A Brief History of Humanity: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century

Chapter 15 The Barbarian Tribes in the North

[-]. Germanic Tribes
Before 400 AD, the northern part of the Roman Empire was bounded by the Rhine River and the Danube River. North Sea, while the Danube flows into the Black Sea.On the opposite bank of the two great rivers lived many tribes, whose languages ​​were varied and mixed, Germanic, Slavic, Finnish, and Celtic.These tribes were called "barbarians" by the Greco-Romans. Among them, the Germanic (Teutons) had the largest number. They were backward in culture and could not read or write, but this did not affect their important position in European history.

Tribes and chiefs The Germanic peoples are not the same as the Romans, they do not have a unified political power, on the contrary, their situation is similar to the North American Indians, they have been divided into multiple tribes for a long time, and they often wage wars with each other, and their cruelty is no less than that of the Resist Celtic, Slavic or Roman invasions.Each Germanic tribe had a chieftain, elected by the warriors in the tribe.In addition, there is a supreme council in the tribe, which is composed of chiefs, priests and prophets.Wearing floor-sweeping robes and hides, Germanic warriors fought and hunted daily, while ordinary manual labor was performed by women and captive slaves.

Residence and law With the development of the tribe, the civilization of the Germanic people has improved. They gradually have a fixed residence and master some agricultural technology.But they have not yet established cities, but live scattered in villages or in thatched huts on farms.Germanic lands were shared among the tribes and distributed among families according to their needs.The daily exchange of courtesies among the Germanic people followed a strict set of customs, and members of the tribe were bound by these regular customs.The various regulations of customs and customs are extremely cumbersome. Although they have not formed a fixed text, they are all collected and passed on from generation to generation orally, which is usually called "Germanic law".

Calendar The Germans mastered a calendar that divided years and months and counted hours.Interestingly, in the week of our calendar today, there are four days whose names come from ancient Germanic gods: Tuesday (Tuesday) from the god Tiu (Tiu), Wednesday (Wednesday) from the god Woden (Woden), Thursday ( Thursday comes from the god Thor and Friday comes from the god Fria.The nouns of these gods are spelled almost the same as the nouns of the week. Among them, the god Woden means "the father of the gods and mankind", and Thor is so powerful that he created thunder and lightning by throwing a hammer. Lord God.The Germans had many religious festivals, and established many sacred places in the forest to worship the gods.

For a long time, the Germanic people tried every means to cross the Rhine and Danube. From the 1st century to the 4th century AD, they crossed the river frequently, and the number of people entering the Roman Empire continued to increase. Some people crossed the river in a peaceful way, while others were invaders and sneak attacks Or, others were slaves captured by the Romans.The Germanic people lived on the river bank or the coast all year round, and had learned the skills of boat building and sailing. As long as they avoided the Roman border guards, it was not difficult to cross the river.Under the leadership of the chief, the brave Germanic warriors crossed the river, broke through the guards, attacked the farms and cities on the opposite bank, robbed livestock, food and agricultural tools, and extorted money, jewelry and weapons from the cities.The invasion and harassment of the Germans led to the killing, kidnapping, and captivity of many Romans, and a large number of Roman citizens were extorted for ransom, but the Roman guards were helpless and watched the looting Germans cross the river again.

There were also some Germanic peoples who settled permanently in the Roman Empire, usually as merchants who crossed rivers peacefully.These merchants sometimes sold slaves—some of the Germanic poor, others of other tribes captured in war.In addition, during the wars between the Germans and the Romans, some people were captured and served as slaves in Roman manors and engaged in hard labor.With the development of urbanization in Rome, a large number of Roman farmers and laborers poured into the city, and the Roman manor was seriously short of labor. Therefore, Germanic captives became a supplementary source of labor for the manor.For a long time there was a thriving slave trade between the Germanic and Roman provinces.

