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Reconsidering the Birthplace of the Oldest Romanian Translation of the Psalter: Moldavia or Mount Athos? Cover

Reconsidering the Birthplace of the Oldest Romanian Translation of the Psalter: Moldavia or Mount Athos?

Open Access
|Sep 2026

Abstract

The Hurmuzaki Psalter occupies a central position among the earliest extant Romanian translations of the Psalter (15th-16th centuries) due to its archaic character and its role in shaping later versions. Yet, the origin of the earliest Romanian translation and the dating of the manuscript remain disputed. Recent studies place both of these in the 15th century, either in Moldavia or within the Athonite milieu, in connection with Moldavian or Aromanian monks. This study critically reassesses these hypotheses by correlating historical, codicological and philological evidence to reconsider the context of production and transmission. It concludes that none of the proposed theories is fully convincing and that the question of origin and dating remains open.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2026-0015 | Journal eISSN: 2359-8107 (formerly 2065-5940) | Journal ISSN: 2359-8093
Language: English, German
Page range: 229 - 253
Published on: Sep 5, 2026
Published by: Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 3 issues per year

© 2026 Mihail Khalid Qaramah, published by Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.