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Review
Author(s): J\ M. Hussey
Review by: J\ M. Hussey
Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 50, No. 121 (Oct., 1972), pp. 611-612
Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London,
School o f Slavonic and East European Studies
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 REVIEWS 6ll

the Bulgarian bishopric at Vidin, was Slavonic adopted by the Rumanians

as the language of culture, since Wallachian documents in Greek and Latin
show that the two languages were widely used in the royal chancellery
until 1387 , when the first document in Slavonic, issued by Mircea cel
B&trin (Prince o f Wallachia 1386- 1418 ) appeared. In fact the earliest
Slavonic document issued by the royal chancellery in Wallachia dates
from 1374 , while those Latin and Greek documents to which the author
refers are almost exclusively external ones, and not one of them was issued
by the chancellery.
The second and third parts o f the book (pp. 65- 270) deal with the
development of education and are of similar quality. Here the period
1350-1561 is covered, though why the latter year is chosen as a suitable
date to bring the study to a close is not explained. Among the many strange
assertions made concerning this period one may note the following: that
because the Rumanians knew proverbs they were capable of philosophy
(p. 85); that they knew how to add and, perhaps, even to subtract (cei
cunoteau operatia adunarii i, poate, chiar i pe a scaderii5) (p. 89).
Furthermore, it is difficult to agree with the view that Rumanian culture
o f this period was of Christian-Hebrew inspiration (p. 67) and not Byzan
tine, couched in the Old Church Slavonic language. It would be futile to
dwell further on this book which renders a great disservice to Rumanian
scholarship.
London D e n n is J. D e l e t a n t

Vacalopoulos, A. E. Origins of the Greek Nation: the Byzantine Period 120 4 -

1 4 6 1 . Translated by I. Moles, revised by the author. Rutgers Univer
sity Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1970. xxviii + 401 pp. Maps.
Index. Notes.
T his is the first of the three volumes so far published on the history of
modern Hellenism by Professor Vacalopoulos (Thessalonica, 1961, 1964,
1968, taking the story to 1669). The continuity o f Greek history has often
been lost sight of. After the glories o f the classical period it has tended to
be submerged in the story o f Rome and Byzantium, only to be revived
again with the rise of Greek independence in the 19th century. Vacalo
poulos is by no means the only scholar to emphasise the continuity of the
Greek tradition and to realise how deep are the roots of neo-Hellenism,
but it is he who has given us the first substantial modern account of this.
In order to do so he has had to bridge the gulf between ancient and mod
ern Greece. Mediaeval Greece has usually been regarded as a rather
minor part of a Byzantine Empire which petered out before the Ottoman
conquerors after having been brutally shattered by the Latin crusaders in
1204, but in Vacalopouloss view the very disintegration of Byzantium
marked a step towards the self-realisation of the Greek nation. His first
volume therefore covers the period 1204-1461 when Trebizond, the last
mediaeval Greek principality, fell to the Ottomans, a time of apparent

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6l2 THE SLAVON IC R E V I E W

failure but, to Vacalopoulos, an era when neo-Hellenism, based on its

ancient Greek heritage and on the Orthodox Church, came into being.
He gives a dramatic and moving account o f this transitional stage, bring
ing into relief the essentially Greek elements which were increasingly
stressed during the later Middle Ages.
In a work o f this breadth there are understandably controversial topics
as well as points of detail which may be questioned. Justinian for instance
did not forbid the study o f ancient Greek philosophy (p. 19) but only its
teaching by pagans. On the vexed question of the Slavs Vacalopoulos is
admirably objective though not unexpectedly opposed to Fallmerayer;
here a reference might have been given to some of Fallmerayers recent
followers, such as R. Jenkins. And the western historian may question
some o f Vacalopouloss statements, as when (p. 256) he remarks that in the
early 16th century national consciousness in Europe (apart from the
Greeks) was still inchoate .
In the English translation of the first volume the original Greek text,
though unaltered in essence, is somewhat rearranged. A number o f recent
works have been added to the bibliography and there are excellent maps.
In the footnotes there is a rather complicated system of tracking down
details of the works cited and reference to an alphabetical bibliography
o f the original might have been preferable. The need to translate into
English the titles of even French books is a pungent comment on modern
education. One useful feature o f the bibliography is the wealth of informa
tion on recent secondary material in Greek. The translator and editor
are to be congratulated on making this stimulating and informative work
available to a wide public. It is a valuable and long overdue presentation
of a valid point o f view. Readers should, however, bear in mind that this
volume gives only the first part o f a development continuing to the
present day.
London J. M. H u s s e y

Bosl, Karl (ed.) Bohemia: Jahrbuch des Collegium Carolinum, Vol. X I. Verlag
Robert Lerche, Munich, 1970. 490 pp. Indices.
L i k e its predecessors, this latest Yearbook published by the Collegium
Carolinum in Munich contains essays of varying length and importance,
marginalia, biographies and reviews, as well as summaries of the essays
in English and in French. While most of the essays are short, the two
long ones n o pages each are also the most weighty ones. Dr Ernst
Schwarz contributes a substantial essay which, like his more detailed book
published in Munich in 1965- 6, discusses the Volkstumsgeschichte of the
Sudeten lands in the Middle Ages. Making extensive use of place, field,
and local names as well as Christian and personal names he shows that,
before the Hussite revolution, there was a peaceful symbiosis of Czechs and
Germans in towns and villages, a meeting of peoples rather than a con
flict between them: a conclusion that agrees well with those reached for

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