The Light of Letters

The Light of Letters (or the Gospel Parable of the Sower in the Context of the 21st C.)

Axin ia Džurova , Vasya Ve l inova

Bulgaria, Moravia and the Byzantine Empire

in the 9th c.

There is a span of eleven centuries and a half since the creation of the Slavonic

Alphabet. In the middle of the 9th century the author of the new alphabet,

Constantine – Cyril the Philosopher († 869), articulated the emblematic phrase

“Without books all nations are bare”. With these words he expressed his deep con-

viction of the need of spiritual enlightenment and the significance of written texts for

the survival of the various ethnic groups in the world cultural history. And although

in the medieval world the ideas of the Slavic First Teacher were expressed in the

context of the Christian doctrine of the meaning of human existence, they go far

beyond the specific historic period and address a number of issues to be solved in

our technological, virtual, globalizing and almost deprived of spiritual experience

dynamic stereotype of life.

Axin ia Džurova , Vasya Ve l inova (3) The L i gh t o f Le t t e r s

Axin ia Džurova , Vasya Ve l inova (4) The Light of Letters

The Abecedar of Munich with Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters

from 12th c.

Constant ine – Cyr i l the Phi losopherf rom the per spec t ive of t ime

It is hardly likely that in the time of invention of the alphabet its author wasfully aware of the historic consequences of his work . On the basis of the sourceswhich have reached to our time only fragmentary facts about his personal life choi-ces have been preserved (i.e. about his dedication to wisdom and to the knowled-ge of God, as well as to his missionary work). Brought up and educated in the besttraditions of the Byzantine aristocracy, Constantine – Cyril, called the Philosopherbecause of his phenomenal wisdom, was a typical representative of Byzantinehumanism, influenced by Patriarch Photius (810–893) and his circle of intellectuals.The future enlightener of the Slavs gave his personal contribution to two successfulByzantine missions at the highest political level: to the Saracens (Arabs) and to theKhazars of a Byzantine colony, Chersonesus. When he came back from the secondmission he triumphantly brought the relics of St. Clement of Rome († about 99) tothe capital city and years later this fact would guarantee him cordial reception in thevery heart of Rome.

Combining the ideas of Byzantine universalism with humanism and the affi-nity to the only possible philosophical knowledge of the 9th century, i.e. theknowledge of God and having cultivated his tolerance to the culture of variouspeoples as a result of his long journeys in the vast provinces of the Empire, as ifConstantine – Cyril embodied the idealized image of a Byzantine intellectual – citi-zen of the world. May be this was the adequate spiritual attitude, which precondi-tioned and made possible the most famous and most valuable deed of his life, i.e.creation of the Glagolitic Alphabet.



In search of the image of Europe in the 9th century

In the middle of the 9th century in the heart of the Byzantine Empire – the city ofConstantinople one of the most ambitious and largest scale missionary projects ofthe history of Europe was designed and implemented, i.e. the Slavs were providedwith an alphabet with a view to integrate them with the East Orthodox ChristianDenomination of Constantinople in order to achieve religious unity and culturalhomogeneity of the continent. The ultimate aim was to guarantee the prestige andthe supremacy of Byzantium. Thus, in the context of their geopolitical interests theobjective of the Byzantine Empire was to reshape the cultural map of Europe in theirfavour via the Cross and the Logos.

The 9th century of the European history was characterized by active missio-nary activities of the two big churches on the continent, i.e. the Roman CatholicChurch and the East Orthodox Church of Constantinople. Most intensive were themissions oriented to the Slavonic tribes. On the other hand, the German Kingdomprovoked serious tensions in the territories of Middle and Eastern Europe whichresulted in complex political combinations and unstable in time military alliances.As a result the struggle between the two Churches for domination over the Slavoniccommunities (which were in a process of Christianization or not converted yet) wasintensified and took the form of undisguised rivalry. In 843 in Verdun a conventionwas signed to impose the rule of Louis “the German” (about 806–876) (grandsonof Charlemagne, 748–814) in the states on the territory of future Germany. Thisthreatened the positions of Great Moravia, which turned for help to neighbouringByzantium. The situation was further aggravated by the claims of Pope Nicholas Ifor domination of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) over the entire Christian world. Hisambition was so great that he refused to recognize the election of Fotius asEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Grea t Morav ia – the Beg inn ing

In this unfavourable political context in 863 Knyaz (Prince) Rostislav († about 870)addressed Byzantine Emperor Michail III († 867) with the request for missionariesto be sent to his country who would preach the teaching of Christ in the languagehis people could understand. The Slavonic ruler hoped that in this way he couldneutralize both the Latin claims and the aspirations of the German clergy to assimi-late and subjugate his subjects. In response to the request of Knyaz Rostislav theEmperor of Byzantium sent Constantine the Philosopher and his brotherMethodius, who had already devised a Slavic alphabet, to Moravia. They had notonly to translate the teaching of Christ into the native spoken Slavic language, butalso to use it (at least partially) in liturgical services. For the first time the alphabetcreated by the two enlighteners was materialized via translation of the Holy Writ ofChristianity into the language of the Slavs: e.g. Gospel Lectionary, Apostle, PsalmBook , and a selection of liturgies.

For Byzantium this was an opportunity to join the great political game and toconsolidate the positions of the Empire in Middle Europe and for the Constantine thePhilosopher and his brother Methodius, coming from a city of mixed Greek andSlavonic population, this was a chance to demonstrate the power of spiritualenlightenment and to show Slavs the way to spiritual unity and historic immortality.

The Creation of the Slavonic Alphabet by Cyril and Methodius.

A Miniature in the RadzivilChronicle, 15th c.

