Византийское миссионерство

In the Eastern Roman Empire, the traditional institutions and culture survived. The contempt towards «barbarians» was inherited from the Roman tradition, but it grew with the messianic concept of the universal vocation of the emperor. The Church had to support the State in its global ambitions. Christian mission appears in Byzantium in the 6^thcentury, but from the very beginning it was organized and directed by political authorities. The author traces down christianizing initiatives of the emperors: Anastasius, Justin I, Justinian, Maurice and Heraclius.

The intricate details of Christian missions to Sudan in the 6^thcentury show that the only goal of their organizers was to overcome their Monophysite (and, vice versa, Chalcedonite) competitors. Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora, who supported rival religious parties, sent missions to Sudan racing one another (as is brilliantly described by John of Ephesos) and their primary goal was to persuade «barbarians» to turn down rival preachers. The only success of Constantinopolitan imperial missions to Africa was the temporary conversion of the Sudanese princedom of Makurrah to Chalcedonian creed. This princedom must be accredited as the only state outside historical boundaries of the Roman Empire which embraced Byzantine Christianity — except Rus’. Whereas the religious influence of Byzantium on Africa was meagre, its political image remained important there for five hundred years after Egypt had been conquered by Islam and all ties with it had been broken. For example, Nubian officials named themselves with Byzantine titles.