„В гнева си добрият Господ ще си спомни за милост“: към въпроса за една от формите на интерпретация на черната смърт във Византия (1347 – 1453)
"In His wrath, the Good Lord will remember mercy" – to the question of a certain form of interpretation of the Black Death in Byzantium (1347-1453)

Summary/Abstract: The present article aims to explore one aspect of the interpretation of Black Death in Byzantium (1347–1453). The research focus is put on the representation of the pandemic as a manifestation of the wrath of God (ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ).St. Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150–b. 215) was the first Church Father to pay special attention to the Biblical motive of the wrath of God. According to him, wrath is an irrational passion inherent in humankind. Wrath is too anthropomorphic and too anthropopathic and therefore cannot be related to a transcendental God. Thus St. Clement of Alexandria emphasizes that wrath of God should be understood allegorically, mostly as an expression of a certain cause-and-effect relationships such as crime – punishment, sin – retribution, etc. In other words, wrath of God should be understood as an effectus rather than affectus.After having been specified from a theological point of view, the concept of the wrath of God took an important place in the rhetorical strategy of the Byzantine authors during the following centuries. It became one of the main explanations for the origins of natural disasters and pandemics (including Justinianic plague, 541–750).After the arrival of Black Death in Constantinople in 1347, the Byzantines faced plague pandemic once again. And anew, most prominent members of the intellectual elite resorted to the established interpretation of the disease as a manifestation of God’s wrath. Careful analysis of the sources reveals that well-educated theologians like Demetrius Cydones (1324– 1398), Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), George (Gennadios II) Scholarios (ca. 1400–ca. 1473), etc interpret the wrath of God, following the paradigm set by St. Clement of Alexandria. They represent the plague as a just divine retribution for the sins of the Byzantines. According to them, the only way of salvation from the contagion lies in sincere repentance and a virtuous life.

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