Boyan Enravota
Saint Enravota (Bulgarian: Свети Енравота, born at the beginning of the 9th century; died around 833) was the eldest son of Khan Omurtag . He also had the name Boyan , derived from the Slavic word for fighter (Cyrillic: Воин). Enravota was the first Bulgarian Christian martyr, as well as the first saint to be canonized as the Bulgarian Knes .
Life
Enravota was born in the early 9th century and died around the year 833.
One of the most powerful khans in Bulgaria at the time , Khan Krum , captured the educated Bishop Kinam during one of his multiple invasions of Byzantium . The son and heir to the throne of Khan Krum, Khan Omurtag , noticed Kinam's Christianizing influence on his sons. Omurtag once tried to force him to attend an idolatrous sacrificial festival. Because Kinam harshly refused to give up the Christian faith, he was sentenced to many years in prison.
According to Archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid , Enravota was secretly baptized Christian under the influence of the Byzantine Bishop Kinam with the name Boyan . Due to his inclination to Christianity , the right to heir to the throne was withdrawn from his father Omurtag. After the death of Omurtag, the throne was handed over to his youngest son Malamir (the second son Zwiniza probably died), whose loyalty to the "folk gods" Omurtag had no doubt.
According to the Theophylact of Ohrid , Enravota asked his brother Malamir to hand over the captured Kinam to him as a slave. Malamir did not suspect his brother's wish and released Kinam. However, when he later learned that Enravota was baptized Christian under the influence of Kinam, he interpreted this act as a betrayal of the longstanding traditions of the family and as an affection for the eternal enemy, Byzantium. He called his brother and forced him to give up the new faith, to which Enravota replied:
"Nothing can keep me from the love of Christ, neither fire nor sword, whip or any other agony!"
After his brother heard these words, Boyan-Enravota's death sentence was pronounced. According to hagiography, just before his execution, the martyr's words turned out to be prophecy just three decades later:
“… This belief, for which I am now dying, will spread throughout the Bulgarian country, despite your attempts to prevent it by my death. The cross of Christ will be set up everywhere, churches will be built, and pure priests who serve the pure God will sacrifice to confess the invigorating Holy Trinity with praise. All the idols, along with the priests and their ungodly sanctuaries, will be destroyed and forgotten as if they never existed. But, you (Malamir) alone, after many years, your wicked soul will perish without receiving any reward for your cruelty. "
After his death he was named a martyr. Under the name of Martyr Boyan-Enravota, he is considered the first saint of Bulgarian descent in history and hagiography.
Soon afterwards Malamir also died, and since he had no successor of his own, Presian , son of Knes Zwiniza , became heir to the throne , his second older brother. And the son and heir to the throne of Presian, Boris , converted to Christianity and Christianized the entire Bulgarian people under the name of Mihail in 856. Thus the prophecy of the holy martyr Boyan-Enravota, Bulgarian Knes came true.
Almost all information about Enravota's life comes from the writing of Theophylact of Ohrid (of Greek descent). There is a presumption that Enravota was drawn into a conspiracy against his brother Malamir, which later became the cause of his execution.
Other than this information, it is not known where his grave is, whether his body was solemnly buried and where his bones are currently located.
name day
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates Boyan-Enravotas Day on March 28th.
honor
The Enravota Glacier on the Nordenskjöld Coast in Grahamland , Antarctica , is named after the Saint Boyan-Enravota.
swell
- Житие на Св. мъченик Боян – Енравота, княз Български
- Житие на Св. 15 Тивериополски маченици на Викиизвор
- Васил Златарски: История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I .; Том II.
- "Българските ханове и царе VII-XIV век" - Йордан Андреев, Държавно издателство "Д-р Петър Бег-45.", 1988 с.4.р Бег-45., 1988
- Жития на светиите , Синодално издателство, С. 1991, с. 164
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Boyan Enravota |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Enravota |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | bulgarian christian martyr |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 9th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 833 |