German soldiers Some Germans served in the army after entering the Roman Empire, some were forced to enlist, and some voluntarily.Many Germanic people became Roman mercenaries, and later even surpassed the local Roman soldiers in number.These Germanic people from barbarian tribes participated in the Roman Civil War many times, especially in the battle for the throne, and they were highly valued by the Roman nobles.Most Germanic warriors followed Roman tradition and had great respect for the Roman Empire.By the 4th century, many Germanic peoples had become full Roman citizens, and several Roman emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries even had Germanic ancestry.

After the invasion and conquest, the nature of the Germanic crossings changed radically.From the end of the 4th century to the 5th century, all the people of many Germanic tribes crossed the river into the Roman Empire. They invaded the farms along the banks, conquered the local Romans, occupied Roman lands and settled down.In AD 9, the Germans destroyed a powerful Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. This tragedy heralded the beginning of a large-scale invasion of the Germans.They gradually occupied the western part of the Roman Empire and established several kingdoms of Germanic tribes.The half-Germanic and half-Roman ancestry of modern Western European countries all originated from the invasion, assimilation and integration of the Germanic people since the 4th century.Although the Germans occupied the western part of the Roman Empire with brutal means of warfare, they, like many barbarians, respected and admired Roman culture and learned a lot from the educated Romans.

The major tribes strenuously crossed the Rhine and Danube.Along the 2000-mile coast from the North Sea to the Black Sea, each tribe successively became the camps.Along the Rhine near the North Sea there were tribes allied together, known collectively as the Franks, who eyed northern Gaul.To the north of the Franks were the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, who planned all day long to try to cross the North Sea and invade Britain.In the valley of the Main River, in what is now southern Germany, there were Alemanni and Burgundians.In the northern part of the upper reaches of the Danube, along the plains along the Oder to Austria and Hungary, there were the Vandals.After the Vandal tribes came the Suebi, Langobards and Lombards.In the northern part of the lower Danube, in today's Romania, there were the Visigoths, while in the northern part of the Black Sea there were some widespread tribes known as the Ostrogoths.

All the barbarian tribes looked eagerly at the Roman Empire, because with its rich cities and fertile land, the Roman Empire was indeed a very attractive piece of fat.

In front of the Huns and Germans was the rich Roman Empire, which attracted them to continuously invade and occupy, while behind them was a more brutal and brutal barbarian nation, which drove the Germans to flee from their original places.These barbaric peoples came from nomadic tribes in Asia, mainly the fierce Huns and Alans.They continued to attack and capture one Germanic tribe after another, conquering and occupying large areas of land, creating panic and unrest on a large scale.

The East Goths were the first victims. They were violently attacked by the Huns and the Alans. Some surrendered to the invaders, while others fled south and west, entering the territory of the relative tribe, the Visigoths, and occupying the land by force. down.The Visigoths could not drive away the East Goths, so they had to turn to the west to attack the nearby Germanic tribes. At the same time, they asked the Roman emperor in Constantinople for help and asked the Romans to allow the Visigoths to cross the Danube and enter the Roman Empire. territory to seek land and protection.After the Visigoths had taken refuge, the attacks of the Huns continued unabated, and fear spread to the tribes of the Vandals, Suebi, Burgundians, Alemanni, Franks, and Saxons , these Germanic tribes had only one goal-to escape the nomadic barbarians and settle in Rome.Thus began the campaign to invade Rome on a large scale.

The Visigoths were approved by the Roman Emperor Valens, crossed the Danube in 376 AD, and settled in Rome.However, the Roman nobles adopted brutal rule and abuse against the Visigoths, and the Visigoths were forced to carry out armed resistance and defeated the Roman army in the Battle of Hadrianburg in AD 378, killing the Roman emperor Varun s.Valens' successor, Theodosius the Great, ceded the province of Lower Mercia as a condition of peace, but the Visigoths were not satisfied.In 395 A.D., Emperor Theodosius died, and the two sides fought again. The young Visigoth chief Alixico showed outstanding ability in the battle and became a famous leader in the history of the Visigoths.

