Ekaterina Todorova

The article examines five South Slavic copies from Brontologion from the Late Middle Ages (16th–18th centuries), which are combined prognostic works. They contain the most numerous and detailed depictions of astronomical and meteorological phenomena. Also, through the text of prognostication works, data on the everyday life and lifestyle of medieval man can be found. These copies testify to the change in their social function. Initially, they were read in the royal and boyar courts. Because of the historical changes in the Balkans and the fall of Bulgaria under Turkish slavery, prognostication began to spread to the broader layers of society through the mediation of the lower clergy. Changes also occur in the language and structure of the text.

А. Д. Паскаль. Каталог славянских рукописных книг молдавского и валашского происхождения в фондах отдела рукописей РГБ. Вып.1, Собрание П. А. Овчинникова. Российская Государственная Библиотека, Центр по исследованию проблем развития библиотек в информационном обществе, Пашков дом, Москва, 2024, 395 стр. [A. D. Pascal. Catalogue of Slavonic Manuscripts of Moldavian and Wallachian Origin in the Collections of Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library, issue 1, Collection of P. A. Ovčinnikov. Russian State Library, Centre for Study of Library Development Problems in the Information Society, Pashkov Dom, Moscow, 2024, 395 p., ISBN 978–5–7510–0884–0.]

The study examines the cult of the unmercenary Saint Tryphon. Attention is paid to his folklore veneration in Bulgaria and the specifics of his iconographic depiction. The emphasis is on the examination of his image, presented in the Martyrdom as attested in two Slavonic manuscripts from the 15th century housed in the Library of the Romanian Academy, Nos. 306 and 152. The characteristics of both manuscripts are also presented, as both texts are related to the Serbian language environment. The comparison of the two texts shows a complete coincidence in the narrative. The plotline of the narrative has classic features for this genre: introduction, main part, and a short conclusion. The main part of the narrativе stands out two semantic cores: the first is the expulsion of demons from the daughter of Emperor Gordian by Tryphon and the second is the verbal opposition between Aquilinus and the saint and the physical torture he is subjected to after each verbal struggle with his antagonist proving the strength of his spirit and the strength of the Christian faith.

Christian hagiographic literature chooses as its heroes’ people whose feeble flesh is in stark contrast to the greatness of the spirit. The saint is endowed with supernatural knowledge, works miracles, foretells, protects and heals people. The author discusses the healing practices in the Slavic translation of the Vita of St. Gregory of Agrigentum, as presented in a 15th-century copy of a Reading Menaion composed according to the Jerusalem typikon (Tărnovo type orthography, Moldavian provenance, kept in the Dragomirna monastery (Drag 706/1795), Romania). St. Gregory of Agrigentum is a senior clergyman and the goal of his healing skills is to show God’s grace and the power of Christian teaching from one side and the authority of his position as bishop from the other.