The Translation of the Slavonic Books, made by Methodius.



Aga in s t t he t r i - l i ngua l dogma

This strategic objective will make them go first to Great Moravia and then to Romewhere they presented their mission and obtained the blessing of the Pope for thetranslations of the holy Christian books into Slavonic language. During their stayin the principality of Rostislav the two brothers and their followers were confrontedwith the tri-lingual dogma, which was the main hindrance in the way of developingthe Slavic alphabet and translating the holy books.

The courage and resolution of Cyril and Methodius were exceptional. Theyopenly opposed the attempts at isolation of the Slavic language justifying theiractions with the divine gift to understand unfamiliar languages given to the Apostleson Pentecost of the Holy Spirit. Those blessed could convert the barbarians intoChristians and translate the Gospel and other holy texts. In the aura of this sacredspiritual act the Slavonic enlighteners preached that all peoples are equally deser-ving of receiving the gifts of the Holy Word thus making a decisive and irreversiblebreak-through with regards to the tri-lingual dogma, favoured and supported by theChurch of Rome. In its place they formulated the idea of cultural equality. Or, inthe words of Constantine the Philosopher in his Proclamation of the Holy Gospels,the true salvation of peoples is the conscious affiliation to the written texts:

‘Open the gates of reason with perseverance, Now that you have accepted the true weapon,Being hammered by the Books of the Lord...’

The Ordainment of Methodiusas an Archbishop.



These words also reveal the whole meaning of the mission of Cyril andMethodius expressed in the cultural language of their time. As if they contain theappeal to preserve cultural diversity and national identity. And what is more, in themodern world of substituted or totally eliminated spiritual values these words havethe power of a moral imperative concerning the priority of the humanistic principlesover the dictates of mass culture and the over-exposed market oriented world depri-ved of morality.

In the long martyrdom of his apostle mission Constantine–Cyril had to dis-prove what was written by Bishop Isidore of Seville (570–636) in his Etimologiae(Book IX), i.e. “Three are the holy languages – Jewish, Greek and Latin, which illu-minate the whole world. In these three languages Pontius Pilatus ordered the ins-cription on the Holy Cross”. A traditional stereotype had to be overcome, whichimposed Christian liturgies should be held only in these three languages usurpingthe statute of being holy. Syrians, Copts, Armenians, Georgians had created theirscript and literature before the 6th century, when the ideas of Isidore of Seville wereadopted as an inviolable postulate and a firm dogma of the Church of Rome.

In fact the change of this status quo is an expression of the most significantdimension of the deed of Cyril – the formulated by him idea of equality of the Slavswith the rest of the nations and their right to praise the Lord in their native langua-ge. His words according to the sources on the dispute, Cyril had with the suppor-ters of the tri-lingual dogma in Venice on his way to Rome, are still valid today:

“And you are not ashamed to decree only three languages deciding that all other peoples andraces shall remain blind and deaf!” And he added: ... the teaching of St. Paul says: “WhenI address the Lord with my prayer I would prefer to say five words, but which can be unders-tood by everybody else, rather than a thousand unintelligible words.”

The victory of the Slavic enlighteners over the tri-lingual dogma found anexpression in consecration of the Slavonic books and ordainment of their disciplesin priesthood by Pope Adrian in Rome. Constantine’s brother Methodius took holyorders as an Archbishop of Great Moravia. This act was solemnly performed in theChurch of Santa Maria Majore where liturgies in Latin, Greek and Slavonic wereheld. The road was opened to creation of the fourth classical language in Europe inthe end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century which, in the words of R.Picchio, would perform the functions of a supranational language of all Slavpeoples. In 869 Constantine died in Rome having assumed the monastic name ofCyril. His brother Methodius returned to Moravia to continue the great mission.



Assemani Gospel. Glagolitic Calligraphy.

Author: Krassimir Andreev.

Grea t Morav ia – end o f t he mi s s ion

The start of all these processes was in 1150. Then the state of Great Moravia wasthe first Slavonic country where the native language acquired the statute of a litera-ry language and the Slavonic alphabet became legitimate. At that time the processof reshaping the cultural map of Europe began – a process to go on developing formore than a century until the consolidation of the community of Slavia Orthodoxia(R. Picchio).

With a great degree of certainty we could assert that the authors of the alpha-bet and Slavonic First teachers were fully aware of the open nature of their workand its potential to become an instrument of consolidation of the Slavs. Becauseintegration means common cultural space, exchange of ideas, intellectual and mate-rial resources – an integration which has always been perceived with criticism andsuspicion. Regardless of this the first and most significant step was made. TheMission in Moravia, according to Professor Heinz Miklas, is “the main chapter ofthe first expansion of Europe and the role of Byzantium in this process is exceptio-nal”. But should we stop at this stage? What would the face of Europe be if thework of Cyril Methodius was limited only to realization of this initial Byzantine pro-ject?

The fate of Slavonic Archbishop Methodius and his followers in GreatMoravia was far from being easy. They had to go through severe trials when PrinceSvatopluk (about 830–894), who was connected with the interests of the Bavariandiocese, came to the throne in 870. After the death of Methodius in 885 the Slavonicmen-of-letters were banished from the country.


