The Urbs Regia of the Visigoths

In about 400 AD, the First Council of Toledo was held. By then Toledo was no small city in decline, but in fact quite the opposite, judging by the archaeological finds and the fact that Christianity took early root there – a typical characteristic of prominent urban centres. Unlike other cities nearby, Toledo continued to grow and flourish throughout the 4^th and 5^th centuries, gradually acquiring more status and enjoying an influence over regions ever more distant from the centre of the Peninsula.

When the Visigoths settled in the Iberian Peninsula after defeat at Vouillé in 507 AD, they had no definite base for several years. Not until Hispania was largely conquered did they establish a permanent seat of power in any one city. And that city had to be Toledo, even though there is actually no mention of the city in written records for a century and a half after the First Council of Toledo in about 400 AD. Some suggestion of permanence in Toledo is recorded in 546 AD with the promulgation of the Visigothic king Theudis’ so-called law of procedural costs. The reference here to Toledo is not insignificant; it indicates links between the court and its administrative apparatus and chancellery in the city. And with that a sense of permanence and stability.

Toledo became the urbs regia; royal residence, court and headquarters of the administration. The central administrative organ of the kingdom and palace, the Palatine Office, was established. This was divided into different sections, each of which was headed by an important official or “count” - someone whom the king trusted, drawn from the ranks of the nobility.