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THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
THEIR PAST GLORY AND
THEIR DESTINY
BY
PRINCE LAZAROVICH-HREBELIANOVICH
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
PRINCESS LAZAROVICH-HREBELIANOVICH
(ELEAXOR CALHOUN)
ILLUSTRATED
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1910
COPTRIOHT, 1910, BT
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published October, 1910
All Rights of Translation Reserved
45
TO
OUR DEAR BOYS
STEPHAN-DOUSHAN AND STEPHAN-LAZAR
AND OUR DEAR GIRL MARA
/'*
PREFACE
Events in the Near East, which have brought
the Servian people prominently to the attention of
the world, and the trusteeship laid upon them by
destiny as guardians of the chief strategic position in
the Balkan Peninsula and keepers of the great gate-
way between Europe and the Orient, make it de-
sirable to set forth more fully than has hitherto been
done in the English language some account of their
place among peoples, considered in regard to their
physical characteristics, their manner of life, their
ideas, customs, beliefs, traditions, and ambitions,
their culture, their songs, their battles, the interest-
ing geographical situation of their country, and their
relation politically to the other nations of Europe.
An opinion can be formed regarding the future
actions and general worth to human society of a man
or a nation by his or its past conduct and achieve-
ments, and so the only fair basis of judgment con-
cerning the Servian people must rest upon some
knowledge of their past actions and the institutions
in which during the centuries they have embodied
their ideals and their will.
Such curtailed survey of the subject as can be in-
cluded within the scope of the present endeavour
will at least provide the casual reader with some
notion of Servian personality and character, and
viii PREFACE
suggest sources of ampler information concerning the
institutions of Christian culture and civilisation
evolved by the Serbs and brought to a high state of
excellence in the Middle Ages and which were swept
from existence by the Turkish conquest.
The study of past events and moral movements,
of conditions among peoples in earlier ages, and of
their national conceptions, is valuable chiefly because
of its power to illumine the life of the present, either
by revealing to us the true nature of forces which we
see at work in our own time, or by suggesting racial
or national potentialities, which like unworked gold
in ancient forgotten mines — mines levelled over and
blurred from sight, it may be, by devastating conquest
or some other fatal cataclysm centuries ago — have
brought all their richness of treasure down to our
own times to be relocated, examined, and developed
with the advantages of all modern resources of sci-
entific method and accumulated experience.
Co-operation and respect for the rights of the indi-
vidual were the basis of the Servian social structure
from earliest times. The jury was an ancient Ser-
vian institution before its general use in Europe.
All Serbs were entitled to fair trial in public courts.
The sovereign himself was never above the law and
could be sued in those courts of justice by the hum-
blest of his subjects. Slavery was never practised
by the Serbs, but was denounced by Servian rulers.
These and other Servian conceptions of human
rights heralded in early mediaeval times ideals of
justice and brotherhood which form the aim of mod-
ern Western enlightenment.
PREFACE ix
There rises to mind the image of Elena, Queen
of Italy, of unmixed Servian blood, a woman lovely
and gracious among all women, and a queen noble
among all queens at a time when pure and high-
souled womanhood is nowhere more exemplified than
in the ladies who first among their peers at present
grace the thrones of Europe. Those who have lived
in Serb lands like Miss Durham, and know about
them, would recall many a stately child of the Servian
hills much resembling Queen Elena in character and
type and womanly ways, though, unlike Her Majesty
of Italy, not having the training of the proudest of
Imperial Courts, and knowing only the nurture of the
simple Servian home-hearth.
This book is based on the results of profound and
extensive researches made by Servian historians and
scholars, and upon the study of historical and State
documents.
In Part I of the book use has been made princi-
pally of the ethnographical works and other writings
of the late Professors V. Karich and M. Militchevich.
For Part III — Chapters V and VI— in addition to
the large mass of documents and writings consulted,
among which were the earlier works on the subject
of Stoyan Novakovich and Panta Sretchkovich, par-
ticular note has been taken of the studies and con-
clusions of Dr. M. Vlainatz. The chief authorities
consulted for Chapters VII and VIII were Stoyan
Novakovich, Vouk Stephanovich Karadjich, the
Memoirs of Nenadovich, Hammer's History of the
Ottoman Empire, and the writings of Mouradja
d'Ohson.
x PREFACE
Among the many sources of Part IV were the
writings of Professor F. Ratchki, Iovan Tomich, M.
Grbich, Klayich, Kovatchevich, Yakshich, Stoyan
Novakovich, Panta Sretchkovich M. Gavrilovich, V.
Georgevich, S. Yovanovich. The authors have been
especially fortunate in being able to consult the new
and much-praised work of Professor S. Stanoyevich,
entitled "Istoriya Srpskoga Naroda," published at
Belgrade in 1908. They are also indebted to Pro-
fessor G. Stanoyevich for permission to use in illus-
tration of the book photographs made by him for
the Belgrade Museum.
The authors are deeply conscious that their work
cannot hope to be free from flaws or adequate to its
subject. They would beg indulgence for the rough-
ness of the new ground they have broken.
New York, June 15, 1910.
CONTENTS
Volume I
PART I— THE SERVIAN RACE
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Servian Race 3
1. Physical Characteristics 7
The Physical Conditions of Life — Clothing — Houses.
2. Moral Characteristics and Religion .... 14
3. Language 31
4. Family Life — Clans — Communities — Zadrugas,
etc 39
5. Relations Between Men and Women — The
Place of the Women in Family and National
Life 50
6. Customs — Family Festivals — Christmas —
Easter Traditions — Ceremonies, etc. ... 55
Marriage — Death and Burial — Pobratimstvo (Brother-
hood) and Posestrinstvo (Sisterhood) — Fire — Prelo
and Selo — Christmas and Easter — Music, Song,
Dance.
PART II— SERVL\N LANDS TO-DAY
CHAPTER PAGE
II. Geographical Features 93
1. River Systems 95
2. Mountain Systems, Their Flora and Their
Fauna 99
The Carst Ranges— The Dinaric System— The Al-
banian Ranges — The Shumadia Mountains — Carpa-
thians, Balkans, and the Rhodope System.
xii CONTENTS
CHAPTEK PAGE
III. Independent Servian Lands 108
1. The Kingdom of Servia (Srbiya) 108
Population — Constitution and Government — Adminis-
tration — Religion — Education — Justice, Crime,
Pauperism — Matrimony — The Army — Fortifica-
tions — Finance — State Budget — Public Debt —
Money — Products and Industries: Cereals; Vege-
tables; Fruit; Cattle and Other Domestic Animals;
Poultry; Hunting and Fishing; Forestry; Minerals
and Ore; Industries; Modern Manufactures — Com-
merce; Lines of Communication.
2. The Principality of Montenegro (Tsrnagora) 131
Administration and Social Organisation — Constitution
— Religion — Education — Justice, Crime, Pauperism
— Finance — Budget — Money— The Army: Organisa-
tion; Command and Officers; Mobilisation; Instruc-
tion; Spirit and Discipline — Products and Industries
— Commerce — Lines of Communication.
IV. Servian Lands Under Foreign Domination . 142
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina (under Austria-
Hungary) 142
Population — Administration — Finance — The Army
— Religion — Education — Justice, Crime, Pauperism
— Products and Industries: Mining; Industries —
Lines of Communication — Commerce.
2. Dalmatia (under Austria) 153
Population — Administration — The Army — Religion —
Education — Products and Industries.
3. Croatia-Slavonia (under Hungary) .... 158
Population — Administration and Political Reorganisa-
tion — Budget — Credit — Justice — The Army — Relig-
ion — Education — Products and Industries — Com-
merce — Lines of Communication.
4. Banat and Batchka (under Hungary) . . . 167
Administration — Products.
CONTEXTS xiii
PAGE
5. Old Servia, Stara Srbiya (under Turkev-in-
Europe) 170
Administration — Education — Products — Lines of Com-
munication — Architecture and Monuments.
Serb Population Estimated for December, 1909. 17-1
PART III— CIVILISATION AND CULTURE FROM
EARLY TIMES UP TO THE PRESENT
CHAPTER PAGE
V. Social Organisation and Conditions Prior
to about 1100 177
1. Direct Subjects of Byzance 182
The Coloni liberi — The Coloni censibus adscripticii —
The "Latifundia" — The Leges rusticse.
2. Serbs of the Great Migration never under
Byzantine Direct Rule — Early Servian States 189
Evolution of State up to the Twelfth Century — Interior
Organisation — Zhupa.
VI. Social Organisation from about 1100 to
about 1470 (Servian Kingdoms and Em-
pire) 197
1. Constitution and Organisation of the Servian
State 197
States Assembly.
2. State and Crown Revenues 201
3. Administrative Divisions with Local Self-Gov-
ernment and the Family as a Social Unit . . JO I
The Zhupa (County) — The "Grad" (Town) — Selo
(Village or Rural Community) — House (Koutcha).
4. The Sovereign and the Court 215
5. Social Conditions in General 219
6. The Nobility 221
Property: Bashtina; Pronya.
7. The Clergv and the Church 231
Obligations and Duties.
xiv CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
8. Sebar or Commoner 236
Gradjani— Zemlyani— " Serbs" and " Vlachs "— " Slo-
bodnyi Lyudi": Parish Priest; The Widow ("The
Poor Spinner") — The Merops or Kmets: Legal Char-
acteristics of the Merop Tenure; Bashtina Rights of
Merops; Obligations of the Zemlyanin- Merop Toward
the Domain; Church Tenants; The Conditions of
Robot and Dues of the Zemlyani Living on Domains
Belonging to the State, the Sovereign, or Private Indi-
viduals — Vlachs: Labour and Other Dues of Vlachs.
9. Otroks 264
Anti-Slavery.
10. The Administration of Justice 268
Equality Before the Law and Rights of the Individual
— Procedure — The Constitution of Juries — Ecclesias-
tical Courts — Private Law — Criminal and Penal Law
— Responsibility and Restitution — Justice for For-
eigners.
11. The Army 287
12. Resources, Commerce, and Industries . . . 292
Agriculture — Forests — Hunting — Mining — Com-
merce and Industry — Trade-Routes — Money.
VII. The Servians Under Turkish Rule from
ABOUT 1470 TO ABOUT 1800 301
1. The Turkish Army of Conquest 304
2. Methods of Administration 307
Remains of Servian Self-Government.
3. Turkish Forms of Holdings in Appropriation
of Servian Lands . 314
4. Taxes and Other Exactions 315
5. Christian Clergy 323
6. Characteristics of the "Berat Bashi-Knezes"
and Their Territories 327
7. Haydouks and Ouskoks 329
8. Downfall of the Janissaries — Servian Indepen-
dence 332
CONTENTS xv
CHAPTER p AGE
VIII. The Last Hundred Years 335
1. Turkish Attempts at Reform 335
2. Bosnia-Herzegovina an Austrian Province . . 337
3. Sovereign Principality of Montenegro . . . 338
4. Independent Principality — Modern Kingdom
of Servia 339
IX. Religion and Education 340
1. Erection of the Independent National Servian
Orthodox Church 345
2. Bogomil Faith 350
3. Erection of the Servian Orthodox Patriarchat 355
4. Absorption of the Servian Patriarchat by the
Greek Patriarch. Servian Church under
Constantinople 359
5. Re-establishment of Independent Servian
Churches 362
Servian Church — Montenegrin Church — Servian Church
in Bosnia — Bulgarian Exarchat — New Servian Arch-
bishopric in Turkey — Servian Church in Austria-
Hungary.
6. Education 365
X. Literature, the Fine Arts, Music, and the
Drama 368
1. The Old Servian Literature 370
2. The Dalmatian Period 374
3. The Literature of the "Kaykavci" .... 377
4. Modern Servian and New Serbo-Croat Litera-
ture 378
Modern Servian Literature — Xew Serbo-Croat Litera-
ture.
xvi CONTENTS
PAGE
5. The Servian and Croat Popular Epic and Lyric
Poetry 395
6. The Fine Arts . 405
Architecture — Sculpture — Painting.
7. Music and the Drama 409
Drama.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Volume I
PROCLAMATION OF STEPHEN DUSHAN AS " EMPEROR OF
THE SERBS AND ROMANS " AT SKOPLYIA (uSKUB) ON
april 16, 1346 (easter Sunday) .... Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
TYPE OF A FARMER'S LIVING HOUSE 42
DEFILE OF GORNYATCH 96
H. M. KING PETER I OF SERVIA 108
H. R. H. PRINCE NICHOLAS I OF MONTENEGRO .... 132
RUINS OF THE CASTLE AT UZHITZA 180
RUINS OF THE CASTLE OF GOLOOBATZ, FIFTEENTH CENTURY 252
VIEW OF BELGRADE FROM THE RAILWAY BRIDGE . . . 336
STOYAN NOVAKOVICH 378
MAPS
FACING PAGE
Distribution of the different branches of the Slavonic Race in
Europe 32
Map showing the Serb-inhabited Block of Territory 168
PART I
THE SERVIAN RACE
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
THEIR PAST GLORY AND THEIR DESTINY
CHAPTER I
THE SERVIAN RACE
" For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father from whom every
family (or fatherhood) in Heaven or Earth is named."
(Eph. 4 : 14.)
THE Servians are Slavs, speaking a Slavonic lan-
guage derived, as are the Russian, Polish,
Tcheque, Bulgarian, Slovene, and Slovak, from one
common mother tongue. They and their forefathers
have lived in the lands they now inhabit from the
earliest antiquity.
The Bulletins et Mimoires de la Societe a" Anthro-
pologic and other publications have recorded the
results recently arrived at by a careful series of ar-
chaeological, anthropological, and linguistic researches
made by various scientific men, in the regions of the
Balkans and other parts of the Orient, as to the origin
of the Slav race. The reports of the last four or five
years of the results of the labors of Mr. Zaborowski
and others form an overwhelming mass of evidence
and demonstrate the following facts:
From prehistoric ages Central Europe, from the
Baltic to the shores of the Adriatic and to the Black
3
4 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Sea, together with parts of northern Asia Minor, was
inhabited by a race which incinerated its dead — en-
closing the charred skeleton and skull in funerary urns
which bear inscriptions in a single language and con-
tain objects of a more or less uniform character.
From these charred bones and these objects we see that
this race was mainly brachycephalous, and the material
and fashion of the ornaments and objects indicate
clearly the age to which they belong, whether Stone,
Bronze, or Iron. This race was mentioned histori-
cally by Homer, cited by Strabo, as Hened-Paphlago-
nians, and referred to by succeeding ancient writers,
Herodotus, Polybius, Tacitus, Strabo, etc., who all
called them Veneds, Venets, Windis, Wendes, Vendes.
The archaeological evidence drawn chiefly from the
cinerary urns with their inscriptions and contents has
established that the Veneds were a Slav race, and
the ancestors of the Slavonic peoples which to-day
inhabit the same lands in Central and Eastern Europe
and the Balkans. The Illyrians, Gaetians, Dacians,
and other peoples of antiquity inhabiting the Danube
and Adriatic regions were of this ancient Slav stock.
Through all the Vened migratory lands populated
by the Vened-Slavs the cinerary vases are similar,
generally gray or red baked clay partly or entirely
stained with brilliant black or gray-black. In each,
sealed with its cover, is the debris of the charred bones
of one individual, put in often with sand, in which lie
ornaments, beads, pins, fibulas, rings, chains. The
beads are generally of blue glass, amber, bone, or clay ;
pins, buckles, and other ornaments are of bronze, and
iron is sparsely introduced in some. The blue glass
THE SERVIAN RACE 5
beads, even in lands which could not produce them,
are the same as those found in Bosnia, land of the
Illyrians, and on the shores of the Baltic Sea. These
urns sometimes bore modelled a human face and
were richly decorated, even with gems. The lids
represented hats and modes of head-gear similar in
style to that worn to-day in those regions by Slav
races.
The archaeological remains show that early migra-
tions occurred from the Adriatic and Danubian
regions eastward and that some of the tribes settled
along the Vistula and Dnieper.
These facts give confirmation to traditions recorded
by the Russian historian Nestor in the beginning of
the twelfth century.
The whole Vened-Slav people lived in tribal groups
more or less loosely bound together by common race
and lanp-uaore. Their mode of government was uni-
versally, from earliest ages, by popular assembly.
The desire for conquest or tyrannical mastery or
exploitation of other nations was singularly absent
from the Slav peoples. Their courage in defending
their own reached the point of heroism, but their
fundamental aim lay in the peaceful pursuit of agri-
cultural occupations, home-making, and the getting
of a contented livelihood from mother earth.
Among the descendants of the tribes which had
gone to the Vistula from the Adriatic were several
which found it necessary to group themselves together
for common protection, and this making and gradual
strengthening of some bonds of union developed in
time a sense of national conscience. It is supposed
6 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
that the name Serbs or Srbs, by which this group
came to be known, was derived from the word Sabor
or Sbor, the Slav word for General Assembly found
to-day in the Russian "Sabor," the Bulgarian "Sob-
ranyia," the Servian and Croat "Sabor."
The Ser bo-Slovenes occupied the territories be-
tween the Carpathians and the Baltic Sea, the river
Elbe and the Vistula. The chief tribes were: the
Lyutizi, Bodritzi (Obotrits), Havelani, Miltchani,
Lusatians, Serbi, Hrvati (Karpati), Humlani, Neret-
lani, etc.
