Bulgarian monks in Mount Athos during the Middle Ages

published on 9/14/11 11:54 AM

Zograf Monastery 1936, a painting by Tsanko Lavrenov

Photo: archive

At the end of August 2011, Sofia hosted the 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies organized by the Association of Byzantine and Medieval Scholars in Bulgaria. One of the main topics of the forum was Byzantium without Borders. In reports and discussions experts from different countries looked into the place and role of the millennial Byzantine Empire and the medieval world linked to it. One of the themes during the congress focused on the study of Orthodox monks in Mount Athos peninsula during the Middle Ages. It is part of present-day Greece but Mount Athos history is intimately linked with both the past and present of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Today, twenty monasteries stand in the mountainous peninsula. One of them is the Bulgarian one, St. Georgi Zograf. More about it from Prof. Kiril Pavlikianov, who lectures at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in history of the Byzantine Empire, Medieval Greek Language and Byzantine Literature:

“The first mention of the Bulgarian monastery Zograf was in 980 in an ownership document of another monastery, St. Apostles near Ksilokastro. We have no clues whether there were Bulgarian monks there at that time”, Prof. Pavlikianov admits. “The first proven signature of a Bulgarian father superior dates back to 1162 and is found in a document of the Russian monastery St. Panteleimon. The signature is in the Old Bulgarian of that time, with letters typical of it. So, we believe that in 1162 the Zograf Monastery was run by Bulgarians. What was the case before that? We do have some indirect evidence deriving from some early documents of the monastery. A few months ago I released my book about the early archives of Zograf Monastery including 12 of its earliest acts. They make no mention of the monks there but rather describe its vicinity and the lands that were sold and bought back In all those land plots, there is a recurrence of a typically Slavic name, Cherniat Vir (The Black Pool). The Bulgarian word for pool (vir) is mentioned a few times from 980 to 1169 in three different Zograf documents and is combined with different Greek adjectives. The conclusion is that the Bulgarian word vir was being used in the vicinity of present-day Zograf Monastery as early as 10 c. The local name Cherniat Vir survives to this day.”

Prof. Pavlikianov goes on to say that the Zograf archives keep two documents of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (13 c.). They have to do with a donation to Zograf Monastery. In one of his statements quoted in them, the emperor calls Zograf a monastery of Bulgarians. Kiril Pavlikianov supplies other examples of Bulgarian presence in Mount Athos during the Middle Ages. Several Greek documents from St. Panteleimon Monastery mention the Monastery of Zhelyan. That monastery existed in mi-11 c. It was most probably founded in 1030. Kiril Pavlikianov suggests that the man with that name was of Bulgarian descent judging from his name’s phonetics. Other evidence is found in the passional of St. Petka of Epivat written by the Bulgarian Patriarch Euthimius. In the text Euthimius writes that in mid-14 c. he saw the gold-printed speeches of Bulgarian Tsar Ioan Asen II at the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos. According to Kiril Pavlikianov the earliest documented foreign presence in Mount Athos was the Russian one – before 1142.

“It is followed by the Bulgarian presence confirmed with the signature of the Bulgarian father superior of Zograf Monastery, monk Simeon, in 1162. Serbian monks came over thirty years later. In any of those cases, Kiril Pavlikianov points out, there was no division among Bulgarians, Serbs and Russians. All of them viewed themselves as Orthodox monks in the main. The national languages they spoke were of little importance.”

This is behind the difficulty of defining the number of Bulgarian monks in Mt. Athos during the Middle Ages. Kiril Pavlikianov remarks that Mt. Athos monasteries do keep lists with monks’ names but the earliest such lists come from 17 c. and 18 c. To recap, however, the Bulgarian monastic community was an important part from the Orthodox presence in Mt. Athos.

“The great contribution of Mt. Athos monks was in that they managed to preserve the Balkan medieval archives – Byzantine, Wallachian, Bulgarian and Serbian. Some monasteries were attacked on various occasions and were subsequently deserted. However, monks worked hard to preserve this documentary wealth. We have to be grateful to the monastic community of Mt. Athos for that great job”, concludes Prof. Kiril Pavlikianov.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova

По публикацията работи: Veneta Pavlova

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Bulgarian monks in Mount Athos during the Middle Ages

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