While researching the early
medieval reliquaries of the Kingdom of Asturias and Visigothic Spain for my
doctoral research, I happened upon the collection of votive crowns from the
treasure of Guarrazar. The the academic debate centring on these Visigothic
votive crowns concerns issues of power, submission, and piety.[1]
In attempting to explain the phenomenon of Visigothic votive crowns, José Gómez
places these artefacts within Visigothic liturgy and the long tradition of
votive offerings in the form of crowns. Gómez goes on to argue that these
votive crowns do not represent the submission of noble power per se, but are
rather religious markers of noble piety.[2]
Yet, I wonder if the multivalent image of the crown can offer such a
straightforward answer.[3]
The use of votive crowns appears to be a widespread tradition stretching from
Visigoth Spain to Byzantium, steaming from previous Roman traditional
offerings.[4]
Yet, are these sumptuous artefacts representing piety, power, or perhaps their
donors? By briefly looking at the votive crown of Recceswinth I, I wish to
explore the complexities of reading these artefacts. Following this, I wish to
propose another perspective to our understanding of these votive offerings,
namely that the crowns could be understood as representing their donors
themselves rather than their piety or power.
The treasure of Guarranzar was discovered in Spain in 1858 after rainwater
removed a slab, which originally sealed the hoard in a tomb. The treasure
comprised a large group of crowns and crosses, though unfortunately for current
scholars, many of the crowns were melted down or sold after the treasure’s
initial discovery. The surviving material consists of ten crowns, nine crosses,
sixteen pendants, and various chains and fragments.[5]
There is no record of why the treasure was hidden away, though the defeat of
Roderick in Guadalete in 711 and the rise of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula do
offer powerful incentives.[6]
Not wishing to write a history of the Visigoths, which would require its own
blog post, I shall jump to Visigothic Hispania in the seventh century. The
conversion of Reccared I from Arian Christianity, which for centuries acted as
a cultural marker for the Visigoths, to Catholicism acts as a convenient
delineation, however artificial.[7]
After the Third Council of Toledo in 589, Reccared I both denounced Arianism
and adopted the name Flavius, continuing the Visigothic translation of Roman
imperial customs into their elite culture.[8]
Moving to the reigns of Chindasuinth (642-653) and Recceswinth I (649-672),
both kings oversaw the formulation of the Liber Iudiciorum, which
abolished the previous tradition of different law codes for the Romans and the
Visigoths, thus creating a unified people, the hispani, at least by
legal definition. The Liber Iudiciorum united Cannon Law, Roman Law, and
some Gothic elements into one code, which would be embellished by later kings.[9]
The balance between secular authority and religious power can be seen
throughout the law codes, in particular with the ability of the bishop to
question the local magistrate on behalf of anyone who felt that their case was
handled unjustly.[10]
These issues of authority will be touched upon further in an effort to
understand the votive crowns of Visigothic kings.
Palo Casket |
Rather than simply
representing the submission of the elite to the Church, these votive crowns
appear as multivalenced artefacts. Gómez’s interpretation of the crowns
describes them as sumptuous offering that denoted heavenly, not earthly, power
and glory. However, it cannot be stressed enough that the Visigothic kings
actively sought to incorporate Byzantine and Roman rituals of office into their
court. These small crowns would have been suspended above altars as votive
offerings by Visigothic elite. In the case of the crown of Recceswinth I, the
king’s name adorns the crown proclaiming in Latin, presumably above the altar,
the donation of the king. One might begin to question the audience of these
artefacts. While diadema and corona are clearly delineated in
other sources, within the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville, the use of corona
is used both to describe the kingly and earthly crown and that of the heavens
and the martyrs.[16] Additionally, when
considering the incorporation of Byzantine practices into Visigothic ceremony,
it is important to note that the Byzantine emperors aligned themselves with the
political power of the Church, in many ways conflating the political power of
the emperor with the spiritual power of Christ.[17]
I believe it to be impossible to separate the political and spiritual elements
of these votive offering, as I believe it is slightly anachronistic to separate
the role of spiritual and secular politics as the two were in many cases intertwined.