If the Roman Empire, which was surrounded by enemies, described these large-scale invasions in sequence, the situation would obviously be clearer, but these aggressive wars occurred almost at the same time, which caught the Romans by surprise and exhausted them.If the Germanic tribes did not attack at the same time, but fought individually one by one, they might be resolutely resisted by the Romans, or accepted and absorbed by the Roman Empire. In short, it would not seriously threaten the survival of Rome.However, this is not the case. The Romans had to defend the 2000-mile northern frontier at the same time and set up strongholds in the invasion sites of various tribes. This huge and arduous task could not be undertaken by any Roman emperor.

[-]. The Germanic kingdom on the territory of Rome
Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths, did not want to destroy the Roman Empire, but just wanted to plunder more and better cultivated land for the Visigoths, and to seek high-ranking officials in the Roman government for himself.But his request was rejected by the Roman authorities, so he went to war against Constantinople.For the Visigoths, Constantinople was extremely strong. They wandered in Greece for two years, relying on looting and looting, and lived a life of luxury.After that, Alaric led an army from Illyria to expedition to the Italian peninsula three times. During the second expedition, the Visigoths squeezed a huge ransom from the Roman government.In the third expedition in 410 AD, the Visigoths occupied Rome, and the entire city was looted except for public buildings and Christian churches.The Visigoths ravaged the Italian peninsula for more than ten years. Shortly after they plundered the city of Rome, Alaric died in Rome.In 412 AD, the Visigothic army crossed the Alps and launched a fierce attack on southern Gaul.In the end they established a semi-independent kingdom in southern Gaul and northern Spain, temporarily allied with the Roman Empire.

The Vandals, Suebi and Alans Originally, the Vandals and Suebi were invaded by the Alans from Asia and left their homeland in the north.Later, the Alans gradually intermarried and merged with them. In 406 AD, the tribes of the three ethnic groups forcibly crossed the Rhine River, ravaged the territory of Gaul, and invaded the northern part of the Italian peninsula.In 409 AD they crossed the Pyrenees and invaded Spain.The Roman emperor quickly compromised and had to make peace with these barbarian tribes, so northern Spain was ceded to the Suebi, Portugal and central Spain to the Alans, and southern Spain to the Vandals.Soon, the Suebi and Alans were conquered by the Visigoths and joined the Visigothic Kingdom, while the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa.

The Vandals Among the tribes of the Vandals in Africa emerged an able leader named Geserik, also known as Genselik.In 439 AD, Geiseric captured Carthage and transformed it into the capital of the Vandal Kingdom.A century later, Carthage was once again the center of a powerful empire.Geiseric lived a long life and was famous for his brutal destruction and proficiency in construction throughout his life. In addition to establishing a kingdom, he also created a large-scale ocean fleet. With his talent and talent, he dared to confront the Roman emperor.The sea expedition led by Geiserick plundered Sicily and the Italian peninsula, and occupied Rome in 455 AD.Soldiers looted Rome, looting all the treasures left over from the Visigoth raids of 410 AD.Gaiserick captured the queen and princess and forced the princess to marry his son.Geiseric died in 477 AD. He used his life's efforts to end the dominance of the Roman Empire in the western Mediterranean.

The Germanic peoples in Gaul and Britain were almost at the same time, and the northern and central parts of Gaul and the northern part of Britain were also invaded by Germanic tribes.The Alemanni conquered Strasbourg and the upper reaches of the Rhine; Much of the northern part of Lu.At the same time or possibly later, Saxons, Angles, and Jutes crossed the North Sea and invaded parts of the British Isles close to the European mainland. From (approximately) 407 onwards, the Roman Empire's control over Britain disappeared, and Rome's power in Gaul was also rapidly declining.

