Luthic: Difference between revisions

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With a renewed close attention to the history and literature of ancient Rome in the 12th century, the mediaeval [[w:Aristocracy|aristocracy]] saw itself mirrored in the accounts of ancient Roman nobility. Some made doubtful claims to direct descent from Roman aristocracy. In the 19th century, German, Luth and French mediaevalists worried about the origins of the great mediaeval families. Did the great families descend from the aristocracy of the Roman Empire or from the barbarian chieftains who invaded the Roman Empire between 400 and 600? Did the families originate in the Latin or Germanic world? Both, it seems. Mediaeval Western Europe was an amalgam of Roman and ‘Barbarian’ bloodlines. The cultural and genetic influence of the Visigoths, Franks, et al. is readily apparent in the socio-cultural and political framework of Mediaeval Europe. In spite of this, the legacy of Rome, both social-cultural and genetic pervaded every aspect of Mediaeval society – this was of course greatly assisted by the mediaeval Church.
With a renewed close attention to the history and literature of ancient Rome in the 12th century, the mediaeval [[w:Aristocracy|aristocracy]] saw itself mirrored in the accounts of ancient Roman nobility. Some made doubtful claims to direct descent from Roman aristocracy. In the 19th century, German, Luth and French mediaevalists worried about the origins of the great mediaeval families. Did the great families descend from the aristocracy of the Roman Empire or from the barbarian chieftains who invaded the Roman Empire between 400 and 600? Did the families originate in the Latin or Germanic world? Both, it seems. Mediaeval Western Europe was an amalgam of Roman and ‘Barbarian’ bloodlines. The cultural and genetic influence of the Visigoths, Franks, et al. is readily apparent in the socio-cultural and political framework of Mediaeval Europe. In spite of this, the legacy of Rome, both social-cultural and genetic pervaded every aspect of Mediaeval society – this was of course greatly assisted by the mediaeval Church.
The initial trouble for the later Roman Empire came from East Germanic speakers, with various tribal groups such as the Vandals and Burgundians traversing Europe. However, it was the Goths who notably contributed to the linguistic record of the East Germanic languages. Originating from the lower [[w:Vistula|Vistula]], they migrated to present-day [[w:Ukraine|Ukraine]]. Later, facing pressure from the [[w:Huns|Huns]], they moved into the [[w:Balkans|Balkans]] and eventually into [[w:Western Europe|Western Europe]]. Among them, the Visigoths settled in [[w:Spain|Spain]], shaping its post-Roman state, while the Ostrogoths became custodians of the last Roman emperors in Italy. By the eighth century, linguistic assimilation into Romance-speaking populations had largely absorbed the Goths of Spain and Italy. Wulfila, a prominent Christian missionary and later bishop of the Visigoths, translated the Bible into Gothic while they resided in the northeast Balkans, providing a significant linguistic record of Gothic and East Germanic. A small group of Ostrogoths left in [[w:Crimea|Crimea]] resurfaced in the sixteenth century through a wordlist compiled by [[w:Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq|Ogier de Busbecq]], the [[w:Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor’s]] ambassador to the [[w:Sublime Porte|Sublime Porte]]. However, these [[w:Crimean Gothic|Crimean Gothic]] speakers disappeared linguistically shortly after Busbecq documented their vocabulary.


===Gothic Luthic===
===Gothic Luthic===