Votive Crown of Recceswinth I |
As such, how can the votive
offering of Recceswinth I represent its donors? First one must acknowledge that
the Visigoths were attempting to construct explicit ritual and visual culture
through the translation of Roman and Byzantine practices into their own, thus
creating a hybrid culture. Second, while not all the crowns display the names
of their donors, the crown of Recceswinth I separates itself from the other
votive crowns through the use of Latin. Third the audience of these crowns was
limited. Few would have access to the altar and they would need to understand
enough Latin to read the crown’s bejewelled letters. Indeed, the interpretation
of these votive crowns as pious offerings or as symbols of submission of their
donors to the Church begins to pale when considering the question of audience.
These votive crowns appear to be aligning their donors with the power of the
Church, much in the same way as the inauguration of Byzantine emperors sought
to transform the image of the emperor into that of the imago Christi.[18] A similar practice
of highlighting a donor's connection to the Church, both politically and
spiritually, can be seen with the inclusion of Pope Pascal in the apse mosaic
of Santa Prassede. While not figural, the votive crown of Recceswinth I could
be seen as an attempt by the Visigothic king to align himself with the powers
of the Church. I hesitate using the word appropriate, for I see this symbolic gesture
as a dance of sorts, with Recceswinth I carefully constructing a visual
language of piety and power. While not being bodily present in the church, the
king’s name is placed near the altar utilising a symbolic language which
intertwined the heavenly and the earthy. While this theory remains rather
speculative, I think it important to remember every artefact, object, or piece
of art served a specific and often times performative function.
-Samuel
[1] López, Gisela. 1999. ‘Symbolic Life and Signs of Identity in Visigothic Times’, The Visigoths From the Migration Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge): 424-6
[2] Gómez, José. 2004. ‘Las Coronas de Donacíon Regia del Tesoro de Guarrazar: La Religiosidad en la Monarqúia Visigoda el uso de Modelos Bizantinos’, Sacralidad Arqueología, 21: 466
[3] Valdez Del Almo, Elizabeth. 1990. ‘Triumphal Visions and Monastic Devotion: The Annunciation Relief of Santo Domingo de Silos’, Gesta, 29: 171
[4] Arce, Javier. 2001. ‘El Conjunto Votivo de Gurrazar: Función y Significado’, El Tesoro Visigodo de Guarrazar (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid): 354
[5] Guerra, M. F. and Calligaro, T. 2007. ‘The Treasure of Guarrazar: Tracing the Gold Supplies in the Visigothic Iberian Peninsula’, Archaeometry, 49: 54
[6] López, Gisela. 1999. 424-6.
[7] Díaz, Pablo. 1999. ‘Visigothic Political Institutions’, The Visigoths From the Migration Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective, (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge): 337
[8] Díaz, Pablo and Valverde, Ma.R. 2000. ‘The Theoretical Strength and Practical Weakness of the Visigothic Monarchy of Toledo’: Rituals of Power: From Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, (Brill, Leiden): 64
[9] Collins, Roger. 2004. Visigothic Spain: 409-711 (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford): 226
[10] Ferguson, Craig. 2012. A Comparative Approach to Ethnic Identity and urban Settlement: Visigothic Spain, Lombard Italy and Merovingian Francia, c. 565-774 AD [unpublished PhD May 15th 2012]: 106-7
[11] Guerra, M. F. and Calligaro, T. 2007.
[12] Gómez, José. 2004. 468-9.
[13] Díaz, Pablo and Valverde, Ma.R. 2000. 76.
[14] Díaz, Pablo and Valverde, Ma.R. 2000. 65-66.
[15] Gómez, José. 2004. 471-2.
[16] Barney, Stephen A., et al. 2006. The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge): 390
[17] Cameron, Averil. 1979. ‘Images of Authority: Elites and Icons in Late Sixth-Century Byzantium’, Past and Present, 84: 12
[18] Ibid.
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