The Life of Despot Stefan

Only a few years after the repose of Saint Despot Stefan, Constantine the Philosopher wrote his Life. The author seems almost to have resisted writing this Life - he informs his readers that he did not write it of his own accord, but was prompted to write it. As he himself notes in the introduction to this hagiography, Constantine undertook the writing with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon, at the request of the Serbian nobility, and "by the vision of a thrice-holy appearing," that is, through the threefold appearance of the Holy Despot, who commanded that the Life be composed, threatening some punishment should it not be written; he wrote the Life in the fourth year after the Despot's repose [ŽDS 92]. In the introductory paragraph