To understand the origins of the church organisation in the Vâlcea region, we must first clarify a statement made by a renowned art historian, Academician Răzvan Theodorescu (1939–2023), regarding the Orthodox Christianity of the Romanian people, which may confuse the uninitiated and therefore requires some explanation 1. But let us quote the author: ‘It is an absurdity to claim that we were born Orthodox. We were born Christians insofar as, by the time ethnogenesis had concluded, the Christianisation of the Proto-Romanians had also been completed. The Romance-speaking population was a Christian population in the Latin sense, and linguistic evidence such as ‘Basilica’, ‘Dominus Dei’, etc., bears witness to this. The Latin character of our Christianity is a provincial, Dacian-Moesian one, but under no circumstances can we speak of Orthodoxy. From a methodological point of view, we can only speak of Catholicism and Orthodoxy after the Cerularius Schism of 1054”2. From the outset, it is clear that the historian is seriously confusing ‘language’ with ‘faith’. The ancestors of the Romanian people were Orthodox Christians who spoke a provincial form of Latin, from which numerous words have been preserved, such as: Basilica (church), crux (cross), presbyter (presbyter, priest), angelus (angel), cantare (hymn), christianus (Christian), sanctus (saint), Domine Deus (God).
However, to clarify the matter, we shall refer to historical documents.
The Concept of Orthodoxy in the Patristic Era
In order to properly understand the subject under consideration, we must first clarify the concept of ‘Orthodoxy’. It is well known that the term is of Greek origin, comprising two words: the first, ‘orthos’, means ‘right, true’, and the second, ‘doxa’, means ‘faith, worship’. Thus, Orthodoxy is the Christian’s right faith and the true worship which he offers to God 3. If we consider the term in a theological context, it must be said that ‘Orthodoxy is that which has preserved and continues to preserve, through the dynamic ecclesial Tradition, the true teaching of the One Church’4.
From its very inception, Christianity has been Orthodox, inasmuch as the Orthodox Christian preserves the true faith as God revealed it to humankind, through the holy prophets and through Jesus Christ, as the Holy Apostle Paul affirms, that God: ‘In many and various ways he spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son’ (Hebrews 1:1–2). Jesus Christ did not change the teaching of the prophets, but only perfected it; that is to say, He taught more fully and completely about what God had revealed to them. That is why He says: ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them’ (Matthew 5:17). He watched over the preservation of the Orthodox faith, and prayed to God the Father that all Christians ‘may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me” (John 17:21).
In defence of the Orthodox faith, Saint Jude the Apostle wrote to the Christians: ‘I urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints, for certain ungodly people have secretly slipped in among you, who were destined for this condemnation from the very beginning’ (Jude 1:3–4). Of them, he says that “they are like blemishes at your communal meals…; clouds without water, driven by the winds; autumn trees bearing no fruit, twice withered and uprooted; wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness is reserved for ever” (Jude 1:12–13). Likewise, the Holy Apostle John writes that: “Anyone who goes astray and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God” (2 John 1:9). In other words, whoever loses the Orthodox faith also loses God, and no longer has any hope of saving their soul. Elsewhere, he says of those who have strayed from Orthodoxy: ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out so that it might be made clear that they were not all of us; that is why they went out’ (1 John 2:19).
Just as the Holy Apostles made great efforts to preserve the Orthodox teaching, so too did their successors, the bishops and priests, who were given the power to teach and guide the Orthodox faithful along the path to salvation, preserving the true faith and instructing all Christians who wish to save their souls to remain within the Orthodox faith. A renowned scholar named Origen (185–255), a professor at the Theological School of Alexandria in Egypt, consistently used the word ‘Orthodoxy’ in his lectures to denote the true Christian teaching 5.
It is worth noting that, in the 4th century, the great heretic Arius, a native of Egypt, appeared. His bishop, Alexander, urged him repeatedly to ‘return to Orthodoxy’, but he refused to listen. For this reason, the bishop excommunicated him; undeterred, he travelled through Palestine and Asia Minor, drawing some Christians who were unfamiliar with orthodox teaching into his heresy. A number of saints rose to its defence, the most ardent of whom was Saint Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria (328–373), who taught that there is only one true faith, the Orthodox faith 6. The term ‘orthodox’ had already entered theological usage, defining authentic doctrine. Saint Athanasius lived and was trained as a theologian in an environment where the word ‘orthodox’ had deep roots in the tradition of the Church, and in the year 321, Bishop Alexander of Alexandria called upon Arius to ‘return to Orthodoxy’7 Furthermore, the First Ecumenical Council, convened in 325 in the city of Nicaea, is known as the ‘Council of the Orthodox’, which sought to bring back to ‘Orthodoxy’ those who had broken away from its bosom 8; Saint Athanasius himself was named, by Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (315–403), ‘the Pillar of Orthodoxy’ and ‘the Father of Orthodoxy’9 to such an extent that the faith he defended and preached became ‘the Orthodox Faith’10. The 318 Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council set down in writing the Orthodox teaching, recorded in the Symbol of Faith or the Creed, which every true Christian knows and recites daily, as a testament to their profession of faith 11. Furthermore, the Creed is recited at every Divine Liturgy celebrated by a priest. At this Council, amongst many Holy Fathers, the following distinguished themselves in particular, owing to their zeal in defending Orthodoxy: the Holy Hierarchs Nicholas of Myra in Lycia (280–345) and Spyridon of Trimitunda (270–348).
In order to restore unity, the integrity of which had been undermined by heretics, Saint Athanasius teaches that the traditional faith of the Church must be taken into account. His conception is all the more valuable in that its author is a true successor to the Orthodox tradition of the first three centuries of Christianity, constituting a synthesis of true thought and experience, forged by his predecessors. For this reason, Saint Athanasius urges Christians to uphold the tradition, for upon it the Church is founded, as he writes in his First Epistle to Serapion: ‘Let us consider the tradition from the beginning, the teaching and faith of the Orthodox Church, which the Lord has given, which the Apostles preached and the Holy Fathers preserved, for upon this the Church is founded, and whoever departs from it cannot in any way be, nor call himself, a Christian’12
Saint Athanasius the Great saw no difference between the teaching of the Church received through Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture. In contrast, the teaching of the heretics is newer, having developed separately and in contradiction to traditional teaching. Regarding the Arians, he said: ‘Since they themselves acknowledge that their teaching is new, they must not deny that their heresy does not come from the Fathers, but is something foreign, and that which does not come from the Fathers, but has only just been concocted, what else can it be but that of which Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 4:1’13
Despite the heresies against which the Orthodox Church has fought, it has preserved its unity. However, in the 11th century, more precisely in the year 1054, a schism occurred amongst Christians: the Eastern Christians remained Orthodox, preserving the true faith as established by the ecumenical councils, whilst the Westerners became Catholics, also known as Roman Catholics, because they recognise the Pope of Rome 14 as their supreme head. Although the Roman Catholic Church has preserved many teachings from the Orthodox Church, it cannot be considered Orthodox, as it has introduced a number of new teachings which are not found in the ancient tradition of the undivided Church.
The spread of Christianity across Romanian territories
Orthodox Christianity spread to the lands of our ancestors with the proclamation of the Gospel by Saint Andrew the Apostle († 30 November 60 AD), who, according to recent findings by the Greek historian George Alexandrou – the author of one of the most comprehensive monographs dedicated to the Apostle – spent 20 years in Dacia 15, accompanied by the Apostle Philip († AD 80), as evidenced by a series of extremely thorough studies that reveal the true scale of the process by which our ancestors were Christianised and of the practice of Christianity in this part of Europe 16.
The vitality of Orthodox Christianity is attested to by the strong organisation of monasticism in the 4th century 17, which is also documented in our region 18. The existence of monasteries, both in Scythia Minor and in Gothia, is attested to by Saint Epiphanius (315–403) in his work Against Heresies 19. Furthermore, monasteries around the Danube are mentioned by Paulinus of Nola (353/354–431) in Canto XVII 20. Among these was the monastery at Niculițel, where the remains of Saints Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filipos were discovered; it is known that the second name of the locality is Mănăstiriștea, and a document from 1599 refers to it as ‘Monaster’21).
