Inicijal. Časopis za srednjovekovne studije
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Initial is a multidisciplinary review of medieval studies intended for publishing contributions from all academic fields pertaining to the area of Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. This includes not only papers discussing new theoretical approaches in medieval studies or interpreting so-called „major issues“, but also those focusing on narrower, more specialized fields of research. However, with regard to the character of the review authors should craft their material to appeal to a wider audience of medievalists, providing the necessary context to readers who may not be so well-versed in the particular subject. Editions and translations of medieval sources may also be submitted for publication, especially if they are an essential component of a wider study.
Initial is open for publication of academic critiques and reviews of all medievalist monographs, periodical publications, and individual articles, as well as editions of medieval sources. Keeping track of academic life through reports on various gatherings, meetings, lectures, and field research is also an important segment of this journal’s profile.
Publisher: The Centre for Advanced Medieval Studies
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ISSN: 2334-8003
Pages
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- Акт сремских жупанијских власти о истрази против деспота Ђорђа и Јована Бранковића и њихових фамилијара (Врдник, 22. август 1497)
- This paper presents a critical edition of the act of Srem county authorities of 22 August 1497 on the occasion of the complaint of Peter Geréb de Vingart, the judge royal, against Serbian despots Đorđe and Jovan Branković and their familiares. According to the complaint, Dmitar Pozob, the provisor curiae of the despots in Kelpény (Kupinik, present-day Kupinovo on the Sava river in Srem), and Damjan Belmužević, castellan of Árki (Jarak on the Sava), together with the despots’ familiares and serfs in Silbaš (present-day Sibač in Srem), Gereb’s estate, killed the son of voivode Elezke. Apart from that, together with the despots’ men and upon their order, Vuk Kolaković, the castellan of Ireg (Irig in Srem) pillaged the Árpatarlo estate (present-day town of Ruma in Srem). Responding to the order of Palatine Stephen Zápolya, the authorities of Srem County carried out an investigation, confirming the credibility of the complaint. The document is important because it contains information about the estates and officers of Serbian despots in Srem in the late 15th century, and about conflicts that the despots, like other Hungarian noblemen, had with their neighbours. It shows that despots Đorđe and Jovan entrusted the administration of their castles in Srem to Serbs. In Serbian historiography, this hitherto unpublished document has been known for more than a century, but several gross errors have been made in terms of its interpretation and dating. Among other, the castellan of Árki was wrongly specified as Damjan Velmožović. It is certain that it was an unknown member of the prominent Serbian noble family of Belmužević. This document is kept in the National Archives of Hungary in Budapest (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára; Diplomatikai levéltár, shelf mark 20598).
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- Архиљевичка хрисовуља цара Стефана Душана
- The church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the former village of Arhiljevica on the slopes of Skopska Crna Gora was founded by sebastokrator Dejan, a prominent noble of Serbian emperor Dušan, who granted Dejan a chrysobull in which the manorial boundaries of the foundation were defined. Since possession of the Arhiljevica manor (metochion) was transferred to the Serbian Athonite monastery of Hilandar by the charter of Eudokia and Constantine Dragaš from the year 1378/79, Dušan’s chrysobull to Dejan is preserved in the archives of Hilandar in the form of two documents: the elder one marked Hil. 36, and the more recent Hil. 150/152. Both are transcripts made in Hilandar – the elder one was copied from the original and later served as the model for the more recent copy. The first document, whose first full publication is offered in this paper, was made at the time when the church of Arhiljevica was donated to Hilandar. In the bottom of the document two later entries recording legal transactions can be found: the first is from the late 14th and the second probably from the early 15th century. In terms of diplomatic status, Hil. 36 is an authentic transcript, but its dating (Skoplje, 10 August 1354) is questionable, because it contradicts historical circumstances known from other reliable sources (e.g. the mention of Sava as patriarch before he was elevated to that position, the fact that the emperor was far away from Skoplje at the time in question). Therefore, the date when the lost original of Dušanʼs chrysobull for the church of Arhiljevica was issued can only be approximated as 1354 or 1355, based on examination of the diplomatic elements of Hil. 36 and the historical and legal context of its contents. Hil. 150/152 differs from its predecessor in the dispositional section, containing two previously unmentioned villages that do not appear even in the Dragaš charter of 1378/79. This doctored transcript, which is of secondary importance for the reconstruction of the original, was made in the 15th century or later with the intent of obtaining or confirming the enlargement of Hilandar’s Arhiljevica metochion.
