Самая загадочная надпись Белгород-Днестровской крепости

Author(s): Mariana Şlapac / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 6/2000

The article studies the most mysterious inscription carved on the watch tower in Belgorod-Dniestrovsk fortress. For 150 years the scholars have been arguing about its contents. The author suggests both her own interpretation of the inscription and a possible date it was made. Its first part was written in Moldovan period by its military commander Stan (Stanciul) in 1452 after construction (re-construction) of one of the fortress’s walls, while its second part was made in the Ottoman period in 1603, probably after repairs or a reconstruction.

Сашка Георгиева, Жената в Българското средновековие

Author(s): Elena Kostova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2016

Woman, Bulgarian Middle Ages

Сборникът на Владислав Граматик от 1456 г.

Author(s): Bozhidar Raykov / Language(s): Bulgarian,Old Bulgarian / Issue: 4/1991

Сборниците със смесено съдържание от XV–XVII в. като отражение на българския светоглед от първите столетия на османското робство

Author(s): Tatyana Lekova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/1987

Св. Амфилохий Иконийски в светлината на гръко-латинската и славянската агиография

Author(s): Slavia Barlieva / Language(s): Greek, Ancient (to 1453),Bulgarian,Old Slavonic,Latin / Issue: 49-50/2014

The article presents two medieval translations – Latin and Slavic – of the pre-Metaphrastian Life of St. Amphilocius (c. 340–395), one of the honored Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Bishop of Iconium and a staunch opponent of the Arians. Basing her argument on Paolo Chiesa’s conclusion that the Latin translation, extant in MS 354 of The Municipal Library in Mantuva, was made by Anasthasius the Librarian, and assuming that the Slavic translation is most likely synchronic to the Latin one, the author compares the Mantuva text with a Slavic copy from MS 218 of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church. She establishes evident similarities in the two translations, which inlcude also common deviations from the putative Greek original, the closest extant text to it being the copy in Cod. Barberinianus Gr. 318. This comparative analysis is the first stage toward preparing a critical edition of the Greek pre-Metaphrastian Life of Amphilocius and a study of its relation to the Slavic lives of the saint. The Appendix to the article includes a reprint of the Latin translation and an edition of the Slavic copy from the Serbian MS 218.

СВ. АТАНАСИЙ АЛЕКСАНДРИЙСКИ, ВТОРО СЛОВО ПРОТИВ АРИАНИТЕ (В СТАРОБЪЛГАРСКИ ПРЕВОД) ПЪРВО ИЗДАНИЕ / SТ. AТНANASIUS ALEXANDRINUS, ORATIO II CONTRA ARIANOS (VERSIONIS PALEOBULGARICAE). EDIТIO PRINCEPS

Author(s): st.Athanasius of Alexandria / Language(s): Greek, Ancient (to 1453),Bulgarian,Old Bulgarian / Publication Year: 2015

The book contains the Old Bulgarian translation of Athanasius of Alexandria's The Second Oratio against the Arians composed by Konstantin of Preslav in 906. The copy prepared in Novgorod in 1489 is found in MS 968 of the Pogodin collection, St. Petersburg. The parallel Slavonic and Greek texts are provided with Slavonic and Greek readings, comments and index. The index of Oratio II is prepared by prof. Ivan Hristov, Sofia University.Some Glagolitic graphemes in the Cyrillic copy and the translations language confirms the Preslav origin of the protograph of MS 968. The script MS 968 contents short Life of Athanasius, the three authentic Orationes against the Arians, The Encyclical Letter to the Bishops of Egypt an Libya (as The Fourth Oratio) and The Epistle on Easter (as The Fifth Oratio). The Greek protograph of the Slavonic version queries a Greek manuscript, belonging to the so-called tradition x. The researcher claims, that Konstantins version of Oratio II is a subject of a sequentially Greek redaction towards a strict verbatim translation with expressions foreign to the Slavic grammar. A comparison between Oratio II and Oratio III in MS 968 proves, that the Oratio III has not been edited and preserved the feachers of a free translation from a Greek protograph, which had belonged to a mixed x and RSP-tradition. Closest to the Slavonic protograph is the Greek Manuscript Atheniensis gr. 428, X c., some readings are registred only in the manuscripts Patmiacus 4, X-XI c. and Patmiacus A3, XI c.The linguistic exegesis, developed by Athanasius in his comments to the Holy Scripture, was adopted and expanded by Constantine of Preslav to express the antonyms of 'constant, eternal divine substance' versus 'non-divine existence, limited in time and space'. Constantine of Preslav created a theological register and coined a special Slavonic doublets for each of the to dimensions - divine and not divine. He implemented the linguistic exegesis on morphological, syntactical and graphical level, too.A review of the unexplored works, attributed to Athanasius in the South Slavonic tradition, is included; it opens the perspective for further investigation.

