View source for Bogomilism

{{short description|10th Century Bulgarian neo-Gnostic sect}}

{{Gnosticism}}
'''Bogomilism''' ({{langx|bg|богомилство|bogomilstvo}}; {{langx|mk|богомилство|bogomilstvo}}; {{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|separator=" / "|bogumilstvo|богумилство}}) was a [[Christian Gnosticism|Christian neo-Gnostic]], [[Dualistic cosmology|dualist]] [[sect]] founded in the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] by the priest [[Bogomil (priest)|Bogomil]] during the reign of [[Peter I of Bulgaria|Tsar Peter I]] in the 10th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnggrHo-dqUC&pg=PA108 |title=Heresy and authority in medieval Europe: documents in translation, Middle Ages University of Pennsylvania Press Middle ages series |first=Edward |last=Peters |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|year=1980 |isbn=0-8122-1103-0 |page=108}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbS9QmwDC58C&pg=PA172 |title=The early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century |first=John |last=Van Antwerp Fine |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|year=1991 |isbn=0-472-08149-7 |page=171}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ylz4fe7757cC&pg=PA19 |title=A concise history of Bulgaria, Cambridge concise histories |first=R. J. |last=Crampton |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, England|year=2005 |isbn=0-521-61637-9 |pages=18–19}}</ref> It most likely arose in the region of [[Kutmichevitsa]], today part of the [[Macedonia (region)|region of Macedonia]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jv6jcwjW9WUC&pg=PA272 |title=Byzantium and the Slavs |first=Dimitri |last=Obolensky |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |location=Yonkers, New York|year=1994 |page=272|isbn=9780881410082 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IClyyZeTdpUC&pg=PA7 |title=Bosnia and Herzegovina |first=Michael |last=Schuman |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |location=Yonkers, New York|year=2004 |page=7|isbn=9780816050529 }}</ref>

The Bogomils were [[Dualism in cosmology|dualists]] or [[Gnostics]] in that they believed in a world within the body and a world outside the body. They did not use the [[Christian cross]], nor build [[church (building)|churches]], as they revered their gifted form and considered their body to be the temple. This gave rise to many forms of practice to cleanse the body through [[fasting]] or dancing.

The Bogomils rejected the [[Ecclesiology|ecclesiastical hierarchy]]. Their primary political tendencies were resistance to the state and church authorities. This helped the movement spread quickly in the [[Balkans]], gradually expanding throughout the [[Byzantine Empire]] and later reaching [[Kievan Rus']], [[Dalmatia]], [[Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Bosnia|Bosnia]], [[Italy]], and [[France]] ([[Cathars]]).

== Etymology ==
The term ''Bogomil'' in [[free translation]] means "dear to God", and is a compound of the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] words for "god" ([[Common Slavic]]: [[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Slavic/bogъ|*bogъ]]) and "dear" (Common Slavic: *milъ). It may be also a translation of the Greek name ''Theophilos'', literally "dear to God; loved by the gods," from ''theos'' "god" + ''philos'' "loved, beloved". It is difficult to ascertain whether the name was taken from the reputed founder of that movement, the priest [[Bogomil (priest)|Bogomil]], or whether he assumed that name after it had been given to the sect itself. The word is an [[Old Church Slavonic]] [[calque]] of ''Massaliani'', the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] name of the sect corresponding to the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[Euchites]]. The Bogomils are identified with the [[Messalians]] in Greek and Slavonic documents from the 12th–14th centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wolski |first1=Jan |title=Autoproscoptae, Bogomils and Messalians in the 14th Century Bulgaria |journal=Studia Ceranea |date=2014 |volume=4 |pages=234–238 |doi=10.18778/2084-140X.04.15 |url=https://www.academia.edu/12120359|doi-access=free |hdl=11089/10098 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=EB1911/>

The members are referred to as ''Babuni'' in [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]] documents, which originally meant "superstition; superstitious person" (Common Slavic: ''[[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Slavic/babonъ|*babonъ, *babunъ *babona]]''). Toponyms which retain the name include the river Babuna, the mountain [[Babuna (mountain)|Babuna]], the [[Bogomila Waterfall]] and village [[Bogomila]], all in the [[Azot (region)|region of Azot]], today in central [[North Macedonia]], suggesting that the movement was very active in the region.<ref name='obolensky1'>{{cite book |last= Obolensky |first= Dimitry|title= The Bogomils: A study in Balkan Neo-Manicheism |year= 1948|publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|isbn= 0-521-58262-8}}</ref><ref name='czech'>{{cite book |last= Loos |first= Milan|title= Dualist heresy in the Middle Ages |year= 1974|publisher= [[Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences]]}}</ref>

==Sources==
{{main|Treatise Against the Bogomils}}
Much of their literature has been [[Lost literary work|lost]] or [[Book burning|destroyed]] by the contemporary [[Christian Churches]]. The earliest description of the Bogomils is in a letter from Patriarch Theophylact of Bulgaria to [[Peter I of Bulgaria]]. The main source of doctrinal information is the work of [[Euthymius Zigabenus]], who says that they believe that God created man's soul but matter was the invention of [[Satan]], God's older son, who in seducing [[Eve]] lost his creative power.<ref name=pachomius>[http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Xbogomil.html "Bogomils" at St. Pachomius Library]</ref> Concerning the Bogomils, something can be gathered from the [[polemic]] ''[[Against the Newly-Appeared Heresy of the Bogomils]]'' written in [[Old Church Slavonic|Slavonic]] by [[Cosmas the Priest]], a 10th-century Bulgarian official. The old Slavonic lists of forbidden books of the 15th and 16th century also give us a clue to the discovery of this heretical literature and of the means the Bogomils employed to carry on their teachings. Much may also be learned from the doctrines of the numerous variations of Bogomilism which spread in Medieval [[Kievan Rus']] after the 11th century.<ref name=EB1911/>

