The Gothic Fiction in the
Formation of the National
Archaeologia Bulgarica
XIII, 2 (2009), 73-88
1 The discussion concerning
the connection between
Getae-Gothi has been
recently too speculatively
presented by A. Chilingirov
(Чилингиров 2005).
Historical Schools of Europe
Boyan DUMANOV
The late 80s of the past century were a crucial point in the attitude towards the
traditional approaches to ethnic studies. The politic and economic end of the East
Socialist bloc provoked a growing interest towards the national identity, the self-
determination and the determination of the “others”. Along with the recovery of
many of the grounding principles in the history of the ethnic building, the East
European historians and archaeologists revealed the new approaches in these
studies, which after the development of the political thought in the 60s had broken
off the linkage with old national schools and assumed a new way of development.
Nevertheless the solid scientific ground many of the East European and especially
the Balkan scholars continued to follow the concept of “Soviet migrationism” after
1945, according to which the ethnic groups (if they have existed) could change
their habitats and their states respectively, during a long chronological span, re-
maining homogenous at the same time. An important element of the investigation
was the traditional ideological load as most of the Balkan scholars (including the
Bulgarian school) found many obstructions in realizing its importance as part of
the ethnic identity building (Härke 1998, 23).
The Gothic studies may be an example of the long way that the national
schools have covered from the early romantic ages to the modern scepticism. The
definition of Goticismus is based on the idea that Scandinavia was a fatherland
and land of outset of the great Gothic migrations. From the Scandinavian “cradle
of nations”, throughout heroic ages, the Goths have conquered the civilized world
and colonized Europe. According to Svennung’s definition “the Goticismus was an
expression of the respect to a nation, pretending for a general place in the world
history” or a history of the Gothic remembrance (Svennung 1962, 1; Wolfram
2003, 22).
The lost history of Cassiodorus Senator and the compilation of Iordanes have
been traditionally pointed out as main source for the Gothic history. Here are the
main contradictions that have traditionally engaged the interest of the early inves-
tigators, starting with 16th century (if we considered the work of Johannes Magnus
„Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus”, as a first scientific study) till
present days. One of the first outlined problems was the one about the transition
of the name of the ancient Getae over the Gothic name, appearing as classicistic
tendency in the works of the Roman poets (Svennung 1962, 6)1. Iordanes himself
relied on the words of Cassius Dio and the later historian Paulus Orosius about the
“Getae, being called today Gothi”. The assertion that thought the differentiations
between the both names, the people have used to determinate themselves through
and borrow foreign and more ancient names – “the Romans from Macedonians,
the Greeks from the Romans, the Sarmatians from Germans, the Goths, mainly
from the Huns” completes the fragment. Further Iordanes gives the explanation of
this scheme with the mythological concerning of the Gothic women as Amazons
(Iordanis De origine actibusque Getarum IX, 58; Скрижинская 2001, 72, 132).
74 boyan dumanov

In this way he demonstrated his intention writing in the manner of the classiciz-
ing Constantinopolitan writers.
The writings of the authors which dealt with the deeds of the Roman emperors
also concerned the Gothic rulers. According to Historia Augusta, Caracalla was
ironically named Geticus Maximus, quasi Gothicus. Sidonius Apollinaris (+482)
writes about Gothi in his prose, but about Getae in his lyrics. Ennodius (+521)
writes about ferocissimus Geta and also determines as Getaecum robur for the years
of 506 and 507. However these references faded away and in the beginning of the
9th century only the name of the Goths remained in the prose and the poetry.
The impression that the relation of Gothi-Getae was entirely a result of the
classicist tendencies of the late antique bibliography has been clearly confirmed by
their reference with the name of the Scythians. This tendency was established in
the works of Pliny, who maintained that the name of the Scythians was common
for the Germans and for the Sarmatians (Plinius, Naturalis Historia IV, 80-81;
Rackham 1999, 179-181). Sidonius Apollinaris also called all the Scythians “wild
nations”, including the Goths, in his later writings2. Isidore of Seville assigns the
Goths and the Scythians to their mythological forefathers – the nation of Gog
and Magog (Isidori Hispaliensis Historia de regibus Gothorum, Wandalorum et
Suevorum, 1; Wolf 2000, 58; Isidore made the clarification that “the scholars have
used to call them also Getae”).
The Early Christian apologists also had an essential contribution to the
development of Goticismus. In Retractationes Blessed Augustine writes that the
seizure of Rome in AD 410 was the main reason that had provoked the Romans
in conversion to Christianity (Sancti Augustini Retractationes, 31, 2; Baxter 1998,
215). In “De Civitate Dei” St. Augustine notes that the Rome’s seizure has returned
the old Roman military skills and the mercy that the conquerors had revealed was
due to their Christian religion. St. Augustine also flattered the Goths, comparing
the seizure of AD 410 with the Celtic invasion from 387 BC. According to him
actually through the barbarians (the Goths), Our Lord has made his way in the
souls of the mankind3. Ennodius compares deeds of King Theodoric the Amal
with the ones of Alexander the Great, describing him even greater than the latter
(Ennodius, Panegyricus dictus clementissimo regi Theoderico, 17; Rota 2002, 21).
The idealization of the Nordic people was not strange to the antique historiog-
raphy. Tacitus hold the Germans up as a model for the Romans, but even earlier
authors as Posidonius and Pompeius Trogus in contradiction to Ovid described
them as “brave and fair” (Tacitus, Germania, 18, 19; Hutton 2000, 137-161).
2 In the panegyric for his
Despite the Arianism of Goths, the Orthodox authors used to underline their high
father-in-law Avitus (West
spirit and moral. Salvianus opposed their modesty to the Roman extravagance Roman emperor in 455) the
and greed (Salvianus, De gubernatione Dei, VII, 6, 24; Messmer 1960, 28). poet determined the Goths
The grounds of the ideological stream of Goticismus (Stoergoticismus) that as Getae and Scythians
have concerned the cultural history of some of the modern nations of Europe had (Sidonius Apollinaris,
Carmina, VII, V, 496,
their roots in the idea of the continuity between the Gothic kingdom in Spain and
Anderson, 1996, 161).
the medieval Spanish kingdom. The Conversion into Orthodoxy in AD 587 elimi-
nated the religious contradictions and provoked the establishment of cooperation 3 An important contribution
between the Gothic aristocracy and the local magnates. Isidore, the archbishop in this sense was the idea of
of Seville, despite his non-Gothic origin, had dedicated his life to the union of V. Dinchev about the earlier
the Roman Church and the Gothic Royal power. In “Historia Gothorum”, Isidore Christianization of the rural
compares the seizure of the rich Spanish provinces as “abduction of a beloved regions of Moesia Secunda
and Dacia Ripensis, because
by the most ancient of the people” (Isidori Hispaliensis Institutionum disciplinae; of the attendance of the
Svennung 1935, 424; Svennung 1965, 24). The quest for the Spanish identity was Goths and other baptized
based on the predetermined by him tradition in very high degree. barbarians (Dintchev 1998).
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 75

