Miroslavs Gospel in Temple of Saint Sava

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 ...

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 (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. The first to discover and study the manuscript were three Russian scholars: Vladimir Stasov, 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 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 ...

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.

References

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

Origin and discovery

See also

References

Further reading

External links