Wamba, whose name means "big paunch," became king in 672. There was an immediate double revolt to deal with. A rival for the kingship, Hilderic the governor of Nîmes in southern France, was suppressed by a general named Paul sent by Wamba.
That general, however, convinced the men under him to renounce their loyalty to the king and support Paul himself instead. He started calling himself Flavius Paulus, and the followers of Hilderic and others joined him. Soon he had many followers in southern France and northern Spain, and was calling him "King of the East."
Wamba marched from his location in Cantabria in northern Spain to Paul's location and fairly quickly regained control of the region and people. Paul retreated to Nîmes, but didn't last long. A year after Wamba ascended to the throne, the revolts had been put down, Nîmes had been (re-)captured, and Paul and his chief leaders were put on trial, convicted, and sent to prison for life after being scalped.
Religious leaders had supported Paul as well, particularly the Bishop of Maguelohne. Wamba was a reformist when it came to the Church, and he wanted to make a change in the power structure. He tried to found a new diocese on monastic principles, whose bishop would be episcopus sub regula, "a bishop under a rule."
This was a manner of diocesan practice in early Iberian church structure under the Visigoths and Suevi. The bishop and clergy would live ascetic lives. The best-known example was St. Fructuosus of Braga.
The Third Council of Braga repeated the Second's decree that bishops should not take fees for ordaining a priest, and rectors of churches must not use their household to do work on their privately owned farms unless they paid them properly. This was in line with Wamba's aim of simpler living for the clergy in his kingdom.
A few years later, however, the Twelfth Council of Toledo had a different opinion. I'll tell you about the transition from samba to his successor tomorrow.
