[gothic-l] Re: Cagots (how pure were the Goths?)

[Fern]

Dear Francisc,

Thank you for your thoughts.
I have for some time also believed that the Goths (were) a multi ethnic
entity as were other "Germanic" and non-Germanic tribes. I have often
wondered about tribal identity however, which is a very interesting
topic since so many individuals have so many romantical ideas about such
things.

Allow me to volunteer a list of thoughts and questions that have helped
me greatly as concerns "identity":
What exactly do you mean be "pure"? - What should be the criterion that
defines what a Goth or Gothic tribe is, was, or should be? Were the
Goths a "gens"? Did the Goths use some relative criteria of "gens" as a
requisite for allowing people to become part of their tribe? Should
Wulfila's descendants not be considered Goths? Should we use "our
criteria" to decide what a Goth is or was, or should we search for what
the Goths seem to have used as criteria to allow others to join their
tribes. If it were decided that the Goths should be defined as a "gens"
(as a gens is presently understood), that is, a clan of people with a
common patrilineal descent and belonging to a common religious cult,
would it make everyone who joined the original core group of descendants
that shaped the formative tribe (in a Gothic homeland, should there be
one) but who were not related patrilineally - not Goths?  Would the
tribe cease to be an entity called the Goths if the individuals having a
patrilineal descent die or no longer be identifiable within the tribe's
ranks? Would the tribe cease to be an entity called the Goths if the
original religious cult changed radically or ceased to exist altogether?

I guess when I begin to think about these things I do not see a rigid
set of criteria by which the Goths decided who became Goths? Rather I
see our criteria at play (heavily influenced or romanticized by certain
not too distant historical events) being imposed on the Goths to discern
who could be a Goth. Certainly the Goths seemed to be quite comfortable
in allowing Wulfila and many other individuals to join their ranks who
did not have patrilineal descent. Those having patrilineal descent were
probably just a handful, and they seem not to have been too concerned
about others that were not directly related. The later is probably true
even from the time of the tribe's formative period. Yet despite all
impediments and admixture the tribe had a relatively rich and lengthy
history in Europe. In fact, here we are bothering ourselves with them
this very day.  I say the latter things rhetorically and not
dogmatically since it would be to everyone's advantage to arrive at a
better understanding of the subject.

Some of the problem seems to be how one slices the pie. And there is
plenty of pie and plenty of knives to go around. Unfortunately, there
will always be someone who will want to slice the pie "their way" and
only see their slice as being the right size.



Cheers,

F.E.J.D.


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