Word and Power in Mediaeval Bulgaria

Ultimo aggiornamento: 06 May 2021

Biliarsky I.

Word and Power in Mediaeval Bulgaria

BRILL Leiden, The Netherlands 2011

Scheda a cura di: Biliarsky I.

582 pp.


The law is a cultural phenomenon that impacts on the whole normative system of a civilisation and finally its core values. It is part of and simultaneously protector of these values. As such the law is in close relation with identity and with one of its main transmitters - the language. Every civilisation has a law code that should be common to all its parts and members and should be based on a common lexis. This book presents a case study in the legal terminology of mediaeval Bulgaria displayed against the broader background of the Byzantine civilisation to which the country belonged. It is accompanied by a glossary of the juridical lexis that is not only an example but forms the very basis of the research project.

Table of contents

Foreword ... ix

Introduction The Bulgarian Legal Vocabulary during the Middle Ages: Outlining the Problem. Objectives and Tasks of the Study ... 1

Abbreviations ... 15

Chapter One Glossary of Mediaeval Bulgarian Legal Vocabulary ... 17
Chapter Two Law, Language, and Identity ... 183
Chapter Three Legal Vocabulary Related to the Supreme State Power ... 205
Chapter Four Institutions, Military and Administrative Vocabulary ... 261
Chapter Five Taxation and Fiscal Legal Concepts and Terms ... 393
Chapter Six General Ecclesiastical Vocabulary. Ecclesiastical Dignities, Orders and Institutions ... 501

Conclusion ... 517

Bibliography ... 523