This volume is a 2020 addition to Amsterdam University Press’ Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia (LAEMI) series. Running since 2016, LAEMI covers the Iberian Peninsula, Gallia Narbonensis and Mauretania Tingitania from c. 150 ce to 1000 ce from a range of methodological and disciplinary approaches in order to provide a comprehensive picture of late antique and early medieval Iberia.
As editors Dell’ Elicine and Martin state in Chapter 1, which lays out the book's aims and a brief historiography before moving on to a characterisation of Visigothic society, that the volume is intended as a multidisciplinary look at frameworks of power in the Visigothic Kingdom through purposefully brief explorations of the subject from a variety of perspectives (pp. 13–14). The work seeks to shed light on ‘how a culturally diverse population was held together as a single kingdom … [and t]hrough this dynamic process a new early medieval society emerged’ (p. 9) and to compile useful bibliography to facilitate future research on the matter. Each of the following seven chapters thus considers a particular aspect of the Visigothic Kingdom.
The second and third chapters both analyse Isidore of Seville. In Chapter 2 J. Elfassi undertakes a close reading of Isidore's work, looking at his reception of Augustine and possible doctrinal implications thereof. Elfassi's work is no doubt significant for updating our knowledge of Augustine intertextuality in Isidore's work; perhaps even more interesting, however, is his view of our own, modern reception: ‘it is perhaps our conception of borrowing, our obsession with interpreting any parallel textual reference as significant, which is anachronistic and which should be revised, at least for a writer like Isidore’ (p. 42). This idea seems to have great potential to spark new conversations in Classical reception studies.
In Chapter 3 D. Castro explores Isidore's usage of the Bible, evaluating regulations he espoused as to who could be exposed to its contents and how, and including interesting discussions of monasteries, developments in the practice of reading aloud in Isidore's time, and his attitude towards ‘pagan’ literature and libri gentilium. Castro weaves all these factors into a useful, clear narrative regarding the part they played in Isidore's efforts to consolidate episcopal and ecclesiastical power in Hispalis and the overall growth of ecclesiastical power in the Visigothic Kingdom.
C. Tejerizo's Chapter 4 shifts topically and methodologically, taking an interdisciplinary approach to the Visigothic rural world, particularly ‘peasant societies’ therein. Tejerizo provides a concise historiography of Visigothic rural studies, beginning with a discussion of major political and social developments that led to a stagnation in the study of Iberia's post-Roman peasantry – chiefly the Spanish civil war, World War II, and Francoism and its ideological ties to Nazi Germany – an important reminder of how modern frameworks of power also impact on our study of the Visigothic Kingdom. This is followed by scholarly and technological changes that have increased interest in studying Iberia's medieval ‘peasantry’ archaeologically and improved our ability to effectively do so, particularly since 1985's Heritage Law, which he credits with the creation of ‘a true archaeology of early medieval villages in the Iberian Peninsula’ (p. 86).
Tejerizo then presents nuances that the resultant study of early medieval rural Iberia has revealed, identifying regional variations in self-governance and elite power, and methods of analysis of economic and social inequality. He also concludes that funerary evidence indicates these aspects as having been more ‘significant layer[s] of self and communal identification’ (p. 94) compared with ethnicity or religion than is typically believed. Beyond a useful look at the Iberian evidence, the chapter also has broader methodological applicability outside Iberian studies, given the overall increased academic interest in late antique and early medieval rural communities, and may serve to integrate better the study of Iberian evidence into Anglophone academia.
Well placed alongside Tejerizo's analysis of aspects and layers of community identity, Dell’ Elicine's Chapter 5 examines practices of sacralisation and their connection with negotiations of power in the Visigothic Kingdom, considering seventh-century Iberian ritual practice through a detailed review of ecclesiastical council canons and Visigothic law. The chapter demonstrates the significance of the written word in enforcing law and doctrine and the strength of the household and kinship networks in the Visigothic Kingdom, in addition to providing an important look at religious practice amongst enslaved peoples during the Visigothic period, a subject not always easily observed or extensively studied. Overall, Dell’ Elicine lays the groundwork for much fruitful future research.
In Chapter 6 Martin makes another valuable contribution, clarifying developments in Visigothic legal code and practice relating to the death penalty, exile and enslavement. She looks briefly at earlier precedent, then focuses on the changes in the Visigothic penal code and possible Christian influence behind them, especially King Ervig's revisions of the Liber Iudiciorum in 681 ce, during which he removed the death penalty as a punishment for several crimes (p. 140). Martin continues with penal code changes relating to Jewish people and the possible merging of exile and enslavement.