In 640 the Byzantin emperor Heracleus invited the
Serbs, who then occupied the northern slopes of the
Carpathians, to aid in driving out the Avars, who had
invaded the regions forming to-day modern Servian
territories. So the Serb race came again into the
lands of its fathers, to send new roots down among the
old ones into that ancient soil which, unconsciously to
them, held in the sealed funerary urns of its far-away
ancestors the message that to them had God given
that earth from the first days of its allotment to the
sons of men.
These lands populated by the Serb race are to-day
the block of territories comprising: the kingdom of
Servia, the principality of Montenegro, the vilayet
of Kossovo, parts of the vilayets of Monastir and
Scutary (Skodra) in Macedonia (European Turkey),
Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Dalmatia, Istria, Croatia,
Slavonia, Banat, and Batchka, in Austria-Hungary.
The total number of the Servian race is between ten
and eleven millions.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 7
1. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The skull of the Servian is generally brachycepha-
lous, the original Slavonic type, in some instances
modified by a blending with the dolichocephalous
character, which results in a head generally round
and short, sometimes long, with a round or oval face,
very rarely long and narrow. The face is apt to be
broad and bony; the hair is light or dark brown,
sometimes black or blond; the eyes, even with dark
or black hair, are generally gray, the true Slavonic
eye. The complexion is mediumly fair, rarely
tawny or swarthy. The brows are straight; the
nose, though generally straight, is sometimes aquiline.
The base of the nose between the eyes is often rather
low than high. In the main, the features are classical
and sometimes beautiful.
The Serb is tall, surpassing in height all other
races of the Balkans except the northern Albanians
or " Gaegas," who are also from Serb stock (speaking
a language with Slavonic roots) . The average stature
of the western and southern Servian is six feet. In
the eastern and northern regions the average height
is five feet, six inches.
The frame is brawny, sinewy, and strong, capable
of great endurance, and the individuals, both men
and women, are well endowed with health and often
beauty of a classical type.
The Physical Conditions of Life. — The territories
inhabited by the Serb race are mountainous in char-
acter, formed by the meeting and transecting of the
extensions of the great mountain systems of the Alps
8 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
(Dinaric Alps), Carpathians, Albanian Mountains,
Balkans, and the Rhodope Mountains. The Servian
mass is cut by the valley of the Morava River from
the Danube to the plain of Nish. There is the junc-
tion of the two great natural Balkan roads, one
from Nish over Pirot and Sofia in the valley of the
river Maritza straight to Constantinople. That high-
way was the old road of the Crusaders, and for a
thousand years the landway of all communication
between Europe and the East. The second road also
crosses the plain of Nish, follows the valley of the
Morava River along the Kossovo valley through the
low, marshy watershed of Preshevo where rise the
Morava and Vardar Rivers, and thence lies through
the valley of the Vardar River on down to the iEgean
Sea at Salonika.
This old two-pronged road of the Crusaders, which
is still the road of railways and of commerce from the
Danube to Constantinople, on the one hand, and to
Salonika on the other, makes of Servia, to-day as ever,
the great gateway by land from Europe to the
Orient. The climate is continental in the eastern re-
gions, Mediterranean in the west, which gives a fa-
vourable climate for the growing of all kinds of food-
stuffs, grains, maize (the staple breadstuff ) , all kinds
of fruits, especially prunes, with apples, cherries,
apricots, quinces, walnuts, and grapevines on all
slopes, figs and almonds in the south-west, with melons
and vegetables, and everywhere a rich mast of acorns
in the extensive oak forests.
The popular food includes fruits and vegetables —
beans, maize, rice, cabbage, onions, leeks, red pep-
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 9
pers, etc. The meat food is chiefly pork, mutton,
and also goat in some districts, beef both fresh and
home-cured. Sour milk and fresh cheese, with young
onions, and in season green corn boiled and eaten
" off the cob, " form a staple food. Every small house
has its chicken for the pot and its turkeys, as well as
its suckling pig for Christmas.
The meat foods are consumed mostly in the winter
and snowy seasons. In the villages the ancient meth-
ods of roasting meats are still found, where the pigs or
lambs or game or fowl are roasted in the earth or en-
veloped in clay, the process recalling the Mexican
"barbecue."
The great national beverage is spring water; what
liquors they use are home-made wine and plum
brandy, " slivovitza" ; and in districts where bees are
kept they still make "mead," called "medovina."
With the modernizing of certain towns comes the
German beer.
Clothing. — Even to-day throughout the countries
and remote districts the greater part of the clothing
is home-made, home-spun, and home-grown.
The clothing, especially among women, follows in
general the character and style indicated in the deco-
ration of some of the antique Slav-Vened cinerary
vases and certain small statuettes and figure-vases of
the same early period.
The basis seems to be the tabard, stole, or straight-
fronted apron, often richly embroidered, always in
transversal lines or bars, with threads of gold, silver,
black, and red, and other colors. These long, narrow
aprons are, for ordinary use, often woven heavily of
10 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
fine, many-colored wool either in the Kelim carpet-
stitch or the tapestry point similar to that used in
"Beauvais." The main gown is white, of home-
woven linen, with embroidered border on skirt, and
flowing sleeves. For workaday wear a coloured
skirt of woollen weave is much used, over the white
one, and tucked up on one side to disclose the finer
one beneath ; a sleeveless vest, of velvet or silk or fine
cloth often richly embroidered with gold and shutting
with embroidered gold buttons encrusted with coral;
and over these garments is worn either a short coat,
a kind of zouave, with sleeves, or a long coat cut in
long lines to follow the body and slightly flaring
toward the bottom. Either of these coats is made of
white stiff felt black-embroidered, white sheepskin
with the short, curled fleece inside and the outside
cured soft and left white and embroidered in bands
near the woolly edges with black wool, or of richest
Venetian silk velvet, generally some bright shade of
crimson embroidered with gold. On the head is worn
a small cap with black rim and red top, embroidered
in gold, with a rose, and on festival days strings of
gold or silver coins are hung upon this cap or on the
hair. The jewels, of antique and often beautiful design,
include heavy buckles and richly wrought belts of
silver or brass studded with cabochons of glass, or
gems, corals, or other metals. At the recent Servian
exhibition at Earls Court, London, there were seen
great quantities of these gorgeous ornaments, some
of which were bought for the Metropolitan Museum,
New York. In the exhibition were also many beau-
tiful objects and accessories to the toilet, wrought
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 11
in finest silver filigree, so exquisite in design and
of such fragile and delicate appearance that it
suggested more the work of frost than of human
fingers. Among hand-woven materials for feminine
apparel were sheer silken textures of snowy white,
sometimes gold-flecked, or wrought with beautiful
border patterns of antique design where gold or
silver threads ran with faint traceries of crimson
and black.
The foot-gear for men and women alike, the
"opanka," worn over heavy wool stockings, is the
leather sandal of antiquity with thongs and straps
across the ankles. In heavy winter weather there
are worn inside of the sandal, and held strapped with
the thongs, soft leather boots or stockings made some-
times of sheepskin with the woolly surface next the
skin.
The women wear a small knife or dagger, a custom
left over from Turkish times.
In districts like Montenegro and some of the higher
mountains, the men still carry, in a heavy leather belt,
a pistol or two besides the knife, and in some cases
the old yatagan, or "hanjar."
A curious feature of the costume of the men, which
has been noticed by archaeologists, is the pantaloon
or trousers, a garment which in some form has been
worn by the Slav races, as shown by sculptural re-
mains, from remote epochs. It has been remarked
that other races in lands where the Slav peoples have
lived have adopted from them this Slavonic fashion.
The basis of the Servian countryman's costume is
either the narrow, long trousers or wider breeches to
12 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the knees, with some fashion of legging, a blouse or
shirt, a short, sleeveless waistcoat of crimson or black
richly embroidered in gold or silk, and over this short
waistcoat, another short, long-sleeved cloth coat or
jacket, and in cold weather a long and ample coat, of
either sheepskin worn with fur side in, or a coat of
heavy felt or cloth fur-lined. The material of the
men's coat and trousers is thick homespun, of dark
gray, brown, or natural white, similar in texture to
the heaviest hand-woven frieze produced by the
Scottish and Irish cottage industries. On the head is
worn either a small cap of silk and cloth or a " kalpak "
of fur. In some districts the men wear a skull-cap of
red or white fitting down tight over the top of the
head.
In many districts, where the houses are still built
according to the old customs which accompanied the
"Zadruga" and its kindred form of social organiza-
tion, the ruling characteristic of the structure is a large
hearth in the centre of the big main room, which
serves as living-room and kitchen combined, where
logs of wood are used as fuel, the smoke being gath-
ered together by an ample funnel-shaped contrivance
high above the fire, and finally escaping through the
chimney on the roof. In this funnel-shaped smoke-
cradle are beams and cross-beams where continually
hang the hams, bacon, beef, mutton, and goat to be
smoked. From these beams hang chains for various
cooking-pots. All baking is done in a special oven of
clay which is fixed either in the wall of the house or in
the court-yard outside. With the more numerous and
complicated family or Zadruga, around this central
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 13
house containing the family fire are built small
wooden houses or huts called "vayat," of one or two
rooms, for the younger married members of the fam-
ily. The group of buildings often includes a special
guest-house for the offering of hospitality. Gardens
and orchards of plum-trees and other fruit-trees gen-
erally surround the building on all sides. The Servian
saying is that, "Where the plum-tree grows the
ground is good." Back of the gardens are the stables
and sheds for the beasts, and an important building
in a Servian family community is the granary, where
maize and wheat and other grains are stored, extra
provisions being always laid up for the rainy day,
the day of fighting-troubles, or other unforeseen
dangers.
When the houses are two-story high and contain
many rooms, the lower part or basement is often of
stone, the upper part of wood, overhanging the lower
story, and the extension often rests on beams or on
posts or pillars which give the effect of colonnades or
cloisters when the house is richly made. The separate
rooms are warmed by a brazier of burning charcoal
called "mangal."
The inner decoration of the house consists gener-
ally of home-made carpets and hangings of the same
stitch called Tchillims (Persian "kelim").
As with all Slavs, the Serbs are very prolific and
consider that a family is blessed by the great number
of its children. A woman owns special consideration
for being the mother of many. "The woman homes
the house," is a Servian proverb.
14 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
2. MORAL CHARACTERISTICS AND RELIGION
In considering the moral characteristics of the
Servians, the attention is first struck by their spirit of
independence and next by their love of home. The
spirit of independence expressed and demonstrated
in their forms of social and administrative organiza-
tions from remotest times, such as popular participa-
tion by discussion in all decisions affecting the general
welfare of the Serb group, tribe, clan, principality,
state, or empire; democratic institutions of justice;
early trial by jury, etc., and the immemorial national
assembly, or Sbor, from which their very name is said
to be derived. This spirit of freedom and respect of
the individual has been through the ages the strength
and glory of the Serb people as it was of the great
Slav race of antiquity through which its life streams
descended. This characteristic, grown sometimes to
excess, and its correlative, love of peaceful life with
absence of the desire of conquest, has been also its
weakness, and has, at several periods of its history,
submitted it to conquest by warring invaders, and
has always generated the reactionary or resistant
force against which the tendencies and necessities for
strong national union have been forced to contend.
So true is this that they themselves recognized the
value to them of St. Sava's proverb, "Samo Sloga
Srbina Spasava," and they adopted it as the national
motto. The four C's or S's between the limbs of the
cross on the shield in the national arms are the initials
of that motto, the translation of which is: Only Union
(is) Servian Salvation.
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 15
The other fundamental Servian characteristic,
love of home, is like unto the first, and about the
central hearth-fire group all the more intimate per-
sonal ideals of life and of the relation of human beings
to one another.
The Serb, like his racial ancestor before him, has no
instinct for the conquest of other nations. The de-
sire to subjugate and rule other races and force their
productive capacity to yield its results into his own
national treasures, or to press the sons of other lands
into Serb military service for further conquests among
the nations, has never formed any part of the Servian
aspiration; nor does their history show that any war
of greed or gain was ever undertaken by the Serb
race. If, however, the Serb has been loath to shed
the blood of his neighbors in order to rob them of
their possessions, he has been swift to draw the sword
and slow to put it down in the defence of his own
home and his beloved liberty. He also has been ready
to fight for any other nation when the principle of
home defence was at stake, and many times for that
cause has he spilled his blood freely for Austria and
Hungary and other neighbouring states; and so far
back as the Trojan war Homer tells us, according to
Strabo, that his ancestors brought their troops to
defend Troy.
Serb valor and heroism have been shown through
the centuries in their unceasing fight to preserve their
liberties, first against Byzance, then the Turks on the
east, and against the Germanic and Magyar nations
on the north and west. In this unceasing battle of
self-defence against great nations the Serbs have al-
16 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ways been a handful against a host, a few against a far
outnumbering enemy. What we fight for we love,
so the Serb has loved his home, his mother earth,
with a peculiarly tender and changeless affection.
He will not give it up; it is saturated with his blood
and purified by the sacred fire of his devotion. It has
belonged to his race since the beginning of historic
time. He believes that it is a part of himself. What-
ever conquest may come or go — and all conquests from
Gaul to Turk that ever came through the ages have
always gone again, and left the Slav— the Serb remains
unvarying in his sense of eternality. It is a moral
characteristic remarked by many, this confidence in
his final destiny, when what he has fought for, prayed
for, and sung will be attained; that is, liberty to de-
velop peacefully his ideals.
The qualities most noticed in the Serb by foreign
travellers and writers, his hospitality and quick sym-
pathy, his wit and love of merriment, of song and
dance and keen practical proverbs, his pride and
grand-seigneurism, that native air of princeliness of
the Servian mountaineer, commented upon by many
travellers, and which derives no doubt from his sense
of freedom and the fact of his having always owned
a home, and having been ready and able to defend it
with the sword — these characteristics of the soldier-
farmer, despising conquest yet chanting all heroic
deeds and possessing a mentality highly sensitive to
cultural tendencies, delighting in song and in science,
have held their own, through all the vicissitudes of
his history, during the long ages of battle in guard of
his home, and during those" periods of comparative
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 17
peace when he has been able to rest awhile on
his sword.
The Serb genius was near to a rich flowering at the
end of the fourteenth century when the terrific Turk-
ish onrush and subsequent relentless pressure of the
Ottoman, hacking and burning his way westward,
overthrew the imperial throne and Servian empire
and overwhelmed its dawning glory of culture and
civilization in sudden night and terror. All humane
graces and creations of the intelligence were trampled,
like the young grain in the fields, under the feet of
the fierce myriads. From that time to within less
than a century ago the Serb people have bent every
force of physical and mental skill to the regaining
of their freedom.
In fighting for their homes they became the bul-
wark of Europe against the Turks. That long battle,
though it put in abeyance the main cultural develop-
ment of the race, was yet not entirely able to hinder
all expression of its genius. On those charred fields,
from the blood of its heroes, and among its ruined
castles, grew white flowers of national hope, and
murmurs and music of immortality breathed new
life and sense of grandeur into the Servian soul. The
tales of the heroes chanted in verse bred new heroes.
Since earliest times men of all nations having deal-
ings with the Serb peoples have put on record the
custom among them of recounting their national past
history, as well as contemporary events, in ballad
form. These songs and ballads were chanted to the
sound of the "gouzla," a violin with one string,
either by bards passing from one village to another or
18 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
by members of the family or Zadruga. The his-
torical events so enshrined may or may not have
retained the exact similitude of what actually oc-
curred ; heroes are apt to grow taller with the years
— except in times of national decadence, when even
the gods fall from their heavens and dwindle to
pygmies.
However that may be, these bards have always
been teachers as well as chroniclers. They have
nursed the Serb child in its history and the ideas of
its race. The Servian ballad lore came to the knowl-
edge of Europe with the Servian revolution at the
beginning of last century, especially with the publi-
cation by Vouk S. Karajich, in 1814, of his collection
of ballads, chants, and songs taken down from word
of mouth from the people during the time of his service
as secretary to one of the revolutionary leaders. That
collection made known to the world the old heroic and
modern poetry and ballads and their place in excel-
lence, above the folk-songs in beauty and grandeur,
of any other European people. They deal with the
highest themes of human life and heroic action, sub-
lime ideal and devotion to national freedom. Goethe
was among the writers who at once made translations
from them into Western tongues, and he ranked them
with the Iliad and Odyssey. These publications, in
their treasure of poetry and exalted heroism, of
homely philosophy and wit as well as of spiritual or
mystical apprehension of daily life and sense of
beauty, were a revelation of the Servian mind and
character as it had not been known prior to that time.
