Miroslav Gospel ( sr, Мирослављево jеванђеље / Miroslavljevo jevanđelje, ) is a 362-page
Serbian illuminated manuscript Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...
on
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...
with very rich decorations. It is one of the oldest surviving documents written in the
Serbian recension of Church Slavonic. The gospel is considered a masterpiece of illustration and calligraphy.
During
Saint Sava
Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...
's time, a Serbian ''Prophliestologion'' (Cod. 313), a
Novgorod Sticherarion
A sticheron (Greek: "set in verses"; plural: stichera; Greek: ) is a hymn of a particular genre sung during the daily evening (Hesperinos/Vespers) and morning (Orthros) offices, and some other services, of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Cath ...
(Cod. 301), and Kiev
Irmologion
Irmologion ( grc-gre, τὸ εἱρμολόγιον ) is a liturgical book of the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. It contains ''irmoi'' () organised in sequences of odes (, sg. ) an ...
(Cod. 308 with
Old Church Slavonic musical neumatic notation were also found in the same place as
Hilandar Fragments
Hilandar Fragments ( sr, Хиландарски листићи / Hilandarski listići) are a Serbian medieval manuscript from the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century. It is one of the oldest preserved Slavic monuments written in ...
from the 10th and early 11th century (now in
Odessa). It is presumed that both Miroslav Gospel and
Vukan's Gospel reached Hilandar at the same.
Origin and discovery
Miroslav's Gospel was commissioned in the 12th century (in the year 1180) by
Miroslav, the ruler (''knez'') of Hum and the brother of
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nema ...
, the
Grand Prince of Serbia
Grand Principality of Serbia ( sr, Великожупанска Србија, Velikožupanska Srbija), or Rascia ( sr, Рашка, Raška), was a medieval Serbian state that existed from the second half of the 11th century up until 1217, when i ...
. The first to discover and study the manuscript were three Russian scholars:
Vladimir Stasov
Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (also Stassov; rus, Влади́мир Васи́льевич Ста́сов; 14 January Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe.html" ;"title="/nowiki> O.S._2_January.html" ;"title="Adoption of ...
,
Fyodor Buslayev, and
Nikodim Kondakov
Nikodim (or Nikodeme) Pavlovich Kondakov (russian: Никоди́м Па́влович Кондако́в; 1 (13) November 1844, Olshanka, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire– 17 February 1925, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was an art ...
in 1874.
A leaf of the book which the Archbishop
Porphyrius Uspensky
Bishop Porphyrius (russian: Епи́скоп Порфи́рий, secular name Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspensky, russian: Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Успе́нский; 8 September 1804 - 19 April 1885), was a Russian ...
had cut out of the book from the
Hilandar Monastery
The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...
library in 1845 was first publicly shown at an exhibition in
Kiev in 1874. The earliest
facsimile edition appeared in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1897. The book was traditionally kept at the Hilandar Monastery on
Mount Athos, before it was presented to King
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
of Serbia, on the occasion of his visit to the monastery in 1896. Today it is in the collection of the
National Museum of Serbia
The National Museum of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three streets: Čika Ljubina ...
in
Belgrade.
The book was originally transcribed in
Kotor
Kotor ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...
in modern-day
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
between 1186 and 1190 from an earlier text. Most pages are by an unknown scribe from
Zeta
Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...
, with the last few pages written by the scribe Grigorije of
Raška, also known as Grigorije the Scribe or Pupil. Although Miroslav's Gospel is one of the earliest
Cyrillic-texted manuscripts, the document appeared later than other Serbian liturgical manuscripts written in
Glagolithic
The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...
.
The language used is considered unique as it showed the transition between Old Church Slavonic and the first recognizably distinct Serbian language.
In 2005, the Miroslav Gospel was inscribed in
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
Memory of the World Register
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
in recognition of its historical value.
See also
*
Medieval Serbian literature
Medieval Serbian literature or Old Serbian literature ( sr, Стара српска књижевност) refers to the literature written in medieval forms of Serbian language, up to the end of the 15th century, with its traditions extending in ...
*
Serbian manuscripts
This is a list of Serbian manuscripts ( sr, Српски рукописи), containing important works attributed to Serbia or Serbs. The majority of works are theological, with a few biographies and constitutions. The works were written in Cyril ...
*
John the Deacon
*
Teodosije the Hilandarian
Teodosije the Hilandarian or Theodosije of Hilandar ( sr, Теодосије Хиландарац/Teodosije Hilandarac; 1246–1328) was a Serbian Orthodox clergyman and one of the most important Serbian writers in the Middle Ages; the Serbian Acad ...
(1246-1328), one of the most important Serbian writers in the Middle Ages
References
Further reading
*
External links
Online digital copy of Miroslav's GospelIn the Beginning was the Word, History of the Miroslav Gospel
12th-century Christian texts
12th-century illuminated manuscripts
Christian prayer books
Christian illuminated manuscripts
Serbian literature
Medieval Serbia
Medieval Serbian literature
Serbian books
Serbian manuscripts
South Slavic manuscripts
12th-century biblical manuscripts
12th century in Serbia
Gospel Books
Memory of the World Register
Medieval documents of Serbia
World Digital Library
Cyrillic manuscripts
Cyrillo-Methodian studies
Athos manuscripts
Hilandar Monastery
{{manuscript-art-stub