Marcin Tomasiewicz

Christology at a Crossroads – Heterodox Motives of the Imperial Political Theology in the 10th and 11th Centuries

The aim of this article is to present how heterodox, Christological constructions, arising from the controversies surrounding Chalcedonian dogma, existed in the 10th and 11th centuries in Western political thought. These constructions are described from two perspectives that were especially important for shaping the political doctrine of German emperors. Firstly, the illustration of the Aachen Gospels is mentioned because it symbolically contains the principles of the political theology of the Ottonian Empire. Secondly, the views of the Norman Anonymous, who wrote during times of intensified Caesarean propaganda in connection with the dispute with the papacy that took place in the 11th century, are analysed

The Concept of the State and the Ruler in the Political Thought of Paul Orosius

In this article, the author tries to present Paul Orosius’s political doctrine, taking its connection with the tradition of imperial theology of Eusebius of Caesarea and the philosophy of Augustine of Hippo as references. The main source material is the historiographic study of Orosius from the beginning of the 5th century – Seven Books of History Against the Pagans. The considerations focus on the interpretation of four key themes: the Roman Empire, monotheism, peace, and Christianity. Orosius shares the prevalent belief of Christian writers of the late antiquity, that God gives special protection to the Roman Empire. He emphasizes the importance of the peace that prevailed in the time of Augustus, and gives theological and political interpretation of the temporal coincidence of Octavian’s reign and Christ’s birth. On the basis of proper interpretation of symbolic historical events, Orosius built a kind of political ecclesiology. This doctrine advanced the principal that the Roman state and the Church were united by a common mission to promote the Christian faith. At the same time, in Book Seven, Orosius confronts an attempt at the historiosophical interpretation of barbarian invasions that threatened the prosperity of the empire. Based on factual material, he relativizes the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity. The state appears as a subsidiary power to the Church’s evangelizing mission, which concept is also reflected in the ethos of the good ruler proposed by Orosius.

This article focuses on the relationship between the imperial cult in pagan Rome and the heavenly hierarchy taught by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The latter’s thought played a significant role in the construction of the medieval image of the world. Medieval reflection on the state and law drew from it as well. Therefore, possible analogies between the imperial cult and the philosophy of Corpus Dionysiacum would indicate an indirect influence that the imperial cult of the emperor had on certain later ideas about state power, on the legitimacy of certain forms of social and constitutional organization, and on prophetic visions inspiring social and political movements.

Against this background, the article compares the emperor’s genius (as well as the imperial virtues and the emperor’s numen) with the immaterial beings described by the Areopagite. It reveals clear parallels regarding the hierarchical construction of geniuses in the imperial cult of ancient Rome and Pseudo-Dionysius’ Angels, Names of God, and divine providences. The similarities in mediation between the human world and the divine reality regarding the granting of creative power and supernatural knowledge are also associated with this structure. In both cases, the divine element (genius and heavenly beings) has a historiosophical aspect, consisting of justification of belief about care that the deity exercises over the universal history of mankind.

The conducted research constitutes an impulse for further research in the field of political aspects of medieval angelology.