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Conversion from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in the Fourteenth Century1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Tia M. Kolbaba
Tia M. Kolbaba*
Affiliation:
Colgate University
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Extract

Several prominent Byzantines, including the Emperor John V Palaiologos, converted to Roman Catholicism in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This may seem an odd sort of conversion. After all, if the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith are contained in the Nicene Creed, then Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers differ on only one tenet: whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father or from the Father and the Son — the Filioque issue. For a Christian to admit the double procession of the Holy Spirit is hardly on the same level as admitting that Mohammed is the prophet of the one God. Indeed, many members of each church have been willing to call the procession of the Holy Spirit unknowable and leave it at that.

Type
Research Article
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 19 , 1995 , pp. 120 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 1995

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References

2. Nicol, D.M., ‘Symbiosis and Integration. Some Greco-Latin Families in Byzantium in the 11th to 13th Centuries’, BF 7 (1979) 119 Google Scholar.

3. Miklosich, Franz and Müller, Joseph, Acta et Diplomata Graeca Medìi Aevi, vol.2, Acta Patriarchatus Constantinopolitani 1315-1402, tomusposterior (Vienna 1968) 84 Google Scholar, doc. #376. Other examples of conversion oaths, Ibid., 8-9, 48, 159, 160, 296, 343, 344, 449, 454, 488, 490.

4. E.g., ibid., p.84.

5. Halecki, Oskar, Un empereur de Byzance à Rome (Warsaw 1930; repr. London 1972) 195–198 Google Scholar. See Dólger, Franz, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des Ostrómischen Reiches von 565-1453, 5 (Munich and Berlin 1965) 58–59 Google Scholar, doc. #3120, 3122, 3126.

6. For Clement IV’s letter to Michael VIII, see Tautu, A.L., Acta Urbani IV, dementis IV, Gregorìi X (1261-1276) (Vatican City 1953) 65–67 Google Scholar (doc. 23). For a description of the document which John V signed in 1369, see Halecki, op. cit. 346-ff.

7. Halecki, op. cit. 198-199.

8. The dating of Barlaam’s 21 anti-Latin treatises and the relation of each treatise or group of treatises to the others and to the Palamite controversy has been the subject of many articles and footnotes. Most recently, Robert Sinkewicz, Ioannis Kakridis, and Antonis Fyrigos have proposed divergent chronologies and divergent ideas of the redactions of some treatises: Kakridis, I., Codex 88 des Klosters Decani und eine griechischen Vorlagen (Munich 1988) 97, 106–110, 126–130 Google Scholar; Sinkewicz, R.E., ‘A New Interpretation for the First Episode in the Controversy between Barlaam the Calabrian and Gregory Palamas’, Journal of Theological Studies, new series 31 (1980) 489–500 Google Scholar; Idem, ‘The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God in the Early Writings of Barlaam the Calabrian’, Mediaeval Studies 44 (1982) 183-184; Fyrigos, A., ‘La produzione letteraria antilatina di Barlaam Calabro’, OCP 45 (1979) 115–116 Google Scholar. I join these authors in stating that a definitive chronology and account will be possible only when all twenty-one treatises have been edited with due attention to the ways in which those treatises have been transmitted. See also my discussion of this issue in ‘Barlaam the Calabrian. Three Treatises on Papal Primacy’, REB 53 (1995) [forthcoming].

9. For a complete list of Barlaam’s works, see Sinkewicz, Robert E., ‘The Solutions addressed to George Lapithes by Barlaam the Calabrian and their Philosophical Context’, Mediaeval Studies 43 (1981) 185–194 Google Scholar.

10. There are many versions of the Palamite controversy. For a good recent summary with primary-source documentation see Hero, Angela Constantinides, ed., trans., Letters of Gregory Akindynos (Washington, D.C. 1983; CFHB 21) xi–xxxiii Google Scholar.

11. Tautu, A.L., Acta dementis VI PP. (1342-1352) (Vatican City 1960; Pontificia commissio ad redigendum codicem iuris canonici orientalis, fontes, series III, vol. 9) 20–21 Google Scholar (doc. 10).

12. Russo, Francesco, Regesto Vaticano per la Calabria, vol. 1 (Rome 1974) 427 Google Scholar (doc. #6816); Parco, Francesco Lo, Petrarca e Barlaam (Calabria 1905) 117–118 Google Scholar.

