Службата за св. Петка Търновска (Параскева Епиватска) с неизвестен канон за четвърти глас в ръкописи от ХVІ–ХVІІ в. от Народната библиотека във Варшава

Author(s): Radoslava Stankova / Language(s): Bulgarian,Old Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

This article examines a version of the office for St Petka of Tarnovo (Paraskeve of Epibatai) in Cyrillic manuscripts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries kept in the National Library of Poland, which contains a canon in the fourth tone that is unknown in South Slavic manuscripts of previous centuries. In the manuscripts with copies of the office under review, one finds hymnographic components of the earliest office in Dragan’s Menaion (the kathisma, kontakion, oikos and photagogikon, the stichera for Great Vespers and the three stichera of the Lauds), but the canons in this office are different from the canon in Dragan’s Menaion. The first canon in this office is from the so-called Vidin (Bdin) office for St Petka of Tarnovo and the motif of the translation of her relics is mentioned in it for the first time, while the second canon is in the fourth tone. In structural and textological terms, the office under review here contains new hymnographic components that are not known in South Slavic copies. The present study is based on ten manuscripts in the National Library in Warsaw. For the time being, it is difficult to determine when and where this office for St Petka was written and translated, and how it reached the Kingdom of Poland. One can only assume that it was written on the occasion of the deposition of the saint’s relics in a church dedicated to her in the sixteenth century (perhaps in Constantinople) and subsequently translated, I believe, most probably in Romania, in connection with the final deposition of her relics. There is no doubt that the canon in the fourth tone and the whole office were written specifically for a church dedicated to the venerable saint. An Appendix presents the text of the office as copied in a sixteenth-century manuscript, Akc. 2855, in the National Library in Warsaw.

Места на паметта за св. Горазд и св. Ангеларий в гр. Берат (Албания)

Author(s): Evgeni Zashev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

This article examines various lieux de mémoire associated with St Gorazd and St Angelarius in the city of Berat (Belograd, Velagrad, Velegrad or Albanian Belgrade), in order to highlight the place and role of the memory of these two disciples of Cyril and Methodius in the process of the emergence and institutionalization of the cult of the Holy Heptarithmoi (the Seven Slavic Saints). Its objects of study are oral lore about the relics of St Gorazd and St Angelarius, and the artefacts and written monuments attesting to the veneration of these saints. The various sources presented here categorically attest that in the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries, and perhaps quite earlier, the memory of St Gorazd and St Angelarius was venerated in Berat. This memory was most probably entirely post-biographical and had mixed (folk and literary) origins, based on their supposed relics. It is the connection with these relics that unites a series of lieux de mémoire which, arranged in chronological order, look like this: Berat (Venetian) office for the Seven Slavic Saints with a canon dedicated to St Gorazd and St Angelarius (1720); an icon of the Seven Slavic Saints representing the assumption of St Gorazd and St Angelarius (1812–1814); two reliquaries in the shape of shoes, one of them dedicated to St Angelarius (1823); A Brief Historical Overview of the Holy Metropolitanate of Velehrad by Anthimos Alexoudis, indicating the church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Berat as the place where the relics of St Gorazd and St Angelarius were preserved (1868); a second icon of the Seven Slavic Saints representing the assumption of St Gorazd and St Angelarius (1873); a silver-plated reliquary from the church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Berat. The hypothesis is presented that the meaningful framework uniting those lieux de mémoire is a local oral narrative that is partially reconstructed. The interpretation of the sources listed and of the links between them points to the conclusion that the “relics” of St Gorazd and St Angelarius were the material basis for the construction of a local tradition of veneration which, in turn, formed the core of the cult of the Seven Slavic Saints that was institutionalized in the early eighteenth century. These relics are the sacred centre around which the memory of the seven Slavic enlighteners was organized in Berat and its surroundings – a cult that was to be gradually freed from this dependence, as the chronologically second Moscopole office for the Seven Saints shows, and to become part of Bulgarian Revival culture.

Покръстването на българите в една барокова музикална драма от Виена

Author(s): Slavia Barlieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

From the Middle Ages to the Modern Age and its Age of Enlightenment, the conversion to Christianity is the most common motif in Western historical sources about Bulgarian history. Baroque literature does not deviate from this tradition and frequently uses this motif – in hagiographic, homiletic, and very often in dramatic works performed in educational institutions of the Jesuit Order. This article presents a musical drama titled The Fruitful, Free and Wonderful Baptism by God’s Providence of Bogor, King of the Moesians that was performed on an uncertain date in 1716 at the Royal Academic Jesuit College in Vienna. Twenty-three dramatic works of the eighteenth century, dedicated to the Bulgarian Christianization, were known until now. They have been investigated and published by Nadezhda. Andreeva in 2004. The play introduced here is another one, the earliest drama on the subject. It is a musical work composed by Johann Georg Reinhart, a well-known court musician in Vienna. The author of the text is unknown. The play has come down to us in the form of a booklet, called in the Baroque theatrical tradition periocha, containing a bilingual Latin-German summary of the drama. The booklet contains nineteen pages: an Argumentum in Latin with parallel content (Geschichts-Inhalt) in German, as well as a bilingual prologue, three acts, and an epilogue. Between the acts are two chorus parts, also bilingual. The narrative is indicated as being based on the Chronicles of Sigebert of Gembloux and Skylitzes–Kedrenos. The periocha presented here does not list all dramatis personae, noting only some of them. Still, the number of participants in the performance speaks of a monumental spectacle: 187 participants are listed by name in the cast list, along with their nationality, status, and profession or faculty. Through participation in the musical drama about the Bulgarian conversion to Christianity, the educated Baroque public acquired knowledge, albeit with quite a few historical errors, that represented the Bulgarians as bearers of the values of Christian Europe. The article concludes with an Appendix containing a Bulgarian translation of the Latin text of the periocha.

