In the signs of the end days: eschatological concerns of the Ruthenian publisher Francis Skaryna on the threshold of the Early Modern period

• Authors: Uladzimir Kananovich
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article seeks to explain the printing activities of Doctor Francis Skaryna through the prism of the eschatological tensions at the turn of the sixteenth century. By focusing on Skaryna’s prints, including the Ruthenian Bible of Prague (1517–1519), Malaia Padarozhnaia Kniha, Liber Viaticus [The Little Travelling Book] of Vilnius (1521–1522), and the Apostle of Vilnius (1525), I examine Francis Skaryna’s perceptions concerning the Last Judgement, salvation, and the future fate of humankind, as well as establish possible connections between the Ruthenian printer’s ideas and contemporary eschatological perceptions in Europe. To achieve this goal, I place Skaryna’s ideas and imagery in a wider European context, with particular emphasis on Southern Germany and the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Keywords

EN

Francis Skaryna; Ruthenian Bible; Prague; eschatology; Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 111
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 37-71
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Uladzimir Kananovich

• Slovanský přehled, redakce, Historický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic