My inaugural post!
In Medieval Iberia the chapter “A Catholic Bishop And An Arian King” features a story from an unknown author documenting the struggles of Catholics and Catholic bishops in a period of time (~630 – 589) where the ruling Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula tried to force Arianism upon the Iberian population. This specific excerpt in the book is about a strong willed Catholic bishop, whom is referred to as a “man of God” being confronted by an Arian King who is depicted as barbaric, uneducated and isolated from any real wisdom of higher powers. The Arian king repeatedly threatens the bishop with exile and even death unless he converts to Arianism, but none of the king’s attempts concern the bishop because “God is everywhere”, so no matter what is done to him God will be there. The story ends with the king decreeing the bishop to be exiled and he gives the bishop an untamed horse in the hopes that the horse will knock the bishop off on the way to exile and kill the bishop. To the king’s surprise, this untamable horse is metaphorically turned into “a gentle lamb” through care and love and the bishop rides away peacefully.
While the setting is quite plausible and the characters too, this story seems more like an urban legend or myth that could be used as propaganda to promote Catholicism rather than a historical account to me. It paints the picture that anyone who is not Catholic is almost a class below and that the only way to love, be educated and find internal peace is through Catholicism. The bishop appears to be more cunning by constantly refuting the Arian king’s ideas and making clearer and more creative arguments. It is clear that the protagonist/person the reader should be rooting for is the Bishop, so subsequently we can tell most likely the religion of the author despite the exact name being unknown. This urban legend certainly could be used for propaganda type uses to promote the righteousness of Catholicism and for historical accounts, since the winners always get to decide what gets put into history.
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