Св. Климент Охридски и неговото наследство

Author(s): Iskra Hristova-Shomova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 33/2016

Св. Климент Охридски. Живот и дейност

Author(s): Iliya Georgiev Iliev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Publication Year: 2010

Instead of a short abstract, please refer to the PDF-files of the introduction to the book, its table of content and the sample-PDF (in English) which, each of them, you can download for free from here. We hope you will get through these files a more comprehensive impression about the book than would be provided by just a few lines of an abstract / summary.

Св. Лаврентий и Сан Лоренцо

Author(s): Dimo Cheshmedzhiev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 17/2007

The article focuses on the chance appearance of the name "Lawrence" (Лаврентїе) in the primary sources, a name so far attributed to one of Sts. Cyril and Methodius' disciples. Lawrence was mentioned in only one early source, namely the Long Vita of St. Clement of Ohrid by Theophylact (late eleventh - early twelfth centuries). Therefore it is plausible to hypothesise that there was no such disciple of the holy brothers and that for the presence of "Lawrence" in the Vita a different explanation could be provided. The author suggests that it may have been the name of the famous early Christian archdeacon and martyr St. Lawrence (S. Lorenzo), venerated in both the Eastern and the Western Churches. It is well possible that what influenced the interpolation of this name in the writing of St. Theophylact of Ohrid was the so-called Liturgy of St. Peter, where, in the enumeration of the Apostles, St. Lawrence (of Rome) is mentioned straight after St. Clement (of Rome). In order to support his hypothesis, the author reminds us that the Liturgy of St. Peter came into being in relation to Sts. Cyril and Methodius' missionary work and that, as some scholars assert, it was translated by St. Clement of Ohrid. In any case the Liturgy of St. Peter was well-known in both the Greek original and a Bulgarian translation, and so the interpolation of the name "Lawrence" in the Vita of St. Clement seems to be very likely.

Св. Методий в латинската небогослужебна традиция до началото на Новото време

Author(s): Anna Vlaevska-Stantcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 52/2015

The present publication continues to explore images of St. Methodius in the Western (Catholic) tradition, a topic already addressed in an article by K. Stantchev and A. Vlaevska-Stantcheva (see Kirilo-Metodievski studii 17, 2007: 687–701). It focused on how the person of Methodius is represented in the Western European, predominantly non-Slavic non-liturgical tradition from the 16th through the beginning of the 17th century. The lower chronological boundary of this study is the time of Emperor Charles VI (1355–1378), who officially added SS. Cyril and Methodius to the patrons of the Czech Kingdom in 1347. The article traces mentions of Methodius in works by the chroniclers of his court, Giovanni Marignoli and Přibík Pulkava. Special attention is paid to the little-known Historia Bohemica by Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405–1464, Pope Pius II 1458–1464), which introduces Methodius-related motives previously known only in the Czech tradition into non-Slavic Western historiography. In this connection, the article examines works by several notable representatives of Italian and German Humanism, such as Rafaelle Maffei (also known as Raphaele Volaterano), Johannes Nauclerus, Johann Georg Turmair (Johannes Aventinus), Giovanni Battista Cipelli (Battista Egnazio), and Girolamo Bardi. It acknowledges that the figure of Methodius appears mostly sporadically, albeit in works of various genres, and follows the evolution of his representation from the middle of the 16th century onward, from the historiographical texts of Johannes Dubravius and Marcin Kromer (Martin Cromer) to the Ecclesiastical Annals by Cardinal Cesare Baronio, which was largely responsible for confirming the Western European image of Methodius as an Apostle to the Slavs. The last part of the publication focuses on the image of Methodius in Benedictine historiographic and hagiographic literature from the end of the 14th through the middle of the 17th century, claiming that this tradition has its own independent development and serves as a “mirror” for the evolution of Methodius’s image in the non-Slavic West.

