[gothic-l] Re: Gothic Christianity

[Dr. Dirk Faltin <dirk@smra.co.uk>]

Hi George,

I completely agree. Gothic Christianity is not only an established
fact for the period in question, the particular brand of Gothic
Christianity (Arianism) was also a key feature of Gothic idendity.
However, it was not a singular defining aspect. After all the Arian
patriach (or how the office was called) of the period of around 500AD
was a Roman and many other Romans may still have followed Arianism as
well at the time. Yet, I think the combination of linguistic and
cultural characteristics combined with Arian Christianity were the
essence what made a Goths a Goths (always remembering that we talk
about the late 5th and 6th century). I think that this is also the
reason why the changeover to Catholicism at the end of the 6th
century sparked revolts among the Visigothic elites (e.g. Witteric's
attempt to return to Arianism).

Dirk





--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh at y...> wrote:
> What is interesting here, I think, is not so much the
> indubitable fact of the Christianization of most Goths
> after the fall of the Attilanic Empire (and many
> groups were Christian even earlier), but the specific
> nature of Gothic Christianity. Especially the
> interplay between Arianism and Orthodoxy. The earliest
> Gothic Christians (whose bishop attended the Council
> of Nicea) were apparently not Arian. Due to the
> situation in the Roman Empire in the 340's and 350's
> and beyond, the greatest religious figure in the
> history of Gothic Christianity, Bishop Ulfila, was an
> Arian. I haven't made a special study of this, and
> stand to be corrected, but it seems to me that while
> the conversion of pagan Goths to Arian Christianity in
> the 370's was quite understandable in terms of the
> political situation in the Empire, this was no longer
> the case after the advent of Theodosius. There were of
> course "Orthodox" Goths, but the fact that in an epoch
> increasingly devoted to the affirmation of Orthodoxy
> in many dimensions (late 4th to mid-5th c. and beyond)
> most Goths remained Arian, and, quite significantly,
> that most of the new contingents moving into and
> around the boundaries of the Roman Empire opted for
> Arianism and not for Orthodoxy speaks volumes for the
> existence and nurture of "Gothic identity". An
> identity now associated with Arian Christianity rather
> than traditional Paganism. And this Gothic brand of
> Christianity seems to have been popular among other
> Germanic peoples too, though the specifics varied. The
> Franks, for instance, opted for Orthodoxy. I'm not
> certain how long Arianism persisted among the Goths
> and other peoples (perhaps those who know might say)
> but I do remember that in Spain it continued as the
> Christian option of the Wisigothic monarchy until the
> end of the 6th century at least. And this goes beyond
> the parameters of the list, but wasn't St Bonifatius
> involved in disputes with Arian bishops as late as the
> first half of the 8th c.?
>
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