International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Ana-Maria Răducan
Centre régional francophone de recherches avancées en sciences sociales, 
Bucharest, Romania; 
[e-mail] 
Changing His Own Mind. 
A Theologian and a Philosopher in Byzantium in the Eleventh Century
The aim of my research is to investigate the rhetorics behind two oppositional patterns of 
behaviour in eleventh-century Byzantium – one presenting a theologian inspired only by God and 
ignorant of the worldly wisdom, the other being that of the philosopher, skilled not only in rhetorics 
and logic but also in metaphysics and theology field, but ignorant or even dimissive of the mystical 
experience.
The opposition between these two rhetorical patterns can be observed, on the one hand, in the 
Introduction to saint Symeon the New Theologian’s Hymns, composed by Niketas Stethatos and, 
on the other hand, in the famous letter addressed by Psellos to patriarch Kerularios. Nicetas and 
Psellos are using the same dichotomy and the same topoi but with different connotations. Among 
these prominent is the ability to move, to change – from a place to another, from one social class 
to another, to change one’s behaviour, purposes and thoughts, to spread one’s ideas all over the 
oikoumene - a key to success in eleventh century Byzantium but a sign of futile worldliness in the 
eyes of the theologians. On the otherside there is the stabilitas loci representing the immobility of the 
mind, and a stress on the fidelity to the traditions, considered by the philosophers a frozen attitude 
dangerous for the fate of the Empire. What did it mean to be mobile or immobile in Byzantium? To 
what extent mobility and immobility were seen as essential qualities in shaping an identity in the 
Byzantine world?

---

574
Anton Anashkin
St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, Moscow, Russian Federation; 
[e-mail]
Towards a Genesis of Byzantine Church Canonical 
Erotapokriseis
by Niketas, Metropolitan of Herakleia (XI C.): Epistolary Trace
Genre determination of Byzantine erotapokritical literature is a very important aspect of studying 
of texts in format of question-and-answers that was widespread in Byzantium and became one of 
the most preferred ways of organizing and imparting knowledge. Unfortunately, this topic is little-
studied. Since genre nature of questions and replies is subtle the very decision of the problem is in the 
research of their content. The subject of our research is a genesis and genre nature of Byzantine church 
canonical ἐρωταποκρίσεις by Niketas metropolitan of Herakleia (XI c.) unexplored as a monument of 
ecclesiastical thought because of its marginality. The text of the metropolitan Niketas’ canonical replies 
consists of 13 questions and answers. It has a complex manuscript tradition. Four editions of various 
redactions are presently at our disposal. Nonetheless the text is very poorly studied. 
Existing in the canonical erotapokritical collection 13 twains of questions and replies are 
divided into four theme clusters:
1. Marriage law (twains of questions and replies №№ 1–5 аnd 11). 
2. Monkhood (№ 6, 7, 8, 9; № 6, 7 are dedicated to the high degree of the monastic ministry – 
great schema). 
3. Merits of ordinands (№ 10 и 12).
4. Official malfeasance of a clergyman (a question-and-answer’s pair №13 is not able to be 
brought into correlation with those theme clusters).
A content-analysis of the text let us conclude that the actual practical («businesslike») 
correspondence between Niketas metropolitan of Herakleia and an unknown for sure person (it may 
well be that it was a bishop of Pamphylia — the diocese was under the jurisdiction of metropolitan 
of Herakleia — by name Constantine) is the basis of the text: 
- the very form of the text resembles and looks like an exchange of letters; 
- a hint at a correspondence in the reply №5: καὶ πρότερον ἀπεκρίθημεν, διὰ τοῦ ἀνεψιοῦ σου, 
ἔγγραφον ἐρώτησιν δεξάμενοι; 
- retention of epistolary etiquette terms of courtesy, greetings and solutions with personal 
pronouns of the 2-nd person in the Genitive: τῇ θεοφιλίᾳ σου (resp. 4), δέσποτά μου (quest. 
3), [λύσεως] τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου (quest. 13);
- using (rarely) of the Vocative: θεοφιλέστατε (resp. 1), ἅγιέ μου δέσποτα (quest. 6).
- 9 out of 13 questions contain a personal request to solve problems, to resolve doubts, to settle 
ambiguous occurrences in church practice. The questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 13 are concluded and the 
questions 4, 7, 8 are started with expressions that characterizing these texts: ζητῶ λύσιν γενέσθαι 
μοι περὶ τούτου, διὰ τοῦτο ζητῶ λυθῆναι παρὰ τῆς σῆς ἁγιωσύνης, Ἔτι καὶ τοῦτο ἐρωτῶ. 
Thereby this evidence could be regarded as relicts of correspondence between actual persons 
on different questions of church life, for instance: liturgical practice, problems of interpretation and 
understanding of passages from Holy Scripture or patristic writings or church canons, solution to 
private cases which do not have church canonical regulations.

---