{"version":2,"locale":"en","id":"story.ivan-alexander-gospels","hasFind":true,"slug":"ivan-alexander-gospels","url":"/en/stories/ivan-alexander-gospels/","topic":"The Gospels of Ivan Alexander","title":"The tsar between the pages","summary":"A family portrait, a scribe known by name and traces of ownership in Moldavia and on Athos: explore a book made in 1355–1356.","cover":{"title":"The tsar between the pages","subtitle":"The Gospels of Ivan Alexander","hook":"What do the pictures tell us?","summary":"A family portrait, a scribe known by name and traces of ownership in Moldavia and on Athos: explore a book made in 1355–1356.","takeaway":"The miniatures can be read as a presentation of authority and piety; ownership traces reveal only parts of the book’s history."},"sortYear":1356,"firstActivity":5,"epoch":{"id":"epoch.tsardom2","styleId":"tsardom2","sortOrder":3,"title":"Second Bulgarian Tsardom","dateLabel":"1185–1396","eraShort":"Second Tsardom","slug":"tsardom2","fill":"#86554A","ink":"#F6EEEA","raised":"#754A41","dark":"#805B59"},"epochId":"epoch.tsardom2","placeShort":"London","date":"1355–1356","image":{"alpha":true,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-cover-cutout-480.f4a95879.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-cover-cutout-960.f4a95879.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-cover-cutout-1314.f4a95879.avif","w":1314}],"dominant":"#83524c","h":1398,"w":1314,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-cover-cutout-960.f4a95879.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-cover-cutout-960.f4a95879.webp","id":"asset.tetra.cover-cutout","alt":"The manuscript's red binding; an isolated photographic detail, not the lost gilded cover.","objectCaption":"Upper binding cover","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"Unspecified · CC0 · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"CC0","attribution":"The surviving upper binding cover. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Cut-out detail; background removed.","attributionParts":[{"text":"The surviving upper binding cover. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Cut-out detail; background removed.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Gospels_of_Tsar_Ivan_Alexander,_with_added_Menologion_-in_Slavonic-_-_Upper_cover_(Add_Ms_39627).jpg","licenseUrl":"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en"},"scenes":[{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.s1-london","number":1,"kind":"narrative","title":"A book far from court","body":"A book made for a Bulgarian tsar survives in London. Open it and, before the Gospel narrative, his family faces you: crowns, red robes, names above their heads. What does this court want us to see?\n\nThe manuscript was made in 1355–1356 for Ivan Alexander. It is a Gospel book containing all four Gospels. Today the British Library holds it as Add MS 39627. This is the surviving object, rather than a modern album of selected pictures. To understand the portrait, first look at how the book was made. The trail begins with a name left by the person who copied its text.","images":[{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-480.9d438294.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.avif","w":948}],"dominant":"#ac855f","h":1354,"w":948,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.webp","w":948}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.webp","id":"asset.tetra.portrait","alt":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. A queen on the left, tall tsar on the right and two smaller crowned figures, with red inscriptions above.","objectCaption":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. A queen on the left, tall tsar on the right and two smaller crowned figures, with red inscriptions above.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"Anonymous medieval artist; maker of the digital reproduction not stated · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Anonymous medieval artist. Ivan Alexander, Theodora and their two sons, f.3r, British Library, Add MS 39627. Digital reproduction from Wikimedia Commons; the original source of the digital copy is not stated. Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Anonymous medieval artist. Ivan Alexander, Theodora and their two sons, f.3r, British Library, Add MS 39627. Digital reproduction from Wikimedia Commons; the original source of the digital copy is not stated. Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivan_ALexander_and_his_family_Tetraevangelia.