Rodéric

Rodéric ( france : Rodrigue ; Esp. : Rodrigo ), is the last king Visigoth of Hispanie, dead in July 711 close to Jerez of Frontera in the province of Cadiz (Andalusia). Resulting from the Gothic nobility, wire of the duke Théodefred of Cordoue and Rekilona, he is initially duke of Bétique before seizing the throne wisigothic to the beginning of the year 710 with Tolède after having reversed the king Wittiza (709), and having évincé the son of this last, Agila which wanted to succeed his/her father (civil war). Agila and of the partisans flee with Septa Magna (Ceuta) on northern bank African. The area close to the the Maghreb had been recently conquered by Musa Ibn Nosseyr. This one named Berber and in D `other sources a MAWLA (being useful) D `origin Persian, Tariq ibn Ziyad then governor of Tangier and gave him the command of a small army of approximately 7000 riders especially Berbères, coldly ized and very justified Islam.

The Count Julien, lord (perhaps of Byzantine origin ) of Septa (Ceuta), that the Arab call Ilyan or Youlyân, was vassal of Rodéric but also in good terms with Tariq. Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, the Egyptian historian of the Arab conquest, reports one century and half after Julian had sent one of his/her daughters to the wisigothic court of Tolède for its education (and undoubtedly like honesty guarantees) and that Rodéric had put it pregnant. Ballades and chonic later enlarge the importance of this history and allot the hostility of Julian to him. But of the political reasons can have played a greater part. It sent to say to Tariq “I will remove you Al-Andalus” (the Arab name of the south of the Spain, Visigoths having preserved the Roman name of Bétique).

In spring 711, while Rodéric was occupied in north fighting a revolt Basque with Pampelune, Tariq informed by Julian that it left behind among the merchants, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with an army of recognition of 1 700 men, sailing of night and leaving their unsuspected unloading.

“ people of Al-Andalus did not notice to and from of boats, thinking that they was merchant ships ” reports Ibn Abd-el-Hakem. Tariq and its men went until Cartagène on the coast, then towards Cordoue, where the local garrison scorned initially the small band but was beaten with punt seams and pushed back in the walls of the city.

“When Rodéric was informed, it came in reinforcement from Tolède. He fought at a place of the name of Shedunia, in a valley called of our Umm-Hakim day. The battle was hard; but God, powerful and large, killed Rodéric and his companions”.

It is the report/ratio on the Moslem side. The European name of the battle of the July 19th 711 with the mouth of the Barbate river, in which Rodéric was demolishes is the battles of Barbate or Guadalete, in the province of Cadiz, in the south of the Iberian pénisule. Rodéric certainly died drowned. The disorganized surviving Visigoths fled towards north.

Sending the commander of its cavalry to take Cordoue, Tariq entered the wisigothic capital, Tolède, where its first concern was for a table, called the table of Solomon, wire of David ( S (O) uleyman Ben Daoud ):

“Al-Andalus having been conquered for Musa Ibn Nosseyr, it took the table of Suleyman Ibn Dawid, and crowns it. Tariq learned that the table in a citadel was named Faras, at two days of Tolède, and that the governor was a nephew of Rodéric. Tariq wrote to him then, promising safety for him and its family to him. The nephew left the citadel, and Tariq held its promise (...) Tariq tells him, delivers to me the table, and it delivered the table to him. On this table there was gold of the money, as nobody had seen some (...) It took the pearls, the armor, gold, the money and the vases which he had with him, and quantity of spoils, as nobody had seen some. It gathered all that. After that it turned over to Cordoue, and stopping there, it wrote in Musa Ibn Nossevr informing it of the conquest of Al-Andalus, and the spoils that it had made there”.

The following year in 712, the suzerain de Tariq, Musa Ibn Nosseyr united with the attack, and in less than 6 months they had subjected more half of Spain. In 718, the Moslems occupied all Spain except for the mountains of the Asturies in north.

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