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- Белешке са маргине
- The study of medieval archaeology in Serbia before the Second World War was to the greatest extent defined by Miloje M. Vasić. Certain contributions for drawing attention to medieval antiquities – at the institutional beginnings of the archaeological discipline – can be attributed to Mihailo Valtrović as well. Under the assumption that marginal and unquestionable knowledge lingers in the epistemological bases that are used for studying the past, the article tackles theoretical foundations in Valtrović’s interpretations of the medieval monuments. This study is relevant for understanding the mechanisms of how the knowledge of medieval art has been introduced and transferred, which is a part of common history of the archaeology and the history of art. Valtrović’s conceptual heritage indicates the role of archaeology in the formulation of national identity on the medieval bases in the 19th century and to the strong misuses that occurred through repetition of those methods in the contemporary contexts.
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- Българите в Mare Historiarum на доминиканеца Джовани Колона (1298–1343/4)
- This paper brings, for the first time, eleven fragments of the historical compendium Mare Historiarum by Giovanni Colonna, which interpret news about Bulgarian history according to digitised manuscripts from the National Library of France in Paris – Par. lat. 4914 (year 1381) and Par. lat. 4915 (years 1448–1449). Following a comparative method, the study describes the manner of work and indicates probable sources of Giovanni Colonna, some of which have remained unnoticed in the few hitherto publications about Mare Historiarum. Having analysed the relevant material, the author concludes that Giovanni Colonna significantly expanded his base of sources compared to his predecessors Sigebert of Gembloux and particularly Vincent of Beauvais, leaving thus a durable trace in historical work within the Dominican Order. Illustrative of the latter claim are the excerpts for Bulgarian history, cited in Summa Historialis by Antoninus Florentinus.
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- Два необјављена латинска писма деспота Стефана Лазаревића
- The paper presents the critical edition of two short, previously unpublished and in Serbian historiography unnoticed letters of Despot Stefan Lazarević (1389–1427). The documents are preserved in the National Archives of Hungary in Budapest (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltárа, Diplomatikai levéltár), shelfmarks DL 56516 and 56517. The letters were sent between 1412 and 1420/1421 to István Remetei and Benedek Döbröntei, representatives (comites) of the Serbian despot on his estates in Szatmár County in Hungary. The Serbian ruler received these estates from the Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1411. By the first letter, sent from Belgrade, Despot Stefan orders Remetei to organize the transportation of a craftsman, the bellfounder Hans “The German”, to his home. The despot's second letter, dated in Batočina, contains the oldest known information about this settlement in the Morava valley in Serbia. By this letter, Despot Stefan orders Remetei and Döbröntei to conduct military preparations and to be ready to join him with their men when he summons them. This document confirms the testimony of other sources that Hungarian familiars were used by Despot Stefan for his needs in Serbia, primarily for wars against the Ottomans.
