Arminius
Chieftain of the Cherusci
Hermannsdenkmal memorial
Born	18/17 BC
Birthplace	Magna Germania
Died	AD 21 (age 40)
Place of death	Germania

Arminius (18/17 BC – AD 21), also known as Armin or Hermann (Arminius being a Latinization, similar to Brennus) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius's influence held an allied coalition of Germanic tribes together in opposition to the Romans but after defeats by the Roman general Germanicus, nephew of the Emperor Tiberius, his influence waned and Arminius was assassinated on the orders of rival Germanic chiefs.^[1][2] Arminius's victory against the Roman legions in the Teutoburg forest had a far-reaching effect on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and on the Roman Empire. The Romans were to make no more concerted attempts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the river Rhine.

Biography[link]

This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page.

Born in 18 or 17 BC as son of the Cheruscan chief Segimerus, Arminius was trained as a Roman military commander and attained Roman citizenship and the status of equestrian (petty noble) before returning to Germania and driving the Romans out.

"Arminius" is probably a Latinized variant of the Proto-Germanic *erminaz (Irmin) meaning "great" (cf. Herminones). During the Reformation but especially during 19th century German nationalism, Arminius was used as a symbol of the German-speaking people and their fight against Rome.^[3] It was during this period that the name "Hermann" (meaning "soldier", "army man" or "warrior") came into use as the German equivalent of Arminius; the religious reformer Martin Luther is thought to have been the first to equate the two names.^[4]

Battle at the Teutoburg Forest[link]

Around the year 4 AD, Arminius assumed command of a Cheruscan detachment of Roman auxiliary forces, probably fighting in the Pannonian wars on the Balkan peninsula. He returned to northern Germania in 7 or 8 AD, where the Roman Empire had established secure control of the territories just east of the Rhine, along the Lippe and Main rivers, and was now seeking to extend its hegemony eastward to the Weser and Elbe rivers, under Publius Quinctilius Varus, a high-ranking administrative official appointed by Augustus as governor. Arminius began plotting to unite various Germanic tribes to thwart Roman efforts to incorporate their lands into the empire.

In the fall of 9 AD, at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, 25-year-old Arminius and his alliance of the Cherusci, Marsi, Chatti, Bructeri, Chauci and Sicambri ambushed and annihilated an entire Roman army (composed of the 17th, 18th and 19th legions, plus three cavalry detachments and six cohorts of auxiliaries). Totalling about 20,000 men, it was commanded by Varus. Recent archaeological finds show the long-debated location of the three-day battle was almost certainly near Kalkriese Hill, about 20 km north of Osnabrück. When defeat was certain, Varus committed suicide by falling on his sword.

Roman retaliation, inter-tribal conflicts, and death[link]

Between 14 and 16 AD, Germanicus launched punitive operations into Germany, defeating Arminius two times: first in the Battle of the Weser River; and later near the Wall of the Angrivarii. Roman troops managed to recapture two of the three legionary eagles lost in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Tiberius denied the request of Germanicus to launch a full-fledged campaign, however, having decided the frontier with Germania would be at the Rhine river. Instead, he accorded Germanicus the honor of a triumph for his two victories. The third Roman eagle was recovered later under Emperor Claudius.^{[citation needed]}

With the end of the Roman threat, a war broke out between Arminius and Marbod, king of the Marcomanni. It ended with Marbod fleeing at Ravenna under Roman protection, but Arminius failed to break into the "natural fortification" of Bohemia, and the war ended in stalemate. Arminius also faced difficulties at home from the family of his wife and other pro-Roman Germanic leaders.^{[citation needed]}

In 19 AD, Germanicus died in Antioch under circumstances which led many to believe he had been poisoned by his opponents. Arminius suffered death two years later, in 21 AD, murdered by opponents within his own tribe who felt he was becoming too powerful.^[5] Tiberius allegedly had refused an earlier offer from a Chatti nobleman to poison Arminius: "It was not by secret treachery but openly and by arms that the people of Rome avenged themselves on their enemies."^[5]

Legacy[link]

Rome[link]

In the accounts of his Roman enemies, Arminus is highly regarded for his military leadership skills and as a defender of the liberty of his people. Based on these records, the story of Arminius was revived in the sixteenth century with the recovery of the histories of Tacitus, who wrote in his Annales II, 88:

Arminius, without doubt Germania's liberator, who challenged the Roman people not in its beginnings like other kings and leaders, but in the peak of its empire; in battles with changing success, undefeated in the war.