СВ. НАУМ И ОБЛАСТТА ДИАВУНА МЕЖДУ 886 И 894 ГОДИНА

Author(s): Pavel Georgiev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 12/2012

In this article the author concedes after V. Zlatarski the authenticity of the information in the Greek Life of St. Nahum that he conducted his teaching activities in the northeastern part of the Bulgarian state in a "place" called Διαβυ(ν)a. On this basis, he looks among the data of the sources for its possible identification and localization. He draws attention to the names of the medieval fortress and settlement over the ruins of Roman Marcianopolis (today Devnia). The name Διαβυ(ν)a (13th century) reflects its crossroad location and situation "at" the "hilly" region of the Ludogorie and Dobrudja plateau. During the Middle Ages they are denoted as "100 hills" (Εκατων βουνος). This entitles the author to reconstruct the name of the region immediately south of the 100 hills as Διαβουνας, i.e. "Situated in the hills." It included the valleys of the Ticha (Big Kamchia) and Varna (Provadiiska) rivers with its tributaries. The consequent three state centers – the "so-called Varna", Pliska and Preslav, were situated there. By 886-887 in this vital region of the state Prince Boris ordered the establishment of an administrative area named Diavouna, i.e. "At the hills", in which within two or three decades appeared the most important Old Bulgarian monasteries which functioned as religious and Slavonic literary and educational centers. This setting up of a region of special responsibility to ensure conditions for the proper work of the Bulgarian Church and the Slavonic speaking clergy serving its needs was done by order of Prince Boris-Michael (852-889) as early as 886-887. Conclusive evidence of this is provided by the Long life of Clement of Okhrid. According to its text (XVII, 53, 54), with the departure of Clement as a teacher in Devol and the nearby "places": Okhrid, Glavinitsa and probably Prespa, from the large region of Kotokion was "separated" a smaller one called Kutmitsinitsa (Kutmichevitsa). At its head was placed Dom(b)eta who received orders to support in all aspects the work of Clement as a teacher and future bishop. The text hints that this decision was part of a larger "project" of the Bulgarian prince who wanted "to create for the holy men (i.e. the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria - P.G.) full opportunity to carry out God's work." These words of the hagiographer contain, according to the author, implicit information that even before the separation of Kutmichevitsa in the southwestern lands such an area was set apart in the northeastern lands as well. It had the Greek name of Diavouna and in it the presbyter Nahum concentrated his teaching activities prior to 894.

Св. Николай Мирликийский в иконографической программе древнерусских энколпионов XI-XIII вв.

Author(s): Anna A. Peskova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 6/2000

The article analyses images on the ancient Russian breast crosses-reliquaries of St. Nicholas of Myra, one of the most esteemed saints in Russia. The iconography of the ancient Russian encolpia is studied against the background of the Byzantine tradition. The iconography passed through two stages in its development. At the first stage (XI-XII cc.), the central images of Christ and the Virgin are supported by images of saints of the oecumenical church of the highest order and the holy warriors (most often St. George), and St. Nicholas. The exception are encolpia with the central image of St. Boris and Gleb. At the second stage (early XIII c.), encolpia have images of creators of liturgy – St. John, Basil, Gregory, the anargiri Cosma and Damian and other protectors. The study covered a very extensive material (over 1000 objects) to reveal that the changes in the contents and composition of the images on the ancient Russian encolpia reflect: 1. The highest level of respect to St. Nicholas in the ancient Russia (equally to the Apostles, Evangelists, and holy warriors) shown already at the first stage (late XI-XII cc.) of cross-encolpia manufacturing. In Byzantium, a similar tradition can be traced on crosses-reliquaries and processional crosses since IX-X cc. 2. Focus of attention on protective and healing power of St. Nicholas, made null and void after introduction of such saints as Cosma and Damian, St. Sisinius and Sihail, St. Panteleimon, St. Nikita (XIII c.) into the iconographic programme of Nicholas’ encolpia.

