In the 1950s, the medievalists Paul Meyvaert and Paul Devos discovered the two main copies of the Italian Legend, one of the most significant Latin sources for the work of the saintly brothers Cyril and Methodius. Through textual analysis, both researchers could show that Bishop Leo of Ostia, hitherto considered to be the author of the Legend, in fact presents an earlier text, belonging to John Hymmonides and Gauderich of Velletri. Nevertheless, Leo of Ostia is the author of two important prologues – one to the life of St Clement of Rome and the other to the Italian Legend, both being part of a long vita in three parts about St Clement of Rome. Both prologues are extremely valuable because in them Bishop Leo outlines the historical sources used for the compilation of the main texts; one of these sources is identified as the Long Vita of St Constantine-Cyril. So far, the prologues have not been translated into Bulgarian, so the aim of the article is to offer a translation from Latin into Bulgarian, and at the same time to summarize and present the basic data on the historical sources mentioned in them. The prologues clearly indicate the liturgical function of the trilogy within the cult of St Clement of Rome, as well as the context of the birth of the Western Latin Cyrillo-Methodian tradition.
Tsvetan Vasilev (Sofia, Bulgaria)
A n a s t a s i u s B i b l i o t h e c a r i u s. Anastasii, S. R. E. bibliothecarii historia, de vitis Romanorum pontificum a B. Petro apostolo usque ad Nicolaum I nunquam hactenus typis excusa... Moguntiae, 1602.
B a r l i e v a, S. Italianska legenda, Vita cum translatione s. Clementis. – V: Kirilo-Metodievska entsiklopedia. T. 2. Gl. red. P. Dinekov. Sofia, 1995, s. 140–146.
B a r l i e v a, S. Agiografskite tvorbi za sv. Kiril i Metodiy v Legenda aurea na Yakov Voraginski (= Kirilo-Metodievski studii. Kn. 11). Sofia, 1998.
B a r o n i o, C. Martyrologium Romanum ad novam kalendarii rationem, et Ecclesiasticae historiae veritatem restitutum. Gregorii XIII. Pont. Max. iussu editum. Accesserunt notationes atque tractatio de Martyrologio Romano. Auctore Caesare Baronio Sorano congregationis Oratorii presbytero. Romae, 1586.
F r i e d r i c h, J. Ein Brief des Anastasius bibliothecarius an den Bischof Gaudericus von Velletri über die Abfassung der “Vita cum translatione S. Clementis Papae”. Eine neue Quelle zur Cyrillus- und Methodius-Frage. – In: Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-philologischen und der historischen Classe der k. b. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München, Jahrgang 1892. München, 1893, p. 393–442.
M e y v a e r t, P., P. D e v o s. Trois énigmes Cyrillo-Méthodiennes de la “Légende Italique”, résolues grâce à un document inédit. – Analecta Bollandiana, 73 (1955), p. 375–461.
O r l a n d i, I. Iohannis Hymmonidis et Gauderici Veliterni, Leonis Ostiensis, Excerpta ex Clementinis recognitionibus a Tyrannio Rufino translatis. Ed. Ioannes Orlandi. Milano, 1968.
R e h m, B., G. S t r e c k e r. Die Pseudoklementinen I. Homilien (= Die Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. Vol. 42). Berlin, 1992.
R e h m, B., G. S t r e c k e r. Die Pseudoklementinen II: Rekognitionen in Rufins Übersetzung (= Die Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. Vol. 51). Berlin, 1994.
Translatio S. Clementis. Auctore Leone Ostiensi.– V: Latinski izvori za balgarskata istoria. T. 2. Sast. i red. I. Duychev, M. Voynov, S. Lishev, B. Primov. Sofia, 1960, s. 294–302.
Vita cum translatione S. Clementis. – In: Acta Sanctorum Martii a Ioanne Bollando S. I. colligi feliciter coepta. A Godefrido Henschenio et Daniele Papebrochio eiusdem Societatis Iesu aucta, digesta et illustrata. T. 2. Antverpiae, 1668, p. 19–22.