Bulgar ia – the sa lva t ion

In the course of history the work of the two brothers, continued by their disciples,found its long-term realization not in Great Moravia it was designated for, but inBulgaria where the seed fell in fertile soil and among those who hear the Word toyield good harvest, if we interpret the Gospel proverb of the Sower. Because, iftoday in 2013 we commemorate the authors of the alphabet and their probably firstmission among the Slavs, the merits of preservation of the historic memory anddevelopment of the ideas of Constantine the Philosopher (Cyril) and his brotherMethodius go to the Bulgarian Kingdom and its sovereign who converted theBulgarian people to Christianity, i.e. Knyaz Boris-Michail of Bulgaria. However, thisfact should not be considered as a dividing line – in time and in space – separa-ting the Slavs. On the contrary, it shall only demonstrate how much stronger wasthe feeling of national identity in the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10thcentury, the feeling of belonging to a community and the awareness of a historicchoice and historic responsibility before the future generations.

With his audacity, foresight, perseverance and diplomatic experience theBulgarian monarch highly estimated work commenced by Moravian KnyazRostislav and in 885 he gladly welcomed the banished disciples of ArchbishopMethodius in his capital city of Pliska after his death. The salvaged letters (alpha-bet) and books found their true mother country where they would stay through theages and from where they would find their way to other Slavonic countries as arche-types of the holy Slavonic books.

The situation in the First Bulgarian Kingdom in the end of the 9th centurywas a specific reflection of the complex relations between the ‘great powers’ of thetime in Europe. Under the reign of Knyaz Boris († 907) the Bulgarian Kingdomexpanded its boundaries and as a result the state found itself between two big dio-ceses – Rome and Constantinople. The Bulgarian sovereign managed to takeadvantage of their rivalry and obtained the right to an independent and autonomous(autocephalous) status of the newly established Bulgarian Church via consecutivenegotiations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope of Rome. For thisreason an envoy mission of Rome (866–869) headed by Cardinal Fromosa ofPortugal (who was later elected as Pope John VIII) was sent to Bulgaria. However,this mission was doomed to fail due to the policies of the Church of Rome to rejectindependence of the regional churches and the goal of Knyaz Boris was a state ofan independent church after the nation was converted to Christianity. When he waspromised religious independence by the Patriarch of Constantinople, he choseOrthodoxy.



The Manasses Chronicle. Cyrillic Calligraphy, Uncial Script.


But having been converted to Christianity in 863/4 the Bulgarian state faceda great challenge. The Greek language, used by Greek clergymen for liturgical pur-poses, was unintelligible for the people and it turned into an instrument for foreigninfluence. Similar was the situation with the Latin texts used for liturgies by the pre-lates sent by Rome. To a certain extent, Christianity became the cause for disinte-gration of the nation, rather than integration. The need to use the native languagein religious practices was becoming clearer and clearer and this required the relevantalphabet and translated liturgical texts. For this reason Byzantine writer Theophylactof Ohrid (Archbishop of Ohrid from 1084 to 1107) wrote about the fate of the banis-hed from Moravia disciples of Cyril and Methodius: “They were received in Bulgariawith peace because the monarch yearned for men like them…” Welcoming cordiallythe followers of the Slavonic First Teachers in the 9th century Bulgaria continuedtheir cause and became the new motherland of the Slavonic literature. Similar deve-lopment of the events, but on a smaller scale, was also observed in Croatia wherethe first Slavonic alphabet, i.e. the Glagolitic alphabet, was preserved for a longerperiod as an instrument of preservation of their ethnic identity and neutralization ofthe attempts at ‘Latinization’ of local Slavs.

Cyril and Methodius devised the Glagolitic alphabet charged with specificsymbolism and it was radically different graphically from the Greek and Latin scriptsused on the territory of Bulgaria. In the search of original literary identity of theSlavs they codified a graphic system, which was relevant to the phonetic composi-tion and structure of the language to a maximum extent. Being a brilliant philolo-gist, Constantine the Philosopher formed an aura of holiness around his work inorder to provide for the unhindered development of the literary and spiritual life ofthe Slavs. Testimonial of this idea is his poetic work Proclamation of the HolyGospels, where he addresses the Slavonic peoples as one community and presentsthe alphabet as a gift from the Lord:

Listen now with all your reason (mind).Listen all you Slavonic people,Listen to the Word, because it has come from the Lord!

Ax in ia Džurova , Vasya Ve l inova (14) The L i gh t o f Le t t e r s

St. Cyril and St. Methodius with their Disciples.

The new l i t e rary c en t e r s

The Glagolitic alphabet created by Constantine – Cyril, Methodius and their follo-wers was used in the Bulgarian territories to the end of the 12th century and this wasrichly documented in the preserved epigraphic and manuscript monuments, i.e. theZograph Gospel, the Assemany Gospel, the Mariinsko Gospel, the Sinai Eucho-logion, the Rila Glagolitic Folia – all of them produced in the period of 10th–11th C.

The first literary centers were established on the territory of the FirstBulgarian Kingdom (the oldest was in Pliska, the first capital city of Bulgaria) where,parallel with the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, the first generation of OldBulgarian literary men worked. The activities of Constantine of Preslav, ChernorizetsHrabar, Joan Exarch, etc. are associated with the new Christian capital of the FirstBulgarian Kingdom – the city of Preslav where intensive translation and editorialwork began to restore and supplement the translation made by the First Teachers.The first original texts in Old Bulgaria were created, i.e. liturgical chants, sermons.Works of history and theological treatises were also translated.

With the highly active support of Knyaz Boris, Clement of Ohrid was sentto Ohrid where he established a great school. There dozens of young men were trai-ned to perform divine services in Bulgarian language. Clement himself translatedsignificant liturgical texts, wrote original poetic and prose works and became themodel of whole generations of Slavonic men-of-letters. Being the founder of theGreat School of Ohrid his name was for ever associated with the place and heremained in the history of Bulgaria as Clement of Ohrid, the first bishop in theBulgarian language, as written in his hagiology by the Greek author, Theophylact.



