Поемата La Bulgheria convertita – проект за промяна в българската национална идентичност
The Poem La Bulgheria Convertira as a Project for Changing the Bulgarian National Identity

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents a study on Francesco Bracciolini's poem titled La Bulgheria convertita, published in 1637 in Rome by Vitale Mascardi. The work was written on the request of Congregatio de Propaganda Fide and therefore has a clearly expressed religious and propaganda character. The poem has never been translated into Bulgarian, the only serious study on it being that of the Italian scholar Riccardo Piccio. The study focuses mainly on analysis of the paratext of the poem, i.e. the title pages, the twelve short lists of content and the alphabetical index of persons and events. It aims at acquainting the reader with a number of portraits of historical figures who were involved in the creation of the poem and were mentioned in its introduction part, as well as with the relationships between them. Special attention is given to the authors Francesco and Giuliano Bracciolini, the maecenas cardinal Antonio Barberini – junior, the censors Nicolo' Riccardi and Giulio Rospigliosi, the patron Pope Urban VIII, and the person who inspired the plot – Girolamo Piatti, as well as to the remarkable activity of the Bulgarian Catholic community during the year of publication – 1637. The paper also proposes a reconstruction of the plot of the poem based on the specific viewpoint of Giuliano Bracciolini, as manifested in the short lists of content and the alphabetical index. In conclusion the paper offers the theory that the poem was an important part of a larger project for exercising influence on the religious component of the Bulgarian national identity which involved the joint efforts of top officials of the Vatican and local people supporting their religious and political activities. Within the framework of this project, the poem was supposed to play the role of a national epic, but this goal remained unachieved due to a complex of political and historical reasons.

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