==History==
===Paulicians===
{{main|Paulicianism}}
One of the earliest Christian dualist sects, [[Marcionism]], originated in Armenia (in the eastern part of present Turkey).<ref>Ehrman, Bart D. ''Lost Christianities: The battles for scripture and the faiths we never knew''. Oxford University Press, 2005.</ref> The church Marcion himself established appeared to die out around the 5th century, although similarities between Marcionism and [[Paulicianism]], a sect in the same geographical area, indicate that Marcionist elements may have survived.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koester |first=Helmut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZQgAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=History and Literature of Early Christianity |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-081265-7 |language=en}}</ref> Paulicianism began in the mid-7th century, when [[Constantine-Silvanus|Constantine of Mananalis]], basing his message solely on his personal interpretation of the New Testament, began to teach that there were two gods: a good god who had made men's souls, and an evil god who had created the entire physical universe including the human body. His followers, who became known as [[Paulicians]], were not marked by extreme deviance in lifestyle compared to contemporaries, despite their belief that the world was evil, and were renowned as good fighting men.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/dualist.htm |title=Hamilton, Janet and Bernard, ''Christian dualist heresies in the Byzantine world, c. 650–c. 1450'' |access-date=2018-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527121532/http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/dualist.htm |archive-date=2011-05-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

However, it is not certain that the Paulicians were Dualistic, as in the Key of Truth it is said that: "The Paulicians are not dualists in any other sense than the New Testament is itself dualistic. Satan is simply the adversary of man and God".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Conybeare|first=Frederick|title=The Key of Truth. A Manual of the Paulician Church of Armenia}}</ref>

In 970, the Byzantine emperor [[John I Tzimiskes]] transplanted 200,000 Armenian Paulicians to Europe and settled them in the neighbourhood of Philippopolis (today's [[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria). Under Byzantine and then later Ottoman rule, the Armenian Paulicians lived in relative safety in their ancient stronghold near [[Plovdiv|Philippopolis]], and further northward. Linguistically, they were assimilated into the [[Bulgarians]], by whom they were called ''pavlikiani'' (the [[Byzantine Greek]] word for Paulician). In 1650, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] gathered them into its fold. Fourteen villages near [[Nikopol, Bulgaria|Nicopolis]], in [[Moesia]], embraced Catholicism, as well as the villages around Philippopolis. A colony of Paulicians in the Wallachian village of {{Interlanguage link|Cioplea|ro}} near [[Bucharest]] also followed the example of their brethren across the [[Danube]].<ref name=EB1911/>

===Origins===
This [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] social-religious movement and doctrine originated in the time of [[Peter I of Bulgaria]] (927–969), seen in the modern day as a reaction against state and clerical oppression of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Byzantine church]]. In spite of all measures of repression, it remained strong and popular until the fall of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]] in the end of the 14th century. Bogomilism was an outcome of many factors that had arisen in the beginning of the 10th century, most probably in the region of Macedonia. It was also strongly influenced by the [[Paulicians]] who had been driven out of [[Armenia]].

=== Spread of Bogomilism in the Balkans ===
[[File:Nemanjin sabor.jpg|thumb|[[Nemanja's Council against Bogomilism]], organized by [[Stefan Nemanja]]. Fresco from 1290]]
[[File:Slavic Bogomil Cemetery in Chalkidona, Thessaloniki.jpg|thumb|Bogomil cemetery in [[Chalkidona]] (near [[Thessaloniki]]), [[Greece]]<ref>Nikolaos Economidis, "Bogomil Remains Near Thessaloniki", Christian Archaeological Society, ''Eighth Symposium on Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Archeology and Art'', Athens, 1988, pp. 73–74</ref> ]]

Slav peasantry in parts of Bulgaria were very likely the first to come into in closer contact with Bogomilism and the young Bulgarian church was aware of the danger. [[Pope Nicholas I]] warns [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] of the danger of false teachings but he was not specific about heresy as such. Bogomilism was a native Slavic sect from the middle of the 10th century that began to flourish while the [[Theophylact of Constantinople]] warned [[Peter I of Bulgaria|Peter I]] against this new heresy.<ref>Alexis P. Vlasto; (1970) ''The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs'' pp. 228–229; Cambridge University, {{ISBN|0521074592}}</ref>
The Bogomils spread westwards and settled in [[Serbia]], where they were to be known as Babuns (''Babuni''). At the end of the 12th century, [[Serbian Grand Prince]] [[Stefan Nemanja]] and the Serbian council deemed Bogomilism a [[heresy]], and expelled them from the country. Large numbers, the majority of whom were of Vlach origin, took refuge in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] and [[Dalmatia]] where they were known under the name of Patarenes (''Patareni'').<ref name=EB1911/> A remarkable number of necropolises are found in this part of the Balkans, conveying an exceptional testimony to medieval European artistic and archaeological heritage. The majority of these necropolises with decorated tombstones belonged to Bogomil Vlachs.<ref>Esad Kurtović, Vlachs and Stećak Tombstones, „Reflections on Life and Society in the Western Balkans. Studies in the History of Bosnia and Herzegovina", Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy (History, History of Art, Archeology), Volume 7, Number 2, Special issue, Sarajevo 2020, 59–71.</ref><ref>Octavian Ciobanu, "The Role of the Vlachs in the Bogomils' Expansion in the Balkans", ''Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies'' Year 4, Issue 7, December 2021, pp. 11–32.</ref>