Psalterium Demetrii Sinaitici (Monasterii Sanctae Catharinae Codex Slav. 3/N) Adiectis Foliis Medicinalibus. Wien, 2012; Psalterium Demetrii Sinaitici et Folia Medicinalia (Monasterii Sanctae Catharinae Codex Slavicus NF 3). Wien, 2021.

Author(s): Lora Taseva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

В. Б. Крысько, В. Хок. Мучение Ирины. Византийское житие в старославянском переводе. Издание. Исследование. Указатели. Москва–Санкт-Петербург: Нестор-История, 2021. 344 с., 87 фотокопии. ISBN 978-5-4469-2024-2

Author(s): Tatyana Slavova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

Dorotei Getov. Capita Ascetica Serdicensia (an Early Byzantine Anthology of Christian Precepts): a Critical Edition of the Greek Text with an Introduction and English Translation. Leuven: Peeters, 2021. 212 рр. (Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense: Études

Author(s): Tsvetan Vasilev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

Odra. Dlaczego tak jest? I co dalej? – zamiast wstępu

Author(s): Marek Zawadka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 92/2023

The Oder river remains a constant issue in the field of journalism as well as political and economic emotions. The article attempts to organise the discussion on the Oder as a waterway and to display the solutions that can initiate the debate about the future of the river. This issue generates plenty of myths and incomplete statements as the Oder is a river that everyone talks about but very few actually care about it. This can be said both when it comes to the quality of the water and its adjustment to the modern water management in the context of the environmental changes.

Materiały z obrad Bundestagu poświęcone ekologicznej katastrofie Odry w 2022 roku

Author(s): Aleksandra Trzcielińska-Polus / Language(s): Polish Issue: 92/2023

In August 2022, the situation on the border river Oder was called an ecological disaster. It manifested in fish dying on a mass scale and the overall destruction of the river’s ecosystem. Both the Polish and the German side aimed at determining the causes of this situation, which resulted in the collaboration in the field of crisis management. The article contains the German and Polish language source materials that demonstrate the activities of the Bundestag members, in particular the Parliamentary Commission of Environmental Protection, parliamentary parties and the federal government’s reaction to the catastrophe.

Един новооткрит сборник със смесено съдържание от втората–третата четвърт на XVIII в.

Author(s): Angel Nikolov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

This article is devoted to a Bulgarian manuscript collection written in the town of Vidin by several hands around the second – third quarter of the eighteenth century; not later than the first quarter of the nineteenth century it was brought to Teteven, where it has been kept ever since. The collection of texts examined here is a typical example of the later miscellanies of mixed content, which are distinguished by the presence of numerous apocryphal and non-canonical works. Moreover, the inclusion of a number of apotropaic texts in the miscellany allows us to assume that its transcribers – most likely members of a relatively wealthy Vidin family of merchants and priests – had access to older amulet collections, which in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were frequently used in teaching children to read and write. The miscellany is also remarkable in that it reflects the personal tastes and pragmatic needs of its owners, who were not only obsessed with keeping evil forces at bay but also took pains to equip themselves with accurate calendar information on church festivals and fasts throughout the year, a Latin abecedary, and even a short Bulgarian-Hungarian dictionary whose presence in the manuscript hints at distant (most likely commercial) travels.

Татяна Славова. Старозаветни книги в славянската ръкописна традиция. София: Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 2022. 313 с. ISBN 978-954-07-5363-8

Author(s): Anna-Maria Totomanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

Радомиров псалтир. Палеографски и текстологичен анализ. Наборно и факсимилно издание. Зографска издателска поредица Библиотека „Към изворите“. Зографски манастир, Света гора. 1–2. София: Фондация „Наследство на Зографската света обител“, 2022. 700 с.

Author(s): Ivona Karachorova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

Още веднъж за култа към св. Еразъм Охридски (Формийски) в източната и западната християнска традиция

Author(s): Boyka Mircheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

Международна научна конференция „Учителното евангелие на Константин Преславски и южнославянските преводи на хомилетични текстове (IX–XIII в.): Филологически и интердисциплинарни ракурси“. София, 25–27 април 2023 г.

