A Tale of Two Pyres: Re-evaluating the Bogomil Trial Scene of Anna Komnene
This article concerns the trial sequence narrated by Anna Komnene in Book XV section 9.2-5 of her. In this passage, the princess historian describes a dramatic show trial in which a large number of accused Bogomils are brought together and given the choice between two pyres - one representing repent...
| Main Author: | |
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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: |
Peeters
[2019]
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| In: |
Byzantion
Year: 2019, Volume: 89, Pages: 421-432 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KBL Near East and North Africa |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article concerns the trial sequence narrated by Anna Komnene in Book XV section 9.2-5 of her. In this passage, the princess historian describes a dramatic show trial in which a large number of accused Bogomils are brought together and given the choice between two pyres - one representing repentance to Orthodoxy whilst the other representing the maintenance of their heretical beliefs. In either case, they were all to be sentenced to death. I argue that this scene is not simply theatrical but, in fact, a complete fiction, engineered by Anna for the sake of enforcing a desired ideological image of her father as a Christ-like saviour. |
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| ISSN: | 2294-6209 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Byzantion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/BYZ.89.0.3287078 |