Silva Bulgarorum: Remarks on Space and People in the Times of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (late 12th–14th Century)

Authors:

Pages: 82-94
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/YQTL3243

Abstract:

The study examines the role of the forests in the lives of medieval Bulgarians in the 12th–14th centuries. The first part of the paper examines the process of logging and the creation of arable land in medieval Europe. The process is controversial. The low level of technology and demographic trends are responsible for converting cultivated land back into forests. In the 11th–13th centuries, the forest occurs mainly as feudal property. Attention is drawn to the idea of the role of forests in the spiritual life of medieval people and above all the villagers. For the villagers the forest remains bleak and filled with evil forces territory. The second part of the paper focuses on the same issues relative to medieval Bulgaria. It reaches the conclusion that the process of logging in Bulgaria in the 12th–14th centuries is comparable to that in Western Europe. The monasteries are very important for this process. Forests are important property for the Bulgarian masters. For the Bulgarian peasants the forest is a hostile territory inhabited by dark forces and bandits. The author has drawn the conclusion that forests were one of the main challenges that medieval Bulgarians had to face and that forests occupied a significant place in their spirituality.

Keywords:

medieval forest, Second Bulgarian Kingdom, medieval agriculture, spiritual life of the medieval peoples

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