THE SEVENTH-CENTURY KINGDOM 121excommunication of the canons was not employed. Why not? This
acquiescence by the Visigothic Church in the apparent flouting of its
canons was not due to political cowardice. For one thing the bishops
had a genuine interest in maintaining a strong monarchy, and child
rulers were thus as much of an embarrassment to them as to the lay
aristocracy. But there were other reasons for their acceptance of
successful usurpation.
On the one side lay the acts of the councils against conspiracy and
rebellion, whatever its outcome, but on the other was a powerful
tradition of thought, most recently enunciated by Isidore but stretch-
ing back to the New Testament, of obedience to the secular ruler and
acceptance of his authority, however exercised. The notion of the
divine pre-election of the monarch, developed in the Christian Ro-
man Empire in the fourth century, was explicitly accepted in Visigothic
Spain, as witnessed for example in Julian of Toledo's description of
the elevation ofWamba.^55 But the problem lay in the detection of the
operation of the divine will. At what point did the victorious usurper
become the legitimate ruler? Although elevation by means of election
might be preferred, the dominant political ideology of the Visigothic
kingdom required submission to the ruler once established, however
he may have acquired the power. For he was ultimately chosen by
God, either for the good of the people or for their chastisement.
Only the unsuccessful usurper might expect to feel the weight of
ecclesiastical sanctions. Nor do we ever find these being applied until
after a rebellion was suppressed and the issue thus decided. The
Church in Visigothic Spain was a redoubtable supporter of kingship,
which it sought to mould to its own requirements, but it did not
commit itself to the fortunes of individual kings.
It is thus possible to modify or give greater precision to general
assertions about the relationship between church and monarchy by
taking more account of the context of ecclesiastical legislation. The
same principle can be applied to the secular law-making of the kings,
not only in terms of individual decrees but also the promulgation of
the codes. An example of the former is the legislation in respect of
fugitive slaves, a subject that has given occasion for those ill-disposed
towards the Visigothic kingdom to make sweeping criticisms of the
state of its society in the late seventh century. However, before look-
ing at that, it is worth considering the purposes of royal legislation
and the circumstances surrounding the issuing of the codes.
The earlier history of the law-making of the Visigothic monarchy