Martin defends Christianity's influence perhaps unnecessarily strongly against earlier scholarship; she states that ‘without rejecting it entirely, scholarship has been reluctant for some years now to admit Christianization as the main cause of legal change in Late Antiquity and Byzantium’ (p. 144). While perhaps true of some scholars, much of the cited work seems to willingly admit Christian influence. One of Martin's key points is that punishment in the Visigothic Kingdom, even before Ervig, was often less severe than the law mandated (p. 141). Indeed, she demonstrates that one of the major impacts of Ervig's reforms was to improve the law's credibility by removing the death penalty for selected crimes in order to match more closely punishments people were actually receiving (see especially pp. 148–50).
Neither P. Garnsey nor J. Harries, both cited as ‘reluctant’, make earlier church fathers such as Augustine or Ambrose responsible for effecting immediate change de iure, but both acknowledge Christianity's impact on the de facto dispensation of capital punishment. Though aware of limitations on the extent to which Christian leaders could impact law and society in earlier late antique centuries, Garnsey and Harries seem to conclude that Christian leaders often advocated against the practice of capital punishment, helping set in motion the process that eventually brought about official legal change. They do not appear reluctant to acknowledge Christianisation's eventual influence on judicial policy, but focused on an earlier phase of this process – Christianisation's influence on judicial practice –, supporting Martin's argument and further explaining the eventual legal changes she documents.
In Chapter 7 M. Vallejo takes an interesting look at the seventh-century negotiation of a peace treaty between the Visigothic Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire regarding Byzantine occupation of Hispania. In addition to examining the text of some of the negotiations, Vallejo explores the seeming preference for viva voce negotiations in late antiquity as well as methods of authenticating royal or imperial communication. Vallejo's contribution is also valuable for its emphasis on the impact that occurrences outside the Visigothic Kingdom still had on the Iberian Peninsula in the seventh century. Visigothic scholarship, and scholarship on ancient Iberia overall, is at times somewhat insular and isolated from research on other regions, focusing only on internal patterns or developments and receiving comparably little attention from outside studies; Vallejo's chapter is an important reminder that the post-Roman Iberian Peninsula was not itself completely isolated, but remained an active element within events playing out throughout the Mediterranean and Near East.
In the eighth and final chapter R. Pliego provides a brief history of Visigothic numismatic studies, an updated summary of all known Visigothic coinage and a convincing argument for greater caution regarding the study of coin hoards in conjunction with isolated finds to speculate about Visigothic coin circulation and related economic issues. Through a short look at a recent study of Lusitanian evidence (pp. 207–9), she points out misleading and confusing results that can come about as a consequence – an important methodological consideration that makes this chapter highly valuable, recommended reading for anyone conducting a numismatic study of the Classical world, Iberian or otherwise. Pliego also directs the reader to some exciting forthcoming publications, perhaps particularly the ‘Framing the Late Antique and Early Medieval’ (FLAME) project at Princeton University, which aims to publish all known Visigothic coins, and which will greatly facilitate the study thereof.
The volume certainly contributes to the LAEMI series’ goal of increasing integration of Iberian studies within Anglophone Classical studies, compiling an extensive bibliography of Spanish and English-language research material. It also works towards promoting interdisciplinary study, though most of its chapters seem to skew towards textual analysis. As for the aims of this volume, collating brief explorations of aspects of power in Visigothic society in order to open a dialogue and lay groundwork for future studies to continue this dialogue, Framing Power does so successfully, providing an abundance of interesting and well-researched material and frameworks for further research. One small note would be that, while both chapters on Isidore are well written and informative, and Isidore is a key figure in Visigothic history, as the volume is limited to eight chapters, it may have been productive to limit Isidorian analysis to one chapter, incorporating instead another subject – perhaps ethnicity, which is briefly touched upon throughout, but does not receive a comprehensive treatment – to broaden the scope of the discussion of Visigothic society.
Regarding presentation, there are small typographical errors throughout (e.g. p. 66: ‘strengthened, p. 163: ‘Byzantine’, p. 186: ‘Obverse’) none of which impact understanding or quality of research. Given its extensive bibliography and suggestions for methodological innovation, the volume as a whole will be highly useful for specialists in Visigothic studies, while its individual chapters will also be helpful for researchers considering similar questions or bodies of evidence outside the Visigothic Kingdom, as Dell’ Elicine and Martin intended (pp. 13–14).
