MIRACLES IN BULGARIA IN AN UNPUBLISHED ACCOUNT FROM 1632
Alexandru Ciocîltan
Institute of History „Nicolae Iorga”, Bucharest
Abstract: The object of the present study is an unpublished account from 1632 preserved in the Propaganda Fide Archive in Rome. The source provides a detailed description of three miracles which occurred in Bulgaria, namely in Sofia, Trăn and Nikopol. The document is important because it offers new information which allows us to better understand the complex relations between Christians and Muslims in the Balkan Peninsula. The author of the study considers the Ragusan merchants from Sofia to be the spies who brought this fresh and updated information to the imperial Court in Vienna. He argues that the unknown author of the account was most likely Ciriaco Rocci, the Apostolic nuncio to the emperor.
Keywords: Bulgaria, Sofia, Trăn, Nikopol, Christians, Turks, miracles, Account, 1632
THE SAXON COMMUNITY IN CÂMPULUNG/LANGENAU (WALLACHIA) ACCORDING TO A STATUS ANIMARUM FROM 1646
Alexandru Ciocîltan,
Institute of History „Nicolae Iorga”, Bucharest
Etudes balkaniques (Sofia) 2017 N 3
Abstract: The object of the present study is a status animarum of the Catholic Saxon parish in Câmpulung/Langenau (Wallachia) drafted by the Franciscan rector Francesco Maria Spera da Narni. The document is an appendix to a letter he sent on August 15th 1646 to the cardinals of the Holy Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. The source registered the names of all the parishioners, while the age has been mentioned only for children and widows. The text offers us the possibility to better understand a community with deep Lutheran nostalgia in the age of the Counter-Reformation.
Keywords: Câmpulung/Langenau, Wallachia, status animarum, Counter-Reformation, Saxons, Catholics, Lutherans, Franciscans, Francesco Maria Spera, 17th century.