In the time of [[Samuel of Bulgaria|Samuel]], Bogomilism spread into Serbia and Bosnia. The most active area became west Bosnia, centred on the valley of the [[Bosna (river)|River Bosna]]. In the province of Hum (modern [[Herzegovina]]) the Bogomils were also strong, in the cities of [[Split, Croatia|Split]] and [[Trogir]] Bogomils were numerous but later they took refuge in Bosnia.<ref>Alexis P. Vlasto; (1970) ''The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs'' p. 231; Cambridge University, {{ISBN|0521074592}}</ref>
Providing refuge to those labeled heretics, including Bogomils, was a recurrent pretext for Hungarian rulers to declare [[crusades against Bosnia]] and extend their influence in the region. A first Hungarian complaint to the Pope was averted by the public abjuration of the Bosnian ruler [[Ban Kulin]], whose sister was married to [[Miroslav of Hum]], in 1203.<ref>Thierry Mudry, ''Histoire de la Bosnie-Herzégovine faits et controverses'', Éditions Ellipses, 1999 (chapitre 2: La Bosnie médiévale p. 25 à 42 et chapitre 7 : La querelle historiographique p. 255 à 265). Dennis P. Hupchick et Harold E. Cox, Les Balkans Atlas Historique, Éditions Economica, Paris, 2008, p. 34</ref> A second Hungarian crusade against Bosnia on the pretext of Bogomil heresy was launched in 1225, but failed. In 1254, rebelling against the Papal order to accept a Hungarian bishop, the [[Bosnian Church]] chose the schism. In the following centuries, the Bosnian Church and the heretic sect of the Bogomils came to be identified with each other, due to the scarcity of documents after the Ottoman conquest.<ref>The issue of the false Bogomil hypothesis is accurately dealt with by Noel Malcolm (''Bosnia. A Short History'') as well as by John V.A. Fine (in Mark Pinson, ''The Bosnian Muslims'')</ref>

In 1203, [[Pope Innocent III]], with the aid of the King of Hungary, forced an agreement of Kulin to acknowledge Papal authority and religion, but in practice this was ignored. On the death of Kulin in 1216, a mission was sent to convert Bosnia to Rome, but it failed. In 1234, the [[Bishop of Bosnia|Catholic Bishop of Bosnia]] was removed by Pope Gregory IX for allowing heretical practices.<ref>Malcolm Lambert, ''Medieval Heresy:Popular Movements from Bogomil to Hus'', (Edward Arnold Ltd, 1977), 143.</ref> In addition, Gregory called on the Hungarian king to crusade against the heretics.<ref>''Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, c. 650–c. 1450'', ed. Janet Hamilton, Bernard Hamilton, Yuri Stoyanov, (Manchester University Press, 1998), 48–49.</ref>In November 1234, Pope Gregory IX asked Prince Coloman, Lord of Slavonia (brother of the Hungarian king Bela IV), to destroy the heretics.<ref>Smiciklas: Codex Diplomaticus Croatiae Dalmatiae et Hanoniae. and Karácsonyi, János: Magyarország egyháztörténete főbb vonásaiban 970-től 1900-ig (Nagyvárad, 1915) [History of the Hungarian Church 970-1900] </ref> He led a crusade into Bosnia. However, Bosnian nobles were able to expel the Hungarians.<ref>Malcolm Lambert, ''Medieval Heresy:Popular Movements from Bogomil to Hus'', 143.</ref>

In 1252, Pope [[Innocent IV]] decided to put Bosnia's bishop under the Hungarian Kalocsa Archbishopry's jurisdiction. Such decision provoked the schism of the Bosnian Christians, who refused to submit to the Hungarians and broke off their relations with Rome.<ref>Mudry 1999; Hupchick and Cox 2008</ref> In that way, an autonomous Bosnian Church came into being, in which some later saw a Bogomil or Cathar Church, while in reality no trace of Bogomilism, [[cathars|Catharism]] or [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]] can be found in the original documents of the Bosnian ''Krstjani,'' as they called themselves.<ref>The issue of the false Bogomil hypothesis is accurately dealt with by [[Noel Malcolm]] (''Bosnia. A Short History'') as well as by John V.A. Fine (in Mark Pinson, ''The Bosnian Muslims'')</ref>

It was not until Pope Nicholas' Bull "''Prae cunctis''" in 1291 that the Dominican-led inquisition was imposed on Bosnia.<ref>Biller, Peter, Caterina Bruschi, and Shelagh Sneddon, eds. ''Inquisitors and heretics in thirteenth-century Languedoc'': edition and translation of Toulouse inquisition depositions, 1273–1282. Brill, 2010. 43.</ref> The Inquisition reported the existence of a dualist sect in Bosnia in the late 15th century and called them "Bosnian heretics", but this sect was most likely not the same as the [[Bosnian Church]].

Bogomilism was eradicated in Bulgaria, [[Rascia (region)|Rascia]] (a Serbian medieval state) and Byzantium in the 13th century, but some smaller elements survived in [[Hum (region)|Hum]] (present day Herzegovina) and Bosnia<ref>Noel Malcolm, Bosnia:Short history, John A. Fine "Late medieval Balkan...." H</ref> until the Ottoman Empire gained control of the region in 1463. Some scholars, who sought certain ideological backgrounds and justifications for their political narratives, argue that both Catholics and Orthodox persecuted the Bogomils as heretics and according to them, the pressures drew Bosnia to Bogomilism. It has purportedly been said that, with the introduction of Ottoman rule, Bosnians were often more likely to convert to Islam since some of them were not adherents of either the Roman Catholic or Serb Orthodox churches.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} However, these claims have been rejected by some as an anachronism from the Austro-Hungarian era.<ref>John A. Fine – The Late Medieval Balkans</ref><ref>Noel Malcolm – Bosnia: A Short History</ref>

