[gothic-l]Re: ¿What happened with the Vandalic, Swebic and Ostrogothic Kingdoms?

Tue Apr 3 20:03:16 UTC 2001

Dear Czobor,
     Isidore of Seville (560-636) was not himself a Visigoth but a
Hispano-Roman Bishop.
For almost two centuries the Goths had been in full control of Spain,
Isidore felt that their unrefined manners and cultural ideosyncracies
threatened greatly to put back her progress in civilization. Realizing
that the spiritual as well as the material well-being of the nation
depended on the full assimilation of the foreign elements, St. Isidore
set himself to the task of welding into a homogeneous nation the various
peoples who made up the Visigothic kingdom. Within his own jurisdiction
he availed himself of the resources of education to counteract the
growing influence of what to Isidore seemed "the barbarous ways of the
Goths". Above all, Isidore was a chronicler of the milieu of his time
and took great interest in recording the customs, and lifeways of the
Visigoths in detail, as a result, Isidore's writings give us a snapshot
of the many "heathen" customs and manners of the Gothic people in Spain,
a rather interesting read on its own. In the latter, one can see in part
what the Goths 'might' have been like 'culturally' prior to their
incursion into the empire.

I believe it was Isidore who in fact chronicled the following customs
(they seem very unique) and in a way give us a sense that at least in
Spain the customs of the Goths might not have changed much from what
they were like before entering the empire. To give some examples there
is what Isidore calls the Carmina Maiorum, in his explanation he states
that it was a very long song used to pass on the deeds and history of
the Gothic people. He speaks about funerary customs wherein a major hero
dying in battle was cause enough to actually stop the battle until the
hero was traditionally honored by being paraded on a bier atop his
fellow's shoulders while the carmina maiorum was sung, it is said hat
the lamentation and the length of the song was intolerable. He speaks
about the peculiar way of travel of the Gothic kings which he says went
about on finely made carts adorned with incised ivory, silk and precious
stones and drawn about by two white mules led by squires on foot. He
also mentions long bouts of drinking, gaming and boasting - and their
passion for the hunt.
I think it is possible that the epic tradition in Spanish literature and
in other lands settled by Germanic people might originate with
traditions like the Carmina Maiorum. Epic poems like El son del mio Cid,
in Spain (about Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar-of Visigothic lineage) the Song of
Roland, (killed at Roncesvalles Spain) in the France, a type of poem
known there as the "chansons de gestes" (song of deeds) might in some
way be the product of those Germanic traditions.

I have stuck my neck out a bit in taking the liberty to state the latter
items without supporting documentation and without my copy of Isidore of
Seville which is presently at my office at the university, but I will be
sure to check everything I have stated against it and if any corrections
are forthcomming, I will post a correction at a later time.

Cheers,
Frþunanþs

czobor at cantacuzino.ro wrote:

> Isidore of Seville wath not himself a Visigoth?
> I think that I have read this somwhere...
>
> Francisc
>
> --- In gothic-l at y..., Friþunanþs Ximeneiks - <jimenezf at a...> (Fernando
>
> E. Ximenez) wrote:
> > Alberto,
> >
> > Debéis tratar de leer tomes necesario é elementales al estudio de
> los
> > Germanos en España. Te recomiendo obtener ISIDORO DE SEVILLA, SANTO
> > 350 paginas, Julio 1975, CENTRO ESTUDIOS SAN ISIDORO, España.
> > Ahí encontraras detalles de todos los Germanos que pasaron
> > por-o-quedaron dentro de España. Si lo hacéis tendrás el respaldo de
>
> > información sin igual. Después
> > podrás hacer plena contribución a los diálogos en este foro.
> >
> > A su dispocición,
> > F. X.
> >
> > Translation:
> > In order to realize a basic but thorough study of the Germanization
> of
> > Spain, I suggest reading Isidore of Seville. He gives a very
> detailed
> > account of the Germanic peoples that entered and/or settled there.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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--
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