Publication:

Un vir nobilissimus genere hispano en la Vita del obispo Orencio de Auch

In the following pages I analyse the fifth passage of The Life of Saint Orientius, bishop of Auch in Novempopulania –Vita sancti Orientius, episcopo Ausciorum in Novempopulania–, of unknown authorship, from a Late Antique diplomatic approach. The text, initially written around the sixth or seventh century, addresses the journey of Orentius, who mediated the release of a Hispanic aristocrat (vir nobilissimus genere, ex Hispaniis) imprisoned in the court of a king, most probably Visigothic, circa 439. The Vita Orientii has attracted relatively modest attention due to its apocryphal character, yet it allows the analysis of Late Antique diplomatic practices. In addition, the imprisonment of a Hispanic nobleman by the Visigoths highlights the increasing Visigothic influence beyond the borders settled in the foedus of 418–419, mostly in the southern Pyrenees area, before the annexation of the Tarraconensis province by Euric's troops after July 472.