Hierarch
Hierarch Saint Euthymius, Patriarch of Tarnovo
ок. 1325 — ок. 1402/1403
Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo — the last patriarch of the independent medieval Bulgarian Church, reformer of Church Slavonic literary language.
St. Euthymius, Patriarch of Tarnovo (c. 1325 – c. 1402/1403), was the last patriarch of the independent medieval Bulgarian Church and the foremost man of letters of his age. Born to a noble Tarnovo family, he became a monk at Kilifarevo Monastery under St. Theodosius of Tarnovo, then continued his ascetic and scholarly formation on Mount Athos and in Constantinople.
Elected Patriarch of Tarnovo in 1375, he led the "Tarnovo Literary School," reforming Church Slavonic orthography and style, which shaped the literary languages of Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Rus'. In 1393, during the Ottoman siege of Tarnovo, he led the city's defense in the absence of Tsar Ivan Shishman.
After the capital fell he was exiled to Bačkovo Monastery, where he died. His life is known chiefly from the eulogy written by his disciple, Metropolitan Gregory Tsamblak of Kiev.