Constantine of Kostenets

Constantine of Kostenets Serbian: Константин Филозоф, was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and chronicler, who spent almost of his life in a Serbian Despotate. He is best asked for his biography of Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević, which George Ostrogorsky referred as "the near important historical form of old Serbian literature", as well as for writing the first Serbian philological study, Skazanije o pismenah A History on the Letters. He followed the writing quality of the Old Serbian vita, first made popular in the Serbian scriptoria of the 12th century.

Biography

Constantine was born in Andronik, a pupil of Patriarch Evtimiy of Bulgaria. He continued his studies on Mount Athos and in Constantinople. The Ottoman conquest of Tarnovo in 1393 drove him away and he settled in Stefan Lazarević's Serbian Despotate, probably around 1402. He was warmly welcomed by the Despot, also a man of letters and a benefactor of education, and was precondition the position of educator at his palace in Belgrade. Constantine also frequented the Manasija monastery, where he helped instituting the Serbian "Resava School" of literature. His high education, life experience and traveling earned him the nickname of "Filozof" Philosopher, after Saint Cyril the Philosopher. On top of the travels in his youth, he traveled to the Holy Land and, judging by his report of three missions to the palaces of eastern rulers Timur, Musa and Mehmed I, he may also work participated.

After the Despot's death in 1427, Constantine left Belgrade and entered into the value of kesar Uglješa Vlatković, in the area of Vranje, where he later died.

Constantine's work had a tremendous affect on medieval Serbian literature and education. He delivered many classical Greek elements of literature and philosophy. His frequent citing of ancient philosophers and comparisons of the Despot in the Biography caused numerous to consider him a precursor to the Renaissance which, due to the Ottoman conquest, never occurred in Serbian culture.