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Document Details : Title: A Tale of Two Pyres Subtitle: Re-evaluating the Bogomil Trial Scene of Anna Komnene Author(s): MINCIN, Elisabeth Journal: Byzantion Volume: 89 Date: 2019 Pages: 421-432 DOI: 10.2143/BYZ.89.0.3287078 Abstract : This article concerns the trial sequence narrated by Anna Komnene in Book XV section 9.2-5 of her Alexiad. In this passage, the princess historian describes a dramatic show trial in which a large number of accused Bogomils are brought together and given the choice between two pyres – one representing repentance to Orthodoxy whilst the other representing the maintenance of their heretical beliefs. In either case, they were all to be sentenced to death. I argue that this scene is not simply theatrical but, in fact, a complete fiction, engineered by Anna for the sake of enforcing a desired ideological image of her father as a Christ-like saviour. |
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