The book deals with the policy of the Byzantine state in the field of ecclesiastical matters from the end of Iconoclasm in 843 to the death of Emperor Basil I in 886. It examines the attitude of the main political actors the emperors and their closest collaborators towards religious matters and the decisions they made concerning the various issues of Iconoclasm and Orthodoxy, appointment of the patriarchs, relations with the Church of Rome, and theological disputes with Muslims, non-Chalcedonian Christians, and Christian sects. This volume also considers missionary activity outside the borders of the Empire and policy towards religious minorities inside them, as well as the political and intellectual potential behind it.

Explores the policy of the Byzantine state in the field of ecclesiastical affairs from 843 to 886 Examines the attitudes of Byzantine political actors towards religious issues in the mid-to-late ninth century Uncovers the political and intellectual potential that stood behind and influenced those decisions

Autorentext

Predrag Komatina is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Klappentext

"This monograph, Church Policy of Byzantium after the Triumph of Orthodoxy (843886), meticulously examines the Byzantine ecclesiastical policies in the crucial period following the restoration of icons in 843. Predrag Komatina deftly navigates the complexities and inconsistencies of Church-State relations, including Iconoclasm, the rise of monasticism, relations with Rome, schisms, theological disputes, and missionary endeavors in order to provide fresh insights into the efforts of the key figures of the moment: Empress Theodora, Emperors Michael III and Basil I, and Patriarchs Methodius, Ignatius, and Photius. By drawing upon a wide range of Greek, Latin and Slavic sources, including previously underutilized hagiographies, Komatina also encompasses the Empire's territorial expansion and the initiatives of Constantinople to achieve ecclesiastical independence from Rome. This monograph is essential reading for scholars and students seeking a deeper understanding of the Byzantine religious and political landscape in the 9th century, an era of profound and far-reaching transformations. Scholarship had been lacking in a comprehensive study of Byzantine Church dynamics after Iconoclasm, but this book now amply fulfils this long-desired need."
Óscar Prieto Domínguez, Titular Professor of Greek Philology, Department of Classical Philology and Indo-European Linguistics, University of Salamanca, Spain

The book deals with the policy of the Byzantine state in the field of ecclesiastical matters from the end of Iconoclasm in 843 to the death of Emperor Basil I in 886. It examines the attitude of the main political actors the emperors and their closest collaborators towards religious matters and the decisions they made concerning the various issues of Iconoclasm and Orthodoxy, appointment of the patriarchs, relations with the Church of Rome, and theological disputes with Muslims, non-Chalcedonian Christians, and Christian sects. This volume also considers missionary activity outside the borders of the Empire and policy towards religious minorities inside them, as well as the political and intellectual potential behind it.

Predrag Komatina is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Inhalt

Part I Orthodoxy re-enthroned (843856).- Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 The end of Iconoclasm.- Chapter 3 Challenges of Methodius' Patriarchate.- Chapter 4 Patriarch Ignatius between the opposing factions.- Part II Expansion of the Byzantine Church (856867).- Chapter 5 The Schism of Photius.- Chapter 6 Constantine the Philosopher at the Caliph's Court.- Chapter 7 The Gospel behind the Hospitable Seas: the Khazar Mission and the first baptism of the Russians.- Chapter 8 Photius and the Armenians: Against the heresy of the Theopaschites.- Chapter 9 The Great Moravian Mission of Constantine and Methodius.- Chapter 10 Conversion of the Bulgarians.- Chapter 11 Photius at the peak of power and his fall.- Part III The Emperor's Church (867886).- Chapter 12 The Schism of Photius and the Council of 869/870.- Chapter 13 Bulgarian Church Question.- Chapter 14 The question of the role of Basil I in the Christianization of the Serbs and Croats.- Chapter 15 Internal homogenization.- Chapter 16 Expansion of the area of jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Chapter 17 Photius' return and the Council of 879/880.- Chapter 18 The Patriarch and the Emperor.- Chapter 19 The activity of St. Methodius and the birth of the Slavic Church.- Chapter 20 The autocephalous Church of Bulgaria.- Chapter 21 The results of the Byzantine church policy in 886.