Arminius was not the only reason for Rome's change of policy towards Germania. Politics also played a factor; emperors could rarely trust a large army to a potential rival, though Augustus had enough family members to wage his wars. Also, Augustus, in his 30 year reign, had annexed many territories still at the beginning of the process of Romanization.

Tiberius, successor of Augustus, decided that Germania was a far less developed land, possessing few villages, with only a small food surplus, and therefore was not currently important to Roman. It would require a commitment too burdensome for the imperial finances and for excessive expenditure of military force for a new achievement.

Modern scholars have pointed out that the Rhine was a more practical boundary for the Roman Empire than any other river in Germania. Armies on the Rhine could be supplied from the Mediterranean sea via the Rhine and Mosel, with a brief area of portage. Armies on the Elbe, however, would have to have been supplied by extensive overland routes or by ships travelling the hazardous Atlantic. Economically, the Rhine already had towns and sizable villages at the time of the Gallic conquest. The Rhine was significantly more accessible from Rome and better equipped to supply sizeable garrisons than the regions beyond.

Rome would control Germania by appointing client kings, which was cheaper than military campaigns.

Rome chose to no longer rule directly in Germania east of the Rhine and north of the Danube; Rome preferred to exert indirect influence through client kings, so Italicus, nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci; Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of the powerful Suebi, etc.^[6]

Old Norse sagas[link]

In the early 19th century, attempts were made to show that the story of Arminius and his victory may have lived on in the Old Norse sagas,^[7] in the form of the dragon slayer Sigurd of the Völsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied. An Icelandic account^[8][9] states that Sigurd "slew the dragon" in the Gnitaheidr—today the suburb Knetterheide of the city of Bad Salzuflen, located at a strategic site on the Werre river which could very well have been the point of departure of Varus's legions on their way to their doom in the Teutoburg Forest. Also one of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century, Guðbrandur Vigfússon, states the identity^[10] of Arminius with Sigurd. This educated guess was also picked up by Otto Höfler, who was a prominent National Socialist academic in World War II,^[11][12][13] and whose views remained pronouncedly racist during his postwar tenure in Vienna.

Martin Luther[link]

In Germany, he was rechristened "Hermann" by Martin Luther, and he became an emblem of the revival of German nationalism fueled by the wars of Napoleon in the 19th century.

Another theory regarding Arminius' Latin name is that it is based on the Latin word armenium a vivid blue, ultramarine pigment made from a stone. Thus, Arminius would have been called "blue eyes," and his brother Flavus "blondie" – as references to the stereotype physical features which the Romans assigned to their Germanic neighbors.^[14] In that case, the theory goes, "Arminius" does not necessarily have anything to do with the word and god-name "irmin", and his Germanic name could thus have been anything—Siegfried, for instance. Proponents of that theory argue that his father, too, (Segimerus, the modern form of which is "Siegmar") also bore a name with the stem "sieg," or "victorious".

German nationalism[link]

Statue on Hermann Heights Monument, New Ulm, Minnesota.

In 1808, Heinrich von Kleist's published but unperformed play Die Hermannsschlacht, unperformable after Napoleon's victory at Wagram, aroused anti-Napoleonic German sentiment and pride among its readers.

The play has been revived repeatedly at moments propitious for raw expressions of National Romanticism and was especially popular during the Third Reich.^[15]

In 1839, construction was started on a massive statue of Arminius, known as the Hermannsdenkmal, on a hill near Detmold in the Teutoburg Forest; it was finally completed and dedicated during the early years of the Second German Empire in the wake of the German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870– 1871. The monument has been a major tourist attraction ever since, as has The Hermann Heights Monument, a similar statue erected in the United States in 1897.

The Hermann Heights monument was erected by the Sons of Hermann, a fraternal organization formed by German Americans in New York City in 1840 and named for Hermann the Cheruscan that during the nineteenth century flourished in American cities with large populations of German origin. Hermann, Missouri, a town on the Missouri River founded in the 1830s and incorporated in 1845, was also named for Arminius.

The German Bundesliga football-club DSC Arminia Bielefeld is named after Arminius.

Modern popular culture[link]

Robert Graves' novel I, Claudius includes a description of Arminius's campaigns, where he is called "Hermann".

In 1945 by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, an alternate history novel describing a world in which Nazi Germany did not declare war on the United States in December, 1941, Operation Arminius is the code name for the German plan for the invasion of the United States.

Harry Turtledove's 2009 historical novel Give Me Back My Legions is a fictional retelling of Arminius' story, from the points-of-view of Arminius himself, various Germans, and Varus and the Romans.

