Literary Circles in Byzantine Iconoclasm: Patrons, Politics and Saints

Description

Iconoclasm was the name given to the stance of that portion of Eastern Christianity that rejected worshipping God through images (eikones) representing Christ, the Virgin or the saints and was the official doctrine of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period between 726 and 843. It was a period marked by violent passions on either side. This is the first comprehensive account of the extant contemporary texts relating to this phenomenon and their impact on society, politics and identity. By examining the literary circles emerging both during the time of persecution and immediately after the restoration of icons in 843, the volume casts new light on the striking (re)construction of Byzantine society, whose iconophile identity was biasedly redefined by the political parties led by Theodoros Stoudites, Gregorios Dekapolites and Empress Theodora or the patriarchs Methodios, Ignatios and Photios. It thereby offers an innovative paradigm for approaching Byzantine literature. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Contents List of Figures and Maps Acknowledgements Note to the Reader List of Abbreviations Introduction I.1 The Literary Milieux under Iconoclasm I.2 The Texts and Their Manuscript Transmission: The Stoudite Menologia Chapter 1 The Stoudite Milieu: The Foundations of the Literature of Iconoclasm 1.1 The Literary Production of Theodoros Stoudites 1.1.1 The Laudatio of Theoktiste (BHG 2422) 1.1.2 The Laudatio of Platon of Sakkoudion (BHG 1553) 1.1.3 The Enkomion of Theophanes of Sigriane (BHG 1792b) 1.1.4 Other Hagiographical Compositions of Theodoros Stoudites 1.2 Promoting Veneration of Theodoros Stoudites: The Vitae 1.2.1 First Texts in Honour of Theodoros Stoudites 1.2.2 The Vitae of Theodoros Stoudites 1.3 Sanctification of Other Members of the Stoudite Milieu: The Hegoumenoi of Tarasios 1.3.1 Ioseph of Thessaloniki 1.3.2 The Hegoumenoi of Medikion 1.3.3 Makarios of Pelekete 1.4 Conclusions Chapter 2 The Methodian Milieu: Literature Conceived in the Patriarchate after the Iconoclastic Crisis 2.1 The Literary Work of Methodios 2.1.1 Early Works: Non-Combative Writings 2.1.2 The Vita of Euthymios of Sardis (BHG 2145) 2.1.3 His Writing As a Patriarch: The Fight against Heresy 2.1.4 The Promotion of New Saints and Their Texts 2.2 The Men of Letters of the Methodian Milieu 2.2.1 Petros Monachos and His Vita of Ioannikios (BHG 936) 2.2.2 Ignatios Diakonos 2.2.3 Theophanes and His Translation of the Patriarch Nikephoros (BHG 1336) 2.3 The Milieu of Methodios in the Patriarchate: The Synkelloi 2.3.1 Michael Synkellos 2.4 Conclusions Chapter 3 The Dekapolitan Milieu: The Integration of the Third Way after the Restoration of Icons 3.1 Life and Works of Gregorios Dekapolites 3.1.1 The Testimony of the Vita Gregorii Decapolitae (BHG 711) of Ignatios Diakonos 3.2 The Milieu of Gregorios Dekapolites 3.2.1 The Archimandrites Symeon and the Monastic Family 3.2.2 The Disciples of Gregorios Dekapolites 3.3 Links between the Literary Circle of Gregorios Dekapolites and Other Iconodule Milieux 3.4 Conclusions Chapter 4 The Secular Milieux and Their Rewriting of the Second Iconoclasm: The Aristocracy, the Army, the Court and the Imperial Family 4.1 The Aristocratic Milieu 4.1.1 Hagiography and Aristocracy in the Early Ninth Century: Philaretos and Eudokimos 4.1.2 Aristocratic Models of Feminine Holiness (Ninth-Tenth Centuries) 4.1.3 The Political Meaning of the New Aristocratic Saint: Imperial Ideology 4.2 The Military Milieu 4.3 The Court Milieu: The Family and Collaborators of Theophilos in Post-Iconoclast Hagiography 4.3.1 The Court of Theophilos and Its Post-Iconoclast Reinvention 4.3.2 The Family of Theophilos and Theodora 4.4 The Imperial Couple in Post-Iconoclast Hagiography: Theophilos and Theodora 4.5 Conclusions Chapter 5 The Ignatian Milieu: The Management of Inherited Iconodule Literature 5.1 The Patriarch Ignatios and His Attitude to Literature 5.2 The Milieu of the Patriarch Ignatios 5.2.1 Metrophanes of Smyrna 5.2.2 Michael Monachos 5.2.3 Other Hagiographical Texts of the Ignatian Milieu 5.3 Conclusions Chapter 6 The Photian Milieu: Rewriting and Updating Iconodule Literature 6.1 The Inevitable Topicality of Iconoclasm 6.2 Iconoclasm in the Work of the Patriarch Photios 6.2.1 Photios and the Iconodule Patriarchs: Tarasios, Nikephoros and Methodios 6.2.2 Photios, His Family and Their Presence in the Literature on Iconoclasm 6.2.3 The Epistles of Photios and the New Orthodox Discourse 6.3 The Milieu of Photios 6.3.1 The Interpolation of the Vita of Georgios of Amastris 6.3.2 The Vita of Michael the Synkellos and the Monastery of Chora 6.3.3 Theophanes of Caesarea and His Enkomion of Theodoros Graptos 6.3.4 Georgios of Nicomedia 6.3.5 The Monk and Philosopher Nikephoros 6.3.6 The Forty-Two Martyrs of Amorion Again: Sophronios and Euodios 6.3.7 The Acta of David, Symeon and Georgios (BHG 494) 6.4 Conclusions Chapter 7 Mobility between Milieux: The Hagiographer Sabas, from the Bithynian Olympos to the Constantinopolitan Milieux 7.1 Youth in Bithynia and First Vita of Petros of Atroa (BHG 2364) 7.1.1 The Vita of Ioannikios (BHG 935) 7.1.2 Sabas' Monastic Days and Bithynian Heremitic Life 7.1.3 The Vita Retractata of Petros of Atroa (BHG 2365) 7.2 Transfer to Constantinople 7.2.1 The Vita of Hilarion of Dalmatos (BHG 2177) 7.2.2 The Vita of the Patriarch Methodios (BHG 1278) 7.3 Conclusions Chapter 8 Final Remarks 8.1 Literature under Iconoclasm and the Exercise of Power 8.2 Literature and Social Change: The Role of Writing Production under Iconoclasm and the Literary Milieux Appendix A Chronology of the Patriarchs, Emperors, Popes and Hegoumenoi of Stoudios from 787 to 896 Appendix B Network Chart of Writers and Their Literary Relations under Iconoclasm and in Its Aftermath Bibliography Primary Sources Ignatios Diakonos Leon Choirosphaktes Methodios, Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Monachos Michael Synkellos Niketas Byzantios Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople Theodoros of Stoudios Secondary Sources General Index Index of Manuscripts