Richard E. Payne
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520286191
- eISBN:
- 9780520961531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520286191.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
In the Zagros Mountains, between the plains of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau, Mount Bisutun stands an icon of antique Iranian imperialism. This chapter examines the refashioning of Bisutun as a ...
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In the Zagros Mountains, between the plains of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau, Mount Bisutun stands an icon of antique Iranian imperialism. This chapter examines the refashioning of Bisutun as a Christian site in order to contribute to the history of the encounter in the Iranian highlands in the fifth and sixth centuries of East Syrian Christians with Zoroastrian rituals, beliefs, and landscapes as well as the political structures they underpinned. Christians arrived in the region as outsiders, captives from Roman territory deported to Iran. The indigenous elites were Iranian and Zoroastrian, and there was no pre-Sasanian past available to Christians seeking to define their place in the region. If Christian outsiders were to be incorporated into regional elite networks, they would have to work with the inhabitants of the land and within the prevailing Iranian discourse to establish an identity. Christians who adopted the Iranian language of political belonging would have to assert their difference from Zoroastrians at the same time, to prevent the potential contradictions between Christian and Iranian discourses of identity from coming into view. This was the task that East Syrian ecclesiastical leaders undertook around the beginning of the sixth century.Less
In the Zagros Mountains, between the plains of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau, Mount Bisutun stands an icon of antique Iranian imperialism. This chapter examines the refashioning of Bisutun as a Christian site in order to contribute to the history of the encounter in the Iranian highlands in the fifth and sixth centuries of East Syrian Christians with Zoroastrian rituals, beliefs, and landscapes as well as the political structures they underpinned. Christians arrived in the region as outsiders, captives from Roman territory deported to Iran. The indigenous elites were Iranian and Zoroastrian, and there was no pre-Sasanian past available to Christians seeking to define their place in the region. If Christian outsiders were to be incorporated into regional elite networks, they would have to work with the inhabitants of the land and within the prevailing Iranian discourse to establish an identity. Christians who adopted the Iranian language of political belonging would have to assert their difference from Zoroastrians at the same time, to prevent the potential contradictions between Christian and Iranian discourses of identity from coming into view. This was the task that East Syrian ecclesiastical leaders undertook around the beginning of the sixth century.
Jack Tannous
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179094
- eISBN:
- 9780691184166
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179094.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in motion a process that would lead to ...
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In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in motion a process that would lead to its eventual conversion to Islam. This book argues that key to understanding these dramatic religious transformations are ordinary religious believers, often called “the simple” in late antique and medieval sources. Largely agrarian and illiterate, these Christians outnumbered Muslims well into the era of the Crusades, and yet they have typically been invisible in our understanding of the Middle East's history. What did it mean for Christian communities to break apart over theological disagreements that most people could not understand? How does our view of the rise of Islam change if we take seriously the fact that Muslims remained a demographic minority for much of the Middle Ages? In addressing these and other questions, the book provides a sweeping reinterpretation of the religious history of the medieval Middle East. The book draws on a wealth of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic sources to recast these conquered lands as largely Christian ones whose growing Muslim populations are properly understood as converting away from and in competition with the non-Muslim communities around them.Less
In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in motion a process that would lead to its eventual conversion to Islam. This book argues that key to understanding these dramatic religious transformations are ordinary religious believers, often called “the simple” in late antique and medieval sources. Largely agrarian and illiterate, these Christians outnumbered Muslims well into the era of the Crusades, and yet they have typically been invisible in our understanding of the Middle East's history. What did it mean for Christian communities to break apart over theological disagreements that most people could not understand? How does our view of the rise of Islam change if we take seriously the fact that Muslims remained a demographic minority for much of the Middle Ages? In addressing these and other questions, the book provides a sweeping reinterpretation of the religious history of the medieval Middle East. The book draws on a wealth of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic sources to recast these conquered lands as largely Christian ones whose growing Muslim populations are properly understood as converting away from and in competition with the non-Muslim communities around them.