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- Документи Лазара и Стефана Бранковића о подизању поклада деспота Ђурђа
- In the second half of 1457, Lazar and Stefan, sons of the late Serbian despot Đurađ Branković, withdrew the last installment of a large deposit their father had made in Dubrovnik in 1441. During the procedure, the brothers issued five documents – two pairs of charters confirming first the withdrawal and then the delivery of their respective shares, and a letter by Lazar notifying the Dubrovnik authorities that the transaction has been completed. This paper presents new editions of all five documents (for two of the charters this is the first complete edition) and analyzes their diplomatic characteristics in order to determine their position within the corpus of 15th century Serbian documents, with special focus on comparison between the document-making practices of the two brothers, made interesting by the fact that Lazar was the current ruler, but also the younger sibling. As the only preserved original letter of a reigning Serbian despot from the entire period of the Despotate (1402–1459), Lazar’s letter provides particularly valuable insight into the external features of this type of documents, while its textual formulae are fully consistent with the texts of numerous despots’ letters available in the form of copies. The text of the charters, however, contains many features that deviate from known Serbian practice of the period (lack of signatures, presence of majestic plural in the intitulation, use of an atypical promulgation formula in which the charters are named open documents, etc), but have numerous parallels in contemporary documents issued by Dubrovnik and, especially, by the kings and regional lords of Bosnia. The explanation seems to be that these charters are the only surviving Serbian examples of the expeditoria, a special type of document essentially serving as a receipt for a withdrawal, widely used in Dubrovnik as a consequence of the increasing number of deposits made in the city by neighboring lords faced with the prospect of Turkish conquest. Finally, the potential for comparative analysis of Lazar’s and Stefan’s charters was somewhat reduced by the discovery that Lazar’s second charter, previously thought to be an original like all the others, is most probably a copy, the original having been sent to the Turkish court as evidence in a legal dispute in 1485/86. Nevertheless, even limited comparison suggests that, although the brothers lived together at the Serbian capital of Smederevo, they maintained separate document-making staffs or chanceries, which obviously cooperated in creating both pairs of charters, but also imparted upon the final products elements of their individual practices, resulting in subtle, yet telling differences.
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- Донација деспота Ђурђа Вуковића (Бранковића) Павлу Биринију из Вероне
- The paper presents the critical edition of a document issued by the Chapter of Buda on September 7, 1442. The document states that despot Đurađ Vuković (Branković), appearing in person before the Chapter on behalf of his family, declared the cession of five of his fortresses: Zvornik, Teočak, Világosvár, Slankamen and Bečej with their estates, as well as the towns of Túr and Tisza Varsány, to his cousin Paul Birini of Verona, the son of Duke Michael, Bosnian marquis from the lineage of emperor Stephen (Dušan). The document was previously known from 18th and 19th century Hungarian editions. In Serbian historiography it was considered to be counterfeit since the time of Ilarion Ruvarac, primarily due to the unknown personality and rather pretentious titles of the addressee. It was mostly accepted that the donation charter is a forgery created on the basis of a genuine charter, since all the afore-mentioned estates were, indeed, in possession of the despot's family. However, the document, which previously belonged to the Hungarian Chamber Archive, and which is currently kept in the Archive of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (shelfmark: Historical Collection 13187), has all the characteristics of original 15th century chapter charters. This edition contains a description, diplomatic analysis, overview of previous editions, text and translation of the donation charter, as well as data on the mentioned estates, historical circumstances and the obscure person of Paul Birini.
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- Исправке и допуне у датирању три натписа на стећцима (жупан Озрен Копијевић, жупан Ђурађ, жупан Радан)
- The inscription on the headstone of Ozren Kopijević, preserved in Varošište near Borač, reveals that he was a župan of knez Pavle. Wounded while fighting for his lord, he succumbed to his wounds on Christmas, and was buried by the vojvoda. Analysis of available sources indicates that this vojvoda was Petar Pavlović. Since he gained the title of vojvoda in early 1417 and lost his life in the spring of 1420, it is clear that Ozren’s death occurred on one of three Christmases between 1417 and 1419. Given that sources do not tell of any conflicts between the Pavlovićs and the Kosačas in 1417 and 1418, but there is such information for the autumn of 1419, the death of Ozren Kopijević can be dated to 25 December 1419. Earlier works placed the inscription in the period between 1416 and 1420. Another župan in the Pavlovićs’ service – Đurađ, also has an inscription on his headstone, located in Kruševo near Stolac. From it we discover that he lost his life fighting for his lord, who buried him. The name of Đurađ’s senior is not noted (only his knez title is mentioned), but it is known – based on two letters written in the spring of 1416, that it was Petar Pavlović. As he gained the vojvoda title in early 1417, and was a knez until then, it is clear that Đurađ probably lost his life in 1416, possibly in summer that year. Earlier works dated this inscription between 1416 and 1420. The third inscription concerns župan Radan from Šipovac in Podveležje. Unlike the first two, it does not record well-known historical personalities and it is therefore hard to determine its approximate date. Yet, Radan is mentioned in two sources, of 1422 and 1436, as being in the service of the Kosačas – first Sandalj Hranić and later his nephew and heir, vojvoda Stjepan Vukčić. Based on this, it can be assumed that he died in the mid-15th century. This dating is a significant improvement in comparison to the works of Ljubomir Stojanović and Marko Vego, who either failed to date the inscription or dated it rather widely to the 15th or 16th century.
