Introduction

Some of the historians of Visigothic Iberia had a well-developed appreciation of the boundaries of the historiographical genres within which they were writing and may even have had their own philosophies of history. Isidore of Seville’s theoretical writings on history, for instance, clearly had some influence on his practice as an historian. Yet, it is necessary to extend our analysis beyond purely theoretical matters if we are to understand better how and why Isidore and his peers in sixth- and seventh-century Hispania wrote about the past. If they wanted to see how others had written about the past and what they had written, Visigothic-era writers also had access to a wide range of historiographical sources, produced within the Iberian Peninsula and beyond, in addition to the theoretical works of Isidore and his predecessors. The historical productions of the period cannot easily be separated from the immediate historical contexts in which they were written either. John of Biclarum wrote his Chronicle to celebrate the conversion of the Goths to Nicene Christianity at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. Isidore of Seville rewrote his Chronicle and Histories in the aftermath of the expulsion of the Byzantines from Hispania in the mid-620s. Julian of Toledo composed the History of King Wamba to record Wamba’s triumph over the rebel Paul in the mid-670s.