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths lived for many years in the area north of the Danube.Here they once expelled the Visigoths.In 380 AD they obtained permission from the Roman emperor to cross the Danube and settled in Pannonia and Upper Moesia.Throughout the century, these independent tribes sometimes allied with the Roman Empire and sometimes raided and plundered the Roman provinces.The chief of the tribe, Theodoric, was highly educated in Constantinople and served as a commander in the Roman army.In 488 AD, the Roman emperor sent him to attack the Germanic chief Odowacker, who had to be expelled from the Italian peninsula because Odowacker had been dominating Italy in recent years.Theodoric led the Ostrogothic army to defeat and kill Odovacer, after which he moved the Ostrogoths to Italy and settled there forever.Until his death in 526 AD, Theodoric remained the de facto ruler of the Italian peninsula.

Consequences of Barbarian Invasions By the end of the 5th century AD, Italy, Gaul, Britain, Spain, and most of North Africa were still ostensibly ruled by the Roman Empire, but actually controlled by Germanic tribes.The sphere of power of the Roman emperor was limited to the eastern Mediterranean.Since then, Constantinople replaced the city of Rome and became the ruling center of the empire.After the infiltration and invasion of the Germans, the remnant of the Roman Empire slowly turned into a Greek country that developed only in the east, while several Germanic kingdoms formed in the west and gradually grew under the influence of Roman Christianity.

Rome under Germanic rule Except in the British Isles, all the Germanic kingdoms did not expel the native inhabitants of Rome, nor did they deliberately change or abolish Roman laws and customs.Except for Britain and the Rhine Valley, the leaders of the Germanic kingdoms generally allowed local residents to retain their original local officials, Roman laws and part of the land, whether they were Christians or pagans, they were allowed to retain their religious beliefs.What these barbarian leaders paid attention to was how to keep the Germanic nation in a political and economic advantage.Most of the Germanic peoples continued to follow their previous tribal laws, and their chiefs became new nobles. Although intermarriage with the Romans was not allowed in the early days, as time went on, intermarriage between the two tribes has become irresistible. atmosphere.

The influence of Roman culture In the emerging kingdom of the Germanic tribes, many people learned a lot of cultural knowledge from Rome, including Latin, clothing and architectural styles, customs and customs.The Germans quickly adopted the Romans' land private ownership system. In the process of learning Latin, the Germans innovated while learning, and combined Latin with their own languages.It can therefore be expected that the mixed languages ​​of the northern kingdoms of Europe were mainly Germanic, while the southern regions mainly used Latin.

What is special about Britain The place where the most persecuted by the Germanic aggression and rule is the British Isle.It was geographically farthest from Rome (in the west) and least Romanized.Due to repeated Germanic invasions, it is most deeply influenced by Germanic culture.Before the invasion of Britain, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes were not within the sphere of influence of Rome, and were hardly radiated and influenced by Roman culture.They waged fierce and brutal wars with the Romanized Celts, and the melee between the two lasted for two centuries.Since then, the Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) language and laws have gradually formed in Britain and merged into English culture.At the same time, Celtic language and law entered the Scottish Highlands in the north and the Welsh mountains in the west, and across the Narrow Channel to form Irish culture.Of course, the Romanized Celts were not all massacred or deported in England, some women and children were rescued and stayed.Therefore, although the modern British inherited the blood of the Anglo-Saxons, they also inherited the blood of the Celts and Romans to a certain extent.

However, the Germanic conquest of Britain was exceptional in that the Angles and Saxons, unlike their Germanic counterparts on the Continent, did not adopt the language and laws of the conquered lands.

All the Germanic kingdoms, both on the Continent and in England, were at war almost non-stop.If they were not fighting the Romans or the Celts, they were fighting each other, trying to conquer each other by force.By AD 525, the most important Germanic kingdoms were: the Frankish Kingdom in Gaul, the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain, the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, and the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa.