This high poetic capacity is not the only indication
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 19
of the strong cultural and intellectual tendencies of
the Servian race, men remarkable the world over in
artistic and scientific attainment, from the painters
Schiavone and Carpaccio of the Renaissance to such
as Ruggiero Boshkovitch, V. S. Karadjich, Danitch-
itch, Iosif Panchich, Professor Jagitch, V. Bogish-
itch, Nicola Tesla, Professor Cvijitch, Dr. Petronie-
vitch, etc., men of Serb stock, as were also the Hun-
garian, Kossuth, Francis Deak, and the greatest of
Hungarian poets, Petoffyi Sandor (died 1849), whose
real name was Alexa Petrovitch. Many generals and
statesmen who have served in Russia and Austria,
especially in the latter state; Grasalkovitch, the great
minister of Maria Theresa ; and the generals Quosda-
novitch, Davidovitch, Roditch, Jovanovitch, Maroich-
ich, Grivitchich, Philipovitch Jellachich, Rukavina,
among others who contributed to the glory of the
Austrian army, evidence the same capacities in the
individual of which the race as a whole gave proof
in the last century, in the rapid organization of the
state for the kingdom in 1804, and the manner in
which, under many discouraging conditions, they
hastened to create in their newly redeemed land
efficient administrative machinery and institutions
of learning, even before the smoke of battle had well
cleared from the field where their liberty was won, and
before the enemy was well over the border.
The Servian is interested in every new idea, greedy
to learn, as are those long debarred from opportunity
for natural progress. He is in danger at times of not
being able to compare and judge exactly ideas pro-
posed to him from the outside. In his sincere admi-
20 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ration of what other peoples have written and done,
in his desire for growth and progress, he may be in
danger to-day of keeping too open a mind toward
some ideas, social and philosophical, which have
proved poisonous in the lands of their origin and
which would be even more deadly to the Serb.
The Serb is tenacious of purpose, but not in dogged
fashion like the Bulgarian. The surface of his reso-
lution appears to rise and subside, but the depths are
changeless.
During the long period of the Turkish domination
the Servian always remained in a state of insurrec-
tion, either latent or active, according to times and
tides.
The heroism of the Serb in wars of defence or
liberation has always been absolute.
An incident in the sixteenth century of the long
struggle between Christian Serb and Moslem Turk,
recounted by a survivor on the Serb side, and by the
Turkish historians, which is the subject of a Ger-
man poetic drama by Theodor Korner, forms a
picturesque illustration, not only of Serb heroism
and scorn of life, where the fortunes of their just
cause were at stake, but is characteristic of the
tragedy and romance which gleamed in and out of
the dark woof of Serbo-Turkish history.
The Servian Count Nicholas Zriny, with his own
men, all Serbs, was defending the castle of Szigeth
against the Turkish army commanded in person by
Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Under firm con-
trol, the few Serbs fought, every man, as an arrow
to the bow bent, striking home.
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 21
The beleaguering Turks, surging in vain for hours
about the fortress, were unable to make headway
except across heaps of their own slain. When at last,
after stanch resistance, and when the Servian num-
bers were nearly spent, Zriny saw that the place could
no longer hold out, he threw open the gates to the
enemy's forces, and, at the moment when they stormed
within, the wife of the Count, in execution of her
husband's commands, and with true Serb spirit, put
fire to the powder magazines and blew up the castle,
themselves, and the masses of Turks who had pressed
into the stronghold.
Staring upon this grim scene with wide, fixed eyes,
sitting bolt upright in the chair of command before
his silken tent, was Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent.
But the reverberations and terror did not move him,
and the gazing eyes beheld no earthly image, for the
final conqueror of all conquerors had passed in the
early morning. The stone-cold body had been set
up in all its gorgeous trappings by the Grand Vizir,
Mehemet Sokolovitch, in fear for the Turkish soldiers
to know that their all-glorious leader and master was
dead.
This Sokolovitch, the mightiest through the cen-
turies of all the Turkish grand vizirs, was a Serb
who had been carried away as an infant to Constan-
tinople by the Turkish "blood-tax" collectors, who
every seven years swept through the conquered dis-
tricts to tear all Christian male children from their
parents and take them to Constantinople, where they
were renamed and trained up as Moslems and fight-
ers to serve the Ottoman state. They were generally
22 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
enrolled among the "Yenichari" (Janissaries), the
fiercest legion known to history, used by the Sultans
to conquer and hold down the Serb lands.
Such traits occur all along the way of Servian his-
tory. Those who pass by Nish to-day can see by the
roadside "The Tower of Sculls," set up by the Turks
in 1806, and which they studded with the heads of
the men under Sindjelitch some hundreds strong, who
also held a vast Turkish army at bay, hoping to give
time for the arrival of Servian reinforcements, and
finally when further resistance was vain the Serbs
deliberately threw open the stronghold and blew it up,
with themselves and large numbers of the enemies.
The Serbs are not snobbish or cringing, and sup-
port principle rather than an individual. They will
not follow an individual for the sake of personality,
but for the principles he represents, and for the same
reason they are apt to appear disloyal and forsake
instantly a man, however popular, who appears to
weaken in point of principle. They are jealous-
natured, fond of political and historical discussion.
Peasants or simple farm laborers will come to hard
words, and even blows, over some old historical event
of their own national history.
A story is told by an English traveller who saw two
men fall to fisticuffs, and discovered on inquiry that
the cause of the violence was a discussion regarding
the battle of Kossovo, which brought about the fall
of the Servian empire some five hundred years ago.
They cling to their ancient glory and have implicit
faith in future Servian destiny. A sense of the secular
persistence of their race is shown by the early Slavs
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 23
of the same region, in the passing of successive con-
quering invasions over them, as wind over the grass,
that rises again after it has swept by. Empires were
superposed on them, rose, fell, and utterly disap-
peared, leaving always the Slav, as if he were an in-
digenous perpetual growth from the sod itself.
The Servian is deeply religious, lmt shrinks from
religious discussions. He considers his religion a part
of himself, and the daily life takes constant note of
his relation to the Unseen: to the (ireat Creator of
all, to his Son, and to all his saints, and to many
other symbolized forces of nature: nymphs, spirits of
woods, water, fire, and wind, and spirits good and evil,
which have been a Living reality with him from an-
cient pagan times and have come on down to dwell
alongside of his Christianity.
By long custom, half unconsciously, by second na-
ture, he remembers ( rod in all time of his daily duties
and pleasures. The Church is a part of himself and
identified with all that he is or that belongs to him;
it i- a part of his family, of his community, and of
his nation. He has no conception of them apart from
it, any more than he would have an idea of him-
self and his life apart from the earth. He is only
semi-conscious of these conceptions. He could not
understand the existence of the Serb nation without
the Orthodox Christian Church. He cannot under-
stand religious propaganda which would aim at sep-
arating him from what to him is an integral part of
his being, neither has he any inclination to make
propaganda to induce others to profess his own faith.
The invoking of God's protection and making of the
24 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
triple sign of the cross prefaces in some form the
familiar acts of the day. If a friend calls and the
wine-jug is brought out, however merry the meeting
may be, God's blessing is invoked by the one who
offers and the one who receives the cup. It is a cus-
tom like saying "good-day.''
At all family festivals three toasts are drunk, first
to the glory of God, praying that he will be helpful
to all men ; the second is to the holy cross ; and the
third to the Holy Trinity with invocation for blessing
"to all men in all places." On all occasions of gath-
ering together, whether with festive or serious intent,
blessings are asked or prayers offered up. These
prayers are usually spontaneous. On the occasion of
celebrations or happy social gatherings, should there
chance to be present any one with an especial poetic
gift, he is invited to improvise a prayer for the cir-
cumstance. These invocations are taken as a matter
of course and part of the nature of things, not as
being any unusual exercise. 1
The saints are to the Serb countryman a reality
not seen by the human eye, but perceived as an actual
1 It would appear that this attitude of mind toward religion and race
ideala holds the secret of the imperishable quality that has been so widely-
remarked concerning the ever-present consciousness of their glorious past
achievements and the firm belief of the Serbs in their destiny as a people.
The Servians of to-day, however, are threatened by a greater danger than
any they have had to meet from the Turks on the field of battle, an insidi-
ous, imperceptible danger; one, it may be feared, which their past experi-
ence has not prepared them to sufficiently recognize or cope with.
One of the phenomena of modern political methods, in regard to the
conquest and subjugation of one nation by another, is the importance
allotted to the destruction of national forces from within; the introduction
by some appeal to the mind of ideas which under the guise of greater
liberality or scientific exactitude, or some higher and broader conception
of humanity, are fallacies clothed in high-sounding but empty words,
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 25
presence. "Sve-Vishnye," or " Sve-Vishnye-Bog,"
the most high God, delegates to his saints the guard-
ianship of certain forces of nature : so St. Peter keeps
the gates of heaven; St. Paul protects wine and
wheat; St. Elias has the thunder and lightning and in
that quality he is aid to St. Peter; St. Mary of the Fire;
St. Thomas is guardian of the rain-clouds; Archangel
Michael regulates the autumn weather; St. Nicholas
is protector of all waters, the ocean and its ships, the
rivers, lakes, and springs; St. Sava is the guardian of
snow and ice; St. Pantheleymon has charge of the
summer heat; St. John the Baptist is the patron of
all brotherhoods and "Koomstvo," or godfathership.
St. George is much honoured among Serbs as among
all Slavs. He is the guardian of the flowers of spring
and of lambs, the defender of all young growing
things, whether herb or animal. When Christianity
was adopted the old god of spring and young life was
baptised into the faith as St. George. His flower is
the lily of the valley, "Djordjevka." To the old god
was sacrificed a young lamb, so no young lamb is
killed before St. George's day, April 24, when
through all the Servian villages a young lamb is killed
allowing for pose and the magnificent gesture. They natter the intelligence
in its unceasing and divine tendencies toward progress, and by teaching it
to seek new developments through other formulas than those evolved by
its own genius, sow distrust of itself, rousing sometimes contempt of its
own familiar ways, breeding discontent, which, by degrees, gnaws and eats
away the old foundations and corrodes the sources of its national faith,
until at last, one by one, the old strongholds of national belief which had
been a people's strength through the ages crumble into dust at the feet of
its enemies, self-destroyed. It has been calculated that what would never
yield either to the sword or to shot or shell of Krupp guns might be wholly
subjugated and forever put an end to by these methods of moral and
mental corruption, this new and scientific conjuring and bewitchment of
a people's central thought-forces, to bring it to self-disintegration.
26 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and eaten in his honour. That day is often chosen in
which to consecrate the "Pobratimstvo," or sacred
bond of "brotherhood" among two friends.
The general idea of heaven is that of successive
regions of varying degrees of purity and bliss; some
say there are seven, some say many more. The low-
liest is in the blue sky which lies nearest to the earth.
In each of these divine countries or lands of the upper
world is a station where records must be shown and
penalty must be paid. At death two angels are sent
to conduct the soul on its way. The idea is that they
stop at the various stations to examine his deeds done
in the flesh, and accordingly his place of abode is de-
termined and his penance fixed. Very few or none
attain the "Highest Heaven" immediately upon
leaving earth; most men must work their way
through, beginning at the lowest, and by deeds of
progressive enlightenment finally win the Land of
Supreme Gladness.
During a few days at Easter the joy of resurrection
time is supposed to be so great that all the angels at
the various stations forget their duties and all gates
remain open and unguarded. The persons who
chance to die during those days go straight into
whatever heaven they may have time to reach with-
out being held to answer at any station.
It has been suggested that this belief is not without
influence among the masses of the populations in
leading the Serbs to choose Easter as the most favoured
moment for the outbreak of insurrections in the cause
of liberty. It is always at this time of the melting of
the snows, and the return to life of man and nature
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 27
after the period of winter quiescence, and when the
spirit of resurrection most deeply possesses the
Servian soul, that his love of liberty and patriotic
ardour flame up the highest and fire him to raise the
standard of revolt against a foreign conqueror to the
cry of "Christ is risen!"
The first outbreak for the freeing of modern Servia
under Karageorge occurred at Easter-tide in 1804,
and it was on Palm Sunday, in 1815, when that first
insurrection had appeared to be crushed, that Milosh
Obrenovitch stood forth before the church of Ta-
kovo, holding the Serb standard and crying out:
"Here am I and here is war to the Turk," and so
began the last rebellion which finally freed modern
Servia; and throughout Serb lands all uprisings in
the attempt to throw off the yoke of foreign domi-
nation have burst forth near the time of the resur-
rection day.
One of the Servian notions is that as Christ had
his star, so with the birth of each individual a star is
born which endures while the person lives and dis-
appears with him when he dies, presumably to follow
him to the land of his new life. Shooting stars show
the death of some one. This idea corresponds to an
old Indian belief. Another popular conception is
that one week after the birth of every child a "Vila"
named "Oussoud," or fate (the verb "ossouditi"
means to judge), stands by the child's cradle and
pronounces its destiny. The mother does not see the
Vila but she can feel the presence, and sometimes in
deep quiet, by straining her ears and attention, she
can hear the fateful judgment. It is believed that the
28 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
day of death is preordained. Another belief is that
once in the year, at Epiphany, God visits the earth.
The day is called" Bogoyavlyenye," or" God-visiting."
Every human being has his or her little devil, always
ready to whisper evil in contest with the good angel
who always speaks good thoughts and good advice.
Besides the angels and the saints, each person, each
family and family group has its patron saint. In
pagan times these patron saints were the family
"God" and represented ancestor- worship. The
greatest insult then, as it is now, was something
uttered against "Thy (family) God" or "Thy (fam-
ily) Saint." A world of unseen beings, both good
and evil, symbolising nature forces surround human
life and take part in its affairs according to the de-
sires or nature of the individual.
The sorceress, or " veshtiza," is an evil spirit which
has taken possession of or been embodied in some
old woman of bad character. The vampire may
also be embodied in some human being or mostly in
some buried dead body, and come out of the grave
to suck the blood or the strength of the living.
A bad spirit which roams between heaven and
earth is a kind of dragon-woman, called "Halla,"
whose special delight is to destroy the crops by hail
and sleet. In the villages sometimes are "Vetren-
yatzi" (spirits of the wind) ; some, like "Halla," bring
on the storm, but generally they are good and ward
away the hail and sleet. In one of Janko Vesselino-
vitch's short stories, one of his village characters de-
scribes how "Petar" a young fellow of the village, is
a vetrenyatch, and how, when he sees the dark
MORAL CHARACTERISTICS 29
clouds flying overhead, he drops his work, runs
wildly hither and yon, gets in the course of the driv-
ing storm, and battles with "Halla" to turn the sleet
away from the village crops; how he runs fiercely,
beating against the wicked one, and is himself buf-
feted and beaten in return; how he still runs madly
struggling with the evil force, until finally the storm
turns off the track and leaves the village unharmed;
but "Petar," who has fought with the spirits of evil,
"is deadly white and has great hollows as blue as
indigo in his neck and cheeks and eye-sockets, and
is as one dead for a while." 1
According to popular poetic conception and ex-
pression, the most living as well as the most good
and lovable of the ambient spirits is the Vila, who
still exists as a legendary symbol — the Vila of the
streams, the Vila of the mountain and the Vila of the
clouds. They are maidens of eternal beauty and
youth; they are robed in garments of light, pure
white; they love song and dance; so wondrous fair
are they that mortals may not behold them and again
bear to look upon the common world. The women
in their tales of the Vila recount how that sometimes,
if a child is left alone in a garden or a field at mid-
day, when the sun strikes down in white heat, a Vila
will carry him away to her glorious home in the hills.
•"Petar" evidently possesses in his own person the power of those
Christians in a Western American town who believed that by their united
intense prayer in the instant of peril they had held off the cyclone from
destroying their newly-built church; and those Italians in a small chapel
at the foot of Mount Vesuvius who, by their strenuous petitions, stemmed
the thick current of lava as it rolled down toward them, and who show the
tourist to-day the stiffened mass turned abruptly aside from its natural
course, in evidence of the worth of their supplications.
30 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
There she will bathe him and dress him and comb
his hair and lull him to sleep ; she feeds him with nec-
tar and kisses him and plays with him among her
own magic woods and flowery meadows. The child
is entranced and "fairyfied" when his mother finds
him again in the garden and holds out her arms to
him; he is afraid of her; she looks ugly, because he
thinks always of the Vila ; she would take him in her
arms but he struggles to be free and gazes at her
with strange eyes; she offers him cakes and sugar
plums, but he cannot eat them ; when she kisses him
he cries, and he never ceases crying and pining for the
Vila until finally he wastes away and dies.
Many are the tales of the Vilas. In their true char-
acter they love human beings and are their guardi-
ans and good angels; they are the protectors of and
take an interest in the communities where they live;
they are patriotic and lovers of the nation ; they love
all heroes and brave men, protect them in battle, heal
their wounds, and direct them on a fortunate way,
as Pallas Athene was wont to appear at the side of
the hero in the heat of battle, to strengthen him
should the day seem to be turning against him. Often
in the national ballads the hero has his Vila, who is
called his "Sister"; she has chosen him as brother.
The great Vilas take an interest in the affairs of the
country. Such are the Vila of the Avala Mount, in
Servia; the Vila of Mount Lovtchen, in Montenegro;
the Vila of Mount Vitosh, in Bulgaria, etc.; each
country, each district, has its own Vila.
The Vila really is the symbol for the Ideal of
Beauty, of Goodness, of Heroism, the poetic image of
LANGUAGE 31
feminine greatness. Yet with all her grand qualities
the Vila is not without some taint of the feminine
genius she typifies. She is jealous, sometimes envious,
and has been known to dislike to hear singing more
beautiful than her own, punishes those who chance
to disturb her joyous dancing in round by moonlight,
borrows away a lovely child from its mother, some-
times winning its heart to herself. Still, she finally re-
lents and returns the child to its sorrowing mother,
and if she sends an arrow to shoot at some hero who
has offended her, she hastens to heal the wound with
herbs, and endows one whom she has punished more
richly than he was before, with gifts of glory or beauty.
