Gothic Christianity
Encyclopedia
Gothic Christianity refers to the Christian
religion of the Goths
and sometimes the Gepids, Vandals
, and Burgundians
, who may have used Wulfila's
translation of the Bible
into Gothic
and shared common doctrines and practices. Gothic Christianity is the earliest instance of the Christianization of a Germanic people, completed more than a century before the baptism of Frankish king Clovis I
.
While one might suppose that the "Gothic Churches" of Europe were built by the Goths, this is not the case. Few structures dating to the Gothic era still exist in Europe, and those don't conform to the style of Gothic architecture
, which dates to the Twelfth century. The term "Gothic architecture" was originally a derogatory term meaning something like "crude and barbaric" that did not really relate to the historical Goths.
The Gothic tribes were predominantly Christian for more than a century before they sacked Rome
in the Fifth century.
The Gothic Christians were followers of a doctrine (Homoianism) associated by their opponents with the priest Arius
. The theological differences between this and orthodox Christianity are discussed under Arianism
.
After their sack of Rome, the Visigoths moved on to occupy Spain
and southern France
. Having been driven out of France, the Spanish Goths formally embraced Catholicism at the Third Council of Toledo
in 589.
, East-Germanic
peoples, moving in a southeasterly direction, migrated into Dacian
territories previously under Sarmatian and Roman
control, and the confluence of East-Germanic, Sarmatian, Dacian and Roman cultures resulted in the emergence of a new Gothic identity. Part of this identity was adherence to a pagan
religion, the exact nature of which, however, remains uncertain. In 238 AD, an army described by the Romans as Gothic crossed the Danube
and plundered the Roman province of Moesia Inferior
, taking numerous hostages, which were later returned to the Romans in exchange for monetary compensation. Within two years - possibly on the basis of a contractual agreement which ended the same raid - Goths were enlisted into the Roman Army for Gordian III's
campaign against the Persians, which ended in 243-244 AD. At the conclusion of this campaign, the Gothic soldiers were released from military duty and all subventions were stopped. This was met with widespread disapproval, and by 250 AD a large army consisting of Goths, Vandali
, Taifalae
, Bastarnae
and Carpi
assembled under the Gothic king Cniva
. In 251 AD, the Gothic army raided the Roman provinces of Moesia
and Thrace
, defeated and killed the Roman emperor Decius
, and took a number of (predominantly female
) captives, many of which were Christian. This is assumed to represent the first lasting contact of the Goths with Christianity.
was issued by Galerius
in 311 AD, and a bishop by the name of Theophilas Gothiae was present at the Council of Nicaea
in 325 AD. However, fighting between Pagan and Christian Goths continued throughout this period, and religious persecutions - echoing the Diocletianic Persecution (302-11 AD) - occurred frequently. The Christian Goths Wereka, Batwin and others
were martyred by order of Wingourichos ca. 370 AD, and Saba
was martyred by order of Athanaric
in 372 AD.
. Wulfila
, who became bishop
of the Goths in 341 AD, was the grandson of one such female Christian captive from Sadagolthina in Cappadocia
. He served in this position for the next seven years. In 348, one of the remaining Pagan Gothic kings (reikos) began persecuting the Christian Goths, and Wulfila and many other Christian Goths fled to Moesia Secunda in the Roman Empire. He continued to serve as bishop to the Christian Goths in Moesia until his death in 383 AD.
Wulfila was ordained by Eusebius of Nicomedia
, the bishop of Constantinople
, in 341 AD. Eusebius was a pupil of Lucian of Antioch
and a leading figure of a faction of Christological
thought that became known as Arianism
, named after his friend and fellow student, Arius of Alexandria
.
Between 348 and 383, Wulfila translated the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language
. Thus, some Arian Christians in the west used vernacular languages - in this case Gothic - for services, as did many Nicaean Christians in the east (cf. Syriac
and Coptic Bible), while Nicaean Christians in the west only used Latin, even in areas where Vulgar Latin
was not the vernacular. Ironically, Gothic probably persisted as a liturgical language of the Gothic-Arian church in some places even after its members had come to speak Vulgar Latin as their mother tongue.
, the Gothic churches had close ties to other Arian churches in the Western Roman Empire.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
religion of the Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
and sometimes the Gepids, Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, and Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
, who may have used Wulfila's
Ulfilas
Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy. Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work...
translation of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into Gothic
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
and shared common doctrines and practices. Gothic Christianity is the earliest instance of the Christianization of a Germanic people, completed more than a century before the baptism of Frankish king Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
.
