Dečani chrysobulls
The Dečani chrysobulls (Serbian: Дечанске хрисовуље, romanized: Dečanske hrisovulje) alternatively known as the Dečani charters (Serbian: Дечанске повеље, romanized: Dečanske povelje) are chrysobulls dating to 1321-1331 which contains a detailed list of landholdings and tax farming rights which the monastery of Visoki Dečani held over settlements and communities in an area which spanned from southern Serbia, Kosovo,[a] Montenegro and parts of northern Albania. The chrysobulls were signed by King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia who confirmed existing rights and gave new ones to the monastery.
| Charter of Dečani | |
|---|---|
Original first page | |
| Also known as | Dečani charter |
| Date | 1330 |
| Place of origin | Kingdom of Serbia |
| Language(s) | Old Serbian |
| Author(s) | Stefan Uroš III |
| Dedicated to | Visoki Dečani |
| Exemplar(s) | Archive of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts |
King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–1331) mentioned that the court dignitaries present at the Dečani assembly were the kaznac, tepčija, vojvoda, sluga and stavilac.[1]
The chrysobulls did not list every settlement in the domain of Serbian kings, but only those whose taxes were directly used for the benefit of the monastery. The chrysobulls listed that Visoki Dečani held such rights over 2,097 households of meropsi (dependent farmers-serfs), 266 Vlach households (pastoral communities) and 69 sokalniki (craftsmen).[2] The settlements listed in the first charter region were mostly ethnically Serb.[3], alongside 10 Vlach and one Albanian katuns.[4] Appart this Albanian katun, two settlements have a characteristic Albanian anthroponymy, these are Greva in Altin and Kuševo in Zeta.[5][6] Most of the Albanians at the time were Catholic and as such might not have been listed in the documents of Serbian Orthodox monasteries. Some of those listed as “Vlachs” might have actually been Albanian-speakers.[7]
The total of 89 settlements with 2,666 households were recorded of which 86 settlements were Serb (96,6%) and 3 (3,3%) were Albanian.[8]
Annotations
- ^ The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is formally recognised as an independent state by 101 UN member states (with another 13 states recognising it at some point but then withdrawing their recognition) and 92 states not recognizing it, while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own territory.
References
- ^ Šarkić 1996, p. 66.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 318.
- ^ Grković 2004, p. 52.
- ^ Grković 1986, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Grković 1986, p. 14.
- ^ Grković 2004, pp. 52, 56.
- ^ Guy Brunet (2004). Minorities. Peter Lang. p. 147.
- ^ Ivić & Grković 1976.
Sources
- Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- Grković, Milica (1986). Rečnik imena Banjskog, Dečanskog i Prizrenskog vlastelinstva u XIV veku (in Serbian). Belgrade: Narodna knjiga. ISBN 9788633100243.
- Grković, Milica (2004). Prva hrisovulja Manastira Dečani = The First Charter of the Dečani Monastery (in Serbian and English). Belgrade: Centar za očuvanje nasleđa Kosova i Metohije - MNEMOSYNE. ISBN 9788684431020.
- Ivić, Pavle; Grković, Milica (1976). Dečanske hrisovulje (in Serbian). Novi Sad: Institut za lingvistiku u Novom Sadu.
- Šarkić, Srđan (1996). Srednjovekovno srpsko pravo [Medieval Serbian law] (in Serbian). Novi Sad: Matica srpska. ISBN 9788636303696.