The ''Varaždin Apostol'' ( sr-Cyrl, Вараждински апостол, ) is a hand-written Orthodox

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official Church service, religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of ...

written in 1454. It is named after the northern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n city of

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. The book represents the oldest preserved text in

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

from the territory of today's Croatia. It contains the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

and the New Testament epistles, and is kept today in the Museum of Serbian Orthodox Church in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. The ''Varaždin Apostol'' was made by three transcribers of Countess Kantakuzina Katarina Branković, daughter of the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković and his wife Irene Kantakouzene, and the wife of

Ulrich II, Count of Celje Ulrich II, or Ulrich of Celje (; ; ; 16 February 14069 November 1456), was the last Princely Count of Celje. At the time of his death, he was captain general and '' de facto'' regent of Hungary, '' ban'' (governor) of Slavonia, Croatia and Dal ...

. The text is written in the Resava orthography (''

Manasija monastery The Manasija Monastery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, манастир Манасија, manastir Manasija, separator=" / ", ) also known as Resava ( sr-Cyrl, Ресава, ), is a Serbian Orthodox monastery near Despotovac, Serbia founded by '' Despot'' Stefan ...

'') with elements of the Raška orthography and the

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

redaction, too. The language is the Serbian dialect of

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...

. On the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the ''Apostol'', the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

issued a limited edition of 300 copies. As a gift from the

Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana The Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana () is an Eastern Orthodox eparchy (diocese) and one of the five honorary metropolitanates of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The headquarters of the metropolia is located in Zagreb, Croatia, and its jur ...

, copies went to, among others,

Serbian Patriarch Pavle Pavle ( sr-cyr, Павле, ''Paul''; 11 September 1914 – 15 November 2009) was the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to his death. His full title was ''His Holiness the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć, Archbishop of Peć, ...

, Croatian president

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatia, Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minis ...

, the Lepavina Monastery, and the

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

city archive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varazdin Epistle 1454 books 15th-century biblical manuscripts 15th century in Croatia Medieval Serbian literature Serbian books Church Slavonic manuscripts Serbian manuscripts South Slavic manuscripts Apostol History of the Serbs of Croatia Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana Cyrillic manuscripts Serbian Cyrillic texts

See also

References