Irish Black metal band Primordial recently referred to Arminius in a song off their To The Nameless Dead album named "Heathen Tribes" with the line "Arminius stood tall in Teutoborg" in relation to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Ancient Germanic culture portal

• Germanic peoples
• Barbarian invasions

Other references[link]

External links[link]

• Arminius / Varus. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest - Internet-Portal „Westfälische Geschichte“, LWL-Institut für westfälische Regionalgeschichte, Münster
• Terry Jones' Barbarians – The Savage Goths (Google Video) – includes a portion on Arminius
• (German) A description of Arminius and his fight against the Romans
• "They Need a Hero" by Clay Risen, The National, October 9, 2009 – an article on modern German views of Hermann and the 2,000th anniversary of the battle

Bibliography[link]

• Reinhard Wolters, Die Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald: Arminius, Varus und das roemische Germanien (München: Verlag C.H. Beck, 2008).

Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius by David Bailly, 1620
Era	17th century
Born	October 10, 1560 Oudewater, Utrecht
Died	October 19, 1609(1609-10-19) (aged 49) Leiden, South Holland
Occupation	Pastor, professor
Nationality	Dutch
Tradition or movement	Arminianism
Main interests	Soteriology
Notable ideas	Prevenient grace
Spouse	Lijsbet Reael
Influences	Theodore Beza, Johannes Drusius, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam
Influenced	Simon Episcopius, Hugo Grotius, John Wesley

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Jacobus Arminius^[Note] (October 10, 1560 – October 19, 1609), the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden. He wrote many books and treatises on theology, and his views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement.

Following his death, his challenge to the Reformed standard, the Belgic Confession, provoked ample discussion at the Synod of Dort, which crafted the five points of Calvinism in response to Arminius's teaching.

Early life[link]

Arminius, born at Oudewater, Utrecht, became an orphan while still young. His father Herman (the name Arminius/Armin represents a Latinized form of Hermanszoon, "Herman's son") died, leaving his wife a widow with small children.^[1] His mother was killed during the Spanish massacre at Oudewater in 1575.

The pastor, Theodorus Aemilius, adopted Jacobus and sent him to school at Utrecht; but he died in 1574. Subsequently Rudolph Snellius brought him to Marburg, and enabled Arminius to study theology at the University of Leiden.^[2]

Theological studies and ministry[link]

Arminius remained at Leiden from 1576 to 1582. His teachers in theology included Lambertus Danaeus, Johannes Drusius, Guillaume Feuguereius, and Johann Kolmann. Kolmann believed and taught that high Calvinism made God both a tyrant and an executioner. Under the influence of these men, Arminius studied with success and had seeds planted that would begin to develop into a theology that would later compete with the dominant Reformed theology of John Calvin. Arminius began studying under Theodore Beza at Geneva in 1582. He found himself in trouble after using Ramist techniques, familiar to him from his time at Marburg; and he then moved to Basel.^[2]

He answered a call to pastor at Amsterdam and became ordained in 1588. He gained a reputation as a good preacher and faithful pastor. In 1590 he married Lijsbet Reael. At Amsterdam, Arminius through "a number of sermons on the Epistle of the Romans, he had gradually developed opinions on grace, predestination and free will that were inconsistent with the doctrine of the Reformed teachers Calvin and Beza".^[3] In 1591, responding to Arminius' theological development his colleague Petrus Plancius began to openly dispute him. The Amsterdam burgomasters intervened, in an effort to keep the peace and tamp down divisions in the populace.^[4]

Professor at Leiden[link]

In 1603 he was called back to Leiden University to teach theology. This came about after almost simultaneous deaths in 1602 of two faculty members, Franciscus Junius and Lucas Trelcatius the elder, in an outbreak of plague. Lucas Trelcatius the younger and Arminius (despite Plancius' protest) were appointed, the decision resting largely with Franciscus Gomarus, the surviving faculty member.^[5] While Gomarus cautiously approved Arminius, whose views were already suspected of unorthodoxy, his arrival opened a period of debate rather than closed it.^[6] The appointment had also a political dimension, being backed by both Johannes Wtenbogaert at The Hague and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.^[7]

Escalating controversy with Gomarus[link]

Gomarus, a Fleming who had been in Leyden since 1594, has been described as "a rather mediocre scholar" but "a forceful defender of the Calvinistic doctrine...a man of deep-rooted faith"^[3] In contrast Arminius has been described as "a seeker, a doubter".^[3] On the question of predestination Gomarus was a supralapsarian and it was in debate over this point that the conflict between the two began. Arminius advocated revising the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, but was not explicit, until much later when the debate became an open conflict.^[3]

