Constantine of Preslav () was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

, one of the most important men of letters working at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. Biographical evidence about his life is scarce but he is believed to have been a disciple of Saint Methodius. After the saint's death in 885, Constantine was jailed by the Germanic clergy in Great Moravia and sold as slave in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. He escaped to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, moving to Bulgaria around 886 and working at the Preslav Literary School. He was one of the most prolific and important writers in Old Bulgarian. His most significant literary work was ''Учително евангелие'' ('' The Didactic Gospel''), usually dated to the first years of the reign of Bulgarian

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Simeon I, 893 – 894. The work represents a compilation of lectures about a number of church holidays and is the first systematic work treating sermons in Slavic literature. The compilation also features the poetic preface ''Азбучна молитва'' (''Alphabet Prayer''), the first original poetry in

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 ...

. In 894 Constantine of Preslav wrote the historical work ''Историкии'' (''Histories''), the first historical chronicle in Slavic literature.The authorship of ''Histories'' is questioned by some historiographers - Проданов, Николай. Проблеми на историческата текстология. Върху материал от българската историопис VII–ХХ век, Велико Търново 2006, с. 30–34. In 906, by commission from Simeon I, the author translated ''Четири слова против арианите'' (''Four Epistles against the Arians'') by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, as a response to the beginning of the spread of heresies in medieval

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Constantine is also the alleged author of ''Служба на Методия'' (''Service for Methodius''), in which he relates the struggle of Saint Methodius for the recognition of

, as well as of ''Проглас към евангелието'' (''Proclamation of the Holy Gospels'') in which he rejects and admonishes the admiration of the foreign language (mean. Greek) and champions Old Bulgarian for the development and elevation of

Bulgarian culture A number of ancient civilizations, including the Thracians, ancient Greeks, Scythians, Celts, ancient Romans, Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths), Slavs (East Slavs, East and West Slavs), Varangians and the Bulgars have left their mark on the ...

. None of the original works of Constantine of Preslav has survived the burning of Preslav by

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Emperor John I Tzimisces in 972 and the period of Ottoman rule (1396 – 1878). All of his works are known from copies, the earliest of which date back to the 12th and the 13th century.

Notes

External links

Gallucci, E. Ucitel’noe Evangelie di Costantino di Preslav (IX-X sec.). Tradizione testuale, redazioni, fonti greche. - Europa Orientalis, XX (2001), 49-138
9th-century births 10th-century deaths 9th-century Bulgarian writers 10th-century Bulgarian writers Bulgarian translators Bulgarian historians Bulgarian male writers Preslav Literary School Old Church Slavonic writers {{Bulgaria-writer-stub