3-098-604 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

King Rodrigo addressing the leaders of his army before the Battle of Guadalete, 1871. Alternative title: King Roderic rallying his troops at the Battle of Guadalete. Roderic (died 711) was the Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. The Battle of Guadalete was the first major battle of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, fought in July 711 in what is now southern Spain between the Visigoths under Roderic, and the invading forces of the Umayyad Caliphate under the commander Tariq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Umayyad attacks and the beginning of al-Andalus. Roderic was killed in the battle, along with many members of the Visigothic nobility, opening the way for the capture of the Visigothic capital of Toledo. King Roderic is depicted on a chariot drawn by white horses. This work reflects the older Islamic historiographical tradition of Isa ibn Muhammad ibn Abu al-Mujadjir. According to him, the Visigothic king had gone into battle not on horseback but 'seated on his throne, which was carried by two mules, wearing his crown and covered with all the jewels with which kings adorned themselves; and in this manner, he advanced toward the mountain where Tariq was seated' (Ibn Idari, Al-Bayan al-Mughrib).