The sermons of Kyrillos Loukaris (†1638)—A survey and first exploration of unpublished texts in the National Library of Greece

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ulrich Moennig
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology ; European and American Literary and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2022 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 503150550

Kyrillos Loukaris (born 13 November 1570 or 1572 – 26 June 1638) is one of the public figures of Greek early Modernity, who were subject to intensive discourse in international scholarship. Loukaris was the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria from 1602 to 1620 and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, with interruptions, from 1620 to 1638. In 1629 he signed a confession of faith, which was and is considered to be Calvinistic. He also agreed to the translation of the New Testament into vernacular Greek. There is a discussion about Loukaris’ orthodoxy. His sympathy for the reformed churches obviously was related to his antijesuitism—Jesuits were strongly present in the Aegean. In spite of the attention Loukaris attracted, a high number of texts—circa 400 sermons—have not but scarcely been subject to scholarly examination. These texts are contained in seven codices owned by the National Library of Greece, with some of them (most probably five) being autographs. Loukaris used a variety of languages, Greek (both ancient and vernacular), Latin and Italian. Given that he was born and raised in Venetian-ruled Candia and that he had resided and studied in Venice and Padua, his multilinguism does not come as a surprise. What strikes is the usage of “western” languages in Greek Orthodox context and in notes which he probably made for his own use. Therefore, an immediate need rises to inspect and describe these seven codices; to make an inventory of the preserved texts (not exclusively sermons), which will be by far more detailed than e.g. a description in a catalogue; to estimate the loss of leaves which apparently occurred; and to gain preliminary information about the content of the sermons by reading them. It is most probable that two of the seven codices contain copies of sermons which are also to be found in the other five codices. As a consequence, the project will focus on only five of the seven codices. The outcome of the project will be a monograph, containing a detailed description of the codices and short summaries of each of Loukaris’ sermons, including information about date and place of composition, language etc. While composing short summaries of the circa 400 sermons, references to authors and their works contained in the codices will be taken into account; these data are provided either by Loukaris himself of by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Chrysanthos Notaras (1655 – 1731), who later studied the particular sermons and commented on the five preserved codices. The inventory will be completed by the formulation of questions for further research to be conducted at a later stage.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants