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[German Version] I. The predominant religion in Albania is Islam. From 1385 to 1479, the area that is now Albania was part of the Ottoman empire. After an initial period of resistance, large portions of the population converted to Islam, usually to escape the head tax imposed on all non-Muslim subjects and to make it possible to rise in the political and socia…

[German Version] Pateriks or books of the fathers are collections of the sayings of the fathers of monasticism, especially in the Eastern church. The collections contain abstract words of wisdom, sayings embedded in short narrative episodes ( Apophthegmata patrum ), and later entire narratives, some including miracles. The collections reflect the spiritual experiences of the monastic fathers and seek to share these experiences with future ascetics, to open or ease the path leading to God and the “angelic life.” A fundamental source for the history of ¶ monastic spirituality is the Apo…

[German Version] (Nikolai Maikov; 1433, Moscow – 1508, Nil Sorsky hermitage monastery on the White Sea), Russian saint. As scion of a noble Muscovite family, Nil Sorsky began a bureaucratic career at the court of the grand duke, but soon entered the monastery of St. Cyril on the White Sea. During a lengthy stay on Mount Athos, he became familiar with Hesychasm. After his return he founded a hermitage (skit) on the Sora not far from his home monastery. His Hesychast piety attracted many followers. …

[German Version] I. Translations into Ancient Languages – II. Christian Translations into European Languages since the Middle Ages– III. Translations into Non-European Languages in Modern Times I. Translations into Ancient Languages 1. Translations of the Old Testament into Greek a. The first written translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), owes its name to the circumstance that the Letter of Aristeas refers to 72 elders who had come to Alexandria from Jerusalem in order to translate the Torah of the Jews into…