Vladislav the Grammarian (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

and sr, Владислав Граматик; 1456–79) was a

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Christian monk, scribe, historian and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

active in medieval

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, regarded as part of both the Bulgarian and Serbian 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.

Personal life

Vladislav was born ca. 1420 in the village of

Novo Brdo Novo Brdo ( sr-Cyrl, Ново Брдо), or Novobërda and Artana ( sq-definite, Novobërdë or ''Artanë''), is a municipality located in the Pristina district of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 6,729 inhabitants. T ...

(in present-day

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

), in the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

. 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 Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the largest municipality in the country. Kumanovo lies above sea level and is surrounded by the K ...

. Vladislav spent most of his life in a monastery at the foot of the mountain

Skopska Crna Gora tr, Karadağ, italics=no , photo = Skopska Crna Gora-MKD.JPG , photo_caption = , photo_size = 250 , highest = Ramno , elevation_m = 1651 , elevation_ref = , prominence_m = , prominence_ref = , listing = , location = North Macedonia ...

. There is evidence that he stayed in the

Rila monastery The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery "Sveti Ivan Rilski" ( bg, Рилски манастир „Свети Иван Рилски“), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situate ...

as well; there, he wrote ''On St. John's Relics'' and other works on Bulgarian patron Saint

John of Rila Saint John of Rila, a.k.a. Ivan of Rila ( Bulgarian: Свети преподобни Йоан Рилски Чудотворец, Svеti prеpodobni Yoan Rilski Chudotvorеts; English: Saint (monk) John of Rila the Wondermaker) (876 – c. 946) wa ...

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

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)
Khazar Polemic
1469 version of ''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.

(d. 946) (The Story of Rila, 1479). Translation at Monastery of Matejca near Kumanovo with the help of

Mara Branković Mara Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Мара Бранковић) or Mara Despina Hatun (c. 1416 – 14 September 1487), also known as ''Sultana Marija'' or ''Amerissa'', was the daughter of Serbian monarch Đurađ Branković and Eirene Kantakouzene. As ...

(of Serbia, daughter of George Brankovic, sister of Stefan Lazarevic, known to Greeks as Maria). * On the translation of St. John's relics in

Rila Monastery The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery "Sveti Ivan Rilski" ( bg, Рилски манастир „Свети Иван Рилски“), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situate ...

. * Narratives on Tsar Simeon's sponsorship of Greek translations and his re-installation as Knjaz at the

Council of Preslav The People's Council of Preslav ( bg, Преславски народен събор) took place in 893. It was among the most important events in the history of the First Bulgarian Empire and was a cornerstone of the Christianization of Bulgaria u ...

Legacy

He is regarded as part of the literary corpus of Serbia and Bulgaria.

Notes

References

Sources