Asturia was the only province with Gothic and Christian tradition after the
disaster at Vejér de la Frontera in AD 711, but it has always remained in isolation.
The traditions of the historized Gothic ideology have been established here. The
Chronic of Albelda (881) as well as other sources represented Alfonso I as rex
Gothorum, a ruler of regnum Gothorum (Devereux 2005, 43). Beyond the written
sources, an actual continuation of this tradition was the removal of the relics of St.
Isidore to Compostella, where the King Recceswinth’s lex Visigothorum also has
been preserved after the orders of King Ferdinand І. The kingdom of León is the
only ancestor of regnum Gothorum, and its general political goal was the entire
restoration of Gothic Spain and the rejection of the Arabic dominion (Svennung
1965, 26). The union of Castile and León has been presented as restoration of the
old patria Gothorum one hundred thirty years later (Stadius 2001, 6; Ferry 2004,
83).
The high-educated medieval Spanish writer Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada laid
the foundations of the Goticismus in Spain, using an unknown copy of Iordanes’
Getica (Svennung 1965, 27). However the modern concept would determine the
bishop of Burgos Alfonso de Cartagena (1348-1456) as the first one who had con-
nected the history of the “Scandinavian” Goths with the East European people,
clearly defining that land of the Dacii (or the Roman province of Dacia) has been
conquered by the Goths and consequently that it is not possible to equalize the
identity of the both people (Svennung 1965, 31). The bishop of Burgos also made
a list of the Gothic kings, starting with the iudex Athanaric till Enrique IV in 1454
(Svennung 1965, 31).
The council of Basel that has continued since 1431 till 1449 was among the
most important events of the 15th century. Concerning the Goticismus it had a
crucial significance, since the deputies of all people, pretending to historical
and cultural connection with the Goths had been collected at this forum. Nacio
Germanica included the delegates of Poland, Hungary, Germany and Scandinavia.
A curious fact was that the deputies of Scandinavian churches Nils Ragvaldson, a
bishop of Växjö and Ulric, a bishop of Aarhus have been united under the name
of the not existing Dacia. Alfonso de Cartagena and Johannes de Turrecremata
(Torquemada) attended as delegates of Nacio Hispanica and deputies of kingdom
of Castile (Helmrath 1987, 23; Hillebrecht 1997, 46).
Nils Ragvaldson protested against the third-rate place of the Scandinavian
delegates, arguing that the Scandinavian origin of the Goths, being one of the
earliest baptized people assigns a first place to the king of Sweden. The Castilian
deputy gave an appropriate and based on the written sources answer to the
Ragvaldson’s speech. He underlined the fact that actually the Goths had converted
to the Orthodoxy after the foundation of the kingdom in Spain (Helmrath 1987,
26).
The doctrine of Goticismus as idea that protected the interests of Eric XIII
(Erik av Pommern) (1396-1439), being imposed as king by the Union of Calmar,
stopped its development for more than one hundred years after the dethronization
of the latter. Other monarchies however pretending their geographic, historical and
cultural relation with the Goths adopted and developed the idea in further. Albert
Böheim (+1260), an archdeacon from Lorch pointed out the Austrian origin of
the Goths in an elaborate and complicated style. His idea has been applied into
the work of the “first representative of the modern historical thought” – Thomas
Ebendorfer of Hasselbach (1388-1464). He also attended the Basel council, where
he has met many of the erudite of his time. Both of them – the Italian Silvio
Piccolomini (the future pope Pius II) (+1464) and Nils Ragvaldson were of great
importance for the development of the Gothic ideological fiction. The Ragvaldson’s
76 boyan dumanov

ideas which contented meaning close to the national propaganda have been partly
presented thanks to Ebendorfer (Lhotsky 1957, 98, 129). He grounded his Gothic
theories mainly on the folk mythology and believes. However through his interac-
tion and contact with Ragvaldson these ideas received their actual power. One
hundred years later, another Austrian historian – Wolfgang Lazius (+1565) con-
nected the lands of the Habsburg Empire with the Germanic community, whose
power and dissemination has been based on the Gothic migrations from the Black
Sea towards Spain (Messmer 1960, 51, 56).
The filled with aggression Gothic history, as being described by the ancient
writers, brought about an opposite reaction among the inhabitants of the former
Roman Empire. When the interest in the antique culture and civilization was
resurrected again in the age of the Italian Humanism, a philosopher like Petrarca
understood the period of the Christianization as a “Gothic time of weakness
and growing darkness” (Haslag 1963, 38). The Italian humanists confirmed the
Gothic hostility to the civilization through the recovery of the Byzantine written
sources (Helbling 1954, 15, 32, 53). The Renaissance sharply rejected the Medieval
buildings, which had contradicted the right Classical orders. In 1419 Filippo
Brunelleschi brought in the classical column orders in Florence. His intention was
to restore the beautiful ancient architecture that the Longobards, Goths and the
Huns destroyed and that had been changed for the barbarian constructions of the
Middle Ages. Their style was called “Gothic” as well as maniera tedesca. The sharp
and high arches were described as “Gothic” and imputed to the Goths, who had
conquered Rome and Italy. Actually the real Gothic style in architecture was born
in France about 1150 (Haslag 1963, 70). Identically the Italian humanists invented
the definition of the “Gothic script”, being in contradiction to their light scripting
style. Each rhyme in the poetry has been considered “Gothic” and manifestation
in contradiction to the un-rhyming ancient poetry (Haslag 1963, 38, 41, 58).
Soon this negative assessment of the Goths has spread outside Italy. Sixteenth
century humanists as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Peter Dasypodius determined
them “barbarians”, and the “Gothic virtues” (gotthicum ingenium) – dark and
vague. Even in the explanatory dictionaries of the eighteenth century England the
“Goticismus” was equalized to “Barbarism”.
Another aspect of Humanism was expressed through the German reaction
against the rejection of everything connected with the Goths and the Germans
respectively. The South German educated circles complained of the fact that the
sources for the history of the ancient Germans have been subjectively crippled
and probably most of them – intentionally hidden. Albert Krantz wrote in his
“Saxonia” (1520) that the Italians must publish the entire works of Tacitus and
Pliny at last. In 1530 W. Pirkheimer pointed out the low degree and the wrong
interpretation of the German thematic in the ancient authors. So one gradually
reached the roots of the question “What do “Barbarian” and “Barbarism” mean”?
Fr. Irenicus got to the deduction that even being barbarians from the Hellenic
point of view, the Germans were successors of the Roman Empire and transmit-
ters of Christianity. Actually Christianity appeared as instrument of the complete
rehabilitation of the German world as the highly evaluated by Iordanes Gothic
values have been passed on the German culture. The German humanists pro-
claimed their descent as successors of the Goths and the Vandals. Similarly to the
Augustine’s explanation of the devastation of Rome as an inevitable consequence
of war, so Beatus Rhenanus announced: “The triumphs of the Goths, Vandals and
Franks are ours!” (Svennung 1965, 59-61).
The German humanists considered as well Rome’s seizure and the adoption of
the imperial crown by Charlemagne as well the separation from the Pope through
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 77

the Reformation as translatio Imperii ad Teutonicos. However the historic reality

