Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2561377, member: 44210&quot;]Took quite a bit of sacrifices coin-wise on my part but it was worth it now that I&#039;m finally getting a gold coin of the Visigoths, something sky-high on my want list of mostly 5th-9th century European coins. Relatively, some Visigothic gold (and Ostrogothic-Byzantine) isn&#039;t unbelievable expensive, but for me they are really pricey, and this one was certainly worth it, especially since I put much work towards obtaining it. What&#039;s that phrase? Good things come to those who work hard, or something like that? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(I know how some of you feel about posting a coin before it arrives but thought this was too big to keep secret any longer!)</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Sisebut</u>, Visigothic Kingdom</b></p><p>AV tremissis</p><p><b>Obv</b>: + SISEBVTVS REX, bust facing</p><p><b>Rev</b>: + EMERITA PIVS *, bust facing</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Emerita</p><p><b>Date</b>: 612-621 AD</p><p><b>Ref</b>: CNV. 258.8</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552122[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552118[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Sisebut (Sisebutus in Latin, Sisebuto in Spanish) was King of the Visigoths and of Hispania and Septimania from 612 to 621 AD. His rule followed a succession crisis when three Visigothic kings died in the span of twelve years. As king, Sisebut continued the decades-long conflict against the Byzantines (Eastern Romans) that controlled the southern portion of Spain, which was conquered during Justinian&#039;s wars of reconquest and was named Spania (a newer version of the name Hispania). In a campaign against them, &quot;king Sisbodus took many cities from the Roman empire along the coast, destroying them and reducing them to rubble&quot; (as recorded by the Frankish chronicler Fredegar). Sisebut himself didn&#039;t live long enough to see the reconquest of southern Spain, which was finally completed by Suintila in 624.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552119[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Sisebut was noted by the writers of his time and afterwards. He was known as a very learned ruler, wise and &quot;eloquent in speech, informed in his opinions, and imbued with some knowledge of letters&quot;. Letters written by him as recorded in manuscripts reflect his intelligence and range of emotions, and the personal tone they carry show his involvement in writing them. Sisebut also left behind literary works of his own, including a poem on lunar eclipses and a work detailing the life and death of the Bishop Desiderius of Vienne. An intellectual movement was occurring in Hispania around this time, and it is thought that Sisebut was a product of this movement.</p><p><br /></p><p>(here&#039;s one of his letters: <a href="https://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/letter/44.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/letter/44.html" rel="nofollow">https://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/letter/44.html</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552120[/ATTACH]</p><p>(&quot;Sisebut, 23rd King of the Goths, first ruled in the year of Christ 612. Ruled 8 1/2 years, and died in 621)</p><p><br /></p><p>He was also a very pious Christian ruler, but found it internally difficult to juggle both his strong faith and his duty to be an effective king that waged war and spilled the blood of others, even that of the enemy. Unlike his Germanic ancestors and more recent predecessors who had professed Arian Christianity (the last one being Liuvigild), Sisebut was a ardent Catholic Christian, one that wanted all his subjects to profess Catholicism. This reached a point where Sisebut set out to forcibly convert the Jews of Spain, but very little is known of the extent of this attempt or whether or not he persecuted them (*still not crazy about this aspect of him though* <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie88" alt=":sour:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552121[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>(Visigothic cross)</p><p><br /></p><p>After living 55/56 years, King Sisebut died in February of 621.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sources: Wikipedia articles for Sisebut, Gundemar, Spania</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.academia.edu/775090/_A_Visigothic_king_in_search_of_an_identity_Sisebutus_Gothorum_gloriosissimus_princeps_in_R._McKitterick_I._van_Renswude_and_M._Gillis_eds._Ego_Troubles_Authors_and_their_Identities_in_the_Early_Middle_Ages_Vienna_2010_pp._89-99" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.academia.edu/775090/_A_Visigothic_king_in_search_of_an_identity_Sisebutus_Gothorum_gloriosissimus_princeps_in_R._McKitterick_I._van_Renswude_and_M._Gillis_eds._Ego_Troubles_Authors_and_their_Identities_in_the_Early_Middle_Ages_Vienna_2010_pp._89-99" rel="nofollow">http://www.academia.edu/775090/_A_Visigothic_king_in_search_of_an_identity_Sisebutus_Gothorum_gloriosissimus_princeps_in_R._McKitterick_I._van_Renswude_and_M._Gillis_eds._Ego_Troubles_Authors_and_their_Identities_in_the_Early_Middle_Ages_Vienna_2010_pp._89-99</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in