13. Tautu, , Acta dementis VI 219–220 Google Scholar (doc. #135). For the whole of this biography cf.Jugie, Martin, ‘Barlaam de Seminara’, DHGE 6(Paris 1932) 817–834 Google Scholar; Idem, ‘Barlaamest-il né catholique, suivi d’une note sur la date de sa mort’, EO 39 (1940) 100-125; Sinkewicz, , ‘The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God in the Early Writings of Barlaam the Calabrian’, Mediaeval Studies 44 (1982) 183–186 Google Scholar. I have omitted discussion of disagreements about some details in this chronological outline, presenting a consensus opinion, but the reader should be aware that such disagreements exist. Cf. the works of Jugie cited above; Meyendorff, Jean, ‘Les débuts de la controverse hésychaste’, B 23 (1953) 90–96 Google Scholar, reprinted in Idem, Byzantine Hesychasm: Historical, Theological, and Social Problems (London 1974) art. I.

14. See, for example, Meyendorff, , Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes (New York 1974) 103, 105 Google Scholar; Idem, ‘Humanisme nominaliste et mystique chrétienne à Byzance au XlVe siècle’, Nouvelle Revue Theologique 79 (1957) 906-910, reprinted in Byzantine Hesychasm art. VI; Idem, A Study of Gregory Palomas (London 1964) 42, 48, 116, 117.

15. See Jugie, , ‘Barlaam de Seminara’ 819, 822, 826, 830–834 Google Scholar; Mandalari, G., Fra Barlaamo Calabrese, maestro del Petrarca (Rome 1888) 54–55 Google Scholar.

16. MPG 151, 1255-1280.

17. The treatises on papal primacy are called AL 7, AL 12, and AL 21 by Sinkewicz (see the inventory cited in note 7 above, pp. 188-189). The new edition, with an introduction, commentary, and translation, will appear in REB 53 (1995). Since this edition is not yet available, I have also cited the MPG version.

18. I.e., AL 21. Support for the contention that this is the most complete, final version is contained in the introduction to Barlaam’s three treatises on papal primacy (note 8 above).

19. AL 21 para. 3; MPG 151, 1258-1260.

20. Ibid. para. 5; MPG 151, 1260, 1262-1263.

21. Ibid. para. 6; MPG 161, 1263-1265.

22. Ibid. para. 6 and 11-13; MPG 151, 1265, 1268.

23. Ibid. para. 7-10; MPG 151, 1265-1268.

24. Ibid. para. 14; MPG 151, 1269-1270.

25. Ibid. para. 15; MPG 151, 1270-1271.

26. Ibid. para. 16; MPG 151, 1271.

27. Ibid. para. 17; MPG 151, 1271-1273.

28. Ibid. para. 18-19; MPG 151, 1273-1274.

29. Ibid. para. 20; MPG 151, 1274-1276.

30. MPG 151, 1271-1282.

31. Ibid. 1271-1272.

32. ¡bid. 1272-1274.

33. Ibid. 1274-1276.

34. Ibid. 1276-1278.

35. Ibid. 1277.

36. Ibid. 1277-1278.

37. Ibid. 1278-1279.

38. Ibid. 1279.

39. Ibid. 1279-1280.

40. Ibid. 1279.

41. John 21:16.

42. AL 21 para. 3; MPG 151, 1259.

43. MPG 151, 1272-1273.

44. For example, MPG 151, 1260B-1262B, 1271B-1272B.

45. Ibid. 1279C.

46. Ibid. 1262.

47. Ibid. 1279D-1280A.

48. Ibid. 1262A-1263A.

49. Pace Father Meyendorff s accusations of ‘nominalism’, it is clear that the ‘Barlaamite’ faction had some legitimate concerns about Palamas’ teachings and the practices of the hesychast monks which cannot simply be blamed on Latin influences, ‘nominalist humanism’, or a failure to appreciate Christian mystical traditions. See Meyendorff, ‘Humanisme nominaliste et mystique chrétienne’ and compare the far more sophisticated and nuanced view of Barlaam’s ideas in Sinkewicz, ‘Solutions’ 165-185 and Idem, ‘Doctrine of the Knowledge of God’ 181.

50. For example, see Sinkewicz, , ‘Solutions’ 153 Google Scholar.

51. Kianka, Frances, ‘The Apology of Demetrius Cydones: A Fourteenth-Century Autobiographical Source’, Byzantine Studies/Études Byzantines 7, 1 (1980) 67 Google Scholar.

52. şevŝenko, Ihor, ‘The Decline of Byzantium seen through the Eyes of its Intellectuals,’ in DOP 15 (1961) 170 Google Scholar.

53. Gibbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ch. 60 Google Scholar.