Modern period (14th-18th centuries)

From the 16th century onwards, the names of Vatopedi codices have been constantly increasing. Scribes such as the hieromonk Nikephoros and the monk Cyril for the 16th century or Gregory of Laodicea and Gregory of Kalliergi for the 17th and 18th centuries are known from one or more of their codices kept in the library of the Vatopedi Monastery. Many other manuscripts were added at this time from the personal collections of well-known learned brothers of the Monastery. Of the many such cases, the library of the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Makarios, who died in 1546, and of Synesios El(l)anikou in the 17th century – who was also a scribe – stands out.

However, it seems that during this period manuscript losses also began. The first known case is that of the scholar Nicholas Sofianos (14th century), for whom it is not known how many and which manuscripts he obtained from the Monastery. On the contrary, there is much evidence for the Russian monk Arsenios Suchanov, who in 1653-1655 transferred 64 Vatopedi manuscripts to Moscow to be used in the correction of Russian church books that the Russian patriarch was attempting. The majority of these codices are today in the Historical Museum of Moscow, while others have been scattered in Petersburg, Dresden and Charkow. Cases of losses are also noted in the 19th century and concern mainly classical codices.