Св. Симеон – вечният владетел на сърбите

Author(s): Nina Gagova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 16/2016

The article discusses the development of the cult of St. Simeon (Stefan Nemanja, ca. 1113–1199) in the thirteenth century as a core of the ruler’s ideology and a mirror of the political changes in Serbia. The main task is to discover when, how and why the founder of the Nemanidi dynasty became the first and eternal ruler of the Serbs, analyzing the choice of the biblical motifs and quotations in the introductions and in a number of other selected places in the main ideological texts of the period: two Hilandar Monastery charters, one written from the Grand Zhupan Stefan Nemanja himself in 1198, the other – written in 1207/8 by his son, Stefan the First-Crowned as well as three Vitae of St. Simeon, written by his sons St. Sava and St. Stefan and by the Hilandar’s hegumenos Domentian. The study applies the approach of biblical thematic clues, proposed by Ricardo Picchio, hitherto unused for these sources, and takes into consideration also some results obtained through the investigation of early Slavic Orthodox texts from the point of view of the same concept. One conclusion which was arrived at is that the same tradition of biblical exegesis concerning the concepts of the Unfailing Mercy and Continuity of the Apostleship and the motifs of Conversion/New Nations and the Blessed Generation of the Upright, is consistently used in Serbian text for the same purpose – the affirmation of one’s own saints and, through their cults, confirmation of own “institutions of salvation” (ruling dynasty, church organization, liturgical language) as proceeding directly from God. In the three Vitae of St. Simeon different inherited models and patterns are adopted, corresponding to different versions of Ideal Ruler and of legitimization in changing political circumstances in Serbia and in European South-East in the thirteenth century. The last version, long lasting in Serbian political ideology, can be found in Domentian’s Vita (1265), commissioned by the grandson of St. Simeon, Urosh I (1243–1276) to re-confirm the legitimacy of his reign and the independence of the Serbian state after the reconquest of Constantinople in 1261. In this Vita, St. Simeon is presented as the First and Eternal Ruler of the Serbs through development of apostolic connotations in his cult, based on the concept of Unfailing Mercy, with an addition of the motifs of the Conversion/New Nations and the Blessed Generation of the Upright. As a result, St. Simeon becomes the True Baptizer of the Serbs and the First Subject of the Covenant made between God and Serbs ensuring their Salvation through the Christian Rule.

Сведения за богомилството в „Писмото до Панко“ на Атанасий Йерусалимски

Author(s): Veselin Panayotov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3/1987

Сведения за българите в Житието на свети Фантино Млади от X в

Author(s): Vassil Gjuzelev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2012

The article analyzes three pieces of information from the above-mentioned Life, which refer to the history of the Bulgarians in the second half of the 10th с 1. The prophecy St. Fantinus made in 965 on the capturing of the city of Larissa in Thessaly by the 'enemies' - Bulgarians. 2. His prophecy made in Thessalonica (between 965-967) about a divine prevention of the Bulgarian attack against the city and its vicinities. 3. The story of a miracle with a Thessalonica servant, which happened after the Saint's death (probably in 986). The data from the Life provide new information about the Bulgarian-Byzantine relations during the reign of Peter (927-969) and Samuil (986-1014). The data's introduction into science adds new facts to the history of Bulgaria of the 10th с.

