The Byzantine Politics of Byzantine Mysticism

From the accession of Constantine in 306 to the final fall of Constantinople in 1453, what is both curious and clear is that Byzantine mysticism was closely connected to politics, sometimes frustratingly so. Often it is difficult to distinguish a mystical tradition from a theological position that became aligned with a political faction. Byzantine mysticism itself is difficult to define. Certainly, even a cursory study of the hesychast movement reveals that it was clearly mystical.¹ What about other movements? Was devotion to icons connected to mysticism? The intellectual history of Byzantium is theology, and it is usually systematic theology. Mystical treatises, when they do appear, often come from monastic circles. Mysticism, as in a direct personal encounter with the divine, was distrusted by most Byzantine theologians and always had the whiff of heresy. Mysticism could lead one to dangerous ideas, as in the case of Origen. In fact, there is no Greek word for mysticism, although it is derived from the Greek word mysticos, which means “hidden” or “secret.” Many texts, which a modern reader might find to be mystical, for example, some of the writings of Gregory of Nyssa or the theological poetry of Gregory Nazianzen (fourth-century contemporaries), might more readily be classified as speculative theology or even pastoral theology. For most Byzantine theologians, it was best to accept the received tradition of the church fathers and ecumenical councils. Originality and innovation were not seen as intellectual virtues. Proclaiming one’s own personal encounter with the divine could lead to conflict with the established ecclesiastical authorities.

The problem is made more complex by the question itself: Does mysticism have a politics? What were Byzantine politics? Politics may be much easier to define or identify: court factions, attempted coups, banishments and exiles—there are numerous cases. The Byzantines, however, could not conceive of a separation of church and state. The emperor was to uphold orthodoxy as well as defend the oecumene.² Of course, there were also church politics and politics within monastic communities, but for the sake of this overview, we must consider whether mystical movements were involved in politics outside the monastery and if they had an impact on the history of the Byzantine state and society.

Byzantine mysticism almost always occurred in a monastic milieu. Monks were expected to be ascetics, even if some monasteries were more ascetic than others. Monasticism and asceticism do not necessitate mysticism, but certainly there is a connection, since monks engaged in asceticism to conquer the passions and have mystical experiences. If we look at the Life of Antony, one of the mostly widely read books in the late antiquity and medieval Mediterranean, we clearly see someone who had mystical experiences. His experiences, however, are relayed by Athanasius, who did have a political ax to grind. The Arian controversy may indeed have been a real theological controversy, but it became a political one once the emperor Constantine became interested.³ The Life of Antony can be interpreted as a response to and critique of Eusebius’s Life of Constantine. For Athanasius, the real Christian champion is the monk Antony, who clearly takes the side of Nicene orthodoxy, and whose mystical experiences led him to the truth. However, the letters of Antony himself reveal a mystic with primarily pastoral concerns rather than theological or political ones. He directly imitated the epistles of Paul and frequently quotes them, and of course Paul also wrote about mystical experiences (2 Cor. 2:12).⁴ Antony’s letters, although they imitate Paul’s, are wisdom literature, and there is certainly the hope that the recipient, always referred to as “my son” or “my children,” will acquire divine knowledge. The expectation is that the seeker will have a mystical encounter with the divine.

So Antony, a model for so many, sets a precedent for the relationship between Byzantine mysticism and politics. Mysticism does not seem to have an inherent politics, but politics often tried to co-opt or intervene in mysticism. Surveying the Byzantine period makes it clear that mysticism often became connected to politics, and the following illustrates this development. While there...