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THE JEWS, THE MONTANISTS, AND THE EMPEROR LEO III

THE JEWS, THE MONTANISTS, AND THE EMPEROR LEO III A. SHARF/RAMAT-GAN A famili r passage in the Chronicle of Theophanes teils us that in the year A. M. 6214 (= A. D. 721-2) the Emperor Leo III ordered the forcible baptism of all Jews and Montanists.1 This Information has attracted little special attention. Those whose field of interest has been either the Byzantine Empire s such or Byzantine Jewry specifically have usually been content to note it s a comparatively rare instance of a Byzantine emperor directly coercing his Jewish subjects.2 The reference to the Montanists, if at all thought worthy of mention, has been accepted s no more than an ordin ry example of normal Byzantine policy towards heretics.3 Yet the passage deserves closer analysis. This is what Theophanes says: ,, . . & ". Here is an unarnbiguous enough Statement, where neither the event described, nor the language used to describe it, would seem to need much Interpretation. The reference to the Montanists, however, does raise certain problems. The first is that they appear at all in such a context. It is well enough known that this sect of Phrygian visionaries separated from the Church towards the end of the second Century and that, at http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Byzantinische Zeitschrift de Gruyter

THE JEWS, THE MONTANISTS, AND THE EMPEROR LEO III

SHARF, A.
Byzantinische Zeitschrift , Volume 59 (1) – Jan 1, 1966
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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Walter de Gruyter
ISSN
0007-7704
eISSN
1864-449X
DOI
10.1515/byzs.1966.59.1.37
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A. SHARF/RAMAT-GAN A famili r passage in the Chronicle of Theophanes teils us that in the year A. M. 6214 (= A. D. 721-2) the Emperor Leo III ordered the forcible baptism of all Jews and Montanists.1 This Information has attracted little special attention. Those whose field of interest has been either the Byzantine Empire s such or Byzantine Jewry specifically have usually been content to note it s a comparatively rare instance of a Byzantine emperor directly coercing his Jewish subjects.2 The reference to the Montanists, if at all thought worthy of mention, has been accepted s no more than an ordin ry example of normal Byzantine policy towards heretics.3 Yet the passage deserves closer analysis. This is what Theophanes says: ,, . . & ". Here is an unarnbiguous enough Statement, where neither the event described, nor the language used to describe it, would seem to need much Interpretation. The reference to the Montanists, however, does raise certain problems. The first is that they appear at all in such a context. It is well enough known that this sect of Phrygian visionaries separated from the Church towards the end of the second Century and that, at

Journal

Byzantinische Zeitschrift – de Gruyter

Published: Jan 1, 1966

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