While one might suppose that the "Gothic Churches" of Europe were built by the Goths, this is not the case. Few structures dating to the Gothic era still exist in Europe, and those don't conform to the style of Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, which dates to the Twelfth century. The term "Gothic architecture" was originally a derogatory term meaning something like "crude and barbaric" that did not really relate to the historical Goths.
The Gothic tribes were predominantly Christian for more than a century before they sacked Rome
History of Rome
The history of Rome spans 2,800 years of the existence of a city that grew from a small Italian village in the 9th century BC into the centre of a vast civilisation that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries. Its political power was eventually replaced by that of peoples of mostly...
in the Fifth century.
The Gothic Christians were followers of a doctrine (Homoianism) associated by their opponents with the priest Arius
Arius
Arius was a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt of Libyan origins. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son , and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of...
. The theological differences between this and orthodox Christianity are discussed under Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
.
After their sack of Rome, the Visigoths moved on to occupy Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Having been driven out of France, the Spanish Goths formally embraced Catholicism at the Third Council of Toledo
Third Council of Toledo
The Third Council of Toledo marks the entry of Catholic Christianity into the rule of Visigothic Spain, and the introduction into Western Christianity of the filioque clause...
in 589.
Origins
During the 3rd centuryChristianity in the 3rd century
The 3rd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Ante-Nicene Fathers who wrote after the Apostolic Fathers of the 1st and 2nd centuries but before the First Council of Nicaea in 325...
, East-Germanic
East Germanic tribes
The Germanic tribes referred to as East Germanic constitute a wave of migrants who may have moved from Scandinavia into the area between the Oder and Vistula rivers between the years 600 and 300 BC. Later they went to the south...
peoples, moving in a southeasterly direction, migrated into Dacian
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
territories previously under Sarmatian and Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
control, and the confluence of East-Germanic, Sarmatian, Dacian and Roman cultures resulted in the emergence of a new Gothic identity. Part of this identity was adherence to a pagan
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
religion, the exact nature of which, however, remains uncertain. In 238 AD, an army described by the Romans as Gothic crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and plundered the Roman province of Moesia Inferior
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
, taking numerous hostages, which were later returned to the Romans in exchange for monetary compensation. Within two years - possibly on the basis of a contractual agreement which ended the same raid - Goths were enlisted into the Roman Army for Gordian III's
Gordian III
Gordian III , was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation...
campaign against the Persians, which ended in 243-244 AD. At the conclusion of this campaign, the Gothic soldiers were released from military duty and all subventions were stopped. This was met with widespread disapproval, and by 250 AD a large army consisting of Goths, Vandali
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, Taifalae
Taifals
The Taifals, Taifali, Taifalae, Tayfals, or Theifali were a people settled by the late Roman Empire in Poitou in the fourth century. They served as dediticii and laeti in the Roman and subsequently Merovingian militaries...
, Bastarnae
Bastarnae
The Bastarnae or Basternae were an ancient Germanic tribe,, who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited the region between the eastern Carpathian mountains and the Dnieper river...
and Carpi
Carpians
The Carpi or Carpiani were an ancient people that resided, between not later than ca. AD 140 and until at least AD 318, in the former Principality of Moldavia ....
assembled under the Gothic king Cniva
Cniva
Cniva was the Gothic chieftain who invaded the Roman Empire in the third century CE. He successfully conquered the city of Philippopolis, now present day Bulgarian city Plovdiv, and killed the emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Abrittus as he was attempting to leave...
. In 251 AD, the Gothic army raided the Roman provinces of Moesia
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, defeated and killed the Roman emperor Decius
Decius
Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...
, and took a number of (predominantly female
Raptio
Raptio is a Latin term referring to the abduction of women, either for marriage or enslavement . In Roman Catholic canon law, raptio refers to the legal prohibition of matrimony if the bride was abducted forcibly...
) captives, many of which were Christian. This is assumed to represent the first lasting contact of the Goths with Christianity.