Corresponding to this feminine ideal is the mascu-
line ideal symbolised in the "Zmay," or dragon. This
dragon is not the noisome and deadly monster as
slain by St. George, but the strongest and boldest,
the most handsome young hero of the world, who,
under the guise of a fiery great dragon, has power to
accomplish any undertaking or mount to the highest
heaven. A rain of "falling stars" is spoken of as
"the fire showered from his wings" as he flies
through space. In Servian the epithet of "Zmay" is
a word used only to denote the bravest of the brave.
3. LANGUAGE
The language, like the race of the Serbs, has its
roots in far antiquity.
The later Serb inflow into the lands of its present
and prehistoric occupation brought a Slavonic dia-
lect which doubtless became one with the indigenous
32
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Slavonic speech of those regions and which would
appear to have borne more direct impress of Zend
Sanskrit influence or derivation.
SERB
SANSKRIT
ZEND
ENGLISH
1
jedan
eka
aeva
one
2
dva
dwi (dvau)
dva
two
3
tri
tri
thri
three
4
chetiry
chatur
(chatwara)
chathwar
(chathru)
four
5
pet
panchan
(pancha)
panchan
five
6
shest
shash (shat)
csvas (kshwas)
six
7
sedam
saptan
haptan
seven
8
osam
ashtan
astan
eight
9
devet
navan
navan
nine
10
deset
dasan
dasan
ten
11
jedanaest
ekedasa
aevandasan
eleven
20
dvadeset
dvinsati
dvisaiti
twenty
100
sto
satam
satem
hundred
1000
hiliada
tisiutcha
sahasra
hazaura
thousand
SERVIAN
SANSKRIT
ENGLISH
put
pathy, patha
way
vuk
vuka
wolf
svetlo
sveta
light
voda
uda
water
ogni (ogen)
agni
fire
Verbs
yesam
asmi
I am
yesi
asi
thou art
yest
asti
he is
yesmo
smas
we are
yesti
stha
youi
are
jsou
sauti
they
are
GA/tnOA/3%
co en,
LANGUAGE 33
Professor Yagitch, the famous Slavist, shows in his
"History of the South Slavonic Languages" (Archives
for Slavonic Philology, 1895), that from west to east
among the southern slaves the language of the dif-
ferent groups from Slovene, Croat, Serb, Macedo-
Slovene, and Bulgarian, form a continuous chain of
dialects or slight variations of one and the same lan-
guage. The difference really consists in nothing more
than accent and pronunciation and length of certain
vowels, like the substitution of "i" and "ye" for "e,"
and the shifting of the accent in a word of more than
one syllable from one syllable to the other.
These different dialects are:
1. The Karantanian group, spoken in the districts
comprising the towns of Laibach (Ljublanye),
Terst (Triest), Goritza (Gortz), Villach, Marburg,
Cilli, Rudolfswert, Adelsberg. This dialect developed
in a literary language the Slovene.
2. Croat group: Zagrab (Agram) Cakavac, Varaz-
din Sissak, Rjeka (Fiume) Novi, Pola, Pisino, Lissa,
Spalato (Spleti), Brazza (Bratch).
3. Servian group: Serayevo, Cetinye, Dubrovnik
(Ragusa) Mostar, Banyaluka, Otocatz, Belovar,
Pozega, Osyek, Novisad, Nagy Kikinda, Versec, Bel-
grad, Aleksinac,Vranya, Skoplye, Novipazar, Pristina,
Prisren, Dibra, Tetovo, Gusinye. The Croat group
(2.) joined this group, which developed a literary
language, the Servian, so that these two last groups,
the Croat and the Servian, have one common written
language, the Servian, and form one literary unity.
4. Shopo-Macedonian or Macedo-Slovene : com-
prising Sofia, Vidin, Vratcha, Velbuzd (Kostendil)
34 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Bitolya, Ohrida, Kostur, Salonika, Doiran, Shtip,
Dzuma. This dialect has not a literary language;
their epic poesy and other popular songs are the Ser-
vian heroic epics and national song or subjects, as
Nemanyas, Kossovo, Lazaritza, Marco-Kralyevitch
cyclus, etc.
5. Bulgarian: Trnovo, Plevna, Rushtchuk, Silis-
tria, Varna, Plovdiv, Drama, Xanthi, Dedeagatch,
Adrianople, Constantinople having no national poetic
traditions or epics, developed a literary language on
the basis of the Danube-Bulgarian dialect.
Each of these groups had in mediaeval times its
state formation; there was, first, a Karantania;
second, a Croatia; third, a Serbia; fourth, a Shopo-
Macedonian empire under Samuel, afterward the
state of Vidin; and, fifth, a Bulgaria.
These various state formations did not arise from
or were not the result of separatist tendencies, but
have to be taken as representing spontaneous efforts
in different localities toward uniting the whole mass
of kindred groups of Slavs into one united whole.
The Serb group alone was able to unite the southern
Slavs into a great state, which endured with some
fluctuation of border during several hundred years.
The Bulgarian banner did not represent this desire
for self-union and self-government of a homogeneous
Slav race, but was a temporary extension of border
by an Ouralo-Finnish invasion into the territories
occupied by present Bulgaria, which had been super-
posed on a native Slav population whose language
and customs it came later to adopt.
It may be interesting here to remark that the Ian-
LANGUAGE 35
guage of the northern Slavs forms also a more or less
similar chain of dialects of the same language that is
the ancient Slavonic mother tongue.
From west to east we have the Tcheque and
Slovac ; the Polish ; Lusatians in Prussia and Saxony,
who call themselves "Srbi or Srbs"; the Baltic Slavs,
(who disappeared, having been transformed into the
Brandenburgians, Prussians, Pommeranians, and
Mecklenburgs) ; the Malo (little) Russians, the Belo
(white) Russians, and the Velko (great) Russians.
The language of the "Little Russians" is most like
that spoken by the Serbs. A curious point of ethnog-
raphy in this connection is that the earliest Servian
state formations centred in the regions called to-day
Xovi-Bozar, and the south-western parts of modern
Servia, which was called "Rashka," and its people
(the Serbs of that time) "Rascians," the name by
which the Magyars still designate the Servians.
All of these groups, both north and south, are
slightly varying forms of the same language, spoken
altogether by one hundred and fifty million people in
Europe, of whom about fifty million are non-Rus-
sians inhabiting non-Russian lands.
The Servian language, as fixed in its grammatical
forms and brought to more simple exactitude of pho-
netic writing and pronunciation by Vouk Stephano-
vich Karadjich in the early nineteenth century,
who used for that purpose the dialect spoken in
south-west Serbia and in Herzegovina as being the
purest and richest Serb form of speech, is used by the
Croatians and Servians, with this difference, that the
Croatians, who are the Roman Catholic Serbs, use in
CyrlUlo
Modern
Servian
Modern
Croat
Old Cyrillic
as used today
in i Irthodol
Cburc-h
Numeral
Value of
OldC.i ■
IgolltM
■
Btitnu Oatholu
with l'ait^nlovcn
Numeral
Value of
EHagollta
Engll.su
Sou nda
A a
A a
n
1
+
1
ah
B 6
Bb
B
li!
2
like
b in best
H 1!
V v
E
2
V
3
like
V in \cst
r r
Gg
r
3
%
4
like
g in •rel
£«
D d
A
4
<Q,
5
like
(i in day
K o
K o
(•
5
3
6
like
a in ate
1)K
Z z
?K
—
^
7
like
j orZh
S
(5
^>
8
dz
33
Z z
3
7
o»
9
Z
I
10
ST
10
t like
1 in it
11 11
I i
H
8
M
20
like
SB In sweet
Jj
Jj
—
AX
30
like
ye
Kk
K k
H
20
>
40
k
a .i
L 1
A
30
&
50
1
M M
M m
i\\
40
W
60
m
Hi
N n
II
50
P
70
n
Oo
o
70
9
80
nn
P P
n
80
1°
90
P
PP
R r
p
100
b
100
r
Oc
S s
G
200
S
200
s
Tt
T t
T
300
DO
300
t
y y
U u
Ov
400
9£
400
like
00 i'i loot
$*
F f
4>
500
°0°
500
f
Xx
H h
X
600
b
600
like
ll in has
GO
800
Q
700
oh
36
Cyrillic
Modern
Servian
Modern
Croat
Old Cyrillic
as used today
in Orthodox
Church
i
Numeral
Value of
old Cyrillic
Old Glagolitza
as used U>day in
Roman Catholic
Churls
witL iWoaloven
as Sacred Language
Numeral
Value of
Glagolitza
English
Sounds
MJ
Mr
800
sht
IU
C c
U
900
<v
900
like
tS in lets
^*
C c
M
90
&
1000
like
ch in chain
III m
S s
Hi
—
Hi
—
like
Sh in shall
Ti
—
«
—
like
U in but
XI
—
°8T^
—
> like
French U
TvH
—
°8S
—
in
eu
h
—
•8
—
like
e in opens
-B
—
A
—
J ,al1 or
yea
K)
—
P
—
like
U in mule
Ifl
—
—
—
ya
\e
—
—
—
like
ee-a
Aa
900
€
—
like in
in French
fin
7F>
—
B€
—
like on
in French
bon
IA
—
G€
—
like ien
in French
lien
ffi
—
£€
—
like ion
in French
clarion
60
—
—
ks]
8 ft
ijr
700
—
—
ps
v *-<
e
9
■e-
—
V
400
&
—
)
p 5
B o-
Jb Jb
L' I'
Lj lj
—
—
—
—
like
el-ye
ft H,
N n
—
—
—
—
like
en-ye
H h
Co
—
—
—
—
like
dth .
TJ t>
D Gj gj
d v Dj dj
—
—
—
—
like
Uv
Dz dz
—
—
—
like
dzh
37
38 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
writing the Latin characters, while the Serbs, like all
other orthodox Slavs, use the Cyrillic alphabet.
What Karadjich had done in modernising the
Cyrillic alphabet for the Serb, employing the pho-
netic principle, Louis Gai did in 1831 for the Croat
tongue, using the Tcheck-Latin alphabet with an
etymological basis.
The Serbo-Croat tongue, except for this difference
of alphabet, is one and the same. The grammar of
Vouk Karadjich, printed in both types of alphabet,
is used for the teaching to strangers of the Serbo-
Croat language.
The Cyrillic is based on a Runic script common in
ancient Slavonic writing, modifications of the "Gla-
golitz" letters, and several characters adapted from
the Greek alphabet. It was used by Cyril and
Methodus, the Slav brothers who carried Christian
conversion throughout the Slav countries of the Bal-
kans in the ninth century and made a translation of
the Bible into that tongue.
The Glagolitza is found in old Roman Catholic
ritual in the Paleo-Slovene language — used even to
day in Croatia — and it is found in the ancient holy
writing in Paleo-Slovene, the "sacred language," of
the orthodox Christian Church in all Slav lands.
In the Cyrillic alphabet each letter has one clear
sound which does not change. The tones are uttered
distinctly and melodiously, and while harmonious
there are certain sounds of letters as of words, some
sharp and harsh, others exceedingly mellifluous,
which imitate nature or evoke an image or emotion
by their sound alone.
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 39
In the Servian tongue there are 46.47 per cent, of
consonances, which is 8.39 per cent, more than in
German and 3 per cent, more than has the French.
The Servian tongue has no article, and the conjuga-
tion and declension of all parts of speech are ex-
pressed by inflection in the form of the words. The
grammatical forms of declension and conjugation
resemble more those of the classical than of the
modern languages.
This tongue lends itself marvellously well, both as
regards quantity and interpretation, to translations
from the Greek and Latin classics. It is well suited to
scientific exactitude and beauty of literary expression.
4. FAMILY LIFE — CLANS — COMMUNITIES
ZADRUGAS, ETC.
The basis of the Slav social organisation has always
been the family, with communistic groupings. These
organisations, however, are not "patriarchal," which,
in the proper sense, had always regard to shepherd
peoples and cattle-raisers, which were apt to be roam-
ing and required a strong central authority.
The Serb and all other Slav systems differ funda-
mentally from the patriarchal, and were not evolved
with special regard to roaming or nomadic habits,
but grew out of considerations affecting agriculture
and its requirements. The basis of the Serb organ-
isation is the family, either in its narrowest sense of
blood-relationship, in communistic organisation, or
other individuals grouped together for common work
and with common possessions. These forms are
called "Zadruga" (pronounced "Zadrooga"). The
40 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
word is derived from the verb "zadrugiti," to be
joined together.
Several Zadrugas, especially if they are kin-groups,
form the "Rod," or family, in the larger sense. The
agglomeration of such Rods through many genera-
tions form the "Pleme," or Clan. "Vlastela" is the
word for " Nobility." The " Plemitch " was the knight
or armed man of the Pleme. To-day "Plemitch" is
the designation for the lowest grade of the nobility,
or simple gentleman. These distinctions and terms
apply especially in Serb lands under Austrian sway,
where the ancient order still remains.
Procopius, the Byzantine historian, says, "The
Slavs [referring to Serbs] have never submitted to a
one-man rule in any form whatever, and from what
is known of them from the most ancient times they
have always been under rule of the people (BrjfxofcsaTia) .
Every public act was decided by popular assemblies."
So, in the Serb family organisations, the "Pater-
familias" is not vested with unquestioned authority
over the members of his family, in the absolute sense
of that term as it existed in Roman law.
The Serb youngster from his chUdhood up is a
member of a community, and receives an increasing
sense of responsibility growing out of his legal situa-
tion which decrees that from the moment of his birth
he enters into a partnership with his father and the
other members of the community.
The customary laws as obeyed in Servia to-day
exact that in case the property held in common by the
family comes to be dissolved, by partition or other-
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 41
wise, each member of that family (which is always a
community) receives an equal share in the allot-
ment, the youngest receiving neither less nor more
than the oldest. The paternal authority in the fam-
ily is, therefore, a moral and administrative authority.
The same principle works throughout all the more
complicated forms of Rod and Clan (where such
forms still exist), that is, that the nature of the chief
authority or head is one of obligation, moral and ad-
ministrative, and has no sense of over-lordship, in the
usual acceptation of that term, and includes no supe-
rior possessory rights. The Zadruga in all its various
forms and developments is a union of individuals,
bound together by blood-ties or not, for the possession
in common of properties to be worked by them in
common, according to equitable distribution of labour
and the enjoyment of the revenues on the principle
of share and share alike.
Every member of the Zadruga owes to the commu-
nity his share of the amount of effort necessary to the
working and welfare of the land, home industries, or
other properties possessed by the community in com-
mon. Having contributed his share of service to the
common requirement, he is free to use the rest of his
time in earning money apart from the Zadruga.
Those private earnings, and any personal gifts which
he may receive, are his own individual property to be
dealt with by him as he may choose. The dowry of
his wife and her personal property — unless subject to
stipulation otherwise, extremely rare — are personal
possessions (called "Bashtina" in the Code, Du-
shan) held apart from the community.
42 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Should any member desire to separate himself from
the Zadruga, or, on the other hand, should the Za-
druga find it desirable to rid itself of a hopelessly un-
ruly member, that member receives his share of the
common property and is excluded.
There are three forms of Zadruga: "Inokosna,"
covering no further than the second generation; the
Zadruga "of Kith and Kin," including several gen-
erations and all degrees of relationship; and the Za-
druga of "Yedinatzi," that is, the voluntary group-
ing together for purposes of common interests of
individuals between whom no ties of relationship
exist.
The Zadruga in its most usual form is that com-
prising the family groups, the immediate descendants
of the first and sometimes second generation, with all
those brought into relationship with them by marriage.
In other days these Zadrugas numbered as many as
and often more than one hundred souls, but with
modernising tendencies they have fewer members,
and in many cases limit themselves to one family of
sons and their children, and the unmarried girls, for
the bride follows her husband to become a member
of his Zadruga. Further than that the formation
breaks into smaller groups to found new Zadrugas.
The Zadruga begins with the family living in a
house, or " Koutcha," about which other houses, called
"Vayats" group themselves by degrees as the sons
marry and themselves found families, and it is gov-
erned by a "Stareshina" (elder), generally the oldest
member of the community, who is recognised to be,
by character and experience, the most capable man
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 43
for that position. He is chosen by the other members,
and age is not the main qualification which governs
their choice. It may happen that a younger man,
or even a woman, is named Stareshina should such
a one be considered the ablest and wisest member
of the Zadruga.
The Zadruga is one person in its civil and legal
status, and the Stareshina represents it before the law.
It is one unit or "Glava" (head). Some Turkish
records dating from the beginning of the eighteenth
century, showing the Serb population of the then
Turkish Pashalik of Belgrade, made it out that there
were in the whole Pashalik only about 2,000 inhabit-
ants, which in reality was the number of the Glavas
(Heads). Each Glava or Head represented a Za-
druga of perhaps 100 or more members, so the 2,000
Heads were, in true fact, between 200,000 to 300,000
individuals. The same mistake occurs in reading
Byzantine records enumerating Slavonic populations.
The Stareshina is the administrator of the prop-
erties owned by the community, decides as to the
expenditure or investment of its income, or, rather, he
executes the desires, in these regards, of the members
of the community with whom he has to consult before
coming to a decision touching any general interest.
