Heterodox Beliefs in Anatolia from the Byzantine to the Ottomans: On the Common Nature of ‘the Other’ Piety (650-1600)

There were many religious groups large and small which offered alternative comments or piety models against the orthodox commentary of Christianity and Islam in Anatolia during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. These heterodox religious groups resembled more each other than their co-religionists while maintaining the identity of the religion to which they belonged. They exhibited a common type of image both in terms of content, and more specifically their attitudes towards orthodoxy and forms of their relationship with each other, and ultimately confrontational relations with political authority. This study tries to identify the common nature of both heterodox groups, and to create a common historical typology on the selected themes. Their syncretism which formed their most typical sides was the points caused them to become closer each other typologically. In this context, Incarnation, the cult of the Sun and nature, and esoteric approaches, and partly the reflection of the effects of dualism were the parallels to call attention. Search for installing deeper meanings on divine origin words or practices, by criticizing or even completely rejecting the institutional or formal belief and all practices with the claim that it took away from the source, or with the claim of misinterpretation were the other similarities. A constant state of conflict with political authority just because of these attitudes or due to be seen as a threat to the political order was also their other typical aspects.