Polemic Editions in the Romanian Principalities

chapter 1 Polemic Editions in the Romanian Principalities With the strong support of Patriarch Dositheos, Greek printing presses had already started to produce Orthodox editions of polemic character in Moldova (1682) and in Wallachia (1690).1 Since the attempt to establish printing presses in Constantinople in 1627 under Patriarch Cyril i Lukaris, this was the first time the Orthodox could print books in the confines of the Ottoman Empire. In this way the printing presses in Wallachia and Moldova were able to com- pete with the printing activities of the Calvinists, who had established a printing press in 1638 in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), in Transylvania. Almost every Orthodox edition was an answer to the activities of their Calvinist opponents. This position of the Romanian Principalities was due to the fact that they preserved their autonomy from the Ottoman Empire and became important centers of Orthodox culture. In this way at the turn of the eighteenth century the Principalities had already taken on an important role in the preservation of Orthodoxy. The patriarchs of Jerusalem frequently visited the Principali- ties, including Patriarchs Theophanes iii (1606–1644), Paisios (1645–1660), Nek- tarios (1661–1669) and later Chrysanthos Notaras. But it was the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Dositheos ii Notaras, who established the printing presses in Mol- davia under the ruler George Ducas.2 In this way, Dositheos, the undisputed 1 The first books published with the support of Patriarch Dositheos were Maximos Pelopon- nesios, Ἐγχειρίδιον κατὰ τοῦ σχίσματος τῶν παπιστῶν. Συντεθὲν μὲν παρὰ τοῦ σοφωτάτου Ἱερομονάχου Μαξίμου τοῦ Πελοποννησίου, Bucharest, 1690. BHellén. ii 635; Nektarios Patriarch of Jerusalem, Τοῦ μακαριωτάτου καὶ σοφωτάτου πατριάρχου τῆς μεγάλης καὶ ἁγίας πόλεως Ἱερουσαλὴμ κυρίου Νεκτα- ρίου … περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ πάπα ἀντίῤῥησις, Iaşi, 1682. BHellén. ii 568. 2 Klaus Peter Todt, “Dositheos ii von Jerusalem,” in La théologie byzantine et sa tradition, ed. Kontouma-Conticello and Conticello, 659–720; Ariadna Camariano-Cioran, “Jérémie Caca- vela et ses relations avec les Principautés roumaines,”Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes 3 (1965): 181–182; Aurel Jivi, “Opere teologice bizantine editate în Ţările Române de către patriarhul Dositei al Ierusalimului,” Studii Teologice 27 (1975): 219–225; Alexandru Elian, “Patriarhul Dositei şi literatură patristică,”Biserica Ortodoxă Româna 92 (1974): 1350–1375; Ilie Gregorescu, “Legăturile Ţărilor Române cu Ierusalimul. Patriarhii Ierusalimului în Ţările Române (veac xvii–xviii),” Studii Teologice 8, 5–6 (1956): 349–362; Petre Panaitescu, “Patriarhul Dositei al Ierusalimului şi Mitropolitul Dosoftei al Moldovei, cu prilejul unei scrisori inedited,” Biser- ica Ortodoxă Română 64 (1946): 93–103; Dumitru Stăniloae, “Viaţa şi activitatea Patriarhului Dosofteiu al Ierusalimului şi legăturile lui cu Ţările Româneşti,” Candela 40 (1929), 208–276; © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi: 10.1163/9789004277816_004 polemic editions in the romanian principalities 39 leader of Orthodoxy at that time, made Wallachia and Moldavia the headquar- ters for his activities and the printing presses, which the patriarch supported, produced a small panoply of books, directed against Catholic and Calvinist pro- paganda in Southeastern Europe.3 These editions remain monuments to early printing in Romania. Many of them are of polemic character and already antic- ipate the future edition of the Panoplia. When the idea to publish the Panoplia crystallized, around 1690, on theological grounds two internal tendencies among the Orthodox were in exis- tence. They differed over the problem of whether the term metousiosis (μετου- σίωσις), a direct translation into Greek of the Latin term transubstantiation, should be used for the mystery in the Eucharist.4 This theological debate was a repercussion of the controversies between Catholics and Protestants. Fighting back against the inroads of the Protestants, the Orthodox as a natural reac- tion defended the reality of the transubstantiation. In this way they took the Catholic stand and made very strong the usage of the Latin theology in Ortho- dox writings throughout the seventeenth century. The Eucharistic debates will be treated later in detail but for the moment it is important to emphasize that the Council of Constantinople in 1691 was also concerned with the usage of metousiosis and at this time, when both sides reverted to Patristic tradition, the first moves to publish the Panoplia were made. For the theologians who accepted the usage of the term metousiosis this word was not imported from Aurelio Palmieri, Dositeo, patriarca greco di Gerusalemme. Contributo alla storia della teolo- gia greco-ortodossa nel secolo xvii (Florence: Libreria editrice fiorentina, 1909); Chrysosto- mos Papadopoulos, “Δοσίθεος, πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων (1641–1707),” Νέα Σιών 5–6 (1907): 97– 168. 3 Olga Cicanci, “Cărturari greci în Ţările Române (sec. xvii–1750),” Intelectuali din Balcani în România (sec. xvii–xix), ed. Alexandru Duţu, (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1984), 15–58; Dennis Deletant, “Romanian Presses and Printing in the Sev- enteenth Century ii,” Slavonic and East European Review 61/ 4 (1983): 481–511; idem, “A Survey of the Romanian Presses and Printing in the Sixteenth Century,” Slavonic and East Euro- pean Review 53 (1975): 161–174; Demetrios Oikonomides, “Τὰ ἐν Βλαχίᾳ ἑλληνικὰ τυπογραφεῖα καὶ αἱ ἐκδόσεις αὐτῶν (1690–1821),” Αθηνᾶ 76 (1976–1977): 59–102; idem, “Tὰ ἐν Μολδαβίᾳ ἑλλη- νικὰ τυπογραφεῖα (1642–1821),”Ἀθηνᾶ 75 (1974–1975): 259–301; idem, “Ἐκδόσεις ἐκκλησιαστικῶν βιβλίων ἐν Μολδαβίᾳ, Γεωργίᾳ καὶ Συρίᾳ (1680–1747),” Ἐπετηρὶς Ἑταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν 39– 40 (1972–1973): 33–42; Dan Simonescu, “Le Monastère de Cetătzuia (Jassy), Foyer de l’Orient Orthodoxe,”Balcania 6 (1943): 357–365. 4 On transubstantiation in the first appendix of Podskalsky, “Ἡ εὐχαριστικὴ ἐρίδα τοῦ 17ου αἰώνα,” Η ελληνική θεολογία, 487–492; Nikolaos Tzirakes, Ἡ περὶ μετουσιώσεως (transsubstantiatio) εὐχα- ριστικὴ ἔρις (Athens: Christinakes, 1977). On term μετουσίωσις in Jugie, Theologiae dogmaticae Graeco-Russorum expositio, De sacramentis, vol. 3 of Theologia dogmatica, 193sqq..

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