The London Gospel of Tsar Ivan Alexander. Cyrillic Calligraphy, Uncial Script.


The new Bulgarian alphabet, i.e. the Cyrillic Alphabet, which is in its essen-ce an adaptation of the Greek uncial, appeared in Bulgaria most probably in Preslavon the divide of 9th and 10th C. It is a combination of the letter inventory of theGreek alphabet and signs for the specific Old Bulgarian phonemes, to which a num-ber of Glagolitic letters were added (compare: Gospel Cod. gr. 387 and the Preslavceramic tiles of 9th–10th C or the Suprasalski Miscellany of the Greek Gospels№ 1 and 2 of 9th–10th C). Thus continuity was guaranteed with regards to theGreek uncial alphabet, which had already been disseminated on the territory ofBulgaria and used for administrative purposes by the Bulgarian Royal court, as wellas for the manuscripts used for liturgical purposes by the Christian population inha-biting the Bulgarian lands.

The earliest Bulgarian Cyrillic monuments are epigraphic and they are refer-red to the 10th century (the inscriptions of the village of Krepcha, 921 and the epi-taphs of 931 found in Preslav. As far as manuscripts are concerned we could men-tion the Suprasalski Miscellany of the second half of the 10th century, the Cyrilliclayer of the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century found in the VaticanPalimpsest, the Enina Lectionary Apostle of the 11th century, the Bitolya Triodion ofthe 12th century, the Kyustendil Palimpsest of the 12th century and the SlepchenskiApostle of the 12th century. Of the later Cyrillic manuscripts the following works areremarkable: The Rila Gospel of the 13th century, the Dobreisho Gospel of the 13thcentury, the Draganov Menologion of the 13th century, the Psalm Book of BulgarianTsar Ivan Alexander of 1337, the Manasses Chronicle of 1344–45, the Gospel of TsarIvan Alexander of 1356, the Tomich’s Psalter of about 1360, the Tetraevangelion ofthe Metropolita of Serres, Jacob of the 14th century, the Serbian Psalter of Munichof the end of the 14th century, the Kiev Psalter of the end of the 14th century etc.

Thus the reason for replacement of the Glagolitic script by the Cyrillic alpha-bet in the Preslav literary center was due to the existing long-standing tradition touse the Greek uncial script for state-administrative, religious and cultural purposesin the capital city of the First Bulgarian Kingdom which is proved by the OldBulgarian inscriptions. From East Bulgaria only the Cyrillic script penetrated thelands of Serbia and Russia almost without exception (see for instance the OstomirGospel of the 1056–1057, the Msistlav Gospel of the 1113–1117, the Izbornik of PrinceSviatoslav from 1073, as well as the Serbian Miroslav Gospel of the 12th c). All thesefacts indicate Preslav as the center where the Cyrillic Alphabet was devised and for-med. This was probably about 893 when in Preslav the Slavonic language was offi-cially introduced for liturgical purposes at an ecumenical council and the esotericGlagolitic script resembling, for instance, the Ethiopic script type, was graduallyreplaced. However, this process went on for several centuries. Generations of


Bulgarian literary men were trained to use equally well the two alphabets, as seenfrom certain manuscripts, e.g. the Bitolya Triodion in the Archive of the BulgarianAcademy of Science or the colophons in the margins of the Assemani Gospel.

The Christian literature model, created in Bulgaria, was adopted and adap-ted by Serbians and Russians and finally the Orthodox Slavonic civilization becamea fact. It is not by chance that the Great Russian humanist and erudite, expert inSlavic medieval literature, Dmitrii Sergeevich Lihachov, has underlined many timesthat owing to the policies of the Bulgarian monarchs the First Bulgarian Kingdomwas transformed into a “state of the spirit”.

In this way in Pliska, Preslav and Ohrid ended the long journey to salvati-on of the Slavonic Alphabet which had begun in Constantinople and continuedthrough Great Moravia, Venice and Rome (i.e. crossing almost the entire territoryof Christian Europe of the end of the 9th century). After the failure of the missionin Great Moravia the language of the Slavs had not become an ‘apostle dialect’ yet.Only in Bulgaria under the reign of Knyaz Boris and later of his son Tsar Simeon(864–927) it became the third liturgical language on the Christian continent. Thiswas due to the audacity, the foresight, and the respect to the Word and enlighten-ment of the two Bulgarian sovereigns who could be rightfully considered ‘Saviors ofthe Alphabet’. Without their explicit and decisive involvement the cultural map ofEurope would be quite different today.

Modern in t e rpre ta t ion o f t he h i s to r i c fa c t s

All these facts should not be interpreted as an attempt at division – the mission ofCyril and Methodius was a mission of unity and integration. Their work integratedthe Slavs, although stage by stage and to a various extent, with the culture ofChristian Europe. This fact was especially clearly emphasized in the studies ofProfessor Ricardo Picchio. The modern European society is not the product only ofthe Latin-Germanic West or the cultures along Mare Nostrum. A significant contri-bution to the cultural diversity of the European spiritual world has been made bythe culture of the Orthodox Slavdom and owing to this fact today the EuropeanUnion has three officially recognized alphabets, i.e. Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. TheCyrillic alphabet brings to us the remote memory of the events, which took place1150 ago – a period during which not only the alphabet was put to trial, but alsothe identity of the Slav peoples. The key to their historic survival was made andgenerously bestowed by the Thessaloniki enlighteners, Cyril and Methodius – the


sowers of the seeds fallen on good earth. According to Professor Antoan-Emil Tachiaos, Cyril and Methodius are per-

ceived as “symbols of Orthodox Christianity, fathers of the spiritual life of the Slavs.They are at the beginning of the Slavonic literary culture”. Even more explicit is theopinion of Arnold Toynbee who defines the creation of an alphabet and literature inthe native language of Bulgaria as a “lucid moment of the creative genius of theOrthodox community” and Bulgaria is defined as the “second center” (afterByzantium) of the Orthodox civilization. Francis Dvornik writes about Bulgaria asthe “cradle of Slavonic culture”, because Knyaz Boris of Bulgaria managed to achie-ve internal unity of the state based on the tight link between language and faith.

