| abstract
| - Aquitania had formerly been at the heart of the Visigothic kingdom, but the vast province was lost to the Franks in 507 after the disastrous Battle of Vouille. Ever since then the Goths had dreamed of retaking it, and in 639 they finally saw their chance. In that year the Frankish kingdom had been engaged in wars on several fronts at the same time - against the Lombards in Italy, the Frisians in Germania, and the rebelling Alemanni at the headwaters of the Rhine. Aquitania was left almost undefended, and King Chintila took the opportunity to cross the Pyrenees and invade. However, after defeating the local levies, Chintila sickened and died, and his son Tulga had to return to Hispania to assert his claim to the throne. By early 640 the Frisians and Lombards had been defeated. King Dagobert of the Franks, together with his ally Emperor Isaac of the West Romans, put together an expedition to reconquer Aquitania and punish the Goths. In March and April they defeated the Gothic garrisons of Augustoritum, Tolosa, Burdigala and Narbo Martius, then proceeded to invade Hispania itself. Tulga had still not succesfully asserted his kingship, being challenged by the aged general Chindasuinth. Nevertheless he marched to meet the Franks and Romans, and was promptly defeated and killed a few miles from Caesaraugusta. The allies continued south, sacked Toletum in July, then began a slow return to Gaul, looting and pillaging as they went. However, with his main rival dead, the Gothic nobles flocked to Chindasuinth's power base in Hispalis to swear allegiance. Chindasuinth immediately marched his army north to try and intercept the Franks, finally catching up with them just north of the Pyrenees. The two armies faced each other at Perpiniarum, but the Franco-Romans withdrew before battle could be joined after receiving alarming news. The Alemanni had defeated the forces Dagobert had left behind to contain their rebellion, and now the Burgundians had revolted as well. By September the two had formed an alliance with each other and the Goths, and were headed south to confront the Franks. Dagobert and Isaac withdrew in an attempt to escape the closing trap, but only made it as far as Castras, east of Tolosa, before being caught on two sides.
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