No Tongue?  No Problem!  Arians Can't Silence the Trinity Believers  (Approx 484 A.D.)

              In North Africa towards the end of the 5th Century A.D. a very unique deed of God occurred  which might seem like some sort of an ancient wives tale except that it was attested to by such a wide variety of people, and in a fair number of surviving ancient writings. 

              A confrontation then existed between Arian Christians (who believe that Jesus was created rather than pre-existent with God) and those who believed that Jesus was of God and was a true son of God, like God in form and substance.  This second group believed in a God-trinity composed, in some manner, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

              Typasa (Tipasa) was an ancient Phoenician city on the coast of present-day Algeria, and in around 484 A.D. a king of the Vandals named Huneric appointed an Arian bishop (a former Secretary of Cirila) over the Typasa church.  Many trinity believers objected and migrated across the water to what is present day Spain,which was close by.  But others decided to stay or had to stay. 

              Objecting to the Arian viewpoint that Jesus was not truly as God, this group began to meet in private homes to worship as they believed was right.  The new Bishop objected to this, as it was basically denying his authority over them as Christians.  He complained to King Huneric.

              Huneric was sometimes quite harsh, and certainly was in this case.  He had the 'Trinity' believers rounded up, and made an example of them in the public market place, cutting off their right hands and having their tongues removed by the roots.  I am not sure what method was employed to remove the people's tongues, but all later eyewitnesses said that their tongues weren't slightly cut off - they were removed!  Huneric allowed them to leave and relocate to Constantinople (Byzantium).

              But contrary to the intended result, God caused a quite strange phenomenum:  the aproximately 60 bishops were very shortly able to speak as well as they ever had before, though they had no tongue.  It was stated that they had no noticable speech impediment whatsoever.  They continued to speak of Jesus, proclaiming him to be a full Son of God and not something lesser.  An early church historian named Milner was one person that attested to the veracity of this story. 

              Also, the Eastern Emperor Justinian was an eye witness to some of these persecuted tongueless Christian witnesses speaking during his time, and a Platonic philosopher and writer named Aeneas of Gaza wrote of them, saying that he even insisted that one of them open his mouth so Aeneas could look.  His remark upon seeing it with his own eyes was that the man's tongue was completely gone and that he was actually left feeling surprised the man could live, let alone talk. 

              One of the disfigured Christians, named Reparatus, became a sub-deacon in the church in Constantinople, and was held in high esteem there by the Emperor Zeno and his Empress because of what had happened to him, and how he could still speak well and without noticable affect.

              God apparently used this great deed at least partly to weigh in with His feelings concerning those who would seek to marginalize His son Jesus.  God was apparently not of the Arian persuasion.   Though the scriptures often mention the tongue as an organ that can do great harm with respect to its small size when used incorrectly, calling it hard to tame, it is none the less true that faith comes by hearing.  And what is more indispensable to the spreading of the gospel than speech?  Small wonder then that God did not allow the silencing of His witnesses.

King Clovis Heeds Wife - (There are no atheists in foxholes!) approx. 496 A.D.

              Clovis was a king of the Franks who lived from about 466 A.D. to 511 A.D.  and he began as a king of the Salian Franks (there were several divisions) taking over after his father Childeric in 481 A.D..  Clovis is today largely regarded as the Father of France, he was the first great king of the combined Franks, and he founded the Merovingian dynasty of Kings.  He was big news for what would one day be France, and by the time he died the borders of his kingdom were a lot like modern France's.  He also had the good fortune (from our present perspective) of being married to a fairly devout young Queen named Chlotilde in 493 A.D., when he was about 27 years old.

              Chlotilde was of Bergundian royal stock - a princess - and a neice of the joint kings of Bergundy named Godesil and Gundobald.  More importantly to history perhaps, she was a Catholic and not an Arian.  In that day of Christianity a debate raged which had been sparked off about 175 years earlier by a Christian named Arius.  Arius was apparently from Libya and eventuall died in 336 A.D. after a long life of being a bishop in various states of poor standing with the churches power figures. The bone of contention was whether Jesus was a created being - Arius's view - or pre-existent as was God His father, such as is described in the Gospel of John and a view supported then as now by the Catholic church. 

              Various peoples were vying for power in those days with the last fading glimmers of the old Roman Empire, and many of them were Christians who were Arian in their beliefs.  Ostrogoths and Visigoths (meaning 'East Goths' and 'West Goths' respectively), the Vandaals, the Herulii, and the Almanni were all tearing apart the Roman's decaying empire in those centuries, and fighting each other or allying with each other as oportunity presented itself.

              Clovis was a bit pagan in his religeous beliefs, but had tended towards Arianism it is thought, with respect to his thoughts concerning Christianity.  From the time of their marriage, however, Chlotilde tried to influence him in the Catholic direction, both in speech and by her noteworthy example of Christian womanhood.  And Clovis did allow his children to be baptized Catholic.  But he remained uncommitted himself.

              There came a time in 496 A.D., the 15th year of Clovis's reign, however, when he was forced off the fence on this issue.  He was locked in a fierce fight with the Teutonic Almanni tribe's army in a battle referred to as the Battle of Tubiac.  It was fought about 30 miles east of the German Belgian border of today.

              History records that the battle was going very poorly for Clovis, and the outcome looked grim.  Attributing the fault in his mind to having prayed to his own pagan gods, he had a moment of fear and doubt in this battle, and he cried out to heaven.  He told Jesus that -  as the trusted Lord of his good wife Chlotilde - he, Clovis, would worship Him only from that point on if only the Lord would give him victory in this battle and be with him thereafter.  The prayer was no more spoken than some sort of irrational fear seemed to sweep through the Almanni forces, and they turned in fear from the battle. 

              Clovis's forces took the battle, and he was as good as his word, becoming baptized into the Catholic church in a ceremony at Rheims in 496 A.D. on Christmas Day.  St. Remy, the first bishop of Rheims, performed the ceremony.  It is said that King Clovis, after his baptism, was the first of the European Kings to exhibit the "King's Touch" - the ability to heal his subjects of certain diseases by the laying on of the hands.  Many kings descended from Clovis and some related kings later, of England, were said to retain this gift and to have healed tens of thousands all together, up until the time of the French Revoluton ending their run!

              Clovis - as a Catholic King - was absolutely essential to the Roman Catholic Church as an ardent (though politically astute) supporter of theirs with great military prowess and respect among the many pagan and Arian leaning peoples then raiding and conquering in Europe.  Had God not raised him when he did to be what he became, there is little doubt that the faces, churche, and languages of Europe would be very much altered today.   And n$oone can argue that the Frank's did not play a key role in the Crusades which came 500 years later.  Clovis was absolutely pivotal to his point in history and to what lay downstream in time.  I suppose the rest of the world already knows this, but I have recently read that 'Louis' is merely the name 'Clovis' changed in pronunciation by small degrees throughout the years.  Louis is the name of choice for Kings of France!     

              Clovis and his Queen ended their days buried by each other in a church they had cofounded together in Paris (Sainte Genevieve).  He preceeded her in death, and she spent her last days well known for her many pious works.