Information about Tsar Samuel in the Russian Chronograph

INFORMATION ABOUT TSAR SAMUEL IN THE RUSSIAN CHRONOGRAPH 

Denitsa Petrova 

(Summary) 

The Russian Chronograph is the only Russian chronicle that includes information about Tsar Samuel and the Cometopuls dynasty. Only this period from Bulgarian history is described differently in the separate editions of the Chronograph. In the First edition from 1512, the main source is the Manasses` Chronicle with the Bulgarian additions to it. 

In the Basic and Common Editions of 1617, the source is the same, but the text is abridged. In the Western Russian edition, the notices are different, since it uses John Zonara’s Paralipomenon. Only in it does the narrative continue until the final conquest of the Bulgarian lands and information about Gavril-Radomir and Ivan-Vladislav appears. 

The Russian chronograph describes the entire history of the Orthodox world. From the standpoint of time, Russian writers not only retell the facts, but also give an assessment of the events. Tsar Samuel gets an honorable place in their story. 

Keywords: Tsar Samuel, Cometopuls dynasty, Bulgarian-Byzantine relations, Russian chronicles, Russian chronograph