Patriarch Theophylact, the Horses, and the Hungarians: The Religious Origins of the Byzantine Mission to Tourkia

Dan Ioan Mureșan

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Chapter 7 Patriarch Theophylact, the Horses, and the Hungarians: The Religious Origins of the Byzantine Mission to Tourkia

In: Christianization in Early Medieval Transylvania

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Dan Ioan Mureșan

Dan Ioan Mureșan
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 184–237

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004515864_009

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Abstract

The conceptor of the mission towards the Hungarians and consecrator of the first bishop of Tourkia, Hierotheos, was the patriarch Theophylact (933–956), son of emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944) and close collaborator of emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913/945–959). A reassessment of his activity, deformed by a biased historiography, was long overdue, yet it is a sine qua non condition for an insightful understanding of bishop Hierotheos’ activity. Imposed on the patriarchal throne by the will of his father, Theophylact was installed by the pontifical legates of pope John XI (931–935), and resumed immediately the relations with the Eastern patriarchs, marking thus a restoration of the classical framework of the Pentarchy. He redefined with Romanos I and Constantine VII the content of imperial Orthodoxy by the translations of the Mandylion (944) and the relics of Gregory of Nazianzus, archbishop of Constantinople (946), placing further the imperial capital – already under the protection of Mary Theotokos – under the patronage of Christ and the Holy Trinity. This bolstered theological awareness of the Eastern Christian Romanness gave new impetus to the Byzantine missionary vocation. Theophylact restored the mission in Alania previously ruined by the Khazar reaction and personally baptized queen Olga of Kiev in 946, impelling the mission towards the kingdom of Rus’ that will triumph in 988. We argue that in particular the passion for horses of this patriarch made him the ideal interlocutor for the horse-raiding Hungarians who began to attack Byzantium from 934 onwards, right from the beginning of his patriarchate. Finally, we review the chronology of the two baptisms of Hungarian princes, putting the first in connection with the peace of 943 and the second right before queen Olga’s visit in Constantinople. Bishop Hierotheos represented thus in Tourkia a wholly reinvigorated Byzantine imperial Orthodoxy.

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Christianization in Early Medieval Transylvania

A Church Discovered in Alba Iulia and its Interpretations

Series: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, Volume: 83

Cover Christianization in Early Medieval Transylvania

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004515864

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 15 Jun 2022

Subjects
- Art History
  - Archaeology
- History
  - Medieval History
  - Byzantine Studies

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Chapter 7 Patriarch Theophylact, the Horses, and the Hungarians: The Religious Origins of the Byzantine Mission to Tourkia

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Christianization in Early Medieval Transylvania

A Church Discovered in Alba Iulia and its Interpretations

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