Athinganoi

The Athinganoi (Ancient Greek: Ἀθίγγανοι, singular Athinganos, Ἀθίγγανος) were a 9th-century sect of Monarchians located in Thrace, founded by Theodotus the Banker.[1] The etymology of the word is not certain, but a common determination is a derivation in Greek for "(the) untouchables" derived from a privative alpha prefix and the verb thingano (θιγγάνειν, "thinganein", "to touch"). It is uncertain whether the sect survived beyond the 9th century.

An earlier, and probably quite distinct, sect with the same name is refuted by Marcus Eremita, who seems to have been a disciple of St. John Chrysostom. His book Eis ton Melchisedek, or according to Photius "Against the Melchisedekites",[2][1] speaks of these new teachers as making Melchisedech an incarnation of the Logos (divine Word).[1]

They were anathematized by the bishops, but would not cease to preach. They seem to have been otherwise orthodox. St. Jerome (Ep. 73) refutes an anonymous work which identified Melchisedech with the Holy Ghost. About AD 600, Timotheus, Presbyter of Constantinople, in his book De receptione Haereticorum[3][1] adds at the end of his list of heretics who need rebaptism the Melchisedechians, "now called Athingani. They live in Phrygia, and are neither Hebrews nor Gentiles. They keep the Sabbath, but are not circumcised. They will not touch any man. If food is offered to them, they ask for it to be placed on the ground; then they come and take it. They give to others with the same precautions."[1]

The name athinganoi, later variant form of which is atsinganoi, came to be associated with the Romani people who first appeared in the Byzantine Empire at the time and is the root word for "cigano", "çingene", "zigeuner", "tzigan", "țigan", and "zingaro", words used to describe members of the Romani people. Today many of these words are still used in a derogatory sense, albeit others are the most common exonym for them in a given language. It is still clear that athinganoi who were present in the 9th century in Thrace are the Romani people in Turkey of today.[4][5][6]

See also

References
  1.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Melchisedechians". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. P.G., lxv, 1117.
  3. Cotelier, "Monumenta eccles. Graeca", III, 392; P.G., LXXXVI, 34.
  4. White, Karin (1999). "Metal-workers, agriculturists, acrobats, military-people and fortune-tellers: Roma (Gypsies) in and around the Byzantine empire". Golden Horn. 7 (2). Archived from the original on 2006-10-29. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  5. Bates, Karina. "A Brief History of the Rom". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  6. "Book Reviews". Population Studies. 48 (2): 365–372. July 1994. doi:10.1080/0032472031000147856.

Literature
  • Joshua Starr: An Eastern Christian Sect: The Athinganoi. In: Harvard Theological Review 29 (1936), 93-106.
  • Ilse Rochow: Die Häresie der Athinganer im 8. und 9. Jahrhundert und die Frage ihres Fortlebens. In: Helga Köpstein, Friedhelm Winkelmann (eds.), Studien zum 8. und 9. Jahrhundert in Byzanz, Berlin 1983 (= Berliner Byzantinistische Arbeiten, 51), 163-178.
  • Paul Speck: Die vermeintliche Häresie der Athinganoi. In: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 47 (1997), 37-50.
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