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Syntagma alphabeticum

work by Blastares

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The Syntagma alphabeticum was a handbook of Byzantine church and civil laws compiled in 1335 by Matthew Blastares, a Greek Orthodox monk and legal authority. This work synthesized material from previous legal collections and was influential in the development of later Slavic legal codes.1

The Syntagma alphabeticum was translated into Slavonic for King Stefan Dušan of Serbia and later appeared in Bulgarian and Russian editions. By the 18th century, it was recognized as the standard expression of Eastern Orthodox canon law. The handbook helped establish Slavic customs related to legal procedure and laws protecting the poor and persecuted. It also transmitted the principle of a political realm governed by a sovereign subject to the laws they enacted.1

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