In the monasteries of Dobruja, there were monks with a vast knowledge of both theology and the secular world; among them, the best known are Theotimus I, John Cassian and Dionysius Exiguus, who became renowned Latin writers and translators from Greek, as well as the ‘Scythian monks’. Bishop Teotim I was a distinguished figure, admired by his contemporaries; the pagan Huns called him ‘the God of the Romans’22. Being a man of great intellect, he wrote works on asceticism, known and appreciated even by foreigners 23. Another distinguished figure of our ancient Church is John Cassian 24; the young John entered a monastery as early as his childhood, ‘a pueritia nostra’, as he himself testified, where he listened to the monks’ teachings and followed their example 25. Also, Dionysius the Exiguus; he was born around the year 470, a hundred years after Saint John Cassian. During his childhood, he received ‘spiritual nourishment’ – as he himself testifies – from Bishop Peter 26. Unlike Saint John Cassian, Dionysius Exiguus provides us with valuable information about his homeland, Scythia, known for its bitter cold and fierce barbarians, but from which arose, ‘by the grace of God, through Baptism, a number of people, some of whom are blessed Fathers, through whom this region is glorified as possessing a special spiritual fertility…, people whom I was deemed worthy to see leading a heavenly life, in a frail body’27”. Although he made his mark on ecclesiastical culture with valuable works, he nevertheless “remained famous for being the author of a new system of counting the years; it was he who introduced the Christian era, or our era. The year 1 is considered to be the year 754 since the founding of Rome”, when our Saviour Jesus Christ was born; this system was adopted as early as the 7th century in Italy, in the 8th century in England, in the following century in France, and then, in due course, throughout the world. His friend, Cassiodorus, places him among the ‘illustrious men, radiant with the splendour of sound learning’, acknowledging that he was ‘of Scythian origin, but entirely Roman in demeanour’; 28 taught Dialectics alongside him at the Vivarium Monastery in Calabria, being a wise, simple and humble man.
At the beginning of the 6th century (the year 519), documents mention a group of monks from the Orthodox Christian community of Dobruja, comprising John Maxentius, Leontius, John, Maurice, Peter the Deacon, John and Achilles; they are known for the Christological disputes in which they took part, having upheld the formula ‘One of the Holy Trinity suffered in the flesh’. Their doctrine was declared by Emperor Justinian (15 March 533) to be binding upon those who professed the Orthodox faith, and at the Fifth Ecumenical Council, ‘29’ triumphed definitively.
Orthodoxy flourished so greatly amongst the Thraco-Romanised people that documents attest to a strong presence at the Holy Places of monks from their ranks, known as ‘bessi’30. Thus, in an account of a journey to Mount Sinai, dating from the first half of the 6th century, there is mention of three abbots who spoke, in that monastery, the following languages: Latin, Greek, Syriac, Egyptian and Bessi. Thus, in the 6th century, there were Bessi monks at St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai 31. Similarly, in the Life of Saint Theodosius (†529), written in 530 by Bishop Theodore of Petra, the author records that Saint Theodosius built four churches in the monastery he founded in 465, near Bethlehem, and ‘in the second, the Bessian people offered prayers to their common Lord in their own language’32. Furthermore, in the year 553 there was a Bessian monastery in Constantinople 33. Finally, John Moschus, the author of Pratul spirituale or Limonarium, who lived in the second half of the 6th century and the first half of the 7th century, states that, in Palestine there were two neighbouring monasteries named Subiba, one where Bessian was spoken and the other where Syriac was spoken 34, whilst the Life of Saint Sava the Sanctified mentions several Bessian monasteries in this region 35. These accounts led the German historian Karl Holl to remark with astonishment: ‘How frequently the Bessians appear!’36.
The 4th-century Dacian-Roman Orthodox monasteries, centres of profound spirituality and culture, lay the foundations for the later Romanian monasteries 37; they were governed by the principles established by Saint John Cassian, who recommended asceticism in the purest Orthodox spirit, at the level of theandry, aiming at the taming and mastery of the body and the senses, not their destruction 38. Monasticism flourished so greatly amongst our ancestors owing to the Dacian-Roman ethnic continuity in these lands. It is known that among the Dacians, the priests ‘by their way of life, their austere morals, and their diet… in fact constituted a true monastic order. They did not marry, nor did they eat meat or any kind of living creature, but only milk, cheese and honey. They led an ascetic life; the people held them in great respect and called them ‘the most pious’ and ‘travellers through the clouds’39”.
The Avar-Slavic incursion of 602 into the former Roman-Byzantine provinces along the Danube had negative repercussions on the flourishing ecclesiastical organisation that had existed in the 4th–6th centuries. However, following the end of Avar rule in Banat and Transylvania, new information emerges; Bishop Ursus is mentioned, whom historians consider to have been a local. He took part in the proceedings of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, convened at Nicaea in the year 787 40. This constitutes highly telling evidence of the dynamism of our Orthodoxy in the eighth century.
From the 9th century onwards, there is abundant evidence of the intensification of organised church life, featuring priests, monks, abbots and bishops 41. One of the oldest centres on the territory of present-day Romania was discovered in the Basarabi stone quarry in Constanța County; it is a veritable42 ‘complex’, comprising churches and chapels – six of which are known to date 43 – dating from the late 9th century and remaining fully active for over a hundred years 44. Here, on the walls of the churches, numerous texts in Church Slavonic and Greek, dating from the 10th century, have been preserved. Thus, on a pillar in the nave of a small church, the following inscription can be found: ‘Lord, help Thy servant Joseph’. The researcher Ion Barnea suggests that he may have been a monk, but was certainly a priest, like Damian, who is mentioned in a Church Slavonic inscription in the same small church 45. Furthermore, on the right-hand wall of the same church, to the left of the entrance, the year 982 is inscribed, indicating the date of the church’s foundation 46.
During this period, a new administrative structure was established in the Lower Danube region, following the restoration of Byzantine rule under Emperor John Tzimiskes (969–976). With this political and administrative stability, it was only natural that intense Orthodox activity should be revived, in which, as everywhere else, the most significant role would be played by monks, whose presence in this region during the 11th century is well documented 47. Evidence of this is provided by the monk Eftimie, who was sent to the Danube as a Christian missionary amongst the Pechenegs, even baptising their leader, Kegen 48.
Another Orthodox centre in Dobruja is that at Bisericuța-Garvăn; here, the ruins of a smaller church, dating from the 11th–12th centuries, have been discovered, surrounded by a cemetery and a number of dwellings 49.
Interesting discoveries have also been made in another part of the country; these relate to research carried out in 1971 in the village of Pescari in Caransebeș County, at a site known as Peșterile Mici (the Small Caves), also known as Găurile Chindiei, in the Danube valley. Traces of Romanian Orthodox Christianity have been noted here, such as the name of the prophet Isaiah, the pentagram and the Byzantine cross, dating from between the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the following century. The researcher Maria Comșa believes that a ‘hermit monk’50 lived here. All this evidence proves that on what is now Romanian territory, our ancestors continued to live their lives in all the richness of their spirituality 51.
In the 11th–12th centuries, the Romanians, known as ‘Vlachs’, came into direct contact with Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, where hundreds of families would make pilgrimages with their flocks, whilst some young men, following the call of their vocation, took monastic vows 52. Others sought out secluded places in the mountains and caves of the country, as evidenced by the remains of cave settlements dating from that period, recently discovered in the Sălaj region of Transylvania; these take the form of cells hewn into the rock 53, similar to those at Basarabi in Dobrogea.
The Râmeț Monastery in Alba County is believed to date from the 11th century, as 20 skeletons were discovered within and around the church, which are thought to be as old as the monastic building itself. 54.
A monastery from the following century, which still exists today, is that at Hodoș-Bodrog in Arad County; it is mentioned in a document from 1177 under the name Hodust 55.
