Beten (Mythology)
Encyclopedia
The three Beten are a German
group of three saints. They are adored in minor churches and chapels in South Tyrol
(Italy
), Upper Bavaria
, Baden
and the Rhineland
. Although the cult of the "Three Virgins" is known since the late Middle Ages
, it is only distributed regionally and not contained in the official lists of saint
s of the Catholic church.
already in the second half of the 12th century. In the second half of the 14th century she is accompanied by Wilbeth and Worbeth. The origin of the three names is unknown. In the time of Romanticism
in the 19th century speculation arose that the Three Virgins could be some kind of Christianized pagan Germanic, Celtic or Roman goddesses.
In 1936 local historian Hans Christoph Schöll from Heidelberg
developed a theory deducing the three saints from a Germanic
or Indo-European
Triple Goddess
. Schöll admits that the treatise is not a scientific study. He announced a second volume with scientific evidence for his theory, which however never was published. Because of this and the lack of scientific methodology (the theory is mainly constructed from phonetic similarities without linguistic
evidence) it was immediately rejected (H. Hepding 1936; E. Krieck 1936) and mostly ignored by the scientific world. It has nevertheless spread in esoteric circles, but almost exclusively in German-speaking
countries.
In the 20th century Cultural Anthropologists like M. Zender (1987) did some research on the history and distribution of the cult of the three saints in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Although many depictions of groups of three women (e.g. the Germanic and Celtic Matrones
) have yet been found in Gallo-Roman culture
, the names of the Beten did not yet appear in pre-medieval contexts nor in the Celtic literature of the British Isles.
As a result of this, a huge amount of applicable names have been found in Central Europe
and Great Britain
. It has been suggested that many European settlement names are derived from them; for example, in Germany
: Bedburg
, Bettendorf
and Homburg-Beden
; in France
: Besançon
, Les Bets, Bessay
and the mountain Bethoa; England
: Bedford
. Names such as these are supposed to define the range of a possible "Beten-cult".
On the other hand, many of these names have other suggested derivations; for example, Besançon from *ves-, "mountain". In fact the ancient name of Besançon was Vesontio. In the long run identifying place-names with the Beten without some knowledge of linguistic methodology is highly speculative.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
group of three saints. They are adored in minor churches and chapels in South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
(Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), Upper Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. Although the cult of the "Three Virgins" is known since the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, it is only distributed regionally and not contained in the official lists of saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s of the Catholic church.
Variants of the name
The name Beten is in use since the works of Hans Christoph Schöll in the 1930s, derived from the common ending of the three women's names, of which some spelling variants are:- Einbet(h), Ambet(h), Embet(h), Ainbeth, Ainpeta, Einbede, Aubet, etc.
- Worbet(h), Borbet, Wolbeth, Warbede, Gwerbeth, etc.
- Wilbet(h), Willebede, Vilbeth, Fürbeth, Firpet, Cubet, etc.
History
St. Einbeth is known in StrasbourgStrasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
already in the second half of the 12th century. In the second half of the 14th century she is accompanied by Wilbeth and Worbeth. The origin of the three names is unknown. In the time of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
in the 19th century speculation arose that the Three Virgins could be some kind of Christianized pagan Germanic, Celtic or Roman goddesses.
In 1936 local historian Hans Christoph Schöll from Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
developed a theory deducing the three saints from a Germanic
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
or Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
Triple Goddess
Triple Goddess
The Triple Goddess is the subject of much of the writing of Robert Graves, and has been adopted by some neopagans as one of their primary deities. The term triple goddess is sometimes used outside of Neopaganism to refer to historical goddess triads and single goddesses of three forms or aspects...
. Schöll admits that the treatise is not a scientific study. He announced a second volume with scientific evidence for his theory, which however never was published. Because of this and the lack of scientific methodology (the theory is mainly constructed from phonetic similarities without linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
evidence) it was immediately rejected (H. Hepding 1936; E. Krieck 1936) and mostly ignored by the scientific world. It has nevertheless spread in esoteric circles, but almost exclusively in German-speaking
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
countries.
In the 20th century Cultural Anthropologists like M. Zender (1987) did some research on the history and distribution of the cult of the three saints in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Although many depictions of groups of three women (e.g. the Germanic and Celtic Matrones
Matres
The Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...
) have yet been found in Gallo-Roman culture
Gallo-Roman culture
The term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context...
, the names of the Beten did not yet appear in pre-medieval contexts nor in the Celtic literature of the British Isles.
Sacred places
In his work on the Beten, Schöll assumes that place names with syllables even slightly similar to the names of the Beten bear traces of their cult, e.g. Bet-, Bed-, Bad-, Batz-, Bott-, Boden-, Bettel-, Wetter-, Wetten-, Wetz-, Witz-, Pütz-, Bieders-, Patt- etc. Also the beginnings of the names are suspected to be preserved in town names with Am-, An-, Ein-, En-, Wil-, Wiel-, Wild-, Wol-, Wüll-, Bor-, Wor-, Bar-, War-, Werr-, Worr-, Kirr-, etc.As a result of this, a huge amount of applicable names have been found in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. It has been suggested that many European settlement names are derived from them; for example, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: Bedburg
Bedburg
Bedburg is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia of Germany with 25,000 residents. The town is documented as existing as early as 893.-External links:*...
, Bettendorf
Bettendorf
Bettendorf may refer to:*Bettendorf, Germany, a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany*Bettendorf, Iowa, a neighbor city to Davenport, Iowa in Scott County, Iowa, United States*Bettendorf High School...
and Homburg-Beden
Homburg, Saarland
Homburg is a town in Saarland, Germany, the administrative seat of the Saarpfalz district. With a population of c. 44,000 inhabitants, is the third city in its federal state. The medical department of the University of Saarland is situated here. The city is also home to the Karlsberg beer brewery...
; in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
: Besançon
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, Les Bets, Bessay
Bessay
Bessay is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.-Geography:The river Smagne forms all of the commune's southern border, then flows into the Lay, which flows southwestward through the north-western part of the commune....
and the mountain Bethoa; England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
: Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
. Names such as these are supposed to define the range of a possible "Beten-cult".
On the other hand, many of these names have other suggested derivations; for example, Besançon from *ves-, "mountain". In fact the ancient name of Besançon was Vesontio. In the long run identifying place-names with the Beten without some knowledge of linguistic methodology is highly speculative.
External links
- Hodge, Winifred, Matrons and Disir:The Heathen Tribal Mothers. English language.
- The Bethen - The Bavarian Triple Goddess. English article in druidry.org.