As a result of the policies of encouragement of literary work conducted byBulgarian Tsar Simeon, French historian Alfred Rambaud compares him to Charlesthe Great (Charlemagne) saying that “Simeon was Bulgaria’s Charles the Great –more educated than our Charles the Great and much happier than him because helaid the foundations of a national literature”. And in the end, let us remember thatin his Encyclical of October 31, 1980 Pope John Paul II proclaimed the holybrothers Cyril and Methodius as holy co-patrons of Europe. By this act they beca-me intransient symbols of a common spiritual tradition on the continent.

What are our responsibilities to preserve the deed of the First Teachers andour legacy for the coming generations today? What sowers shall we be in the 21stcentury and shall we find the good earth to yield good harvest? Can we preservethe respect to books and knowledge, tolerance to other people, our ability for self-reflection, self-assessment and self-criticism, our spirituality, which can rescue usfrom the temptations of consumer attitudes, the lack of faith, the apathy and thelack of taboos in the deprived of miracles world of the post-modern society? Theanswers are difficult, the temptations and the hindrances are plenty. Reverting to thewisdom and the insight of the First Teachers who bequeathed to us that “More thananything else in this world, an illiterate soul appears dead among people” with thisexhibition we would like to present to your attention some of the most valuableGlagolitic and Cyrillic manuscripts related to the cultural history of Bulgaria.


Taffel 1 Taffel 2

(20) The L ight of Le t te r s

C a t a l o g

P a n e l 1

A u t o r e n :Prof. Axin ia DžurovaDoz. Vassya Ve l inovaFotograf: Ivo Hadzh imishev

P a n e l 2

1)Icon of Saints Cyril and Methodius,19th Century, Samokov2)Icon of Saints Cyril and Methodiusand their Disciples, 19th Century,Samokov3)Rilski Panegyric (A miscellanea withvitae of the saints and eulogies fortheir church fests), Rila, 4/8, 1479f. 571v: Copy of the Vita of SaintCyril the Philosopher

2)A miniature of Prince Boris in aDidactic Gospel of 11th–12th century– a Russian manuscript producedaccording to an Old Bulgarian proto-type. The manuscript is preserved inthe State Museum of History inMoscow, Sinod 262 3)Icons of Apostles and Evangelists ofthe Arch type, designed for churchiconostases indicate mass productionin the workshops of Рatleina andTuzlalaka at the capital Preslav

P a n e l 3

The conversion of the Bulgarians toChristianity in 864 was the result ofthe far-sighted policies of Prince Boris(852–889) and, later, of his son –Tsar Simeon (893–927). Prior to thisact of crucial significance for theBulgarian state the two brothers fromThessalonica – Cyril and Methodius– had devised the Slavonic alphabetin Constantinople for the purposes ofthe missionary work of the ByzantineEmpire among the West Slavs (GreatMoravia – 862/863). The new alpha-bet, which violated the establishedtrilingual tradition of Hebrew, Latinand Greek , was an entirely originalalphabet. It is called “Glagolitic” andconsists of 38 letters reflecting mostprecisely the phonetic specifics of theSlavs from Thessalonica in the middleof the 9th century. The first transla-tions of the liturgical books were pro-duced in Constantinople, and later inMoravia and Pannonia. Having beengranted sanctity by Curia Romana in866, after the death of Cyril in Romein 869 and the death of Methodius inGreat Moravia in 885, their closestdisciples – Clement, Naum, Sava,Gorazd, and Angelarii – were invitedby Prince Boris of Bulgaria to Pliska,the capital city of the country, wherethe conversion of the Bulgarians hadtaken place as early as in 864 andwhere the first literary centre on theterritory of Bulgaria was established.1)F. 163 – a miniature from theManasses Chronicle (1344–1345)depicting the conversion of theBulgarians. The manuscript is pre-served in the Vatican Apostle Library,Vat. Slavo 2

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P a n e l 4

1)Assemani Gospel is the most com-pletely preserved Old BulgarianGlagolitic manuscript preserved at theVatican Apostle Library, Vat. Slavo 3,10th–11th century; 158 f. of parchment.It is decorated in a great number ofpolychromous initials of teratological,vegetation and anthropomorphicmotifs and headpieces. With regardsto its contents, it is a Lectionary(aprakos) Gospel, the text of which is closest to the presumable originalCyril and Methodius translation. TheMenologion (religious calendar) marksthe festive days of the saintly brothersCyril and Methodius, and Clement of Ohrid.2)Rila Glagolitic folia (parts of theParenesis of Euphrem Sirin), secondhalf of the 11th century, 8 f. of parch-ment. These are the only Glagoliticfragments on the territory of Bulgaria,preserved in the bindings of theAndrianti Miscellanea of 1473 writtenby Vladislav Grammatik . They arekept in the Rila Monastery, Rila 3/6and the rest of the sheets are preserved in the library of theAcademy of Science in St. Petersburg

3)Codex Marianus (four Gospel book)of the 10th century. It contains 173 f.of parchment written in roundGlagolitic letters, 30 lines per page. It was found in 1845 by the famousRussian Slav scholar, V. Grigorovichin the St. Vergin Mary Skete, whichgave the manuscript its name. The Gospels of Luke and John arepreceded by miniatures of the twoEvangelists. The preserved sections ofthis cultural monument are kept invarious book depositories. Its mainpart (171 f.) is kept in the StateRussian Library (Grig. 6 or Myz.1689); two sheets of the manuscriptare preserved in the Vienna NationalLibrary (Cod. Slav. 146).

