The ''thiufa'' was the highest division of the
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
army in
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...
. Based on the known decimal structure of the rest of the army, it seems likely that it was nominally composed of one thousand men. Its commander was called a ''thiufadus'' (also ''tiuphadus'').
[, page 20.]
Structure
It is unknown if the ''thiufae'' were ever actually called into service or if they existed only on paper. Perhaps smaller or larger units formed the actual basis of the Visigothic army.
Etymology
The term ''thiufadus'' derives from either the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''devotus'' or the
Germanic ''thusundifaths''. The mechanism of the transmission via the latter is, however, considered impossible by some.
The Latin ''devotus'' was generally applied by the
Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the larg ...
and Visigoths to high-ranking Goths in the
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable text cor ...
as ''thiwadus''.
[
]
Thiufadus
A class of officials called the ''confiscatores'' or ''exactores'' in the ''Codex Theodosianus
The ''Codex Theodosianus'' (Eng. Theodosian Code) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 a ...
'', ''Lex Salica
The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old Du ...
'', and '' Edictum Chilperici'' are referred to in the early Visigothic laws of Theudis
Theudis (Spanish: ''Teudis'', Portuguese: ''Têudis''), ( 480 – June 548) was king of the Visigoths in Hispania from 531 to 548.
Biography
An Ostrogoth, he was the sword-bearer of Theodoric the Great, who sent him to govern the Visigothic king ...
as ''compulsares vel executores''. In the later Visigothic laws, like the ''Liber Iudiciorum
The ''Visigothic Code'' ( la, Forum Iudicum, Liber Iudiciorum; es, Fuero Juzgo, ''Book of the Judgements''), also called ''Lex Visigothorum'' (English: ''Law of the Visigoths''), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–65 ...
'', they go by various titles: ''compulsor exercitus In Ancient Roman law enforcement, a compulsor was an officer under the Roman emperors, dispatched from court into the provinces, to force the payment of taxes, etc., which had not been paid within the time prescribed.
The procedure is briefly summ ...
'', ''servus dominicus'', or ''thiufadus''.[ The thiufadus was elsewhere called a ''vassus regis'' (]vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
of the king) and ''agente in rebus''.[
The thiufadus, however, was both a military and judicial official.][ His position is immediately below that of the '']comes
''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count".
Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...
'' (count) or ''vicarius
''Vicarius'' is a Latin word, meaning ''substitute'' or ''deputy''. It is the root of the English word "vicar".
History
Originally, in ancient Rome, this office was equivalent to the later English " vice-" (as in "deputy"), used as part of th ...
'' (vicar): a position the same as that of the Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
'' thunginus'' or Late Roman
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
'' ducenarius''.[ Their position in the army was above that of the '' centenarius'' (commander of a hundred), but it cannot be positively identified with the position of ''millenarius'' (commander of a thousand).][
The ''Liber Iudiciorum'' augmented the powers of the ''thiufadi''. In their double capacity as general and judge they were assisted by ''sayos''. The ''thiufadus'', who controlled the countryside, seems to have been weaker than the counts who controlled the ''civitates'', city districts.
]
Notes
{{reflist
Sources
*Thompson, E. A. ''The Goths in Spain''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
*Contamine, Phillippe. ''War in the Middle Ages''. trans. Michael Jones. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1984.
*Wiener, Leo.
Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Medieval Documents
'. London: Oxford University Press, 1915.
Early Germanic warfare
Visigothic Kingdom