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"}],"hotspots":[],"places":[],"map":null,"activity":null,"audio":{"durationSeconds":41.53220833333334,"source":"synthetic_tts","voice":"en_US-ljspeech-high","provider":"Piper","assetId":"audio.en.ivan-alexander-gospels.ivan-alexander-gospels.s1-london","duration":41.643,"src":"/audio/en/ivan-alexander-gospels/s1-london.758a13df.m4a"},"textRevised":false,"sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.mckendrick"},{"id":"src.tetra.nomination"}]},{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.s2-workshop","number":2,"kind":"narrative","title":"The scribe’s name","body":"The scribe was the monk Simeon. His colophon near the end records the book’s completion in 1356. He wrote on parchment in Cyrillic letters. The painters remain anonymous; the scribe’s name should not automatically become the name of the illuminator.\n\nTarnovo, the tsar’s capital, is a probable place of production. It is not certain: scholar Lilyana Yordanova also proposes an Athonite connection through similarities to Hilandar manuscripts. We cannot mark a particular workshop on a map. We can see the work on the leaf itself: the broad coloured headpiece above the opening of Mark’s Gospel, and the closely written lines beneath it.","images":[{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-mark-480.a06e00cb.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-mark-960.a06e00cb.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-mark-1182.a06e00cb.avif","w":1182}],"dominant":"#b7a58b","h":1600,"w":1182,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-mark-960.a06e00cb.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-mark-960.a06e00cb.webp","id":"asset.tetra.mark","alt":"Opening of Mark’s Gospel — f.88r; reproduction of a medieval leaf with text and miniatures.","objectCaption":"Opening of Mark’s Gospel — f.88r; reproduction of a medieval leaf with text and miniatures.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"Copied between 1355 and 1356 by the monk Simeon for Tsar Ivan Alexander (r. 1331-1371) · Public domain · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Opening of Mark’s Gospel — f.88r. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Opening of Mark’s Gospel — f.88r. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%86%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%80-%D0%95%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BE%D1%82_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA-add_ms_39627_f088r.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"},{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-john-480.82b24018.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-john-960.82b24018.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-john-1212.82b24018.avif","w":1212}],"dominant":"#b49181","h":1600,"w":1212,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-john-960.82b24018.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-john-960.82b24018.webp","id":"asset.tetra.john","alt":"Headpiece of John’s Gospel; reproduction of a medieval leaf with text and miniatures.","objectCaption":"Headpiece of John’s Gospel; reproduction of a medieval leaf with text and miniatures.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"from the Middle Ages, unknown · Public domain · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Headpiece of John’s Gospel. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Headpiece of John’s Gospel. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JohnTheEvangelistTetraevangeliaOfIvanAlexander.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"}],"hotspots":[],"places":[],"map":null,"activity":null,"audio":{"durationSeconds":39.663,"source":"synthetic_tts","voice":"en_US-ljspeech-high","provider":"Piper","assetId":"audio.en.ivan-alexander-gospels.ivan-alexander-gospels.s2-workshop","duration":39.765,"src":"/audio/en/ivan-alexander-gospels/s2-workshop.e15028b7.m4a"},"textRevised":false,"sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.nomination"},{"id":"src.tetra.mckendrick"},{"id":"src.tetra.yordanova"}]},{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.s3-family","number":3,"kind":"artifact","title":"The family presents itself","body":"Ivan Alexander stands on the right-hand leaf of the family portrait. His second wife Theodora is on the left, Ivan Shishman between them, and Ivan Asen on the far right. The children too wear crowns and ceremonial dress.\n\nThe facing leaf shows three royal daughters: Kera Thamara, Keratsa and Desislava. Beside them is the tsar’s son-in-law Constantine, Kera Thamara’s husband. The arrangement seems intended as a ceremonial presentation of the family. Crowns, inscriptions and carefully arranged figures allow scholars to read the image as a presentation of dynasty and piety. That is an interpretation of its purpose; the visible figures and inscriptions are the evidence. Look closely at the crown, then compare the adults’ and children’s clothes.","images":[{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-480.9d438294.