Konstantin Kostenetski

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Konstantin Kostenezki ( Bulgarian Константин Костенечки ; * 1380 in Kostenez , Bulgaria; † after 1431), also Konstantin the Philosopher ( Serbian Konstantin Filozof / Константин Филозоф), was a medieval Bulgarian writer and historian . His best known work is the biography of the Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević . He also wrote the first Serbian philological work, Skazanije o pismenah (History of Writing).

biography

Constantine was probably born in the Bulgarian city of Kostenez , which he later took as his last name. He attended the literary school in Tarnovo and was instructed by Andronik , a student of the Patriarch Evtimij of Bulgaria. He continued his studies on Mount Athos and in Constantinople . The Ottoman conquest of Tarnowo in 1393 forced him, probably around 1402, to emigrate to Serbia, which was ruled by Stefan Lazarević at the time. He was hired by him, who was himself a writer, to teach at his court in Belgrade.

Manasija Monastery, built as a mausoleum by Stefan Lazarević, developed into an outstanding cultural center ( Resava School , Resava Literature School ) during the time of Constantine . His high education, his life experience and his long journeys earned him the nickname "philosopher" (probably after Saint Cyril of Saloniki ). In his youth, Constantine traveled to the Holy Land and - according to his descriptions - took part in three missions to Eastern leaders ( Timur , Musa and Mehmed I ).

After Stefan Lazarević's death in 1427 Konstantin left Belgrade and moved to Prince Uglješa Vlatković near Vranje , where he later died.

Constantine's work had a strong influence on medieval Serbian literature and education. He introduced many classical, Greek elements into philosophy and literature. By frequently quoting ancient philosophers and comparing them with Stefan Lazarević, he is considered by many to be the pioneer of the renaissance in Serbia, which was not introduced during the Ottoman occupation.

Constantine is considered to be the second great language reformer of Serbia after Sava of Serbia ( Vuk Karadžić of modern times is considered to be the third ). In his philological work he tried to approximate the Serbian language to the Bulgarian and thus to move a common written language of the orthodox southern Slavs. Constantine considered an agreement between Bulgarians and Serbs necessary for the Ottoman expansion. A majority of Serbian philologists today agree that Constantine's language reforms made the Serbian written language more complex, but at the same time the written language lost the poetry of the Sava'i period and moved it even more away from the common vernacular, which later led to two parallel Serbian languages , Štokavian as the language of the people and Church Slavonic as the written language.

literature

  • Юрдан Трифонов: Живот и дейност на Константина Костенецки. In: Списание. БАН 66, 1943, pp. 223-292.
  • Кирил Кабакчиев: Търновска книжовна школа. Преводи и тълкувания. Фабер, Велико Търново 2001.
  • П. Е. Лукин: Письмена и православие. Историко-филологическое исследование "Сказания о письменех" Константина Философа Костенецкого. Moscow 2001.
  • Кирил Кабакчиев: Кои книги според Константин Костенечки са били табу за невежите писачи от Търновочи от Търновочи от Търновочи от Търноред In: Византия и Атон - Старобългаристика. 2002, № 3, pp. 77-94.
  • H. Гагова: Деспот Стефан Лазаревич, Птолемей Философ и кариерата на придворния филосоКоф Константин ченет. In: Старобългарска литература. 35-36, 2006, pp. 97-124.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Anja Jeftić: Život i djelo Konstantina Filozofa. In: Patriot magazine. September 29, 2003, accessed January 8, 2011 (Serbian).
personal data
SURNAME Kostenezki, Konstantin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Константин Костенечки; Constantine the philosopher; Kostenecki, Konstantyn; Kostenetski, Konstantin; Filozof, Konstantin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION medieval Bulgarian writer and historian
DATE OF BIRTH 1380
PLACE OF BIRTH Kostenez , Bulgaria
DATE OF DEATH after 1431