Publications/Jun 01, 2022

The Paulicians: Heresy, Persecution and Warfare on the Byzantine Frontier

The Paulicians: Heresy, Persecution and Warfare on the Byzantine Frontier lead image

Carl Dixon. The Paulicians: Heresy, Persecution and Warfare on the Byzantine Frontier, c.750-880. The Medieval Mediterranean, volume 132. Brill, 2022.

From Brill

Disavowing their traditional portrayal as the progenitors of medieval Christian dualism, this book recasts the Paulicians as broadly conventional Christians inspired by the apostle Paul. Using previously neglected Paulician testimony and a critical reappraisal of the existing sources, it explains their fleeting regional prominence via a pluralistic approach to Paulician identity within the complex socio-religious milieus of Armenia and Asia Minor. Exploring their history of schism, persecution, and resistance, it reassesses their relationship with the iconoclast controversy and the changing fortunes of Byzantine-Islamic warfare, shedding new light on their obscure but fascinating transformation from itinerant preachers to militarized insurrectionists.