A Folio from the Vukan Gospel (1196–1202): A Predecessor to “Bosnian” (Western Serbian) Manuscripts of the 13th–15th Centuries

Abstract

According to M. Pešikan, Fol. 10 from the Vukan Gospel (10a.8–10g.21) was almost entirely written by Scribe IV, one of the eight scribes involved in writing out the original book. The greatest part of the manuscript was written by the monk Simeon. Scribe IV was a follower of an ancient, non-calligraphic Cyrillic tradition, older than any other tradition identified in this manuscript. In terms of palaeographic and orthographic features, he was a predecessor of the "Bosnian" codices of the 13th–15th centuries. This confirms that there was a direct link between the Serbian literacy tradition in Bosnia and the earlier literacy tradition in Raška, namely one of its many lines. Further, in the past, this tradition can be traced back to the South Slavic literacy tradition developed in the Byzantine Empire, in the territory of present-day Macedonia. The concept of the "southern line", which has so far been used in explaining the origins of western Serbian, "Bosnian" literary monuments, acquires a different meaning in this light: a crucial hub in spreading literacy from the south to the north were Serbian scriptoria – from northern Macedonia, through Kosovo and Metohija, to Raška – where the Serbian recension was fist-shaped and then spread further to the west, to Bosnia.