Philippos Monotropos' Dioptra and its Social Milieu: Niketas Stethatos, Nikolaos III Grammatikos and the Persecution of Bogomilism

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the social milieu of Philippos Monotropos, author of the Dioptra. Explicit evidence on Philippos is scarce, but the comparison with contemporary texts allows some conclusions. Indeed, the way that Philippos treats Bogomilism indicates connections with imperial and patriarchal circles. Moreover, numerous parallels between the Dioptra and the Poem on Fast Days written by Nikolaos III Grammatikos shows that the Patriarch knew and ap­preciated the Dioptra very soon after its composition. The hypothesis that Philip­pos belonged to an educated, urbane ecclesiastical milieu is in accordance with the assessment of the Dioptra as a simplistic epitome of Christian humanistic theology – contrary to previous views that overemphasised its ascetic element.

Keywords

• Philippos Monotropos
• Dioptra
• Niketas Stethatos
• Nikolaos III Grammatikos
• Bogomilism