposed and when he might have been killed: 708, 709, or 710. But according to the story, he was taken captive and Roderic secured revenge by having the king blinded and imprisoned just as the king had done to Roderic's father. Wittiza died a year or so later.

Because this is a story with simple closure and a straightforward moral, the veracity of all its details is often doubted. But where history ends and legend begins is difficult to determine. What is clear is that Wittiza was perceived as friendly to Islam and lacking in resolution to their depradations. He lost his throne to Roderic during a civil war among the Visigoths. In turn, this threw the country into a turmoil. Ultimately, and certainly buttressing the argument that Wittiza was a covert Muslim, following his defeat partisans of Wittiza invited Muslim forces assisted by a large Jewish army to invade Iberia and assist them in defeating Roderic and in regaining the throne.

Though Roderic was successfully defeated in 711, the Muslims proceeded to conquer the Iberian Peninsula for themselves. In time, the only effective force against them would prove to be Pelayo.

Preceded by: Ergica

King of the Visigoths 701–709

Succeeded by: Roderic