Romantic depiction of Ulfilas converting the Goths to Arianism.

In western Europe Arianism, which had been taught by Ulfilas, the Arian missionary to the Germanic tribes, was dominant among the Goths and Lombards ( and, significantly for the late Empire, the Vandals ); but it ceased to be the mainstream belief by the 8th century.

This was the first book written in a Germanic language, and for this reason at least one historian refers to Ulfilas as " the father of Germanic literature ".

In past centuries, some authors asserted that Greek-like letters were already in use among Germanic tribes long before Ulfilas.

Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary.

During the reign of Constantius II, the Arian Gothic convert Ulfilas was consecrated a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and sent to missionize his people.

The letter of Auxentius, a 4th-century Arian bishop of Milan, regarding the missionary Ulfilas, gives the clearest picture of Arian beliefs on the nature of the Trinity: God the Father (" unbegotten "), always existing, was separate from the lesser Jesus Christ (" only-begotten "), born before time began and creator of the world.

He brought Ulfilas into the Arian priesthood and sent the latter to convert the heathen Goths.

Ulfilas converted many among the Goths, preaching an Arian Christianity, which, when they reached the western Mediterranean, set them apart from their Orthodox neighbors and subjects.

The Arian sources depict Ulfilas as an Arian from childhood.

Socrates Scholasticus gives Ulfilas a minor role, and instead attributes the mass conversion to the Gothic chieftain Fritigern, who adopted Arianism out of gratitude for the military support of the Arian emperor.

* Ulfilas, Arian priest and translator of the Bible into Gothic

While theology of the Arians was declared a heresy at the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD, the missionary work of the bishop Ulfilas converted the pagan Goths to Arian Christianity in the 4th Century.

( In fact they had been Christianized by the Arian Ulfilas, but Leander's theme was reconciliation.

400 ), an Arian Christian theologian, adopted son of Ulfilas.

Ulfilas | Wulfila converts the Goths to Christianity

However, during the time of Arianism's flowering in Constantinople, the Gothic convert Ulfilas ( later the subject of the letter of Auxentius cited above ) was sent as a missionary to the Gothic barbarians across the Danube, a mission favored for political reasons by emperor Constantius II.

Historically, the term was probably influenced by Gothic haiþi " dwelling on the heath ", appearing as haiþno in Ulfilas ' bible as " gentile woman " ( translating the " Hellene " in ).

According to them, Ulfilas was an orthodox Christian for most of his early life.

Auxentius was clearly the closest to Ulfilas, and so presumably had access to more reliable information.

The creed of Ulfilas, which concludes a letter praising him written by his foster-son and pupil Auxentius of Durostorum ( modern Silistra ) on the Danube, who became bishop of Milan, distinguishes God the Father (" unbegotten ") from God the Son (" only-begotten "), who was begotten before time and who created the world, and the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son:

But he was not only the first who enabled the learned world to make the acquaintance of the Gothic translation of the Gospels in Gothic script, but also the first who connected this version with the name of Ulfilas:

The New Testament was translated into Gothic in the 4th century by Ulfilas.

Wulfila or Ulfilas was the son or grandson of Christian captives from Sadagolthina in Cappadocia.

Ulfilas is thought to have consciously chosen to avoid the use of the older Runic alphabet for this purpose, as it was heavily connected with heathen beliefs and customs.

Historically, the term was influenced by the Gothic term * haiþi, appearing as haiþno in Ulfilas ' bible for translating gunē Hellēnis, " Greek ( i. e. gentile ) woman " of Mark 7: 26, probably with an original meaning " dwelling on the heath ", but it was also suggested by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie ( Teutonic Mythology ) that it was chosen because of its similarity to Greek ethne " gentile " or even that it is not related to " heath " at all, but rather a loan from Armenian hethanos, itself loaned from Greek ethnos.

The manuscript is written in an uncial script in the Gothic alphabet, reportedly created by Ulfilas.

It is a palimpsest that previously contained a sixth century copy of the Gothic translation of the Bible by Ulfilas written in Gothic uncial, with Rustic capitals as a display script.

The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language, created in the 4th century by Ulfilas ( or Wulfila ) for the purpose of translating the Christian Bible.

Outside of Italy he is perhaps best known by his edition, begun in 1819, of some fragments of the Gothic translation of the Bible by Ulfilas, which had been discovered in 1817 by Cardinal Mai among the palimpsests of the Ambrosian Library.

The Goths had been converted with the assistance of Ulfilas ( a Goth ), made bishop on that account.

Proponents attempt to associate this Christology with early church figures such as Justin Martyr, Lucian of Antioch, Eusebius of Caesarea, Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Asterius the Sophist, Eunomius, and Ulfilas, as well as Felix, Bishop of Urgell.

Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila: little wolf or belonging to Wolf ( also Ulphilas.

There, Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language.

The sources differ in how much they credit Ulfilas with the conversion of the Goths.

Sozomen attributes the mass conversion primarily to Ulfilas, though he also acknowledges the role of Fritigern.

Wulfila Glacier on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Bishop Ulfilas.

There the Gothic bishop Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek to Gothic, creating the Gothic alphabet in the process.

These Goths are known as Moeso-Goths, for whom Ulfilas made the Gothic translation of the Bible.

So in 411 Constantius, the magister militium ( master of military ) of the western emperor, Flavius Augustus Honorius, with Gothic auxiliaries under Ulfilas, crushed the Gallic rebellion with a siege of Arles.

The tribes we consider Gothic were nominally Arians during the period of time when Ulfilas translated the Christian bible into Gothic, meaning that they followed the teachings of Arius about the person and nature of Jesus Christ.