In the Middle Ages, the liturgy was a most effective and ubiquitous medium for the transmission and solidification of ideas. Ritual texts, prayers and ordines, defined the Church as community, as priesthood and as holy space. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the manuscripts which transmit the liturgy were complex and multifaceted. Far from a static tradition handed down by authority and received unquestioningly, these manuscripts show continued creativity as new texts and rituals were developed, written down and...

The Canons, through the history of the Church, were de facto brought with the tendency to have de jure power, but this sometimes did not happen, and usually the validity of one council would be reflected through the successful ratification of its decisions in the life of the Church. The fact that the western bishops were not present at the Council of Trullo did not play a significant role in the context of the ecumenical...

While theological and liturgical differences between eastern and western forms of Christianity were emerging in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, the Orthodox Riurikid dynasty which ruled early Rus’ (comprising present-day Belarus’, Russia, and Ukraine) nonetheless concluded the majority of its marriage alliances with Latin Christian rulers. Though raised in an Orthodox Christian environment, Rus’ princesses became queens consort and wives of high-ranking nobles ruling over Latin Christian subjects.The experiences of these brides can therefore serve...