Leon Litvack
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263517
- eISBN:
- 9780191682582
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263517.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
John Mason Neale (1818–1866), the famous Victorian divine, hymnologist, novelist, historian, and author of the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’, was also noted for his interest in ecunemism. This book ...
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John Mason Neale (1818–1866), the famous Victorian divine, hymnologist, novelist, historian, and author of the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’, was also noted for his interest in ecunemism. This book traces Neale’s interest in the Orthodox Church, as expressed through his historical writings, translations of Greek hymns, and novels set in the Christian East. The work is based on a wide variety of manuscript and published sources for the subject, and demonstrates how this leading light in the Anglo–Catholic revival acted as an exemplary interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. In the context of the present time, when East–West relations are a topical subject, Neale’s life and work provide a shining example of how two very different cultures and traditions might approach each other, with fruitful results for both.Less
John Mason Neale (1818–1866), the famous Victorian divine, hymnologist, novelist, historian, and author of the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’, was also noted for his interest in ecunemism. This book traces Neale’s interest in the Orthodox Church, as expressed through his historical writings, translations of Greek hymns, and novels set in the Christian East. The work is based on a wide variety of manuscript and published sources for the subject, and demonstrates how this leading light in the Anglo–Catholic revival acted as an exemplary interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. In the context of the present time, when East–West relations are a topical subject, Neale’s life and work provide a shining example of how two very different cultures and traditions might approach each other, with fruitful results for both.
Christian C. Sahner
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179100
- eISBN:
- 9780691184180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179100.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This introductory chapter sets out the book's objective, which is to explain the earliest stages of a long-term process whereby the predominantly Christian Middle East of late antiquity became the ...
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This introductory chapter sets out the book's objective, which is to explain the earliest stages of a long-term process whereby the predominantly Christian Middle East of late antiquity became the predominantly Islamic region of today. In particular, it explores the role of religious violence in the process of de-Christianization, as well as how Christians adopted the mentality of a minority through memories of violence. To tell the story, this book investigates a neglected group of Christian martyrs who died at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries AD. They were known by their contemporaries as “new martyrs” or “neomartyrs.” An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter sets out the book's objective, which is to explain the earliest stages of a long-term process whereby the predominantly Christian Middle East of late antiquity became the predominantly Islamic region of today. In particular, it explores the role of religious violence in the process of de-Christianization, as well as how Christians adopted the mentality of a minority through memories of violence. To tell the story, this book investigates a neglected group of Christian martyrs who died at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries AD. They were known by their contemporaries as “new martyrs” or “neomartyrs.” An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
George E. Demacopoulos
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780823284429
- eISBN:
- 9780823285976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823284429.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This book employs postcolonial critique to analyze the transformations of Greek and Latin religious identity in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. Through close readings of texts from the period of ...
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This book employs postcolonial critique to analyze the transformations of Greek and Latin religious identity in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. Through close readings of texts from the period of Latin occupation, the book argues that the experience of colonization splintered the Greek community over how best to respond to the Latin other while illuminating the mechanisms by which Western Christians authorized and exploited the Christian East. The experience of colonial subjugation opened permanent fissures within the Orthodox community, which struggled to develop a consistent response to aggressive demands for submission to the Roman Church. This internal fracturing has done more lasting damage to the modern Orthodox Church than any material act perpetrated by the crusaders. Ultimately, the statements of Greek and Latin religious polemic that emerged in the context of the Fourth Crusade should be interpreted as having been produced in a colonial setting and, as such, reveal more about the political, economic, and cultural uncertainty of communities in conflict than they offer genuine theological insight.Less
This book employs postcolonial critique to analyze the transformations of Greek and Latin religious identity in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. Through close readings of texts from the period of Latin occupation, the book argues that the experience of colonization splintered the Greek community over how best to respond to the Latin other while illuminating the mechanisms by which Western Christians authorized and exploited the Christian East. The experience of colonial subjugation opened permanent fissures within the Orthodox community, which struggled to develop a consistent response to aggressive demands for submission to the Roman Church. This internal fracturing has done more lasting damage to the modern Orthodox Church than any material act perpetrated by the crusaders. Ultimately, the statements of Greek and Latin religious polemic that emerged in the context of the Fourth Crusade should be interpreted as having been produced in a colonial setting and, as such, reveal more about the political, economic, and cultural uncertainty of communities in conflict than they offer genuine theological insight.
