император

Baldwin, Emperor of the East is a German play related to the second Bulgarian empire. The geographical spots that mark the dramatic action are Constantinople, Adrianople and Turnovo, and the antagonist of Baldwin of Flanders is the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan. The detailed title in Latin and German makes the reader familiar with the drama's genre, with its staging and printing. It is a school play staged with religious instructive purpose in the colleges and secondary schools of the Jesuit order. Baldwin, Emperor of the East is a religious drama that builds its plot on a historical base and elaborates a motif typical of the so-called folk-literature, namely the calumniated virtue. The author collects reports, motifs and suggestions from chroniclers, preachers and folk storytellers, and weaves the fictional woven. He recreates the "fearful" character of the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan promoted by the Byzantine annals. The study outlines the main points of his rule, trying to achieve an objective evaluation of his personality as a ruler.