Old Church Slavonic Gospel

The Banitsa Gospel, written on parchment in Church Slavonic in the late 13th century, is one of the manuscripts testifying to the end of the anonymity of Bulgarian men of letters at around this time. The colophon indicates that the scribe who made the manuscript was the priest Ioann at Saint Nicholas Church in the village of Banitsa (presumably in the Vratsa region of present-day northwestern Bulgaria). The characteristic script and the ornamental illumination, elaborated in black, red, and yellow ink, reflect a local manuscript tradition. The menologion (calendar) includes the holidays of Bulgarian saints Petka Turnovska (Paraskeva of Turnovo), Ioann Rilski (Ivan of Rila), Tsar Peter, and Cyril and Methodius.