Patriarch Jefrem of Serbia and the Hesychastic Circles at the Sunset of the Middle Ages in the Balkans
Patriarch Jefrem of Serbia and the Hesychastic Circles at the Sunset of the Middle Ages in the Balkans

Summary/Abstract: This paper has a twofold aim, namely, to propose a different outlook upon the events concerning the schism between the Church of Constantinople and the Serbian church (1350–1375) based on the analysis of the ecclesiastical engagement of the future patriarch Jefrem of Serbia, having in close observance his personal life and connections which arose from his hesychastic background shaped during his years lived on Mount Athos, at a time when other notable figures of Byzantine hesycshasm inhabited the renowned monastic community, such as Jefrem’s peer, the future Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos. We propose a more nuanced view of the nature of ecclesiastical problems which troubled the relations between the Byzantines and Serbs in the second half of the 14th century, having in mind Jefrem’s life and hesychastic exploits in Serbia between 1351 and his election to the Serbian patriarchal throne in 1375, and in connection with these events, we aim to investigate the concept of spiritual and social connections between the protagonists of hesychasm in a wider region covering Constantinople, Serbia and Mount Athos in the period which can be defined as the sunset of the Middle Ages in the Balkans.

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