George E. Demacopoulos
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780823284429
- eISBN:
- 9780823285976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823284429.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This introductory chapter begins with a brief history of the Fourth Crusade. When Pope Innocent III ascended Peter's throne in 1198, he almost immediately began planning for what was supposed to be ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief history of the Fourth Crusade. When Pope Innocent III ascended Peter's throne in 1198, he almost immediately began planning for what was supposed to be the largest crusade to date. What is important to the present study is the fact that the crusaders transformed the very structure of Byzantine society by seizing control of both church and state and by often imposing a Western feudal structure throughout the Balkans that would serve as a beachhead for further Frankish and papal aspirations in the Christian East. By framing the events of the Fourth Crusade as a kind of colonial encounter, this book draws from some of the basic insights of postcolonial critique to look in new ways at the discourse of Orthodox/Roman Catholic difference that took its mature form in the thirteenth century. As such, one of the most important conclusions of this study is that the development of the most vitriolic statements of Orthodox/Catholic religious polemic in the Middle Ages were based in political and cultural alienation, not theological development.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief history of the Fourth Crusade. When Pope Innocent III ascended Peter's throne in 1198, he almost immediately began planning for what was supposed to be the largest crusade to date. What is important to the present study is the fact that the crusaders transformed the very structure of Byzantine society by seizing control of both church and state and by often imposing a Western feudal structure throughout the Balkans that would serve as a beachhead for further Frankish and papal aspirations in the Christian East. By framing the events of the Fourth Crusade as a kind of colonial encounter, this book draws from some of the basic insights of postcolonial critique to look in new ways at the discourse of Orthodox/Roman Catholic difference that took its mature form in the thirteenth century. As such, one of the most important conclusions of this study is that the development of the most vitriolic statements of Orthodox/Catholic religious polemic in the Middle Ages were based in political and cultural alienation, not theological development.
Denis Vovchenko
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190276676
- eISBN:
- 9780190276690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190276676.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Since the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, Moscow’s rulers increasingly made implicit and explicit irredentist claims on their Byzantine inheritance—“the Christian East.” The leadership of the ...
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Since the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, Moscow’s rulers increasingly made implicit and explicit irredentist claims on their Byzantine inheritance—“the Christian East.” The leadership of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was ethnically Greek or Hellenized in the Eastern Roman tradition. The Islamic theocratic structure further muted ethnic distinctions among all its subjects. The Age of Enlightenment politicized the concept of ethnicity and helped inspire the secession of Serbia and Greece from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s. Russia, England, and France reluctantly supported the Greek War of Independence. After the Napoleonic wars, the Great Powers sought to restore European stability and generally discouraged separatism in the realm of the Sultans. They sponsored the Gulhane Edict to improve the status of Ottoman Christians. This was the beginning of the Bulgarian national movement but Russian diplomats ignored it in spite of the emergence of ethnocentric Slavophiles at home.Less
Since the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, Moscow’s rulers increasingly made implicit and explicit irredentist claims on their Byzantine inheritance—“the Christian East.” The leadership of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was ethnically Greek or Hellenized in the Eastern Roman tradition. The Islamic theocratic structure further muted ethnic distinctions among all its subjects. The Age of Enlightenment politicized the concept of ethnicity and helped inspire the secession of Serbia and Greece from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s. Russia, England, and France reluctantly supported the Greek War of Independence. After the Napoleonic wars, the Great Powers sought to restore European stability and generally discouraged separatism in the realm of the Sultans. They sponsored the Gulhane Edict to improve the status of Ottoman Christians. This was the beginning of the Bulgarian national movement but Russian diplomats ignored it in spite of the emergence of ethnocentric Slavophiles at home.
