BULGARIAN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE SUPRAŚL MONASTERY IN THE MID-16TH CENTURY

Anthony Vasilievich MIRONOVICH

professor, University of Bialystok, Świerkowa 20B, 15-328, Bialystok, Poland, amir@uwb.edu.pl

Abstract

Supraśl monastery was in the 16th century an important center of religious and cultural life of the surrounding region. A 1557 inventory shows that 129 books, including 5 prints, were collected during the first three to four decades of the Supraśl Monastery. The monastery library then had 131 manuscripts and printed books in its possession. Manuscripts was kept in the abbot’s or another monk’s cell and was therefore not listed in the earliest description of the library. Up to 1532 the monastery library contained liturgical books, works of literature and texts on Orthodox church law or statutes, acts, or canons. The Supraśl monastery maintained close contacts with leading Orthodox centers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and abroad. Close contacts with monasteries in Kiev, Slutsk, Moscow, Bulgaria, and Serbia allowed for the heritage of many nations to be concentrated in the monastery. The Supraśl Lavra became a center of theological thought. The monastery library collection included works of medieval Bulgarian literature pertaining to the work of the students of St. Cyril and Methodius. The Supraśl monastery retained close contacts with monastic centers in Serbia and Bulgaria. Close contacts between the monks from Supraśl and Mount Athos can also be seen in the afore mentioned The story of the devastation of Athos (Повесть о разорении Афона).

Keywords

Supraśl monastery, manuscript, Orthodox church, Bulgaria, library

SUMMARY

It is probable that some of the Bulgarian and South Slavonic manuscripts were brought to Supraśl by church officials who visited the monastery. No wonder therefore, that the rich library collection included numerous books of Bulgarian, Greek, Moldavian, Ruthenian, and Serbian origins. Thanks to its contacts with other Orthodox centers, the monastery became a significant theological center, with a rich library of historical, hagiographic, literary, philosophical, and liturgical manuscripts.

(Language: english)

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