The Visigoths were an ancient Germanic people, a western branch of the Goths comprising around 200,000 people in the year 370 CE when they were driven across the Danube by the expansion of the Huns. They first settled in Illyria (present day Yugoslavia, Croatia and Albania) but were driven out by the Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire) so moved across Italy, sacking Rome in 410 CE under the leadership of Alaric I, before establishing themselves in Aquitaine (France south of the Loire and west of the Rhone) and Provence. In the second half of the fifth century they added much of the Iberian peninsula to their territories (excepting only the Basque country and Galicia) and became the most important power in Western Europe under Thedoric II and Euric. The defeat of Alaric II by the Franks…
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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "The Visigoths". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 November 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1629, accessed 23 November 2024.]
