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Wamba (king)
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Wamba (king)
Wamba (Medieval Latin: VVamba, Vamba, Wamba; c. 630 – 687/688) was the king of the Visigoths from 672 to 680. During his reign, the Visigothic kingdom encompassed all of Hispania and part of southern Gaul known as Septimania.
According to Herwig Wolfram, Wamba means "big paunch" in Gothic (like German: "Wampe", cognate to English "womb") and may have been a nickname. Both Julian of Toledo in his Historia Wambae (History of Wamba) and the decisions of the eleventh Council of Toledo, held under Wamba's auspices, refer to the king only as Wamba.
After ascending the throne on 1 September 672, Wamba faced a revolt from Hilderic, governor of Nîmes, who had himself aspired to the kingship. Hilderic was supported by Gunhild, Bishop of Maguelonne. Wamba sent the dux (general) Paul to put down the rebels, but upon his arrival at Narbonne, he induced his officers to renounce their loyalty to Wamba and elect him king as Flavius Paulus. He was joined by Hilderic and his followers, as well as Duke Ranosind of Tarraconensis and the gardingatus (a palace official) Hildigis. Paul recruited "multitudes" of Franks and Basques to bolster his forces. Following this the Visigothic cities in Gaul and a large part of northeastern Hispania came over to Paul's side.
During these events, Wamba was in Cantabria campaigning against the Basques. In response, Wamba marched into the Tarraconensis region, and in a few days turned most of the cities back to his side. He then divided his forces into three groups, attacking over the Pyrenees by way of Llívia (then the capital of Cerdanya), Auch, and the coastal road, taking the fortresses of Collioure, Vulturaria, and Llívia, finding "much" gold and silver there.
As Wamba moved on Narbonne, Paul placed General Wittimer in charge of the city and retired to Nîmes. Wamba's forces quickly subdued Narbonne and then, after some difficulty, secured the surrender of Nîmes on September 3, 673. Paul and the other rebel leaders surrendered and, three days later, were brought to trial, scalped, and imprisoned for life.
A period of peace followed and, in 674, Wamba rebuilt the Roman walls around Toledo. He also fortified other sites about this time, possibly Hondarribia (Fuenterrabia), a small village in Spain facing the French border over the Txingurri bay, as a military thrust along the Bay of Biscay up to the Pyrenees is attested to in contemporary sources. Wamba brought the Astures and Ruccones (Luggones) under his control and incorporated them into a new province. They had been fighting for their independence since the Visigothic invasions of the 5th century but now finally relented.
After the rebellion, the kingdom faced a new threat in the form of Saracen raiders. In the Chronicle of Alfonso III (written 200 years later) it stated, "In Wamba's time, 270 Saracen ships attacked the coast of Hispania and there all of them were burned." A single attack of this size is doubtful, however, because no other source mentions it. The Chronicle of 754 declared Moors "had long been raiding" Andalusia, "and simultaneously devastating many cities"; however, the Chronicle of 754's most recent English translator, Kenneth Baxter Wolf, holds that this refers to the year before the defeat of King Roderic by the Moors, over three decades after the removal of Wamba.
The law books and decrees of the time reveal a substantial erosion of domestic tranquility and order within the kingdom. In the Visigothic law books, Wamba decrees that all the people, regardless of their religion, and even if they are clergy, are required to defend the kingdom if it is attacked by a foreign foe. This law was created to solve a problem of desertion: "For, whenever an enemy invades the provinces of our kingdom … [many of] those who inhabit the border … disappear so that, by this means, there is no mutual support in battle." This rationale may imply a frequency of raids. That the people were often unwilling to defend the kingdom is further shown by another of Wamba's edicts, in which slaves were freed in order to the fill the ranks of the army. This suggests not only a shortage of volunteers from among the Hispano-Romans who made up the bulk of the population ruled by the Visigothic lords, but also an army heavy in conscripts and the coerced.
