Jan Stradomski

The manuscript collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow contains the so-called Berlin Damaskin (Berl. Slav. Fol. 36, late 18th c.), a handwritten codex belonging to the former Prussian State Library in Berlin. Damaskin, as a book type, marks a transition in the literary tradition in the Balkans, and in particular in Bulgaria, between the medieval Church Slavonic, and the early modern tradition of the Orthodox Church. Its expression is characterised by simplified language, less formal register, and a more extensive use of the common (vernacular) spoken language. Among the forty-five texts included in the Berlin Damaskin there is the Story of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. Based on medieval hagiographic sources, the Story is an interesting case of employing an old literary theme in the service of the new Bulgarian religious and homiletic literature. The present paper discusses the characteristic features of the Story’s composition and its plot, with special emphasis put on the narrative’s axiological message.

The Kiev metropolitan Grigorij Camblak is an interesting figure in the Slavic Middle Ages. Formed spiritually and creatively by the Tyrnovo literary circle, he was compelled to leave Turkish-occupied Bulgaria and search for a more favorable environment in other Orthodox countries. Wherever he went (Byzantium, Mount Athos, Serbia, Moldavia, Poland [„Crown”], and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), he left behind him traces of political and Orthodox-religious involvement, and literary works of extraordinary beauty. The latter became unquestionable models of Old-Church-Slavonic hesichastic writing and assured Grigorij Camblak a permanent place in the history of national literatures of Orthodox Slavs. He was involved in reinvigorating the idea of a union of Christian states which would aim to drive islam out of Europe and to liberate Balkan Slavs from Turkish subjugation. After he controversially rose to the rank of metropolitan (1415-1420), Camblak became engaged in building a distinctive image of the Kievan Orthodox Church through close contacts with southern Slavdom on the plane of spirituality, religious literature, and worship of saints. Instructed by the Grand Duke Withold of Lithuania and Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło, Grigorij Camblak took part in the Council of Constance in 1418, charged with the difficult task of forging a church union. Distinct traces of his political, literary, and religious work are seen in more than a dozen sources from the period (15th-16th centuries), which offer first-hand evidence in any attempt to reconstruct the biography of this remarkable man. The article discusses the picture of the Kiev metropolitan as arises out of accounts by his contemporary observers and commentators.