and the separation of the German speaking population in numerous countries
were the main obstacles that the German ideology has remained mostly an aca-
demic doctrine (Kliger 1947, 73).
The doctrine of Goticismus had also its expressions in the British Isles. Giraldus
Cambrensis (1146-1223) and Ranulf Higden (+1364) wrote that the Picts origi-
nated from the ancient Getae. In 1568 William Camden uttered the assumption
about the Gothic origin of the Scots (Whibley 2000, 16-20). The Scandinavian
raiders of the Middle Ages have often been determined as Goths. The authors
of “Annales Cambriae” mentioned the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, calling
him Gothorum rex. In 11th century the monk Willelmus Calculus correlated the
Danes with the Goths from Scandza (Åberg 1926, 156-158). Such confusion of the
Goths with all the known Nordic people was typical for the later British histori-
ography. Some scholars as Robert Sheringham in the 70s of the 17th century even
developed this idea in further, defining each Nordic language as lingua Gothica
(Kliger 1952, 19; Haslag 1963, 16).
The discussions at the council in Basel clarified the Swedish origin of the Goths
and the British historians accepted the idea. Their research followed new direc-
tions in the quest for the Gothic linguistic and cultural heritage in Britain. In 1647
Nathaniel Bacon stated that “none nation has inherited of the Gothic law as much
as this Island” (Kliger 1952, 7). The adjective “Gothic” has early been confirmed
for synonym of “German”. In the end of 17th century James Tyrrell claimed that all
Germanic people, including the Angles and the Saxons had been of Gothic origin.
In his work “Introduction to the History of England” William Temple noted that
the Saxons were branch of the Gothic people, who after Odin’s will sailed off the
Nordic foreland in ancient times and settled the vast territories around the Baltic
sea (Beck 1935, 53). In 1681 the famous “Atlantica” of Olaus Rudbeck received the
very positive iudicium of the Royal society.
The old theory about the influence of the climate on the strong morality of the
Nordic people found also supporters in England (Kliger 1952, 241). The idea of
the strong moral principles of the ancient Germans versus the corruption of the
Roman society has been used by Gustavus I Adolphus in his struggle with Rome,
thus winning the admirations of the British society. Many English considered the
Goths as ancestors and founders of the European monarchies. Thus the Anglo-
Saxon studies received political significance, particularly after the foundation of
Society of Antiquaries by James I in 1604 (Kliger 1952, 109, 241).
In the quest for its historical roots the British parliamentary institution also
noticed the evidence concerning the Germanic people and the Goths respectively.
According to Jonathan Swift the Parliament was a typical Gothic foundation
(Kliger 1952, 112, 207; Haslag 1963, 11, 103). In 1739 Henry Brooke writing his
drama “Gustavus Vasa” has explained the following: “I obtained my idea from the
history of Sweden that represents one of those Gothic and glorious nations, which
we have taken our present state institutions from” (Kliger 1952, 8, 76). The an-
cient Gothic past was a Golden age of democracy and enlightenment. Everything
Gothic, including the architectural style symbolized the Good Old time. At the
other side the advance of the age of Enlightenment and Classicism in the British
society brought the Renaissance concept for the poor culture of the Goths and
the “Gothic night” (Kliger 1952, 56-57). However this pessimistic period was
short, since simultaneously, the eighteenth century Romanticism had resurrected
many of the elements of the medieval art. This fact transferred the character of the
British Goticismus into a national spiritual culture (Messmer 1960, 16).
78 boyan dumanov

The doctrine of Goticismus penetrated North America under British influ-

ence. The philologist George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882) published in 1843 his
book “The Goths in New England”, presenting the American emigrants as the
brave Angles and Saxons which have thrown off the “Roman tyranny” of the
British empire. He wrote: “England was Gothic in birth, but with Roman culture.
Nonetheless the presupposed higher culture and intellectuality, England belongs
to the Gothic nations”. He writes in further: “The Goths, which have been the
forefathers of the Northwest Europe, were the noblest of the Caucasian races. We
are their descendents! The spirit of the Goths has leaded the “Mayflower” through
the endless ocean. The Gothic blood was shed at the battle of Bunker Hill.” Earlier
the President Thomas Jefferson exposed the Gothic theory in his “Commonplace
Book” (Kliger 1952, 106-111).
Doubtlessly the cradle of the Gothic historical fiction was Sweden. This fact
was fated as well as by the Iordanes’ evidence as well by other factors, as the com-
paratively late Conversion of Sweden (later than Denmark and Norway). One of
the most important consequences was also the lack of early Latin inscriptions,
but also the presence of some runic inscriptions that have been dated back to the
early 9th century. The Rök inscription was the most important as being the longest
Germanic inscription ever known. The word Ostrogothae has been spelled out,
and Theodoric was a subject of the poetic tale. This inscription also provided the
earliest evidence for the Gothic heroic sagas (Bugge 1910, 32).
In accordance with Iordanes’ texts and the Old Testament, the medieval
German writers as Rimbert or Adam of Bremen, analyzed Scandinavia as an
island and have connected the notions about the Goths with the ancient nation
of Gog and Magog4. The Swedish kings adopted the title Sveriges, Götes och Vendes
konnung (King of Swedes, Goths and Vandals) in the middle of the eleventh cen-
tury. The authority of the Papacy also recognized the title (Svennung 1965, 283).
This tendency and the tradition of the Gothic self-determination and determina-
tion by the others have been kept in Sweden during the entire medieval period.
Doubtlessly it has been presupposed by the processes of the quest of the ethnic
identity as well as the legitimacy of the royal power. An indicative example was
the appropriation of the title Rex Gothorum by the Danish king after the conquest
of the isle of Gotland. As answer to this violation King Gustavus I added Venders
konnung (King of Vandals) to his titles (Svennung 1965, 291). This idea has been
developed with the identification of Scandinavia and Sweden with Scythia as well
as the making of the Scandinavians “the most ancient of all the nations”. The first
Swedish translators of the Old Testament defined that the mankind has traversed
the long way from the Ararat Mountain, where the Noah’s Arc had stranded,
through the enormous Russia to Sweden and Gotland. They specified that the
Goths originated from Magog, the grandson of Japheth and conquered the entire
Europe (Svennung 1965, 70).
The establishment of the centralized royal power in Sweden provoked the
beginning of the national awakening. This process coincided with the reformatory
council at Basel, where Nils Ragvaldson had presented the Swedish claims to na- 4 The Scandinavian
tional legality and continuity with the Goths. Ragvaldson stated clearly that “the and the North German
Gothic name originated from the kingdom of Sweden and it has been distributed authors had no access to the
to the other states from this foreland” (Collín / Schlyter 1869, 11). complete Iordanes’ work.
The processes that started with the Engelbrekt’s war for liberation (1434) led Anyway in his “Historia
de antiquitate regum
to the development of the first historical works of national character. The early
Norwagiensium” in 1170
writings of this kind were compilations based on the works of Iordanes, Adam of the monk Tyodrek based
Bremen and Rodericus Toletanus, and even have included a list of the Gothic kings his arguments on Iordanes
with their Swedish royal successors. Such large scale works were the “Prosaic (Svennung 1965, 70).
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 79

