Problema legăturilor Bisericii moldovenești cu Ohrida. Tradiţia despre autocefalia bisericii moldovene
The Controversy on the Relations between the Moldavian Church and the Archbishopric of Ohrid. The Tradition of the Moldavian Autocephaly

Summary/Abstract: The present study, based on two papers given by Alexandru Elian in 1946, has an intricate history of its own. Known only by hearsay, which has only helped its legend grow, this study is now published for the first time due to the efforts made by Nicolae Şerban Tanaşoca and Vasile Muntean. The two-fold article scrutinises the 18th century tradition concerning the beginnings of the autocephaly of the Moldavian Church, as written down by the archbishop Gheorghie in 1723 (Ms. Rom. 22 from the Neamţ monastery). The first part refutes systematically the criticism of Ioan Bogdan and Mihail Lascaris with regard to the authenticity of the correspondence between Stephan of Moldavia and Dorotei, archbishop of Ohrid in mid-15th century. Accordingly, Elian argues that the Moldavian Churches detached from the Constantinople patriarchy after the council of Florence and moved towards the archbishopric of Ohrid. The second part of the article, which unfortunately remained unfinished, examines the late traditions concerning the relations of the early Moldavian Church with the Constantinople patriarchy, such as the so-called Chilia meeting between Alexander of Moldavia and the emperor John VIII Palaiologos. Alexandru Elian’s study analyses how the historical traditions of the Moldavian Church were shaped by political and ecclesiastical interests in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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