El período tardoantiguo asistió al florecimiento y consolidación del poder episcopal como uno de sus fenómenos más reseñables. Este proceso trajo consigo la construcción de un espacio eclesiástico sobre el que los prelados ejercerán su misión pastoral, la diócesis, a la cual dedicamos el presente artículo. Para ello centraremos nuestro marco de estudio en el período hispanovisigodo. En primer lugar, ahondaremos en la percepción de la misma, tanto como realidad espacial como social. Esta cuestión nos llevará directamente a analizar los mecanismos de construcción de la jurisdicción diocesana, para terminar con una relectura de las disputas episcopales por el territorio.

Curiously, we have no previous studies that deal monographically with the question of the sacralisation of spaces in Visigoth Iberia. It is intended in the following pages to fill this historiographical gap by focusing on the particular case of the churches. By means of the compilation and exhaustive analysis of all the available documentary sources, particularly the available conciliar canons, it is aimed to identify the different prescriptions and strategies that were used to sacralise new places of worship in Iberia during the Visigothic period. Particular emphasis will be placed on ritual procedures, which are mandatory for the consecration of any church, but also on material and sensorial factors as complementary determinants in the definition of sacred space. The final result obtained provides us with a reality dominated by a heterogeneity of situations that were sometimes far from conforming to the reality desired by canon law.

This article approaches the study of the collaboration between Remigius of Reims and Clovis and its impact on the formation of the Merovingian kingdoms. This will be achieved through the introduction of an alternative reading of the letter sent by the former to the young king on the occasion of his accession to power. To attain this goal, special attention will be paid to the personal interests of both figures as the main and most immediate reason for their relationship. Specifically, both Clovis and Remigius had to move in a scenario dominated by their own political and social competition, which forced each man to look to his own political survival. It is in this sense in which we will interpret many of his political movements and perceptions reflected in the letter in question. Likewise, the short and long-term political implications of their alliance on the building and forging of the future Regnum Francorum will also be addressed. This will be of special importance in the supply of a territorial basis for the new kingdom, supported largely by the diocesan structure provided by Remigius. In the end, this situation would change and the relationship between the two figures would undergo an erosion as a consequence of Remigius’ mistrust of Clovis’ increasing power.

La guerra y la conquista fueron dos elementos claramente presentes en el proceso de construcción del reino visigodo hispano. El presente trabajo pretende ofrecer explicaciones alternativas al expansionismo territorial de los visigodos en Hispania por la vía armada, considerando las campañas ofensivas visigodas no como la consecuencia última de un proyecto secular dirigido a la consecución de la unidad peninsular bajo soberanía goda, sino de motivaciones mucho más inmediatas, que distaban del maximalismo. En este sentido, y sirviéndonos de los postulados de la historia social y de la antropología consagrada al estudio de la guerra, pondremos de relieve el papel de las motivaciones personales de los monarcas, en concreto su búsqueda de supervivencia política, y de las colectivas de la comitiva armada, en especial sus ansias de botín, como móviles principales de la actividad militar ofensiva visigoda.

The Church played an undoubted role, parallel to that of the secular rulers, in the territorial government of the Hispanic Visigothic kingdom. The present research aims to delve into the mechanisms used by bishops to ensure the control of the territorial structures under their charge, in particular rural churches. We will focus especially on those strategies aimed at achieving the adhesion and loyal service of the rural priests, given their role as channels for the projection of episcopal power over the countryside. Through this task, it is possible to understand the importance of the rural ecclesiastical structures in the political and religious shaping of the kingdom, particularly as elements of social control