09 — Legacy and Reception
St. John of Rila as the national saint of Bulgaria and as a subject of modern scholarship: how a tenth-century hermit became the center of a people’s identity, and where the secure knowledge of him comes from.
Tradition: Bulgarian Orthodox
This closing section distinguishes the historical hermit from the national symbol, situates John among the founding saints of the Slavic Orthodox nations, and lays out the scholarly foundation — the editions of the Lives and the Testament, and the state of the debates — on which the whole collection rests.
Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| john-of-rila-in-bulgarian-identity.md | The national saint; the monastery as keeper of national memory; the brotherhood of Slavic monastic founders (Sava, Sergius); and the historical Ivan distinguished from the national symbol. |
| scholarship-and-sources.md | The critical editions of the Lives (Ivanov, Kalužniacki); the Testament debate; the Tarnovo-school and hagiographical scholarship; the relic and monastery history; and what is secure versus contested. |
See Also
- 01 — Foundations — the Lives whose editions this section describes
- 04 — The Testament of St. John — the Testament debate summarized here
- 08 — Veneration and the Nation — the cult this reception history records
- Master README — the full collection