Mesembria Charters of Ivan Alexander

The prayers of the monks — that is, of the ascetics — and their intercession reach God by preference and most often draw near to Him; and, as Basil the God-revealer says, once a monk's prayer begins to work, it does not at all permit the man-slaying devil to have boldness against those over whom the entreaty extends. And this is wholly natural: swift as lightning and shining as gold, cleaving the air more sharply than an eagle's wing and passing in a moment through the first man into the second heaven, it presents itself at once before God's throne and freely receives from the heavenly King those things for which and on account of which it was sent. Therefore my empire too, prizing, as is said, the divine prayers of the ascetics more than gold and precious stone, desired that the monks who practise asceticism in the honourable monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God Eleousa in Mesembria be wholly untroubled, and that the monastery, together with the monks in it, be freed from all forced labour (angaria), psomozimia, fortress-building and any other burden whatsoever; and that those who happen to dwell within the monastery's bounds, from wherever they come, likewise enjoy full peace. Not only this, but let its boat too be freed for all time from paying any toll. Let none dare burden the monastery — neither the duke of the time, nor any of the local inhabitants of Mesembria or among the foreigners — if they look for their salvation from God or for indulgence from my empire. And whoever is caught doing the contrary and troubling the monks dwelling in the monastery will draw upon himself the wrath of my empire, since wrath is the herald of a tsar. My empire, on the contrary, wishes that the monastery be untroubled and undisturbed by anyone, that the monks in it, enjoying a quiet life, may pray the longer for my empire swiftly to subdue every enemy and adversary — Scythian and barbarian, and also Huns, Russians and the fair-haired Germanic people — and that neither troubler nor vagrant escape the nets of my empire. For this, then, my empire grants this golden-sealed sigillion to the monastery of Eleousa for its security, in the month of April, the ninth indiction. My empire wishes, moreover, that the archbishop of Mesembria stand outside the monastery of Eleousa — that is, have no right in it, nor interfere at all in the monastery, nor infringe anything written by my empire — but only that the hierarch's name be entered in the sacred commemorations. Month of April, ninth indiction. “Ivan Alexander, in Christ God faithful tsar and autocrat of Bulgarians and Greeks.”

God of gods and Lord of lords, the good and most gracious God, provider and protector of His creatures, appointed authorities and princedoms over the spiritual and angelic hosts, and thereafter His goodness chose also those whom He willed to rule over the tangible and visible world and to reign on earth. When the good God was pleased and the incarnation of God the Word was fulfilled, which the holy and God-bearing prophets had foretold, there reigned the God-guarded, God-established and God-crowned empire of the holy God-crowned tsar Constantine the Great, father of all Orthodox tsars. After many years had passed, our good Master Jesus Christ was pleased and gave the empire to the thrice-blessed and renowned tsar Ivan Asen, grandfather of my empire — and, O Thy goodness, Christ, and Thy many generous gifts of Thy heavenly glory and kingdom! — there reigns also our power, the God-given and God-crowned empire inherited from grandfathers and fathers. And since the most blessed and renowned tsar Ivan Asen, grandfather of my empire, left many memorials on earth, and first of all his most Orthodox and most imperial piety, and many thousands of other good deeds, the divine power of my empire desired also to grant a liberating and divine golden-sealed charter to the monastery of the holy wonderworker and myrrh-gusher Nicholas in Emona. Therefore it gave with its own hand gold from the treasury of my empire for the making and fulfilment of the liberating and divine golden-sealed charter. When the present abbot, the hieromonk lord Makarios, came on pilgrimage to my empire, he made known to my empire that the aforesaid monastery of St Nicholas had been built from the foundations by the most blessed Savina, grandmother of my empire. When my empire heard that the said monastery is a parental memorial, my empire received this with joy. Therefore my empire gave the said monastery this liberating and sacred golden-sealed charter, in the person of the hieromonk lord Makarios, father and intercessor of my empire, that he govern it in fatherly and instructive wise and dwell in this monastery as he wishes and prefers, unhindered and undisturbed, together with the monks there. My empire, by this liberating and divine golden-sealed charter, ordains that this monastery of the holy myrrh-gusher and wonderworker Nicholas be undisturbed, unharmed, inviolate and untroubled by any burden whatsoever — imperial, ecclesiastical or lordly. And if any of the metropolitans of my empire who are there at any time should dare to break, disturb, hinder or trouble in anything this divine and liberating golden-sealed charter of the divine power of my empire and this memorial of my empire, even to an obol, let him draw upon himself the curses of the 318 God-bearing fathers of Nicaea, and let his lot be equal to that of the traitor Judas. For this was composed this present liberating and divine golden-sealed charter of the divine power of my empire, and was given to the venerable monastery of the holy myrrh-gusher and wonderworker Nicholas for its securing and protection from all possible burdens, in the month of August, the 4th day, the year 6903 (?= 1354?), the seventh indiction, in which our pious and God-crowned power signed.

The most holy metropolitan and hypertimos of Mesembria set out before my empire the rights of his most holy metropolis, on the basis of which — before the fortress of Mesembria passed into the possession of the Bulgarian tsars — he held the monasteries within its bounds: namely the monastery honoured in the name of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ and called Acropolites, and that of the most pure Lady and Mother of God called Agiosoritissa, and also that of the holy hieromartyr Blaise; while in the monastery honoured in the name of the most pure Lady and Mother of God Eleousa, by a concession on the part of its former founder, the archbishop there was only commemorated. These monasteries, after the town passed under the rule of the Bulgarians, were taken from the said most holy metropolis and given to others, so that from then until this day it is deprived of them. The metropolitan made a plea concerning this, and my empire, accepting his entreaty, wishes and commands by this present decree that this most holy metropolitan and hypertimos of Mesembria take under his authority and hold these monasteries, and have over them such authority as had the bishops who presided over the most holy metropolis subject to him before the said town of Mesembria passed under the authority of the tsar of the Bulgarians, as was said, within the compass of the well-founded rights acknowledged to him. And moreover, let no encroachment or any other hindrance be made on the part of the ecumenical patriarch or of anyone else, taking as a pretext the arrangement and custom of that time down to this day. For this was given him this present decree of my empire, issued on the thirtieth day of the month of September, the third indiction.