It is a part of his duty to hold evenly balanced the
scales of justice in many ways, preventing the clash
of personalities and seeing that there is no inequality
of treatment and that each member has the same
amount spent for clothing and personal require-
ments. Although the Stareshina is invested with
almost autocratic power, he holds tenure by will of
44 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the members to whom he is responsible for good
government and can be deposed.
Should he from age or any other infirmity or for
any other reason prove unsatisfactory, he resigns
and is superseded by another person. He retires, in
that case, to live in a house set apart for him, a kind
of dower-house.
The wife of the Stareshina holds among the femi-
nine members of the community, and as regards the
women's interests, a position corresponding in author-
ity to that of her husband. She is called the "Do-
matchina" (home-keeper), and decides, in consulta-
tion with the important womenfolk, what the next
day's work is to be, supervises all household matters,
the catering and kitchen as well as questions of cloth-
ing and the spinning and weaving of textures. She is
the supreme authority in all the community interests
that lie in the feminine province.
The other women take it turn and turn about,
week at a time, being the aid or assistant to the Do-
matchina, each also helping in turn in the preparation
of the meals. The girls are entitled to a marriage out-
fit and, where it can be afforded, to a dowry. From
the time when they are able to handle a needle deftly
the young girls begin slowly to work on their trous-
seaus. The Domatchina gives them the necessary
materials. They spin and weave textures for house-
hold and personal linen, which are often ornamented
with exquisite needle-work — rich embroideries of gold
on white linen or wool textures or on velvet, and car-
pets, rugs, and hangings, woven like the Pirot and
other Servian carpets in a manner very much resem-
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 45
bling that of the Persian " Khelims." They are called
also "Tchilims." This custom is observed by all
classes of society.
The Stareshina and his wife live in the largest house
containing the great fireplace. The fire on the hearth
of the home is sacred. It must never be allowed to
die out. Its extinction would be regarded with super-
stitious dread of impending ill. So long as it burns,
healing and blessed influences are ascribed to it.
In the evening, after the day's work is over, the
members of the family assemble around this great
central hearth where the logs flame up, the men to
discuss various matters, the women with distaff or
sewing in hand. They tell stories and laugh and sing
songs, and sometimes recite ballads, either something
newly composed, perhaps some saucy doggerel of
satire and sharp sally "taking off" their own pecu-
liarities or politics, or some tale, it may be, of love and
war, or some ballad of modern or ancient heroism;
and they never meet without the prayer to God for
blessing and honor to the Holy Trinity. In attempt-
ing to enter into the spirit of these Servian reunions,
considering how dreary, often sordid — not to say
desolate — the life of the main mass of people who
work for their livelihood is apt to be in many other
lands, how care-burdened, how lacking in the capac-
ity to be gladsome, it may be worth while trying to
account for the child-like enjoyment of the Servian
country people, their free-hearted and joyous im-
pulse in giving themselves up for the moment to dance
and song, or to the rather stately pleasure, if one may
call it so, which they find in going through the cere-
46 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
monials of baptism, betrothal, marriage festivities,
various occasions of social gatherings, and to the
pleasure which accompanies even the reunions of the
"Moba," when those who have come from other dis-
tricts to help a neighbouring Zadruga with either
planting or harvest, have closed the day's work and
gather around the evening meal to enjoy themselves,
care-free, and, after the usual prayer and tribute to the
Holy Trinity, turn the occasion into a time of harm-
less jollity.
The institution of the Zadruga, sheltering its mem-
bers and exacting from them equal effort, while it
has not lent itself to any great increase of riches, and
indeed has been, through its essential spirit of free
hospitality and guardianship of the individual, dia-
metrically opposed to the spirit of cold exploitation
and gain for gain's sake, has always shielded its mem-
bers from any possible want. The mother has never
had to see her little one go without food and clothing,
has never had to strain her heart over the thought of
its having to struggle in after years for bare existence;
she could always rest secure in the knowledge that
unless some burning spirit of adventure, some extraor-
dinary ambition, led him to desire to go out into the
great world to try his fortunes, he would in the natural
course of things find daily work with safe shelter,
good food, and warm clothing all his life. She knew,
too, that if he grew up with unusual capacities he
could earn money for himself and have all such pos-
sessions in his own individual right, and that if he
should have the desire for higher education his ex-
penses would be paid by the Zadruga counting out to
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 47
him his share, and later he would probably receive a
loan from the Zadruga, allowing him to attend higher
institutions of learning or universities. The Servian
mother has been spared the microbe of anxiety over
the necessities of existence, and the Serb has not had
that soul-destroying factor in his composition, that
heaviness which the world overlies in the heart of the
main mass of mortals, like an ever-present unnamed
care preventing or dampening the free and joyous
impulses of nature.
The Zadruga has brought into the daily practice of
life many Christian precepts and embodied many
homely graces and virtues: honest work and just
remuneration, consideration for the rights of others,
severe moral exaction and laws of purity, and the
principle of mutual help and "brotherhood," prac-
tised in many institutions from the Moba to simple
hospitality. In its central fires the Zadruga has gener-
ated life forces that have made for a nation's endur-
ance and power to hold its own through ages of con-
stant attack. If this institution is undermined by the
spirit of greed of greater gain, or any other movement
for superseding the old and proved by the new and
problematic, what can take its place as a conserver of
national forces ? The Western world has not yet
wrought out a system guaranteeing anything like so
great a measure of fundamental rights and rewards to
the individual, with security against improvidence,
nor so rich a nursery for sterling qualities of character
both in man and woman.
In the Servian lands, under Austrian sway, the au-
thorities have for political reasons encouraged and fur-
48 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
thered all elements tending toward the dissolution and
destruction of the Zadruga formations. Many Austro-
German and Magyar political pamphleteers have
openly denounced the Zadruga system as a hindrance
to the development of agriculture, progress being in-
terpreted by them as the exploitation on a large scale
of vast acreages worked in the purely industrial sense,
having no regard to the earth as a foothold for homes
and a nourisher of human beings. Theirs is the argu-
ment of dealing with the soil as a feeder of commerce,
in opposition to the principle of considering the land
as furnishing homes and livelihood for vast numbers
of families. Within the kingdom itself there were,
during the second part of the nineteenth century,
injected into Servian public ideas foreign theories
which attacked the Zadruga, and a perceptible move-
ment began toward its disintegration. The idea
gained ground that the individual and single-handed
tilling of the soil or working of crafts would prove
more advantageous and confer greater independence
upon the individual than was the case under the Ser-
vian co-operative Zadruga system. The dissolving
of some of the Zadrugas into single families has not
had the expected results and has begun to create in
some villages a "poverty-stricken" class which was
before unknown in Serbia. This newly created class
of persons is only prevented from falling to the condi-
tion of "pauperism" by a law which makes inalien-
able a minimum of property, five acres of land, a pair
of oxen, and agricultural tools. Under the Zadruga
system a number of such small holdings worked in
common would have formed a w T ell-to-do community.
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE 49
Certain Servians have been able personally to ob-
serve in the lands of their origin some of the theories
advocated in western Europe and the appalling mis-
eries which those theories have up to this time been
unable to avert, and have compared them with the
results of the Zadruga system, proved through the ages
to have well nourished and well sheltered the Servian
race. Those students of modern institutions would
wi^h to find some means of bringing this old Servian
formation into line with impatient and more ambitious
modern requirements without allowing it to be over-
whelmed in its essential principles and lost to the
race.
During the la>t two decades there has appeared in
many districts in Servia a modernised Zadruga,
evolved from a movement for reformulation based
not on the principle <>f family relationship but on
that of community of interests; a combination of
community of property with co-operation and equality
of labour and profit-sharing minus the conditions of
living in community. In short, this form is a com-
promise between the ancient Zadruga and the co-op-
erative society sought for by the more advanced and
practical among \\.>tern social reformers. This new
evolution of the Zadruga. by its common-sense organ-
isation and its adaptability to conditions of labour and
the modern trend of life, has practically attained the
solution of the vexed problems aimed at in the "Vor-
ruits" and other experimental social colonies in many
lands.
There are among the Servian people a number of
interesting ancient customs bearing on the social and
50 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
economical life of the population which will be treated
in a later chapter.
These and similar institutions and customs, which
have existed not only among the Servians but among
all Slav peoples from times of remotest antiquity,
force the conclusion that they have been a race of cult-
ure which must have long ago passed through a period
of social and economic development, imposing in
those far-distant ages the working out and solution of
problems similar in principle to those which confront
Europe and America to-day. 1
5. RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN — THE
PLACE OF THE WOMEN IN FAMILY AND NATIONAL
LIFE
The relations between men and women in Servian
lands were conditioned by life in the Zadruga and by
the peculiar situation through the ages of the Serb
peoples which obliged them to continual vigilance
and the battle of self-defence against a foreign foe
who might attack or raid at any moment. Thus a
well-organised rule of life within the Zadruga, and the
attitude of the man as militant protector of home and
family.
By an unwritten law and national usage a boy, from
the moment he is old enough to carry arms, becomes
the natural defender of every woman and child
1 In some parts of Europe, especially in Germany among the nobility
and higher bourgeoisie "possessing classes," a movement is in course of
development which binds families and their relations by blood and name
in a strong intimate alliance, or "family community," on the principle
of conservation of forces. The fortune is held in common and all interests
submitted to a permanent "family council" and a yearly "family assem-
bly" or ''gathering of the clan."
MEN AND WOMEN 51
whether related to him by kinship or not. He is
sternly taught that it is his first duty to protect the
woman, that his own honour is at stake with hers.
"Mother" is a word of sacred significance, and "sis-
ter" is the term by which the Servian man addresses
a woman who is a stranger. "Little sister," expres-
sive of both reaped and affection, is used to a friend
as well as to a real sister.
Seyo moya, itnash koga svoga?
Imam brata imam i dragoga,
Seyo moya pravo da mi kashesh,
Hi volish brata il'drago§
Za brata byh oba oka dala,
A za dragog tri niza dukata,
I to vi-lini in- snam 1 * i J i h dala:
i prodjoh ya dragoga nadjoh,
g et prodjoh, ya brata ne nadjoh:
Nema I. rata, dok ne rodi mayka.
(Literal translation)
Sister mine, bast t!n»u any dear ones?
A brother have I. and. loo, my betrothed.
Sister mine, prithee tell me truly,
Which lovM th.»u best, brother or thy betrothed?
For brother's sake, my two eyes would I give,
For sake of my betrothed,— three rows of ducats—
And I protest, I know not if I'd give so much.
Passing through the village, I a lover found,
But passing through the world no brother could I tind.
Never brother but he's born of one's own Mother!
There exists in the Servian language no expression
for cousin in the first and second degrees. Cousins are
called "brother" and "sister," and the kinship which
partakes of the same nature is sacred and precludes
52 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
marriage. Boys and girls, women and men. within
the old-fashioned Zadruga arc kepi some^ hat separate
from each other and arc subject t<> certain strict usages
of decorum which impose the greatest reserve in regard
to all passional tendencies. At work and at reunions,
except in the dance, the 1>oys and girls are kept to a
great degree in separate groups. There are alw
older married women present "to keep order." The
young people do not have any very great opportunity
of becoming intimately acquainted before marriage.
Among the old-fashioned the idea still obtains that
persons whose relationship could no longer be traced
by actual degree, but whose "family saint" is the
same, are considered as too nearly akin to many.
From ancient times the strictesl laws of purity
have been observed with rigour. Some of the regu-
lations of this moral code would seem fierce and even
terrifying to more Western ideas. Marriage is a di-
vine sacrament and is looked upon as the Only possi-
ble condition permittmg the intimate intercourse of
the sexes; illegitimacy of children is practically un-
known in Servian lands. The exhibition of love or
conjugal affection in the presence of others is consid-
ered unsacred or indelicate, and the mutual de-
meanour of husband and wife appears to strangers
ceremonious if not cold. The contrary is the case
with the expression of parental, filial, or friendly
affection, which is spontaneous and warm.
No marriages are ever made in the same Zadruga;
they are even rare among residents of the same village.
The bride is generally sought at the greatest distance
possible from the home, a distance often of two or
MEN AND WOMEN 53
three days' journey on horse or foot. The steps tow-
ard bringing about a marriage are generally under-
taken by a third person; some relative or friend of
cither family, through whom the father seeks the
bride for his son, begins the negotiations between the
parents which, if satisfactory, lead to the meeting of
the young folk.
A Servian woman has special pride in three things:
First, her household linen, woven and ornamented by
herself, with its rich and beautiful needle-work, often
recalling in pattern the Venetian point. Her second
pleasure i> in the quality of her home-made preserved
fruits, jams, jellies, and other sweetmeats, some of
these dainties, with a cup of coffee and a glass of
spring water, being offered to the visitor. Besides the
cleanliness and order <>f the house, she prides herself
much on her good cooking, and has many ways of pre-
paring chicken and suckling pig, receipts for the prep-
aration of soups and vegetables and a great variety of
cakes.
Where more primitive conditions prevail in the
Zadruga groups, and where the general duties had
ird almost whollvto tilling the soil, women did
certain kimN of field work, and their home duties,
purely of a household nature made of the woman
merely the good housekeeper whose burdens in a
maternal veil-.- were many.
It has been found, however, in those classes and
circumstances where a cultural expansion was pos-
sible through, f<»r instance, improved educational
mean>, that the man has in no sense held the woman
down to household drudgery as her natural limita-
54 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
tion; on the contrary, she has, on a line with the man,
shared in the benefits of improved conditions and the
man has opened up to her educational and other advan-
tages in pace with the development of opportunities.
The Servian is proud of any special attainment by
his women-folk, and there are many instances to-day
of young men who are making their way in life in one
calling or another, who devote some part of a limited
earning or salary to paying for the education in some
European school of a sister or cousin who is studying
to qualify in some technical work or with the idea of
becoming a teacher. Instances of that nature are
personally known to the writer.
In war times women cared for the wounded and
attended to an important extent in the provisioning of
the armies with food and clothing. These they car-
ried to the troops across the hills or down the valleys,
as the case might require. It has often happened
when every man, young or old, able to hold a gun was
fighting, that the women, too, shouldered their rifles
and fought side by side with fathers and husbands,
brothers and sons. As various photographs pub-
lished in newspapers throughout the w r orld have
shown, the Servian women did not hesitate during
the recent crisis to form themselves into bands for
military drill and to organise their resources as fight-
ing auxiliaries. The men said nothing to these prep-
arations, knowing that it must be so, and that the
Servian women were only doing what the women of
their race had been often forced to do in times gone
by. Especially is this true in Montenegro, where the
entire provisioning of the armies and hospital work
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 55
were always in the hands of the women. When Prince
Nicola desired to form a men's department for those
services, the Montenegrin women opposed the meas-
ure and considered themselves wronged in a special
prerogative!
Although the Servian woman has not shown her-
self ambitious to take the lead in public or political
affairs, she has always been the great conservative
force in the nation, and defended all national inter-
esta as if they were matters of the fireside. Like her
symbol the Vila, she is the font of pure patriotism.
In her heart tin- fires of devotion never die, she cher-
ishes the old traditions and customs and religious
faith, teaches her babe the old histories and tales of
past achievements, and inspires him or her with a
determined belief in Servian destiny.
The Seil) woman will not take service in a strange
home, though she will perform household drudgery
for her own family. Neither is she found as shop
assistant or in commercial positions. She will go as
teacher, doctor, or in some department of state ser-
vice, but will not become a domestic servant.
6. CUSTOMS — FAMILY FESTIVALS CHRISTMAS
EASTER TRADITIONS — CEREMONIES, ETC.
One of the most important days of the year, and
the most distinctive family celebration of the Serb
race, is the "Slava," or celebration of the family saint.
This custom is purely Servian, not found in the tra-
dition of any other nation, and is so deeply identified
with the Serb race that it is said, " Where the Slava is,
there is the Serb." This custom has been taken by
56 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
certain writers and ethnologists as means of deter-
mining the nationality in some more or less mixed
districts of the Balkan peninsula as in some parts of
Macedonia and western Bulgaria.
The Slava, it is thought, has descended or evolved
from ancestor- worship, and in pre-Christian times
came to refer to a divinity who was the especial pro-
tector of each family or clan.
The rite of honouring those who have gone before,
and especially in regard to ancestor-heroes, is char-
acteristic of Serb customs and ballads.
In pagan times each family and family group had
its own family god (similar to the Roman custom).
When the Serb families became Christians they bap-
tised their ancient family god along with themselves
into the Christian faith and gave him a name of a
saint, generally that marking the day of their own
baptism, and so he became the patron saint of the
family. His picture, painted or enamelled generally
on a golden background in Byzantine style or flatly
traced in wood, or even a lithograph, hangs on the
wall of every Servian house. Before it a small oil lamp
is suspended which is lighted on festival occasions.
The word "Slava" in all Slavonic tongues means
glory. It is used by some of them, by the Tcheques
for instance, as a word of hailing, like "Hurrah" in
English. The word "Hosanna" in the Bible is
translated "Slava." It is used in the verb form "sla-
viti" to honor a patron saint, or in a general sense
"to glorify."
On the day of the Slava the Serb house is open to
all; a stranger may enter and receive the same wel-
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 57
come and hospitality as that given to family or
friend.
