L'identificazione fra tondrachiani e pauliciani e la testimonianza della lettera n.4 (K67) di Grigor Magistros

The Paulicians and the Tondrakians were two Christian heretical sects which have been considered as two branches of a single heresy by some modern scholars, while others have retained them as two completely separated groups. Grigor Magistros Pahlawowni (ca 990-1058) was an Armenian polymath who actively fought the Tondrakians, and has left an important eyewitness account of the practices and beliefs of these heretics. In one of his letters, he is also credited of having identified the Tondrakians with the Paulicians. However, an accurate examination of his text in its Armenian original shows that such identification is not made at all, and Grigor’s account seems, on the contrary, to imply that he understood Paulicianism and Tondrakianism as two different heresies.