Gotha. [GOTHS, Corer, GOVIONES, for the hiatory.)—The Coda of the Ostro-Ooths, tho Edictum Theederiei; which was composed by order of Theedorie in 500, is a collection of Roman laws. This king wished to form one people of the Romans and the Goths (' Edictum; § 30), and he therefore adopted the laws of the most civilised of his subjects. Leaving the Gothic laws exclusively to the memory of the people, he knew that they would soon fall into oblivion without being formally abolished. In some eases, however, he supplanted Gothic customs by Roman laws. The Irchrgeld, or nitre, —that is, the fine for crimes,—was entirely abolished, and in place of it the puniahment of death was Introduced in many cases, an innovation which seemed very Lard to the Gotha, who, like all the other Teutonic nations, inflicted the punishment of death only for high treason and a few such crimes. Pithou published a separate edition of the ' Edietum Theedorici ' (Paris, 1579). Elton, Commented° ad Edietum Thee doriei, ilog. Ostrogoth:, Mabee, 1816, 4to.
The Visi-Oohs settled in the southern part of Gaul in 412, and invaded Spain in 414. This country was then in the hands of the Suevi, the Alani, and the Vandals, who became subject to the Goths, or were forced to emigrate. In 451 the Visi-Goths, together with the Franks, defeated Attila and his 700,000 Huns, Goths, Gepidae, and other vassals, in the plain of Chalons-sur-Marne. Their king, Alario II., lost Gaul, except the eastern part of Languedoc and Provence, in the battle of Vougld against Clovis, king of the Franks, In 507. The kingdom of the Visi-Goths lasted for three centuries, when it was over thrown by the Arabs in 712.
Among all the Teutonic nations the Vial-Goths were the first who had written laws. (Isiderus llispalenais, Chron. ad annuli' A er. II isp. 504, A.D. 460?) A collection of them was made by their king Eurio (406.484), which is written in Latin and has the title of ' Lex Visige thortim.' Its present form dates from king Egica, whose new cede was translated into the Gothic language under King Receswind. It contains many traces of the Roman law, and is the only early Teutonic law which may be considered as a code in the modern signification of the word. The Lex Visigothorum must not be confounded with the Breviarium Alariei (Mario II., in 506), or the Code for the Romans, who were subjects of the Visi-Goths, and continued to live under their own laws until they were abolished by the kings Chindaswind and lleceswind, who declared the revised Lex Visigotborum obligatory on all the inhabitants of the kingdom of the Visi-Goths.
The Goths, the most civilised among the Teutonic nations, were the first who adopted the Christian religion. They had a literature from
the time when Ulphilas translated the Bible. The Ostro-Goths soon disappeared among the Longobards, while the Visi-Goths preserved their language and nationality till the invasion of the Arabs; and another portion of them maintained their nationality until a very recent period.
These were the Goad-Tdraxilae, who, after the emigration of their brethren to the western countries, retired to the eastern part of the Chersonesus Taurica, now the Crimea, and the opposite island of Taman. There they lived for eleven centuries under the suc cessive dominion of Huns, Bulgarians,' Greeks, lihazars, Tartars of Kiptshak, and Tartars of the Crimea, and, lastly, of Turks Oauumlis. Their part of the Crimea was called Gothia during the middle ages. Busbequius, who was the ambassador of the emperor Rudolph 11. at Constantinople, towards the end of the 16th century, is the last writer who mentions them. It appears that they afterwards adopted the language, the customs, and the religion of the Tartars. Russian scholars have traced the Gothic language among the Tartars of the Crimea. (` Journal de St. Pskersbourg,' 1829.) Another part of the Goths invaded Sweden, and founded the kingdom of Gothland (Gautland), which was afterwards divided into East Gothland and West Gothland (EystrasCautland and l'estra Oantland). They mixed with the Scandinavians, and it became a general opinion that they were originally the same people. But a comparison of the Gothic of Ulphilas and the old Scandinavian language shows that this opinion is unfounded. (Claus Verelius, Gothiei et Rolfi Westrogothiae Regtun Historia; Upsalis, 1064 ; Antonius,`Bibb. llisp. Vet.', L; Michael Geddes, 'Miscellaneous Tracts,' vol. ii. dies. 1 ; vol. iii., dies. 1 ; 'Manse, Oeschichte des Ostgothisehen Rcichs in Dollen ;' Maseov, cited below, ii.) Sueri.—From the country east of the Black Forest, between the Upper Danube and the Alps, the Suevi, by which name the Quadi and the Hermunduri were perhaps likewise meant, spread over Caul and forced their way into Spain (400-409). Their king Hermanarie or Hermanrich became master of Portugal, Galicia, and the western parts of Asturias, and Leon : ho resided at Bretonia, near the mouth of the 31ifie, now a small village named Bretaila. his successors were in dependent kings, but in 585 the Suevi became subjects of Leovigild, king of the Vial-Goths. Their laws have not been collected. They were at first Catholics, but king Iternismund (461) professed Arianism; Theodemir (Ariamir) returned to the Catholic faith in 561.