Bogomilism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Bogomilism was a Gnostic religiopolitical sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Petar I in 10th century. It arose most probably in the modern geographical region of Macedonia as a response to the social stratification that occurred as a result of the introduction of feudalism and as a form of political movement and opposition to the Bulgarian state and the church.
The Bogomils called for a return to early Christianity, rejecting the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and their primary political tendencies were resistance to the state and church authorities. This helped the movement spread quickly in the Balkans, gradually expanding throughout the Byzantine Empire and later reaching Kievan Rus, Dalmatia, Italy, France, and to a lesser extent Western Europe (even as far as the British Isles).
The Bogomils were dualists in that they believed the world was created not by the Abrahamic God, but by an evil demiurge — the Devil. They did not use the cross nor build churches, preferring to perform rituals outdoors.
See also
Sources
- J. C. Wolf, Historia Bogomilorum (Wittenberg, 1712)
- Euthymius Zygabenus, Narratio de Bogomilis, ed. Gieseler (Göttingen, 1842)
- C. J. Jirecek, Geschichte d. Bulgaren (Prague, 1876), S. 155, 174-175
- L. P. Brockett, The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia: The Early Protestants of the East (s.l., 1879) [1]
- V. Sharenkoff, A Study of Manicheism in Bulgaria (New York, 1927).
- D. Obolensky, The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism (Cambridge, 1948), reprint New York, 1978
- S. Runciman, The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy (Cambridge, 1947)
- K. Papasov, Christen oder Ketzer - die Bogomilen (Stuttgart, 1983)
- D. Angelov, Bogomilstvoto (Stara Zagora, 1995)
- J. Meiers, Archbishop Ancient Order of Bogomil, of Americas'.
- J. Ivanov, Bogomilski knigi i legendi (Sofija, 1925). French translation by M. Ribeyrol, Livres et Légendes bogomiles (Paris, 1976).