About the Author of the St. Jovan Vladimir‘s Hagiography

Authors:

Pages: 259-271
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/WHWI7296

Abstract:

St Jovan Vladimir’s Biography has not been saved as an independent literary work. In its short form, it was made part of the Priest of Doclea’s Chronicles. The Chronicles do not say who the author was. Analysing the text content, this paper tries to provide an answer to the question of where the author came from: Doclea or Prespa. The Chronicles contain a total of 190 lines of the biography. Fifteen lines refer to Doclea and 39 to Samuel’s Empire. One hundred and thirty one lines altogether refer to Prince Vladimir, Samuel and his descendants. Almost half of them refer to the events in Prespa. There are five lines referring to Vladimir’s personal life and to the miracles he performed. No figures from Doclea are mentioned, save for Vladimir himself and a nameless traitor prince, whilst from Samuel’s Empire, the following names are stated: Samuel, Kosara, Radomir, Vladislav, a description of two bishops, a hermit, and Radomir’s father. There is no information about the etiquette in Doclea, unlike the case of Prespa about which there is some information (e.g. audience with the ruler, having a bath, etc.) Kosara, Vladimir’s wife, wanted the biography to be written. She transferred his relics to Doclea, where she became a nun and was later buried there. Therefore, it may be concluded that the Biography originated in Prespa, commissioned by Kosara. It was then supplemented at the time of King Michael when he was made king.

Keywords:

Prince Vladimir, Kosara, Doclea, Prespa, biography

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