Roman revival The Emperor Justinian of Rome (reigned from 527 to 565) waged wars with the Persians in the East and the Germans in the West and won many victories.The Roman emperor captured Carthage, proclaiming the end of the Vandal Kingdom.For a long period of time, almost all of North Africa became the territory of the Roman Empire again, and the southeastern regions of Italy and Spain were also reclassified to the Roman Empire.

The British Isles remained in Anglo-Saxon hands, Gaul remained in Frankish hands, and most of Spain remained in Visigothic power. In the second half of the 6th century, another Germanic tribe, the Lombards, came to Italy from the north, openly opposed the Roman Empire, and established a Germanic kingdom.By the 7th century, Africa fell easily and became the spoils of the Arabs.The following content will be described in detail.

[-]. The Huns and Slavs

In the late 4th and early 5th centuries, Germanic tribes invaded the Roman Empire, one of the reasons being the fear of the Huns and Alans.The fierce Huns not only drove the Germans into the Roman Empire, but also set foot on Roman territory.

Huns In the second half of the 4th century, there were Huns, Alans and many other unknown tribes in southern Siberia.They formed a group of Mongolian nomadic tribes, commonly known as the Huns.Due to the shortage of resources and lack of water and grass for their cattle and sheep, the Huns turned westward and violently attacked the Ostrogoths and other Germanic tribes north of the Danube and Rhine on the way, driving them into the Roman Empire.Since then, the Huns settled in the Hungarian Plain, and centered on it, they invaded and plundered the entire Central European region.

In the first half of the 5th century, Attila, the leader of the Huns, had a typical appearance of the Huns.The head is big, the nose is flat, short and fat, and the shoulders appear to be wider than the average person; a pair of sharp black eyes, the distance between the eyes is very wide; black hair, thick hair, sparse beard, and an ugly face.Attila was a bold personality, outstanding in war and diplomacy, but cunning, greedy, conceited and superstitious, destined to be a brutal conqueror.He controlled much of Europe for so long that even the Roman Empire paid him tribute to keep its territories from being ravaged.Attila was not easy to satisfy and always asked for more.Once, in order to extort additional compensation from Greece, he invaded Thermopylae and Thrace, and drove straight to the city of Constantinople.Attila and his iron cavalry were unanimously given the title of "God's Whip" by the Germans and Romans because of their atrocities of looting and destruction.

Battle of Chalon In 451 AD, because the Roman emperor refused to continue paying tribute, Attila launched an army of about 50 people to plunder, including troops composed of conquered Germanic tribes.The army set out from Hungary, crossed the Rhine, and invaded Gaul.But near Chalons-sur-Marne the army was thwarted.At that time, they faced a combined army led by the Roman general Aetius, which was composed of Romans and Visigoths.After fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses. The Roman allied forces fought tenaciously and defeated Attila's forces. Attila had to retreat from Gaul.The Battle of Chalons liberated Western Europe from the Huns.

Attila in Italy AD 452, when Attila invaded Italy, he burned everywhere.When he walked into Rome, Pope Leo I came forward and pleaded with him.Deeply moved, Attila returned to Hungary and preserved the "eternal city".

In 453 AD, Attila died unexpectedly at a wedding with a German girl.

Disintegration of the Huns After Attila's death, his sons competed with each other for inheritance and started a civil war.Partisans of various factions killed each other, and the dead numbered in the thousands.Soon, the nomadic tribes of the Huns disintegrated.The remaining Huns gradually settled, merging with other peoples in the lower Danube and southern Russia, and began a more civilized way of life.

Slavs The Slavs, mainly distributed in eastern Central Europe, especially in the eastern part of present-day Poland, were once attacked by Germans from the west and south.Like the Germans and Romans, the Slavs were also influenced by the Huns.When the curtain of history rose, after the migration of the Germanic people and the disintegration of the Huns, the Slavs also began to expand westward and southward, especially reaching the area of ​​the Danube where the Germanic people withdrew, and received some of the Huns.

