Wittiza (Witiza, Witica, Witicha, Vitiza, or Witiges; c. 687 – probably 710) was the king of the Visigoths from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Egica, until 702 or 703.

[citation needed] Early in his reign, Egica made it clear that his intention was to secure his family in a position of power from which they could not be removed.

[citation needed] On 15[3] or 24 November[4] 700, Wittiza was anointed king; this forms the last entry in the Chronica Regum Visigothorum, a Visigothic regnal list.

[citation needed] The delay between his appointment as co-regent and his unction, to which much importance was ascribed, is most probably explained by his coming of age, likely fourteen, in that year.

[7] It was severe enough to force the two kings from their capital of Toledo and it might be that this was the period when Wittiza was sent by his father to rule in Tui in Gallaecia over the regnum Suevorum, an event recorded by the Chronicle of Alfonso III.

[15] This reissue, too, may be related to the political situation following Egica's death and Wittiza's need to consolidate his authority and the support of the nobility and the clergy.

[3] A thirteenth-century chronicle by Lucas of Tuy accuses Wittiza of relieving the oppression of the Jews and being eager for their support in an attempt to smear him as a "Jew-lover.

After his death, natural or forced, or deposition, Hispania was divided between rival claimants: Roderic in the south and Achila II in the north.

The Chronicle of Moissac, circa 818, wrote that Witicha deditus in feminis exemplo suo sacerdote ac populum luxuriose vivere docuit, irritans furorem Domini: "Wittiza left a poor example to his clergy and his people by his unchaste life, thus provoking the fury of the Lord.

According to the Rotensis version of the Chronicle of Alfonso III, Wittiza had three sons: Olmund [ca], Romulus, and Ardabast (Artabasdus), who became Count of the Christians of Coimbra.

[28] According to American writer and historian Washington Irving, in the first part of his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, Wittiza's reign initially showed great promise.

At last feeling safe, the king "gave reins to his licentious passions, and soon, by his tyranny and sensuality, acquired the appellation of Witiza the Wicked.

"[29] Specifically, using secret orders he demolished castles that he feared could be used by future internal enemies, oblivious to the possibility that he was weakening the kingdom's defenses against foreign invaders.

Therefore, when the kingdom met sudden ruin in the first year of his successor Roderic (a favorite of the Church), this was readily explained by alleging that the sins of Wittiza "had drawn down the wrath of Heaven upon the unhappy nation.