The Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, in their progress southward, broke into Spain about the beginning of the fifth century; and, in a few years had reduced and partitioned among them that beautiful country. The native militia, for a time, successfully repelled the inroads of barbarians; but when these were supplant ed by the mercenary guards, the gates of the Pyre nees were betrayed to the enemy, whose progress was marked by rapine and carnage. They exercised their cruelty indiscriminately upon the Romans and Span. lards; and ravaged with equal fury the cities and the open country. Famine, and its inseparable attendant, pestilence, swept away a large proportion of the in habitants; and the barbarians were not satiated till they began to feel the destructive effects of those calamities which they themselves had occasioned. The majority of the nation submitted to the yoke of their conquerors; while a few maintained their inde pendence in the mountains of Galicia. These bar barians, however, were not allowed long to enjoy their conquests. The Goths had become the allies of Rome by the marriage of their king with the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius; and were induced to draw their swords for the recovery of Spain. During three years the contest was obstinately supported with des perate valour and various success, when the superior achievements of the Gothic king at length prevailed, and Spain was once more restored to the authority of the empire. The Roman power was again overthrown by the Vandals; and after the passage of that people to Africa, the Suevi aspired to the conquest of the country, and threatened to extinguish the Roman dominion. But Theodoric the Goth, by one decisive victory, laid the foundation of the Gothic monarchy in Spain. Rechiarius, king of the Suevi, was taken prisoner and put to death, when the remains of his army retired to Galicia, and for more than a century his successors held a precarious authority in that pro vince. Euric, the son of Theodoric, consolidated the Gothic power; and, in addition to his territories in Spain, his dominion extended from the Pyrenees to the Rhone. His son Alaric, however, was stript of his Gallic possessions by the victories of Clovis; but the Goths were amply compensated for their loss by the secure enjoyment of the provinces of Spain. They fixed the royal seat at Toledo; and the Suevic kingdom of Galicia was soon after added to the mon archy. The Romans, who had continued masters of the whole coast from the straits of Gibraltar to the confines of Valentia, and also held considerable pos sessions on the ocean, were confined within the small territory of .Algarve. and this they held, by the mo deration of the Gothic monarch, for nearly ten years, when king Suintilla became the first absolute master of the whole Peninsula.
The history of the Gothic dominion in this country, from the accession of Euric to that of Roderic, afford few materials of any interest. Their princes were frequently engaged in civil or religious wars; and j long adhered to the wandering and warlike manners' of their fathers. The dissolute and cruel reign of Witiza the predecessor of Roderic, had lost him the confidence and esteem of his subjects, and had occa sioned a general defection throughout the kingdom. A civil war was the consequence, which ended only with the death or deposition of Witiza, and the ac cession of Roderic to the Spanish throne. The sons of the deposed monarch, however, could not brook their degradation from the rank of princes, and en deavoured to wrest the sceptre from the hands of their rival. They were still supported by a consid erable party in the state; but. unable to accomplish their object by their own strength, they began to in trigue with the Saracens, which paved the way for the speedy subjugation of their country by that am bitious people.
The followers of Mahomet had overrun the whole of Mauritania and reduced it to the obedience of their master, except the castle of Ceuta, which resisted for a time all their efforts. This fort, with a small district around it, was the only territory south of the straits belonging to Spain, and was entrusted to Count Julian, who defended it with such skill and intre pidity, that Musa, the Moslem commander, was com pelled to retire with disgrace from before its walls. This nobleman, it is supposed, was married to a sis ter of king Witiza, and, being consequently involved in the downfall of the deposed family, his resentment was excited against the usurper of their rights. Be sides his command in Africa, he possessed extensive estates and numerous followers in Andalusia, and thus held in his hands the keys of the Spanish mon archy. These, in an evil hour, he betrayed to the enemy; and this Christian commander, who had so nobly repulsed that very enemy from the gates of Cueta, forgetting the highest claims of religion and of country, sacrificed all in revenge of a private wrong. When the first intimation of his purpose was conveyed to Musa, the wily Moslem hesitated to trust an army of the faithful to the traitors of a for eign land; but having ascertained what might be ex pected from the intrigues and influence of the count, and having been well informed of the dissensions among the Spaniards, he despatched an army under Tarik to the easy conquest of a populous and wealthy kingdom. On the descent of the Saracens, Roderic hastily collected a small army to oppose their pro gress, and to check the devastations which they com mitted upon the unarmed inhabitants. He, at the same time, endeavoured to heal the divisors which were so fatal to his country, and was so far successful that the sons of Witiza, with a seeming devotion to the common cause, joined his standard with their dependants. The bishops also, and the flower of the nobility assembled with their followers at the royal summons; and his army amounted to nearly one hun dred thousand men; but they were without discipline, and their fidelity was suspected. The troops of Tarik were composed of twelve thousand veteran Saracens, and a crowd of Moors who were eager to share in the expected plunder. The two armies met on the plain of Xeres, and after three days of hard skirmishing they joined in a general engagement. The issue was long doubtful. Sixteen thousand Moslems had fallen under the swords of the Goths; and they would soon have been overwhelmed by the numbers of the Chris tians, had they not been saved by the defection of the sons and brother of Witiza, who held the most im portant post in the army of Roderic. The ranks of the Christians being thus broken and thrown into disorder, opened a way for the action of the Moorish cavalry, which made prodigious havock; and during the three succeeding clays of flight and pursuit, the remains of the Gothic army were scattered or de stroyed. This decisive and fatal battle sealed the ruin of the Gothic monarchy in Spain; and in the course of a few years, the victorious Moslems had subjected the finest provinces of the peninsula to the obedience of the caliph. The vanquished were al lowed to retain their laws, religion, and language, upon the payment of an annual tribute; but many who preferred a life of poverty with the unrestrained exercise of their religion, to the precarious possession of their properties, retired under Pelagius, a prince of the blood, into the mountains of Asturias, where, forgetting every other care, sought only to provide for their safety and freedom. Here the vital spark of national independence was cherished and kept alive; and it was thence that the successors of these war riors emerged in after times, and by degrees recov ered their country from the Moorish yoke.