From Empire to Church and Back, RESEE 2006 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Always in Second Place: Constantinople as an Imperial and Religious Center in Late Antiquity
City of Caesar, City of God. Constantinople and Jerusalem in Late Antiquity (Millennium-Studien 97). Edited by Konstantin M. Klein and Johannes Wienand, Berlin, 2022
This paper investigates the political and religious impact of the new capital on the Bosporus and its complex relationship to Jerusalem: Constantinople became the center of the (East) Roman socio-political system which was characterized by an almost unbreakable bond between city and emperor. For Constantinople being the city of Caesar went hand in hand with aspiring to become the city of God as well. As Constantinople lacked a distinctly pagan or Jewish character (as in Rome or Jerusalem respectively), a Christian impregnation faced fewer obstacles than elsewhere, and an important stimulus was the fact that the inhabitants of Constantinople persistently constituted themselves as a Christian community. In the process of becoming a city of God, Constantinople took more than it gave: It imported relics, eschatological meaning, and finally even the True Cross. Jerusalem received less in return: above all, it did not become a political or administrative center. While Constantinople assumed functions that originally or primarily belonged to Jerusalem, the opposite did not occur. In fact, Constantinople did not become a model for any other city. In spite of all the importance and all the originality of its development, its political power was seen as having been transferred from Rome. Likewise, Constantinople’s growing holiness and its importance for salvation only resulted in a Second, New Jerusalem.
ИСТОРИЈСКИ ЧАСОПИС / The Historical Review, 2022
The impact of the Latin conquest of Constantinople has often been treated from either the perspective of the Western newcomers who established themselves in various Byzantine territories, or from the perspective of the Byzantines who left the regions that came under Latin control and who managed to establish themselves elsewhere (Nicaea, Epiros, Trebizond). In this contribution the momentous consequences of the Fourth Crusade are addressed from the perspective of those Byzantines that came under Latin rule. By zooming in on a selection of individuals and subgroups a picture is sketched of the varied Byzantine experience within the confines of the (Latin) Empire of Constantinople after 1204. Attention will be given to the various – political, religious, socio-economic and cultural – spheres of society. The focus is on the capital and the region around Constantinople, but other regions come into view as well (Thessaloniki, Adrianople, Philippopolis, Achaia/Morea, Attica, Beotia, Euobia, Crete, etc.). Chronologically this contribution is primarily limited to the period until the loss of Latin Constantinople in 1261).
The Eastern Empire & Eastern Christianity
2023
We read and interpret the Bible and faith through our own cultural and historical contexts. For centuries Eastern Christianity defined the church, not Western Christianity: 1. The early Apostolic Church Fathers were mostly from the East. 2. The early ecumenical church Councils were all held in the East, in what is Türkiye today. 3. The earliest church buildings were built in the East. The purpose of this draft paper is to raise a discussion about the development of the early church and the implications for church and mission today.
by Ionut-Alexandru Tudorie, Daniel Benga, 2024
This volume addresses the way in which images of Eastern Christianity are constructed in the diaries and travel descriptions of Western voyagers to the Ottoman Empire, during the second half of the sixteenth century. The articles included in the present volume aim to cover a vast geographical area, including the city of Constantinople/Istanbul along with the Eastern regions under the Ottoman control, as well as Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia. The studies present travelers coming from diverse backgrounds (Germany, Belgium, France, and Italy), different confessions (Catholics or Protestants), and various intellectual qualifications (scholars, theologians, Renaissance humanists). Taking into consideration the travelogues under scrutiny in this volume, one can draw a more sophisticated perspective of the other, not solely restricted to refutation and depreciation, but bringing forth acceptance and respect towards the other's religious practices and spiritual values.
The Fourth Century Church Councils and The Participation of the Balkan Bishops
STUDIA ACADEMICA ЉUMENENSIA, 2022
This paper attempts to document the participation of the Balkan bishops at the church councils in the fourth century. After a short account on the arrival of Christianity in the Balkans, it then surveys and questions how regional solidarity played a part in the ecclesiastical matters of the Balkan cities in the councils. It is argued that this documentation is going to reflect not only imperial interventions,theological concerns or regional solidarities but also the troubled personal histories of certain bishops who shaped the ecclesiastical groupings in the fourth century church policy. The Council of Serdica is studied more closely as it is the bestdocumented church meeting, in which Balkan bishops were actively involved. The identification of cities and bishops also demonstrates the expansion of Christianity and to comprehend diverse aspects of ecclesiastical behaviours, secular politics, personal concerns and theological preferences in the region.