Conversion
The conversion of the Goths to Christianity was a relatively swift process, facilitated on the one hand by the assimilation of (primarily female) Christian captives into Gothic society and on the other by a general equation of participation in Roman society with adherence to Christianity. Within a few generations of their appearance on the borders of the Empire in 238 AD, the conversion of the Goths to Christianity was nearly all-inclusive. The Christian cross appeared on coins in Gothic Crimea shortly after the Edict of ToleranceEdict of Toleration by Galerius
The Edict of Toleration by Galerius was issued in 311 by the Roman Tetrarchy of Galerius, Constantine and Licinius, officially ending the Diocletian persecution of Christianity....
was issued by Galerius
Galerius
Galerius , was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300...
in 311 AD, and a bishop by the name of Theophilas Gothiae was present at the Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in 325 AD. However, fighting between Pagan and Christian Goths continued throughout this period, and religious persecutions - echoing the Diocletianic Persecution (302-11 AD) - occurred frequently. The Christian Goths Wereka, Batwin and others
Wereka and Batwin
Wereka and Batwin were two of several Christian Gothic martyrs burned alive in church by the local district royal officer and sacred pontiff, otherwise known as goði, *Wingureiks in the 370s...
were martyred by order of Wingourichos ca. 370 AD, and Saba
Sabbas the Goth
Sabbas the Goth is a martyr and Christian saint.He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău river valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia region in Romania...
was martyred by order of Athanaric
Athanaric
Athanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
in 372 AD.
Bishop Wulfila
The initial success experienced by the Goths encouraged them to engage in a series of raiding campaigns at the close of the 3rd century - many of which resulted in having numerous captives sent back to Gothic settlements north of the Danube and the Black SeaBlack Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. Wulfila
Ulfilas
Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy. Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work...
, who became bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Goths in 341 AD, was the grandson of one such female Christian captive from Sadagolthina in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
. He served in this position for the next seven years. In 348, one of the remaining Pagan Gothic kings (reikos) began persecuting the Christian Goths, and Wulfila and many other Christian Goths fled to Moesia Secunda in the Roman Empire. He continued to serve as bishop to the Christian Goths in Moesia until his death in 383 AD.
Wulfila was ordained by Eusebius of Nicomedia
Eusebius of Nicomedia
Eusebius of Nicomedia was the man who baptised Constantine. He was a bishop of Berytus in Phoenicia, then of Nicomedia where the imperial court resided in Bithynia, and finally of Constantinople from 338 up to his death....
, the bishop of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, in 341 AD. Eusebius was a pupil of Lucian of Antioch
Lucian of Antioch
Saint Lucian of Antioch , known as Lucian the Martyr, was a Christian presbyter, theologian and martyr. He was noted for both his scholarship and ascetic piety.-History:...
and a leading figure of a faction of Christological
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
thought that became known as Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, named after his friend and fellow student, Arius of Alexandria
Arius
Arius was a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt of Libyan origins. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son , and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of...
.
Wulfila's Bible translation
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
. Thus, some Arian Christians in the west used vernacular languages - in this case Gothic - for services, as did many Nicaean Christians in the east (cf. Syriac
Syriac versions of the Bible
Syria played an important or even predominant role in the beginning of Christianity. Here were written the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke, the Didache, Ignatiana, and the Gospel of Thomas. Syria was the country in which the Greek language intersected with the Syriac, which was closely...
and Coptic Bible), while Nicaean Christians in the west only used Latin, even in areas where Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
was not the vernacular. Ironically, Gothic probably persisted as a liturgical language of the Gothic-Arian church in some places even after its members had come to speak Vulgar Latin as their mother tongue.
Gothic Christianity in the Roman Empire
According to Patrick AmoryPatrick Amory
- Early life :Patrick Amory was born in New York City on July 10, 1965 to literary parents. His father, the late Hugh Amory, was noted as the most "rigorous" and "methodologically sophisticated" historian of the book in early America...
, the Gothic churches had close ties to other Arian churches in the Western Roman Empire.
Later Ostrogothic Christianity
After 493, the Ostrogothic kingdom included two areas, Italy and much of the Balkans, which had large Arian churches. Arianism had retained some presence among Romans in Italy during the time between its condemnation in the empire and the Ostrogothic conquest. However, since Arianism in Italy was reinforced by the (mostly Arian) Goths coming from the Balkans, the Arian church in Italy had eventually come to call itself "Church of the Goths" by the year 500.Later Visigothic Christianity
Church Figures
- Theophilus, possible predecessor of Wulfila
- Wulfila, or UlfilasUlfilasUlfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy. Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work...
, first bishop of the Goths and bible translator. - Auxentius of Durostorum, Wulfila's adopted son, and later bishop of MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.