An ancient monastic settlement was Peri Monastery, situated in the historic centre of Maramureș County 56, which the descendants of the Dragoșești family claim is ‘a legacy from their forefathers’57. It appears that towards the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the next, a hermitage was established here, maintained by the ancestors of the Dragoșești family, dedicated to ‘Saint Michael the Archangel’, the family’s patron saint. The tradition of Râmeț Monastery links the founding of this holy place to the work of the hieromonks Romulus and Ghenadie, who are said to have left here in the year 1215 and laid the foundations of the Monastery of58 The historian Nicolae Iorga refers to a register of Râmeț Monastery in which the two monks, who had set off for Maramureș59, are recorded.
The existence of Orthodox Christianity in Transylvania is attested by the 12th-century Romanian monasteries mentioned by Pope Innocent III, who, in a decree issued on 16 April 1204 and addressed to the Catholic Bishop of Oradea, ordered the bishop to visit the monasteries of the ‘Greek monks’, that is, the Romanian Orthodox monks. It is also noted that these monasteries were ‘in ruins’ due to a lack of care on the part of the diocesan bishops and the monks, and therefore recommends that he should consider whether he can reorganise them with the help of those very Greek monks, or whether he can bring them under a single Catholic diocese 60. Although these monasteries were described as ‘ruined’ in the year 1204—a papal pretext for seizing them for the benefit of Catholic monks 61—‘they had existed since at least the twelfth century; in our opinion, however, they were much older’62”, notes the Romanian scholar Constantin C. Giurescu.
In the 13th century, the Romanian Orthodox Church appears in documents as being headed by bishops. Thus, Pope Gregory IX, in a letter dated 1234 addressed to Bela, Prince of Hungary, writes: ‘In the bishopric of the Cumans there are, as far as we know, certain peoples called Vlachs who, although they consider themselves Christians, do not receive the sacraments from our venerable brother, the Bishop of the Cumans, who has his diocese there, but from certain pseudo-bishops who follow the Greek rite. And some from the Kingdom of Hungary—both Hungarians and Germans and other Orthodox believers— living amongst them, are converting to their faith and, uniting with those Wallachians to form a single people, are receiving the said sacraments, whilst despising the Bishop of the Cumans’63’. The historian Giurescu states that “since there were Orthodox bishops at that time, there must also have been their residences, and these residences, according to tradition, could only have been at monasteries”64.
However, some of the monasteries existing in the 13th century have been identified. These include Bezdin Monastery 65, rebuilt in the 16th century on the foundations of an older one, which had been destroyed by the Tatars during the great invasion of 1241–1242; Șumi Monastery, mentioned in a document from 1270, known today as Săraca Monastery 66 in Timiș County.
The legendary hermitage of Daniil Sihastru and the Cave of Saint Nicodim at Tismana are eloquent evidence of the hermitic life led by Romanian monks in the early history of our ancestral Church 67. It should not be forgotten that, in the 13th century, monasticism was flourishing throughout Europe; consequently, the Carpathian-Danube region could not lag behind 42. However, the lack of monastic settlements during this century should come as no surprise to anyone, if we recall the Tatar invasion in the middle of the century, which laid waste to everything, as well as the fact that, for Transylvania, papal decrees demanded the suppression of the freedom of the Orthodox faith, and the Angevin kings, in the following century, prohibited by law the construction of stone places of worship intended for this faith 68.
Ancient ecclesiastical monuments: evidence of the organisation of Christianity among the Romanians
Throughout the history of Christianity, religious architecture has undergone a progressive evolution; based on secular architectural styles, specific features representing Christian symbols and truths were gradually incorporated. Initially, architectural styles that had emerged elsewhere were introduced to our country, and these adopted elements characteristic of our national spirituality and culture. At first, our church architecture was strongly influenced by Byzantium, which was exerted in various ways: either directly, through craftsmen brought from Constantinople by the first Romanian princes, or indirectly, through craftsmen from Orthodox regions south of the Danube, such as Bulgaria, Serbia and Mount Athos, or from the East, such as Turkey and Armenia.
The early Christian basilica style
The existence of Orthodox places of worship on the lands of our ancestors is attested by the oldest Christian church discovered in Moldova, at Mihălășeni in Botoșani County. During the 1983–1988 excavation campaign, archaeologists from Botoșani uncovered 520 graves situated around a church, dating from the mid-4th century 69. Such places of worship existed in many areas, but they did not withstand the ravages of history and the elements, as most were wooden structures.
The first Christian places of worship built in our country belong to the basilica style of the early Christian era; they were erected mainly in Dobrogea (Scythia Minor), between the 4th and 7th centuries, in the ancient Greco-Roman cities: Tomis (Constanța), Callatis (Mangalia), Histria, Tropaeum-Traiani (Adamclisi), Axiopolis (Cernavodă), Dinogeția (Garvăn), Argamum (Dolojman), Ibida, Troesmis (Iglița), Ulmetum (Pantelimon), Noviodunum (Isaccea) and Capidava (Calachioi). Generally, these are Hellenistic-style basilicas, each with three naves and of modest size, built of stone and sometimes featuring various annexes, such as baptisteries, crypts, diaconicons, etc., the majority being parish churches. Demolished along with the respective fortresses, particularly by the Avars in the 7th century, their remains—in the form of foundations, fragments of walls, column fragments, etc.— came to light following archaeological excavations carried out at the end of the 20th century. Elsewhere in the country, early Christian basilicas have also been discovered in Oltenia, at Sucidava, near Celei, and in Banat, at Giridava-Morisena, a town known today as Cenad.
The Byzantine style
In church architecture, the Byzantine style represents an evolution of the basilica style, characteristic of the earliest Christian places of worship, which took the form of a single nave, and which persisted in various evolved forms in the West. By the 6th century, in the East, the basilica style began to be replaced by a new architectural style, known as Byzantine, whose earliest architectural monuments – the churches of Asia Minor and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople – were essentially domed basilicas.
During the Iconoclastic Crisis of the 8th–9th centuries, Eastern religious art fell into decline; it was only after the triumph of Orthodoxy over Iconoclasm (842–843) that did the second period of flourishing in Byzantine art begin, lasting until the 12th century and encompassing the eras of the Macedonian (867–1057) and Comnen (1081–1185) dynasties. Theology and monasticism exerted a major influence on the development of Byzantine art during this period; freed from foreign influences, it evolved according to its own genius, with the 11th century marking the true golden age of religious art, according to L. Brehier. Smaller churches were now being built, but the most common plan remained the Greek cross inscribed within a square, with the eastern arm extended to provide more space for the main apse; the western arm of the cross is also extended to provide more space for the entrance areas (pronaos, narthex, porch). Furthermore, the trefoil plan, characteristic particularly of Athonite churches from the 11th century onwards, is also very widespread.
The masterpiece of Byzantine art in Italy during this period is the Church of St Mark in Venice, built in the 10th–11th centuries, which reproduces not only the plan but also the mosaics of the lost Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. The oldest churches in the Balkan countries that have survived to this day also date from the same period, such as Saint Sophia and Saint Clement, both in Ohrid, built in the 11th century. In our country, the oldest stone and brick churches still standing today are the churches of San-Nicoară and the Royal Church of Saint Nicholas in Curtea de Argeș, built before 1352; both represent the purest form of the Byzantine-Constantinopolitan style, which developed in the capital of the Empire during the era of the Macedonian emperors in the 9th–11th centuries 70.
The Romanesque style
At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, a new architectural style emerged, known as Romanesque. Originating in various regions of France, it is epitomised by the monumental church of Cluny Abbey in Burgundy, founded by the Benedictine order, which administered some two thousand churches and monasteries across various countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy. As the first international architectural style, Romanesque churches can be found throughout Western, Northern and Eastern Europe (Romania and Poland), and even beyond, such as in Syria and Palestine. The layout of Romanesque churches follows on from the basilica plan, though it became highly varied depending on the country and region. Thus, we find churches with rectangular, circular, Greek cross (typical of Byzantine architecture), Latin cross (characteristic of most of these buildings), trefoil, and polygonal plans, with or without side aisles, with one or two transepts, and with one or two opposing apses71
There are several Orthodox churches within the present-day territory of Romania, dating from the 12th–14th centuries, which have been preserved in their original form; among these, we mention those at: Strei-Sângeorgiu (12th century), Densuș (12th–13th centuries), in the Romanesque and Gothic styles; Strei (13th century), in the Romanesque and rustic Gothic styles, founded by the Romanian boyar Ambrozie; Gurasada and Santamaria-Orlea (13th century), the latter founded by the Cânde family of Romanian boyars from the village of Râu de Mori, exemplify the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic style; the murals and those in the nave combine the Byzantine and Italian styles and constitute the oldest Orthodox complex in the country (1300). From the 14th century, we note: Ostrov, Sânpetru, Nucșoara, Peșteana, Lesnic, Criscior, Ribița, and the monasteries of Prislop and Râmeț.