The Slavs of the Balkan Islands When the barbaric Slavs reached the banks of the Danube, they immediately launched a fierce attack on the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.Beginning in the 6th century, they invaded Macedonia, threatening the emperor of Constantinople as well as the local people.Justinian had to go to war with them.Justinian died in 565 AD.Soon, the iron hooves of the Slavs trampled on the whole of Greece.During the 7th century, the Slavs gradually settled permanently in the Balkans, becoming residents of the Eastern European provinces of the Roman Empire.

Some Slavs (such as the Slavs in Greece) adopted the Greek language like many Germanic peoples in the West learned the Latin language; other Slavs (especially the Serbs), like the Anglo-Saxon Germans in Britain, still retained their original language. language.

Interestingly, in the 7th century, the Slavs were conquered by a ferocious Mongolian nomadic tribe - the Bulgarians.Like the Huns before the 2nd century, the Bulgarians swept west along the Caspian and Black Seas and settled in the southern part of the lower Danube, the Roman province of Mercia.Before long, the Bulgarians merged with the conquered Slavs and adopted their language.But, like the Franks in Gaul, these conquerors called the conquered lands and their people by their names.

Slavs and slavery The word "slave" in Latin and English is derived from the name Slavs.Before the Huns drove out the Germans, the Germans captured many Slavs and sold them to the Romans as slaves.So the word slav (Slavic) gradually changed to slave (slave).But the word "slavery" was used around the world, not at the will of the Slavs.

[-]. Christianity triumphs over the barbarians
Before the Germans invaded Rome, Christianity had spread widely in the Roman Empire and became the most powerful religion within the Roman Empire.For the Germans who invaded Rome, the Christian belief was a new belief. It would be severely tested and challenged. Can it develop sustainably?Could it win these barbarians to their faith?
The reason why the Germans later converted to Christianity was mainly because of Christian missionaries.Missionary work is usually undertaken by monks who live in the church. The monks belong to the priests who hold the formal faith, and they dedicate their lives and work energy to the church.There are a large number of monks, who belong to churches or orders in various places.The names of churches in different places are different, but the lives of priests are all strictly in accordance with canon rules and are controlled by canon rules.

The growth of monks and canon churches, and the formulation of canon rules all naturally require a slow process.Initially, the monastery, where the monks lived, was gradually established by a purely accidental development.No two monasteries are exactly alike in terms of external architecture, internal management and canons.It is precisely because of this that serious problems and drawbacks have emerged in the monastery.So slowly, the church began to supervise and control the monastery and established strict discipline.After a well-known monk or the leader of a certain group formulated the canons, they implemented them in the monastery where they lived, and then gradually promoted these canons to other monasteries for them to adopt.For example, the famous Bashir canon, which was formulated by a monk Bashir in the second half of the 4th century.He originally lived in Asia Minor, and later the canon spread to the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, where most monasteries gradually adopted the canon.At the same time, in the West, most monasteries and nunneries adopt the Benedictine rules, which were formulated by the famous Italian monk Benedict.A convent is a home for women who dedicate their lives to the Church and work exclusively for it.

Bashir's canons stipulate that monks must live together, eat and drink together, and pray together; priests must serve those in need and help vulnerable compatriots, such as raising orphans, taking care of the poor and sick; and teaching people to be self-reliant , working hard, they also build schools and manage them.The Benedictine Order is similar to the Bashir Canon.Benedict not only paid attention to people's religious beliefs, but also attached great importance to reading and writing, mental and physical labor.In addition, he particularly emphasized agricultural labor, thinking it is very important manual labor, but his church emphasized that monks should choose the most useful work, no matter what kind of work, as long as they can provide more services, priests should go to Do.Therefore, from the very beginning, some monks of Benedictine taught in church schools, teaching boys to learn knowledge.

