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Byzantine Critiques of Monasticism in the Twelfth Century

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Byzantine Critiques of Monasticism in the Twelfth Century A “Truly Unmonastic Way of Life”: Byzantine Critiques of Monasticism in the Twelfth Century DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Hannah Elizabeth Ewing Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Professor Timothy Gregory, Advisor Professor Anthony Kaldellis Professor Alison I. Beach Copyright by Hannah Elizabeth Ewing 2014 Abstract This dissertation examines twelfth-century Byzantine writings on monasticism and holy men to illuminate monastic critiques during this period. Drawing upon close readings of texts from a range of twelfth-century voices, it processes both highly biased literary evidence and the limited documentary evidence from the period. In contextualizing the complaints about monks and reforms suggested for monasticism, as found in the writings of the intellectual and administrative elites of the empire, both secular and ecclesiastical, this study shows how monasticism did not fit so well in the world of twelfth-century Byzantium as it did with that of the preceding centuries. This was largely on account of developments in the role and operation of the church and the rise of alternative cultural models that were more critical of traditional ascetic sanctity. This project demonstrates the extent to which twelfth-century Byzantine society and culture had changed since the monastic heyday of the tenth century and contributes toward a deeper understanding of Byzantine monasticism in an under-researched period of the institution. ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my family, and most especially to my parents. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation is indebted to the assistance, advice, and support given by Anthony Kaldellis, Tim Gregory, and Alison Beach. Sincere thanks also to Alice-Mary Talbot, Bill North, Tina Sessa, David Brakke, and my fellow graduate students in ancient and medieval history (notably Kyle Shimoda), classics, and English, who shared references and/or useful insights with me during the writing process. I am also grateful to my dissertation-writing group for their motivation, my family for their encouragement, and to Lex, Wonneken, all the Bacons, Stephanie and Stephanie, Maya, Rebecca, Peggy, Whitney, Gwen and Sara, Kathleen, Anne, Caroline, and Clare for their moral support. iv Vita 2007................................................................B.A. History, Carleton College 2010…………………………………………M.A. History, The Ohio State University 2008 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: History v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ...................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Previous Monastic Tensions in the Byzantine Empire .................................................... 3 The Twelfth Century ..................................................................................................... 14 Historiographical Overview .......................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1: Eustathios, Archibishop of Thessaloniki......................................................... 28 Eustathios in the Scholarship ........................................................................................ 32 Eustathios on Monasticism in the Twelfth Century ...................................................... 34 Eustathios on the ‘Good Monk’ .................................................................................... 38 Eustathios on the ‘Bad’ Monk ....................................................................................... 45 Eustathios on Non-Monks ............................................................................................. 54 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 2: Bishops Euthymios Malakes and Michael Choniates ..................................... 65 Euthymios Malakes: Provincial Metropolitan and Constantinopolitan Theologian ..... 66 Euthymios Malakes on Monasticism in the Twelfth Century ................................... 75 Michael Choniates: Metropolitan of Athens and Constantinopolitan Scholar .............. 84 Michael Choniates on Monasticism in the Twelfth Century ..................................... 89 Chapter 3: The Secular Intellectuals of Constantinople ................................................. 102 Social and Literary Context......................................................................................... 102 vi Theodoros Prodromos: Limited Literary Interest in Monks ....................................... 110 ‘Ptochoprodromos’: Satires of Scholars and Monks ................................................... 118 Ioannes Tzetzes: Complaints and Personal Experiences............................................. 127 Niketas Choniates: Monasticism and the Political World ........................................... 134 Final Conclusions on Secular Intellectuals and Monasticism ..................................... 146 Chapter 4: The Komnenoi and Angeloi Emperors ......................................................... 149 Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) and Family ........................................................ 151 Ioannes II Komnenos (r. 1118-43) and the Empress Eirene ....................................... 163 Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143-80) ................................................................................ 167 The Later Komnenoi (r. 1180-85) and the Angeloi (r. 1185-1204) ............................ 178 Conclusions About Emperors and Monasticism ......................................................... 186 Chapter 5: Theodoros Balsamon and the Church ........................................................... 188 Theodoros Balsamon and the Patriarchs ..................................................................... 189 Monastic Sanctity ........................................................................................................ 195 Monastic Expectations ................................................................................................ 201 Conclusions on Balsamon and the Church .................................................................. 213 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 216 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 227 Primary Source Collections: ....................................................................................... 227 Primary Sources: ......................................................................................................... 227 Secondary Literature: .................................................................................................. 230 vii Introduction In the twelfth century, texts across a range of genres called into question both the position and the sanctity of holy men in the Byzantine world. These texts reflected both attacks on individual monks and broad reconsiderations of the monastic life by intellectuals, politicians, and church-leaders. Even the hagiography of the period veered away from monks, the centuries-long staple of the Byzantine saintly canon, and towards non-ascetic virtue. The nature of these monastic critiques was something relatively new within the Byzantine Empire: previous criticism of the state of monasticism, surveyed below, largely stressed the need for reform and improvement in monastic practices, rather than represented any concerted attacks upon the monastic ideal itself. The negative twelfth-century commentaries on monasticism also came from a wider range of voices, and especially from outside of the monasteries, from the educated class of bishops, scholars, and civil bureaucrats. Like earlier reform-minded Byzantines, these thinkers all identified the ways in which monks were straying from monastic ideals and pursuing a “truly unmonastic way of life,”1 an accusation that could mean anything from lax behavior to possessing too much wealth or too much independence. However, some of the twelfth-century critics would go further than their predecessors and stress models of 1 The phrase itself was used by Euthymios Malakes, ep. 1 (Euthymiou tou Malake metropolitou Neon Patron (Hypates): Deuteron hemisy 12 hekatontaetia, ed. Konstantinos Bonis [Athens: 1937], 40.17- 21): “διαγωγὴν ὄντως ἀμόναχον.” 1 sanctity that were no longer dependent on monasticism or asceticism—such as lay piety or a greater obedience towards bishops. This all begs
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