Bulgarian Scholars and Clerics in the European Politics at the end of the 14th Century and the beginning of the 15th Century

Abstract

The events in the last decades of the 14th century and the first of the 15th century related with the conquests of the Ottoman Empire changed the map of Europe. The Bulgarian scholars and clerics: the last patriarchs of Tarnovo - Theodosius and Euthymius, Cyprian – “Metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow and whole Russia”, Gregory Tsamblak – “Wallach-Moldovan Metropolitan” and “Metropolitan of Kiev, Russia and Lithuania”, Gregory the Bulgarian “Metropolitan of Kiev and Lithuania”, Constantine of Kostenets, etc. actively participated in the church and secular policies in Europe. Even though they were among the most passionate supporters of the mystical teachings of hesychasm, through their life they were also representatives of the so-called “political hesychasm”, as a response to the turning point of their time.