chapter 12 The Long 10th Century of

Before returning to Bulgaria in c. 888, Symeon had spent a decade in Constantinople, most likely in preparation for becoming the head of the Bulgarian church. Nothing is known about where and with whom was Symeon preparing for an ecclesiastical career. However, the Italian bishop Liudprand of Cremona, who visited Constantinople long after Symeon’s death, knew that the Bulgarian ruler had been “half-Greek, on account of the fact that since his boyhood he had learned the rhetoric of Demosthenes and the logic of Aristotle in Byzantium.”1 While the intent of such a remark may have been to besmirch Symeon’s reputation of a highly educated man, there can be no doubt about Symeon’s rhetorical skills, as indicated by his later correspondence with Leo Choisrosphaktes, Emperor Leo VI’s ambassador and noted scholar.2 Symeon must have brought with him from Constantinople a great number of books. In a panegyric written shortly after 900, a contemporary author praises Symeon’s collection of “divine books,” with which he has filled his own palace in Preslav, and calls him a “new Ptolemy.”3 Symeon also took his religious vocation very seriously, as indicated by his commitment to maintaining and promoting the orthodox faith in Bulgaria. Christ and the Holy Virgin appear on his personal seals as frequently as on his father’s. Symeon was a “ruler from God,” who often compared himself with Moses, while viewing his task as carrying out God’s will and guiding his people towards the Promised Land.4 He continued to support

1 Liudprand of Cremona, Retribution III 29, p. 87; English translation, p. 124. For emiargos meaning “half-developed, unfinished,” not “half-Greek,” see Bandini, “Simeone di Bulgaria” and Leszka, “Symeon I Wielki.” The sarcastic expression may well be that of Liudprand’s in- formant (the word is Greek, not Latin), but Liudprand may have agreed with that. For his attitude towards , see Simeonova, “Kogato bălgarite biakha napusnali grada’.” 2 Kolias, Léon Choerosphactès, pp. 77, 79, 81, and 113. The “logic of Demosthenes” is apparent in Symeon’s use of the crocodile dilemma in his first letter to Leo (Ilieva, “Antichniiat logicheski paradox”). 3 Dinekov et al., Simeonov sbornik, p. 202; English translation from Petkov, The Voices, p. 93. For Symeon’s library in Preslav, see Panaiotov, “Biblioteka” and Gagova, “Carskata biblioteka.” For books in Symeon’s Bulgaria, see Angusheva et al., “Knizhovnostta.” 4 Nicholas Mystikos, Letters, pp. 176–77. Symeon’s title of “ruler from God” appears in the inscription of Narăsh (now Nea Philadelphia, near ), which is dated to 904 (Beshevliev, Părvobălgarski nadpisi, pp. 183–84). For Symeon’s seals, see Totev, “Za edna grupa.” For Symeon as Moses, see Rashev, “Car Simeon, prorok Moisei” and “Car Simeon— ‘nov Moisei’.”

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004395190_013 The Long 10th Century of Bulgaria 215 his father’s protégé, Clement, and his mission to Kutmichevica. In 893, shortly after his rise to power, Symeon appointed Clement “Bishop of Dragvista or Velitsa and thus Clement became the first bishop for the .”5 It was perhaps in this new capacity that Clement wrote his Instructions to Bishops and Priests. To Clement, the bishop is a “paragon of all good deeds”: open-minded and just, he keeps “to the true word as he had been taught it, so that he provides real consolation in the true doctrine.” For it is true doc- trine that worried Clement. Heresies, according to him, derive from “the igno- rance and inexperience of the bishops and the priests.” In addition to being “simpletons who know not the Law,” many are also greedy and only care for “lowly gain.” Clement calls on his bishops and priests: “Do not cease to instruct the people entrusted to you!”6 One is left with the impression that his wor- ries were well-founded and that he was confronted with real problems in his diocese. Some of them may have derived from the lack of instruction, others from the lack of books and services. To cope with the latter, Clement wrote a large number of services for different occasions, including a blueprint office, that reminds one of his similar strategy employed for sermons.7 Another of- fice (akolouthia) is for St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, an indication that Clement wanted to offer powerful examples of bishops who cared for the instruction of their flocks.8 That he already regarded his teachers, Cyril and Methodius, as saints results from the fact that he wrote church offices for each one of them.9

5 Theophylact of , Long Life of St. Clement of Ohrid XX 62, p. 100; English translation from Scott, “The collapse,” p. 114; Döpmann, “Kyrillos und Methodios,” p. 319. The location of Clement’s diocese has long been a matter of scholarly debate. Gautier, “Clément d’Ohrid” and Duichev, “Dragvista-Dragovitia” have identified Dragvista with the land of the Drugubites in the hinterland of Thessaloniki, to the west, along the lower course of the river Vardar. “Velitsa” may in fact refer to the latter, as the river was known as Velika (“the large one”) in Slavonic (Snegarov, “Po văprosa”). However, more recent studies have convincingly placed Velitsa farther to the north(-west), between Thessaloniki and Ohrid, on the middle course of the river Vardar. Velitsa has therefore been associated to Velessos, the medieval (Greek) name of the modern city of Veles in the central part of present-day . See Delikari, Der Hl. Klemens, p. 73; Peneva, “Otnovo”; Peri, “Velika (Dragvišta).” For the relations between Symeon and Clement, see Iliev, “Sveti Kliment.” 6 Petkov, The Voices, pp. 54–55. 7 Petkov et al. Sveti Kliment, pp. 373–442. For a complete list of all offices (hymns) attributed to Clement of Ohrid, see Iliev, Kliment Okhridski, pp. 162–64. 8 Petkov et al., Sveti Kliment, pp. 521–32; Iovcheva, “Starobălgarska sluzhba” attributes the pen- chant for “Western” saints to the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition. For further offices for “Western saints” that have been attributed to Clement, see Iovcheva, “Novootkrito khimnografsko proizvedenie” and Savova, “Newly discovered hymnographic work.” 9 Petkov et al., Sveti Kliment, pp. 359–371 and 557–575. Whether or not Clement is also the au- thor of the Life of Constantine and/or Life of Methodius has been a matter of much scholarly debate (Iliev, Sv. Kliment Okhridski, pp. 159–60).