P a n e l 5

1)Codes Zographensis (four Gospelbook) of the second half of the 10thcentury. It contains about 304 f. ofparchment. Up to 1860 the manu-script was kept in the Bulgarianmonastery on Mount Athos, i.e. St. George the Zograf Monastery.Then it was given as a gift EmperorAlexander II of Russia as an expres-sion of the hope that he would liberate Bulgaria from the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At present it is preserved in the Russian NationalLibrary in St. Petersburg, Glag. 1. The manuscript is decorated in initialsand headpieces of geometric style andsome of the initials feature traces ofthe earliest elements of the Slavonicteratological style. 2)Euchologium Sinaiticum of the 11thcentury. This exquisite and valuablemanuscript used to contain about 300 f., but at present the biggest part of it numbers 106 f. preserved inthe St. Ekaterina of Sinai Monastery, signature Sinait. Slav. 37, Sinait Slav1/N. Fragments of the manuscript are also preserved in the library of theAcademy of Science in St. Petersburg(sign. 24.4.8) and in the RussianNational Library in St. Petersburg(Glag. 2 and Glag. 3). style. Ca

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In the last decades of the 9th centurythe capital city of the First BulgarianState was moved from Pliska toPreslav and Simeon, the highly edu-cated son of Knyaz Boris, came to thethrone in 893. Here the disciples ofCyril and Methodius created the sec-ond Slavonic alphabet – the Cyrillicalphabet, which, in its essence, repre-sents an adaptation of the uncialGreek letters widely known through-out the Bulgarian lands. In this waythe extremely original and beautiful asa graphic system, but esoteric withregards to its stereotype, Glagoliticalphabet gradually gave way to theeasy to master Cyrillic letters. TheGlagolitic alphabet continued to beused mostly in the western regions ofBulgaria – in Ohrid, where the truedisciples of the Slavonic first teachers,Clement and Naum worked.1)White-clay tile, featuring a Cyrillictext written in a script, resemblingGreek biblical majuscule. The tile wasfound in the Round (Golden) Churchof Preslav. It is kept at the Museumof Archeology in Sofia.2а)Fragment of a Lectionary Gospel,Cod. D. 387, of the second half of the10th century, 2 sheets of parchment. It is kept at the Ivan Dujčev Center of Slavonic-Byzantine Studies. 2b)Greek and Slavonic fragments of theperiod 10th–14th century written inuncial letters, kept at the Ivan DujčevCenter of Slavo-Byzantine Studies.

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Bitolya Triodion of the last quarter ofthe 12th century: 101 parchmentssheets have been preserved. Accordingto its content the code is a LentenTriodion and contains the originalchants by the Old Bulgarian man ofletters, Constantine Preslavski desig-nated for the days of the Long Lentperiod. Preserved also are traces ofthe ancient Byzantine Theta Notation.The manuscript is a copy of an olderGlagolitic text and it is a testimonialof the parallel use of the Glagoliticand the Cyrillic alphabets inBulgarian lands during the epoch. On certain pages the scribe replacesspontaneously the Cyrillic alphabetwith Glagolitic letters. The manuscriptis preserved in the Scientific Archiveof BAS, Sofia, sign № 38.

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In Bulgaria the earliest preservedmanuscripts are dated to the secondhalf of the 11th century. These are theRila Glagolitic texts and the CyrillicEnina Apostle written in ancientslightly sloping to the right uncial let-ters resembling the uncial liturgicalmanuscripts of the 9th–10th centuryperiod. 1)Enina Apostle (a fragment of aLectionary Apostle): second half ofthe 11th century, 39 f. of parchment,uncial. A great number of initials col-ored in blue and red; Headpieces ofthe interlaced type. The manuscriptwas found in the village of Enina,Kazanlak Region in 1960. It is kept atthe Saints Cyril and MethodiusNational Library in Sofia, under № 1144.

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Only a few fragmented Cyrilliccodices of the 12th century have beenpreserved among which we find theSlepchanski Apostle and theKyustendil Palimpsest dated to thesecond half of the 12th century.Compared to the Serbian and Russianmanuscripts, the greatest number ofpalimpsests, i.e. manuscripts writtenon recycled via erasing of the initialtext parchment from, are in OldBulgarian. This is only natural, takinginto consideration that it was inPreslav and Ohrid, where intensivetranslation work and copying fromGreek into Old Bulgarian took place. 1)Slepchenski Apostle: second half ofthe 12th century, 154 f. of parchment.Written on erased Greek text. It isdecorated with many initials in terato-logical style and interlaced type head-pieces. It is preserved in five librariesall over the world: the Academy ofScience and the Russian NationalLibrary in St. Petersburg, in the StateRussian Library in Moscow, in Kiev,and in the Ivan Vazov Library inPlovdiv, № 25.2)Kyustendil Palimpsest (LectionaryGospel): end of the 12th century, 9 f.of parchment. Written on erasedGreek text. Decorated in polychro-mous initials of geometric-vegetationtype. It is preserved in the PlovdivLibrary “Ivan Vazov”, № 7. 3)Rila Gospel Lectionary of the beginning of the 13th century, 102 f. of parchment. The manuscript is keptin the library of the Rila Monastery№ 1/23.