chronicle” (1449), the “Small rhymed chronicle” (mid-15th century) and Chronica
regni Gothorum of Ericus Olai, a dean in Uppsala (Svennung 1965, 81). However
the most important one was Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus
of the last Catholic archbishop of Sweden, Nicolaus Magnus from 1540 (Schmidt-
Voges 2004, 23-45). Nicolaus Magnus presented for a first time the Gothic doc-
trine as being defined by Ragvaldson in the form of a national ideology. King
Gustavus I Vasa (1523-1560) and most of all Gustavus II Adolphus adopted and
highly appreciated the Gothic ideas. After the Coronation in 1617 Gustavus II
organized a tournament in Uppsala, presenting the three national Gothic theses:
1. The ancient Goths originated from Sweden; 2. The Swedes and the Goths were
in no way inferior to the other nations in their humanity, courage and loyalty; 3.
Not the money and the wealth, but the philanthropy, the high military discipline
and the honour were the only ways to keep and develop the kingdom. Gustavus
Adolphus presented and identified himself as Beric – the first Gothic king, who has
led the Goths in their everlasting march towards Europe (Beck 1935, 16). Before
the invasion in Germany in 1630, during an official speech the king invoked the
aristocracy to resurrect the glory of the ancient Goths (Hillebrecht 1997, 47).
However the Gothic idea didn’t take possession of the aristocracy only, but also of
other elements of the Swedish society as the clerics, the scholars and the students.
The Runic stones became an object of the scientific study and the famous Codex
Argenteus was transferred from Prague to Stockholm in 1648 (Kleberg 1984, 12).
The seventeenth century wars of the Protestants and the Catholics were con-
sidered a continuation of the Gothic conflicts with the Roman Empire, not only in
Sweden, but also in other non-Catholic states. In 1632 the English writer Alexander
Gil compared Gustavus Adolphus with his “ancestor Theodoric the Great” (Haslag
1963, 11). Describing Gustavus II Adolphus (1611-1632) the nomination “the
Goth” has been as well used in negative sense. The French king Louis XIII (1610-
1643) has disdainfully called him “ce goth” and the Papacy determined him “new
Alaric” (Beck 1935, 49).
Gustavus Adolphus’ successor Queen Christina (1632-1654) apprehended the
Gothic ideology skeptically. After her coronation, she secretly passed over to the
Catholicism. Christina even announced that she would reject her Gothic fore-
fathers and deserted the royal scepter if this would change the history and save
Rome from devastation. Under the influence of the first volume of “Atlantica”
however Christina changed her opinion partly (Svennung 1965, 86).
The base of the Swedish and the Nordic patriotism grew up, thus leading to
a wider introduction to the content and the language of the Old Icelandic sagas.
The poet Georg Stiernhielm (1598-1672) explained the Scythian languages, i.e.
Swedish, Gothic and Old Icelandic, as being the protolanguages of the mankind,
and the Greeks had acquired their wisdom through the Hyperborean (Wieselgren
1948, 23-36). Olof Verelius (1618-1682) published some Old Icelandic sagas,
presenting the “Gothic” as a synonym of the “Swedish”. He also compared for
a first time the language of the Runic stones with the Bible Gothic (Svennung
1965, 90-91). Olof Rudbeck’s “Atlantica” marked the highest point of the interest
in the Gothic history in the 17th century. The author composed the four volumes
of “Atlantica”, basing his arguments on everything known about the Goths as most
of the facts having been combined with fantasy thus introducing the Gothic doc-
trine into the romanticized fiction. The work was a compilation of ancient sagas
and antique written evidences, pretending the identity of Gothic Sweden with
Platonic Atlantis. The Acropolis of Atlantis was recognized as the ancient Uppsala,
while the Apollo’s Temple was equal to the local pagan sanctuary (Rest 1995, 67).
Nonetheless the fiction, the great success of “Atlantica” provoked the composition
80 boyan dumanov

of other historic-topographic works with the same character till the end of the 18th
century.
After the Swedish fall out of the group of the Great Powers in the beginning
of the 18th century, the Gothic idea was gradually forsaken. The notion of the
“Gothic” however kept its unifying meaning on all of the Old Nordic studies as the
so-called literary “Gothic school” had confirmed its influence in the beginning of
the 19th century. Goticismus played the role of a conservative and national stream
of ideology, fighting to protect the traditional elements of the Swedish culture
during the time of Enlightenment. The Störgoticismus that Johannes Magnus has
created took the place of the romanticized historical tradition needed in the proc-
ess of the formation of identity, seeking for its roots in the sense of the ancient
and glorious past. The four-century doctrinal tradition played a double meaning
of ideological stimulator when Sweden had been an important political factor in
Europe, but also served as bastion, protecting the national tradition in the times
of crisis.
The Pro- or Antigothic doctrine played an important place in the formation
of the national identity of many of the modern European states. After the exam-
ple of Sweden and Spain the doctrine took a worthy place in the formation of
ethnic identity and national awakening. A manifestation of Goticismus was also
the attitude of most of the Romanized people towards to the German barbarians.
However they treated its backside since the ideology of their national formation
used the stream as negative projection, contrasting and underlining the continuity
with the Classical antiquity.
The attendance of the historic fiction has ever been an important element of
the search for the identity of the Balkan peoples. One could find some of the as-
pects of Goticismus in the Balkan medieval written evidences. The small number
of examples demonstrates the both opposed forms of the stream as they have been
demonstrated in the European historiography.
Probably the earliest example that has concerned the Bulgarian medieval
history was a treatise of Walahfrid Strabo from Fulda (808-849), as the author
noticed that during his time the Goths were continuing to live in Moesia, and
spoke their “sermo Theotiscus”5. This fragment has been often presented as the
latest evidence, concerning the “Thracian” history of the Goths.
The Goths appeared in the Medieval Bulgarian historiography for a first time
in the historic-apocalyptic literature of the 11th century. These are two interpola-
tions in Volume 16 of the manuscript collection of the Center for Byzantine and
Slavonic studies “Prof. Ivan Duychev”, being included in “Revelation of Daniel”.
They demonstrate the idea of the anonym Old Bulgarian writer about the end of
the Bulgarian Kingdom in the early 11th century. In the text of the “Revelation”
Archangel Gabriel interpreted for Prophet Daniel who the “Ten Horns” were, i.e.
the ten kings that would raise from the Roman Empire in the Last Days. “The
Second Horn will raise – a king from the Goths and his kingdom strong and stand
will be. A strong tribe will appear in these days and it will fight with him. And this
tribe will run away in front of his face. And it will come back, fighting and weak- 5 According to Strabo some
ening again. This king will give up in frailty. Then another horn will raise from his of the priests in Tomis
stock – his son Gabriel – the most fleeting one of all. Another stock will raise, with (Scythia Minor) read the
a name of an Angel name – Vladislav, his throne will be.“ (Тъпкова-Заимова divine liturgy in Gothic.
Some Benedictines told
/ Милтенова 1996, 118). The Gothic race has been described as roda gothina, him this after they have
gophina and gopina in the different transcripts (САНУ 56; Хил. 24) (Тъпкова- come back from Bulgaria
Заимова / Милтенова 1996, 118, 121). (Wolfram 2001, 33).

