The city of Arcávica and the Foundation of the Servitanus Monastery

Abstract

During the Visigothic period, the city of Arcavica was one of the three bishoprics placed in the present province of Cuenca, together with those of Segobriga and Valeria. With the exception of the signatures of Arcavica's prelates on Council minutes there is no direct mention of the city in the sources available. Even so, the importance of its archaeological site is reflected in the numerous remains found on the hill where the Roman-Celtiberian city of Ercavica used to lay. However important the city itself may be, archaeological research in this area is mainly focused on the problem of locating the Servitanus Monastery founded by the North-African abbot Donatus and his seventy monks. Its location in Arcavica, as the authors of the present article defend, is essential to interpret the remains found in this site and to understand a significant part of Spain's history that takes place during the crucial years of Leovigild's and Recared's reigns.