Looking for a New Way in the Visigothic Kingdom: The Quest for Sustainability in the second half of the 7th Century
Abstract
Presentation at the workshop "Udržitelná a soběstačná společnost? Otázky a trendy historického výzkumu" organised by the Cooperacio Programme Board of Charles University in cooperation with the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague on 17 May 2023. The Visigothic state faced a number of problems.
These included internal political instability, recurrent plague epidemics, social problems, and apparently occasional periods of crop failure. It is therefore possible to try to trace how the Gothic kings attempted to deal with their problems.
We can see solutions of an economic nature, for example banning the export of slaves or sharply reducing the value of coins. There were also attempts to increase production in the form of the creation of new terraced fields.
We can also observe the ever-changing legislation. The question remains, however, whether the source references to 'sustainability' fall within this paradigm and actually reflect this policy direction, or whether they are merely declarative or literary.