German / Germanicus (General)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 22:54 (5982 days ago) @ andrew walford

What I have thought is that Germanus maybe changed to George to have a name that fitted in more, is this common?

Given the biblical forenames of the period ( and it seems a very strong FoD tradition - wonder why non-conformism took hold in the Fod ?? ) I might speculate that the German is a shortened form of Germanicus - a Christian persecuted by the Romans

"GERMANICUS, AN EMINENTLY PIOUS MAN, DEVOURED BY THE BEASTS, AT SMYRNA IN ASIA MINOR, FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST, A. D. 170"

Martyr of Smyrna. He was thrown to wild animals in a local amphitheater. When the beasts did not attack, Germanicus provoked them into attacking, gaining the admiration of the pagans of the arena.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>