Editing Ulfilas (section)

== Life <!--Note: Some of these citations apply also to other sentences in their respective section, especially preceding ones.--> ==
Ulfila is mentioned by the [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene Christians]] [[Socrates of Constantinople]], [[Sozomen]], and [[Theodoret]], in addition to the [[Eunomianism|Eunomian]] historian [[Philostorgius]]. He is also mentioned by the Gothic historian [[Jordanes]], although the writer said comparatively little of him. The dominant and most important account of Ulfila's life comes from a 4th century letter from his pupil, [[Auxentius of Durostorum]], who wrote it immediately after his death.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=xiii}}; {{Harvnb|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=45}}.</ref> A summary by [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photios I]] of Philostorgius' ''Ecclesiastical History'' is also significant, but references to Ulfila's life are generally scarce, and he was omitted from [[Jerome]]'s [[De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)|''De Viris Illustribus'']].{{Sfn|Barnes|1990|p=541–542}}

Around the year 311,{{Refn|Romanist Hagith Sivan of the [[University of Kansas]] alternatively puts Ulfila's birth {{circa}} 310.{{sfn|Sivan|1996|p=373}}|group=lower-alpha}} Ulfila was born presumably in what is now modern [[Romania]]. He was partially descended from Roman prisoners who were captured in a raid by Goths at [[Sadagolthina]] and carried away from [[Asia Minor]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=xiii-xiv}}; {{Harvnb|Wolfram|1988|p=76}}.</ref> His ancestors were likely kidnapped by [[Western Goths]] in 264 or 267 then brought to an area near the [[Danube river]].{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=52}}{{Refn|Historian [[Herwig Wolfram]] places the date of his ancestors' capture by Danubian Goths in 257.{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=76}} Ulfila was born a third-generation Goth.{{sfn|Mathisen|1997|p=672}}|group=lower-alpha}} Prisoners taken in such raids from Anatolia were usually unrepentant Christians, and Ulfila was raised as a Christian in a pagan society.{{Sfn|Thompson|2008|p=xiv}} He lived in a [[diaspora]] community composed of Cappadocian Christians under the [[Thervingi]] between the [[Olt (river)|Olt]], [[Dniester]], and Danube.{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=45}} It is believed that he was [[Cappadocian Greeks|Cappadocian Greek]] on his maternal line and of Gothic descent through his father.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=76}}{{Refn|According to German theologian {{Interlanguage link|Knut Schäferdiek|de|Knut Schäferdiek}}, it is unsure whether Ulfila's mother was definitively from Cappadocia.{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}}|group=lower-alpha}} Ulfila was either raised by Goths in his childhood as a captive or was born in captivity to Cappadocian parents.{{Sfn|Kaylor|Philips|2012|p=9}}

No sources exist concerning Ulfila's education.{{Sfn|Ratkus|2009|p=38}} However, he was a ''[[Reader (liturgy)|lector]]'' in a church in [[Gothia (Roman province)|Gothia]] by age thirty, which required study of the Bible and prepared him as a translator. Since services were rendered in the Gothic language, he may have already had both the ability to translate and read. According to Philostorgius, he was sent by the Goths during the reign of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] as an ambassador to the Roman Empire, where he was consecrated as the bishop of Gothia by the Arian [[Eusebius of Nicomedia]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=xiv}}; {{Harvnb|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}}.</ref>{{Refn|Ulfila's rapid ascension to a bishop indicated some previous distinction he held, having never become a deacon or [[presbyter]] before assuming the position. [[Herwig Wolfram]] notes that "since Ulfila's episcopal commission was apparently valid not only for the Gothic ''gens'' but for all the 'Getic land,' he must have been recognized also by the non-Gothic peoples of the [[Gutthiuda]], above all by the Romans".{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=77}}|group=lower-alpha}} The Romans saw Ulfila as ''pontifex ipseque primas'' (bishop and tribal leader); [[Constantius II]] supposedly described him as the era's [[Moses]] and he was additionally compared to the prophet [[Elijah]]. His first journey to [[Constantinople]] was made between 332 and 337 for the purpose of accompanying a Gothic delegation, and he possibly lived in the city for a time with [[Aoric]].{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=76}} His consecration took place in either 336 or 341.{{Sfn|Wiles|1996|p=41}}{{Refn|Most scholars associate Ulfila's consecration with the council at Antioch in 341. According to classicist [[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Timothy Barnes]], "[they] have explained Philostorgius' dating as due either to confusion of the names of Constantine and Constantius (in itself a very frequent phenomenon) or to a mistaken retrojection of later events".{{sfn|Barnes|1990|p=542}}|group=lower-alpha}} 

