Constantine of Kostenets

Constantine of Kostenets (Bulgarian: Константин Костенечки, romanized: Konstantin Kostenechki; c. 1380 – after 1431), also known as Constantine the Philosopher (Serbian: Константин Филозоф / Konstantin Filozof), was a medieval Bulgarian writer and chronicler, who spent most of his life in the Serbian Despotate. He is best known for his biography of Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević, which George Ostrogorsky described as "the most important historical work of old Serbian literature", and for writing the first Serbian philological study, Skazanije o pismeneh (A History on the Letters). He followed the writing style of the Old Serbian "vita", first popularized in the Serbian scriptoria of the 12th century. When the Turks invaded Bulgaria, Serbia granted refuge to such men of letters as Kostonets, Grigorije Camblak, and Ioasaf of Vidin.