The celebration in the more remote country dis-
tricts lasts for several days, part of which are given
to preparation for the day itself. In the towns one
day only is now kept, while in Belgrade, where great
attempts have been made to introduce a "fashion-
ableness" from other countries, the Slava has been
reduced to a reception-day where some of the ancient
ceremonial is still observed, such as the offering of
the "Kolvivo," etc.
Throughout the country, however, the old tradi-
tionary festival is still a living force both in its mys-
tic and social meaning. The whole ceremonial, with
its formula of greetings and invocations, has been hal-
lowed by hoary custom into almost ritualistic form.
The first act of preparation Is a thorough house-
cleaning. There must be no speck of dust or impu-
rity anywhere; all must be polished and burnished to
its brightest, and for every member of the family
there must be fresh, pure clothing, either new or the
old put in best order. Every one makes ready his or
her richest and finest apparel.
A feast is prepared the important and obligatory
items of which are the "Kolatch" (cake) and the
Kolvivo. The Kolvivo evidently refers to an an-
cient rite of sacrifice, and is a plate of boiled white
wheat, kneaded with nuts and honey or sugar, and
iced or decorated in some way with melted or coloured
sugars. It is really an offering for the souls of the
dead; it is not present at the Slavas of St. Michael
and St. Elias.
58 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The other consecrated dish, the Kolatch, is a
large and flat cake of wheat flour, the top marked
with a cross dividing it into four quarters, the spaces
containing letters indicating the device "Jesus Christ
the Victor."
On the eve of the Slava a priest comes to the house,
blesses the water, reads prayers tor the dead, and
asperges the house and its occupants with a myrtle
branch dipped in the consecrated water. Messen-
gers are sent through the village to give general invi-
tation to the Slava or to the ceremonial of Slava
eve. In towns this announcement is often given by
a notice in the newspapers. The time-honoured for-
mulae for invitation to the beginning of the festival on
Slava eve are: "We are sent to bring you greeting
and to ask you to come this evening to our house;
what God and our Saint have given we will not hide
from you." Or the words: "We worship God and
celebrate the glory of our saint Amos [saint so and so];
you are bidden to come that we may talk and drink
together." The answer is: "That is not hard to
accept, being asked to such honour."
Each guest on arriving on Slava eve calls out,
"Master of the house, art thou ready to receive
guests?" The "Svetchar," i. e., the man who is the
head of the family celebrating the Slava, answers,
"Yes, such guests as thou," and steps forward to em-
brace the visitor, who says, "May thy Slava be hap-
py!" The host answers, "And thy soul, may it be
happy before God!" The guest gives an apple or
quince or other fruit to the master of the house and
enters. This ceremony is repeated with each new-
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 59
comer. When all are assembled the wife or daughter
of the house enters, carrying a pitcher of water and
a small basin and a finely embroidered towel. Com-
ing to each in turn, she pours out a little water over
the hands, letting it trickle down into the basin — they
never dip their fingers into the basin. When she has
gone the rounds, the guests all stand around the table,
which does not contain the Kolatch or the Kolyivo,
the Svetchar places a very large candle in the
centre of the table and lights it. He then takes from
the hands of some of the women-folks a small earth-
en vessel containing live charcoal, upon which he
scatters incense. He first incenses the picture of the
saint, then in turn each one of the guests. He says,
"Brothers, let as pray," and unless there chances to
be present some one possessing an especial gift of
eloquent expression, they all stand with bowed heads
praying in silence. After that the guests sit and begin
supper. The host remains standing and serves his
guests, pouring out the wine or plum brandy (slivo-
vit/.a or rakia). After supper come toasts and
speech-making.
In form and subject the toasts for this occasion are
fixed by tradition. They number seven. The first is,
"May God always help us!" The second, "For the
better hour!" supposed to refer to happy meeting
after death. The glory of the Holy Trinity." The
third, "May the Holy Trinity help us in all places,
on oui journeys on the roads, before the judges, in
the forests, on the waters; the Holy Trinity guide us,
reach forth to help and preserve us from all ill!" The
fourth toast is offered by the guests to the host and
60 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
wishes him many years to conic in which to celebrate
his Slava. JIc answers, "You are .'ill welcome to
this house; mayyou be happy wherever you maj be!"
The iii'th toast is proposed by the guests to the master
of the house and to his family. The sixth is given
by the Svetchar to the health and happiness of his
guests -"to those who have been asked and to those
who have come unbidden"; and the seventh toast is
likewise proposed by the host to the health of the
families of his guests. Upon this all depart to return
again next morning; those who have too far to jour-
ney are invited to stay the night as guests of the house.
The celebrations of the next day — of the Slava it-
self — begin, unless the priest can come to the house,
by the Svetchar going early to the nearest church,
carrying with him the Kolyivo, Kolatch, wine, in-
cense, and the great wax candle. These objects are
placed on the altar and remain there during a service.
Then the priest cuts the Slava-kolatch from the bot-
tom side in the cuts, following the cross marked on the
top of the cake. The priest and Svetchar both hold
the cake, chanting certain prayers and moving the
cake in rhythm as they sing; they then break it be-
tween them and where it breaks in the middle some
drops of wine are poured. The priest keeps one
half, the other is taken home by the Svetchar. The
Kolyivo is also especially consecrated.
Where it is possible this consecration service takes
place at the home of the Svetchar before sitting down
to table for the great feast at noon. In that case
every one present, the whole family with the guests
of the eve before, their women-folk and children, take
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 61
part in the ceremony of consecration. As the priest
holds the cake a person next to him holds a hand on
his arm or shoulder, giving the other to the person
next, the chain continuing along to half the guests, the
other half forming a like chain from the side of the
char. As they chant they all sway in rhythm
and this formula is repeated: "Christ is in our midst
now and to the ages, amen."
The half <>t' the broken cake is placed on the table
with a wax candle lighted on or by it. The guests
then swing the incense-burner before each other,
cross themselves, and await in silence, still standing,
for the Svetchar to speak. "Brothers, let us now
drink to the eternal glory of God; wherever and when-
ever th.it glorj i- honoured and mentioned by men,
there and always may it help US, God grant it."
The persons present answer in chorus, "May God
give it." One of them then sin^s, "May God and
His Glory forever help him who drinks to the Glory
of God. What i> more beauteous to see on this earth
than Glory of God and bread that is earned!"
The glasses are filled; the Svetchar says: "We
have drunk to God's glory; let us drink to the honour
of Holy Cross and of our Christian names. God
give that we never forget the names of our christening;
let us honour them always in His name!" Then again,
all standing, the Svetchar proposes the third toast to
th<- honour of the Holy Trinity, with the same invoca-
tion as i> usual in naming the Holy Trinity — "for help
in all times, in all places, that every Christian be blessed
in his home, in his work, on his journeys in dark for-
ests and on the seas, may the Holy Trinity help us!"
62 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Then the wife or daughter of the Svetehar hands
the Kolyivo from a tray to each of the guests, who
in taking a spoonful of the wheat, nuts, and honey,
pronounces a benediction for health, wealth, and joy
to the family. The guests then sit down to the feast
of which the chief viand is, in summer, roast lamb, or,
in winter, a suckling pig. If the Slava should come
during fasting time, the piece de resistance is fish
roasted on layers of onions and red peppers. They
fall to with great heartiness, with laughter and fun-
making. Songs are sung now and then; jokes are
cracked; pranks are played. Sometimes one rises to
offer some toast or make a short speech. The old
national ballads are recited, recounting the great deeds
of national heroes and tales of the old Servian kings
who ruled in might and majesty. After dinner-time
is dancing of the "Kolo" to music of flute or bagpipe
or to that played by gipsies. The festival is kept up
in many districts for two days, during which time the
great candle continues to burn. The custom used to
be that the rolling out of an empty wine barrel was
the signal that the festivities were at an end; in
Bosna-Hertzegovina and Dalmatia, where the wine
was kept in skins, the hint was conveyed by an empty
skin, flat and folded, put up on a table. The guests,
on taking leave, congratulate the host and pray that he
may yet live many years to celebrate his saint in such
good fashion. During the rejoicings at the Slava, as
on other occasions of celebrations or ceremonies,
pistol-shots are fired in the air.
Every village also has its patron saint, or saint to
which it owes a vow, which is celebrated in much the
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 63
same manner as the family Slava, and is called "Za-
vetima," from Zavet (vow). The host being one of the
most important men in the village, the Kolyivo is
used, but the greater part of the ceremonies take place
in church. In case the Zavetima should fall some time
between Easter and the end of June, the ceremony is
called "Carrying of the Cross" ("Nossiti Krsta").
In the vicinity of the village, at different points,
grow trees which bear, deeply cut into their bark,
a large cross. The tree is generally a lime tree — the
sacred Slavonic tree — or oak or wild fruit tree. These
trees are sacred, must not be cut down nor injured in
any way, or if they bear fruit the fruit must not be
gathered.
For the carrying of the cross the villagers assemble
under one such tree, and after prayer they form a
procession headed by a young man carrying a very
large wooden cross. Immediately after him goes the
priest, richly vested, bearing the Holy Scriptures
preciously bound. The more prominent villagers fol-
low two by two, each carrying the icon or picture of
his saint from his own house. The rest of the popu-
lation follows also in double file, forming a long pro-
cession which winds slowly through the meadows and
hills and among the trees, chanting over and over
again the refrain, "The cross-bearers implore, God
have mercy ! " As the procession comes to each sacred
tree, they kneel while the priest invokes Almighty
God to bless the villagers with happiness and pros-
perity. The priest then cuts afresh the bark of the
tree where it was before marked with the cross,
and the procession proceeds on its way. As with all
64 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Servian festivities and celebrations, the villagers fire
off their pistols as they go along.
When the solemn procession Is over the villagers
who have brought food and wine hold an immense
picnic, which is the occasion of merry-making, dan-
cing, singing, games, and contests of strength.
Marriage. — Because of the fact thai marriages so
rarely occur between inhabitants of the same village,
and because of the severe rules that guard young
girls, matches are generally arranged between the
parents of the young people, who have not much
opportunity of falling in love before marriage. How-
ever, romances resulting in runaway matches, or a
kind of kidnapping ending in marriage, sometimes
occur. An old song recounts how that two girls,
dear friends together, were married and went to
homes far separate from each other. One finds thai
she loves her husband, but fears that the other may
not be happy. So she goes out into the garden at
night alone and says: "O bright and beautiful star,
tell me is my sweet companion happy in her new
home ?" The star answers: "The people of her new
family are happy, all except her young husband. He
is not happy; there is no joy for him." Then the girl
answers: "Go, sweet star, greet for me my dear
friend; my mother knows where the magic plants
grow which will turn the heart of my dear sister to
her lord. I will send her these; she will then find
gladness in her new home!"
There were, by the census of 1905, in Servia, about
eight hundred women to every thousand men.
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 65
When the son of a house is come to full young
manhood his lather begins to look out for a young
girl who would make him a suitable wife. Through
a third party the inclinations of the girl's parents are
sounded, and when he is convinced that the marriage
would he agreeable, he sets out with a friend or two
to ask the parents formally for the girl's hand. He
takes a hunch of flowers, a cake of wheaten flour, and
some coins. lie arrives at about the time of the
evening meal, the girl's father receives him and his
friends at the table, and after his demand, expressed
with ceremony, a show is made by the master of the
house of consulting with his wife, who is bidden to
ask th<> daughter what her inclinations are. The
father meanwhile |><>ur> red wine for his guests; they
all drink with an invocation that God will guide them
according to His will. The young girl is brought into
the room by her brother <>r a near male relative and
led up to the one for whose son she is destined. She
bows and kisses his hand, then kisses the hand of
the others, and finally of her father. The father of
her future husband offers her the flowers and the
coins with wishes for her happiness. In accepting the
flowers -he bows low to him again and kisses his hand,
and that "taking of the money" engages her troth.
After the -irl leaves the room some of the men fire
off pistol-shots in the court-yard to announce the en-
gagement. The father of the young man puts down
B piece of gold "as price paid for the girl," according
to ancient custom. The two fathers embrace and
count each other from that time as relatives. They
arrange all details for the wedding. Custom wills
66 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
that the bridegroom's father shall make gifts to the
bride's women relatives and to herself, and that he
shall furnish the wedding-gown. When the engage-
ment ring is brought by friends and relatives of the
bride's future family, it is an occasion of festivities for
the young of both sexes, but the bridegroom is not
present.
Kariteh and Militchevitch and other writers have
described the wedding cavalcade and its ceremonies.
On the wedding day or a day or so before, accord-
ing to the distance separating the homes of bride and
groom, very early in the morning, the young man's
friends gather at his father's house in great spirit,
and after a short repast, taken with many toasts and
good wishes, they mount their horses, fire their pis-
tols into the air, and merrily start for the home of the
bride. They are armed and with them goes a stand-
ard-bearer and a voyvoda, or commander. The
horses have been gaily decked with flowers and
streamers, sometimes have hung on them bright hand-
kerchiefs richly embroidered, and other gifts by the
villagers, who are all interested in the wadding and
are each and all anxious to contribute something to
the gladness of the event. At the head of the caval-
cade rides a young man on a horse with gay trap-
pings, carrying the "Choutura," or flat wooden jug of
red wine, which is also decked with flowers, an
embroidered hand-towel, and hung with chains of
bright silver coins. It is the role of this wine-bearer
to offer wine to all persons who may be met on the
way and to make fun and jokes on the journey and
during the whole time of the wedding rejoicings.
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 67
He is the clown of the occasion. His jokes are not
always in the best taste, for he is free to say what he
pleases and to whom he pleases so long as he is amus-
ing or droll. The bride and the groom are not exempt
from his sallies, and he uses his privileges to the full.
After him come the standard-bearer and the voy-
voda, who has strict military command of the whole
cavalcade. Next come the bride's-maids, near rela-
tives of the groom. They bring presents to the bride,
with flowers, and her wedding-dress sent by the father
of the future husband. Then rides the bridegroom
with his "Koom," or first witness, on his right side,
and the "Stari-svat," the second witness, on the left;
then riding two by two the rest of the wedding guests.
The bride awaits them surrounded by her family and
friends; her young girl friends, grouped by twos, sing
songs of epithalamium, simple in words but relating
the emotions of mother and daughter, their pain at
parting, their looking forward to new happiness.
The girls dance and make merry about her.
Many pistol and gun shots tell of the arrival of the
bridegroom's cavalcade. They are welcomed with
music often played by gipsies, and invited to the
table, which is richly furnished with good things.
The bride's-maids lead the bride into one of the
Vayats (huts or pavilions) that surround the main
house, and there they dress her in her wedding-gown
and make her ready for the ceremony. A brother or
near male relative waits at the door to hand her out.
Her appearance in the garden or court-yard is greeted
1 »y volleys of shots fired into the air by the bridegroom's
friends. The girls give her a coronal of flowers and
68 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
show her where the groom stands; she looks through
it toward him, then goes through the ceremony of
kissing the hands of all the men guests, beginning
with the Ivoom and Stari-svat. She then is conducted
with ceremony to the large central room, where she
finds her father and mother seated before the fire; she
bends down and kisses the hearthstone, makes obei-
sance to her parents, kissing their hands, and receives
their embrace and their blessing.
Her brother, who has conducted her through all
this ceremonial, confides her to the keeping of the
"Dever," whose special duty it is to protect her
until she is safely arrived in the home of her
husband.
The husband's cavalcade then mount their horses
with the bride and set out for the church. The
Dever leads the bride to the altar and gives her
away.
A curious custom exacts that on coming to the
home of her husband she must step to a sack of
grain, then to a plough, and then to the entrance to
the court-yard, where a boy babe is given into her
arms by a woman. She lifts the babe high in the air,
kisses it, and returns it to the one who gave it to her.
She then receives bread and red wine, and with those
emblems enters her new home.
She is awaited on the hearth before the central fire
by her parents-in-law; they greet her with ceremony,
lead her around the fire, and the mother gives her a
shovel with which she heaps together the bright coals
that had been scattered on the hearth. Then comes
the great wedding feast to which all the villagers have
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 69
done honour by contributing to its rich store. The
bride's gifts are distributed by a woman before the
guests take places at the tables.
The Choutura-bearer, the "jester" of the wed-
ding, begins his nonsense by describing in comic
terms in a loud voice the presents which the bride
has brought to the Koom, the Stari-svat, and various
members of her new family, and so on he continues,
bantering and poking fun at each one in turn during
all the festivities. After the banquet the time passes
in dance and song, laughing and talking, reciting,
etc. At nightfall the Koom goes with the bridegroom
to the Vayat, or hut prepared for him, and afterward
the young wife is conducted there by the Dever,
who hands her to the Koom, who in turn places
her hand in that of the young husband and goes
away.
D ifh and Buried. — To the Servian, whose many
invocations during the daily round of events show
him to think of himself as in constant communica-
tion or connection with the denizens of the unseen,
whether God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, saints, nymphs,
or other spirits, evil or benign, death seems to bring
no terrors.
A well-known New York divine (Rev. Canon
Starr), on Easter morning of this year, in the New
York Pro-Cathedral, said to the crowded congrega-
tion before him: ' k You all, every one of you, know
from circumstantial evidence that you are going some
day to die, but not one of you believes it. If you
did your life would in some way be different from
what it is."