6 The entire titulature of
Charlemagne was: Karolus
serenissimus Augustus a Deo
coronatus magnus pacificus
imperator Romanum
gubernans imperium,
qui et per misericordiam
dei rex Francorum atque
Langobardorum.
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 81
Most probably the original was a Greek text, written in Sicily about 827-828,
while the Bulgarian translation dates back to the late 10th or the first decades of
the 11th century (Тъпкова-Заимова / Милтенова 1996, 115). According to A.
Nikolov the original of the “Revelation” meant the Bulgarian victory over Emperor
Nikephoros I Genikos in 811 and the rule of his successors. The Bulgarian
translator did not know the ninth century Byzantine history and has done some
changes, thus replacing the Byzantine Emperors with Bulgarian rulers, starting
with Tsar Samuel (997-1014) and his descendants (Николов 1997, 100; Николов
2005, 128). According to another interpretation, under the explanation “from the
Goths” or of “Gothic race” the author meant Charlemagne and his final victory
over the Avars (Тъпкова-Заимова / Милтенова 1996, 131, note 19).
Each of the both assumptions about the original script stays in conflict with the
explanation that concerns the Goths. Concerning Charlemagne it is not adequate,
since this ruler has never appropriated the title of Rex Gothorum6. Naturally the
possibility it being an example of archaization of some ethnic name from the
Byzantine author still exists (in this case of archaizing the Franks into Goths). The
idea for Nikephoros I Genikos in the Byzantine original is more acceptable thus
however excluding his relation to the “race of Goths”. So the main question is about
the sense of the use of the “Gothic” explanation – a notion of classicism, that the
translator has transcribed automatically or as being added intentionally. Possibly
the Bulgarian translator wrote after the common Byzantine archaistic tendencies
but also he has been familiar with some concepts in the Bulgarian historiography.
Thus presenting the Bulgarians Tsars as part of the apocalyptic legend, he looked
for a diversion in known ethnics that could be easy identified with them.
The name of the Goths was used ambiguously in the Chronicle of the Dioclea
presbyter. The author explained in the Introduction that his goal was to translate
from Slavonic in Latin the script for the Goths (libellum gothorum), i.e. regnum
sclavorum in Latin, describing all their deeds and wars (Ивахнюк 1986, 1). The
presbyter made this after request of a youth of the city of Bar in Dalmatia. So the
name of the Goths has been projected over the Slavonic one. According to the Vita
of St. Dismas, composed by Adam of Paris in the second half of the 11th century,
the Goths brought the martyr’s relics to “St. Maria” in Salona. The Goths found
asylum in the isles, but when they came back, they were turning the Temple of
Jupiter in the Diocletian’s palace into a church (Karasulich 1998, 23). The cor-
relation of the Goths with the Slavs is not possible in this case, since probably the
medieval author has used the name of the Goths, attending in the late antique
originals or the “older histories” at all.
Another correlation of the Goths with Slavs is evidenced in the protocols of the
Split church council in 1060. The Croatians, pretending for a Slavonic liturgy in
the churches were determined as “Goths”. Under the nomination “Gothic letters”
that have been invented by “a certain heretic Methodius, who had earlier written
many lies in the same language against the prescriptions of the Catholic Church”,
the deputies at the council meant the Glagolitic alphabet (Karasulich 1998, 42). So
the educated Latin clergy, preserving the memory of the Gothic Aryanism used
the Goths as a synonym of heresy. The opposition of Slavs to Goths, i.e. heretics
versus Catholics was one of the possibilities, explaining the attendance of the
ethnonym “Goths” in the Dioclea Chronicle (Шишиħ 1928, 187). In my point of
view however the author compiled older late antique ethnonyms with most mod-
ern ones. He did not do this only in the cases of the Goths, “who are also Slavs”,
but as well as in the cases of the ethnics that he concerned as being “local popula-
tion”. This compilation is evidenced mostly with the story about the Bulgarians,
who “conquered entire Macedon and later the entire land of the Latins, who have
82 boyan dumanov

been called Romans earlier, but now – Morovlachi (Morovlachs)” (Ивахнюк

1986, 7, 11). Thus the term “Gothomania” used by the first investigator of the
Dioclea Chronicle, Ferdo Šišhić, is misplaced since this had not been an effect
that the medieval writer looked for intentionally. Rather it was a transition of an
“antiquarian” ethnonym from the antiquity towards the age that was the actual
one for the writer. Perhaps the author also looked for continuity with the originals
he has used.
Seeking for the negative effect on the reader, the nomination “Goth / Goths” was
intentionally used in the Serbian Medieval historiography in the cases, concerning
the Bulgarians. King Stefan I Prvovenčani (1196-1228) wrote in the biography of
his father Stefan Nemanja: “Strezos – a renegade from the same Gothic race, as
well as called Bulgarians, separated lands west of my kingdom.” (Karasulich 1998,
56). The monk Theodosius expressed in the Vita of St. Sava (second half of the 13th
century) the same sense: “… Because the Goth called Strezos was too famous for
his courage, and many wished his death and having been afraid of his power… So
being rejected and exiled, having no assault, he escaped to the great zhupan and
ruler Stephan… Formerly… the Goths became to great power and they having
found many of the Greek cities empty and defenseless, they captured them… And
Strezos turned himself to a slave of envy, and out of fear of God, he corrupted his
soul… After he has reconciled with the Greeks, he started to recruit a countless
multitude of different nations and being highly supercilious, roaring like a lion, he
marched against his (the Stephan Nemanja’s) kingdom” (Karasulich 1998, 62).
In the Vita of king Urosh III Dechanski (1321-1331), Gregorius Tsamblak told
the story of the march of the Bulgarian Tsar Michael III Shishman (1323-1330)
against Serbia. The latter collected huge army from different lands and peoples
“he has also received a support from the Goths living abroad the Danube and
he had gone to war like agitating sea” (Karasulich 1998, 102). According to these
evidences the Serbian historiography developed the concept classicistic attitude
towards the Goths. Doubtlessly the concept fell into the Serbian sources through
the influence of the Byzantine tradition. The more important fact is that similarly
to the Mediterranean evidences the Goths are being presented as synonym of hos-
tility and perfidy thus reflecting the same sense over the Bulgarians. Beyond the
qualifying description, the comparison with the Goths brought also an element
of underestimation. The monk Theodosius determined together with Strezos “the
Goth”, Tsar Kaloyan (1197-1207) just as “the king of Zagoria”, who has “devastated
the cities of Thrace and Macedon”.
The Goths as historical element or subject of literature of secular or religious
content attended many Slavonic manuscripts. They were often mentioned to-
gether with the Bulgarians in the originals used by Caesar Baronius (1538-1607).
Baronius was the main source for the author of “Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya”, the
monk Paisius of Hilendar. He reported that “in these days the Greeks called the
Bulgarians – Goths and horsemen who came from the North and West, where all
of them were Goths, as many of the people of those lands being called “Tartars”
now” (Райков 1989, 57). At one side Paisius doubtlessly “redacted” the Bulgarian
arrival on the Lower Danube thus trying to replace the Goths from the time of
Emperor Valens (364-378) with the Bulgarians. One may suppose however that
this association has not been occasional since Paisius in the sense of Goticismus
ascribed typical definitions for the Goths as “disobedient to the kings”, “fierce like
lions”, “ferocious and wild”, “fearless and strong in battle”, “terrible for the entire
world” etc., used in the Greek and Latin sources to the Bulgarians.
The discussion about the continuity between the Goths and the modern popu-
lation of the lands being inhabited by them after the historical and the archaeo-