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.avif","w":948}],"dominant":"#ac855f","h":1354,"w":948,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.webp","w":948}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-portrait-948.9d438294.webp","id":"asset.tetra.portrait","alt":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. A queen on the left, tall tsar on the right and two smaller crowned figures, with red inscriptions above.","objectCaption":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. A queen on the left, tall tsar on the right and two smaller crowned figures, with red inscriptions above.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"Anonymous medieval artist; maker of the digital reproduction not stated · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Anonymous medieval artist. Ivan Alexander, Theodora and their two sons, f.3r, British Library, Add MS 39627. Digital reproduction from Wikimedia Commons; the original source of the digital copy is not stated. Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Anonymous medieval artist. Ivan Alexander, Theodora and their two sons, f.3r, British Library, Add MS 39627. Digital reproduction from Wikimedia Commons; the original source of the digital copy is not stated. Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivan_ALexander_and_his_family_Tetraevangelia.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"},{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-daughters-480.30df4062.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-daughters-960.30df4062.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-daughters-1600.30df4062.avif","w":1600}],"dominant":"#a8855a","h":2400,"w":1637,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-daughters-960.30df4062.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-daughters-960.30df4062.webp","id":"asset.tetra.daughters","alt":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Four figures in long decorated robes; Constantine left, followed by Kera Thamara, Keratsa and Desislava.","objectCaption":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Four figures in long decorated robes; Constantine left, followed by Kera Thamara, Keratsa and Desislava.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"from the Middle Ages, unknown · Public domain · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Constantine and the three royal daughters — f.2v. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Constantine and the three royal daughters — f.2v. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TetraevangeliaOfIvanAlexanderFol2.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"}],"hotspots":[{"id":"h-tetra-tsar","x":0.64,"y":0.5,"title":"Ivan Alexander","body":"The tsar is the tall crowned figure right of centre.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.unesco"],"certainty":"source_reported"},{"id":"h-tetra-theodora","x":0.22,"y":0.55,"title":"Theodora","body":"The tsar’s second wife stands on the left.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.unesco"],"certainty":"source_reported"},{"id":"h-tetra-sons","x":0.46,"y":0.73,"title":"The two sons","body":"Ivan Shishman stands between his parents; Ivan Asen is on the far right.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.unesco"],"certainty":"source_reported"},{"id":"h-tetra-crown","x":0.65,"y":0.31,"title":"Crown and dress","body":"The crown and decorated robe visibly signal royal status. Reading them as a claim to authority is an interpretation.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.unesco"],"certainty":"source_reported"}],"places":[],"map":null,"activity":null,"audio":{"durationSeconds":47.05858333333333,"source":"synthetic_tts","voice":"en_US-ljspeech-high","provider":"Piper","assetId":"audio.en.ivan-alexander-gospels.ivan-alexander-gospels.s3-family","duration":47.147,"src":"/audio/en/ivan-alexander-gospels/s3-family.125430d0.m4a"},"textRevised":false,"sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.unesco"},{"id":"src.tetra.manuscript"}]},{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.s4-images","number":4,"kind":"artifact","title":"The tsar appears again","body":"The pictures continue beyond the portrait. Hundreds of miniatures interrupt the lines with Gospel scenes. UNESCO gives 367, while the AUBG library guide gives 366; we keep the disagreement without guessing its cause.