Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ORTHPOL (Orthodoxies and Politics. The Religious Reforms of Mid-17th Century in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe)
Reporting period: 2023-07-01 to 2024-12-31
ORTHPOL presents an interconnected view of the Early Modern religious reforms, the fault lines of which are visible in contemporary debates. In the 17th century, following similar developments in Western and Central Europe, the wind of religious change swept throughout Orthodox Christianity with unparalleled intensity. While a consensus has been reached on the pivotal role of the Reforms of Nikon, named after the controversial Patriarch of Moscow (†1681), its causes and far-reaching consequences remain a matter of debate, fueled by the emergence of new sources and, at times, polemical and political reassessments.
Our first aim is to broaden the scope of research by examining unpublished texts held in repositories from Greece (Mount Athos included), Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine – to mention just the most important ones. Based on this data, read against published materials, we will argue that the reformist thrust covered wider areas and aspects than hitherto assumed, affecting even the Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire. Focusing on the vital interplay between the religious and political spheres, we will show that Nikon was part of a larger dynamics of religious reforms promoted by such diverse and disputed figures as the “Calvinist” Patriarch of Constantinople Kyrillos Loukaris (d. 1638), the “Westernizer” Metropolitan of Kiev Peter Mohyla (d. 1647) and the “Orthodox” Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheos (d. 1707).
Given the phenomenon’s multi-layered nature, we propose a model of analysis that highlights the specificities, antagonisms and connections between Muscovite, Ruthenian, Wallachian and Greek reforming currents by combining historical, theological and linguistic research tools. Our research compares, contextualizes and transgresses boundaries artificially imposed by nationalistic historiographies, while it tackles key topics in Early Modern religious, institutional and cultural history: confessionalization, factional (political) shaping of the “Right Faith” (seen as cultural system) and tension between tradition and innovation.
The current state of political and religious affairs in Eastern Europe, unfortunately, underscores the relevance of our focus on Early Modern topics.
The ORTHPOL team is an interdisciplinary one, as it includes historians, philologists and theologians. It is also an international one, as it comprises scholars from Austria (Liliya Berezhnaya, Grigor Boykov, Dimitrios Kousouris, Mariya Kiprovska, Lena Sadovski), France (Vera Tchentsova), Greece (Stauros Grimanis and Yorgos Tzedopoulos – Athens; Nikolas Pissis – Corfu), Hungary (Nagy Levente – Budapest), Romania (Mihai-Cristian Amăriuței – Iași; Ana Dumitran and Mihail Qaramah – Alba Iulia; Lidia Cotovanu, Octavian Negoiță, Iulia Nițescu, Andreea-Isabella Tatoi and Emanuela Timotin – Bucharest), Ukraine (Maksim Yaremenko – Kyiv; Ivan Almes and Dariya Syroyid – L’viv), United States of America (Kevin M. Kain – Green Bay WI; Ionuț-Al. Tudorie – Crestwood, NY) and Türkiye (Elif Bayraktar Tellan – Istanbul).
We benefit from the expertise of Visiting Scholars, such as Radu G. Păun (Paris) and Justin Willson (Clinton, MA), the help of the managerial team (Milorad Kapetanović, Edona Rexhepi, and Norma Schönherr) and the support of the Advisory Board, composed of Nikolaos A. Chrissidis (Southern Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT), Bernard Heyberger (EHESS, Paris), Vassa Kontouma (EPHE, Paris); Tijana Krstić (CEU, Vienna); Vasilios N. Makrides (University of Erfurt), and Konrad Petrovszky (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna).
Our first aim is to broaden the scope of research by examining unpublished texts held in repositories from Greece (Mount Athos included), Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine – to mention just the most important ones. Based on this data, read against published materials, we will argue that the reformist thrust covered wider areas and aspects than hitherto assumed, affecting even the Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire. Focusing on the vital interplay between the religious and political spheres, we will show that Nikon was part of a larger dynamics of religious reforms promoted by such diverse and disputed figures as the “Calvinist” Patriarch of Constantinople Kyrillos Loukaris (d. 1638), the “Westernizer” Metropolitan of Kiev Peter Mohyla (d. 1647) and the “Orthodox” Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheos (d. 1707).