7 St. Mihaylov used this
practice later in 1995
sabotaging the project of
the Bulgarian Socialist
Party to make the Madara
Horseman a national Coat of
Arms instead the Bulgarian
Lion. Then he published
an authoritative article
approving that actually the
Madara Horseman was not
a man but a woman. And
this time it has worked again
since the project failed.
8 Actually the charismatic
figure of Wulfila was a main
source of inspiration for the
fancy of many persons, pre-
tending to be Bulgarian and/
or universal spiritual leaders
– a good example was Peter
Dunov who dedicated to
the Germanic people and
especially to Wulfila’s deeds
a BA thesis, promoted at the
Theological faculty of the
Boston University in 1893.
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 83
logical record has entered into scientific framework since long ago. The Gothic
(linguistic, historical, archaeological, ethnographic) studies had a short history in
Bulgaria. The Bulgarian scholars have been familiar with the written evidence,
concerning the “Balkan” period of the Gothic history since the foundation of the
national historical school. After the initial excavations of the both fortresses near
Sadovets, Pleven district in North Bulgaria, the treasure, consisting of pair of silver
brooches gave reason to the archaeologist Ivan Velkov to determine the complexes
as Gothic (Gotenfestung) (Welkov 1935, 149-158). This determination did not con-
tradict to the existing models of ethnic interpretation, developed in the European
historiography. The interesting artifacts and their context focused the attention
of the former director of the Römisch-Germanische Komission, Gerchard Berzu,
who initiated the beginning of the German-Bulgarian excavations in Sadovets.
This interest provoked a short development of the Gothic studies in the context of
the Migration period, whose climax was the publishing of the first and the last one
till recent days in the Balkan countries “Gothic Grammar” by Prof. Constantine
Galabov in 1939. Its predecessors in the linguistic studies were some works of
Luca Kasarov and Stephan Mladenov, who recognized about twenty two Gothic
relicts in the Bulgarian language (Касъров 1907, 2665; Младенов 1908, 155).
Logically after the end of the World War II and the integration of most of
the Balkan states into the Soviet satellite countries, the interest and the objective
approach to the Gothic studies fell into a period of pessimism. The Bulgarian his-
torians and archaeologists of the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages reasonably
ignored the artifacts of the ancient Germanic attendance on the East Balkans, giv-
ing priority to the Slavonic studies. The attempts to ascribe the Germanic artifacts
to the material culture of the Early Slavs could also be determined as part of the
anti-Gothic and anti-German fiction. In 1961 the archaeologist and the founder
of the continuity theory between the Late Antiquity and the Bulgarian Medieval
culture Stamen Mihaylov created a revisionist study, stating that the Lower
Danube Kerbschnitt brooches are nothing else but Slavonic artifacts. In contrast he
accepted as definitely Germanic the Late Roman swastika brooches (Михайлов
1961, 42, обр. 3,6). The situation would delight some of the modern specialists
in the attitudes between archaeology and State policy because Prof. Mihaylov ac-
cepted the Communist Party’s order to remake the Germanic artifacts as Slavonic
ones but has joked sarcastically throwing to the Gauleiters the symbol of swastika
as primary Germanic that they, being sadly illiterate, entirely accepted7.
Since the 80s series of Gothic and respectively Germanic artifacts have been
published, as the theoretical framework of their ethnic interpretation and expla-
nation used the older approaches of the West European historiography that have
been developed between the 30s and the middle of the 60s. Recently a century and
a half after the withdrawal of the Störgoticismus, the Goths and the evidences of
their attendance enjoyed a growing interest in Bulgaria and the Balkans at all. One
could even say that the story repeats again since the problem is studied in two-
fold way, varying from the excessive optimism similar to the seventeenth century
romanticism to an extreme and ungrounded skepticism.
Apparently the source of the enthusiastic outburst was the recovery of the fact
that Wulfila has created the Gothic Bible in the province of Lower Moesia8. The
Theoderiks Bok – Codex Argenteus was rooted in the area of Lower Danube. The
Thracian Goths created the Gothic liturgical calendar that was the oldest Germanic
calendar at all. These both facts turned the territory of modern Bulgaria into a
cradle of the old Germanic culture. The numerous written and archaeological evi-
dence of the Gothic culture on Lower Danube premised the thesis that the Goths
together with the Bulgarians, Slavs and the Thracian autochthons continued to
84 boyan dumanov

exist in the Middle Ages and became an element of the Bulgarian ethnogenesis
(Милев 2003, 5-6). The number of the Goths living in the Lower Danube area
is comparable with the one of the Bulgarians who has invaded the same region
(Милев 2004, 53). According to other calculations the Goths, who have settled in
the East Balkans after the 4th century even numbered one million (Милев 2004,
57)9 . Comparable to the ancient Goticismus some attempts have been made to
find out the similarities and the common links between such charismatic cultural
elements as the Gothic alphabet and the Glagolitic or Cyrillic ones; the medieval
Bulgarian Bogomils and the heresy of the Gothic Arianism. The modern descend-
ants of the fictional Thraco-Goths10 were the Danubian Vlachs, Arumanians and
the Caracachans. The Gothic appearance and attendance in Thrace even had its
aspect in the sense of the Marxist social-class war. The social inequality provoked
the Gothic raids and campaigns and their participants were inferior social ele-
ments (Милев 2003, 7).
Along with the Thracian, Celtic, Slavonic, Bulgar and Turkish, the Gothic
linguistic relicts also had their attendance in the modern Bulgarian toponymy.
For example this was the name of river Rositsa that washed the west side of the
pomerium of Nicopolis ad Istrum. According to some specialists the initial medi-
eval name of the river Rosita has kept the original root ros. And this is an excellent
example of vitality of the Goticismus, since the ancient name of the Swedish in
Russia was “ros”. So the linkage Nicopolis ad Istrum – the Goths or the Ros – Rosita
is entirely clear and logical (Елдъров 2003, 40).
Entirely logical seems the deny of the archaistic tendencies in the Christianized
Bulgarian literature and the ascription of the work of Chernorizets Hrabar to the
influences of the Gothic tradition (Милев 2004, 58). The Goths even contributed
to the Conversion of the Bulgarians into Christianity, being the better choice for
this act than the hostile Byzantium (Милев 2004, 59).
More speculative is the modern anti-Gothic fiction. One of its accents was also 9 These calculations belong
the Codex Argenteus. Addressing some works of the nineteenth and early twentieth to Todor Balabanov – the
century slavists the art-historian Assen Chilingirov proclaimed that the Gothic excavator of the “Gothic
bishopric center” near the
Bible and the Wulfila’s alphabet were proved counterfeits. Actually Wulfila the
village of Khan Krum,
Goth has also been a product of the fiction, because his real name was Urphilas, a Shumen district, NE
Cappadocian by origin (Чилингиров 2005, 54). The name of Urphilas is too close Bulgaria. In more recent
to that of Orpheus and consequently his origin was Thracian. His people were article Balabanov himself
ascribed these calculations
not the Goths but the Getae (Чилингиров 2008b, 169). This could be related to to other “modern” authors
the negative aspects of the Goticismus, since its goal was to underline the ancient (Балабанов 2006, 74).
origin of the Bulgarians and their vital connections with the autochthons of the
Balkans. In a large study called “The archaeological research of the Goths” A. 10 The definition of the

