04 — The National Awakening
How the book lived, and how its author became the father of a movement. The History was never printed in Paisiy’s lifetime; it spread instead in manuscript, copied by hand — first by St. Sofroniy of Vratsa in 1765, and then in dozens of transcripts across the Bulgarian lands — before it was at last printed in 1844. This section follows the text into the world and situates Paisiy at the head of the Bulgarian National Revival, the Vazrazhdane.
Tradition: Bulgarian Orthodox
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| the-manuscript-and-its-copies.md | The life of the text: circulation in manuscript; St. Sofroniy of Vratsa’s copy of 1765 (the Kotel transcript); the dozens of later transcripts and their spread; and the first printing in 1844 by Hristaki Pavlovich. |
| father-of-the-bulgarian-revival.md | Paisiy’s place at the head of the Vazrazhdane — the Bulgarian National Revival — as its acknowledged initiator; what the Revival was; and how a monk’s manuscript came to be seen as the movement’s founding act. |
See Also
- 03 — The Slavo-Bulgarian History — the book that spread
- 06 — Church and Nation — where the awakening led
- 08 — Veneration and Memory — the later cult of the initiator