The Turkish conquests in the Balkans prevented the direct penetration of Byzantine influence into our lands; it reached us only via Serbia and Bulgaria, where true Byzantine monuments had been built, albeit with local adaptations. Thus, in the 14th century, Serbo-Byzantine-style churches began to appear on Romanian territory, at Vodița, Tismana, Cozia, Brădet and Cotmeana.
Orthodox Christian inscriptions in Romanian territories
A series of inscriptions, preserved on certain ecclesiastical monuments, liturgical vessels and funerary objects, bear witness to the antiquity of Orthodox Christianity in Romanian territories. By way of example, we shall present a few of them in chronological order.
Dating from the 3rd–4th centuries, a limestone plaque has been preserved, discovered in the ruins of a cemetery church, bearing the inscription: ‘To Cyril, Chindeas and Tasius I entrust Eufrasius’. It is known that these are holy martyrs who suffered at Axiopolis72).
The 4th century provides further evidence. Thus, on a limestone block from Constanța, there is an inscription of the monogram of Jesus Christ and the text: ‘Lord, help the altar of the Christians!’73; on a monolithic limestone slab, probably discovered in one of the burial chambers of the Tomis necropolis, Christian symbols are depicted: the dove, the fish and the monogram of Christ, enclosed in a circle 74, bearing the inscription: ‘To the blessed Timothy, from Dinias, whose name as a neophyte is Emmanuel’. Jacques Zeiller believes that Timothy is the Bishop of Tomis, who took part in the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus 75; Dinias is a rare name, but attested in inscriptions from Boeotia 76 and Bulgaria, in the form Dinis, and is considered a Thracian name 77; on an oil lamp discovered in Constanța, inside a sarcophagus, is the image of Christ with a beard and long hair, clad in a long cloak, with his hands raised in blessing, the Mother of God, the 12 apostles, and the text: ‘My peace I give unto you’ (John 14:27); a bronze oil lamp, discovered in Dobrogea, in the shape of a fish and cast, bears on one side a cross with equal arms, and on the other the monogram of Christ and the inscription: ‘Christ’ and the symbol: ‘†’78
The 4th–5th centuries are represented by an amphora bearing the inscription ‘Christ’79; a marble stele discovered in Constanța, bearing in the centre of the pediment a Latin cross, characteristic of those centuries, and the inscription: ‘Here rests Marú, for two years, 10 months and 14 days, daughter of Ioan, administrator of St John’s (church)’80; a marble plaque discovered in Constanța, bearing the inscription: ‘For Theodule, my wife, who was the daughter of the priest Patricius. And I have placed this epitaph in memory of us (and) of myself, who am still alive… which is worthy of…”81. Patricius is a common name in Christian epigraphy, being the second priest attested to date in Scythia Minor 82; a carnelian gemstone, discovered in Constanța, together with other gemstones dating from the 2nd–3rd centuries AD, bearing on its face a depiction of Jesus Christ crucified on a T-shaped cross; at the foot of the cross are depicted the faces of the Holy Apostles, bearing the inscription: ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour’83; this is now held at the British Museum in London; a fragment of marble broken from the lid of a sarcophagus, bearing the inscription: ‘Have mercy on those without bodies! Here lies Alexander, a recent convert’84; the inscription features a cross at the beginning of the text and another at the end; a marble slab discovered in the Tomis Nord district (1968), bearing the inscription: ‘Here rests the martyr of Christ and the bishop...’. Ion Barnea suggests that the name of the martyr and bishop was Titus (referred to as Philus in some texts), commemorated by the Acta Sanctorum on 3 January, and that he suffered martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Licinius, around the years 319–323 85; he is thought to have been the second known bishop of Tomis, after Evangelicus, who lived during the reign of Diocletian 86; a small ceramic vessel, found in a grave in Constanța, bearing the inscription: ‘Have mercy on me, Lord’87; a fragment of an amphora, bearing the inscription “Mother of God”88 on its shoulder.
Dating from the 5th century, the upper part of an amphora has been preserved, bearing the inscription: ‘Mary gives birth to Christ’89.
From the same century, or the early 6th century, comes a rectangular block of limestone, which formed part of the enclosure wall of the fortress of Tomis, bearing the inscription: ‘Lord God, help the rebuilt fortress! Amen!’90. In the beliefs of the inhabitants of Roman-Byzantine cities, crosses and invocations to God, placed on buildings and especially on the enclosure wall, served an apotropaic purpose 91, that is, to ward off evil spirits.
We have several examples dating from the 5th–6th centuries. For instance, on the rim of a marble vessel, originating from a building with a Christian basilica, the following text is preserved: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’ 92; on a marble fragment (Psalm XXVI, 1) from Constanța, there is a cross bearing the inscription: ‘Emmanuel. God is with us’ 93, (Isaiah 7:14), announcing the virgin birth of Jesus Christ; a disc-shaped plate, which belonged to the metropolitan church in Tomis, bears the Latin inscription: “It was restored through the care of Paternus, our most honourable bishop. Amen!” The bishop’s name is a valuable dating clue, as the synod records mention Paternus of Tomis94 at the beginning of the 6th century; he also took part in the Council of Constantinople (519), signing the council’s acts in a prominent position and styling himself: ‘Paternus, by the mercy of God, bishop and metropolitan of the province of Scythia’. This title supports the hypothesis that Paternus was the Metropolitan of Scythia, with 14 bishoprics under his jurisdiction 95; a limestone architrave, discovered in Constanța, bears the inscription: “†The grace of God. May you be well, passers-by! Here she has rested for 51 years… Place her, O Lord, with the righteous. Kaliope, daughter of Sulifera. Amen. I, Entolios the Caesarian (from Caesarea), being… have built this eternal resting place from the gifts of God”96 Caliope is a name of Greek origin, but also used in Jewish and Eastern contexts, whilst Sulifera is probably a Semitic name; given the Semitic-sounding name, it is assumed that Entolios and his wife came from Caesarea in Palestine to Tomis 97; a marble stele found in Constanța; the upper part features a cross, and within a simple border is the inscription: ‘Here rests Heraclide, reader of the Holy Universal Church’98. The lector or reader belongs to the lower ranks of the Church 99. A marble vessel with the Greek inscription on the rim: ‘The Lord is my light and my Saviour; whom shall I fear?’ 100. A ceramic vessel (Psalm XXVI, 1) bears the inscription: ‘Christ the Almighty’101. A limestone block, found in the wall of the fortress of Axiopolis in Dobrogea, on which a cross and the inscription ‘Jesus Christ’102 are carved. A fragment of an amphora bearing the inscription: ‘Mary gives birth to Christ. The grace of God’103 We note that such inscriptions are found on numerous amphora fragments.
From the 6th century, we have an arm of a cross discovered at Mangalia, bearing inscriptions on both sides: ‘In death lies the resurrection’ and ‘Light, Life’104; a limestone cross, discovered at Mangalia, bearing the inscription: ‘Here a prayer was offered in memory of the bishops Stephen…’. Its significance is immense, as it attests, for the first time, to the presence of bishops in a city of Scythia other than Tomis 105; a marble stele discovered in Constanța, bearing the Christian inscription: ‘In memory of Paula, wife of Paul the Syrian, subdeacon’106, thus marking the first mention of a subdeacon in Scythia 107; an amphora bears the inscription: ‘To Christ God’108.
Dating from the late 6th and early 7th centuries, a marble cross discovered in the village of Lazu in Constanța County has been preserved, bearing the inscription: ‘These are the bones of George. He who shared the same faith as Your servant (Lord) George, son of Murinus’109.
