Vladislav the Grammarian

Vladislav the Grammarian (Bulgarian and Serbian: Владислав Граматик; fl. 1456–79) was an Orthodox Christian monk, scribe, historian and theologian active in medieval Serbia and Bulgaria, regarded part of both the Serbian and Bulgarian literary corpus. His collections of manuscripts constitute a compendium of translations and original Bulgarian and Serbian texts produced between the 13th and 15th centuries.

His texts have been ordered chronologically, starting with the 1465 Collection followed by the Zagreb Collection (1469), the Adrianti Collection (1473), the Rila Panegyric (1479) and two other collections of texts compiled in the 1470s and 1480s respectively.^[1]

Personal life

Vladislav was born in the village of Novo Brdo (in present-day Kosovo), in the Serbian Despotate. Novo Brdo fell to the Ottomans in 1455, and the Despotate fell by 1459. Historians assert that he received his education in the school of Constantine of Kostenets. In 1455 he moved to the village of Mlado Nagorichane, just north of Kumanovo. Vladislav spent most of his life in a monastery at the foot of the mountain Skopska Crna Gora. There is evidence that he stayed in the Rila monastery as well; there, he wrote On St. John's Relics and other works on Bulgarian patron Saint John of Rila.^[2]

Klaus Trot notes that his language bears features of Serbian speech from the vicinity of Novo Brdo.^[3] His language, although reflecting Serbian phonetic features, reflects also Bulgarian morphological and syntactic features.^[4]

Alleged writings

• A collection, which was written "in the house of Nikola Spančević, in Mlado Nagoričino" (u Nagoričinu Mladom v domu Nikole Spančevića) in the period from November 21, 1456 to November 11, 1457 (roughly a year). The last words were "Vladislav the scribe wrote this book from Novo Brdo" (Vladislav dijak pisa knjigu siju ot Novoga Brda).
• The Life of Constantine the Philosopher (1469);^[5][6] Khazar Polemic: 1469 version of the The Life of Constantine of Thessalonica, St. Cyril',' written in the ninth century. Also called the "Zagreb Collection".
• "Adrianti Collection" (1473)
• Sermons and lives of saints, St. John of Rila (d. 946) (The Story of Rila, 1479).^[7] Translation at Monastery of Matejca near Kumanovo with the help^[8] of Mara Branković (of Serbia, daughter of George Brankovic, sister of Stefan Lazarevic, known to Greeks as Maria).^[9]
• On the translation of St. John's relics in Rila Monastery.^[10]
• Narratives on Tsar Simeon's sponsorship of Greek translations and his re-installation as Knjaz at the Council of Preslav.^[11]

Legacy

He is regarded part of the literary corpus of Serbia^[12] and Bulgaria.^[13][14]

See also

• Medieval Bulgarian literature
• Medieval Serbian literature

References

1. Khristova.
2. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 2, Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc. 2003, ISBN 0852299613, p. 621.
3. Klaus Trost, Untersuchungen zur Übersetzungstheorie und praxis des späteren Kirchenslavische, 1978, p. 29
4. Slavistische Beiträge, Bände 67–69, Otto Sagner Verlag, 1973, ISBN 387690076X, Seite 148.
5. Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slavs, 900-1700; by Eve Levin (1995) p. 64
6. Selected Writings: Early Slavic Paths and Crossroads / Volume 6 Part 2; by Roman Jakobson (1985) pp. 207-239
7. History of European Literature by Annick Benoit (2000) p. 173
8. Byzantine Style, Religion and Civilization: In Honour of Sir Steven Runciman; by Elizabeth Jeffreys (2006) pp. 83-85
9. The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 12501500 (Canto); by Donald M. Nicol (1994) p.110
10. Виртуална библиотека „Словото“. Владислав Граматик, „Разказ за пренасяне мощите на Иван Рилски в Рилският манастир“; Стара българска литература. Том 4. Житиеписни творби. Български писател, С. 1986.
11. Byzantine Style, Religion and Civilization: In Honour of Sir Steven Runciman; by Elizabeth Jeffreys (2006)
12. Janićijević, Jovan (1998). The cultural treasury of Serbia. IDEA. p. 158.
13. Cizevskij, Dmitrij (2000). Comparative History of Slavic Literatures. Vanderbilt University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-8265-1371-9.
14. Matejić, Mateja; Karen L. Black (1982). A Biobibliographical handbook of Bulgarian authors. Slavica Pub. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-89357-091-5.

Sources

• Khristova, Boriana (1996). Opis na rakopisete na Vladislav Grammatik (Catalogue of manuscript texts by Vladislav The Grammarian) (in Bulgarian). Veliko Tarnovo.