The work of the monks In some countries in Western Europe, as well as in Italy and Gaul, most monasteries and nunneries adopt the Benedictine rules.In the following centuries, Benedictine monks did a lot of work and contributions to spread Christianity.They preached to the Germans and became the vanguard and main force of the missionary work, gradually making the Germans accept Christianity and improving their civilization.They both preach and preach, and they also practice and lead by example.Whether it is orderly missionary work, busy farming work, or various handicrafts, these monks can set an example for the world with Christian moral standards.They are also honest in business and trade, and they live a peaceful and orderly Christian life. They set an example in everything and lay a good foundation for missionary work.Christians established and organized schools among barbarian tribes and nations, copied and translated Latin writings, and carefully preserved these classics.

It was not easy for the Germans to convert to Christianity through the activities of the Arians. It was an extremely slow process from preaching to accepting the faith. There was no fixed pattern in the way of preaching, and there were various methods of persuading people to convert to religion.Many Germanic people came to the Roman Empire before they invaded Rome, and were deeply influenced by the process of interacting with Christians, and gradually changed their beliefs and converted to Christianity.In addition, the Germanic people who entered the Roman Empire in large numbers because of the subsequent war aggression, and then converted to Christianity.There were also some Germanic people who did not enter Rome, but they accepted the preaching of missionaries and converted to Christianity in batches.The Arians were the first to go to the Germanic tribes to preach. At that time, the Germanic people did not live in Rome, but they had already had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Christ.

Ulfila and the Gothic Ulfila (311-383) were the forerunners of missionaries.He preached to the Germans and made outstanding contributions.He was captured by the Visigoths when he was young, and was taken from Asia Minor to the north of the Danube, where he lived in the settlement of the Visigoths.Ulfila has lived with the Visigoths since he was a child, and has almost become a Visigoth.But he did not forget that his grandparents lived in Asia Minor, and they were originally Christians.When Ulfila grew up, he was sent by the Visigoths to Rome and held hostage in Constantinople, where he lived for a while.He studied Greek and Latin carefully in Constantinople, and converted to Christianity, accepting the Arians.At that time, the Roman Emperor Constantius supported this sect very much, so the Arius sect developed extremely rapidly.When Urfila was 30 years old, he was appointed as a bishop by the Pope. In the following 40 years, he dedicated his entire life to religious belief and devoted himself to the missionary work of persuading the Goths.He first came to the north of the Danube and preached the Gospel among the Visigoth tribes. He spent seven years and gained a lot.A tribal chief stopped his preaching and was very hostile to him, forcing him to leave the Visigoth tribe.Later, he led his believers across the Danube, and after obtaining the permission of Emperor Constantius, he settled in Messiah to prevent his believers from being persecuted.Although he had settled in Mercia, he still did not give up preaching to the Visigoths. He sent missionaries across the Danube many times to preach to the tribes of the Visigoths.By AD 376, when the Visigoths were able to enter the Roman Empire, most of them were already Arian Christians.This can explain that when the Visigoths attacked and robbed Rome in AD 410, they protected religious buildings and did not destroy any churches.

Ulfila had many great achievements in his life, one of which was very important, he himself translated the Bible into Gothic.In this way, the translated version of the "Bible" became the first Germanic book in history.When Urfila translated the "Bible", he deliberately deleted "Kings" and "Samuel", because there are many cruel wars recorded in them. The Goths are aggressive by nature, and they especially love fighting. They like fighting and war. s story.Ulfila did not want to provide them with such story content, fearing that the Goths would be stimulated by belligerence and trigger more war emotions.

The name Ulfila means "Little Wolf".

Arius among the Germans Arius is a branch of Christianity. In the 4th century, with the addition of the Visigoths, the influence of the Arius quickly spread among the Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians, Lombards, and other Germanic tribes flourished.However, Arius was severely banned by Theodosic and his successors, and gradually died out in the Roman Empire.By the 5th century, however, the kings and ruling classes of the Germanic kingdoms in Spain, Africa, and Italy were almost all Arian Christians.Unlike the ruling class, however, Roman citizens were overwhelmingly Catholic Christians.Differences in religious beliefs have caused differences in all aspects, and the contradictions between the two sides have lasted for more than a century.

