In complete contrast with the political impotence of the Bulgarian state, mediaeval Bulgarian culture marked a fresh summit in its development during the 14th century. The comparatively long reign of Ivan Alexander, the animated economic life and the rich cultural democratic traditions were the reason why the 14th century European Renaissance was able to manifest itself here earlier and with greater strength. Whereas in Western Europe the towns were dependent on the feudals and this checked their development, in the Balkans most of the larger towns depended on the central state power and as a rule the urban population was unaware of any feudal dependence.

The rulers were interested in stimulating the trades, com-merce and the arts in every possible way.

The unimpeded and even encouraged development of the towns was favourably reflected on the development of the arts and on the country's cultural life for, as is known, the appearance of the Renaissance was connected precisely with the upsurge of the towns. Besides, another equally important difference existing between the Balkans and mediaeval Central Europe played its role, too. In the West, the Church had an emphatic predominance over secular life and had placed all cultural life under its subordination, while in the Balkans, because of a number of objective reasons, secular power and hence the secular principles played an indisputably predominant role. The Balkans belonged to the Byzantine cultural community which was characterized by the presence of a remarkable ancient cultural heritage, which served as a bridge to the realistic and humanistic trends of the Renaissance.

Renaissance tendencies appeared in Bulgarian pic-torial art as early as the first half of the 13th century. The master-painters of the so-called Turnovo School of Pain-ting, who painted the icons in scores of churches all over the country, boldly turned away from the church canons. The saints painted by them were living men and women of flesh and blood, their compositions were freer and the way of life of the ordinary people of the time was ever more clearly reflected in the various religious scenes they painted. The most famous frescoes of those times are the ones preserved to this day in the Boyana Church near Sofia, in the Zemen Monastery near Kyustendil, in the churches carved in the rocks near the village of Ivanovo, Rousse district, in Hrelyo's Tower, which defended the Rila Monastery and elsewhere.

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