Disavowing their traditional portrayal as the progenitors of medieval Christian dualism, this book recasts the Paulicians as broadly conventional Christians inspired by the apostle Paul. Using previously neglected Paulician testimony and a critical reappraisal of the existing sources, it explains their fleeting regional prominence via a pluralistic approach to Paulician identity within the complex socio-religious milieus of Armenia and Asia Minor. Exploring their history of schism, persecution, and resistance, it reassesses their relationship with the iconoclast controversy and the changing fortunes of Byzantine-Islamic warfare, shedding new light on their obscure but fascinating transformation from itinerant preachers to militarized insurrectionists.
Carl Dixon, Ph.D. (2018), University of Nottingham, has published articles on Byzantine-Armenian diplomacy and identity formation in heretical movements.
Preface
Figures
Introduction 1 Rethinking the Paulicians
2 One Heresy or Two? Paulicians in Armenia and Asia Minor
3 What Is the Paulician Heresy? Traditional Approaches
1Polemics, Punishment, and Forgery: Paulicians in Greek Sources 54
1 Peter of Sicily’s
History of the Paulicians
2 The
History and the Persecutions of Theodora
3 The
Brief History of the Manichaeans
4 The Letter of Theophylaktos Lekapenos to Peter of Bulgaria
5 The
Treatise against the Paulicians
2Reinventing Paulicians in the 10th Century 99
1 Byzantine Understandings of Paulicians
c.810–940
2 Reinventing the Paulicians in Macedonian History Writing
3 Reinventing through Forgery i: The
History of the Paulicians
4 Reinventing through Forgery ii: The
Brief History
5 Forgery, Authority, and Authenticity in the 10th Century
3The Didaskalie, the Letters of Sergios, and Paulician Belief c.800–835140
1 The
Didaskalie
2 Schism and the Legitimacy of the
Didaskalos
3 Dualism and “the Grace of the Spirit”
4 Paulician Customs, Worship, and Organisation
5 Paulician Hamartocentricism and Apocalyptic
6 Historical Implications
4Paulicians in the 8th Century: The Genesis of a Heresy c.750–800187 1 Paulicians and the Iconomachy
2 The Armenian Connection
3 The Byzantine-Islamic Frontier in the Long 8th Century
4 Paulicians and Pastoralism
5 Labelling the Paulicians of Asia Minor
5Paulicians in the Face of Persecution c.800–845 232
1 Nikephoros i and the Paulicians
2 The Persecutions of Michael i and Leo v
3 The Paulician Response: Early Resistance and the Revolt of Thomas the Slav
4 Paulicians in the Reign of Theophilos
5 The Persecutions of Theodora
6Paulicians at Arms: The Islamic Alliance and Warfare against the Byzantines c.845–880278
1 The Battle of Mauropotamos and the Paulician-Islamic Alliance
2 Paulician Settlement and Raiding under Karbeas
3 An Emperor in the East?: Basil, Chrysocheir, and the Road to War
4 The Last Raids of Chrysocheir and the Eclipse of Tephrikē
Epilogue
Appendix 1The Dating Frameworks of the History of the Paulicians
Appendix 2The Career of Sergios in the History of the Paulicians
Bibliography
Index
The Paulicians targets specialists in Heresy Studies, as well as Byzantine, Islamic, and Armenian Studies, while also being suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching modules and therefore academic libraries.