Given the phenomenon’s multi-layered nature, we propose a model of analysis that highlights the specificities, antagonisms and connections between Muscovite, Ruthenian, Wallachian and Greek reforming currents by combining historical, theological and linguistic research tools. Our research compares, contextualizes and transgresses boundaries artificially imposed by nationalistic historiographies, while it tackles key topics in Early Modern religious, institutional and cultural history: confessionalization, factional (political) shaping of the “Right Faith” (seen as cultural system) and tension between tradition and innovation.
The current state of political and religious affairs in Eastern Europe, unfortunately, underscores the relevance of our focus on Early Modern topics.
The ORTHPOL team is an interdisciplinary one, as it includes historians, philologists and theologians. It is also an international one, as it comprises scholars from Austria (Liliya Berezhnaya, Grigor Boykov, Dimitrios Kousouris, Mariya Kiprovska, Lena Sadovski), France (Vera Tchentsova), Greece (Stauros Grimanis and Yorgos Tzedopoulos – Athens; Nikolas Pissis – Corfu), Hungary (Nagy Levente – Budapest), Romania (Mihai-Cristian Amăriuței – Iași; Ana Dumitran and Mihail Qaramah – Alba Iulia; Lidia Cotovanu, Octavian Negoiță, Iulia Nițescu, Andreea-Isabella Tatoi and Emanuela Timotin – Bucharest), Ukraine (Maksim Yaremenko – Kyiv; Ivan Almes and Dariya Syroyid – L’viv), United States of America (Kevin M. Kain – Green Bay WI; Ionuț-Al. Tudorie – Crestwood, NY) and Türkiye (Elif Bayraktar Tellan – Istanbul).
We benefit from the expertise of Visiting Scholars, such as Radu G. Păun (Paris) and Justin Willson (Clinton, MA), the help of the managerial team (Milorad Kapetanović, Edona Rexhepi, and Norma Schönherr) and the support of the Advisory Board, composed of Nikolaos A. Chrissidis (Southern Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT), Bernard Heyberger (EHESS, Paris), Vassa Kontouma (EPHE, Paris); Tijana Krstić (CEU, Vienna); Vasilios N. Makrides (University of Erfurt), and Konrad Petrovszky (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna).
Unsofar, the major achievements are: organization of the 1st ORTHPOL Conference, entitled Orthodoxy, Schism, Heresy in Early Modern Europe: The Loukaris “Affair” (Vienna, 5-6 May 2023); co-organization, with the UEFISCDI project “Saint-Making and Institutional Consolidation: The Veneration of Metropolitans in 14th-16th Century Muscovy” (RO) of the workshop Strategies of Sainthood: Local Saints in Premodern Eastern and South Eastern Europe (Vienna, 10-11 May 2024); publication of two monographs: Dana Shishmanian, Vision de Varnava. Înțăleptului Varnava minunată arătare a vederii lui cu pildă tuturor (2023) and Alexandru Baboș, The Icons of Alexander Ponekhalsky. Jertfa di la mine zugrău Alexa cel păcătos (2024); forging a partnership with Zograf monastery on Mount Athos, in view of editing in open access of documents related to ORTHPOL.
The conference deserves a special mention. It was dedicated to Kyrillos Loukaris (d. 1638), Greek Patriarch of Constantinople and, as of 2022, Saint. Loukaris owes much of his fame to a “Calvinist” Confession of faith published in Geneva, first in Latin in 1629 and then in Greek, with additions, in 1633. Translated into several languages and re-edited, it triggered passionate debates across Europe and compelled Eastern Christianity to address thorny theological issues. Our conference examined the catalytic role played by the controversial Patriarch in the development of Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as the factional shaping of “True Faith” at the crossroads of Christian and Islamic reform currents.
This is, however, just a selection. We have successfully collaborated with projects in France (PSalteRatio), Germany (Transottomanica) and Romania (MOSCULT and roPSALT). We have presented the results of our activity at twenty conferences, workshops and other scientific events. And we started to publish them.
