Abstract

Historiography in Visigothic Iberia was intimately interconnected with episcopal power. This chapter explores the central role that bishops played in the historiography of the period, both as authors and as subjects within the histories. The centrality of bishops to the historiography of the period is further illustrated by consideration of what historians failed to pass on (or treated very briefly), from the local disputes in which they engaged in their bishoprics to the moments that they became involved in disputes with the monarchy or with other bishops. In general, the purely historiographical writings obscure historical instances of disputation over episcopal office at the local level, except in a few limited cases where the aim was to establish the righteousness of the Nicene position.