Essence and Ways of Infiltration of the Paulician Heresy in the Medieval Bulgarian Lands

Paulicianism in Bulgaria has its origins in the forced resettlement of Paulicians from Asia Minor and the eastern regions of the empire to Northern Thrace by the authorities of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 8th–10th centuries. The first settlement of Paulicians in the Balkans was established in the 8th century by Emperor Constantine V Copronymus (741–775), who began a long campaign to recolonize the depopulated and demilitarized areas along the border with Bulgaria in Thrace. This policy was continued by subsequent iconoclast emperors, who considered the Paulicians their allies and established their military colonies in various border areas and in the capital, Constantinople. The last major deportation was in 970, when Emperor Ioannes I Tzimiskes (969–976) resettled 200,000 “Manicheans” from Syria to the area of Philippopolis. These “Manicheans” were probably Paulicians or their associated Tondrakites. The Paulician heresy is first mentioned in Greek sources in the 9th century, associated with Manichaeism and Masalianism. Hence the doctrines and practices of the Paulicians are a peculiar mixture of dualism, demiurgism, docetism, mysticism, and resemble in many respects the Gnostic system of Marcion. However, their main principle is dualism. After spreading into the Balkan Peninsula, the Paulicians nearly disappeare, suggesting they were either converted or at least partially absorbed by another known heresy – Bogomilism.