One of the most recent publications is a study by Ovidiu Olar on a fascinating manuscript from Stavropoleos Monastery's collection. Based on extensive archival research, Ovidiu discussed the revival of deluxe Greek manuscript production at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries, he showed that this phenomenon coincided with the “reconstruction” of Greek-speaking Orthodox elites under Ottoman rule. The dissemination of liturgical codices through transregional patronage networks was integral to this reconfiguration, both contributing to and benefiting from it. These manuscripts promoted a common artistic language and strengthened the shared Orthodox identity of the Christian communities under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The study confirms thus the validity of the confessionalization paradigm when applied to Early Modern Eastern Christianity.
The conference deserves a special mention. It was dedicated to Kyrillos Loukaris (d. 1638), Greek Patriarch of Constantinople and, as of 2022, Saint. Loukaris owes much of his fame to a “Calvinist” Confession of faith published in Geneva, first in Latin in 1629 and then in Greek, with additions, in 1633. Translated into several languages and re-edited, it triggered passionate debates across Europe and compelled Eastern Christianity to address thorny theological issues. Our conference examined the catalytic role played by the controversial Patriarch in the development of Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as the factional shaping of “True Faith” at the crossroads of Christian and Islamic reform currents.
This is, however, just a selection. We have successfully collaborated with projects in France (PSalteRatio), Germany (Transottomanica) and Romania (MOSCULT and roPSALT). We have presented the results of our activity at twenty conferences, workshops and other scientific events. And we started to publish them.
One of the most recent publications is a study by Ovidiu Olar on a fascinating manuscript from Stavropoleos Monastery's collection. Based on extensive archival research, Ovidiu discussed the revival of deluxe Greek manuscript production at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries, he showed that this phenomenon coincided with the “reconstruction” of Greek-speaking Orthodox elites under Ottoman rule. The dissemination of liturgical codices through transregional patronage networks was integral to this reconfiguration, both contributing to and benefiting from it. These manuscripts promoted a common artistic language and strengthened the shared Orthodox identity of the Christian communities under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The study confirms thus the validity of the confessionalization paradigm when applied to Early Modern Eastern Christianity.
The results obtained so far align well with our initial plan. The intensive archival research has been fruitful, and our engagement with relevant literature has significantly contributed to our progress. Several more studies are currently in print, and we anticipate the publication of a few additional monographs by the end of the project.
An exhibition - entitled "Icons in-between: Eastern Christian art from the border regions (Crete, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and Belarus)" - will be on display in the Recklinghausen Ikonen-Museum in 2025. Liliya Berezhnaya, a core ORTHPOL member, works closely with Dr. Lutz-Rickelt for the organization of the event and the publication of the (Print & Open access) Catalogue. Other ORTHPOL members (Ovidiu Olar) and affiliated researchers (Ana Dumitran) will write entries. The event and the ensuing publication are the result of the collaboration between Recklinghausen Ikonen-Museum, ORTHPOL, and the Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations." Given the complexity of the action, the preparations have started in 2024. The exhibition is not one of the deliverables listed in ORTHPOL's Declaration of Action. Research conducted by the team members has, nevertheless, raised awareness of the importance of the topic. The exhibition will help us better disseminate the results of our project, as we are looking forward to engaging with the public.
An exhibition - entitled "Icons in-between: Eastern Christian art from the border regions (Crete, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and Belarus)" - will be on display in the Recklinghausen Ikonen-Museum in 2025. Liliya Berezhnaya, a core ORTHPOL member, works closely with Dr. Lutz-Rickelt for the organization of the event and the publication of the (Print & Open access) Catalogue. Other ORTHPOL members (Ovidiu Olar) and affiliated researchers (Ana Dumitran) will write entries. The event and the ensuing publication are the result of the collaboration between Recklinghausen Ikonen-Museum, ORTHPOL, and the Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations." Given the complexity of the action, the preparations have started in 2024. The exhibition is not one of the deliverables listed in ORTHPOL's Declaration of Action. Research conducted by the team members has, nevertheless, raised awareness of the importance of the topic. The exhibition will help us better disseminate the results of our project, as we are looking forward to engaging with the public.