Theological Diplomacy in the Middle Byzantine Period: Propaganda War between Constantinople and Caliphate or Interfaith Dialogue?

Type: 
Lecture
Audience: 
CEU Community + Invited Guests
Building: 
Nador u. 9, Monument Building
Room: 
Gellner Room
Friday, December 9, 2011 - 11:00am
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Date: 
Friday, December 9, 2011 - 11:00am to 12:40pm

At some point in his reign, Leo III (717–41) received a letter from the Caliph ‘Umar II which attacked certain Christian beliefs. Leo III wrote a lengthy response. In doing so, he was following the model of Constantine, who had written to the Sasanid shah on behalf of Christians. However, by the time of Leo and some of his successors who engaged in similar correspondence, the letters seemed to lack the obvious practical concern of Constantine’s letter, which aimed primarily at ensuring the freedom of worship of the Persian Christians. The primary goal of Leo’s letter was to attack Islam. When historians approach these later epistolary exchanges it is assumed that they are merely propaganda, of little significance beyond an internal audience. While such is the case with certain letters, like that of Harun al-Rashid and a later letter by the bishop Arethras, this paper will argue that most of these letters were aimed at communicating across international and confessional borders. Letters usually facilitated practical concerns, like prisoner exchanges, treaties, and other requests. In contrast, middle Byzantine and Islamic letters, which can be classified as theological diplomacy, do not always have a clear practical objective. I will situate them in their historical contexts to show that although they were often connected to real diplomatic issues, they still were sent with the desire to assert ideological superiority over their recipient who was invited to engage in future exchanges so that he would submit to the truth of the writer. In this way, both emperor and caliph mirrored one another in their desire to assert themselves as God’s only chosen leader of the true religion.

Benjamin de Lee recently completed his PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles, under the guidance of Professor Claudia Rapp. His dissertation is entitled: Letters, Diplomacy, and Religious Polemic in Ninth-Century Byzantium: Niketas Byzantios and the Problem of Islam. Previously he completed a Master of Theology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a Master of Divinity at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox School of Theology. His BA is in Classics from Hampden-Sydney College. He is currently a Lecturer at University of California, Los Angeles.