From Bosnia, their influence extended into Italy ([[Piedmont (Italy)|Piedmont]]). The Hungarians undertook many crusades against the heretics in Bosnia, but towards the close of the 15th century, the conquest of that country by the Turks put an end to their persecution. Few or no remnants of Bogomilism have survived in Bosnia. The Ritual in Slavonic, written by the Bosnian Radoslav, and published in vol. xv. of the ''Starine of the South Slavonic Academy at Agram'', shows great resemblance to the [[Cathar]] ritual published by Cunitz, 1853.<ref>[[Franjo Rački]], "Bogomili i Paternai" in ''[[Rad (journal)|Rad]]'', vols. vii., viii. and x. (Zagreb, 1870)</ref><ref>Dollinger, Beiträge zur Ketzergeschichte des Mittelalters, 2 vols. (Munich, 1890).</ref>

There are still over ten thousand Banat Bulgarians in [[Banat]] today in the villages of [[Dudeştii Vechi]], [[Vinga, Arad|Vinga]], [[Denta|Breştea]] and also in the city of [[Timișoara]], with a few in [[Arad, Romania|Arad]]; however, they no longer practice Bogomilism, having converted to [[Roman Catholicism]]. There are also a few villages of Paulicians in the Serbian part of [[Banat]], especially the villages of [[Ivanovo, Serbia|Ivanovo]] and Belo Blato, near [[Pančevo]].

=== Social factors ===
The gradual Christianization of the Bulgarian population, the fact that the service was initially practiced in Greek, which only the elite knew, resulted in a low level of understanding of the religion among the peasantry. Due to the constant wars during the time of Tsar [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I]], the lands near the Byzantine border ([[Thrace]]) were devastated, and the people living there were left without occupation. The constant change of authority over these lands, and the higher taxes during the time of Tsar Peter I, gave birth to a great social discontent at the beginning of the 10th century. Moreover, the corruption of the church as an institution led to grave disappointment among its recently converted flock.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}

=== Religious factors ===
The existence of older Christian heresies in the Bulgarian lands ([[Manichaeism]] and [[Paulicianism]]), which were considered very [[Dualistic cosmology|dualistic]], influenced the Bogomil movement. Manichaeism's origin is related to [[Zoroastrianism]]; that is why Bogomilism is sometimes indirectly connected to Zoroastrianism in the sense of its duality.

=== Connections to the royal court ===
Most probably, as [[Samuil of Bulgaria]] revolted against the Byzantine Empire, he relied on the popular support of the movement. There are no sources of Bogomil persecution during his reign (976–1014).<ref name='obolensky1' />

== Doctrine ==

{{columns-start}}
{{blockquote|<poem>{{slavonic|cu-Cyrs|оучѧтъ же своꙗ си не повиновати сѧ властелемъ своимъ
хоулѧще богатꙑѩ
царь ненавидѧтъ
рѫгаѭтъ сѧ старѣишинамъ
оукарꙗѭтъ болꙗрꙑ
мрьꙁькꙑ богоу мьнѧтъ работаѭщѧѩ цѣсарю
и вьсꙗкомоу рабоу не велѧтъ работати господиноу своѥмоу}}</poem>}}
{{column}}
{{blockquote|<poem>{{lang|cu-Latn|učętŭ že svoja si ne povinovati sę vlastelemŭ svoimŭ
xulęšte bogatyję
carĭ nenavidętŭ
rǫgajǫtŭ sę starěišinamŭ
ukarjajǫtŭ boljary
mrĭzĭky bogu mĭnętŭ rabotajǫštęję cěsarju
i vĭsjakomu rabu ne velętŭ rabotati gospodinu svojemu}}</poem>}}
{{columns-end}}
{{blockquote|They teach their followers not to obey their masters; they scorn the rich, they hate the Tsars, they ridicule their superiors, they reproach the [[boyar]]s, they believe that God looks in horror on those who labour for the Tsar, and advise every serf not to work for his master.<ref>[https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/6582?show=full Cosmas Presbyter: Homily Against the Bogumils]</ref>|[[Cosmas the Priest]], ''[[Treatise Against the Bogomils]]''}}

From the imperfect and conflicting data that is available, three possible conclusions could be drawn, namely that the Bogomils may have been [[gnostic]]s, [[adoptionist]]s or [[Dualism (cosmology)|dualist]]s.<ref name=EB1911/>

Their dualism was initially moderate (or "monarchian"): according to their teachings, God created and rules the spiritual part of the world, and Satan the material, but Satan is ultimately inferior to God and his side by virtue of being God's son.<ref name=Yuri>{{cite book|author=Yuri Stoyanov|title=The Other God: Dualist Religions from Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy|date=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-03-000825-3-1|language= es}}</ref> However, Bogomils were not quite free from the absolute dualism of [[Manichaeism]] and [[Paulicianism]], and over time adopted an absolute position too, believing God and Satan as eternal opponents, similar to the one maintained by the posterior [[Cathars]].<ref name=Yuri/>

Their adoptionist teaching apparently came from [[Paul of Samosata]] (though at a later period the name of Paul was believed to be that of the Apostle). They rejected the Christianity of the Orthodox churches, though did not accept the [[docetic]] teaching of some of the other gnostic sects.<ref name=EB1911/> They also opposed established forms of government and church, alike to later [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchist]] beliefs.

