Images of the Inquisition in Bulgarian Revival Culture: Periodical Press and Translated Literature
Images of the Inquisition in Bulgarian Revival Culture: Periodical Press and Translated Literature

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the images of the Inquisition in the Bulgarian National Revival culture, situating them within the interplay between historical fact, literary fiction, and ideological instrumentalization. Its theoretical framework is grounded in contemporary revisionist scholarship on the phenomenon of the Inquisition, with particular emphasis on the works of Edward Peters and Henry Kamen, who underscore the distinction between the historical institution and its subsequent mythologized representations. From this methodological perspective, the study analyzes periodical publications and translated literary works through which the theme of the Inquisition entered the Bulgarian cultural sphere. Special attention is devoted to the reception of novels such as “Beatrice Cenci” by Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, “The Mysteries of the Inquisition” by Victor Féréal, and “Piquillo Alliaga” by Eugène Scribe, which reproduce and popularize the so-called “black legend” of the Roman and Spanish Inquisitions. The article demonstrates how these texts, mediated through translation, acquired a specific ideological function within the context of the Bulgarian ecclesiastical struggles and the polemics surrounding the Uniate movement. The Inquisition was transformed into a symbol of religious fanaticism and institutional violence, deployed as an argument against Catholic propaganda and as a means of consolidating Orthodox identity. The study concludes that the National Revival images of the Inquisition do not merely reflect historical reality, but rather result from a complex process of cultural transfer, ideological selection, and journalistic instrumentalization. Thus, the theme functioned as a significant element in the formation of modern Bulgarian public discourse and national self-consciousness.

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