Dessislava Naydenova
Papers of BAS, Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 1, No 1, 2014
HISTORY
CYRILLO-METHODIAN LEGAL HERITAGE AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY IN THE MEDIAEVAL SLAVIC STATES
Dessislava Naydenova
Abstract: The aim of the article is to underline the important role of the Cyrillo-Methodian juridical heritage in the transformation of the Slavonic states from paganism to Christianity. The main result from the Conversion was a change in the spiritual sphere, culture and political model. This, of course, didn’t root in inventing something new in principle, but rather in copying something already existing in the Eastern Roman Empire. In this regard it is worth mentioning here that the Byzantine political theory played the main role in constructing the Bulgarian ideological doctrine.
The following legal texts are taken under consideration: Nomocanon of John the Scholastic, Zakon Sudnyj Ljudem, Anonymous Homily in Codex Clozianus, Nomocanon of 14 Titles and the Ecloga. The article focuses on two main suggestions: 1. Legal texts should be considered mainly as literary sources and as a result of a given political ideology rather than a part of a state legislation. 2. The juridical texts associated with so-called Corpus Methodiana Juridica and those that have been translated in mediaeval Bulgaria in 10th century were of great importance with regard to the adoption of Byzantine political theory in Orthodox Slavic States, creation of a new Christian identity, building of a new state and political concepts and also transformation of the culture of the Orthodox Slavs into a part of Byzantine Commonwealth.
Key words: Byzantine Empire, Nomocanon, Cyrillo-Methodian, Zakon Sudnyj Ljudem, legal texts, First Bulgarian Kingdom