Profile of Rodrigo on Famous Like Me

Roderic (Roderick; Rodrigo in Spanish and Portuguese, see Rurik for etymology), is reputed to be the last king of the Visigoths (709—711). He followed Wittiza to the throne and ruled from Toledo. His defeat and death at the Battle of Guadalete by the Moor Tariq ibn Ziyad was a critical turning point leading to the Muslim Conquest of Iberia over the following decade.

Ascension and rule

Following the Catholicization of the Visigothic kings, the Catholic bishops increased in power, until, at the synod held at Toledo in 633, they gained the nobles' right to select a king from among the royal family. When King Ergica died in 701 the throne passed to his son, Wittiza, who had been co-ruler from 693. Upon the deposing or death of King Wittiza in 709, the nobles selected Roderic, the duke of Baetica, who in turn defeated the heirs of King Wittiza who claimed a right to rule.

The family of Wittiza then fled to Ceuta on the northern shore of the Maghreb. In Ceuta, Visigothic rivals of Roderic gathered along with Arians and Jews fleeing forced conversions at the hands of the Catholic bishops who controlled the Visigothic monarchy. The surrounding area of the Maghreb had recently been conquered by Musa Ibn Nosseyr, who established his governor, Tariq ibn Ziyad, at Tangier with a Moorish army of 1,700 men.

Julian, count of Ceuta, who the Arabs called Ilyan, was Roderic's vassal but also on increasingly good terms with Tariq, and the family of Wittiza. The Egyptian historian of the Muslim conquest, Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, related a century and a half later that Julian had sent one of his daughters to the Visigothic court at Toledo for education (and as a gauge for Julian's loyalty, no doubt) and that Roderic had made her pregnant. Later ballads and chronicles inflated this tale—she was known in Spanish as la Cava Rumía (from Arabic words for "the Christian whore")—and attributed Julian's enmity to Roderic's poor treatment of his daughter.

However, personal power politics may have played a larger part as both Julian and Wittiza's family sought power in the Visgothic kingdom. In exchange for lands in Andalus (the Arab name for the area the Visigoths still called by its Roman name Hispania) Julian's ships carried Tariq's troops across the Straight of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar).

Arab invasion

In the spring of 711, Roderic was campaigning against the Basques and Franks near the north Iberian town of Pamplona. Tariq, briefed by Julian, whom he left behind among the merchants, crossed into Iberia with a reconnaissance force of some 1,700 men, sailing by night and keeping their size inconspicuous. Ibn Abd-el-Hakem reported that "the people of Andalus did not observe them, thinking that the vessels crossing and recrossing were similar to the trading vessels which for their benefit plied backwards and forwards." Tariq and his men marched up as far as Cartagena on the coast, then to Cordoba, where resistance from the local Visigothic garrison was eventually driven back to the city.

Roderic marched his forces south and met Tariq's men at the Battle of the Rio Barbate or the Battle of Guadalete in the Province of Cadiz. The battle occurred on July 19, 711. Roderic's army of around 25,000 men was defeated by Tariq's force of approxamately 7,000.

Roderic is believed to have died in the battle, though his exact fate is unknown. The Visigothic army was defeated when the wings commanded by Roderic's relatives Sisbert and Osbert deserted. His defeat left the Visigoths disorganized and leaderless, and the survivors fled north to Écija near Seville.

The great majority of Roderic's court was also believed killed in the battle. The resulting power vacuum is believed to have assisted Tariq's lord, Musa ibn Nusair, in conquering most of the Iberian peninsula by 718.

One Visigothic noble, Pelayo of Asturias, escaped capture at the Guadalete River, where he may have been one of the bodyguards of King Roderic. Pelayo returned to his native Asturias (in the northern part of modern day Spain) and became the leader of a rebellion against Munuza, the Moorish governor of the area.

Popular culture

The English writers Walter Scott, Walter Savage Landor, and Robert Southey had handled the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" in 1811, Landor in his tragedy Count Julian in 1812, and Southey in Roderick, the Last of the Goths in 1814.

The American writer Washington Irving retells the legends in his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick," "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."

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