SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Stoyanov, Yuri (2017) 'St. Constantine-Cyril's Mission to the Abbasid Court and Eastern Orthodox Ideology of Warfare.' In: Panov, Mitko B., (ed.), The Byzantine Missionary Activity and Its Legacy in Europe. Skopje, North Macedonia: Euro-Balkan University, pp. 19-28.

[img]
Preview
Text - Accepted Version
Download (220kB) | Preview

Abstract

The historical development and modern transformations of the attitudes of Eastern Orthodox cultures and ecclesiastical elites to the problems and ethics of war display both significant analogies and dissimilarities to the respective Western Christian stances They have received much less in-depth and comprehensive treatment than their Western Christian counterparts and their study is still being affected by the fact that a good of deal of the relevant late antique, medieval, and early modern material (Greek, Old Church Slavonic, Georgian, etc.) has been neither edited and published nor translated into modern Western European languages. This state of evidence and research in the field of Eastern Orthodox ideology and theology of warfare makes the further historical and theological investigation of these extant sources an important and high-priority objective. One of the principal problems arising from the primary source criticism and analysis concerns the notions of a Christian just war theory and Christian military martyrdom in the Vita to St. Constantine–Cyril the Philosopher (826/7–869), the celebrated missionary to the Slavs. The legitimization of Christian just war theory and the potential martyr status of the Christian warrior ascribed to St. Constantine–Cyril can perhaps be best understood within the religio-political framework of his mission to the court of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil. The substantial impact and enduring after-life of these statements of St. Constantine–Cyril (venerated, along with his brother, St Methodius, in the Orthodox Church as saints carrying the title “equal to the apostles” and declared by Pope John Paul II co-patron-saints of Europe) in the Orthodox Slavonic world (and hence in European Christendom) deserve a close and balanced assessment.

Item Type: Book Chapters
Additional Information: Proceedings оf the 4th International Symposium “Days of Justinian I” Skopje, 11-12 November, 2016
Keywords: Just War Theory, Eastern Orthodoxy, Church History, Islamic-Christian Relations, Hagiographic Literature,
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religions. Mythology. Rationalism
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BT Doctrinal Theology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BX Christian Denominations
D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World
D History General and Old World > DF Greece
D History General and Old World > DJK Eastern Europe (General)
D History General and Old World > DR Balkan Peninsula
P Language and Literature > PA Classical philology
P Language and Literature > PG Slavic, Baltic, Albanian languages and literature
P Language and Literature > PI Oriental languages and literatures
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion
D History General and Old World
P Language and Literature
U Military Science
ISBN: 9786084714170
Copyright Statement: his is the version of the article/chapter accepted for publication in Panov, Mitko B., (ed.), The Byzantine Missionary Activity and Its Legacy in Europe. Skopje, North Macedonia: Euro-Balkan University, pp. 19-28 (2017). Re-use is subject to the publisher’s terms and conditions
Date Deposited: 12 Aug 2023 10:17
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/40021
Related URLs: https://www.aca ... 2_November_2016 (Organisation URL)

Altmetric Data

There is no Altmetric data currently associated with this item.

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
35Downloads
6 month trend
49Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item