Waiting for the End of the World

Tsvetelin Stepanov, D.Sc. (2015), St Kliment Ohridski University, is Professor in Medieval History and Culture. He has published monographs and articles on Bulgaria, the ‘Steppe Empire’, and Byzantium, including The Bulgars and the Steppe Empire in the Early Middle Ages (Brill, 2010).

• Preface: How the Idea for This Book Came AboutAcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction1 European Dimensions of the Anticipation of the End of Times: Texts. Contexts. Real Places and Symbolic Topoi1.1 Expectations for the End of Times in the Jewish Milieu, 10th–12th Centuries1.2 Expectations for the End of Times in Western Europe1.3 Expectations for the End of Times in Byzantium1.4 Expectations for the End of Times in Kievan Rus’2 Topography of the Evil Forces before the End of Times: European Dimensions2.1 The Question of the Sources2.2 Genealogy of Some of the Topoi2.3 Later Development of the Topos of the Direction of the Evil Forces’ Invasions in the 10th–12th Centuries3 Bulgarian Dimensions of the Anticipation of the End of Times: Texts. Contexts. Real Places and Symbolic Topoi3.1 Danube Bulgaria: ‘Texts’ of Word and Image3.2 Topography and Names of the Evil Forces before the End of Times in the Notions of the Danube Bulgarians3.3 Beginning and End of Tsardom: Bulgarian ‘Responses’ to the Expectation of the End of TimesConclusionBibliographyIllustrationsIndex