Abstract
The article focuses on a manuscript from the Library of the Romanian Academy, Ms. sl. BAR 636 (16th century), with the purpose of making a comprehensive description and analysis of its varied content, which is that of a true monastic encyclopaedia and a panoply of letters fighting against heresies, in defence of Orthodoxy. The study delves on the juridical (Canon law), dogmatic, liturgical and historical sections of the manuscript and also on its anti-heretic polemical texts. The political context of Moldavia during the reign of Prince Alexander Lăpușneanu (1552–1561, 1564–1568), when the manuscript was completed, allows for a better understanding of the relationship between Church and Ruler and to discern the importance of the Romanian–Slavic literary contacts in the Middle Ages.
Keywords
16th century Moldavia, heresies, law, manuscript collection, religious polemics
