Ardo

Ardo (or Ardonus, possibly short for Ardabastus, Ardabast) (died 720/721) is attested as the last of all Visigothic kings of Hispania, reigning from 713 or, more probably 714, until his death. The Visigothic kingdom was already severely reduced in power and area at the time he succeeded Achila II, and his dominions probably didn't extend beyond Septimania and present-day Catalonia, due to the Arab conquests of the previous three years.

Ardo is only recorded in one Visigothic regnal list as reigning for seven years.^[1][2] As of 716 the Arabs crossed over the Pyrenees and invaded Narbonensis, the last province under Gothic control.^[1] Over the next three years Ardo probably defended what remained of the Visigothic kingdom and he "may have gone down fighting like his predecessor" after the Arabs took Narbonne and before they conquered all that remained of the old kingdom.^[1][3]

References

• Thompson, E. A. The Goths in Spain. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
• Collins, Roger. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–97. Blackwell Publishing, 1989.
• Collins, Roger. Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
• Història de Catalunya. Barcelona: El Periodico, 1992.

Notes

1. Collins, Visigothic Spain, 140.
2. Thompson, 251, says he is otherwise unknown.
3. Collins, The Arab Conquest of Spain, 45.