The 13th century is represented by two bronze reliquary crosses; the first bears the Christogram at the ends of its short arms, repeated twice, and the inscription: ‘Jesus Christ conquers’; on the reverse: ‘Mother of God, help!’110, whilst the second depicts, on one side, Jesus Christ with long hair and a beard, crucified, and at the ends of the short arms two human figures: the Mother of God and Saint John the Apostle, as well as the inscription: ‘Jesus Christ conquers’111.
Romanian princes, founders of Orthodox churches and monasteries
With the emergence of the first principalities, written and archaeological evidence shows that the princes of the Romanian people also established themselves as great builders of Orthodox churches and monasteries within the territories under their rule.
Firstly, it should be noted that the Romanian voivodes had close ties with the Orthodox Byzantine Empire, as evidenced by written records. Thus, Prince Menumorut of Crișana, who reigned at the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the next, had his administrative centre at Biharia in Bihor County, and controlled several important fortified towns, such as Satu Mare and Zalău. Menumorut’s dominion extended across Crișana, between the rivers Tisa, Someș and Mureș, representing an older form of organisation which he had inherited from his predecessors. Menumorut declared himself a vassal of the Orthodox Emperor of Byzantium when Hungarian envoys demanded that he submit to the authority of the Hungarian Duke Arpad. Initially, the Hungarians attempted to bring him to submission through diplomatic means, as Anonymus writes in the Gesta Hungarorum: ‘Arpad’s envoys…, Usubuu and Veluc, …arriving at the fortress of Byhor, greeted Duke Menumorut and presented him with the gifts which their duke had sent them. However, having conveyed Duke Arpad’s message to him, they laid claim to the territory I mentioned above. And Duke Menumorut received them kindly and, having laden them with various gifts, on the third day told them to return home. Nevertheless, he gave them his reply, saying: ‘Tell Arpad, the Duke of Hungary, your lord. We are indebted to him, as one friend is to another, to provide him with all that he needs, for he is a stranger and lacks many things. But the territory which he has requested of us out of goodwill, we shall never cede to him, as long as we live. And we were sorry that Duke Salanus ceded a very large territory to him, whether out of love, as they say, or out of fear, which is denied. We, however, neither out of love nor out of fear, will cede so much as a finger’s breadth of land to him, even though he has claimed to have a right to it. Nor do his words trouble our hearts, for he has shown himself to be a descendant of King Attila, who was called the Scourge of God. And even if he did violently seize this country from my forefather, now, by the grace of my lord, the Emperor of Constantinople, no one can wrest it from my hands any longer’112
At the beginning of the 10th century, in Transylvania, alongside other voivodeships, that of Gelu, “the Duke of the Vlachs”, is also mentioned113. His principality stretched from the Somes region to the Mures, and was populated by Romanians and Slavs, all of the Orthodox Christian faith. Recent archaeological research carried out in the vicinity of the commune of Dăbâca in Cluj County 114, his former residence, has uncovered the foundations of six churches, some of which were built on top of one another; the oldest date from the 10th century 38. A Romanian Orthodox bishopric existed here during the 9th–11th centuries 115, with a bishop brought from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, owing to Voivode Gelu’s ties with the Byzantine Empire 116. In the year 950, Gelu founded the Byzantine Orthodox church in Alba Iulia 117, where the Orthodox bishop Ierotei, the first known hierarch of Transylvania, served 118. Byzantine historical documents indicate that he was the first bishop of Turkia; however, according to the Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy, Turkia was Transylvania, bounded by the rivers Criș, Mureș and Timiș, and to the west by the Tisza 119. The Diocese of Transylvania was established by Gelu for the multitude of Romanian and Slavic Orthodox believers 120. After the year 900, when the Hungarians, having settled in Pannonia, launched conquering raids towards Crișana, Banat, Transylvania and Maramureș 121, a difficult period ensued for the settled population of these regions. Gelu’s principality faced a precarious internal situation and difficulties caused by the invading peoples from the east. In these circumstances, the Hungarian leader Tuhutum entered via Mezeș, crossed the Almaș, killed Gelu and occupied his country 122.
Voivode Ahtum (1000–1028/30), the ruler of the medieval state formation in the first half of the 11th century within the territory of historic Banat, residing in the fortress of Morisena on the banks of the Mureș, built the first monastery at Morisena in 1002, with the blessing of the Orthodox hierarchy, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist 123. In 1054, when the Church split into Orthodox and Catholic branches, the monastery at Morisena was occupied by Catholics and became a Benedictine monastery. As it was an imposing monastery, Bishop Gerardus de Sagredo displaced the Orthodox monks and settled here 124, where he lived for several years until he had built a new residence 125, whilst the Romanian Orthodox monks erected a new monastery, dedicated to Saint George, built between 1030 and 1031, at Oroslamoș 126, now known as Maidan in Serbia 127.
The second Orthodox monastery built by the same voivode, known as Ahtunmonostur, was erected in the early years of the 11th century; its ruins can still be seen 10 km south-west of Pecica, near the town of Arad 128. Around the year 1030, taking advantage of the fact that Ahtum’s protector, the Byzantine emperor, was preoccupied with the wars in Asia Minor, the King of Hungary sent Chanadinus to occupy his country. Ahtum won the first battle near Beba Veche, but was killed in the Battle of Tomnatic. Under the guise of a war between pretenders to a duchy – Chanadinus having been a former general of Ahtum’s – King Stephen occupied Banat.
Also in Banat, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer (976–1028) established, around 1019–1020, an Orthodox bishopric at Dibiscos, the ancient Tibiscum129).
In Wallachia, the first monastery founded by a voivode was that of Litovoi, mentioned in 1247 in the Diploma of the Ioaniți 130. Its ruins are preserved beneath the foundation at Vodița by Vlaicu Vodă and Saint Nicodim of Tismana, discovered by the archaeologist Virgil Drăghiceanu, whilst the historian Constantin Giurescu states: ‘It is, in fact, inconceivable that this voivode, who ruled over the Jiu Valley and across the mountains in Hațeg, should not have had a bishop at his side, just as Seneslau did on the left bank of the Olt’131
Just as Litovoi ruled over both slopes of the Retezat Mountains, so too is it believed that Seneslau extended his rule on either side of the Făgăraș Mountains 132, where he built estates and churches 133. It is known that at Nucetul in Vâlcea, now known as Cozia, or at Nucetul in Dâmbovița, there were earlier settlements, probably also dating from the 13th century 42. Some ecclesiastical centres have been brought to light, in the form of ruins, through the work of archaeologists. Thus, at Cetățeni, which was for a time the residence of Voivode Seneslau 134, a large ecclesiastical centre has been discovered 135; it is thought that some of those ‘schismatic bishops’ – that is, Orthodox clergy – who caused discontent to the Catholic King of Hungary may have resided here. Similar remains, dating from the 13th century, have been discovered beneath the ruins of the Royal Court and beneath the voivodal church at Curtea de Argeș 136, as well as beneath the present-day church of the Negru Vodă Monastery in Câmpulung 42.
The Christian Orthodox feudal state, Wallachia, became independent and recognised as such following Basarab I’s victory over King Charles Robert of Anjou of Hungary in the battles of Posada on 9–12 November 1330 137. Basarab I, referred to in medieval documents as Ivanco Basarab, Bassaraba and Bazarad, reigned from 1310 to 1352; he was the son of Tihomir or Thocomerius, according to a charter issued in 1332 by King Charles Robert of Anjou following the Battle of Posada, in which he rewarded Count Laurentius of Zarand for his valour. Furthermore, from that official Hungarian document, we learn that Basarab I was an Orthodox Christian, being described as: ‘Basarab, filium Thocomerii, scismaticum, infidelis Olahus Nostris’138; that is to say: ‘Basarab, son of Thocomerii, of the Orthodox faith (scismaticum), our unfaithful Romanian’.