The dispute took a public turn on February 7, 1604 when Willem Bastingius in his disputation De divina praedestinatione defended a number of Arminius's theses, Arminius himself presiding. This event led Gomarus to have Samuel Gruterus argue an opposite position to these theses on October 14, 1604, but not on the official schedule. Gomarus ascribed the positions he disliked to Calvin's adversary Sebastian Castellio and his follower, Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert. While Arminius pointed to the Bible to defend his positions, the Calvinist views set forth by "the Genevan patriarchs gradually acquired the force of Res judicata, so that resistance against it was no longer tolerated."^[3]

Opponents of Arminius outside the University gradually expanded the controversy. The classis in Dordrecht drew up a gravamen in which "some differences" that "were said to have arisen in the Church and University of Leiden on the doctrine of the Reformed Churches" was laid out.^[3] In response the three Leiden professors of theology (Lucas Trelcatius Jr. joining Arminius and Gomarus) and the Regent of the State College, Johannes Cuchlinus, wrote an indignant letter, stating "that as far as was known to them there was no conflict between the professors on any fundamental doctrine whatsoever."^[3]

Gomarus was incited to increase his opposition to Arminius by Leiden minister Festus Hommius and Petrus Plancius, Arminius's old opponent. An anonymous series of thirty-one articles was circulated, "in which all kinds of unorthodox opinions held by Arminius were exposed".^[3] Sibrandus Lubbertus, Professor of Theology at the University of Franeker, began sending letters to foreign theologians attacking Arminius with charges of heresy; and one of these letters fell into Arminius's hands. Because his opponents remained anonymous or bypassed official prodecures, Arminius in April 1608 requested from the States of Holland permission to expound his views. On May 30, 1608 Arminius and Gomarus were allowed by the States to deliver speeches before the Supreme Court in The Hague. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Reinout van Brederode (Oldenbarnevelt's son-in-law) concluded that "the points of difference between the two professors, mostly relating to the subtle details of doctrine of predestination, were of minor importance and could co-exist...[and] enjoined both gentlemen to tolerate one another lovingly".^[3]

In direct defiance of the Court, Gomarus then published the speech he had made before it, and Arminius followed suit by publishing his own speech. In response to the Court's opinion Gomarus declared that "he would not dare die holding Arminius' opinion, nor to appear with it before God's judgement seat."^[3] Arminius then asked to defend his positions in public or for a national or provincial synod to be called to examine the matter. Seeking to avoid a synod, the States of Holland allowed Arminius to expound on his views to their assembly on October 30, 1608.

Before the assembly, Arminius finally explained his call to rewrite the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, saying that he did not feel obligated to explain his position before, for "as a professor, he considered himself subject only to the authority of the Leiden Curators and the States, not to the Church".^[3] Arminius then gave an overview of all the various opinions existing on predestination. He claimed that supralapsarianism was contrary to the Confession and Catechism and that "supra- and infralapsarianism, basically amount to the same thing."^[3] Arminius put forward his own view on predestination which he held was in concordance with the Confession and the Catechism. This was, and continues to be, puzzling for "it is not easy to see why precisely a supporter of the doctrine of predestination that, according to what he himself says, is in conformity with the Confession and the Catechism, should ask for their revision."^[3]

Learning that Arminius had appeared before the States assembly, Gomarus requested permission to address it as well, which was granted. On December 12, 1608 Gomarus blasted Arminius, accusing "his colleague of being a supporter of Pelagianism and the Jesuits; he also attacked Johannes Wtenbogaert, whom he branded a 'courtly trumpeter.'"^[3] The assembly took against this polemical tone, which contrasted with Arminius's eirenicism, and ordered the speeches made before them by both men to be banned from publication. Despite the ban the speeches soon appeared in print.

On July 25, 1609 Jacobus Bontebal defended the theses De vocatione hominis ad salutem under Arminius's presidency. A Roman Catholic priest (rumored to be a Jesuit) was in the audience and dared to oppose Arminius' positions. While an already seriously-ill Arminius refuted the arguments, Gomarus "who was among the audience, became alternately flushing and deathly pale, and afterwards, while the Papist was within earshot, he insultingly remarked to his colleague that now the door to Papism had been widely opened."^[3]

Final debate and last days[link]

Arminius remained as a teacher at Leiden until his death, and was valued by his students.^[8] Still, the conflict with Gomarus widened out into a large-scale split within Calvinism.^[9] Of the local clergy, Adrianus Borrius supported Arminius, while Festus Hommius opposed him.^[10] Close friends, students and supporters of Arminius included Johannes Drusius, Conrad Vorstius, Anthony Thysius, Johannes Halsbergius, Petrus Bertius, Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus, and the brothers Rembert and Simon Episcopius.^[11] His successor at Leiden (again selected with the support of Wtenbogaert and Oldenbarnevelt) was Vorstius, a past influence on Arminius by his writings.^[12]

Once again the States attempted to tamp down the growing controversy without calling a synod. Arminius was ordered to attend another conference with Gomarus in The Hague in 1609 on August 13 and 14. When the conference was to be extended and reconvene on the 18th, Arminius in failing health had to return to Leiden. The States suspended the conference and asked both men for a written reaction to their adversary's viewpoint.

