The Supraśl Manuscript[c] is a codex compiled in 1519. It has 175 folios in total. On folios 3r up to 108v of the manuscript, it contains a compilation of first-redaction Lithuanian Chronicles (sometimes dubbed the "Supraśl Chronicle"), that are estimated to have been originally written in Early Ruthenian in the mid-15th century.[1] It also contains copies of the Kyiv Caves (Pechersk) Patericon and the Wiślica Statutes of Casimir the Great, amongst other things.[2] The codex was rediscovered in 1822 in the Supraśl Orthodox Monastery (near Białystok in present-day Poland, close to Belarus).[1]
| Supraśl Manuscript | |
|---|---|
| f. 115, no. 143, RAS History Institute, Saint Petersburg[1] | |
| Type | first-redaction Lithuanian Chronicles |
| Date | 1519 |
| Place of origin | Supraśl Orthodox Monastery[1] |
| Language | Ruthenian[a] |
| Scribe | Hryhoriy Ivanovych[1] |
| Author | Szymon Ivanovych Odincewicz[1] |
| Patron | Odintsevychi[1] |
| Material | thick white paper; linden boards covered with leather[1] |
| Condition | paper thoroughly turned yellow; leather heavily worn[1] |
| Script | Cyrillic[b] |
| Contents | 175 sheets[1] |
| Discovered | 1822[1] |
Structure
editLegend:
- fol. = folio, sheet.
- r. = recto, the first (right) side of a folio. Corresponds to "лл" ("лицевая сторона" litsevaja storona, "front side" or "face side").
- v. = verso, the second (left) side of a folio. Corresponds to "об." ("оборотная сторона" oborotnaja storona, "reverse side" or "back side").
| Fol. | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gospel readings index; unrelated to chronicles.[1] |
| 1a – 2v | Genealogy of Odintsevychi[1] |
| 3r–72v | Incipit: Избрание лЂтописания изложено въкратце [Izbranie lětopisanija izlozheno vŭkrattse. "A Selection of the Chronicle Set Out in Brief."][1]
|
| 72v | Excerpt from the Primary Chronicle (PVL) of 10 lines ("The Dnieper River flows near the Poneshskoye Sea...").[1] |
| 72v – 87r | An untitled section dedicated mainly to grand duke Vytautas the Great.
|
| 87r – 108r | Chronicler of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (in cinnabar colour)[5]
|
| 108v – 125r | Wiślica Statutes of Casimir the Great (originally composed 1346–1362 in Latin), translated into Ruthenian.[2] |
| 125v – 126r | A genealogy of dukes of Masovia, and a complaint to the king about the starost of Zamość (without end).[2] Written in Old Belarusian with various 17th-century handwritings and inks.[2] |
| 127r – 172r | Kyiv Caves (Pechersk) Patericon[2] |
| 173r – 174v | Various random writings in Belarusian and Polish; some Polish poetry.[2] |
| 175 | Gospel readings index; unrelated to chronicles.[1] |
Contents
edit
In 1836, M. A. Obolensky published a critical edition titled Супрасльская рукопись, содержащая Новгородскую и Киевскую сокращенные летописи [Suprasl'skaia rukopis', soderzhashchaia Novgorodskuiu i Kievskuiu sokrashchennye letopisi, "The Supraśl Manuscript, containing the shortened Novgorodian and Kievan chronicles"].[8]
Contrary to earlier scholarly belief, the Supraśl Chronicle does not contain an account of a 10-week-long 1240 siege of Kiev.[9]
Notes
edit- ↑ And some later short, unrelated entries and poems in Polish and Latin.[1]
- ↑ But Latin script in the Polish and Latin bits and pieces.
- ↑ Polish: Rękopis suprasielski. Belarusian: Супрасльскі рукапіс, romanized: Suprasĺski rukapis. Ukrainian: Супрасльський рукопис, romanized: Suprasljsjkyj rukopys. Also known pars pro toto as the Supraśl Chronicle,[1] or the Supraśl Codex, not to be confused with the 10th-century Codex Suprasliensis in Middle Bulgarian.
- ↑ ["The Poles summoned Pan Dolkgird from the city of Kamenets to a council to themselves and, not allowing him to reach the council, they seized and robbed him, and settled in Kamenets, and took everything that the Podolian [Podolsk] lands needed to be kept."][2]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Ulashchik 1980b, pp. 5–7.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ulashchik 1980b, p. 5.
- ↑ Ulashchik 1980a, pp. 51–61.
- ↑ Ulashchik 1980a, p. 61.
- 1 2 3 Ulashchik 1980b, p. 6.
- ↑ Ulashchik 1980b, pp. 65–67.
- ↑ Slipushko 2022, p. 22.
- ↑ Maiorov 2016, p. 704.
- ↑ Maiorov 2016, pp. 703–704.
Bibliography
editCritical editions
edit- Супрасльская летопись [Suprasl'skaia letopis'; "The Supraśl Chronicle"], eds S. L. Ptashitsky and A. A. Shakhmatov, in PSRL, Moscow, 2008, vol. 17, col. 25.
- M. A. Obolensky (ed.), Супрасльская рукопись, содержащая Новгородскую и Киевскую сокращенные летописи [Suprasl'skaia rukopis', soderzhashchaia Novgorodskuiu i Kievskuiu sokrashchennye letopisi, "The Supraśl Manuscript, containing the shortened Novgorodian and Kievan chronicles"] (1836). Moscow.
- Moscow, Российский государственный архив древних актов [Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv drevnikh aktov] (RGADA), f. 181, op. 1, ch. 1, no. 21/26.
- Moscow, State Historical Museum, Synodal Collection of Manuscripts [Sinodal'noye sobranie rukopisej], no. 154.
- A. N. Nasonov, ‘Vvedenie’, in PSRL, vol. 5/1, pp. 9–44 (pp. 12–13)
- Ol'ga L. Novikova, К истории изучения Супрасльского летописного сборника в первой трети XIX в. [K istorii izucheniia Suprasl'skogo letopisnogo sbornika pervoi treti XIX v., "On the history of studying the Supraśl chronicle collection in the first third of the 19th century."], in Proceedings of the Department of Old Rus' Literature [Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury], St Petersburg, 1996, vol. 50, pp. 384–86.
- Ulashchik, N.N., ed. (1980a). Bilorusjko-lytovsjki litopysy: Suprasljsjkyj litopys Білорусько-литовські літописи: Супрасльський літопис [The Belarusian–Lithuanian Chronicles: The Supraśl Chronicle]. Complete Collection of Rus' Chronicles (PSRL) (in Belarusian). Vol. 35. Moscow: Nauka / Izbornyk. p. 306. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
Literature
edit- Maiorov, Alexander V. (2016). "The Mongolian Capture of Kiev: The Two Dates". The Slavonic and East European Review. 94 (4): 702–714. doi:10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.94.4.0702. JSTOR 10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.94.4.0702.
- Slipushko, Oksana (2022). "Lietuvos ir Rusios kronikos mąstymo paradigma vėlyvaisiais viduramžiais / Lithuanian-Ruthenian Chronicle Paradigm of Thinking in the Late Middle Ages". LOGOS. 113: 18–25. doi:10.24101/logos.2022.69.
- Ulashchik, N.N., ed. (1980b). "Супрасльская летопись (опис)" [Supraśl Chronicle (description)]. Bilorusjko-lytovsjki litopysy Білорусько-литовські літописи [The Belarusian–Lithuanian Chronicles]. Complete Collection of Rus' Chronicles (PSRL) (in Russian). Vol. 35. Moscow: Nauka / Izbornyk. pp. 118–127. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.