Note 1179 — Chapter VIII

‘As for the councils held under the Visigoth kings of Spain during the seventh century, it is not easy to determine whether they are to be considered as ecclesiastical or temporal assemblies. No kingdom was so thoroughly under the bondage of the hierarchy as Spain.’ Hallam's Middle Ages, edit. 1846, vol. i. p. 511. ‘Les prêtres étaient les seuls qui avaient conservé et même augmenté leur influence dans la monarchie goth-espagnole.’ Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, Bordeaux, 1815, p. 19. Compare Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. ii. p. 368, on ‘la influencia y preponderancia del clero, no ya solo en los negocios eclesiásticos, sino tambien en los políticos y de estado.’