\n\nThe leaf showing the feeding of the multitude has two picture bands: people on land above, a boat on water below. Elsewhere the tsar appears again, beside Luke the Evangelist. He stands on the left; Luke holds a book on the right. This is a devotional image, not evidence of an actual meeting. In this reading, the tsar’s presence in the devotional image affirms his authority. That interpretation helps explain why a Gospel book can tell us so much about the person who commissioned it.","images":[{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-luke-480.3d836f26.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-luke-960.3d836f26.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-luke-1600.3d836f26.avif","w":1600}],"dominant":"#cbb787","h":2200,"w":1608,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-luke-960.3d836f26.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-luke-960.3d836f26.webp","id":"asset.tetra.luke","alt":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Two figures under arches above two columns of Cyrillic text; tsar left, Luke holding a book right.","objectCaption":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Two figures under arches above two columns of Cyrillic text; tsar left, Luke holding a book right.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"from the Middle Ages, unknown · Public domain · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Ivan Alexander with Luke the Evangelist — f.212v. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Ivan Alexander with Luke the Evangelist — f.212v. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TetraevangeliaOfIvanAlexanderFol212v.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"},{"alpha":false,"avif":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-feeding-480.dd4f43f6.avif","w":480},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-feeding-960.dd4f43f6.avif","w":960},{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-feeding-1600.dd4f43f6.avif","w":1600}],"dominant":"#aca478","h":2400,"w":1724,"webp":[{"src":"/media/asset-tetra-feeding-960.dd4f43f6.webp","w":960}],"src":"/media/asset-tetra-feeding-960.dd4f43f6.webp","id":"asset.tetra.feeding","alt":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Upper miniature with a crowd; below it a blue body of water with a boat and two figures, surrounded by text.","objectCaption":"Reproduction of a manuscript leaf. Upper miniature with a crowd; below it a blue body of water with a boat and two figures, surrounded by text.","caption":"","kind":"photo","creditLabels":{"title":"Images","source":"Open source","full":"Full attribution"},"fit":"contain","credit":"from the Middle Ages, unknown · Public domain · British Library via Wikimedia Commons","license":"Public domain","attribution":"Feeding the multitude and walking on water — f.45r. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","attributionParts":[{"text":"Feeding the multitude and walking on water — f.45r. British Library, Add MS 39627; via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Processed image.","lang":"en"}],"sourceUrl":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TetraevangeliaOfIvanAlexanderFol45.jpg","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"}],"hotspots":[{"id":"h-tetra-luke-tsar","x":0.37,"y":0.17,"title":"The tsar","body":"Ivan Alexander stands on the left in a red robe.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.yordanova"],"certainty":"source_reported"},{"id":"h-tetra-luke","x":0.69,"y":0.17,"title":"Luke the Evangelist","body":"Luke holds a book on the right. This is a devotional image, not a documented meeting.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.yordanova"],"certainty":"source_reported"},{"id":"h-tetra-list","x":0.5,"y":0.69,"title":"The text continues","body":"Below the miniature is the list of chapters of John’s Gospel.","sourceIds":["src.tetra.manuscript","src.tetra.unesco"],"certainty":"source_reported"}],"places":[],"map":null,"activity":null,"audio":{"durationSeconds":48.76525,"source":"synthetic_tts","voice":"en_US-ljspeech-high","provider":"Piper","assetId":"audio.en.ivan-alexander-gospels.ivan-alexander-gospels.s4-images","duration":48.853,"src":"/audio/en/ivan-alexander-gospels/s4-images.406b068e.m4a"},"textRevised":false,"sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.yordanova"},{"id":"src.tetra.unesco"},{"id":"src.tetra.aubg"},{"id":"src.tetra.manuscript"}]},{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.a1-who-wrote","number":5,"kind":"activity","title":"Activity: Who leaves his name","body":"","images":[],"hotspots":[],"places":[],"map":null,"activity":{"id":"q.tetra.story-scribe","kind":"single_choice","prompt":"Who copied the book’s text?","sourceIds":["src.tetra.nomination","src.tetra.mckendrick"],"items":[{"id":"opt-simeon","label":"The monk Simeon"},{"id":"opt-tsar","label":"Ivan Alexander","whyWrong":"The tsar is the patron, not the named scribe."