The Supraśl Manuscript is a codex compiled in 1519. It has 175 folios in total. On folios 3r up to 108v of the manuscript, it contains a compilation of first-redaction Lithuanian Chronicles (sometimes dubbed the "Supraśl Chronicle"), that are estimated to have been originally written in Early Ruthenian in the mid-15th century. It also contains copies of the Kyiv Caves (Pechersk) Patericon and the Wiślica Statutes of Casimir the Great, amongst other things. The codex was rediscovered in 1822 in the Supraśl Orthodox Monastery (near Białystok in present-day Poland, close to Belarus).
Structure Legend: fol. = folio, sheet. r. = recto, the first (right) side of a folio. Corresponds to "лл" ("лицевая сторона" litsevaja storona, "front side" or "face side"). v. = verso, the second (left) side of a folio. Corresponds to "об." ("оборотная сторона" oborotnaja storona, "reverse side" or "back side").
Fol. Notes 1 Gospel readings index; unrelated to chronicles. 1a – 2v Genealogy of Odintsevychi 3r–72v Incipit: Избрание лЂтописания изложено въкратце [Izbranie lětopisanija izlozheno vŭkrattse. "A Selection of the Chronicle Set Out in Brief."] Сказание o вЂрных святых князеи руських. [Skazanie o virnykh svjatykh knyazei rus'kikh. "The Tale/Legend of the Faithful Holy Princes of Rus'."] This section contains entries from 854 (Calling of the Varangians) until 1427. It contains data of an all-Rus' nature, and is very detailed on the 14th and 15th century. 72v Excerpt from the Primary Chronicle (PVL) of 10 lines ("The Dnieper River flows near the Poneshskoye Sea..."). 72v – 87r An untitled section dedicated mainly to grand duke Vytautas the Great. This part reports on the failed coronation of Vytautas and his death; on the accession of Švitrigaila and his struggle with Sigismund Kęstutaitis; then the Praise to Vytautas. At the end there are several reports of events (1432–1445) in/about Smolensk. The section ends in 1446 with the blinding of Vasily II of Moscow. 87r – 108r Chronicler of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (in cinnabar colour) a list of the sons of the Grand Duke Gediminas Vytautas's reign in Lithuania 102r – 108r: The Tale about Podolia. Explicit (108r): ляхове, пана Долькгирда из города ис Каменца созвали на раду к собе и до рады не допустивши самого иняли и огьрабили, и Каменець засели, и все тое забрали, што Подолъскои земли держать. 108v – 125r Wiślica Statutes of Casimir the Great (originally composed 1346–1362 in Latin), translated into Ruthenian. 125v – 126r A genealogy of dukes of Masovia, and a complaint to the king about the starost of Zamość (without end). Written in Old Belarusian with various 17th-century handwritings and inks. 127r – 172r Kyiv Caves (Pechersk) Patericon 173r – 174v Various random writings in Belarusian and Polish; some Polish poetry. 175 Gospel readings index; unrelated to chronicles.
Contents
In 1836, M. A. Obolensky published a critical edition titled Супрасльская рукопись, содержащая Новгородскую и Киевскую сокращенные летописи [Suprasl'skaia rukopis', soderzhashchaia Novgorodskuiu i Kievskuiu sokrashchennye letopisi, "The Supraśl Manuscript, containing the shortened Novgorodian and Kievan chronicles"].
Contrary to earlier scholarly belief, the Supraśl Chronicle does not contain an account of a 10-week-long 1240 siege of Kiev.
Notes
References
Bibliography Critical editions Супрасльская летопись [Suprasl'skaia letopis; "The Supraśl Chronicle"], eds S. L. Ptashitsky and A. A. Shakhmatov, in PSRL, Moscow, 2008, vol. 17, col. 25. M. A. Obolensky (ed.), Супрасльская рукопись, содержащая Новгородскую и Киевскую сокращенные летописи [Suprasl'skaia rukopis', soderzhashchaia Novgorodskuiu i Kievskuiu sokrashchennye letopisi, "The Supraśl Manuscript, containing the shortened Novgorodian and Kievan chronicles"] (1836). Moscow. Moscow, Российский государственный архив древних актов [Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv drevnikh aktov] (RGADA), f. 181, op. 1, ch. 1, no. 21/26. Moscow, State Historical Museum, [Sinodal'noye sobranie rukopisej], no. 154. A. N. Nasonov, ‘Vvedenie’, in PSRL, vol. 5/1, pp. 9–44 (pp. 12–13) Ol'ga L. Novikova, К истории изучения Супрасльского летописного сборника в первой трети XIX в. [K istorii izucheniia Suprasl'skogo letopisnogo sbornika pervoi treti XIX v., "On the history of studying the Supraśl chronicle collection in the first third of the 19th century."], in [Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury], St Petersburg, 1996, vol. 50, pp. 384–86.
Literature