Chintila
Encyclopedia
Visigothic Kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom was a kingdom which occupied southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to 8th century AD. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of...
of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, Septimania
Septimania
Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
and Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...
from 636. He succeeded Sisenand
Sisenand
Sisenand, or Sisinand in Spanish, Galician and Portuguese Sisenando , was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia...
in a time of weakness and reigned until his death.
He was elected and confirmed by a convention of bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s and nobles in accordance with the 75th canon of the Fourth Council of Toledo
Fourth Council of Toledo
The Fourth Council of Toledo occurred in 633. It was held at the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo.Probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, the council regulated many matters of discipline, decreed uniformity of liturgy throughout the Visigothic kingdom and took stringent...
. With his election, nothing changed and instability reigned. He never solved the many problems which plagued his time in office and, as the chroniclers of the age tell us, this included rebellions in Septimania
Septimania
Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
and Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...
. In the three years of his reign, he permitted the bishops wide authority and they were the monarchs de facto, if not de jure.
He dedicated his time to councils, the Fifth Council of Toledo
Fifth Council of Toledo
The Fifth Council of Toledo was convoked by King Chintila and opened on 30 June 636 in the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo. It was attended by twenty two bishops and two episcopal representatives. The bishops of Narbonensis were absent for political reasons...
in June 636 and the Sixth Council of Toledo
Sixth Council of Toledo
The Sixth Council of Toledo was the second council convoked by King Chintila and opened on 9 January 638. It was attended by fifty three bishops, including those from Narbonensis who had not participated in the prior council for political reasons. The council was thus a reunion of the whole church...
in June 638. These meetings covered many topics and legislated many new regulations. The king had to be chosen from among the nobility; never a tonsurado (cleric), member of the servile classes (peasants), or foreigners. They dictated the penalties for insurrection and determined that property acquired justly by the king could not be confiscated by his successor. Finally, they outlawed noncatholics within the frontiers of the kingdom, which resulted in many forced conversions.
Chintila died in 639 or 640 of natural causes and was followed by his son Tulga
Tulga
Tulga was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 640 to 642, if his father died in December 640, as some sources state. Although some sources have his rule beginning as early as 639 or ending as early as 641...
.