Author(s): Ivan P. Petrov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

Живот на богоозарен откривател: проф. д.ф.н. Георги Попов (1943–2023)

Author(s): Regina Koycheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 67-68/2023

В новите броеве на списанията на "Аз-буки" четете

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

Второто Народно събрание – избори, конституиране и състав

Author(s): Milko Palangurski,Hristina Hristova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

The Bulgarian parliamentary system came into being with the formation of the First National Assembly in the fall of 1879. Political inexperience, constitutional opposition, as well as disagreements between the monarch, parliament and executive led to the first political crisis in the country, which had several possible outcomes. Ultimately, the idea was embraced that it was necessary to seek the vote of the people once again, in order to strike a balance between the three disputing authorities. The young state administration managed to develop what was achieved and to provide conditions for Bulgarian citizens to successfully and democratically declare their intention. The Second National Assembly was established after one general election and two additional elections were held for a period of one calendar year. The territorial scope of the electoral colleges was improved, and access to the polls and integrity of the electoral process were ensured. The vote took place in accordance with the Provisional Rules for the Election of Representatives to the First Ordinary National Assembly, adopted in April 1879. However, the election results unequivocally showed that the large voter turnout sought through them could not be achieved, and that the high electoral threshold on the first day of the vote was unrealistic and therefore necessary to be removed. Violations in the electoral process remained almost the same as those established during the vote for the previous Assembly, but quite frequently overexposed or neglected for political purposes. The electoral process related to the Second National Assembly triggered a rapid and definitive formation of the Liberals and Conservatives’ party structures at both the national and regional levels.

Мисията на Йохан Якоб Курц фон Зенфтенау до Константинопол (1623 –1624) и предизвикателствата пред хабсбургските дипломати на Босфора след Дългата турска война

Author(s): Aneliya Stoyanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

Lasting for over a decade, the Long Turkish war (1593 –1606) temporarily disrupted the diplomatic contacts between Habsburgs and Ottomans. Like any other agreement between Vienna and Istanbul, the peace treaty of Zsitvatorok (1606) left various controversial questions unresolved and provided further issues to negotiate. The present article aims at outlining and analyzing the main challenges the Habsburgs diplomats in Istanbul were faced with during the first two decades after the reestablishment of permanent diplomatic contacts (1608) following the end of the Long Turkish war. The study focuses on the diplomatic mission of Johann Jakob Kurz von Senftenau (1623 – 1624). The choice to examine this particular mission in detail is due both to the good volume of preserved archival documents on its progress, and to the fact that it is among the lesser-known Habsburg embassies in Constantinople from the beginning of XVII century. Along with the ever ongoing negotiations of disputable articles of the peace agreements, rebuilding the intelligence network, and organizing save transportation of the diplomatic correspondence to the Imperial court in Vienna emerge as tasks of primary importance. The financial struggles in times of inflation and the frequent change of Ottoman rulers also stand out as main challenges for the Habsburg diplomats to handle.

A Superhero Army, a Courageous People and an Enchanted Land: Wartime Political Myths and Ontological Security in the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Author(s): Anastasiia Poberezhna,Olga Burlyuk,Anja Van Heelsum / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The first three months of the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine saw the rise of mythical stories of fantastical heroes, events, and places in Ukraine’s public space. This article suggests looking at these stories through the frame of wartime political myths providing a greater sense of ontological security. By analyzing four proposed characteristics of the Ukrainian myths – transcendentalism, normativity, identity, and national context – we argue that political myths constitute strategies of resistance that contribute to ontological security. In this case, we observe that they do so in (at least) three ways: by creating myths of a superhero army; by creating myths of a courageous Ukrainian people; and by creating myths of a sacred enchanted land.

На зламі епох та ідеологій. Рефлексія Лесі Українки в ХХ столiттi

Author(s): Yaroslav Polishchuk / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 1/2024

The article discusses the phenomenon of Lesya Ukrainka on the background of the leading ideologies of the 20th century. Ukrainka’s early works were influenced by folklore. Her later works became not only a challenge to the folklore-like and didactic culture but also a shift towards modernist aesthetics, which at the time gained popularity in Europe. The reception of Lesya Ukrainka was subordinated to the nationalist, communist or liberal ideology during the 20th century. The modern interpretations of her works rely heavily on the experience of previous readings.

The Jewish Museum in Prague - 1999 Annual Report

Author(s): Leo Pavlát / Language(s): English Issue: 1/1999

The Jewish Museum in Prague is actively collecting memories from Holocaust survivors, resistance members, and witnesses. The document lists annotated memoirs, detailing individuals' experiences such as deportation to concentration camps like Auschwitz, involvement in the resistance movement, and post-war lives. Many survivors emigrated, joined armies, or participated in underground activities. The accounts include escapes, internment, and life in mixed marriages during the war. Post-liberation, some individuals moved to countries like Israel or the USA, while others returned to Czechoslovakia or engaged in educational work.