PAULICIANS. – A dualistic-Gnostic heresy in the Byzantine Empire. The name "Paulicians" was given to the sect by their adversaries, either because of a supposed connection with the doctrines of Paul of Samosata (as Conybeare tends to demonstrate), or after one of their first leaders, an Armenian named Paul, or because the sect showed particular enthusiasm for the Apostle Paul while rejecting the writings of Peter.
They were also called Neo-Manichaeans because their strict dualism recalled Manichaean (and Marcionite) conceptions; the Paulicians themselves vigorously protested against any such dependence and were always ready to anathematize Mani. It must be noted, however, that the sect, like the Messalians (q.v.), did not hesitate to conceal and renounce its doctrines during times of persecution. They called themselves simply "Christians," reserving the name "Romans" for Catholics.
The origin of this choice is obscure. Their founder is considered to be a certain Constantine (called Silvanus, following the Paulicians' custom of giving their leaders the names of Paul's companions), who came from the vicinity of Samosata and spread his ideas around the mid-7th century at Kibossa in the Armenian regions, while other leaders operated in Lycaonia and Phrygia. After Constantine's death (he was stoned after 37 years in power), serious internal discord agitated the sect for several decades. The imperial authorities' attitude toward the sect was inconsistent. Some emperors, particularly Nicephorus I (802–811), were not unfavorably disposed toward the Paulicians, who proved to be good soldiers and were therefore enlisted in the imperial army and transferred to regions threatened by Bulgarian pressure, either to the capital or to Thrace. But under Emperor Michael I (811–813), decisive repression of the sect resumed, continued by Leo V (813–820), and carried out with particular severity under Theodora (842–856). A large part of the Paulicians then took refuge in Persian territory, from where they waged every kind of harassment against the neighboring Byzantine provinces until they were definitively defeated by Emperor Basil I (871). Photius boasts in his encyclical of 866 of having brought many Paulicians in the capital back to orthodoxy. In Thrace, the Paulicians seem to have survived in the Bogomils (q.v.), and in Armenia in the Tondraci movement (first half of the 9th century).
The Paulicians considered themselves to constitute the true Catholic Church; their fundamental doctrine lay in the clear distinction between the Creator and Lord of this world and the heavenly God, the author of spirits. Consequently, they denied the Incarnation; Christ, according to them, was an angel whom God called "Son" and sent to humanity. They therefore rejected the Old Testament, the Sacraments (true Baptism was said to be found only in Christ's words, and these alone were the true Supper prepared by the Lord), as well as ecclesiastical hierarchy and monasticism. Instead of the Cross and sacred images, they venerated the Gospel, since it contained Christ's words; the Paulicians claimed, in short, to represent a purer and more spiritual Christianity. Similar movements persisted in Armenia until recent times.