Contra Latinos et adversus Graecos. An introduction

The division between the Latin and Greek churches is one of the fields of research that best represents the complexity and richness of the medieval world and opens the way to a deeper understanding of contemporary religious and political issues. This volume, planned as a journey from the ninth to the fifteenth century and through three different linguistic areas (Greek, Latin and Slavonic languages), contains twenty-five contributions ranging from large images of the main points of difference between churches (e.g. papal primacy and Filioque) to new editions of texts (e.g. Letter by John Dokeianos to John Moschos). The new analyses proposed by this volume portray a lively community of well-known and young scholars who are radically changing the history of the Schism between Orthodox and Catholic Churches through new discoveries and revaluations of texts and events.

The introductory essay outlines the historical and methodological framework for studying the complex relationship between the Latin and Greek Churches, advocating a philological and comparative approach grounded in the direct analysis of texts. It retraces the main stages in the interpretation of the schism between East and West, showing how the rereading of sources—many of them still unpublished or lacking critical editions—can open new perspectives on the formation and transmission of medieval theological traditions. The essay highlights the importance of integrating Byzantine, Latin, Slavic, and Armenian studies in order to reconstruct a more comprehensive and dynamic picture of medieval Christian intellectual interactions. In doing so, it calls for a renewal of the methodological foundations of research on medieval polemical literature, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and the use of digital tools for source identification and analysis.

Il contributo introduttivo delinea il quadro storico e metodologico del confronto tra Oriente e Occidente cristiano, evidenziando la necessità di un approccio filologico e comparativo fondato sull’analisi diretta dei testi. Lo scritto ripercorre le principali fasi della riflessione sullo scisma tra Chiesa latina e Chiesa greca, mostrando come la rilettura delle fonti, spesso ancora inedite o prive di edizioni critiche, possa rivelare nuove prospettive sulla formazione e sulla trasmissione delle tradizioni teologiche medievali. Il saggio sottolinea inoltre l’importanza di integrare la ricerca bizantinistica con quella medievistica latina, slava e armena, per restituire una visione più completa e dinamica delle interazioni culturali e intellettuali del medioevo cristiano. In tal modo, il testo propone una rifondazione del metodo di studio della letteratura polemica medievale, orientata alla collaborazione interdisciplinare e all’impiego di strumenti digitali per l’individuazione e l’analisi delle fonti.