Goiswintha
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Gosuintha, Gosuinda, Goiswinth Goiswintha was twice Queen of the Visigoths; first as the wife of Athanagild, and then, after being widowed from him, as the wife of Leovigild. The marriage with Athanagild produced two daughters: Brunhild and Galswintha.
In 569 the Visigoth king, Liuva I appointed his brother Leovigild to co-rule the Visigoths in Hispania and Septimania. Leovigild soon thereafter, in order to further legitimize his kingship, married Goiswintha.
Liuvigild had two sons, Hermenegild and Reccared, from his previous marriage to Theodosia, now deceased.[1]
About 578 Leovigild negotiates a marriage between his eldest son Hermenegild and Ingund, daughter of Brunhilda now regent for her son Childebert.
Gregory of Tours writes: "Ingund was sent off to Spain with much pomp and circumstance. Her stepmother-in-law Goiswinth received her very warmly, but it was soon apparent that she had no intention of allowing her to remain Catholic. She talked with her in a kindly way, and tried to persuade her to be re-baptized into the Arian heresy. Ingund had the courage to refuse. 'It is quite enough for me that i have been cleansed once and for all from original sin by a baptism which will save my soul, and that I have made clear my belief in the Holy Trinity one and indivisible,' she said. 'I hereby confirm that I believe this with all my heart and that I will never go back on this article of faith.' When she heard this the Queen lost her temper completely. She seized the girl by the hair and threw her to the ground: then she kicked her until she was covered with blood, had her stripped naked and ordered her to be thrown into the baptismal pool."[2]
In 589, under the rule of Reccared, the Catholic religion became the religion of Visigothic Spain. Despite Reccared's decrees, many of the Arians adhered to their traditional faith. Goiswintha along with leading Arian bishops and several Visigoth nobles made plots and conspired against the life of the King.[3]
While very little is known of Goiswintha, what is known suggests that she held great importance and influence among the Visigoth nobility. Leovigild marries Giswintha to secure his elevation to power, Reccared immediately upon ascending to the throne seeks reconciliation with his stepmother Goiswintha and on her advice seeks peace with the Frankish kings, and when Reccared abjurs his Arianism Goiswintha is in the center of a conspiracy against the Catholics.[4]
Sources
- Altamira, Dr Rafel The Cambridge Medieval History Volume II, London: Cambridge University Press 1957