In the Bogomil and Cathar text ''[[Book of the Secret Supper|The Secret Supper]]'' Jesus calls God his father and it says that Mary received Jesus through the Holy Spirit.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cathar Texts: Interrogatio Johannis (The Book of John the Evangelist)|url=http://gnosis.org/library/Interrogatio_Johannis.html|access-date=2021-07-19|publisher=gnosis.org}}</ref>

Bogomils have been accused of believing that John the Baptist comes from Satan in the [[Book of Boril]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Book of Boril}}</ref>

Supporters of the [[Baptist successionism]] theory argue that allegations of Bogomil doctrines are largely false, due to most sources being hostile.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hisel|first=Berlin|title=Baptist History Notebook|quote=Their historians claimed for them the greatest antiquity. Dr. L.P. Brockett, who wrote a history of them says: 'Among these (historians of the Bulgarians) I have found, often in unexpected quarters, the most conclusive evidence that these sects were all, during their early history, Baptists}}</ref>

===Source texts===
Possible source texts for Bogomil doctrine include:
* The Bulgarian priest [[Jeremiah (Bulgarian priest)|Jeremiah]]'s "[[Tale of the Cross Tree|The Story of the Cross-tree]]" and "The Prayer Against Fever"<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Popovich |first=Thomas S. |year=1994 |orig-year=1993 |title=Jeremija the Presbyter and His Role in Medieval Slavic Literature |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/d826b7bc129ee43c69d6c6f081091864/1 |type=Ph.D. |location=New York | publisher = Columbia University |oclc=34755069 |access-date=16 October 2022|id={{ProQuest|<!-- Add ProQuest ID data here --> }} | quote = ...texts ascribed to him: 'The Story of the Cross-tree' and 'The Prayer Against Fever,' two genuine Bogomil texts providing a clear understanding of the basic tenets of the Bogomil heretical movement of the tenth-eleventh centuries.}}</ref>
* [[Book of the Secret Supper]],<ref name=Quis/> which was wrongly described by inquisitors as similar to the [[Apocryphon of John]]<ref name=Quis>{{Citation | first = Gilles | last = Quispel | author-link = Gilles Quispel | editor-first = Johannes | editor-last = Oort | title = Gnostica, Judaica, Catholica: collected essays | page = 11 | year = 2008 | quote = Die Interrogatio Johannis, eine der wenigen authentischen Quellen über die Katharer, die also nicht von den Inquisitoren der römischen Kirche stammt, besitzt dieselbe Form und denselben Inhalt wie das Apokryphon des Johannes.}}</ref>
* [[Ascension of Isaiah|Vision of Isaiah]] (according to [[Euthymius Zigabenus]])<ref>{{Citation | first = Michael C | last = Thomsett | title = The Inquisition: A History | year = 2010 | page = 48 | quote = Early Bogomil texts included The Secret Supper (or, The Book of St. John) and The Vision of Isaiah. These both appeared around 1170, originally in Greek and later translated into Latin. In The Secret Supper, the Bogomil theology is laid...}}</ref><ref>{{citation | first = Christopher | last = Tyerman | author-link = Christopher Tyerman|title = God's war: a new history of the Crusades | page = 573 | year = 2006 | quote = This distinct 'Latin' dualist community probably provided western converts with Latin translations of the Greek Bogomil texts including the consolamentum ritual and the New Testament, collated with the Vulgate.}}</ref>

Bogomils accepted the four Gospels, fourteen [[Pauline epistles|Epistles of Paul]], the three Epistles of [[Epistle of John|John]], [[Epistle of James|James]], [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]], and an [[Epistle to the Laodiceans]], which they professed to have. They sowed the seeds of a rich, popular religious literature in the East as well as the West. The Historiated Bible, the [[Carta dominica|Letter from Heaven]], the Wanderings through Heaven and Hell, the numerous Adam and Cross legends, the religious poems of the "Kalēki perehozhie" and other similar productions owe their dissemination to a large extent to the activity of the Bogomils of Bulgaria, and their successors in other lands.<ref name=EB1911/> The Bogomils also made use of many apocryphal writings, such as [[Apocalypse of Abraham]], [[2 Enoch]], and the [[Vision of Isaiah]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-11-03|title=The "Other" Lost Scriptures|url=https://aleteia.org/2015/11/03/the-other-lost-scriptures/|access-date=2021-11-13|website=Aleteia – Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture|language=en}}</ref>

=== Cosmology ===
In their original Monarchian dualist story, Bogomils taught that God had two sons, the elder [[Satanail]] and the younger [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]].<ref name=EB1911/> Satanail rebelled against the father and became an evil spirit. He created the lower heavens and the Earth and tried in vain to create man, though in the end he had to appeal to God for the Spirit. After creation, [[Adam]] was allowed to till the ground on condition that he sold himself and his posterity to the owner of the Earth, Satanail.

In order to free Adam and his offspring, Michael was sent in the form of a man, becoming identified with [[Jesus Christ]], and was "[[Adoptionism|elected]]" by God after the baptism in the Jordan. When the Holy Ghost appeared in the shape of the dove, Jesus received power to break the covenant in the form of a clay tablet (''hierographon'') held by Satanail from Adam. He had now become the angel Michael in a human form, and as such he vanquished Satanail, and deprived him of the suffix ''il'' (meaning ''God''), in which his power resided. Satanail was thus transformed into Satan. However, through Satan's machinations the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]] took place, and Satan was the originator of the whole [[Orthodoxy#Christianity|Orthodox]] community with its churches, vestments, ceremonies, sacraments and fasts, with its monks and priests. This world being the work of Satan, the perfect must eschew any and every excess of its pleasure, though not so far as asceticism.<ref name=EB1911/>

They held the "Lord's Prayer" in high respect as the most potent weapon against Satan, and had a number of conjurations against "evil spirits". Each community had its own twelve "apostles", and women could be raised to the rank of "elect". The Bogomils wore garments like those of [[Mendicant orders|mendicant friars]] and were known as enthusiastic missionaries, travelling far and wide to propagate their doctrines. Healing the sick and exorcising evil spirits, they traversed different countries and spread their apocryphal literature along with some of the books of the Old Testament, deeply influencing the religious spirit of the nations and preparing them for the Reformation.<ref name=EB1911/>