Chilingirov criticized not only the archaeological approach to the Gothic artifacts, Thraco-Goths was implied
after a study of Ivan Marazov
but also the general methods of archaeology at all (Чилингиров 2008a). “Zalmoxis between the
Doubtlessly the doctrine of Störgoticismus appeared as the result of the quest for Getae and the Goths” (2006),
the real or fictional historical roots of the nations, being limited by the absence of where the author based his
propositions on fragments
information and knowledge. From the Antiquity to the Enlightenment the stream of Iordanes’ “Getica”.
of Goticismus passed through a long way thus playing an important role as well as Rossen Milev and Svetlana
in the formation of the national identity as well in its defense in the times of crisis. Lazarova also sought for
the continuity between the
Its study as part of the history of the search for national self-determination could
ancient Thracian and the
be a serious contribution to the research of the Gothic history and the Medieval Gothic cultures (Milev /
identities in general. Lazarova 2006, 27-34).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Балабанов, Т. 2006. Готски
епископски център от
ІV-VІ в. до с. Хан Крум.
In: Милев, Р. (ed.) Готите.
Goterna. Current Aspects
of the Gothic Historical
and Cultural Heritage in
Bulgaria. София. 71-76.
Елдъров, Св. 2003. Готската
следа и визитката на
готите. In: Милев, Р. (ed.)
Готите и старогерманското
културно присъствие по
българските земи. София.
38-41.
Ивахнюк, А. 1986. Лiтопис
попа Дуклянина. Ottawa.
Касъров, А. 1907.
Енциклопедически
речник. Том 3. Пловдив.
Милев, Р. 2004. Вулфила,
готите, Европа. София.
Милев, Р. 2003. Въведение.
Старогерманското
културно-историческо
наследство по
българските земи. Готите,
българският етногенезис
и европейската им
идентичност. In:
Милев, Р. (ed.) Готите
и старогерманското
културно присъствие по
българските земи. София.
3-8.
Михайлов, Ст. 1962.
Ранносредновековни
фибули в България.
– Известия на
Археологическия институт
24, 37-60.
Младенов, Ст. 1908.
Старогерманските
елементи в славянските
езици. София.
Николов, А. 1997.
Наблюдения върху цикъла
старобългарски историко-
апокалиптични творби от
Х-ХІ в. – Palаeobulgarica 21,
1, 91-106.
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ...
Николов, Г. 2005.
Централизъм и
регионализъм в
ранносредновековна
България (края на VІІ –
началото на ХІ в.). София.
Райков, Б. 1989.
Паисиевият ръкопис
на “История
славяноболгарская” 1762 г.
София.
Скрижинская, Е. 2001.
Иордан. О происхождения
и деяниях гетов. Санкт-
Петербург.
Тъпкова-Заимова,
В. / Милтенова, А.
1996. Историко-
апокалиптичната
книжнина във Византия и
средновековна България.
София.
Чилингиров, А. 2008а.
Археологическите
изследвания за готите. In:
Чилингиров, A. (ed.) Готи и
гети. Том ІІ. София. 3-159.
Чилингиров, А. 2008b.
Урфил – учителят на
гетите. In: А. Чилингиров
(ed.). Готи и гети. Том ІІ.
София, 162-197.
Чилингиров, А. 2005. Готи
и гети. In: Чилингиров,
A. (ed.) Готи и гети. Том І.
София. 27-106.
Шишиħ, Ф. 1928. Љетопис
попа Дукљанина. Београд/
Загреб.
Åberg, N. 1926. The Anglo-
Saxons in England during
the early centuries after the
Invasion. Uppsala.
Anderson, W. 1996. Sidonius.
Poems, letters. London.
Baxter, J. 1998. Augustine.
Selected Letters. London.
Beck, T. 1935. Northern
antiquities in French
learning and literature
(1755-1855). A study in
preromantic ideas. The
Vagina gentium and the
Liberty legend. New York.
Bugge, S. 1910. Der
Runenstein von Rök.
Stockholm.
Collín, H. / Schlyter C.J. 1869.
Corpus iuris Sueo-Gotorum
antiqui. Samling af Sweriges
gamla lagar, Stockholm.
Devereux, A. 2005. Royal
Genealogy and the
Gothic Thesis in Medieval
Iberian Historiography. –
Foundations for Medieval
Genealogy. Vol. 2, 1, 15-65.
Dintchev, V. 1998. On the
Ethno-cultural Features
of the Village Population
on the Present Bulgarian
Territory in the 4th c. A.D.
– Archaeologia Bulgarica 2,
2, 64-87.
Ferry, J.-M. 2004. Face à la
question européenne, Le
problème d’une integration
postnationale. – Critique
Internationale 23, 2, pages.
Härke, H. 1998
Archaeologists and
migrations. A problem
of attitude? – Current
Anthropology 39, 1, 19-24.
Haslag, J. 1963. “Gothic” im
siebzehnten und achtzehnten
Jahrhundert. Köln.
Helbling, H. 1954. Goten und
Wandalen. Wandlung der
historischen Realität. Zürich.
Helmrath, J. 1987. Das
Basler Konzil, 1431-1449.
Forschungsstand und
Probleme. Köln.
Hillebrecht, F. 1997.
Skandinavien – Die
Heimat der Goten? Der
Götizismus als Gerüst eines
nordisch-schwedischen
Identitätsbewußtsein.
85
In: Arbeitspapiere
‘Gemeinschaften’, 7, 42-77.
Hutton, M. 2000. Tacitus.
Germania. London.
Karasulich, D. 1998. History
of the Early South Slavonic
Ecclesiastic Foundations.
Michigan.
Kliger, S. 1952. The Goths
in England. A study of 17th
and 18th century thought.
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kliger, S. 1947. The Gothic
Revival and the German
Translatio. – Modern
Philology 45, 2, 73-89.
Lhotsky, A. 1957. Thomas
Ebendorfer. Stuttgart.
Marazov, I. 2006. Zalmoxis
between the Getae and the
Goths. In: Милев, Р. (ed.)
Готите. Goterna. Current
aspects of the Gothic
historical and cultural
heritage in Bulgaria. София.
35-48.
Messmer, H. 1960. Hispania-
Idee und Gotenmythos.
Zu den Voraussetzungen
des traditionellen
vaterländischen
Geschichtsbildes im
spanischen Mittelalter.
Zürich.
Milev, R. / Lazarova, S.
2006. Current aspects
of the Gothic Historical
and Cultural Herritage
in Bulgaria. Overview on
the Theory and Practise of
the Research Project. In:
Милев, Р. (ed.) Готите.
Goterna. Current aspects
of the Gothic historical and
cultural heritage in Bulgaria.
София. 27-34.
Rackham, H. 1999. Pliny.
Natural History II. London.
Rest, M. 1995. Vergangen-
heitsepos oder Gelehrsam-
keitszeugnis: Olaus Rud-
86 boyan dumanov

becks Atlantica im Spiegel
seiner Zeit. München.
Rota, S. 2002. Magno Felice
Ennodio: Panegyricus
dictus clementissimo regi
Theoderico. Biblioteca di
Cultura Romanobarbarica
6. Roma.
Schmidt-Voges, I. 2004. De
antiqua claritate et clara
antiquitate Gothorum: Go-
tizismus als Identitätsmodell
im frühneuzeitlichen
Schweden. Frankfurt am
Main.
Stadius, P. 2001. Southern
Perspectives on the North:
Legends, Stereotypes, Images
and Models. In: Working
papers of The Baltic Sea
Area Studies: Northern
Dimension of Europe, Vol.
3. Berlin.
Svennung, J. 1962. Zur
Geschichte des Goticismus.
Uppsala.
Svennung, J. 1935. Untersu-
schungen zu Palladius und
zur lateinisvhe Fach- und
Volkssprache. Uppsala.
Welkov, I. 1935. Eine Wolf, K. 2000. Conquerors
Gotenfestung bei Sadowetz and Chroniclers of Early
(Nordbulgarien). – Germa-
Medieval Spain. Liverpool.
nia 19, 149-158.
Whibley, Ch. 2000.
Chroniclers and Antiquaries.
In: Ward, A. W. / Waller,
A.R. (eds.) The Cambridge
History of English and
American Literature. Wolfram, H. 2001. Die
Vol. III. Renascence and Goten. Von den Anfängen
Reformation. Chapter XV. bis zur Mitte des sechsten
London. 1-31.
Jahrhunderts. Entwurf einer
Wieselgren, P. 1948. Georg historischen Ethnographie.
Stiernhielm. Stockholm. München.

