PAULICIANI. — A heresy of a dualistic-gnostic character in the Byzantine Empire. The name p. was given to the sect by its adversaries, either because of a supposed connection on their part with the doctrines of Paolo di Samosata (as Conybeare tends to demonstrate), or after one of their first leaders, an Armenian named Paolo, or because the sect ostentatiously displayed a particular enthusiasm for the apostle Paolo, while rejecting the writings of Pietro.
They were also called neo-Manichaeans, since their rigorous dualism was thought to recall analogous Manichaean (and Marcionite) conceptions; the p. themselves vigorously protested against the assertion of such a dependence and were always ready to anathematize Mani. It must, however, be borne in mind that the sect, Messaliani (v.), did not hesitate to conceal and repudiate its doctrines during periods of persecution. They themselves simply called themselves “Christians,” while reserving the name of “cenni” for Catholics.
The origin of the sect is obscure. Its founder is considered to have been a certain Costantino (called Silvano, following the practice of the p. of giving their leaders the names of collaborators of the apostle Paolo), a native of the vicinity of Samosata who propagated his ideas around the middle of the seventh century at Kibosa, in the regions of Armenia, while other leaders were active in Lycaonia and Phrygia. After the death of Costantino (stoned after 37 years of rule), serious internal disagreements troubled the sect for several decades. The imperial authorities’ attitude toward the sect was inconsistent. Some emperors, particularly Niceforo I (802–11), had shown themselves not unfavourable to the p., who had proved to be good soldiers and were therefore enlisted in the imperial army and transferred to regions threatened by Bulgarian pressure, to the capital, or to Thrace. But under the emperor Michele (811–13), the determined repression of the sect resumed; it was continued by Leone V (813–20) and carried out with particular severity under Teodora (842–56). A large part of the p. then took refuge in Persian territory, from where they committed every kind of outrage against the neighbouring Byzantine provinces until they were finally defeated by the emperor Basilio I (871). In his encyclical of 866, Fozio boasts of having brought many p. of the capital back to orthodoxy. In Thrace, the p. seem to have survived in the bognoli (v.), and in Armenia in the movement of the thondraci (first half of the ninth century). The p. believed 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, author of the spirits. Consequently, they denied the Incarnation; according to them, Christ was an angel called Son by God and sent to the human race. They therefore rejected the Old Testament and the Sacraments (true Baptism was supposedly to be found in the words of Christ, and those words alone would also be the true supper prepared by the Lord), as they also rejected the ecclesiastical hierarchy and monasticism. In place of the Cross and sacred images, the Gospel was to be venerated, since it contains the words of Christ; in short, the p. claimed to represent a purer and more spiritual Christianity. Similar movements have appeared in Armenia down to recent times.