Information about the Economy in Medieval Bulgarian Marginal Notes

Сведения за стопанството в средновековните български приписки

Исторически преглед, 81 (2025) No. 1, pp. 181-189 (ISSN 0323-9748)
DOI:

Denitsa Petrova / Деница Петрова

Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Abstract: Various texts have been used as sources of information about the economy in medieval Bulgaria, yet marginal notes in manuscripts have largely been overlooked by researchers. The main reason is the scarcity of economic data contained in these annotations. Only a few marginal notes, dating from the 12th to the 15th centuries, offer insights into economic matters. These notes confirm the essential role of bread and grain in the sustenance of medieval society. They also provide rare evidence of rabbit and poultry farming in the Bulgarian lands, a topic scarcely mentioned in other sources. When compared with other materials, such as charters issued by Bulgarian rulers, works by Western authors, and later Ottoman documents regarding market and port fees, these brief annotations contribute valuable details that enrich our understanding of the medieval Bulgarian economy.

Keywords: economy, marginal notes, scribes, Ottoman documents.

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