Hesychasm in the World of the Southern Slavs in the 14th Century. Its Impact on Their Cultural, Ecclesiastical and Political Life

 

 

Hesychasm dominated the life of the Orthodox world in the 14th century; Orthodox theological research has shown that its roots can be traced in the long Ascetic and Mystical tradition of the Christian East. The impact of Hesychasm on the intellectual, ecclesiastical and political life of the Orthodox Southern Slavs is the subject of this work.

An outline of the historical backdrop of the Orthodox Southern Slavic world – Bulgaria and Serbia – as well as of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century, against which the diffusion of Hesychasm took place in the world of the Southern Slavs, is being given in the Introductory Chapter, for it is deemed conducive to an understanding of the circumstances under which this diffusion occurred and of the manner in which it affected the entire spectrum of the intellectual, religious and political life of these peoples at that time.

The acquaintance of the Southern Slavs with the Eastern Church’s Ascetic and Mystical tradition began at an early stage, following immediately after their conversion to Christianity in the 9th century, and contributed considerably to the communication and wide acceptance of Hesychasm later on, as discussed in Chapter One. The broad dissemination of Eastern Church Ascetic and Mystical Literature bears ample testimony to the increased familiarity of the Southern Slavic world with this tradition: it is indicative thereof that the Paterikon and the Climax of Ioannis Sinaites, being among the first works to be translated into the language of the Southern Slavs, affected not only their Church life but also aspects of their social and political life.

The influence on the Southern Slavs of this spreading of Ascetic and Mystical Literature is further evidenced by the very early and extensive development of monasticism and especially anachoreticism, which were inspired thereby. The cases of the earlier known anachorites, who served as role models throughout the entire Slavic world, are presented in this section. It begins with the founder and patron of Bulgarian monasticism, Ioannis of Rila; it continues with the three anachorite saints: Prohor Psinski, Gavrijl Lesnovski, Ioakim Osogovski, and is concluded with the founder and patron of Serbian monasticism, Savas Nemanić.

The course of the dissemination and establishment of Hesychasm in the world of the Southern Slavs in the 14th century is examined in Chapter Two. To this end, valuable information is found in the Lives of the founders of Hesychasm in the Southern Slavic world.

The life of Gregorius Sinaites (1265 – ca. mid-14th century ) is presented in this chapter. After settling in the place known as “Paroria” in Thrace, he was the first to bring the Southern Slavs into contact with Hesychasm, and it was in this place where a significant number of Southern Slav monks gathered around him as disciples. Next comes the life and work of Teodosij Tărnovski (early 14th century – 1363). Teodosij was Sinaites’s disciple and contributed to the establishment of Hesychasm in the Bulgarian world. Romil Bdinski (probably early 14th century – ca. 1385), whose life is studied after that, was instrumental in the dissemination of Hesychasm in the west Balkans and especially in Serbia. He is followed by Evtimij, the last patriarch of Tărnovo (first quarter 14th century  – early 15th century ). Evtimij imposed the principles of Hesychasm upon the matters of administration of the Bulgarian Church. He was the main representative of the well-known School of Tărnovo (Tărnovska Knižovna Škola) and he launched a broad reform effort, which through his students spread throughout the Slavic Orthodox world. Next come the lives of some of the most significant of his disciples, who contributed to the wider spread of his reform project. Accurate information is available only about very few of them. The lives of Ioasaf of Vidin (unknown year of birth – ca. 1396), Grigorij Camblak (ca. 1364-1420) and Konstantin Kostenečki, also known as the “Philosopher” (ca. 1380 – the fourth decade of the 15th century ) are presented in this part. This chapter ends with the lives and activities of two Serb hesychasts, who contributed greatly to the establishment of Hesychasm in the Serbian world. These were Danilo II (ca. 1270-1337), Archbishop of Serbia, and Monk Isaija Athonite (early 14th century – last quarter 14th century ).

The Hesychastic impact on the intellectual life of the Southern Slavs is examined in Chapter Three, which begins by presenting the activity of Hesychast pioneers, who served as role models for their followers and essentially set the bounds of the Movement’s mark on the intellectual life of the Southern Slavs.

