FROM OBLIVION TO THEOLOGICAL FASHION: THE FATE OF THE LEGACY OF ST. MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES

Annotation

The paper deals with collecting and sorting material related to the history of perception of the figure of Maximus the Confessor and his writings in the tenth and eleventh centuries. In the tenth century Maximus the Confessor existed for the Byzantine intellectual as a historical figure — as an active participant in disputes with Monothelites, as an organizer of church resistance, as a polemicist and author of polemical texts that were not in demand in the tenth century. Along with this image, Maxim is perceived in the an educated society as an interpreter of the writings by Gregory the Theologian and, possibly, the Holy Scriptures. Probably, Maximus was initially in demand in this role by Michael Psellus, who later, however, began to perceive the monk as an outstanding theologian and his competitor in the theological and philosophical field. After the rediscovery of Maximus by Michael Psellus, and perhaps as a result, Maximus became popular in the intellectual circles of the Comnenian period: the tone is set by members of the imperial family, but Maximus’ popularity spreads more widely, including among educated monasticism. Asknowledgments: The study was funded by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 23-28-01038 “The Exegetic Strategy and Theology of Michael Psellus in his Interpretations of Selected Passages by Gregory the Theologian in the intellectual context of the 11th century” (Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-28-01038/01038/

Keywords

Maximus the Confessor, Michael Psellus, hagiographic literature, exegesis, theological tradition, cult of saints

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Исследование выполнено за счет гранта Российского научного фонда № 23-28-
01038 «Экзегетическая стратегия и богословие Михаила Пселла в его толкованиях
на отдельные места из Григория Богослова в интеллектуальном контексте XI века»
(Федеральный научно-исследовательский социологический центр Российской
академии наук), https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-01038.