The Slavic Letters of St. Jerome: The History of the Legend and Its Legacy, or, How the Translator of the Vulgate Became an Apostle of the Slavs

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The Slavic Letters of St. Jerome is the first book-length study of the medieval legend that Church Father and biblical translator St. Jerome was a Slav who invented the Slavic (Glagolitic) alphabet and Roman Slavonic rite. Julia Ver­kholantsev locates the roots of this belief among the Latin clergy in Dalmatia in the 13th century and describes in fascinating detail how Slavic leaders subsequently appropriated it to further their own political agendas. The Slavic language, written in Jerome’s alphabet and endorsed by his authority, gained the unique privilege in the Western Church of being the only language other than Latin, Greek, and Hebrew acceptable for use in the liturgy. Such privilege, confirmed repeatedly by the popes, resulted in the creation of narratives about the distinguished historical mission of the Slavs and became a possible means for bridging the divide between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in the Slavic-speaking lands. In the 14th century the legend spread from Dalmatia to Bohemia and Poland, where Glagolitic monasteries were established to honor the Apostle of the Slavs Jerome and the rite and letters he created. The myth of Jerome’s apostolate among the Slavs gained many supporters among the learned and spread far and wide, reaching Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and England. Grounded in extensive archival research, Verkholantsev examines the sources and trajectory of the legend of Jerome’s Slavic fellowship within a wider context of European historical and theological thought. This unique volume will appeal to medievalists, Slavicists, scholars of religion, those interested in saints’ cults, and specialists of philology. List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Prologue 3 1. Origins: Enigmatic Apostolate 11 The “Mission” 11 “And every tongue shall confess to God” 14 The Alphabet 16 The Liturgy 18 The Controversy 19 The Slavonic Rite in Bohemia 26 The Slavonic Rite in Poland? 28 The Bifurcation of Slavic Writing: Glagolitic and Cyrillic 32 2. Croatia: Empowering Myth 34 The Arrival of the Slavonic Rite in Croatia 34 The Roman Slavonic Rite of the Glagolite Clergy 36 Sts. Cyril and Methodius as Slavic Apostles in Croatia 45 Cyril and Methodius in Historical Sources 50 The Legend Is Created: Sources 53 The Legend Is Created: Historical Setting 58 “Letters alone in books renew the past” 60 3. Bohemia: Imperial Aspirations 63 The Roman Slavonic Rite in Prague 63 “Monasterium Sancti Hieronymi Slavorum Ordinis Benedicti” 70 Patron Saints of the Slavonic Monastery of St. Jerome 72 The Slavic Theme in Charles’s Representation of Bohemia’s Sacred History 76 The Theology of the Slavonic Monastery’s Murals 86 Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Latin Letters at the Slavonic Monastery of St. Jerome 90 St. Jerome’s Slavic Alphabet, the nobilis lingua Slauonica, and the Czech Bible 101 The Cult of St. Jerome in Bohemia beyond the Slavonic Monastery 106 St. Jerome in Literary Sources of Bohemian Provenance 108 Implications of St. Jerome’s Recognition as a Slav in Bohemia 114 4. Silesia: A Provincial Exploit 116 The Slavonic Monastery 117 Hypotheses 119 5. Poland: In Prague’s Footsteps 124 The Slavonic Monastery of the Holy Cross at Kleparz: Sources and Evidence 125 The Cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Poland? Hypothesis and Evidence 128 Catholic Mission to the Orthodox Rus’? Hypothesis and Evidence 131 The Roman Slavonic Rite as Memorial to Slavic Christianity 140 Jadwiga—Patron of the Monastery 142 The Czech Trend 144 The Slavic Vernacular 148 Decline 150 St. Jerome as a Slavic Apostle 153 Conclusion 156 Epilogue 158 The Denouement, Part 1 159 St. Jerome as a Slav in Bohemia 161 The Denouement, Part 2 164 St. Jerome as a Slav in Poland 165 The Vernacular Affair 168 “Refutatur Error Multorum” 172 Notes 175 Bibliography 229 Index of Names and Subjects 253 Index of Pimary Sources 259