Twilight of the Goths: The Kingdom of Toledo, c. 565-711

Toledo, former capital of Spain until 1560, is now one of the most monumental of Spanish cities. In Roman times, it was originally a modest tribal township, which was eventually elevated to a national capital by the Visigoths (one of two main branches of the Goths, who along with their cousins, the Ostrogoths in South Russia, were considered barbarians across Europe). The history of the Visigoth’s victory over Rome and the foundation of their own Western empire is an epic story: as dramatic...