Leovigild

Leovigild (lēŏv`ĭgĭld', lēō`–), d. 586, Visigothic king of Spain (568–86), brother and successor of Athanagild. He was joint ruler to 573 with his brother Liuva. He reorganized the administration and assumed a royal pomp that imitated that of the Byzantine court. Leovigild was constantly at war with the Byzantines in S Spain and the Suevi in the north. When these enemies supported the revolt of his son Hermenegild, who had converted from Arianism to Catholicism, he finally annexed (584–85) the kingdom of the Suevi. Hermenegild was put to death. At the end of Leovigild's reign the only non-Visigothic parts of Spain were two small territories of the Byzantine Empire. Leovigild made important additions to the Visigothic laws (see Germanic laws). His son Recared succeeded him.