Der lange Widerstand gegen eine offizielle Heiligenverehrung des Maximos Homologetes († 662) im byzantinischen Reich

This article addresses the question as to why Maximus the Confessor was first recognized as an official martyr and saint in the imperial Byzantine Church only in the tenth century, although his theology had been accepted by the Sixth Ecumenical Council and his followers began to practice and propaga...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ohme, Heinz 1950- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:German
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Published: De Gruyter 2016
In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift
Year: 2016, Volume: 109, Issue: 1, Pages: 109-150
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article addresses the question as to why Maximus the Confessor was first recognized as an official martyr and saint in the imperial Byzantine Church only in the tenth century, although his theology had been accepted by the Sixth Ecumenical Council and his followers began to practice and propagate his cult shortly after his death in 662. The argument begins with a brief description of Maximus’ early veneration and then examines the Sixth Ecumenical Council’s failure to rehabilitate him by detailing the reasons why this was impossible in 681 and also thereafter. Clearly, in the seventh and eighth centuries the cult of Maximus had its centre outside the empire in parts of Palestinian monasticism. During the iconoclastic era, as in the seventh century, Maximus’ name stood once again for opposition to imperial religious policy, for he was held up by those venerating icons as the witness of Tradition to their use. Although during this time iconophile monastic circles in the capital probably fostered his cult as well, his veneration continued to find no official recognition in the ninth century because of on-going division within the church of Constantinople. Only after a great distance in time to the events of the seventh century could official recognition in Byzantium come to Maximus, since the conflicts of that earlier era were no longer relevant. In this context, the ‘Holy Confessor Maximus’ underwent a process of acceptance by the Byzantines who anchored his biography in Constantinople. As a result, the actual circumstances of the monothelete controversy have ultimately been obscured.
ISSN:1868-9027
Contains:Enthalten in: Byzantinische Zeitschrift
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/bz-2016-0008