От Скопие до Казан: дейността на митрополит Симеон през първата половина на XVII век
From Skopje to Kazan: Metropolitan Bishop Simeon’s Endeavours in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The activities of very few Balkan ecclesiastics who lived during the rule of the Ottoman Empire are well-researched in the academic literature. The written sources are scarce or missing. Scholars rely on marginal notes, church inscriptions and – in very few cases – exchanged letters between various church hierarchs or recorded reports submitted to the European secular authorities. The administrative documents of Posolski prikaz – a Russian late-medieval equivalent of the modern Ministry of Foreign Affairs – kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts are a valuable source of information about the Balkan clergymen‘s travels, endeavours and transferred books and relics. Their reconstructed lives and activities based on these documents contribute to the Orthodox Christian Church‘s history. The article attempts to reconstruct the live and deeds of Simeon – a Metropolitan Bishop of Skopje – who left an array of marginal notes and inscriptions. He first appeared as a Metropolitan Bishop of Skopje in a marginal note dated 1623 when his predecessor Matei retired to the Monastery of Dechani. He served in his eparchy until 1641 when he moved to Moscow and asked Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich’s permission to live in Russia until the end of time. The Tsar granted him a leave to remain but sent him on a pilgrim trip to the Holy Lands. Following his return to Moscow, Simeon shared valuable information with the Russian government on the Ottoman political situation and recent developments. Most likely, his mission has been successful as soon after his return Simeon was appointed Metropolitan Bishop of the city of Kazan. Future surveys in the Metropolitan Bishopric Archive and Library of Kazan might reveal new details about Simeon’s activities as a head of the local church organisation.

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