Justinian began to occupy Africa, Italy, and Spain in new ways, not only for political but also for religious reasons.After his conquest of these territories, Catholic Christians in Africa and Italy were given a temporary respite.But the Lombards quickly established a new Germanic kingdom in Italy. The Lombards, like the Visigoths, were Arians.

The Franks did not follow the Arians. At that time, the Benedictines of Western Christianity received the support of many Catholic bishops, especially the assistance of the bishops of Rome. They continued to persuade the Franks and the Alemanni to believe in Catholicism.The first Frankish Christian king was Clovis. From 481 to 511 AD, Clovis was the main leader in conquering and persuading the pagans.His Christian beliefs were influenced by his wife, a Princess of Burgundy, a devout Christian who had long embraced Catholicism.On Christmas Day 496 AD, Clovis was baptized in Reims Church along with three thousand of his warriors.Frank (France) occupied Gaul and became a Christian country.The Popes of Rome gave France great praise, calling it the eldest daughter of the Western Catholic Church.Among the barbarian kingdoms that had not yet embraced Catholicism, France was indeed the leader.

Spain and England followed, and the second country to convert to Catholicism was Spain.In 587 AD, Spain was under the rule of the Visigothic Kingdom. The rulers at that time gave up their belief in Arianism and accepted Catholicism.The next Catholic country is Britain - Angloland (England).

One day when Augustine was in England, a Benedictine monk named Gregory went out and saw a group of Germanic children with blond hair and ruddy complexion in the Roman Forum.He stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?" One of the children said, "We are Anglos."Gregory shook his head, smiled and said: "You are not Anglos, you are all angels (angels)".At that time, Gregory made up his mind to "go to Angloland (Britain) to be a missionary".But his decision was thwarted, and he was unable to go to Britain at the time.Soon after, however, he became pope, so he had the power to send other priests to Britain to preach.

During Gregory's tenure as Pope from 596 to 604 AD, he was known as the "Gregorian Pope" throughout the world.He decided to send Augustine to lead a group of missionaries to Britain.In 597 AD, Augustine led thirty or forty priest assistants across the sea from France and entered the British Isle.Ethelbert, king of Kent, allowed them to live in Canterbury.Ethelbert was promptly baptized, and Canterbury became an important center of Christianization in England.Ethelbert's wife was a Frankish princess named Berta. Her contribution to the successful spread of Christianity in England is indelible.

Augustine was historically known as "Augustine of Canterbury" to distinguish him from "Augustine of Hippo".

The Religious Council of Whitby As early as when Britain was still under the rule of the Roman Empire, Christianity had already spread in Britain.However, due to the continuous invasion of non-Christian Angles, Saxons and Jutes, after 449 AD, Christianity in southeastern Britain came under attack.But in various parts of the west, there are still remnants of Christian forces.In the west of Britain, between Scotland and Ireland, there is a small island called Iona, from where Celtic missionaries returned to England, and most of them went to the northern part of England to preach.They preached earlier than Augustine arrived in Canterbury in AD 597.

As you can imagine, these Celtic missionaries differed from Augustine and his successors in the way they preached and practiced.In 664 AD, a major meeting was held in Whitby, northern England. The meeting passed a decision that all Christians in England should follow the teachings of Augustine and take the religious practice of missionaries from Rome as the criterion.As a result of this resolution, all Christians in the British Isles were united and had a close relationship with the Roman Church.

The conversion of the Lombards In the 7th century, with the efforts of several popes and Italian Benedictine monks, the Lombards finally converted to Catholicism.These were the last of the Arians to convert to Catholicism.

(End of this chapter)