Hesychasm influenced particularly the Southern Slavic Ascetic Literature, something that is chiefly evident in the case of the Sbornici of Ascetic and Mystical content, appearing for the first time in this period and, in specific, in those works preserved in the monastic libraries of Mount Athos. It is remarkable indeed, that 14th century Hesychast works are often set in these codices side by side with the works of the great Ascetic and Mystical authors of the Eastern Christianity.

Hesychast influence was decisive with regard to the liturgical life of the Orthodox Southern Slavs. It is quite significant that the Hesychasts worked on renewing the liturgical life through the introduction of the famous Neo-Sabaitic Rite. This rite had also prevailed earlier in the Greek world under the sway of the Greek Hesychasts.

Hesychasm had a considerable impact on the hagiographical literature of the Southern Slavs as well. The Southern Slavs adopted the model of the Greek Hesychasts, who followed in their hagiographical works the principles laid by Simeon the Translator (Metaphrastes). Thus, his style became dominant in the Southern Slavic world.

Finally, the activity of the Hesychasts had a profound effect on the written speech of the Southern Slavic world in general. It is noteworthy that the Hesychasts created in both Bulgaria and Serbia the School of Tărnono and the School of Resava to renew the Bulgarian and Serbian written speech, respectively, in accordance with Hesychast principles and with practical needs engendered by linguistic evolution.

Assessing the overall impact of Hesychasm on the intellectual life of the Southern Slavs, the following should be noted: 1. Although Hesychasm was closely related with monasticism and was developed by monks, after moving out of the desert, it affected a most wide range of sectors, not only pertaining to Church life but also extending to the intellectual and cultural life of the Orthodox Southern Slavs. 2. Hesychasts in the Southern Slavic world, as in the rest of the Orthodox world, did not occupy themselves exclusively with the ascetic life. They were interested in their education as well. Therefore, their monasteries featured important libraries, and served as significant centres for the transcription and translation of manuscripts. All these enriched the Southern Slavic literature with new literary works. 3. The work of the Hesychast scholars spread very quickly among the Southern Slavic world and contributed to its cultural development. 4. Çesychasm transferred and spread the intellectual achievements of the Greek world all over the Southern Slavic world, which reached the cultural standard of the Greek world. Thus, the cultural and intellectual unification of the entire Orthodox world was achieved according to the principles of Hesychasm.

The influence of Hesychasm on the ecclesiastical and political life of the Southern Slavs is examined in Chapter Four. This effect is particularly evident in all Church-life aspects. This section presents the Hesychasts’ effort to combat the heretical groups of the time, which had overwhelmed the Southern Slavic and especially the Bulgarian world. Therein are also examined their efforts to restore the relations between the Churches of Bulgaria and Serbia with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which had been disturbed during the previous period.

The effect of Hesychasm was particularly significant on the political life of the Southern Slavs too. The Hesychasts had conceived a comprehensive plan for the rapprochement of the Orthodox peoples in the Balkans. The first stage of this project involved the intellectual and cultural rapprochement between the peoples, while the second stage aimed at the ecclesiastical and political approach. Thus, the intellectual and cultural unity of the Orthodox world would lead to the ecclesiastical approach, which in turn would lead to the political approach of the Orthodox states of the region.

In fact, it is very important that the Hesychasts were the first to realize the direct and indirect risks of the intellectual, cultural, ecclesiastical and political division of the Orthodox world in the Balkans and attempted to confront it. But while they managed to attain the intellectual, cultural and ecclesiastical rapprochement of the Southern Slavs with the other Orthodox peoples of the region, they failed in the second stage of their plan, coming up against the insurmountable opposition of the political rulers of the time, whose failure to fathom or accurately assess the potential benefits of this effort led to a waste of their forces in pointless conflicts with each other. Thus, the true proportion of the Ottoman onslaught had eluded them, a menace that the Hesychasts had foreseen and had tried to contain.

However, the failure of the attempt towards a political rapprochement, promoted by the Hesychasts, does not diminish the importance of their overall effort to prompt a state of unity of the Orthodox peoples in the Balkans. More importantly, it does not nullify the intellectual and ecclesiastical approach they achieved. In the long run, this approach proved even more vital, since, after the Ottoman conquest of the Christian states in South-eastern Europe, it facilitated the survival of the Orthodox peoples subjugated under Ottoman Rule. One might even go as far as to claim, not without reason, that this effort prepared the Orthodox people of the Balkans to face united under the leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople the Ottoman slavery.

 

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