Ulfilas Translates the Bible into Gothic - First Germanic Literature
Ulfilas was born around 310-311 CE to a family of Gothic Christians. He was sent to Constantinople as a young man and was consecrated bishop of the Goths by Eusebius of Nicomedia around 341 CE. Facing the problem that Gothic had no written form, Ulfilas devised an entirely new alphabet drawing on Greek uncials, Latin letters, and some runic forms. Ulfilas was a committed Arian, believing Christ was subordinate to the Father rather than co-equal. This was the theological position he passed to the Goths and, through them, to the Vandals, Burgundians, Lombards, and other Germanic peoples who converted to Christianity in his wake. The Codex Argenteus, written in silver and gold ink on purple vellum in 6th-century Italy, preserves the largest surviving fragment of Ulfilas's Gothic Bible. It is kept today in Uppsala, Sweden. Ulfilas's translation stands as the founding document of Germanic written literature.
- Year: 341 CE
- Category: Cultural
