Nikephoros II Phokas and Orthodox Military Martyrs
The Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963-69), revered by the Orthodox Church as a saint, is reviled in John Skylitzes's eleventh-century chronicle. Skylitzes's criticism has been widely quoted to support many claims but never examined on its own merit and is too quickly accepted...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn State Univ. Press
[2015]
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| In: |
Journal of medieval religious cultures
Year: 2015, Volume: 41, Issue: 2, Pages: 121-147 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CG Christianity and Politics KAC Church history 500-1500; Middle Ages KDF Orthodox Church NBQ Eschatology RB Church office; congregation SA Church law; state-church law |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963-69), revered by the Orthodox Church as a saint, is reviled in John Skylitzes's eleventh-century chronicle. Skylitzes's criticism has been widely quoted to support many claims but never examined on its own merit and is too quickly accepted by modern scholars. When examined in the context of tenth-century warfare and Byzantine religion, Skylitzes's remarkthe claim that Nikephoros attempted to pass a law declaring fallen soldiers automatic martyrsreveals conflict between emperor and patriarch but ultimately cannot be considered either plausible or accurate, because it fails to take account of the emperor's ascetic faith as well as the high spiritual honor accorded to military casualties by the population. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-9650 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of medieval religious cultures
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5325/jmedirelicult.41.2.0121 |