Religious strategies of distinction: baptism in Visigothic Spain

The political connotations of godparenthood and baptismal sponsorship in creating both vertical and horizontal bonds between individuals and groups in early medieval Europe have long been recognised. What follows offers a case study of sixth and early seventh century Visigothic Spain, asking whether the baptismal process could serve to bring elite and popular together. Elites sought to mobilize those lower down the scale than themselves at the same time as they had to constantly negotiate the elite position from which they gained their authority. In sixth-century Spain the definition and redefinition of baptismal practice in church council legislation by Catholics and Arians was an important method for achieving this dual aim of distinction and control.