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.