=== Christology and the Trinity ===
For Bogomils, "the [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]] was not the [[God the Son|Second Person of the Blessed Trinity]], the [[incarnation|Eternal Word incarnate]], but merely the spoken word of God, shown in the oral teaching of Christ".<ref>''The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism'' p. 211 Dimitri Obolensky, 2004 "The Logos was for them not the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Word incarnate, but merely the spoken word of God, manifested in the oral teaching of Christ.* Hence the Bogomils taught that Christ was ..."</ref> Although Bogomils regarded themselves as "Trinitarian",<ref>''Contra Patarenos'' p. 39 Hugh Eteriano, Janet Hamilton, Sarah Hamilton, 2004 "He was aware that the Bogomils regarded themselves as Trinitarians: 'Do not be astonished, my brothers', he writes,'... when you hear them say that they believe in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that they keep the apostles and saints..."</ref> anathemas against Bogomils (circa 1027) charge Bogomils with rejection of the [[Trinity]].<ref>''Heresy in medieval France: dualism in Aquitaine and the Agenais'', Page 64 Claire Taylor, Royal Historical Society (Great Britain), 2005: "Anathemas against Bogomils were in use in the early decades of the eleventh century, contained in versions of the Synodikon of orthodoxy and included in a euchologion produced in 1027. They attest to Bogomil rejection of the Trinity"</ref> In the Bogomil and Cathar text ''"[[Book of the Secret Supper|The Secret Supper]]"'' the book starts with: "''In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cathar Texts: Interrogatio Johannis (The Book of John the Evangelist)|url=http://gnosis.org/library/Interrogatio_Johannis.html|access-date=2021-07-19|website=gnosis.org}}</ref>

=== Opposition to institutions and materialism ===
The [[Catholic Church]] considered Bogomilism a heresy due to the duality in the Bogomil cosmogony, wherein the earthly sinful corporeal life is a creation of Satan, an angel that was sent to Earth.<ref>{{cite CE1913 |first=Nicholas Aloysius |last=Weber |wstitle=Bogomili |volume=2}}</ref>

[[Strigolniki|Karp Strigolnik]], who in the 14th century preached the doctrine in [[Novgorod]], explained that St. Paul had taught that simpleminded men should instruct one another; therefore they elected their "teachers" from among themselves to be their spiritual guides, and had no special priests. There is a tradition that the Bogomils taught that prayers were to be said in private houses, not in separate buildings such as churches. Ordination was conferred by the congregation and not by any specially appointed minister. The congregation were the "elect", and each member could obtain the perfection of Christ and become a Christ or "Chlist". Marriage was not a sacrament. Bogomils refused to fast on Mondays and Fridays, and they rejected monasticism. They declared Christ to be the Son of God only through grace like other prophets, and that the bread and wine of the eucharist were not physically transformed into flesh and blood; that the last judgement would be executed by God and not by Jesus; that the images and the cross were idols and the veneration of saints and relics idolatry.<ref name=EB1911/>

These doctrines have survived in the great Russian sects, and can be traced back to the teachings and practice of the Bogomils. But in addition to these doctrines of an adoptionist origin, they held the Manichaean dualistic conception of the origin of the world. This has been partly preserved in some of their literary remains, and has taken deep root in the beliefs and traditions of Balkan nations with substantial Bogomil followings. The chief literature of all the heretical sects throughout the ages has been that of apocryphal Biblical narratives, and the popes Jeremiah or Bogumil are directly mentioned as authors of such forbidden books "which no orthodox dare read". Though these writings are mostly of the same origin as those from the older lists of apocryphal books, they underwent a modification at the hands of their Bogomil editors, so as to be useful for the propagation of their own specific doctrines.<ref name=EB1911/>

In its most simple and attractive form—invested with the authority of the reputed holy author—their account of the creation of the world and of man, the origin of sin and redemption, the history of the Cross, and the disputes between body and soul, right and wrong, heaven and hell, were embodied either in "Historiated Bibles" (Paleya) or in special dialogues held between Christ and his disciples, or between renowned Fathers of the Church who expounded these views in a simple manner adapted to the understanding of the people (Lucidaria).<ref name=EB1911/>

== Legacy ==
=== Link with later religious movements ===
The Bogomils were the connecting link between both Eastern and Western sects considered heretical. They were also the most active in disseminating "heretical" teachings in the Kievan Rus' and other [[Medieval Europe|European kingdoms]]. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Bogomils were already known in the West as "Cathars" or as "Bulgari", i.e. Bulgarians (българи). In 1207 the ''Bulgarorum heresis'' is mentioned.{{cn|date=April 2024}} In 1223, the [[Albigenses]] are declared to be the local Bougres, and in the same period mention is made of the "Pope of the Albigenses who resided within the confines of Bulgaria" (see also [[Nicetas, Bogomil bishop]]). Groups such as the [[Cathars]], [[Pataria|Patarenes]], [[Waldenses]], [[Anabaptists]], and the Russian [[Strigolniki]], and [[Spiritual Christians]], have all, at different times, been either identified with the Bogomils or closely linked with them, despite several being unrelated and/or non-dualistic.<ref name="EB1911" />

