| Athanagild | |
|---|---|
| King of Hispania and Septimania | |
 Illustration of 1624 of Athanagild at Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid | |
| King of the Visigoths | |
| Reign | March 554 – December 567 |
| Predecessor | Agila I |
| Successor | Liuva I and Liuvigild |
| Born | c. 517 |
| Died | December 567 (aged 50) |
| Consort | Goiswintha |
| Issue | Brunhilda of Austrasia Galswintha, Queen of Neustria |
Athanagild (c. 517 – December 567) was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. He had rebelled against his predecessor, Agila I, in 551. The armies of Agila and Athanagild met at Seville, where Agila met a second defeat.[1] Following the death of Agila in 554, he was sole ruler for the rest of his reign.
Roger Collins writes that Athanagild's reign "is perhaps more significant than our sources may care to let us believe." Collins argues that the account of Isidore of Seville may be colored by the hostility subsequent Visigothic kings had towards Athanagild and his descendants.[2]
- ^ Isidore of Seville, Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, chapter 46. Translation by Guido Donini and Gordon B. Ford, Isidore of Seville's History of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, second revised edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), p. 22
- ^ Collins, Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity 400-1000, second edition (New York: St. Martins, 1995), p. 39