Мотивът за покръстването на българския крал в старофренската кратка хроника Наръчник по история на Филип VI Валоа
The Motif of the Conversion of the Bulgarian King in the Middle French Abbreviated Chronicle Manual of History of Philip VI of Valois

Summary/Abstract: This study demonstrates that the motif of the Bulgarian king’s conversion to Christianity, though brief, is firmly embedded in the textual structure of the Middle French chronicle known as the Manual of History of Philip VI of Valois. The analysis of Latin sources and French adaptations shows that the motif evolved from a moral historiographical exemplum into a didactic tool for legitimizing Christian order and political authority. A systematic comparison of digitized manuscripts – representing over 40% of the surviving witnesses – enabled the identification of two distinct recensions of the motif within the first redaction and a separate version in the second. On the basis of these findings, the article presents the first critical edition of the motif in all three attested versions, thereby establishing a textualfoundation for further historiographical and philological inquiry. A direct comparison of the textual content across these versions reveals differing degrees of ideological framing, with each recension reflecting distinct editorial strategies and political emphases. A previously unpublished and hitherto unexplored western illumination of the baptism of the Bulgarian king, preserved in Manuscript 677 from the Municipal Library of Besançon, is presented here for the first time. The miniature is of unique character and iconographic significance. The visual program of the manuscript complements the textual narrative through a model that echoes the established representation of Clovis I, yet introduces local distinctions that emphasize royal dignity, humility, and institutional sanction. Rather than duplicating the text, the image reinforces its ideological framing and contributes to the chronicle’s logic of spiritual and political transformation. The article thus offers both a critical edition of the motif in its three versions and a model for interdisciplinary reading of compilatory chronicles, in which text and image operate in concert to construct a universal history. In this case, the narrative is directly relevant to the political context of Philip VI’s reign and the ideological framework of the Valois dynasty.

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