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- Камиле у српским средњовековним земљама
- The presence of camels (Camelus sp.) in medieval Serbian lands, in the time preceding the Ottoman conquests. Camels were attested in larger numbers at the beginning of the fourteenth century. According to archbishop Danilo II, King Stephen Uroš II Milutin (1282–1321) donated herds of camels („чрѣди вель- бѹдь“) to the monastery of Treskavac, situated near Prilep. Тhe use of these animals in the region was inherited from Byzantium, where they had a certain role in regional economy, serving primarily for transport on longer distances. Danilo’s report reveals that he and his contemporaries were familiar with the Common-Slavic word for camels (forgotten in modern Serbian, but preserved in many other Slavic languages) and the same word, albeit in slightly different form is also attested in local toponymy, more precisely in the medieval name of the contemporary city of Kyustendil – Velbazhd („Вельблѹждь“). Another testimony of the presence of camels in medieval Serbia is demonstrated in the Life of St. Symeon, written by his son and successor Stephen the First- Crowned. During his meeting with Hungarian king Andrew II in 1214 or 1215, he received various animals as a gift, including aurochs and the Saracen cattle („срациньскыѥ скоты“), i.e. camels. The report shows that the ruler kept exotic animals near his court and that he possessed his own menagerie. At that time, camels were obviously very rare. The presence of camels in the Medieval Balkans was related to the Byzantine trade with the east, their occasional breeding, but also to the migrations of various nomadic Turkic groups from the Pontic steppes. Intriguing evidence of the latter is preserved in the eyewitness report of a pilgrimage, made by bishop Lietbert of Cambrai in 1054. When the pilgrims from Northern France encountered bands of Pechenegs in the Bulgarian desert (the region of modern Great Morava valley, integrated into the Serbian medieval state at the end of twelfth century), they were amazed to see the nomads, riding on horses, as well as on camels. Although no archaeological trace of these animals in Serbia during the Middle Ages has been found so far, on the basis of previously mentioned written reports and several visual representations, it is evident that they were not unknown, and – from the early fourteenth century onwards – not uncommon, at least in southern parts of the Medieval Serbian state, roughly corresponding to the territory of the modern Republic of Macedonia.
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- Карта као извор за поглавља 29−36 списа De administrando imperio
- The article analyses the origins of geographic information contained in chapters 29–36 of De administrando imperio, an instruction in statesmanship written by Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (945–959). Names given for certain Adriatic islands in chapter 29 (Καταυτρεβενώ, Σκηρδάκισσα and Ἐστιουνὴζ) are in fact all composed by merging names of different islands lying close to each other, indicating that this information was copied from a map. The same applies to the name Λοντοδóκλα from chapter 35, where we have a combination of a Slavic city name (Lug) with the name of a nearby deserted ancient city (Doclea). The mountain of Hum with two cities on it, mentioned in chapter 33, is a misconception resulting from a mapreading error – Porphyrogenitus knew that the Slavic word hum means hill and interpreted the cartographic representation of the medieval principality of Hum and its two major cities as a mountain. The above examples may have their origins in different maps dating from different periods. South Slavic principalities and tribes are listed in an order that reflects their political status – those that were ruled by Serbia are placed immediately following it – with differences in that status denoted by the terms hora, horion and archontia. This order served as the basis for the division of the text into chapters, and Porphyrogenitus observed it in all his works.
