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.

Preface Figures Introduction 1 Rethinking the Paulicians 2 One Heresy or Two? Paulicians in Armenia and Asia Minor 3 What Is the Paulician Heresy? Traditional Approaches 1 Polemics, Punishment, and Forgery: Paulicians in Greek Sources 54 1 Peter of Sicily's History of the Paulicians 2 The History and the Persecutions of Theodora 3 The Brief History of the Manichaeans 4 The Letter of Theophylaktos Lekapenos to Peter of Bulgaria 5 The Treatise against the Paulicians 2 Reinventing Paulicians in the 10th Century 99 1 Byzantine Understandings of Paulicians c. 810-940 2 Reinventing the Paulicians in Macedonian History Writing 3 Reinventing through Forgery i: The History of the Paulicians 4 Reinventing through Forgery ii: The Brief History 5 Forgery, Authority, and Authenticity in the 10th Century 3 The Didaskalie , the Letters of Sergios , and Paulician Belief c .800-835 140 1 The Didaskalie 2 Schism and the Legitimacy of the Didaskalos 3 Dualism and "the Grace of the Spirit" 4 Paulician Customs, Worship, and Organisation 5 Paulician Hamartocentricism and Apocalyptic 6 Historical Implications 4 Paulicians in the 8th Century: The Genesis of a Heresy c .750-800 187 1 Paulicians and the Iconomachy 2 The Armenian Connection 3 The Byzantine-Islamic Frontier in the Long 8th Century 4 Paulicians and Pastoralism 5 Labelling the Paulicians of Asia Minor 5 Paulicians in the Face of Persecution c. 800-845 232 1 Nikephoros i and the Paulicians 2 The Persecutions of Michael i and Leo v 3 The Paulician Response: Early Resistance and the Revolt of Thomas the Slav 4 Paulicians in the Reign of Theophilos 5 The Persecutions of Theodora 6 Paulicians at Arms: The Islamic Alliance and Warfare against the Byzantines c .845-880 278 1 The Battle of Mauropotamos and the Paulician-Islamic Alliance 2 Paulician Settlement and Raiding under Karbeas 3 An Emperor in the East?: Basil, Chrysocheir, and the Road to War 4 The Last Raids of Chrysocheir and the Eclipse of Tephrike Epilogue Appendix 1 The Dating Frameworks of the History of the Paulicians Appendix 2 The Career of Sergios in the History of the Paulicians Bibliography Index