},{"id":"opt-curzon","label":"Robert Curzon","whyWrong":"Curzon acquired the already existing manuscript in 1837."}],"explanation":"The scribe’s name is known: Simeon. The painters remain anonymous.","correctItemId":"opt-simeon","sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.nomination"},{"id":"src.tetra.mckendrick"}]},"audio":{"durationSeconds":2.220833333333333,"source":"synthetic_tts","voice":"en_US-ljspeech-high","provider":"Piper","assetId":"audio.en.ivan-alexander-gospels.ivan-alexander-gospels.a1-who-wrote","duration":2.347,"src":"/audio/en/ivan-alexander-gospels/a1-who-wrote.21f533d3.m4a"},"textRevised":false,"sources":[{"id":"src.tetra.nomination"},{"id":"src.tetra.mckendrick"}]},{"id":"ivan-alexander-gospels.s5-journey","number":6,"kind":"map","title":"Traces of ownership","body":"The book’s history before London has gaps. A note in the book says that the Moldavian ruler Ivan Alexander redeemed it from pledge. According to the British Library catalogue, the Moldavian ruler Ivan Alexander named in the note may be Alexander the Good. The year of the redemption is unknown. By the seventeenth century the manuscript was at St Paul’s monastery on Mount Athos.\n\nThere the traveller Robert Curzon acquired it in 1837. In his own account, the abbot gave it to him. That is his testimony, rather than an independent record of every circumstance. The map links Tarnovo, Athos and London as orientation points; it does not reconstruct an exact route. No particular site in Moldavia is established, so we add no invented stop.","images":[],"hotspots":[],"places":[{"note":"Tarnovo was the medieval capital associated with Tsar Ivan Alexander. Ivan of Rila’s relics were returned from here to Rila Monastery in 1469.","precision":"approximate","id":"place.tetra.tarnovo","name":"Tarnovo — modern Veliko Tarnovo","latitude":43.078652,"longitude":25.628291,"accuracy":"approximate","radiusMeters":5000,"sourceIds":["src.rila.iliev2000","src.rila.wikidata.tarnovo","src.tetra.coordinates","src.tetra.nomination","src.ivr.wikidata.tarnovo","src.ivr.bakalova1981","src.kal.coordinates.tarnovo","src.tar.coord.tarnovo","src.tar.constitution"],"short":"Tarnovo","guideUrl":null,"slug":"tetra.tarnovo","url":"/en/map/#tetra.tarnovo"},{"note":"St Paul’s monastery on Mount Athos once held Ivan Alexander’s Gospels, before Robert Curzon acquired the manuscript.","precision":"approximate","id":"place.tetra.stpaul","name":"St Paul’s monastery, Mount Athos","latitude":40.160615,"longitude":24.289499,"accuracy":"approximate","radiusMeters":150,"sourceIds":["src.tetra.coordinates","src.tetra.mckendrick"],"short":"Mount Athos","guideUrl":null,"slug":"tetra.stpaul","url":"/en/map/#tetra.stpaul"},{"note":"The British Library holds Ivan Alexander’s Gospels as manuscript Add MS 39627.","precision":"approximate","id":"place.tetra.library","name":"British Library, London","latitude":51.529444,"longitude":-0.126944,"accuracy":"approximate","radiusMeters":100,"sourceIds":["src.tetra.coordinates","src.tetra.yordanova"],"short":"London","guideUrl":null,"slug":"tetra.library","url":"/en/map/#tetra.library"}],"map":{"light":{"src":"/assets/maps/story-60ad953fa7239865.jpg?v=689a343a2d","w":2048,"h":1436,"avif":[],"webp":[],"responsive":[]},"dark":{"src":"/assets/maps/story-60ad953fa7239865-dark.jpg?v=e305110309","w":2048,"h":1436,"avif":[],"webp":[],"responsive":[]},"places":[{"note":"Tarnovo was the medieval capital associated with Tsar Ivan Alexander. Ivan of Rila’s relics were returned from here to Rila Monastery in 1469.","precision":"approximate","id":"place.tetra.tarnovo","name":"Tarnovo — modern Veliko Tarnovo","latitude":43.078652,"longitude":25.628291,"accuracy":"approximate","radiusMeters":5000,"sourceIds":["src.rila.iliev2000","src.rila.wikidata.tarnovo","src.tetra.coordinates","src.tetra.nomination","src.ivr.wikidata.tarnovo","src.ivr.bakalova1981","src.kal.coordinates.tarnovo","src.tar.coord.tarnovo","src.tar.constitution"],"short":"Tarnovo","guideUrl":null,"slug":"tetra.tarnovo","url":"/en/map/#tetra.tarnovo","number":1,"x":90.55274,"y":70.88765,"inside":true,"viewX":90.55274,"viewY":71.64871529687498},{"note":"St Paul’s monastery on Mount Athos once held Ivan Alexander’s Gospels, before Robert Curzon acquired the manuscript.","precision":"approximate","id":"place.tetra.stpaul","name":"St Paul’s monastery, Mount 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