In the 14th century, when the [[Hesychast controversy]] broke out, the doctrine of [[hesychasm]] was accused of being a variant of Bogomilism by a section of Byzantine academics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Russell |title=Gregory Palamas and the making of Palamism in the Modern Age |publisher=[[Oxford University]] Press |year=2019 |chapter=1. The Orthodox struggle to assimilate Palamite thinking |doi=10.1093/oso/9780199644643.003.0001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meyendorff |first=John |author-link=John Meyendorff |date=1988 |title=Mount Athos in the Fourteenth Century: Spiritual and Intellectual Legacy. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291594?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents |journal=[[Dumbarton Oaks Papers]] |volume=42 |pages=157–165 |doi=10.2307/1291594 |jstor=1291594 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Considerable scholarly debate{{Vague|reason=Considerable is a subjective measurement of controversy. Among whom has it been debated? At what times?|date=November 2022}} has arisen about the exact relationship between dualist groups that arose in different times and places across medieval Europe, questioning whether it was indeed a single movement or belief system which was spread from one region to the next, or if it was multiple movements which arose independently across Europe. Furthering this confusion is that many medieval sources themselves, such as the 13th century Papal Inquisition in France, would often simply assume that all dualistic groups were directly connected to previous movements, regardless of location. Inquistors often described 13th century Cathars as a direct outgrowth of surviving Manichean dualists from previous centuries—though by the same logic, Inquisitors who encountered pagan religions on the edges of the Christian world (Such as those encountered in the [[Northern Crusades|Baltic Crusades]] or the [[Christianization of Ireland|missionary efforts in Ireland]]) would directly accuse non-Christians of worshiping "[[Apollo]] and [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]", simply applying previous terms and rhetoric to new contexts in which they didn't accurately apply. Thus medieval scholarship is divided over whether the "Cathars" actually were an offshoot of the "Bogomils", or if the 13th century Inquisition itself simply mistook or conflated "Cathars" for "Bogomils", due to their known tendency for conflation and confusion.

===In modern and popular culture===
In ''[[Foucault's Pendulum]]'', a novel by the [[Italians|Italian]] philosopher and writer [[Umberto Eco]], the plot concerning a widespread secret and mystic conspiracy has its ground in the disappearance of the Bogomils after the fall of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]] under the rule of the [[Ottoman Empire]].

''[[The Secret Book]]'' is a [[North Macedonia|Macedonian]] [[feature film]] combining the [[Detective fiction|detective]], [[Thriller film|thriller]] and [[conspiracy fiction]] genres, based on a fictional story of the quest for the original Slavic language "Secret Book", written by the Bogomils in Macedonia and carried to Western Europe during the Middle Ages.

A French (and, consequently, an English) word emerged based on twisted perceptions of the Bogomils by the Catholic Church. The words "bouguer" and "[[buggery]]" emerged, by way of the word "bougre" in French, from the [[Latin]] ''Bulgarus'' (Bulgarian). "Buggery" first appears in English in 1330 with the sense "abominable heresy", though "bugger" in a sexual sense is not recorded until 1555.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/24372?redirectedFrom=buggery#eid}}</ref> The ''Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology'' quotes a similar form—"bowgard" (and "bouguer"), but claims that the Bulgarians were heretics "as belonging to the Greek Church, sp. Albigensian". ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]'' gives the only meaning of the word "bugger" as sodomite, "from the adherence of the Bulgarians to the Eastern Church considered heretical".<ref>{{cite book |title=Bogomilism Study |url=http://www.bogomilism.eu/Studies/Bugger%20case.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810053756/http://bogomilism.eu/Studies/Bugger%20case.html |archive-date=2015-08-10}}</ref>

[[Bogomil Cove]] on [[Rugged Island (South Shetland Islands)|Rugged Island]] in the [[South Shetland Islands]], [[Antarctica]], is named after Priest Bogomil.

The Bogomils make a significant part in the [[Thomas Pynchon]] novel ''[[Against the Day]]'', when Cyprian Lakewood becomes a postulant and gives up his life of sodomitic servitude as a spy.

In the computer game series [[Crusader Kings II|Crusader Kings]], bogomilism can be founded as a heresy of Christianity.

==See also==
* [[Athinganoi]]
* [[Albigensian Crusade]]
* [[Constantine Chrysomalus]]
* [[Hypsistarians]]
* [[Nada Miletić]]
* [[Novgorod Codex]]
* [[Restorationism]]
* [[Synod of Tarnovo (1211)]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Bogomils|volume=4|page=119|first=Moses|last=Gaster|author-link=Moses Gaster}} This provides as bibliography:
* [[Euthymius Zigabenus]], ''Narratio de Bogomilis'', ed. Gieseler (Göttingen, 1842)
* [[Johann Christoph Wolf|J. C. Wolf]], ''Historia Bogomilorum'' (Wittenberg, 1712)
* "Slovo svyatago Kozmyi na eretiki", in [[Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski|Kukuljević Sakcinski]], ''Arkiv zapovyestnicu jugoslavensku'', vol. iv. pp. 69–97 (Agram, 1859)
* [[Konstantin Josef Jireček|C. J. Jireček]], ''Geschichte d. Bulgaren'', pp. 155, 174–175 (Prague, 1876)
* Korolev, "Dogmatichesko-to uchenie na Bogomil-tie", in ''Periodichesko spisanie'', vols. vii–viii. pp. 75–106 (Braila, 1873)
* A. Lombard, ''Pauliciens, Bulgares et Bons-hommes'' (Geneva, 1879)
* Episcopul Melchisedek, ''Lipovenismul'', pp. 265 sqq. (Bucharest, 1871)
* [[Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu|B. P. Hasdeu]], ''Cuvente den bǎtrǎni'', vol. ii. pp. 247 sqq. (Bucharest, 1879)
* [[Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare|F. C. Conybeare]], ''The Key of Truth'', pp. 73 sqq. and specially pp. 138 sqq. (Oxford, 1898)
* [[Moses Gaster|M. Gaster]], ''Greco-Slavonic Literature'', pp. 17 sqq. (London, 1887)
* O. Dähnhardt, ''Natursagen'', vol. 1. pp. 38 sqq. (Leipzig and Berlin, 1907).</ref>
}}

