Alaric I 21Alabaster Men: Sacred Images from Medieval England: Cat-
alogue(London: Daniel Katz, 2001).
Alan of Lille (Alain de Lille, Alanus de Insulis, Uni-
versal Doctor)(ca. 1114–1202)scholar, writer
Born at Lille about 1114, but from about 1180 Alan lived
in southern France, at Montpellier. At Paris, between
1170 and 1180, he composed several works of theology,
under the influence of GILBERTof Poitiers. Within the
context of the anti-CATHAR struggle in the south of
France, Alan continued his literary activity, adding to it a
more pastoral character. The majority of his sermons are
from this period, along with his treatise, the ARSPRAEDI-
CANDI,or Art of preaching. He created an anthology of
biblical, patristic, and secular citations grouped around
the virtues to be preached and cultivated and the vices to
be eliminated. His Book of Penancepromoted the admin-
istration of the sacrament of penance, aiming to stimulate
the zeal of pastors and improve their spiritual and moral
education.
His other scientific and pastoral works were numer-
ous and varied. The Plaint of Natureis among Alan’s first
writings, from before 1171. This text, mixed with poetry,
criticizes human vices, especially sodomy. According to
Alan human nature and willpower are incapable on their
own of enabling people to overcome the disorders of
their desires and senses. Later, this The Anticlaudianus
described a “perfect man” as prescribed by nature. In it
he elaborated on and called forth the moral virtues that
must be linked to human intellectual faculties. At the end
of his life, he retired to the abbey of CÎTEAUX, where he
died in 1202.
Further reading:Alan of Lille, Alan of Lille, The Anti-
claudianus or the Good and Perfect Man,trans. James J.
Sheridan (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Stud-
ies, 1973), Alan of Lille: The Plaint of Nature,trans. James
J. Sheridan (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval
Studies, 1980); Jan Ziolkowski, Alan of Lille’s Grammar of
Sex: The Meaning of Grammar to a Twelfth-Century Intel-
lectual(Cambridge: The Medieval Academy of America,
1985); Gillian R. Evans, Alan of Lille: The Frontiers of The-
ology in the Later Twelfth Century(Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983).
Alans(Alani) In the first century C.E., they were an
Indo-European nomadic people settled in southern Russia.
They fled westward when the Huns swept across southern
Russia in the late fourth century. In 406 they crossed the
Rhine and devastated cities in Gaul before entering Spain
in 409, when their king was slain and they were conquered
by the VISIGOTHS. Other Alans later served in various
Byzantine, German, and Hunnic armies, including those of
ATTILA. The most famous Byzantine general of Alan
descent, Aspar, wielded enormous influence in Byzantium
in the mid-fifth century. In the early eighth century, the
Byzantine emperor Justinian II (r. 705–711) sent an
embassy to another group of Alans living in the northern
Caucasus mountains. By the 10th century Alania, as the
Byzantines called it, was the object of Byzantine diplomacy
and church missions. Anna KOMNENÆcalls Alan merce-
naries great fighters. In the early 14th century, however,
they failed the empire in fighting poorly against the SELJUK
Turks and the Catalan Grand Company in Greece.
Further reading:Bernard S. Bachrach, A History of
the Alans in the West: From Their First Appearance in the
Sources of Classical Antiquity through the Early Middle
Ages(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1973).Alaric I(ca. 370–410)king of the Visigoths
Alaric was born near the mouth of the Danube about 370.
The VISIGOTHShad been driven from their homeland in
central Europe into Roman territory by the attacks of the
neighboring HUNS and permitted to settle within the
empire. After the Visigoths inflicted a massive defeat on
the Eastern Roman army in 378 at the Battle of ADRI-
ANOPLE, they were persuaded by the emperor, Theodosios
I (r. 379–95), to settle in the Roman province of northern
BULGARIAas Roman mercenaries. The Visigothic troops in
Roman service chose Alaric as their leader about 390. In
395, dissatisfied by the employment given them, Alaric
attacked Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece. In 397 the mili-
tary leader of the Western Empire, Stilicho (d. 408), con-
vinced Alaric to settle in Epirus or northwestern Greece.
Despite these honors, in 401 Alaric invaded Italy for
the first time. After a battle with Stilicho in April 402,
he was persuaded to withdraw. He returned in 403 and
was defeated at Verona, but Stilicho allowed him to
escape to the Dalmatia-Pannonia area on the east side of
the Adriatic Sea.
Alaric demanded in 408 payments for his services
from the Western emperor, Honorius (r. 395–423). The
recent fall and death of Stilicho and the massacre of
many families of barbarian mercenaries in Roman service
provided Alaric with new allies and excuses for attacking
Italy. He laid siege to Rome but withdrew on the pay-
ment of 5,000 pounds of gold. In 409, when the emperor
refused to meet his renewed demands, Alaric returned to
Rome still interested in a settlement with the Western
Roman government. However, when his camp was
treacherously attacked in July 410 by Sarus, a Visigoth
loyal to the Western emperor, Alaric decided to attack
Rome. He entered the city on August 24, 410, and for
the first time in 800 years barbarians, joined by freed
slaves, sacked the city. Although Alaric on the whole
spared the holy places, perhaps because the Visigoths
were Christians, the population suffered heavily. He car-
ried away numerous captives, including GALLAPlacidia,
the sister of the emperor Honorius. The fall of Rome
shocked the civilized world, prompting AUGUSTINE to
write his City of God.