A Most Christian Kingdom

Abstract This chapter traces the emergence of a model of Christian kingship in the Visigothic kingdom, finding its origins in the actions of lay elites. Initially Homoian kings ruled a confessionally diverse kingdom but the threat from Justinian’s empire inspired an imperial-style search for doctrinal uniformity and the eventual conversion of the kingdom to Nicene Christianity in 589. The end of dynastic kingship shortly after encouraged the emergence of an ideology of kingship as an office, with Christianity providing the criteria for its possession. While Isidore of Seville enunciated this ideology, it also appears in lay writings; the interests of lay elites drove its development. Courtiers attended the councils of Toledo and shared in the sacrality of those proceedings, creating a need for kings to differentiate themselves with sacralizing rituals, such as anointing. Christianity became key to the political culture of competition that kept the Visigothic kingdom together until the Islamic conquest of Iberia.