著者

貝原 哲生

出版者

日本西洋史学会

雑誌

西洋史学 (ISSN:03869253)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.252, pp.1, 2013 (Released:2022-04-28)

著者

貝原 哲生

出版者

一般社団法人 日本オリエント学会

雑誌

オリエント (ISSN:00305219)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.54, no.1, pp.75-95, 2011-09-30 (Released:2015-02-27)

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The relationship between the Chalcedonians and the Monophysites grew rapidly worse from the middle of the 5th century. As a result, in the second half of the 6th century, the latter established their own church hierarchy in Egypt. Previous scholars stressed that they were able to accomplish this because of the social severance between the cities, in which the Chalcedonians traditionally had their churches, and the rural areas, in which the Monophysites were based. But in recent years it has been pointed out that there was a close relationship between the cities and the rural areas, and it is possible in this environment that the territories of the bishops of the two sects were separated by fiat or by natural development. This paper analyzes the effect that this religious conflict, which originated in Alexandria, exerted on the society of Middle Egypt by looking at several Middle Egypt regions. It was found that these regions did not have parallel hierarchies. The results are as follows: Firstly, in both the Arsinoe and the Oxyrhynchus regions, the city was closely connected with the rural area. It was therefore difficult for the Chalcedonians and the Monophysites to avoid contact with each other. The episcopal sees were in the cities, but monasteries, which zealously participated in theological controversy, existed throughout the dioceses. In both regions it was always possible for the religious conflict to emerge. Therefore the bishops of those two regions and the Apions, who were the most influential family there, strove to inhibit the aggravation of the religious conflict by standing neutral and not supporting either sect. The local people were also able to strike a balance between faith and secular interests. Secondly, in the village of Aphrodito, the inhabitants dealt with the religious conflict as the people of Arsinoe and Oxyrhynchus did. Dioscorus, the headman of this village, sympathized with Monophysitism but put worldly profit before his belief and relied on powerful figures who were in no position to be favorable towards the Monophysites.