Visigothic Spain 409–711

Abstract The chronological boundaries of this period in Spanish history are defined by two invasions. The first of these was that of the Alans, Sueves, and Vandals, who crossed the Pyrenees in September or October 409, and put an end to Roman imperial rule over much of the Iberian peninsula. Although this process was not completed until the Visigothic conquest of the last imperial enclaves in the 470s, the collapse of the defences of the Pyrenees in 409 began the transition to the rule in Spain of a series of monarchies whose ruling families were of Germanic origin. At the other end of this period in 7II, invaders from the south, comprising mixed forces of Berbers and Arabs, brought about the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom, and with it the end of the existence of a unitary state exercising authority over virtually the whole peninsula. This would only be recovered during the brief period (1580–1640) in which Portugal was subject to the rule of the Habsburg kings of Spain.