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1)The Menaion of Dragan is a manu-script of the second half of the 13thcentury, 219 f. This is an exquisite andvaluable monument of the liturgicalpoetry of the time of the SecondBulgarian Kingdom. It contains litur-gies about St. Paraskeva (also knownas Petka), St. John of Rila, King Peterof Bulgaria, and Saints Cyril andMethodius. The decoration of themanuscript is a classical example of Bulgarian teratological motifs. The manuscript is preserved in theBulgarian St. George Monastery onMount Athos, sign I.d.8. Fragmentsof it can be found in the RussianState Library in Moscow (ф.87 №1725) and in the Russian NationalLibrary in St. Petersburg (Q.п.I.40).2)The Psalter of Radomir of the 13th century, 182 f., is a parchmentmanuscript decorated in the style ofSlavonic teratology. The manuscriptis preserved in the Bulgarian St. George Monastery on MountAthos, sign I.d.13. One sheet is keptin the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg (Q.п.I.11).3)The Bulgarian St George Monasteryon Mount Athos.

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Unlike the manuscripts for day-to-day uses, i.e. designated for liturgical services and individual prayers, whichwere very simply illuminated, a verysmall number of illustrated Slavoniccodices have been preserved. One ofthem is Dobreisho’s Four Gospels ofthe first half of the 13th century, 127 f.of parchment. Centuries ago thismanuscript was divided into twoparts. The Gospels of Mathew andMarc found their way into theNational Library in Belgrade, wherethey were consumed in the flamesduring the air-raids in 1941 togetherwith the other exhibits of the rich collection. The other two gospels are kept in the Saints Cyril andMethodius Library in Sofia under № 17.

Dobreisho’s Gospel is a manuscript of great value, because it presents thearchaic trend of the illustration tradi-tion of Slavonic codices. Two minia-tures on whole sheets of EvangelistsLuke and John with the scribe, Priest Dobreisho, have been preserved.

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The capital city of the SecondBulgarian Kingdom, Tsarevgrad (the Town of King, present VelikoTarnovo) was the main literary centerin the 13th and 14th centuries and itwas extensively glorified by Bulgarianmen-of-letters as a city protected by the Lord and as the newConstantinople. In the 14th century, during the longand relatively peaceful reign of TsarIvan Alexander (1331–1371), a numberof lavishly decorated manuscripts usu-ally containing a colophon or versesto glorify the policies of the Tsar as a patron were produced. For instance,the commissioned in 1337 Psalter iscalled “Pesnivets” (Book of Hymns) in the colophon-eulogy to the Tsar.

The Psalter of Tsar Ivan Alexander(1337), 317 f. of parchment. It is kept inthe library of the Academy of Scienceunder № 2. There is a headpiece andan initial in Byzantine floral style to Psalm 77 featuring Christ ‘ancientof days’.

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Among the manuscripts commissionedby Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331–1371) of special significance is the LondonFour Gospels, also known as the FourGospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander, orthe Gospel of Curzon of 1356; 286sheets of parchment. It was donatedto the British Library (where it is kept to this day, Add. Ms. 39627) by English traveller Robert Curzon,who had found it in the St. PaulMonastery in Mount Athos.

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The only preserved today illustratedcopy of the World History composedby Byzantine Chronicler ConstantineManasses in the 12th century, whichcontains 69 miniatures, is among themost famous Bulgarian manuscripts.This is the so-called ManassesChronicle of 1344–1345 (206 f. ofparchment). It has been kept in theVatican Library Lat. Sl. № 2 since1475. Of special interest are the textssupplemented to give informationabout the Bulgarian history and acycle of illustrations which has notbeen preserved in any of the 140Greek copies of the Chronicle. Thiscycle, in spite of the fact that it fol-lows strictly the lost illustrated Greekprototype, also exhibits definite ele-ments of actualization with regards tothe Bulgarian-Byzantine relations overthe centuries. Thus 19 miniaturesdepict events related to the history of Bulgaria and five more contain the portraits of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331–1371)with Constantine Manasses, membersof his family, as well as events directlyrelated to the death of his first bornson – Ivan Assen.

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The London Four Gospels is illumi-nated in 366 miniatures placed infriezes within the text. At the end of every gospel of the Slavonic manuscript the figure of Tsar IvanAlexander is portrayed and in thevery beginning we find a miniature ofthe Tsar’s family. Every gospel beginswith a headpiece in floral Byzantinestyle. The Gospel was written byMonk Simon in official liturgicalTarnovo uncial.

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The so-called Tomich’s Psalter was produced during the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331–1371) of Bulgaria, i.e. in the 60s of the 14th century. It is preserved in theState Museum of History in Moscow(GIM № 2752, 301 f. of paper).

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The Tomich’s Psalter features 109miniatures arranged in a frieze in thetext, nine of which are full pageimages. As far as the style of themanuscript is concerned, it is verysimilar to the characteristic art tech-niques of the Palaeiologos Era andthe traditions of Mount Athos work-shops. Of great interest are the head-pieces in floral Byzantine style, aswell as the extremely lavish decora-tion of the initials, which is of theinterlaced, teratological and floralByzantine style. The Tomich Psalter is among the best specimen of manu-scripts produced by the Slavs in the age of the Palaeiologan art.

The manuscript was copied in theMonastery of Kilifarevo in the vicinityof the second Bulgarian capital city ofVeliko Tarnovo and it was most prob-ably commissioned by Theodosius ofTarnovo, an eminent Hesychast.

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After the fall of Tarnovo in 1393 a number of the most eminentBulgarian men of letters, as Kiprian,Grigorios Tsamblak , ConstantineKostenechki and Vladislav Grammaticemigrated to Russia, Walachia-Moldavia, and Serbia. Most of theBulgarian literary centers declined,others were moved to the West – to the Rila Monastery, to Sofia, and to Vtratsa.