Arminius on October 19, 1609 died at his house at the Pieterskerkhof. Arminius was buried in the Pieterskerk at Leiden, where a memorial stone on his behalf was placed in 1934.^[13]

Theology and legacy[link]

Memorial stone for Jacobus Arminius at St. Peter's Church, Leiden.

In attempting to defend Calvinistic predestination against the teachings of Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Arminius began to doubt aspects of Calvinism and modified some parts of his own view.^[14] He attempted to reform Calvinism, and lent his name to a movement—Arminianism—which resisted some of the Calvinist tenets (unconditional predestination, limited atonement). The early Dutch followers of his teaching became known as Remonstrants after they issued a document containing five points of disagreement with mainstream Calvinism, entitled Remonstrantiæ (1610).

Arminius taught of a "preventing" (or prevenient) grace that has been conferred upon all by the holy spirit and this grace is "sufficient for belief, in spite of our sinful corruption, and thus for salvation."^[15] Arminius stated that "the grace sufficient for salvation is conferred on the Elect, and on the Non-elect; that, if they will, they may believe or not believe, may be saved or not be saved."^[16] William Witt states that "Arminius has a very high theology of grace. He insists emphatically that grace is gratuitous because it is obtained through God's redemption in Christ, not through human effort."^[17]

The theology of Arminianism did not become fully developed during Arminius' lifetime, but after his death (1609) the Five articles of the Remonstrants (1610) systematized and formalized the ideas. But the Calvinist Synod of Dort (1618–1619), convening for the purpose of condemning Arminius' theology, declared it and its adherents anathemas, defined the five points of Calvinism, and persecuted Arminian pastors who remained in the Netherlands. But in spite of persecution, "the Remonstrants continued in Holland as a distinct church and again and again where Calvinism was taught Arminianism raised its head."^[18]

Publishers in Leiden (1629) and at Frankfurt (1631 and 1635) issued the works of Arminius in Latin.

John Wesley (1703–1791), the founder of the Methodist movement, embraced Arminian theology and became its most prominent champion.^[19] Today^[update], the majority of Methodists remain committed to Arminian theology, and Arminianism itself has become one of the dominant theological systems in the United States, thanks in large part to the influence of John and Charles Wesley.^[20]

Footnotes[link]

	Christianity portal
	Arminianism portal

Notes[link]

1. ^ Also known by the Anglicized names of Jacob Arminius, James Arminius, or Jakob Herman.

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Arminius, Jacob (1853). Nichols, James; Bagnall, W. R.. eds. The Works of James Arminius, D. D., Formerly Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden, Volume I. Buffalo, NY: Derby, Miller, and Orton. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/arminius/works1.all.html. 
• Arminius, Jacob (1853). Nichols, James; Bagnall, W. R.. eds. The Works of James Arminius, D. D., Formerly Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden, Volume II. Buffalo, NY: Derby, Miller, and Orton. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/arminius/works2.all.html. 
• Arminius, Jacob (1853). Nichols, James; Bagnall, W. R.. eds. The Works of James Arminius, D. D., Formerly Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden, Volume III. Buffalo, NY: Derby, Miller, and Orton. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/arminius/works3.all.html. 
• Bangs, Carl (1985). Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation. Grand Rapids: Asbury Press. ISBN 0-310-29481-9. 
• Israel, Jonathan (1995). The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477-1806. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-873072-1. 
• Leeuwen, Theodoor Marius van (2009). Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60-1609). Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-17887-8. 
• Olson, Roger E. (2006). Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. ISBN 0-8308-2841-9. 
• Picirilli, Robert E. (2002). Grace, Faith, Free Will: Contrasting Views of Salvation. Nashville: Randall House Publications. ISBN 0-89265-648-4. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jacobus Arminius

• The Works of Arminius at CCEL
• Jacobus Arminius: The Life and Theology of Arminius
• "Arminius: The Scapegoat of Calvinism" by Vic Reasoner