70 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Servians, in adopting Christianity, took it in
many instances in a literal or child-like sense. They
believed it. The atmosphere of prayer in which he
lives from morning to night, and the continual atti-
tude of asking God's help in every act and relation
of his daily existence, form a constant reminder to
the Servian of the ephemeral nature of this life's
business. He takes as a matter of course what one
might call his relativity to the eternalities, which, to
his mind, are no less a part of reality than are the
changing things of the seen world.
He shows no fear of death. When death is near he
asks forgiveness of all present, or should he be un-
conscious at that moment, they one by one pro-
nounce forgiveness in the name of God, making the
response they would have uttered had he been able to
ask the pardon.
Some of the burial rites and beliefs concerning the
soul after death show a simple acceptance of Christ
as the Prototype. Others point to traditions of ages
far past, to a time when Dabog, the Sungod, and
purification by fire were the governing conceptions
of the race.
As the ancestral cinerary urns of antiquity bear
witness to the Slav custom of burning the dead, so
some fragmentary remains of that ancient rite are
suggested in the burial ceremony still observed in
many districts among the Serbs.
The details of the ritual vary, but the intention
expressed is the same.
Before the body is placed in the coffin a fire is
made in it with sulphur and gunpowder and wisps
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 71
of tow. The same is done to the grave before burial,
and at sunset of the day women once more go to the
closed tomb and burn upon it the same elements.
When the body is lowered, coins are thrown in — re-
calling the objects in bronze found in the cinerary
urns of the Veneds. Each one present casts in a
handful of earth, begging the soul which is starting
on its journey to carry messages to those among the
loved ones or friends who have passed on into the
world beyond. These messages are quite simple and
natural, words of love and greeting, such as would be
confided to some one of the living who might be set-
ting out to a distant part of the country. Another
custom of apparently pagan origin is that of giving
"feasts for the soul of the departed."
First, on the day of burial a bullock or sheep is
slain, showing the idea of sacrifice, and its roasted
flesh is eaten by those attending the funeral as the
first "feast for the soul." At that feast, after prayer
has been offered and the guests have passed the
burning incense among themselves, swinging it one
to another, there is handed around, the dish of
boiled wheat, or Kolyivo, which has been conse-
crated by the priest. Some of this food, with red
wine, is put on a table in the room where the death
occurred, in case the soul, not yet ascended, should
feel hungry. This may derive from old tradition, but
it may also be suggested from Christ's eating the
broiled fish with his disciples in the early morn, by the
shore of Galilee, after his burial and resurrection but
before his ascension.
The ceremonial at this first banquet is expressive
72 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and shows the instinct for the beautiful in the Sla-
vonic soul.
A friend or relative capable of presiding has been
asked to be master of the feast, and stands at tin-
head of the table— all stand during the ceremonies
which initiate the least. It falls to him to pray t'<>r
the soul that is about to leave the earth, and to ex-
press in the name of all the assemblage tokens of
affection and regard for it and sympathy for those
left behind. Meanwhile, the women relatives, pre
ceded by the dearest, have come softly into the room,
and, with hair falling loose over the shoulders, they
stand silently back of the master, with their heads
slightly drooped to one side and their hands to their
hips, recalling the pose of statuettes found near the
old cinerary burial grounds in Bosnia. When lie has
finished speaking they begin to file in procession
around the table, their Leader wailing and the others
grieving in low, rhythmic murmurs. An old woman
from among the funeral guests comes forward, puts
her arms around the mourner, and says: "Grieve no
more; it is God's will. Think! as thy dear one has
gone, so must we all go ! May God grant long life to
those who still remain to thee!"
The women wear no flowers or jewels during the
year of mourning, and go often to the tomb to wail
and ask God's forgiveness for the soul of the dead.
They give a ritualistic sense to this wailing, which is
done rhythmically, crooning in unison or in a sad,
monotonous melody. It is sometimes chanted in
spontaneous verse.
On the day following the burial the house is thor-
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 73
oughly cleansed and the objects used in the cleansing
burned.
According to a belief relating to Christ, they think
that the soul lingers on the earth as He did for forty
days after death, visiting its old haunts, and finally,
that it goes on the fortieth day to Jerusalem whence
it ascends to its place in the skies.
That fortieth day is the occasion of one of the
feasts for the soul, the last of which marks the anni-
versary of the death.
Pobratimstvo (Brotherhood) and Posestrinstvo (Sis-
terhood). — An old Servian custom still surviving in
many districts is the adoption by two men or boys of
each other as "brother," or by girls as "sister," or
sometimes by two of different sex as brother and
sister. The brother, in that case, would be a relative
of the girl, too near in blood, according to Servian
usage, to marry or admit of any but fraternal affec-
tions between the two. It would be sacrilege and
illegal for them to marry. This system is and was
the literal application of the Christian principle of
"brotherhood," developed into an institution during
the bitterest times <>f oppression by a foreign foe.
Two \ < n 1 1 1 lt men going into battle bound themselves
as brothers in ties of close fealty which endured
through all trials. The oath of fidelity for life, was
sworn, before the altar in the church and consecrated
by the priest, and often sealed by the exchange of a
• hop of blood drunk in a cup of red wine. If one died
the surviving one was, in all respects, like a true brother
to the family of his dead "pobratim." This tie is
considered most sacred by Servians and cannot be
74 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
broken no matter how severely it may be tried by
any circumstances that may arise. It is recognised
by a law conferring right of inheritance as well as
family obligations. Milosh Obrenovieh, of the war of
Servian liberation, was the pobratim of the Turkish
commander Ali Aga Sertchesina, a Mohammedan
Servian, who was afterward opposed to him in battle.
When the Aga's army was vanquished, Milosh was
a brother to him and protected his personal life, liberty,
and property, as he in similar circumstances protected
Milosh's life.
The relationships of father, mother, sister, brother
are peculiarly sacred to Servians.
The principle of "the brotherhood of man," not as
a theory but as a daily life-motive, is manifested in
many Servian institutions. The Moba is the gather-
ing together by spontaneous consent of neighbours to
help one another either to put in his crops or to har-
vest them, especially in the case of widows and poor
farmers who have not the necessary help on their
farm and are too poor to hire such. Like many other
Servian reunions, for one cause or another the Moba
is made the occasion of hearty co-operation (en-
tirely gratuitous) in work and winds up with merry-
making.
When the day's work is done the social part of the
proceedings are ushered in with hand-washing, which
is always done by pure water being poured on the
hands. Then in some districts they stand around a tree
and gaze up toward a lighted candle stuck high in its
branches; they pray God for his benediction and
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 75
honour the Holy Trinity; the rest is free-hearted fun,
feasting, dance, and song. The spread is furnished by
dishes, cakes, meats, fruits, wine, nuts, sweets, etc.,
a small share of which is brought by each and every
member of the Moba gathering.
A quaint and curious custom still found in some
parts of Servia is the "Dodola," certainly a survival
from remote pagan times, when the children of men
were the children of nature and felt themselves in
very near communion with the trees and hills and the
forces of sun, wind, and water.
Personified into gods, the first of all the most high,
or "Sve-Vishnyi," "Da bog," or "God the giver"
(the verb daii means to give), was the sun. Peroun
was the Thundcnr and Lightning-wielder, and his
sister personified Fire, the modern "Mary of the
fire." Certain plants and flowers were sacred; the
purple iris, "the flower of Peroun." is found every-
where in Servia. Dodola has in her keeping the rain
and waters of springs and streams. If the summer
heat is excessive and has scorched up the fields and
dried up the streams, the villagers still to-day invoke
Dodola. A young gipsy girl is employed to lead in
the rite; the Servian peasant-maids are too modest to
themselves play the role. This gipsy girl is stripped
down to the costume of a savage, and thus, almost
stark naked, is wreathed and has her body and waist
entwined with willow and other green branches stuck
with blossoms, until she is practically clad in flower-
bedecked verdure. In this guise she leads a proces-
sion of young village girls, in the blazing mid-day
heat, by all the houses, dancing and posing as she
76 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
goes, while the girls in her train chant in rhythm an
old song, ending every verse with the words:
This our Doda begs of God
Oi Dodo, oi Dodole!
Send a downpour of sharp rain
Oi Dodo, oi Dodolc!
To soft bedew afresh the fields
Oi Dodo, oi Dodolc!
And so renew the stream of life
Oi Dodo, oi Dodole!
etc., etc.
As the procession passes the houses, children and
young girls pour water over Dodola, and so, they say,
the cooling drops will soon begin to fall from the
skies. 1
Fire. — Many fundamental conceptions relating to
prosperity and the good fortune of the home-group
centre about the idea of the fire that burns on the
family hearth.
The customs arising from these ideas vary some-
what in form, but are all expressive of the sacredness
of family life and the symbolism of fire as the life-
giving and purifying agent. It is as if these people
still linger under some thrill of the great portent to
humankind which came in prehistoric ages with the
discovery of fire.
The hearth is in the centre of the largest room ; the
logs rest on iron andirons which are composed either
of two pieces, one wrought with a cock's head at the
top, the other with the head of a snake ; or sometimes
'Dodola recalls Botticelli's famous picture called "Spring," where the
engarlanded maid receives the enigmatic squirt of water.
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 77
the andiron is one large piece used as a backing or
a support for the logs, and is then wrought in the
form of a standing bull, horse, or other domestic
animal.
Fire is obtained for the family hearth according to
a rite and is called the "living fire." The ceremony
is obtained by the friction of two pieces of dry lime
wood and the use of dry tow or punk of the oak tree.
Some words of invocation begin the action, but dur-
ing it, until the sparks appear, no word must be
spoken. There are four or five different forms of
performing this rite, the most modern of which is
that a carpenter produces the fire with his turning-
machine and sells it to the villagers. The essential
point to the people is that the fire for the hearth must
not be made with matches or in any other way than
by rubbing together two pieces of dry wood.
This "living fire," as it is called, is believed to be
part of the "Eternal" Holy Fire. It must not be
blown with the mouth, and must never be allowed to
die out on the hearth except in case of pestilence or
infectious malady in the house. In case of epidemic
the fires of the whole village are put out, the hearth
cleansed, and with great ceremony of a religious
nature new "living fire" is obtained and the family
hearths all relighted.
When a bride comes to her new home, after she
has been guided by the Koom or her mother-in-law
three times around the hearth, and heaped together
the scattered coals as a sign of union and force, she
strikes the burning logs with the shovel, trying to
beat out as great a cloud of sparks as possible, say-
78 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ing: "So many sparks, so many cattle; so many
sparks, so many children."
At Christmas, at Easter, on all holidays, and on the
occasion of marriage or burial, fire is the centre of
much ceremonial.
On St. John's day great fires arc lighted in the
meadows or on the hillsides, and the hoys and girls
dance around them in rings to bagpipes, flutes, or
gipsy music, singing and making merry.
Prelo and Selo. — The Prelo and the Selo .ire two
occasions of reunion when the villagers, men, women.
girls, and boys foregather at the house of <>ne of them
to work in one way or another, and afterward sit
around the lire with distaff, wool-carders, or needle-
work, amusing themselves meanwhile with the telling
of old tales, singing, and reciting. A short story by
Janko Veselinovich, a writer who depicts most truth-
fully the Servian village life, gives a homely, charming
picture of such a gathering and shows the etiquette
that rules on such occasions. In the centre is the
great fire of logs over which a large pot of green,
sweet corn hangs boiling for the evening's cheer, and
higher up the hams and bacon, beef sides or sheep
flesh are suspended to smoke.
In a ring nearest the fire are the young girls behav-
ing themselves with exemplary silence and modesty
in the presence of their elders, communicating with
each other only with eyes and in whispers, and gig-
gling low among themselves; back of them are
ranged the young married women, work in hand,
chattering and amusing themselves, together with
the oldest of the women who form still another
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 79
outside ring. Filling the room back of these ranges
of women-folk are the men and boys. The conversa-
tion is general, the girls in front joining in the talk
of their elders only when directly addressed. One of
the boys is asked to repeat a ballad or read from
a book which he has brought in his pocket; then
they listen to one of the oldest women tell tales of
days when she was young. Some of the men tell a
story or an experience; then the girls are asked to
sing, which sets them in a flutter of modesty and de-
light, that is, they are shy at being brought forward
yet enchanted to respond.
Finally, the party breaks up; the visitors from
other villages take leave more ceremoniously, the
older ones glad to go to bed. There is a general
wishing of "good night," a moment where all the
company mix freely together, young and old. Dur-
ing that brief confusion a young man from a distant
village finds a chance to whisper to one of the girls,
"Come an instant into the garden! I want to tell you
something!" She turns red and says under breath,
"I cannot!" He says, "You must!" "No, I—"
" Yes, yes," he says, and >natehingthe thread from the
spindle he darts outside. She flies after him with the
end of the thread, saying: "Give me my spindle!
What have you done ? What will they think ? " As he
puts the spindle in her hand he shuts his own tight
over it. "You must listen! I love you — no one but
you ! They want to make a marriage for me with some
one else, but it is you I want. I feel I shall die unless
they give me you. My people would be glad, too, I
know— otherwise I shall die!" The girl half pulls
80 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
back, but answers with low and quick words: "Yes!
yes! — I know! — I know! — I, too — I feel so for you.
My parents — they are talking of marriage for me —
if they could only think of you they would not ob-
ject! — but oh! I never knew I could say such things
to a stranger!"
Tie draws her up to him an instant before she flics
back to the others, and says: "Only think — God give
it! — how it will be — when we arc married — and can
kiss each other!"
Christmas ami Easier. The Servians begin the
celebrations of Christ's birthday, as do other Chris-
tians, on Christinas eve; they, too. have a custom
concerned with the Yule-log. Christmas eve is
called "Badnyi dan." On that day some young men
go at early dawn into the forest; there they offer a
piayer, and when they have chosen the tree they wish
it "Merry Christmas eve," or rather, as they say,
"Happy Badnyi dan." Casting a handful of wheat
against it, they cut it down, letting it fall eastward
as the sun rises. The tree is then cut into logs, large
and small, and carted home.
On arriving at the house the logs are set against
the wall outside; they are called "Badnyiak." The
largest one, or Yule-log, is the subject of some con-
ventional ceremony. The children sing carols through
the village. In the evening, when all is ready for the
Christmas feast, the members of the household gather
around the great family hearth in the central room or
large kitchen. The Domatchina, wife of the house-
father, gives a pair of knitted gloves to the strongest
of the young men. He puts them on and goes out
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 81
and brings in the Badnyiak, or Yule-log. As he
enters he is showered with wheat and says: "Merry
Christmas to all!" and is answered by like greeting
from the others: "Happy, holy Christmas help thee!"
According to the districts, different rites prevail in
greeting the Yule-log; some baptize it with wine and
drink a toast in wine to it; sometimes it is anointed
with oil or honey, or wheat is showered over it and
it is placed on the large fire so that one end cannot
burn.
Then takes place a kind of game by the mother
and the children, she scattering straw in all the rooms
and imitating the cackling of a hen — "chok! chock!"
the children trotting alter her in great glee and say-
ing, "Peep! peep!" pretending to be her little
chickens.
A large candle is stuck into a jar of wheat and set
up high on the <;i^t side of the room, the family
assemble before it, the father, or Stareshina, crosses
himself and offers up prayers to God for the health and
prosperity of his family, and asks a benediction for
all the creatures of the farm and for the crops, that
they may all flourish and yield their best. Then,
bowing toward the candle, all cross themselves, and
the father then turns to the others and says: "God
hear our prayer and give us health"; they answer,
"May God give it, amen!"
The evening meal is taken without meat, but is
chiefly of nuts, fruits, cheese, vegetables, cake, and
sweetmeats, and in some places not from a table but
with every one sitting on the floor. During the repast
the father throws a nut into each corner of the room,
82 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
saying: "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, amen."
Christmas day is a day of extraordinary rejoicings.
Everybody is up early, while it is barely light, and the
coming day is saluted by guns and pistols fired into
the air. This continual popping of shots continues
throughout the day, and would recall to an American
the gunpowder celebrations of the " Glorious Fourth."
There is a great to-do putting the suckling pig on the
fire to roast. Before sunrise a girl goes to bring the
day's first water from the spring or stream, which
she salutes with Christmas wishes and baptises with
a handful of wheat; with that water the Christmas
cake is made. A coin is put into the cake, which
brings good luck to the one getting the piece that con-
tains it, like the "gateau des rois" in France.
An essential part of the traditionary ceremony is
the coming of the "Polaznik" — literally the "comer,"
who is a young boy of a neighbouring village. No
"comer," however privileged, must enter the house
before him. He arrives at an early hour, and as the
door is opened to him he cries out, "Christ is born!"
— (Christos se rodi) and throws wheat over the whole
room, over the persons, and toward all the four corners.
The mother, or Domatchina, throws wheat back over
him, and every one present answers, "He is born in
truth."
The Polaznik then goes to the hearth and with the
shovel strikes streams of sparks from the Badnyiak,
and says: "May you have this year thus many cattle,
horses, oxen, hogs, sheep, your hives full of honey,
good luck, prosperity, all good and joy." The house-
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 83
father then embraces and kisses the boy, who pros-
trates himself before the hearth, touches the unburnt
end of the Badnyiak with his lips, and places a coin
upon it. The ceremony after this depends on the
particular district and the special calling of the in-
habitants, but forms are gone through symbolic of
the good fortune that is desired for the persons pres-
ent, whether tillers of the soil or raisers of cattle or
workers at some cottage craft. Presents are offered
to the Polaznik who is a cherished guest for the day.
