ABSTRACT
At the end of the eleventh century (ca. 1099), heretics were arrested and burned in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Roman rule in the East). Basil, the leader of the Bogomils, was executed in Hyppodrome in the presence of imperial authorities and Roman citizens. This was one of the earliest examples of the medieval history of Auto de fé. Historians and writers have combined scant character information on Basil the Bogomil with the results of Bogomilism-related research and discussed his portrait in several ways. Consequently, he has been celebrated as a social hero of anti-hierarchical dissent. In this chapter, we consider an additional perspective of understanding of Basil's portrait, that of a bystander who happened to face the events simultaneously surrounding Basil the Bogomil and who watched the situation unfold without actively committing himself to the issues and activities. As an imaginary young contemporary, Johannes saw the trial and related his views of the social issue. Other than Johannes, a protagonist of fictional character, actors of this semi-historical novel are historically real people, and the documents mentioned are real historical sources which are listed in the references. Johannes may have seen Basil the Bogomil not only as a heretic but also as a spiritual fraud who misled a group of conscientious people with various conspiracy theories in the Middle Ages.