=== Bishop ===
Ulfila would master both [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin language|Latin]] during his life, and as bishop he wrote theological and [[Exegesis|exegetical]] treatises in both languages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kaylor|Philips|2012|p=9}}; {{Harvnb|Wolfram|1988|p=76}}.</ref> In 341, he returned to Gothia, spending the following seven years working to explain and confirm the doctrine of Arianism among existing adherents and the unconverted.{{Sfn|Thompson|2008|p=xviii}} His pursuits were abruptly ended in 348, when a Thervingian ''[[iudex]]'' began the persecution of Christians in the area.{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}} The exact catalyst of the persecution is unknown.{{Refn|[[Herwig Wolfram]] speculates that the persecution took place "most likely after a war with the Romans".{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=79}} Evidence from [[Libanius]] and [[Cyril of Jerusalem]] suggested a crisis of Roman–Gothic relations.{{sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}} Academic [[Maurice Wiles]] writes that "to the Goths Ulfila's missionary activity is likely to have appeared as a form of Roman infiltration".{{sfn|Wiles|1996|p=41}}|group=lower-alpha}} Ulfila and his followers were expelled and fled to the Roman provinces, where they were accepted by Constantius II. Ulfila then established himself in the mountains near [[Nicopolis ad Istrum|Nicopolis]] in [[Moesia Inferior]], with no evidence that he would ever return north of the Danube.{{Sfn|Thompson|2008|p=xviii–xix}} He had been the only religious and political leader of Christian Goths at the time of the expulsion,{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}} after which he held the honorary title of [[Confessor of the Faith|''confessor'']].{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=80}} His followers were shepherds, and their descendants remained 200 years later in Nicopolis as a poor and docile community.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=xix}}; {{Harvnb|Wolfram|1988|p=80}}.</ref> 

For 33 years Ulfila continued to serve as bishop and attended church councils.{{Sfn|Thompson|2008|p=xix}} Little is known about his life in Moesia, but he resumed preaching and likely exercised the office of ''[[chorepiscopus]]'' (Greek: χώρα)''.'' Most of his theological works, including the translation of the Bible from Greek into Gothic, were likely to have been produced in this period.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=80}} He seemed to have remained the temporal and spiritual leader of the Christian Goths in Nicopolis, possibly exerting influence beyond the Roman frontier into Gothia as well.{{Sfn|Thompson|2008|p=110–111}} He also engaged in theological debates and subscribed to [[Homoeanism]], which became established at the 357 [[Councils of Sirmium|Council of Sirmium]].{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=46}}

Ulfila was present at the [[Council of Constantinople (360)|Council of Constantinople]] in 360, where he endorsed the council's [[creed]] and represented the Moesian Goths as their leader.{{Sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=81}} The Roman emperors during the tenure of his bishopric were generally sympathetic to Arianism, though the situation changed near the end of his life. In 380, [[Theodosius I]] issued a law against heresy, supported the [[First Council of Nicaea]], and deposed the Arian [[Demophilus of Constantinople]] in favor of orthodoxy. The next year, he confiscated all church property belonging to heretics and banned all heterodox religious meetings. After the convocation of the [[Second Ecumenical Council]], the Arian bishops [[Palladius of Ratiaria]] and [[Secundianus of Singidunum]] were anathematized. Ulfila would journey with them to Constantinople upon being ordered by Theodosius to attend a disputation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=xx–xxi}}; {{Harvnb|Ebbinghaus|1991|p=237–238}}.</ref> He likely traveled to the city in 383, although the emperor came to reject the Homoian position. Ulfila soon became ill, died, and was buried soon after, though not before drafting a creed affirming his belief in Homoianism.{{Sfn|Schäferdiek|Berndt|Steinacher|2016|p=47}} He was succeeded as bishop by the Gotho-Phrygian Selenas.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wolfram|1988|p=81}}; {{Harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=116}}.</ref>