Nicolae Iorga is of the opinion that in Wallachia at that time there were churches with priests ordained by the bishops who were in office in the year 1234, when they were referred to by the Pope as ‘pseudo-bishops’, who received their ordination from Orthodox hierarchs south of the Danube, based in Vidin, Silistra or Vicina. In this way, the Church Slavonic language was also adopted by the Church and the princely chancellery 139.
According to tradition, there are two churches definitively attributed to Basarab I: one is the princely church in Curtea de Argeș, and the second is the one on the site of the Battle ‘of Posada’. In addition to these, historians believe that the church of the Negru Vodă Monastery and the old church in Râmnicu Vâlcea were also founded by him, as he is mentioned, together with Lady Margareta, at the head of their ancient memorial lists 140. Regarding the second church, the traveller Maciej Stryjkowski reported that ‘on that spot, where the battle took place, the Wallachians built a monastery and erected three stone pillars, which I myself saw in the year 1575, whilst travelling from Turkey, beyond the town of Gherghița, a two-day’s journey from Sibiu”. Indeed, in that very village there is the ‘Saint Procopius’ Royal Church, founded in 1641 and rebuilt in 1895, but it does not correspond to the location of Posada. More plausible is the observation by the Russian scholar Kovalevski, who wrote around 1845 that, at the entrance to the Bistrița Gorge there was a hermitage dedicated to Saint Procopius the Great Martyr, founded before the establishment of Bistrița Monastery. A monastic settlement with a church dedicated to a military saint is significant, suggesting a military event, a category to which Saint Procopius belongs. Generally speaking, monasteries are dedicated to pious saints or to soteriological events in the history of Christianity 141.
Basarab I’s successor was his son Nicolae Alexandru, who reigned from 1352 to 1364 and was recognised as a great Orthodox voivode, maintaining close ties with the Hesychast centre at Paroria. From Theophanes’ writings, we learn that Saint Gregory of Sinai corresponded with the ‘emperors of the earth’142 Naming them, the author writes: ‘Andronikos, I say, and Alexander, Stephen and Alexander—he wrote to them, as they were eager to receive his marvellous teachings through his letters’143 Scholars have identified these ‘kings of the earth’ as the following rulers of that era: the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (1325–1341), Tsar John Alexander of Bulgaria (1331–1371), Stephen Dushan of Serbia (1321–1355) and Nicholas Alexander I of Wallachia (1338–1364), the latter having initially ruled as co-regent with his father, John Basarab (1310–1352), and subsequently as sole ruler (1352–1364). It is known that Saint Gregory of Sinai died in 1346, and Nicolae Alexandru ascended the throne in 1352. Petre Ș. Năsturel, however, insists that the person in question is undoubtedly Nicolae Alexandru I of Wallachia, having been co-ruler from 1342, an event mentioned in numerous official documents, as his father, Basarab I the Founder, was ill and found it difficult to fulfil his duties as ruler in full. In any case, the author concludes that: ‘Everything points to the fact that Voivode Nicolae Alexandru maintained relations with Paroria whilst Gregory of Sinai was still alive’144. This interpretation is also supported by the understanding of the term έπέκεινα as referring to the lands beyond the Danube 145, and the correspondence between the two figures “confirms the presence of Romanian monks both in Paroria and on Mount Athos”146. The author of the Saint’s Life states that, ‘through this, the monastic way of life among the monks in those places and cities was spread, by virtue of the virtue and teaching of the pious Father Gregory of Sinai’147; and, returning to their places of origin, they founded monasteries and hermitages in the Hesychast spirit. In this regard, Father Professor Dumitru Stăniloae asked: “But where exactly did monasteries and monks multiply so greatly at that time in the Orthodox world as in Wallachia, where, immediately afterwards, the first large, organised monasteries came into being?”148. Most of the hermitages, situated on the summit of a nearby hill, are dedicated to the Transfiguration, since the hermits living in them, or in nearby cells – following the Hesychast method – sought, through their ascetic endeavours and ceaseless prayer, to partake of the light of Tabor. Indeed, almost all the great monasteries – founded over the course of history in Wallachia and Moldavia – had their origins in such hermitages or cells of hermits living on the summit of a nearby mountain or hill. It was against this historical backdrop that the Hesychast monastery of the ‘Transfiguration’ in Bistrița, known as the ‘Bolniță Church’149, was built.
- 1
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, ‘Orthodox Christianity in the Romanian territories prior to the 14th century’, in Posada – 685. Țara Loviștei. Studies in Geography, Toponymy, History and Ethnography, Dinică Ciobotea, Eugen Petrescu, Radu Ștefan Vergatti (eds.), Ed. Universitaria, Craiova, 2015, pp. 169–196.
- 2
Răzvan Theodorescu, ‘It is an absurdity to claim that we are born Orthodox’, in ‘Historia.ro’ (18 April 2011).
- 3
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, Orthodoxy, the True Faith, 4th edition, Holy Monastery of Bistrița, 2010, p. 3.
- 4
Rev. Dr Dragoș Ungureanu, ‘Who and What is Orthodoxy?’ in The Life of the Church – Reflections (2 April 2013).
- 5
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, Orthodoxy…, p. 9.
- 6
Ibid., ‘Saint Athanasius the Great, Apostle of Christian Unity’, in Mitropolia Olteniei, XXV (1973), nos. 9–10, pp. 721–730.
- 7
PG. XXV, 685, cf. Prof. Dr Milan Șesan, ‘On the History of the Concept of Orthodoxy’, in Mitropolia Ardealului I (1956), no. 1–2, p. 64.
- 8
PG. XXV, 233, 236; see ibid.
- 9
Panarion, 59, 2 PG: 41, cf. Rev. Prof. M. Șesan, ‘Orthodoxy and Catholicism’, in Orthodoxia III (1951), no. 1, p. 120.
- 10
Del Medico, ‘A propos d’une mosaïque d’Istanbul’, in Byzantino-slavica XVI (1955), 2, Prague, p. 260, cited in Rev. Prof. Milan Șesan, From the History..., p. 64, note 2.
- 11
Associate Professor Dr Daniel Benga, ‘The Nicene Creed (325) – A Theological History (II). The Historical and Theological Context of the First Ecumenical Council’, in Ziarul Lumina (10 November 2010).
- 12
Saint Athanasius the Great, First Epistle to Serapion, ch. 28, PG XXVI, p. 593
- 13
St Athanasius the Great, Oration I against the Arians, ch. 9, PG XXVI, p. 28.
- 14
Prof. Teodor M. Popescu, ‘The Genesis and Evolution of the Schism’, in Orthodoxia, Year XI, no. 2–3 (1954), pp. 163–217.
- 15
Dumitru Manolache, ‘The Astonishing Greek Hypothesis’, in Gardianul (27 November 2009).
- 16
Ibid., the Apostle Philip, the second missionary to Dacia, in Ibid. (13 November 2009).
- 17
Fr. N. Șerbănescu, ‘1,600 years since the first documentary evidence of the existence of the Diocese of Tomis’, in BOR, LXXXVII (1969), no. 9–10, p. 991.
- 18
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, ‘On Romanian Orthodox Monasticism prior to the 14th century’, in Glasul Bisericii, XXXVII (1978), no. 3–4, pp. 300–317.
- 19
Saint Epiphanius, Against Heresies, Book III, Vol. I, Heresy 70, Chapter 14, PG, XLII, col. 372 B, cf. Ioan G. Coman, ‘The Missionary Area’ of Saint Nicetas of Remesiana, in BOR, LXVI (1948), nos. 5–8, p. 350, note 1.
- 20
Saint Paulinus of Nola, Carmen XVII, lines 218–220, ed. G. Hartel, in ‘C. S. L.’, vol. XXX, part II, Vienna, 1894, cf. I. G. Coman, op. cit., p. 350.
- 21
Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, The History of the Romanians: From the Earliest Times to the Founding of the Romanian States, Vol. I, Bucharest, 1974, pp. 146, 256.
- 22
Rev. Prof. I. Rămureanu, ‘Saints and Martyrs at Tomis-Constanța’, in BOR XCII (1974), no. 7–8, p. 1007; Rev. Prof. I. Coman, ‘Notes on Teotim of Tomis’, in Glasul Bisericii XVI (1975), no. 1, p. 46.