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- Кьшандра госпогi̵а и Пебоушь богь – одјеци топосâ вилинске љубавнице и вилинских дарова у јужнословенском роману о Троји
- What concerns us in this paper is an episode from the mediaeval prosaic narrative known as South Slavic Roman de Troie that tells the tale of Cassandra and Apollo. The story goes that the Trojan princess (in Slavic, Kšandra) met Apollo (he is called Pebuš, which is his byname Phoebus, in Slavic) at the banks of the river Simoeis, and the god promised her the gift of prophecy if she consented to make love to him but not to speak of it to anyone, lest her prophecies be believed by no one. Cassandra consented, had sex with the god, and when she went back to Troy she announced that she made love to Phoebus and immediately started to prophesize the fall of Troy, but no one believed her, since she broke her promise to Phoebus not to speak of their lovemaking. From Classical tradition we have several variants (Aeschylus, Apollodorus, Hyginus, etc.) of the story how Cassandra got her prophetic powers, but none of them contains the actual lovemaking; in all versions Cassandra remains chaste. Only the so-called First Vatican Mythographer knew that the deal between Cassandra and Phoebus was consummated, but then Apollo regretted the “trade” and cursed Cassandra so no one would believe her prophecies. It is quite interesting that the Cassandra episode is not present in any of the numerous western mediaeval Trojan narratives, but only in the South Slavic Roman de Troie. We argue that the pattern used in the Cassandra episode is an echo of the western mediaeval literary topos of the fairy mistress, by comparing this episode with western mediaeval literary works that incorporate the fairy mistress motif (primarily lais of Lanval and Graelant, Italian romance Pulzella Gaia, German romance Seifrid de Ardemant). These works introduce a fairy mistress (usually female, though there are examples where the fairy lover is male, e. g. Lai de Yonec) that promises to bestow her love and worldly treasures to the mortal man under one condition – he must not reveal his mistress’ identity and their affair, or he’ll lose everything that he gained and will never again see her. We believe that some elements of these topoi – fairy mistress, fairy gifts with taboo–prohibition of not revealing the relations with the fairy – were employed in the South Slavic Cassandra episode, with Phoebus taking the place of the fairy mistress, therefore reversing the gender aspect from the original fairy mistress topos. The gift of prophecy that Phoebus bestows constitutes a dangerous gift (these gifts can be rewarding, as long as the prohibition is observed, unlike negative gifts that bring no reward, only ruin). The elements of the fairy mistress topos in the Cassandra episode are used as a functional and effective narrative device that drives the plot of the story (Cassandra must not be believed if the story of the fall of Troy is to play out), which, in our opinion, proves that the elements of the fairy mistress topos were used intentionally by the author.
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- Лоренцо Минијати - Тајни агент у Дубровнику (1542-1567)
- Florentine Lorenzo Miniati, mentioned in the famous conspiratory letters of Ragusan playwright Marin Držić, was active in Dubrovnik for about two and a half decades. From the 1540s up until 1567, he attained prominence as a successful merchant, dealing in various goods: grain, salt, metals, cloth, wool, raw material for dyeing (crvac – chermisium, grana), hides and other items. In his financial transactions, Miniati used both credit and bills of exchange. He issued insurance for transported goods at his own risk, but also as an intermediary on behalf of other merchants. After some time, he was appointed Florentine consul in Dubrovnik. In addition to his activities as merchant and consul, Miniati also operated as a secret agent under false identity. He sent confidential information from Dubrovnik to various addresses. Aware of the danger he was exposed to, he anticipated his own death and, although a relatively young and healthy man, personally wrote his will on the island of Korčula. Soon after, his life ended in a tragic way. Finally, it must be emphasized that this paper does not provide a full account of Miniati’s life and activities, as there is much information about him in Italian, Spanish and other archives.