A Short History of Spain

hat of the German and English literatures; which, with their vast riches, had their origin in the strange achievement of Ulfilas. He had, while a boy, been captured by some Goths o

was being adopted by the Roman Empire, and while its simple dogmas were being discussed and refined into a complicated and intricate system by men versed in Greek philosophy, and then

ised Messiah, and to believe in him and to follow his teachings was salvation. They knew nothing of the Trinity nor of

king that they refused to call it Christianity at all. The history of the first century of the Gothic kingdom in Spain was therefore mainly that of the deadly strife between Arianism and Catholicism, or orthodoxy. The Goths c

ly incomprehensible; and a science and a literature of which they knew nothing. They might struggle for a while against this tide of superiority, but one by one they entered the

this incongruous mingling of Roman and Gothic. It is sai

was strangely broken and mixed with Gothic words and idioms; yet it became one of the most co

d with a rough Gothic framework, and after centuries have hidden the joints an

were remnants of Sueves and of Roman power to drive out, and there were always the fierce mountain tri

and the history of some of these royal families shows what wild passions still raged among

is terrible Queen, stained with every crime, and accused of the death of no less than ten kings, comes to a fitting end when, we

cted a magnificent throne in his palace at Toledo, and his head, wearing the royal diadem, was placed on Spanish coins, which may still be seen. A daughter of

cess was a Catholic, and was artfully plotting to win her hus

ween father and son, which finally led to Ermingild's open rebellion, and at last to his being beheaded by his father's order. But this crime against nature was in vain. Arianism had reached the limit of its life in Spain.