The Martyrdom of Saints Brâncoveni reflected in the writings of contemporaries and in the popular consciousness of the Romanian people

The Martyrdom of Saints Brâncoveni reflected in the writings of contemporaries and in the popular consciousness of the Romanian people

19 January 2015

This study aims to illustrate the martyrdom of Saints Brâncoveni as it appears in the descriptions of the contemporaries, Romanian and foreign historiographers, eyewitnesses of the events, as well as in the Romanian people’s memory, the Brâncoveni’s drama inspiring ballads, songs and even popular theatre plays. The reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu was a flourishing epoch in terms of culture, arts and religion, the result of a long reign and a smart and balanced policy. We indicate some biographical elements useful to understand the perspective from which each author writes, since not everyone who left us evidence about those events was close to the ruler, on the contrary, some of them even conspired to a point against him. As a culmination of those presented in this study, we show that the death of Saints Brâncoveni was considered from the beginning a martyric death, as attested by the creation of a holy prayer dedicated to them by Metropolitan Kallinikos of Heracleea.