Project

COEXISTENCE, CONFLICT, PERSECUTION: THE REVIVAL AND EXTINCTION OF MANICHAEISM IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

Code
1213625N
Duration
01 October 2024 → 30 September 2027
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Humanities and the arts
    • Ancient history
Keywords
Late Antiquity Religious Repression Manichaeism
 
Project description

This project will analyse the last revival of Manichaeism in the Eastern Mediterranean and the imperial persecution that seems to produce its disappearance from the region in the 6th century. Manichaeism played a momentous role in shaping the Late Antique religious landscape: the confrontation with Manichaeism is essential for the evolution and consolidation of Christianity. Considering the impact of this religious group, the fact that there is no exhaustive study on its revival and disappearance during the years of Justinian I is surprising. I expect to offer the first study on these phenomena through a careful reading of the legal, historical, theological, philosophical, and polemical sources of the period. Likewise, the project will review some presuppositions of the academic research on the subject, such as the concept of an abrupt extinction of Manichaeanism, or the definition of what is to be “Manichaean” in these years. Finally, it will address some of the most important debates on the history of religions in Late Antiquity, such as the creation of Christian identity and its relation with Manichaeism, the religious reception in the Mediterranean environment, the methods of repression of the late antique Roman Empire, the relation between violent speech and violent repression or the relation between religious conflicts and conflicts in other social spheres.