Sigisbert was guilty of conspiracy. (2) The public and formal conversion to Catholicism of the king and his family, which, according to John of Biclar, took place in 587, ten months after Recared had ascended the throne.
The conversion was heralded, first, by a decree which put an end to the persecution of the Catholics, secondly, by the adoption of extraordinary measures with regard to the Gothic prelates and nobles in the provinces entrusted to the king's agents (whom Gregory of Tours calls nuntios), and lastly by permission given to the bishops of both religions to hold a meeting, to the end that they might freely discuss their respective dogmas. At the conclusion of this discussion, Recared declared his preference for Catholicism and his conversion thereto, which he ratified with all due formality at the Council held in Toledo (the third of this name) in May 589. There were present at this Council 62 bishops, five metropolitans, the king, his wife, and many nobles, all of whom signed the declaration of faith. Henceforth the Catholic religion became the religion of the Visigothic State. According to John of Biclar, the king exhorted all his subjects to be converted to it.
But the faith of a people cannot be changed at the command of a king, nor could the interests which had grown up in the shadow of the ancient national religion allow themselves to be suddenly swept away. There ensued conspiracies and rebellions on the part of the Arian bishops, the nobles, and the people, who adhered to their traditional faith. Goisvintha herself, the queen-mother, who lived for some time longer, Sunna, bishop of Mérida, Athelocus, bishop of Narbonne, Bishop Uldila, several counts, amongst others Segga and Witteric, Duke Argimund, and other persons of importance, made plots and conspired against the life of the king, took up arms, and sought the help of the Frankish king Guntram, who made two incursions into Septimania. On both occasions he was defeated and forced to withdraw. Moreover, Recared succeeded in suppressing all the rebellions of the Arians, punished the instigators, and caused many of the books dealing with that religion to be burnt. Nevertheless, although John of Biclar affirms the contrary, Arianism did not die out among the Visigothic people. It continued to exist until the fall of the Visigothic kingdom; it was the cause of fresh insurrections, and, as we shall see, it was sufficiently strong to produce a temporary reaction.
Recared had still to struggle with the Byzantines, who had renewed their quarrel with the Visigoths. But through the mediation of Pope Gregory I, he made with the Emperor Maurice the treaty to which we have already alluded, whereby it was agreed that each monarch should respect the territory possessed by the other. Lastly, Recared made war on the Vascons, whom Leovigild had driven back to the further side of the Pyrenees, and who were trying, though without success, to regain the land which they had formerly held.
