Society and Government
While the Visigoths conquered Spain and the local Roman people, they didn't believe in an oppressive master-servant relationship between themselves and the locals. The supported the coexistance between Romans and Visigoths, but when it came down to it the warrior class, or the Visigoths, were more important than the natives. They were like the Ostrogoths in that they maintained the Roman form of government in some way so that they might support good relations with the Romans, but they rarely allowed a Roman to hold a powerful position including one in the government. Where the Ostrogoths had failed the Visigoths succeeded. The barbarians foresaw the problems that might occur between their Arian sect of Christianity and the Roman's Catholic Christianity, so they converted to Roman Catholic Christianity in the 6th century to avoid conflict. Also unlike the Ostrogoths the Visigoths eventually dropped the intermarriage laws and the two cultures of Visigoths and Romans began to fuse. Eventually a universal set of laws developed that governed all people in Spain.
Visigoth's Flaws
Though the society that the Visigoths had created in Spain sounded great and in a sense perfect, they did have their fair share of problems. The biggest of those problems being that the Visigoths constantly fought over kingship. This was due to their lacking of a procedure for the election of a king and the lack of a hereditary monarchy. In 633 the Fourth Church Council of Toledo attempted to stop the infighting by declairing a creed of sorts, that stated that no one shall illegally sieze the kingship, but they failed and assassination remained a major part of Visigothic life. Though they had no sense of leadership due to the constant power shifts, the Visigoths remained in control of Spain until 711, when the Muslims invaded and conquered.