L’immagine del Turco nelle cronache moldave in lingua slava

Abstract

The Moldavian chronicles in the Slavic languages of the 15th–16th centuries expose the events of the country in a time of grave difficulties for the survival of the Christian states of Europe, threatened by the expansionary policy of the Ottoman Empire. The authors closely follow the progressive expansion of the Sublime Porte and the fall of boroughs, citadels, and cities (Gallipoli, Sofia, Veliko Tărnovo, Thessaloniki), as well as Chilia, Cetatea Albă, fortified Moldavian citadels. Naturally, the chroniclers rejoice for the rarest victories on the battlefield of the European sovereigns and the princes of Moldavia; they are saddened by the defeats suffered by Moldavian and, more generally, Christian arms. Above all, they fear that the new ‘paganism’ coming from the now subjugated Constantinople can suffocate the ancestral religion, although they do not neglect the dangerousness of other beliefs, such as the Lutheran, professed even by a prince. In the final analysis, the chronicler considers himself a scriba Dei who must educate the reader and strengthen him in the true faith, orthodoxy.

Keywords

• Cronache moldave in lingua slava
• Macarie
• Eftimie
• Azarie
• impero ottomano
• penisola balcanica