Description

The project contributes to the study of late Byzantine practice, contexts, and significance of prayer by undertaking a census, historical contextualization, and systematic analysis of Philotheos Kokkinos’ corpus of (unedited) euchai diaphoroi, i.e., prayers for various occasions. Philotheos Kokkinos (ca. 1300-1378) was a prolific late Byzantine man of letters and theologian who played a prominent role on the political and ecclesiastical scene of fourteenth-century Byzantium, especially in orchestrating the societal breakthrough of hesychasm, and his oeuvre includes a rich and less explored corpus of petitionary and thanksgiving canons and prayers to Christ, the Theotokos, and other saints, for various occasions such as for times of drought, plague, famine, earthquake, against enemies, for processions, and in the context of his appointment as metropolitan of Thracian Herakleia.

Bridging research in the fields of Greek manuscript studies, philology, textual criticism, and Byzantine history, literature, and theology, this project seeks to advance the knowledge on late Byzantine daily lived reality and spirituality. Its research objectives are: (1) to produce a census of Kokkinos’ euchai diaphoroi, presented in a database (PRECES) with detailed information on each prayer (e.g., incipit, content, manuscript tradition); (2) to prepare critical editions and English translations for these prayers; and (3) to offer an analysis of Kokkinos’ corpus of occasional prayers, with a twofold focus on 1) the reception and role of the Theotokos as intercessor, and b) the relationship between basileia and ekklesia in late Byzantium.

The project is funded by the Romanian Ministry of Education through the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development, and Innovation (UEFISCDI), PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2021-0220 (contract no. 105), and is hosted by Institute for South-East European Studies (ISSEE) of the Romanian Academy.