While Greek Orthodox theological writing continued after the City fell to the Ottoman Turks and had to develop in different historical contexts than its formative period during the Byzantine Empire, it also experienced a process of adapting and responding to the new challenges posed by the Muslim rulers and other Christian traditions. The impressive number of works of theological content that were produced across a wide array of literary genres—from dogmatic treatises to hagiography, homilies, and apologetical discourses—is preserved today in a large manuscript tradition and early modern printed editions, which is indicative of their circulation in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean lands. By focusing on early modern Greek Orthodox authors and their theological works, the papers of this Thematic Session will discuss the articulation of the theological discourse(s) after the fall of Byzantium. Special attention will be given to the Byzantine theological tradition that influenced the production of texts, and also to the religious dynamics that shaped the contexts in which the texts were written and circulated in the Orthodox world and Western Europe. The papers will reconsider the paradigm that views Greek Orthodox theological writing after 1453 as a static and ossified literary tradition and instead argue for a dynamic movement that shaped the features of an early modern Orthodoxy linked diachronically and culturally with its Byzantine theological tradition.
While staying in Tbilisi in the summer of 1666, the Patriarch of Antioch Macarius III ibn al-Zaʿīm adapted and translated into Arabic the commentary on the Divine Liturgy by Ioannes Nathanael, originally published in Venice in 1574. This is a key text for understanding Macarius’ liturgical and theological orientation from a number of angles. On…
The 17th century was a period of profound transformation for the Greek Orthodox intellectual world, marked by both the pressures of confessional polemics and the gradual encounter with early modern humanism. Among the figures navigating these currents was Georgios Koressios (ca. 1570–1659)—a scholar, theologian, and educator whose work has remained largely overlooked in modern historiography….
In the early 17th century, a Greek Orthodox bishop residing in Venice, Gabriel Seviros, Bishop of Philadelphia (c. 1541–1616), composed a work intended to refute the accusations of schism and heresy made by a Roman Catholic cleric. The timing was favorable, as Venice was undergoing a period of strained relations with Rome. Nevertheless, the Greek…
As part of our recent research into religious thought in Venetian Crete, the first synthesis of which is due to be published in early 2026, we have identified four distinct periods. The final period, spanning from 1563 to 1669, not only marks the culmination of an original process that began in the 15th century, but…
The onset of the modern era transformed Greek religious life. A new “devotion theology” emerged on the vestiges of Byzantine tradition, shaped by devotio moderna, the spirit of Trent and the rise of print culture. Despite Western theological and epistemic pressure, the reception of Catholic devotional practices and representations ultimately occurred through active cultural mediation…