The Ballshi inscription is an epigraph from the time of the Bulgarian Prince (''

Knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

'')

Boris I Boris I, also known as Boris-Mihail (Michael) and ''Bogoris'' ( cu, Борисъ А҃ / Борисъ-Михаилъ bg, Борис I / Борис-Михаил; died 2 May 907), was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire in 852–889. At ...

(852–889) testifying to the christianization of Bulgaria. The inscription was unearthed near Ballshi, Albania, in 1918. The Medieval Greek–language Bulgarian inscription covers the upper part of a marble

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

which also features, in its bottom part, the later Latin epitaph of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

commander Robert de Montfort who died in 1108, with a cross in the middle of the column. The column was discovered by

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

soldiers during World War I 25 kilometres southwest of the Albanian town of Berat, near Ballshi, among the ruins of a monastery. The Ballshi inscription is a key domestic source giving important information about the Christianization of the Bulgarians and the location of the southwestern border of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...

and the region of Kutmichevitsa during the rule of Boris. Saint Clement of Ohrid's concise biography by Demetrios Chomatenos, early 13th-century Archbishop of Ohrid, hints at the existence of other similar stone columns in the region of

Gllavenica Ballsh ( sq-definite, Ballshi) is a town and a former municipality in Fier County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mallakastër. It was the seat of the former District ...

, notifying of the baptism of the Bulgarians. Chomatenos even attributes their construction to Clement: The current location of the inscription is not known. In the first half of the 20th century it was exhibited in a museum in Durrës. The National Archaeological Museum in Sofia preserves a plaster print of the epigraph.

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* * * * * {{cite book , last=Иванов , first=Йордан , title=Български старини из Македония , location=София , year=1931 , pages=12–16 , language=Bulgarian 9th century in Bulgaria 9th-century inscriptions 9th-century Christian texts Medieval inscriptions 865 866 Bulgarian Greek inscriptions Medieval Latin inscriptions Medieval Christian inscriptions Kutmichevitsa Christianization of Europe 1918 archaeological discoveries 1918 in Albania

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