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Wamba (king)
Wamba (Medieval Latin: VVamba, Vamba, Wamba; c. 630 – 687/688) was the king of the Visigoths from 672 to 680. During his reign, the Visigothic kingdom encompassed all of Hispania and part of southern Gaul known as Septimania.
According to Herwig Wolfram, Wamba means "big paunch" in Gothic (like German: "Wampe", cognate to English "womb") and may have been a nickname. Both Julian of Toledo in his Historia Wambae (History of Wamba) and the decisions of the eleventh Council of Toledo, held under Wamba's auspices, refer to the king only as Wamba.
After ascending the throne on 1 September 672, Wamba faced a revolt from Hilderic, governor of Nîmes, who had himself aspired to the kingship. Hilderic was supported by Gunhild, Bishop of Maguelonne. Wamba sent the dux (general) Paul to put down the rebels, but upon his arrival at Narbonne, he induced his officers to renounce their loyalty to Wamba and elect him king as Flavius Paulus. He was joined by Hilderic and his followers, as well as Duke Ranosind of Tarraconensis and the gardingatus (a palace official) Hildigis. Paul recruited "multitudes" of Franks and Basques to bolster his forces. Following this the Visigothic cities in Gaul and a large part of northeastern Hispania came over to Paul's side.
During these events, Wamba was in Cantabria campaigning against the Basques. In response, Wamba marched into the Tarraconensis region, and in a few days turned most of the cities back to his side. He then divided his forces into three groups, attacking over the Pyrenees by way of Llívia (then the capital of Cerdanya), Auch, and the coastal road, taking the fortresses of Collioure, Vulturaria, and Llívia, finding "much" gold and silver there.
As Wamba moved on Narbonne, Paul placed General Wittimer in charge of the city and retired to Nîmes. Wamba's forces quickly subdued Narbonne and then, after some difficulty, secured the surrender of Nîmes on September 3, 673. Paul and the other rebel leaders surrendered and, three days later, were brought to trial, scalped, and imprisoned for life.
A period of peace followed and, in 674, Wamba rebuilt the Roman walls around Toledo. He also fortified other sites about this time, possibly Hondarribia (Fuenterrabia), a small village in Spain facing the French border over the Txingurri bay, as a military thrust along the Bay of Biscay up to the Pyrenees is attested to in contemporary sources. Wamba brought the Astures and Ruccones (Luggones) under his control and incorporated them into a new province. They had been fighting for their independence since the Visigothic invasions of the 5th century but now finally relented.
After the rebellion, the kingdom faced a new threat in the form of Saracen raiders. In the Chronicle of Alfonso III (written 200 years later) it stated, "In Wamba's time, 270 Saracen ships attacked the coast of Hispania and there all of them were burned." A single attack of this size is doubtful, however, because no other source mentions it. The Chronicle of 754 declared Moors "had long been raiding" Andalusia, "and simultaneously devastating many cities"; however, the Chronicle of 754's most recent English translator, Kenneth Baxter Wolf, holds that this refers to the year before the defeat of King Roderic by the Moors, over three decades after the removal of Wamba.
The law books and decrees of the time reveal a substantial erosion of domestic tranquility and order within the kingdom. In the Visigothic law books, Wamba decrees that all the people, regardless of their religion, and even if they are clergy, are required to defend the kingdom if it is attacked by a foreign foe. This law was created to solve a problem of desertion: "For, whenever an enemy invades the provinces of our kingdom … [many of] those who inhabit the border … disappear so that, by this means, there is no mutual support in battle." This rationale may imply a frequency of raids. That the people were often unwilling to defend the kingdom is further shown by another of Wamba's edicts, in which slaves were freed in order to the fill the ranks of the army. This suggests not only a shortage of volunteers from among the Hispano-Romans who made up the bulk of the population ruled by the Visigothic lords, but also an army heavy in conscripts and the coerced.
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