Сведения за българки робини в генуезки и пизански нотариални документи от първата четвърт на ХV век

Author(s): Dimitar V. Dimitrov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2015

Сведения за българската история в Западноруската редакция на руския Хронограф

Author(s): Denitsa Petrova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2019

The Russian Chronograph is one of the most significant chronicles in Russian literature. It has several redactions – the First from 1512, the Basic from 1617 and the West Russian from the middle of the 16th century. Each of the variants contains information about Bulgarian history from the settlement of the Proto-Bulgarians in the Danube River area until the death of Tsar Mihail III Shishman. The West Russian version differs because of the distinct sources used in its compilation. This peculiarity is also noticed in the evidence on Bulgarian history, which has not yet been the subject of independent research.

Сведения за манастира, основан от св. Климент Охридски

Author(s): Kalina Mincheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

Contemporary knowledge of historical and cultural development of Bulgarian monasteries dated between the ninth century and the eleventh century is limited to a large extent due to the dearth of written sources. There are records about the existence of plentitude of convents which turned into mediaeval Bulgarian cultural centres. Some of them accommodated schools and scriptoria which have produced not only genuine pieces of literature, but also translations from foreign languages were conducted and copied, and miscellanea collections were compiled. These monasteries have formed the backbone of Preslav and Ohrid literary schools. Yet, the issue where these centres were located or what was their historical development over the centuries is still puzzling the academic community. On the one hand, archaeological excavations offer new pieces of evidence about Bulgarian convents, but on the other hand, their publications hold certain inaccuracies and inconclusiveness. The monasteries founded by St Kliment and St Naum of Ohrid – disciples of St Cyril and Methodius – are well outlined in copious pieces of written evidence as to their founding, while fragments of data depict their later development. Unlike the state of knowledge about many other monasteries, their exact locations are known to the modern scholars. A number of bits of data about the monastery founded by St Kliment of Ohrid were inserted in the two Lives of St Kliment – these being his Long Life of Theophylact of Ohrid and his Synoptic Life of Demetrios Chomatenos – and in various scribal notes and epigraphic inscriptions. The archaeological data adds to these written records. The monastery has been excavated in four stages in 1942–1943, 1965, 1999–2002 and 2007–2016. Archaeological findings – albite incompletely – have been presented in academic journals and publications. By comparison and analysis of different source data – and in spite of its fragmentary qualities – one may sketch the general chronological framework of St Pantaleon monastery’s functioning in Ohrid. The St Kliment’s Lives clearly present the story of saint’s founding the monastery in the end of the ninth century and its role until the Ottoman conquest of Ohrid. Most detailed accounts about its history date from the fourteenth century. One may distinguish several renovation stages of monastery’s church. Various marginal notes and epigraphic inscription reveal the names of monastery’s sponsors and some of its hegoumenoi. The issue of when the monastery’s church was converted into a mosque remains to be solved in the future. The available sources allow me to conclude that this transformation should be dated to the end of the sixteenth century – beginning of the seventeenth century. I think that Prohor, Archbishop of Ohrid was the last sponsor who commissioned monastery church renovation as following his death he was placed in St Kliment’s grave. It is noted as the end that the monastery church is rebuilt following the reconstruction of architects Todor Paskali and his daughter Tania Paskali. While the aim of Macedonian scholars and politicians was to revive the monastery of St Kliment, one may ask the question whether the new construction works did not aim to annihilate the few remaining pieces of evidence from the monastery founded by St Kliment of Ohrid.

Сведения о Борисе и Глебе в южно-славянской письменности XIII–XIV вв.

Author(s): Rumyana Pavlova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 4/1988

Сведения францисканских источников о католической миссионерской деятельности в Золотой Орде

Author(s): Roman Hautala / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 65/2016

The author of this article traces the core stages of development of the Catholic Apostolate in the Jochid Ulus. Latin sources about missionary activity of the Franciscans in the Golden Horde contain valuable information on religious policy of Jochid khans, Mengu-Timur, Tokhta and Uzbeg, and, at the same time, provide data about daily life of nomads, and the central cities of the Golden Horde Volga region.