The Andrianti Miscellanea of 1473(562 f. of paper) was written byVladislav Grammatic in theMonastery of the Holy Mother(Skopje Montenegro). It is kept in theRila Monastery, Rila 3/6. The workcontains 31 lectures mostly by JohnChrysostom, as well as by EphremSirin, Atanasius of Alexandria, etc. It is lavishly decorated in large-sizesquare headpieces in neo-Byzantinestyle, which echo the traditions of Greek manuscripts produced in Mount Athos in the 13th centuryand the interlaced type of high degreeof stylization under the influence of the eastern arabesque tradition.

The Rila Monastery.

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The Slepchensko Gospel is among themost exquisite models of manuscriptdecoration of the 16th century with itsheadpieces featuring modification ofthe Byzantine palmette and interlacedmotifs, as well as the large size por-traits of the Evangelists depicted infull pages. The Gospel is kept in theEcclesiastical Institute in Sofia under№ 340 and it contains 305 f. of paper.

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The Kremikovsko Gospel of 1497 is kept in the Ecclesiastical Institute in Sofia under № 374 and it contains305 f. of paper. In the lavish decora-tion of this manuscript, produced for the church of the KremikovtsiMonastery, we can feel even moreintensively the adherence to the classi-cal models of the Greek codices ofthe 13th–14th century. These trends are also preserved in a number of thesquare headpieces of the SlepchenskoGospel of the 16th century, where theinfluence of oriental arabesques is manifest in the delicate interlacingof the motifs.

The Kremikovci Monastery.

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The activities of the Sofia LiterarySchool, comprising Sofia and theSofia monasteries, play a central rolein the literary life of the 16th century.The manuscripts are produced in lav-ish bindings of silver and gold and thepaper body is illuminated in a greatvariety of headpieces and initials. Thisis also the time of intensified literaryexchange with Serbia, Rumania, andMount Athos.

1a) b)The Suchavsko Gospel of 1529 (366 f.of parchment and paper) was writtenby Monk Makarios in Suchava. It is kept in the Rila Monastery under № 1/11a. The Gospel has a gold casing featuring the images of the four Evangelists and the Crucifix –the work of Priest Isaiah. It is deco-rated richly in laced headpieces ongold background and the miniaturesof the four Evangelists.2a) b)The Krupnishko Gospel (334 f. of paper), work of Mathew theGoldsmith from Sofia produced in1577, is in a similar casing of silverand gold and features scenes of theCrucifixion and the Resurrection. It is kept in the Rila Monastery under№ 1/5. The Gospel is decorated insquare headpieces and headpiecescomposed of interlaced round motifscoloured in cold blue-greenish andyellow hues.

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The 17th century is remarkable for therevival of the literary centers in thearea of the Balkan Range and theSredna Gora Mountain, which isrelated to the development of themining sector. For instance, lavishlydecorated homilies and liturgicalbooks were produced in series in theEtropolski Monastery of St. Trinity.

1)In addition to the interlaced vegeta-tion motifs the headpieces of theEtropolski Menaion kept in theEcclesiastical Institute (159 f. of paper)feature images of intertwined hair,which we can also find in the initials. 2a) b)Similar initials also appear in the richly illuminated Psalter of the 17th century kept in the Library ofPlovdiv № 5 (142 f. of paper). In this work , the author of the Psalter –King David – is included in the headpiece similar to the manuscriptsof Ioan Kratovski and the Psalter of1692 kept in the Ivan Dujčev Center,Slavo D. 1.

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The manuscript production of the 16thcentury is also notable for the workof Priest Ioan from Kratovo. On onehand, the decorations of his manu-scripts feature motifs of the “Rumy”style, influenced by the orientalarabesque tradition and resemblingthe lace-work of metal grids, and onthe other – framed initials on a back-ground of vegetation motifs and flow-ers resembling old published editions.

The Prayer Book of Ioan Kratovski of1567 (VII + 102 + V f. of paper) iskept in the Rila Monastery under №1/23. In addition to the polychromousheadpieces the work is lavishly deco-rated in floral motifs, featuring scilla,hyacinth, hollyhock , Turkish tulip,etc.

The same rich variety of motifs andthe images of the Evangelists incorpo-rated in the headpieces are also foundin the Gospel of Ioan Kratovski of1567, kept in the Ecclesiastical Instituteunder no 250 (232 f. of paper). The initials in it are performed in blue and gold and they are richly decorated in vegetation twigs.

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The Light of LettersAxin ia DžurovaVasya Ve l inova

1st Edition, 2013

State Institute for CultureMinistry of Foreign Affairs

All rights reserved.

Translation into English: Atanaska Mi t evaGraphic design:Kir i l GogovPre-press: Ars Millenium MMM

Typography: Viol Typeface – designed by Vassil und Olga Yonchev, 1985

Total run: 500 copiesPrinted by: Dedrax, Bulgaria

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Widely preferred reading in the17th–18th century was the Lecturesand the Lessons of DamascenosStudites. This explains the preserved greatnumber of these texts, which are lavishly decorated, sometimes in morethan 30 miniatures. For instance theRilski Damascene of the second halfof the 17th century (413 sheets ofpaper, Rila 4/10) contains 26 minia-tures preceding each of the lectures of Damascenos Studites and one byTheophane Ritor. Handwritten manu-scripts continued to be published in Bulgaria during the 19th centuryalthough in the 18th and 19th centuryhandwritten books gradually startedto give way to old-printed editions.


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