Bogomile heresy

Among the great number of Bogomil apocrypha there is one which tells about the struggle between Archangel Michael and Satanail, who steals his sacred garment. A. Miltenova publishes two Slavonic versions of this text in “Old-Bulgarian literature”. (Book 9, 1981, p. 98-113). The plot of this apocryph is familiar in the Bogomil circles in Bulgaria and Serbia (there is a fresco from the 14th century in the church “St. Archangel Michael” in Lesnovo, which depicts the plot of the apochryph). Apart from the Slavonic version, however, there is also an extensive Greek variant of the same text. The story has typical Bogomil features. Satanail decides to be equal to God and escapes from Heaven, taking with him the angelic garment. God orders Archangel Michael to bring the garment back. He pretends to take the side of Satanail, deceives him and steals the piece of clothing. The Greek version is famous from only one manuscript, Vatic.Gr. 1190a. 1542. Fol.882-887. The text considerably differs from the two Slavonic versions, published by A. Miltenova. The origin of the Greek variant is quite unclear. There is no direct evidence about the translation of this text from Slavic to Greek, but its Bogomil origin is obvious. Therefore, such a translation seems possible. Such being the case, this could be a unique occasion in the post Byzantine literary tradition. The Greek version is published for the first time, with a translation in Russian, brief introduction and notes.

The aim of the article is to present, on the one hand the main topics and problems of the scientific debates and studies in the sphere of the correlation between Christian and Islam heterodox traditions in the early Ottoman period, and on the other, to analyze some typical analogies and contrasts between them (especially in the area of the cosmogony and diabology), which can ease the future studies of the Christian-Islam co-existence and contacts in this period. The article shows that a number of scientific models from the end of the XIX century and the first half of the XX century, offering different reconstructions about the destiny of the heretic and non-orthodox Balkan-Byzantium traditions and the processes of Islamization in Asia Minor and the Balkans, cannot be supported by the newly found or newly published historical or archeological sources and data. Instead of using or resurrecting these anachronic and often ideologically-motivated models, the accent should be shifted towards a more complex study of the heterogeneous and constantly increasing historical, literary and anthropological material, by using a precise methodology, including the precedents for such kind of studies in other regions and historical periods. In the article it is claimed that such kind of research can give promising results, offering analysis of the parallels and contrasts between some cosmogonic, diabolic and anthropological doctrines and beliefs in heterodox Christian and Islam traditions in Asia Minor and the Balkans, which show that the further expansion of the studies would result in even more promising outcomes and revaluations.