21.07.2025

New Volume »Wege der Mönche - Wege der Macht«

The book “Wege der Mönche - Wege der Macht” by Mihai-D. Grigore has just been published. Grigore examines the processes of mobility as a factor in the formation of power in the cross-border Orthodox region of south-eastern and eastern Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. The analysis is based on four monastic personalities, Nikodim of Tismana, Gregory Camblak, Niphon II of Constantinople and Macarius III Zaim of Antioch, whose itineraries are traced in the vast trans-imperial space from Syria to Russia, taking into account the respective networks, environments and political-religious constellations. This shows how the Orthodox world emerged as a result of the synergy between several centers simultaneously. The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia form the hub for locating and bundling the itineraries presented in the much broader trans-imperial polysystem of Orthodoxy.

The story told here of people in their historical wanderings and effectiveness leads the reader through the extremely complex and eventful world of the so-called Orthodox Commonwealth, which continues to shape the destiny of Europe to this day.