Epiphany: Three Kings Day
A look at the history behind Epiphany and Twelfth Night.
The Patriarch Alexios Stoudites and the Reinterpretation of Justinianic Legislation against Heretics
Using normative legal sources such as law codes and imperial novels to illuminate Byzantine heresy is a very difficult proposition. One of the great problems in the analysis of Byzantine law in general is that the normative legal sources rarely were adapted to subsequent economic, political, or social conditions.
Amending the Ascetic: Community and Character in the Old English Life of St. Mary of Egypt
Among the most eligible saints for such treatment, Mary of Egypt deserves particular consideration: her popularity is evidenced by over a hundred extant Greek manuscripts of her Life and her uniquely prominent position in the Lenten liturgical cycle in the Eastern Church.
Saints’ Cults in Medieval Livonia
Saints’ cults played a crucial role in medieval society. Although we know very little about the beliefs and rituals of the indigenous peoples of Livonia, either before or after the thirteenth-century conquest, we may assume that the process of Christianization must have caused major changes in their religious practices.
Legal Centralization and the Birth of the Secular State
This paper investigates the relationship between the historical process of legal centralization and increased religious toleration by the state. We develop a model in which legal centralization leads to the criminalization of the religious beliefs of a large proportion of the population.
The Riurikid Relationship with the Orthodox Christian Church in Kievan Rus
Prior to the late tenth century, the princes of the Riurikid dynasty were rulers over the loose collection of pagan Slavic tribes and minor city states that were Kievan Rus. However, in a relatively short period, the dynasty had linked itself and its legitimacy to rule to the Orthodox Christian Church centered in Constantinople.
Church Reunification: Pope Urban II’s Papal Policy Towards the Christian East and Its Demise
What separates this brief work from that of previous historians is that it focuses on the formation and changes of papal policy in regards to the Eastern Orthodox Church during the First Crusade, exclusively.
Church Wall Paintings and Mosaics: Principles of their arrangement and relationship to church architecture
The history of Orthodox church wall-painting and mosaics, East and West, is a very rich one. On the one hand it reveals tremendous creativity in the Church’s response to architectural and pastoral changes. On the other hand it shows how consistently it has been faithful to unchanging spiritual principles.
The Indigenous Christians of the Arabic Middle East in an Age of Crusaders, Mongols, and Mamlūks (1244-1366)
The chronological period of study is highlighted by the usurpation of the Ayyūbid-ruled Sultanate by the Baḥrī Mamlūks, while the two most important political-military events in the region were the collapse of the Crusader States and the invasion of the Mongols. This thesis will examine how events impacted on the nine Christian Confessions, treating each separately.
Transylvanian Identities in the Middle Ages
Identity has become a subject of historical exploration as it is also one of the themes examined from the perspectives of various disciplines belonging to the social sciences such as sociology, psychology or anthropology.
“The Eucharist and the Negotiation of Orthodoxy in the High Middle Ages”
This paper is part of Adam Hoose’s dissertation. It examined the differences between Waldensians and Franciscans in their treatment of the Eucharist. It also explored why the Waldensians were unsuccessful in their bid to become a legitimate religious order and were eventually marginalized as heretics.
In the Lion’s Den: Orthodox Christians under Ottoman Rule, 1400-1550
A glance at the Orthodox Christian church under the Ottoman Empire from the early fifteenth to mid sixteenth century gives a revealing glimpse at some of the changing relationships of conquered Christians to the state.
George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defense of Orthodoxy
The Emperor, John VIII Palaeologos, knew they were going to face some of the finest minds in the Roman Church on their own soil; he therefore wanted the best minds available in support of the Byzantine cause to accompany him. Consequently, the Emperor appointed George Gemistos as part of the delegation.
The Symbolical Career of Georgios Gemistos Plethon
Thus Gemistos was the first who in an authoritative way attacked the hegemony of Aristotle in western thought.
The Italo-Cretan Religious Painting and The Byzantine-Palaeologan Legacy
The paper aims to introduce the last significant school of painting, which was nurtured by the Byzantine sources, the so-called Italo-Cretan school, whose presence and influence lasted for more than 300 years. Its works are perceived not just as mere objects of veneration but have also high artistic and marketing value.
The Pseudo-Amphilochian Vita Basilii: An Apocryphal Life of Saint Basil the Great
There is yet another aspect of Basil’s greatness which is none of his making: of Basil it is possible to know more and to know it more surely, than it is of any other person, with the possible exception of Julian
the Apostate, who lived in the first millennium A.D. The physical relics may have disappeared, but the literary remains constitute a remarkable dossier of high historical value.
Slavic Paganism
Before the advent of Christianity, the European population practiced various forms of paganism. Pagan beliefs were not centralized or codified; they exhibited specific regional characteristics that developed within relatively small territories (Afanas’ev). Slavic cities had differing pantheons comprised of deities whom the inhabitants considered to be most important.
Foundations of Byzantine late middle ages architecture thoughtfulness
Byzantine late Middle Ages and Byzantine Renaissance (1204-1453) are two final periods in the culture and architecture of that 1141 year lasting Empire.
MISSION AND CONVERSION IN THE LIVES OF CONSTANTINE-CYRIL AND METHODIUS
Mission and conversion have long been, and continue to be a preoccupation among historians. Mission as understood in this paper refers to an individual or group traveling outside of their land to achieve a purpose, whether it be instruction, securing peace, or conversion.
Magic and the Christian Image
My paper attempts to explore this medieval distinction between the magical and the Christian use of images.
Khazaria: A Forgotten Jewish Empire
Nicholas Soteri reflects on the early religious controversies of Eastern Europe, focusing in particular on an often overlooked kingdom, the Khazar.
The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople
Jonathan Phillips sees one of the most notorious events in European history as a typical ‘clash of cultures’