Tulga (living 642) was Visigothic King

Visigothic Kingdom

The Visigothic Kingdom was a kingdom which occupied southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to 8th century AD. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of...

 of Hispania

Hispania

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

, Septimania

Septimania

Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...

 and Galicia

Kingdom of Galicia

The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...

 from 640 to 642, if his father died in December 640, as some sources state. Although some sources have his rule beginning as early as 639 or ending as early as 641. He came after his father Chintila

Chintila

Chintila was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 636. He succeeded Sisenand in a time of weakness and reigned until his death....

 in another vain attempt to establish dynastic kingship.

In 642, Chindasuinth

Chindasuinth

Chindasuinth was Visigothic King of Spain, from 642 until his death. He succeeded Tulga, from whom he usurped the throne in a coup; he was "officially" elected by the nobles and anointed by the bishops 30 April 642....

, a Gothic warlord, who may have been as old as 79, commenced a rebellion. He had command of the frontier with the Basques. He saw the crown's weakness and a convention of nobles (landholding Goths) and the people (other Gothic inhabitants) at Pampalica (probably modern Pampliega

Pampliega

Pampliega is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2005 census , the municipality has a population of 395 inhabitants....

) proclaimed him king without the support of the church.

According to Sigebert of Gembloux

Sigebert of Gembloux

Sigebert of Gembloux was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII and Pascal II...

, the rebel deposed Tulga in Toledo and tonsure

Tonsure

Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...

d him, sending him to live out his days in a monastery, since monks were ineligible for the elective throne. However, Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo

Ildephonsus of Toledo

Saint Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus was the metropolitan bishop of Toledo from 657 until his death. He was a Visigoth and his Gothic name was Hildefuns, which evolved into the Castilian name Alfonso. Ildefonsus, however, is known as San Ildefonso in Castilian and there are several places named after him...

 says that the rebellion failed without the church's support and Chindasuinth succeeded only on the death of Tulga. From our vantage point, so far in the future, it is impossible to discern the truth.

Before becoming a monk, he was married and had two sons:

• Giscila, married to Berà II, Count of Razès; had female issue (this line as featured in Holy Blood, Holy Grail might be fiction)
• Ariberga, married and had:
  • Ergica
    Ergica
    Egica, Ergica, or Egicca was the Visigoth King of Hispania and Septimania from 687 until his death. He was the son of Ariberga, and the brother in law of Wamba.He was married Egica, Ergica, or Egicca (c. 610 – 701x703) was the Visigoth King of Hispania and Septimania from 687 until his...
    
    
• Wamba

Sources

• A Herança Genética de Dom Afonso I Henriques

Luíz Paulo Manuel de Menezes de Mello Vaz de São-Payo,
Centro de Estudos de História da Família da Universidade Moderna do Porto, Porto, Portugal, 2002

• El Libro de La Genealogía de Los Reyes de España

Alonso de Cartagena, Bonifacio Palacios Martín, Biblioteca Nacional (Spain), Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués. Contribuidores Bonifacio Palacios Martín, Biblioteca Nacional
Editor Scriptorium, 1995
ISBN 8460525457, 9788460525455

• Roger Collins, Early medieval Spain: unity in diversity, 400-1000 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1995) ISBN 031212662X, 9780312126629