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Armed priests

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Serbian Orthodox archpriest Vukajlo Božović was a guerilla leader in the Kosovo Vilayet.

Throughout history, armed priests or soldier priests have been recorded. Distinguished from military chaplains, who are non-combatants that provided spiritual guidance to service personnel and associated civilians, these priests took up arms and fought in conflicts as combatants. The term warrior priests or war priests is usually used for armed priests in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and of historical tribes.

History

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In Greek mythology, the Curetes were identified as armed priests.[1] In Ancient Rome, the Salii were an order of armed priests who carried sacred shields through the city during the March festivals.[2] Livy (59 BC–17 AD) mentions armati sacerdotes (armed priests).[3]

Medieval European canon law said that a priest could not be a soldier, and vice-versa. Priests were allowed on the battlefield as chaplains, and could only defend themselves with clubs.[4]

The Aztecs had a vanguard of warrior priests who carried deity banners and made sacrifices on the battlefield.[5]

In more recent times, the warrior-priest was a common figure in the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13).[6] Several archpriests and priests were commanders in the revolt,[7] while Serbian Orthodox monasteries sent monks to join the Serbian Army.[6]

Legacy

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The Pyrrhic Dance in Crete is said to have been the ritual dance of the Korybantes, deities described as armed priests.[8]

Notable groups

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  • Sant Sipahi, the Sikh ideology of a saint-soldier inspired by the example Sikh gurus, where one lives in strict discipline of both mind and body.

Notable people

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Eastern Orthodoxy
Catholicism
Anglicanism
Other
  • The tlatoani, ruler of Nahuatl pre-Hispanic states, were high priests and military commanders.
  • Dutty Boukman (d. 1791), voodoo priest and Haitian Revolution leader.


See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jürgen Trabant (2004). Vico's New Science of Ancient Signs: A Study of Sematology. Psychology Press. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-0-415-30987-5.
  2. ^ Cyril Bailey (1932). Phases in the Religion of Ancient Rome. University of California Press. pp. 69–. GGKEY:RFYRJLHJJDQ.
  3. ^ Roger D. Woodard (28 January 2013). Myth, Ritual, and the Warrior in Roman and Indo-European Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 73–. ISBN 978-1-107-02240-9.
  4. ^ John Howard Yoder; Theodore J. Koontz; Andy Alexis-Baker (1 April 2009). Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution. Brazos Press. pp. 133–. ISBN 978-1-58743-231-6.
  5. ^ Manuel Aguilar-Moreno (2007). Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Oxford University Press. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-0-19-533083-0.
  6. ^ a b Király & Rothenberg 1982, p. 275.
  7. ^ Király & Rothenberg 1982, pp. 273–275.
  8. ^ The Origin of Attic Comedy. CUP Archive. 1934. pp. 65–.
  9. ^ Hitomi Tonomura (1 January 1992). Community and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan: Corporate Villages of Tokuchin-ho. Stanford University Press. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-0-8047-6614-2.
  10. ^ Király & Rothenberg 1982, p. 273.
  11. ^ Király & Rothenberg 1982, p. 274.
  12. ^ Srejović, Gavrilović & Ćirković 1983.
  13. ^ Srejović, Gavrilović & Ćirković 1983, p. 321.

Sources

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