O catagrafie inedită a Mănăstirii Coşula (1850)
AN UNEDITED INVENTORY OF COŞULA MONASTERY (1850)

Summary/Abstract: Coşula is one of the oldest monasteries in Botoşani, being founded by the great treasurer Mateiaş, in 1535. The church was decorated with paintings both inside and outside, being one of the masterpieces of the Romanian medieval art. Throughout the ages, the monastery was also a cultural site, its library containing many important books and manuscripts (Romanian, Slavonic or Greek); also in this holy sanctuary were preserved very important objects of orthodox cult both from the artistic and historical points of view. In this article we will publish an inventory of wealth of the Coşula monastery from the middle of the nineteenth century when the abbot of the monastery was replaced. This list (or register) contains very important information on how to organize the wealth of an unspoilt monastery. The publication of this document broadens the perspective on the knowledge of monastic life in Moldova in the nineteenth century, especially in the problem of the monastery economy, a research direc-tion encouraged today in some European scientific centres. Apart from the fact that can be better understand how the goods of the monastery settlements were administered, it also penetrates into a special universe, marked by restrictions and rules imposed by doctrine and discipline, but in which we can also observe what monks ate and drank, how the abbot lived, how the protocol was organized, how important it was, and so on. From such sources we also understand the level of material culture specific to a Romanian monastery, whose role in the Botoşani region was very important in certain periods of the history of those places. Not being one of the rich monasteries of Moldavia, Coşula survived, even though it has gone through more difficult times.

• Details
• Contents