- 23
Rev. Prof. I. Rămureanu, op. cit., pp. 1007–1008.
- 24
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, Ioan Casian, an Ancient Romanian Saint, Holy Monastery of Bistrița, 2011, p. 32.
- 25
De institutis coenobiorum…, Preface 4, pp. 4–5, cf. Rev. Prof. Ioan G. Coman, ‘The Scythians John Cassian and Dionysius the Little and their links with the Mediterranean world’, in Studii Teologice XXVII (1975), no. 3–4, p. 192, note 21.
- 26
Dionysius Exiguus, in Scriptores Illyrici Minores, Corpus Christianorum – Series Latina, LXXXV, Turnholt, 1972, p. 59, 1, cf. Rev. Prof. Ioan G. Coman, op. cit., p. 196, note 45.
- 27
Ibid., Praefatio ad Ioannem et Leontium, I, p. 55; cf. ibid., note 46.
- 28
Cassiodorus, De institutione divinarum litterarum 23, PL, LXX, col. 1137; cf. Rev. Prof. Ioan G. Coman, op. cit., p. 196, note 48.
- 29
Fr. Vasile Gh. Sibiescu, The Scythian Monks, Sibiu, 1936, p. 26.
- 30
The Bessians occupied part of what is now Bulgaria, fighting victorious battles against the Roman Empire. In the mid-1st century AD, Emperor Tiberius Claudius I (41–54) conquered them, transforming their region into a Roman province called Thrace, cf. Bucur Mitrea, ‘Historical Dictionary. Thracian Peoples and Tribes – the Bessians, the Buri, the Apulians’, in Magazin Istoric X (1976), no. 3 (108), p. 26.
- 31
Antoninus of Placentia, Itinerarium, chap. 37, 1, PL, LXXVII, 911–912, cf. Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, ‘Demons in the Monasteries of the East’, in BOR, XCIV (1976), no. 5–6, p. 586.
- 32
PG CXIV, col. 505, cf. Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, op. cit., p. 587.
- 33
Mansi, Concil. Coll. Ampl. V, p. 987, cf. ibid.
- 34
PG LXXXVII, 3, col. 3025, cf. ibid.
- 35
Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, op. cit., p. 587.
- 36
‘The Survival of the Vernacular Languages in Asia Minor in Post-Christian Times’, in Collected Essays on Church History II: The East. Volume 2, Part 2, Verlag Moh, Tübingen, 1928, pp. 242–243, cf. ibid.
- 37
Rev. Prof. Ioan G. Coman, ‘The Holy Fathers and Romanian Orthodox Spirituality’, in Orthodoxia XXVII (1975), no. 4, p. 595.
- 38a38b
Ibid.
- 39
Deacon Prof. Emilian Vasilescu, History of Religions: A Textbook for Theological Institutes of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1975, p. 328.
- 40
Rev. Prof. Dr Mircea Păcurariu, History of the Romanian Orthodox Church, vol. 1, Bucharest, 1980, p. 181.
- 41
Ibid., ‘Two millennia of church life’, in Telegraful Român, Year 124 (1 October 1976), nos. 37–38, p. 2.
- 42a42b42c42d
Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, op. cit., vol. I, p. 256.
- 43
Emilian Popescu, Greek and Latin Inscriptions from the 4th–13th Centuries Discovered in Romania, Bucharest, 1976, p. 202.
- 44
I. Barnea, V. Bilciureanu, ‘The Basarabi Archaeological Site (Constanța region)’, in Archaeological Materials and Research VI (1959), pp. 169–180.
- 45
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 211.
- 46
Ibid., p. 212.
- 47
Răzvan Theodorescu, Byzantium, the Balkans and the West at the Dawn of Medieval Romanian Culture (10th–14th centuries), Bucharest, 1974, p. 67.
- 48
Alex. M. Ioniță, ‘Monastic Life in Dobruja up to the 12th Century’, in Studii Teologice XXIX (1977), no. 1–2, p. 87.
- 49
I. Barnea, Dinogeția, 2nd ed., Bucharest, 1969, p. 47; Ibid., ‘Monuments of Christian Art Discovered within the Territory of the Romanian People’s Republic’, in Studii Teologice X (1958), nos. 5–6, pp. 298–305.
- 50
Maria Comșa, ‘The Cyrillic Inscription from Gaura Chindiei Cave, Pescar Commune (Caraș-Severin County)’, in Monumente Istorice și de Artă, Vol. XLVI (1977), No. 1, pp. 36–36.
- 51
Prof. Victor Brătulescu, ‘Saint Nicodemus’, in Mitropolia Olteniei (1970), nos. 5–8, p. 594.
- 52
P. Uspenski, The Christian East, vol. III, pp. 355–363, cf. Fr. Teodor Bodogae, ‘The Tradition of the Holy Mountain in the Life of Orthodox Peoples’, in Orthodoxia V (1953), no. 2, p. 216, note 40.
- 53
Rev. Prof. Dr Mircea Păcurariu, Two Millennia…, p. 1.
- 54
Dr Anna Eva Budura, The Trials of a Holy Place: the Râmeț Monastic Complex (forthcoming).
- 55
Rev. Prof. Mircea Păcurariu, The Monasteries of the Romanian Orthodox Church…, p. 212.
- 56
Fr. Gheorghe Dumitrean, ‘The Monastery of Peri, the oldest known Romanian Orthodox monastery in the intra-Carpathian territories’, in Calendar for Christians in Maramureș and Sătmar for the years 1991–1992, Baia Mare, 1991, p. 53.
- 57
†Vasile, Bishop of Oradea, ‘The Role of the Monastery at Perii in Maramureș’, in Mitropolia Ardealului XXIII (1978), nos. 1–3, p. 18.
- 58
Adrian Bucurescu, ‘The Revival of the Monastery across the Tisza: From Peri to Săpânța’, in România liberă, 31 July 2006.
- 59
Dr Anna Eva Budura, op. cit.
- 60
Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, op. cit., vol. II, p. 63.
- 61
Ibid., vol. I, p. 254.
- 62
Ibid., vol. II, p. 64.
- 63
Ibid., vol. I, p. 214.
- 64
Ibid., p. 255.
- 65
Oliver Velescu, Adrian Corvatescu, ‘A monument in the west of the country: Bezdin Monastery’, in Bulletin of Historical Monuments XLI (1972), no. 1, pp. 49–58.
- 66
Longhin I. Oprișa, ‘An ancient monument of Romanian art in Banat: Săraca Monastery’, in Mitropolia Banatului XIX (1969), nos. 7–9, pp. 429–435.
- 67
Prof. Victor Brătulescu, op. cit., p. 594.
- 68
Ibid., p. 254.
- 69
Cosmin Zamfirache, ‘A unique discovery: what the oldest Christian church in Moldova looked like. It was found in the middle of a veritable “city of the dead”’, in Adevărul (30 May 2015).
- 70
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, Bolnița Bistriței. A Hesychast Monastery – 14th century, The Holy Monastery of Bistrița, 2012, p. 31.
- 71
Ovidiu Drâmba, A History of Culture and Civilisation, vol. 3, Bucharest, 1990, p. 354.
- 72
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 205.
- 73
Ion Barnea, ‘Christianity in Scythia Minor as evidenced by inscriptions’, in Studii Teologice. Vol. VI, No. 1–2 (1954), p. 96.
- 74
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 60.
- 75
Ibid., p. 61.
- 76
W. Pape, G. Benseler, Pape-Benseler, Dictionary of Greek Proper Names (reprint of the third edition), Vol. I, Graz, 1959, p. 301; cf. Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 61.
- 77
Greek Inscriptions Found in Bulgaria. Edited by Georgi Mihailov; see Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 61.
- 78
D. Tudor, ‘Antiquities from Scythia Minor in the Maria Istrati Capșa Collection at the “Palatul Cultural” Museum in Turnu Severin’, in Analele Dobrogei 16 (1935), pp. 31–32.
- 79
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 120.
- 80
Ion Barnea, ‘Christianity in Scythia Minor according to inscriptions’, in Studii Teologice VI, no. 1–2 (1954), p. 75.
