Recceswinth


Recceswinth

(rĕk`əswĭnth), d. 672, Visigothic king of Spain (653–72). He was the son of ChindaswinthChindaswinth
, d. 653, Visigothic king of Spain (642–53). His reign began violently as factions of the nobility sought to dominate royal policy. Chindaswinth prevailed and, together with his son Recceswinth whom he admitted to joint rule in 649, inaugurated a program
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, who in 649 admitted him to joint rule. Recceswinth succeeded to the throne without election, thereby violating the Visigothic tradition enjoining election of the king by the nobility. Almost immediately he was faced by an insurrection. Although he conquered the rebellious nobles, he nevertheless compromised by rejecting the principle of hereditary succession at the Eighth Council of Toledo. Like his father, he advocated a policy of assimilation between his Visigothic and Spanish-Roman subjects. Considered one of the greatest Visigothic lawmakers, Recceswinth completed and promulgated (c.654) the law code begun by his father to replace the Breviary of AlaricBreviary of Alaric
, Visigothic code of Roman law issued (506) by King Alaric II for his Roman subjects in Spain and S Gaul. It is also known as the Lex Romana Visigothorum.
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 of 506. Known as the Liber iudiciorum and later as the Liber or Forum iudicum, its 12 books fused Roman and Germanic law and were binding on both populations. The compilation was the basis of Spanish medieval law and served for centuries as a widely used legal handbook.