Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria - Culture, Economy and Religion

Culture, Economy and Religion

Along with Tarnovo, during the rule of Ivan Sratsimir Vidin emerged as a major literary center, under the strong influence of the Tarnovo Literary School. Some of the works that have survived from that period include the Tetraevangelia of the Metropolitan Danail and the Vidin collection from 1360, ordered by Empress Anna, which contains the hagiographies of thirteen Orthodox saints and a description of the holy sites in Jerusalem. Joasaph of Bdin, who was elected Archbishop of Vidin in 1392 wrote Praising epistle for the movement of St Philotea relics from Tarnovo to Vidin which contained all features of the Tarnovo Literary School. Joasaph also demonstrated great respect to Patriarch Evtimiy of Tarnovo, the most prominent figure in the Bulgarian cultural and literary life in the second half of the 14th century.

In the late 1360s the region of Vidin resisted the forceful conversion to Catholicism undertaken by the Hungarian authorities and remained Orthodox. The subjugation of Vidin to the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1381 led to a conflict with the Patriarchate of Tarnovo but after the fall of Tarnovo and the dissolution of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, Ivan Sratsimir tried to negotiate with the Ottomans to place some of the former eparchies of Tarnovo in his jurisdiction. In 1395 he sent there a delegation led by the heir to the throne Constantine and Joasaph of Bdin to bring the relics of Saint Philotea to Vidin. According to Joasaph the mission was successful and the relics remained in Vidin for the next two centuries. However, he does not mention the diplomatic results.

Ivan Sratsimir began to mint his own coinage to show his legitimacy as early as the 1360s. The abundance of coin treasure troves found in the territory of the Tsardom of Vidin is an inducation of the wealth and the well developed trade in the region during the second half of the 14th century. The Brasov Charter, the only surviving document made by Ivan Sratsimir, grants the merchants of the Transylvanian town of Brasov free access and the right to trade in his realm.