== General and cited sources ==
* [[D. Angelov]], ''Bogomilstvoto'' (Stara Zagora, 1995)
* [[L. P. Brockett]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20130309010252/http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-bl/istorija/bogumili/lbrockett-bogomils.html ''The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia: The Early Protestants of the East''] (s.l., 1879)
* [[J. Ivanov]], ''Bogomilski knigi i legendi'' (Sofija, 1925). French translation by M. Ribeyrol, Livres et Légendes bogomiles (Paris, 1976).
* [[C. J. Jirecek]], ''Geschichte d. Bulgaren'' (Prague, 1876), pp.&nbsp;155, 174–175
* [[J. Meiers]], Archbishop Ancient Order of Bogomil, of Americas'.{{Full citation needed|date=October 2022}}
* [[D. Obolensky]], ''The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism'' (Cambridge, 1948), reprint New York, 1978
* [[K. Papasov]], ''Christen oder Ketzer – die Bogomilen'' (Stuttgart, 1983)
* [[S. Runciman]], ''The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy'' (Cambridge, 1947)
* V. Sharenkoff, ''A Study of Manicheism in Bulgaria'' (New York, 1927).
* [[Johann Christoph Wolf|J. C. Wolf]], ''Historia Bogomilorum'' (Wittenberg, 1712)
* [[Euthymius Zygabenus]], ''Narratio de Bogomilis'', ed. [[Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler|Gieseler]] (Göttingen, 1842)

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|35em}}
* H. G. Beck, ''Vom Umgang mit Ketzern'' (München 1993), esp. Chapter 8.
* Averil Cameron, "How to Read Heresiology". Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 33, no. 3 (2003), 471–92
* [https://www.academia.edu/12120359/Autoproscoptae_Bogomils_and_Messalians_in_the_14th_Century_Bulgaria J. Wolski, "Autoproscoptae, Bogomils and Messalians in the 14th Century Bulgaria". Studia Ceranea, no. 4 (2014), 233–241].
* O. Ciobanu, "The Role of the Vlachs in the Bogomils' Expansion in the Balkans.", Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies, Year 4, Issue 7, December 2021, pp. 11–32.
* {{The Early Medieval Balkans}}
* Aurelio de Santos Otero, ''Bogomilen, Theologische Realenzyklopädie 7'' (Berlin 1981)
* {{Cite journal|last=Dragojlović|first=Dragoljub|title=Dispositions légales concernant les néomanichéens dans les nomocanons Byzantins et Slaves|journal=Balcanica|year=1972|issue=3|pages=135–155|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRxpAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA135}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Dragojlović|first=Dragoljub|title=The History of Paulicianism on the Balkan Peninsula|journal=Balcanica|year=1974|issue=5|pages=235–244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ah4XAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA235}}
* N. Garsoïan, ''Byzantine Heresy: A Reinterpretation'', Dumbarton Oaks Papers (=DOP) 25 (1971), 87–113
* J. Gouillard, ''L'hérésie dans l'empire byzantin des origines au XIIe siècle, Travaux et Mémoires 1''
* B. Hamilton, "The State of Research: The legacy of Charles Schmidt to the study of Christian Dualism", Journal of Medieval History 24-2 (1998), 191–214
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=uH-8AAAAIAAJ&dq=Christian+Dualist+Heresies+in+the+Byzantine+World&pg=PP1 J. Hamilton, Bernard Hamilton, and Yuri Stoyanov. Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, C. 650–C. 1450: Selected Sources (New York 1998)]
* E. Hösch, "Kritische Anmerkungen zum gegenwärtigen Stand der Bogomilen Forschung", Kurturelle Tradition in Bulgarien (Göttingen 1989)
* Isidor Ieşan, ''Secta patarenă în Balcani şi în Dacia Traiană'' (Romanian). Institutul de arte grafice C. Sfetea, București, 1912
* H. Ch. Puech et A. Vaillant, ''Le traité contre les bogomiles de Cosmas le prêtre'', Paris 1945
* A. Schmaus, ''Der Neumanichäismus auf dem Balkan'', Saeculum 3 (1951), 271–297
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=euDAU2eb3h8C&dq=Dualist%20Heresy%20in%20the%20Middle%20Ages%20loos&pg=PP1 M. Loos, Dualist Heresy in the Middle Ages, Praha 1972]
* Y. Stoyanov, ''The Hidden Tradition in Europe: The Secret History of Medieval Christian heresy'', Penguin Books 1994
* Lavrin, Janko. "The Bogomils and Bogomilism." The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 8, no. 23, 1929, pp.&nbsp;269–83.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Bogomilism}}
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/comnena-bogomils.asp Anna Comnena's ''The Bogomils'']
* [http://www.theogamy.com Modern Day Bogomil Movement Worldwide]
* [http://www.bogumili.com Modern Day Bogomil Movement in Balkans]
* [http://www.notbored.org/resistance.html Raoul Vaneigem, The Resistance to Christianity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927003709/http://www.notbored.org/resistance.html |date=2011-09-27 }}
* [http://www.rastko.rs/istorija/bogumili/djcapin-bogumili_e.html Djordje Capin: Myth about Bogomils]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110527121532/http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/dualist.htm Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World C.650–C.1450]
* [http://www.reformedreader.org/history/brockett/bogomils.htm L. P. Brockett, The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia: The Early Protestants of the East]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=Dlf3HqsNYyUC&q=Narratio+de+Bogomilis Euthymius Zygadenus, ''Narratio de Bogomilis'']

{{Bulgarian Empire}}
{{History of Christianity}}
{{Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

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