Готската фикция във формирането на

националните исторически школи в Eвропа
Боян Думанов
(резюме)

В своята принципна основа понятието Goticismus отразява представата,

че Скандинавия е родина и земя, от която започва преселението на готите.
Оттам през изпълнени с героика епохи те подчиняват целия известен свят
и колонизират Европа. Goticismus е израз на респекта към един народ,
претендиращ за място в световната история.
Основите на течението Goticismus, коeто засяга модерната културна
история на някои европейски народи, се коренят в идеята за етническата и
културна приемственост между готското кралство в Испания и по-късната
средновековна испанска държава. Приемането на Католицизма от крал
Рекаред през 587 г. съдейства за премахването на религиозните различия
и развитието на равнопоставеност между силната готска аристокрация и
местните магнати.
Едно от най-забележителните събития на ХV в. е реформаторският
събор в Базел, продължил от 1431 до 1449 г. По отношение на Goticismus
той има повратно значение, тъй като тук се събират представители на
всички народи, които претендират да имат историческа и културна връзка
с готите. Именно тук шведският представител Нилс Рагвалдсон изтъква,
че произходът на готите и съответно на едни от най-ранните християни
от Скандинавия гарантира първостепенното място на шведския крал сред
европейските короновани глави.
Идеята на Goticismus е развита през ХV в. и сред други германоезични
народи – архидяконът от Lorch, Albert Böheim (+1260) изтъква готския
произход на австрийците. Неговата идея заляга и в съчинението на “първия
представител на новото историографско мислене” Thomas Ebendorfer
от Хазелбах (1388-1464). Сто години по-късно друг австрийски историк
– Wolfgang Lazius (+1565) – свързва земите на Хабсбургската империя
с германска общност, чието разпространение се дължи най-вече на
преселенията на готите от Черно море към Испания.
the gothic fiction in the formation of the national historical schools ... 87

През втората половина на ХVІІ в. основата на шведския и съответно

нордическия патриотизъм се разраства и това води и до широкото
запознаване със староисландските саги и техния език. Научният интерес
към готите на ХVІІ в. бележи своя връх чрез съчинението Atlantica на Olof
Rudbeck (1630-1702). Четирите тома на този труд почиват върху всичко
познато до този момент от историята на готите, като фактите са съчетани
и с фантазии, които въвеждат готската доктрина в сферата на крайно
романтизираната фикция. Това съчинение, което компилира древни саги и
трудовете на античните автори, претендира за идентичност на Швеция и
готите с Атлантида на Платон. Все пак успехът на Атлантика е толкова голям,
че последователи на Рудбек съставят подобни историческо-топографски
изследвания до самия край на ХVІІІ в.
Историческата фикция е неразделна част от националната легитамация
на балканските народи. Някои от аспектите на Goticismus могат да се открият
и тук, като това става по няколко начина, като въпреки че примерите са
малко, те покриват и двете противоположни прояви на това течение в
европейската историография.
В средновековната българска книжнина името на готите се появява
в историко-апокалиптичната литература от ХІ в. Две интерполации във
«Видение Даниилово» показват представата на старобългарският книжовник
за гибелта на българското царство. Най-вероятно оригиналът е гръцки
текст, възникнал в Сицилия около 827-828 г., докато старобългарският
превод е от Х или първите десетилетия на ХІ в. Твърде вероятно е пишещият
във византийската архаизираща традиция образован български преводач
да работи в духа на общите тенденции в гръкоезичната литература, но в
същото време да ползва и някои понятия от собствената (българска)
историографска лексика. По този начин, представяйки българските царе
като част от апокалиптичното сказание, той търси разнообразие в познати
и лесно отъждествими с тях етноси.
Преднамерено търсено с оглед негативен ефект върху четящия е
използвано наименованието “гот” в средновековната сръбска книжнина
по отношение на българите. С висока степен на сигурност може да се
твърди, че готите като исторически елемент или като субект на литературни
произведения с друго светско или религиозно съдържание присъстват в
много славянски ръкописи. Честото им споменаване наред с българите
в оригиналите, които ползва Паисий Хилендарски в своята “История
Славянобългарска”, явно произвежда впечатление върху автора, тъй като
той обобщава, че “… българите по това време именувани готи и конен народ
и досега пребивават покрай Дунава в Тракия, а по онова време именували
ги готи”.
В европейската литература дискусията относно приемствеността
между готите и съвременното население на областите, в които те са
засвидетелствани по исторически и археологически път, отдавна е
влязла в определени рамки. По отношение на проучванията в България,
историческите, археологическите, културоложките и лингвистични
изследвания имат сравнително кратка история. Историческите сведения
за тяхното присъствие южно от Долен Дунав са известни на българските
историци от самото начало на създаването на родната историческа школа.
След разкопките на двата кастела при с. Садовец, Плевенско, Иван Велков
определя крепостите като готски въз основа на находките от тях. Тази ясна
етническа интерпретация по никакъв начин не противоречи на възприетите
в тогавашната европейска археология модели.
88 boyan dumanov

След годините на Втората световна война проучванията върху готската

история и култура поемат в нова насока, като най-общото определение, с
което те могат да бъдат характеризирани, е “песимизъм”. Този песимизъм
се изразява както в съмнението, че историческата наука е способна да
класифицира и определи правилно етническите процеси през античността
и ранното средновековие, така и във възможностите на археологията да
извади паметниците на тяхната материална култура от анонимност. В
българската историческа наука през 50-те и 60-те години на ХХ в. темата
за древногерманското присъствие резонно е игнорирана. Дори са правени
опити всички източногермански паметници от територията на днешна
България да бъдат обяснени изцяло като произведения на славянската
култура. Днес, почти сто и петдесет години след отшумяването на
последните проявления на Störgoticismus, темата свързана с присъствието
на готите и следите от тяхната култура се радва на възобновен интерес.
Тази проблематика обаче е третирана по двойствен начин – от прекомерен
оптимизъм, граничещ с историческата романтика на ХVІІ в., до краен и
необоснован скептицизъм.
Без съмнение доктрината на Störgoticismus се появява като плод
на търсенето на историческите корени на народите, ограничено чрез
липсата на достатъчно информация и знание. От епохата на античността
до Просвещението това течение изминава дълъг път, през който играе
важна роля в утвърждаване на народностната идентичност или на нейната
защита. Изучаването му е част от общата история, през която минават
народите в търсенето на своето самоопределение, и би могло да е от принос
не само по отношение на проучванията върху готската история, но и върху
средновековната идентичност като цяло.

Dr. Boyan Dumanov

New Bulgarian University
Department of Archaeology
21 Montevideo Str.
BG-1618 Sofia
bdumanov@nbu.bg