Historical Development of Annunciation Monastery in Village of Bedőháza (Bedevlya) in the Light of the New Archived Documents

Abstract

The article examines the history of Annunciation Monastery in the village of Bedevlya, located in Tyachiv Region of Transcarpathia, Ukraine. The ancient monastery was and remains one of the centers of monastic life in Maramorosh. A review of historiographical material indicates a limited availability of the sources on this theme.

A monastic center is considered to one of the oldest diocese of Maramorosh. A monastery was founded in a defining period of ratify the union. In 1716-1723 in committee of Maramorosh the Union Bishop of Mukachevo Hennadiy Bizantziy considerably strengthens the jurisdiction presence. As a result of these in 1723 it was created the union vicariate, the center of which was in Siget.

In these conditions, at the beginning of the XVIII century in the Maramorosh region begins the mass opening of monasteries, which was dictated by those who were against the union. Among other monasteries, in 1719 a monastic monastery was founded in the village Bedevlya. The monastery has never been crowded, but its history has occupied a prominent place in ecclesiastical chronicles, studies and monographs.

In the era of enlightened absolutism, as a result of the secularization reform of Emperor Joseph II in 1788, the Bedevlya Monastery was liquidated with other well-known monastic centers.

Today the name of the monastery is St. John the Baptist but isn’t an authentic.

According to primary sources, the first temple in the monastery was consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, and therefore the name of the monastery was appropriate.

The newly discovered archival materials of the State Archives of Zakarpatska Oblast (Transcarpathia Region) significantly complement the existing documentary base and substantially fill in the existing white spots in the history of the monastery. The latter fact makes considerable corrections to the consistent conclusions and allows to expand the monasticism research issues in the Maramorosh region in general.

The article studies some aspects of the monastery activity in the XVIII-XIX centuries by using the new sources in the research. Nine discovered archival sources have been introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.