The Cult to the Bulgarian Language on the Holy Mount Athos in 15th – 16th centuries in Two Literary Monuments

The Tale on the Holy Mount Athos is created by the Bulgarian Stefan Svetogorets in Zograph monastery after 1453 and it has as its historical context the Ferraro- Florence council from 1438–1439. It contains a remarkable interpretation of verses from the Apocalypse, inserted by Stefan Svetogorets, who claims that the churches of Mount Athos were donated two Scriptures – in Greek and in Bulgarian. The cult to the Bulgarian language in Zograph is confirmed by Kaliman’s diploma from the first half of the 16th century, in which on behalf of the Bulgarian king Kaliman one of the Tarnovko patriarchs (probably Theophilus) donates estates in Ohrid, Struga, Sofia, Nikopol, Serres and in Lower Struma to Zograph monastery because in it “in Bulgarian languages the divine Orthodox singing is sung.” This demonstrated concern for the Bulgarian language in Zograph monastery in the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century is a proof of the autocephaly of the Church in Tarnovo during this period