- 81
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 62, no. 27.
- 82
Ernestus Diehl, Inscriptiones latines christianae vetres, Berlin, 1925–1931, vol. III, p. 122.
- 83
H. Leclercq, Manuel d’archéologie chrétienne depuis les origines jusqu’au VIIIe siècle, Paris, 1907, vol. II, pp. 368–369.
- 84
Ion Barnea, op. cit., p. 101.
- 85
Ibid., ‘Unpublished Early Christian Inscriptions in Tomis’, in Revista Pontica. Yearbook of the Museum of National History and Archaeology, Constanța 7 (1974), pp. 376–380.
- 86
Sources of Romanian History, Vol. II, Bucharest, 1970, pp. 704–707.
- 87
Ion Barnea, op. cit., p. 105.
- 88
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 121.
- 89
Ibid., p. 163.
- 90
Vasile Pârvan, ‘The Wall of the City of Tomis’, in Annals of the Romanian Academy. Proceedings of the Historical Section, Series II, vol. XXXVII, Bucharest, 1915, pp. 419–421.
- 91
Dietrich Claude, ‘The Byzantine City in the 6th Century’, in Byzantinisches Archiv, Issue 13, Munich, 1969, pp. 139–140.
- 92
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 156.
- 93
Ion Barnea, op. cit., pp. 94–95.
- 94
J. D. Mansi, Acta concil., VIII, 481; cf. Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 98.
- 95
Emilian Popescu, ‘Contributions to the historical geography of the Balkan Peninsula in the 5th–8th centuries AD’, in Dacia, New Series, XIII (1969), p. 411.
- 96
Ion Barnea, op. cit., p. 100.
- 97
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 81.
- 98
Ion Barnea, op. cit., pp. 89–90.
- 99
Hanton, ‘Explanatory Lexicon of the Collection of Greek Christian Inscriptions from Asia Minor’, in Byzantion, 4 (1927/1928), pp. 63–64.
- 100
Ion Barnea, op. cit., p. 67.
- 101
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 170.
- 102
Ibid., p. 209.
- 103
Ibid., p. 165.
- 104
Ibid., p. 140.
- 105
Ibid., p. 137.
- 106
Ion Barnea, ‘The Relations of the Province of Scythia Minor with Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt’, in Pontica, 5 (1972), p. 257.
- 107
Emilian Popescu, op. cit., p. 85.
- 108
Ibid., p. 171.
- 109
Emilian Popescu, ‘Archaeological Discoveries at Lazu, Constanța County’, in Studii Clasice VII (1965), pp. 251–261.
- 110
Ibid., Inscriptions…, p. 194.
- 111
Petre Diaconu, ‘On the Location of Vicina’, in Pontica 3 (1970), p. 291.
- 112
Anonymus, Gesta Hungarorum, Mentor, Bucharest, 2000.
- 113
Ibid., p. 95.
- 114
Ștefan Pascu, Mircea Rusu, ‘The Fortress of Dăbâca’, in Magazin Istoric I (1967), no. 8, p. 5.
- 115
Rev. Prof. Dr Mircea Păcurariu, History of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1980, vol. 1, p. 205.
- 116
Ibid., p. 275.
- 117
G. Mihăilă, Studies in Linguistics and Philology, Facla Publishers, Timișoara, 1981, p. 10.
- 118
René Bustan, Relationships from the Perspective of European Integration, p. 71.
- 119
Ioan Aurel Pop, A History of Medieval Transylvania, published by Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 1997.
- 120
Stelian Brezeanu, A History of Byzantium, Meronia, Bucharest, 2005, p. 191.
- 121
Valer Hossu, The Nobility of Chioar, Napoca Star, 2003, pp. 8–9.
- 122
Alexandru Madgearu, Romanians in the Work of the Anonymous Notary, Cluj-Napoca, 2001, p. 143.
- 123
H. Gelzer, ‘Unpublished and little-known’
- 124
Imre Henszlmann, ‘Archaeological Findings at Csandra’, in Archaeological Findings Vol. VIII (Vol. VI of the series), Vest MDCCCLXXI, p. 16, cf. Rev. Dr G. Cotoșman, ‘The Roman Basilica with Baptistery at Urbs Morisena’, in BOR LXXXVI (1968), nos. 5–6, p. 473, note 39. During the archaeological excavations (1868) at Cenad, three basilicas were discovered; one of which was probably the Church of St John the Baptist belonging to the Orthodox monastery, measuring approximately 71 Viennese feet in length, cf. Rev. Dr G. Cotoșman, op. cit., p. 472.
- 125
Coloman Juhász, The Diocese of Tschanad-Temesvar in the Early Middle Ages, pp. 42–62; cf. the same author, p. 472, note 26.
- 126
The Legend of Saint Gerhard, chap. 8, ed. Emericus Szentrétery, Scriptores rerum Hungaricorum II, p. 493; Dr Coloman Juhász, Die Stifte der Tschanader Diozese im Mittelalter, Münster in Westphalia, 1927, pp. 63, 65, cf. Ibid., p. 471, note 24.
- 127
Paul Lazăr Tonciulescu, From Țara Luanei to Ieud, Bucharest, 1998.
- 128
C. Suciu, Historical Dictionary of the Localities of Transylvania, vol. II, Bucharest, 1968, p. 288.
- 129
Eugen Stănescu, ‘The Vlachs in the Byzantine Empire’, in Magazin Istoric XI (1977), no. 2, (119), p. 22.
- 130
C. Suciu, op. cit., p. 185.
- 131
Constantin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, op. cit., vol. I, p. 255.
- 132
Lucian Chițescu, ‘Negru Vodă – Seneslau?’, in Magazin Istoric X (1976), no. 10 (115), p. 6.
- 133
Radu Popa, ‘Litovoi, a voivode amongst the cnezi’, in Magazin Istoric X (1976), no. 4 (109), p. 6.
- 134
Lucian Chițescu, op. cit., p. 9.
- 135
Dinu V. Rosetti, ‘The Cetățeni Archaeological Site’, in Archaeological Materials and Research VIII (1962), pp. 73–88.
- 136
Radu Popa, op. cit., p. 5; Lucian Chițescu, op. cit., p. 6.
- 137
The Battle of Posada. The feudal state of Wallachia, in www.istorielocala.ro, (18 September 2012).
- 138
Stolen History, A Romanian Chronicle of Ancient History, Karuna Publishers, Bistrița, March 2013.
- 139
N. Iorga, The History of the Romanian People, edited by Georgeta Penelea, Bucharest, 1985, p. 210.
- 140
Ibid., p. 228, note 9.
- 141
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, ‘Posada 1330. Locating the Battle on the Basis of Medieval Documents’, in Cultura Vâlceană. Journal of cultural analysis and information, Vol. VIII, No. 112, July 2015, p. 11, cols. 1–3; p. 12, cols. 1–3.
- 142
Patriarch Callistus of Constantinople, op. cit., p. 164.
- 143
Saint Maximus the Hut-Burner, a Hesychast and man of vision filled with the Holy Spirit from the Holy Mountain (c. 1280–1375). Translated into Romanian by Deacon Ioan I. Ică Jr., Deisis Publishers, Sibiu, 2004, pp. 49–50.
- 144
Petre Ș. Năsturel, Mount Athos and the Romanians: A Study of their Relations from the Mid-14th Century to 1654, ‘Orientalia Christiana Analecta’ series, no. 227, Rome, 1986, p. 31.
- 145
Ibid., p. 30 and note 3.
- 146
Prof. Victor Brătulescu, op. cit., p. 595.
- 147
Saint Maximus the Hut-Burner…, pp. 49–50.
- 148
Fr. D. Stăniloae, ‘Saint Gregory of Sinai: His Life’, in Romanian Philokalia, vol. VII, Bucharest, 1977, pp. 76–84.
- 149
Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, ‘The Relations between Saint Nicodimus of Tismana and the Hesychast Monastery of Bistrița-Vâlcea’, in Vorba Noastră. The Journal of Romanians in the Balkans. Scientific research, history, spirituality, cultural dialogue, 3 (4)/2012, pp. 42–49.