site.btaLevels of Medieval Literacy Surprisingly High - Researcher

The medieval Bulgarian person was far more literate than we imagine today, Associate Prof. Dr Nina Gagova of the Institute for Literature with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) told BTA. Dr Gagova heads the Reading for the Laity in the Southern Slavic Tradition: Sociocultural Dynamics of the 14th-18th Century Repertorium project. As part of the project, an exhibition dedicated to medieval readings will be open at the BAS until Friday.

The numerous clergy, much more in number than the present, were all literate, no matter how high or low their rank, Gagova said. Aristocrats were also literate, and so were merchants and artisans, whose everyday duties required the skills to read and write. Modern man’s notion of the sweeping illiteracy in the Middle Ages was born in the 18th and 19th century, when the number of literate Bulgarians dropped sharply.

Monasteries attracted scholarly Bulgarians throughout the 14th and 15th century

Monks in the 14th and 15th century were generally more highly educated, for many men of the world took the vows when this country fell under Ottoman rule. Their secular education resulted in all types of books being copied in monasteries, not just religious books. 

“Of course, it was unlikely that there were many literate people in rural areas other than the priests and the local teachers. Still, there were schools, including under Ottoman rule,” Gagova said. Even those who could not read were integrated by literate people who would read to them out loud.

Back then, people would read anything, Gagova said. Other than highly specialized theological literature and monastic texts, readers were interested in the cosmos, geography, ethnography, history, the afterlife, divination, medical essays. 

Public libraries and “customized” books

There is data about numerous 14th century literary centres and public libraries that were funded by the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander, Gagova shared. Some of the manuscripts written there were meant to be read in such libraries by any Bulgarian. These centres also offered the service of creating customized books with contents chosen by the commissioner.

Collapse of literacy and education

The collapse of literacy and education was concurrent with the fall of the Bulgarian state. With state support and patronage of the aristocracy and clergy gone between the 14th and 15th century, the level of literacy dropped. The book-reading social stratum was no more. “The essays written between the 16th and the 18th century no longer included significant historical texts,” Gagova said, adding that some texts proved to be exceptionally resilient and remained present in literary copies between the 9th and the 19th century. She cited the speech condemning the “wicked women” as an example.