A branch of the Gothic people who established kingdoms in southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula after migrating from Eastern Europe during the late Roman period.
From 'Visi' (meaning 'west' in Gothic) and 'Goth,' distinguishing them from the Ostrogoths ('eastern Goths'). The term emphasized their geographical position relative to their Gothic cousins.
The Visigoths famously sacked Rome in 410 CE under Alaric I, but they weren't mindless destroyers—they were actually foederati (allied troops) who turned against Rome when they weren't paid! Their kingdom in Spain became a sophisticated Christian state that preserved much classical learning until the Muslim conquest in 711.
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