Finally, before sitting down to the great Christmas
dinner, the members of the household all stand with
lighted candles around the master of the house, while
he prays, asking aloud blessings according to their
needs, and speaking in praise of the Holy Trinity
and Christ. A sacred song is sung, then all the per-
sons kiss each other, saying: "The peace of God be
I >< tween us. Christ is born. Let us bow before
Christ and his Nativity!"
Then comes the feast, beginning with a toast to
"The glory of Christ the Lord." When the dinner is
about over they all rise and drink to "The glory of
God and to the glory of Christ's birth."
Easter. — Easter is kept much as it is in other Chris-
tian lands. The fasting of Lent is very strictly kept,
and a mass is celebrated in the church at midnight.
The priest comes forward at a certain moment after
midnight and says in a loud voice: "Christos vos-
kress!" ("Christ is risen!") The people answer:
" Vaistinye, amen ! " ("He is in truth ! ") Easter day
and during the first three days of Easter week the
form of greeting, instead of being "good day" ("dobar
84 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
dan"), is "Christos voskress," the other persons an-
swering according to the formula. Easter eggs are
used as in other lands, coloured gaily; presents are
given; there is open house and strangers or wayfarers
are welcomed. The dead are qoI forgotten; some
eggs coloured black are carried to the graves and left
there in token of the resurrection day.
Music, Song, Dance. In times of comparative
peace the Servian home life developed rapidly the
comfort and well-being of the people. Protected by
the Zadruga principle of co-operation and united
resources, the houses which had been burnt and the
fields which had been devastated, by Byzantine or
Turkish soldiers, were soon rebuilt and replenished.
The willing hands of every member, male and female,
wrought to re-establish the community home with
the maximum of comfort and security that could pos-
sibly, under any circumstances, have been produced
by the number of persons composing the Zadruga.
It was often found necessary to abandon the wreck-
age of the old village, to seek a new site, or to go to
another, sometimes distant, part of the country.
There, working all together, by degrees, new walls
were set up, new fields ploughed and planted, and by
and by new granaries built. The women spun and
wove fresh stores of clothing, new household linen,
new rugs and Tchelim hangings, and so those who had
been driven into the wilds by fire and sword remade
their homes.
Wholesale destruction from hunger and exposure
was, by these methods of meeting calamity, staved
off and avoided. Bodily necessity was always met
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 85
practically, and in course of time more or less well
provided for.
So the Servian songs, ballads, and epics treat less of
the miseries of hunger and cold than of the heart's
anguish for dear ones gone to battle or those killed
in the fight; or of the soldier's return to find his
home nothing but charred walls, his wife carried off
captive, his little ones killed or taken away into sla-
very, his mother having been trampled under the
hoofs of the enemj 's horses.
The remembrance of such fearsome happenings
was put into rhythmic verse by men and by women,
and chanted to the mournful sound of the Gouzla.
Courage and strength and fearlessness, the yearning
to be free, loyalty to the blood in the veins, faith in
a jusl and Holy God above all, who would help and
save the few in the day of their defence against the
merciless hosts of t lit* spoiler; hatred of falseness and
treachery; tin- proud tale of loyalty unto death and
through death in the old ballads and songs all of
these heart-strainings give forth their music, plaintive
or passionate, scornful or grand. Echoes of noble
days and hi"h achievement vibrate in those ballads
which recount the tales of dead kings — not dead in
Servian hearts. Full of powerful depicting and
mournful grandeur, of sweet, solemn cadence and
plaint, are the epics. They tell of the mediaeval Ser-
vian empire and its dawning glories; of days of
Servian grandeur; of the battle of Kossovo (June 15,
1389), where the horses of the Turkish hosts stood so
packed together that "not a drop of rain could have
fallen to the earth between them," their lances a quiv-
86 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ering sheet of "flame in the summer sun, their many-
coloured silken banners fluttering like far-stretching
fields of bright tulips," and on the Servian side,
horsemen hastening across hills from every quarter,
the gathering of heroes to Tzar Lazar; their kneeling
at sunrise before his wide silken tent to take the Holy
Communion; the onrush of the countless Turkish
foe; the terrific clash and fury of battle; the fierce and
stubborn contest between Christian and Turk; at one
moment the stain of treachery; deeds of sublime
courage and skill on both sides; then the slaying of
the Ottoman Sultan by the hand of a Servian hero
self-immolated; the beautiful Militza, Empress of
Tzar Lazar, leaning from her window in the white
tower of Krushevatz, where two black ravens fly to
bring her news of Kossovo; how the "Noble Tzar"
has been stricken low "on that part of the field where
all the flower of Servian heroes lie in slain heaps,"
and the great Servian empire is fallen, its glory de-
parted — as when the sun sinks from the horizon.
From that sad time, through all the dark and
gruesome years of ceaseless, undaunted resistance to
the Turk, who, even after Kossovo, was compelled to
fight for Servian soil inch by inch, and could not
enter as conqueror without still a hundred years and
more of continual warfare — even then, was never en-
tirely master of the land — the Servian women and men
chanted the remembrance of their national w r oes in
rhythmic verse, kept green and ever living the
thought of departed Servian glory. From those songs
and epic poems sprouted new hope, and through long
centuries of Turkish oppression that hope, and the
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 87
certain faith that his race and nation must survive
and finally reconquer its lost freedom, has never
ceased to be to the Servian the fixed star of his soul.
This longing for freedom and looking forward
confidently to the hour of its attainment run like
a leit-motif through all the cycles of song and ballad
up to our own time; in the Servian lands, which are
still in thrall, such songs are made and sung to-day.
Though in Austria-Hungary they are forbidden un-
der heavy pain, the mothers still murmur them
low in the ears of their babes. It seems strange
that the Servians, freighted with such burden, and
whose hope must look so far ahead — it has waited
through centuries — can yet show so much capacity for
the hearty enjoyment of simple pleasures. They
make a curious picture, these reunions of which there
are so many, always beginning with prayer to God
for safety and help; and after that, as if all serious
matters were thereby put in safe-keeping, there is
the whole-hearted giving of themselves up to "having
a good time/' if one may so express it. The table is
spread, and afterward dance and song, reciting of
ballads or tales. Whatever wrestling or other games
or contests of strength there may be among the boys
and young men, there is always sure to be continual
dancing and song. The Kolo, which in some form
is the usual dance, is as "old as the hills."
It is danced to music of flutes, single flutes or
double, and bagpipes, or gipsy music with violins.
In other days the dancers sang as they danced. Some
dances are still sung. In the Kolo the girls and
boys, men and women form a line and take hands,
88 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
or rest a hand on each neighbour's shoulder or hold
by the belt; in a long chain they circle, stepping in
rhythmic unison, now this way, now that, or running
forward and back. If in the forest, they circle around
and among the trees; and even when in a more re-
stricted scene, they move the whole line in one direction
or another, according to fancy or the skill of the lead-
ers. Each region has its own interpretation of the
Kolo, and its own dances. In Montenegro and Old
Servia there is a Kolo sword dance to wild and mar-
tial strains. It is sometimes partly sung and recited,
with rhythmic gesture. The Serb loves to sing. It
is customary for the young Serb countryman to carry
a flute ("svirala"), or the double flute, the "devoynit-
za," in his belt with his knife and pistol, and to play
as he goes along, especially in the evening or early
morning. To-day the Servian shepherd plays his
pipe as they did in "Arcadie"!
The villagers sing as they work, men and women,
girls and boys, whether at home or in the fields, and
their songs express the feelings of their heart at the
time being. The women especially constantly com-
pose new melodies, or, rather, they invent them spon-
taneously to suit their mood or fancy. Each district
has its songs as it has its dances.
In addition to the bagpipes, used most often in the
eastern part of Servia, and the flutes and double flutes
and the Gouzla, dedicated to the accompaniment of
chanted ballads and epic verse, the Serbs of Bosnia,
and those near the Bosnian side of Servia, draw
sweet tones from a kind of lute with metal strings.
To its accompaniment they sing the slow and plain-
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS 89
tive love songs, and use it for poetic rhapsody. It is
called "Tambura." It is widely used and has given
its name to many musical societies and singing clubs,
called "Tamburashi," among the young folks.
Before leaving the subject of "song and dance," it
is interesting to note the custom of dancing and sing-
ing around the church. The Servians (Orthodox)
do not regard their church or priesthood with any
superstitious awe, though they would die for their
church, which is the sacred guferdian of their national
faith. From her they ask consecrations of their acts,
whether relating to the individual, family, or to na-
tional affairs. As to prayer, that is mostly a home
affair, a matter of course, like daily bread, as is seen
in the many daily invocations.
The Serbs are at home with their church as they
are with nature. On great feast days the villagers
gather around the outside of the church where service
is held, and there they dance and sing songs of the
occasion. So they gather there if- some important
national movement or insurrection is to be set on foot.
The ceremonial music of the Servian, as of all
Orthodox churches, is beautiful and impressive. It
is sung by voices alone, unaccompanied by any instru-
ment. It is based on the music, probably Greek, that
was used with the earliest Greek ritual. It is said
that the Servian priests of Mount Athos (Hilendar
Monastery) began as early as the tenth and eleventh
centuries to add to that music. The natural ten-
dency of the Servians to give musical expression to
their sentiments, or to the emotions which stir them
deeply, has led to a Servianising of the music of
90 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
their church. In the same spirit they use their own
language in the services, and they have modified the
ritual to their needs, until the Servian churches came
early to be to the nation what the central hearth-fire is
to the home.
One hearing this Servian church music for the
first time cannot but experience a strange thrill. The
singers are hidden from view. At first it seems un-
believable that the music proceeds from human
voices alone. The sounds are there of deep and vi-
brating 'cellos, and of the sweetly drawn chords of fine
violins, and columns of sound as from an organ. The
mind is held in an impression of the voices and cries
of all life. The whole utterance of the human soul
is there, a striving between the earthly and the heav-
enly man, in its most primitive as well as in its most
solemn and sublime expression. This music is not
as something listened to of which one would say,
"That was well done," but this music of the Servian
church is as the mighty moving of forces which sud-
denly embody the whole inner life and lift it toward
God in the spirit of worship.
PAR T II
THE SERVIAN LANDS TO-DAY
CHAPTER II
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
THE block of territory forming the north-western
and central parts of the Balkan Peninsula, of
which the population is Servian, speaking the Servian
tongue, is politically divided into: The independent
Kingdom of Servia and the Principality of Montene-
gro; the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and
Herzegovina; the Austrian province of Dalmatia
with part of Istria; the Hungarian provinces of
Croatia-Slavonia, Banat, and Batchka; and the Turk-
ish province of Old Servia— i. e., Vilayet of Kossovo,
Sandjak of Novi Bazar, parts of the Vilayets of
Monastir and of Salonika.
This large area is bounded on the west by the east-
ern shores of the Adriatic Sea from near Trieste to
Antibari opposite the Italian Bari. The boundary on
the north is the uncertainly defined line which coin-
cides with the political line dividing Croatia from the
Austrian provinces of Carniolia and Styria, up to the
river Mur, thence following eastward the river Mur
to its confluence with the river Drava, and along the
Drava to the point where it pours into the Danube,
thence on easterly in a straight line up to the western
spurs of the Transylvanian Ore Mountains. The
eastern border starting at that point descends to and
crosses the Danube, and proceeds thence southward
93
94 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
along the border between Bulgaria and Servia, to the
head-waters of the Struma, and along the Struma to
Seres, in Macedonia, at that point striking the south-
ern boundary which forms an uncertainly defined line
due west to the Albanian eastern border. From there
a line must be drawn to the Black Drin River due
north in order to proceed again westward with the
southern boundary line of this great block of Serb-
inhabited territory through Skutari Lake to Dulcigno
and Antivari, on the Adriatic Sea, called at that point
the Servian Sea.
This Serb territory covers an approximate area of
100,000 square miles.
The vast and complicated mountain formations of
the area belong to five different systems: The Dinaric
in the north-west, the Albanian in the west and south,
the Carpathians in the north-east, the Balkans in the
east, and the Rhodope in the south-east. All of these
vast mountain systems, with their multiple ranges,
trend generally toward the central region of this
Servian-inhabited block of territory, where they knot
themselves together, forming the great watershed of
the peninsula, and presenting between the inacces-
sible heights of the mountain ranges, precipitous
gorges, deeply cut valleys, and high plateaux.
The eastern and western masses are so disposed as
to form, between long stretches of ranges narrowly
parallel with each other, the two great natural roads
of the Balkan Peninsula. One of these two great
natural highways from the Danube due south forms
the valley of the Morava River, in Servia, and its con-
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES 95
tinuation across the low watershed of Preshevo to
the valley of the Vardar River, in Turkey, and that
river's course to the iEgean Sea near Salonika. This
longitudinal valley from the Danube due north and
south to the .Egean Sea forms in southern Servia the
basin of Nish, whence starts the other great natural
Balkan road leading from that point to Constantinople
between the parallel ranges of the Balkan Mountains
and the Rhodope ranges which lie east and west.
Through this valley flows the Maritza River. This
great branching highway, opening passage across the
entire Balkan Peninsula north to south, and from its
fork at Nish throughout the whole length eastward,
forms the valleys of the three most important rivers
south of the Danube; they are not the results of ero-
sion, but are a succession of natural narrow plains
between mountain ranges whose slopes continually
feed these rivers and their tributaries with their
springs and generous drainage of rainfall and snow.
1. RIVER SYSTEMS
The three river systems of the Serb Block are the
Northern, whose rivers, as tributaries of the Danube,
drain into the Black Sea ; the AYestern, draining into
the Adriatic; and the Southern, whose waters fall
into the zEgean.
The rivers of the Northern system flowing into the
Danube from south to north are the Timok, on the
eastern border, with its tributaries; the Mlava; the
Morava, through the heart of Servia, formed by the
junction of the two Moravas and their rich network
of tributaries; the western Morava, with its great
96 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
tributaries the I bar and the Rasina and the Binatchka
Morava joined by the Toplitza and Nisheva— all,
with the exception of the Nisheva, rising in Old
Servia and flowing north-easterly or north-westerly.
The rivers of this system whose course is from
west to east are the Drava, from its junction with the
Mur near the point where it enters Croatian territory ;
the Sava, from the same direction, with its tributaries;
the Kulpa west to east, and those which join it flow-
ing from south to north, the Unna and Sanna; the
Vrbas; the Drina with its tributaries, the Piva, the
Tara, and the Lim, all three of which, with its own
head-waters, rise in the Brdas of Montenegro. These
rivers, with the small Kolubara River, in Servia, com-
prise the Danubian or Northern river system.
The Western system includes all those rivers,
mostly coastal streams, draining westerly or south-
westerly into the Adriatic. These rivers, if named in
succession, beginning from Istria and Croatia in the
north to the limits of Montenegro in the south, are:
the Quieto and Arsa, in Istria; the Zermanya, rising in
Croatia; the Kerka; the Cikota; the Cetina, rising in
Dalmatia; the Neretva, which is the most important
river of the eastern Adriatic seaboard, rising in Herze-
govina; the Ombla estuary, near Ragusa; and, at the
most southern point of the Serb Block, on the Adriatic
coast at the southern border of Montenegro, the river
Boyana, which is an immense volume of water issuing
from the southern extremity of the lake of Skutari
(Skodra), at which point it receives also the waters of
the river Drin. The lake of Skodra is formed by the
waters of the southern Montenegrin rivers the Morat-
RIVER SYSTEMS 97
cha and the Zeta, and the numerous small streams
comprising the drainage of the southern Montenegrin
mountains and the northern Albanian Alps. The
Drin belongs entirely to Albania, but its tributaries,
the Black Drin and the White Drin, rise in the Ser-
vian Block. The Southern river system draining
southward into the iEgean Sea is made up of the head-
waters and part of the course of the Vardar River and
that section of the river Struma which is included in
the south-eastern border of the Servian Block.
The rivers of the eastern Adriatic seaboard in gen-
eral are marked by peculiar characteristics resulting
from the curious nature of the bleak limestone moun-
tain formations of the Carsts. The Kerka and Cetina,
in Dalmatia, are far famed for their cataracts, the
river bed of the Kerka along almost its entire course
being formed by successive, abrupt changes in level,
forming a series of stairs. Near this river and the
Ombla, which gushes suddenly in great volume out
of a rocky mountain side after a mysterious sub-
terranean course, are many caverns and grottoes.
One of the wonders of the Carst region is the disap-
pearing rivers, of which there are many. After a
short ordinary course the waters suddenly sink
from view in a self-formed clear pool clean of all
morass, or they seep from sight through sand and
boulders, or sometimes their waters are swallowed up
suddenly in a cavern. After following a hidden
underground way for some distance they as unex-
pectedly burst forth from rocks or caverns to flow for
a while on the surface of the earth, again repeating
their descent into regions of night and their sudden
98 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
gushing once more from their unknown channels,
crystal pure into the sunlight. Of these rivers are:
the Buna, the tributary of the Neretva; the Zalomnska
reka which, rising naturally near Foinitza, is lost on
the Nevesinsko Polye, never to reappear so far as can
be judged; the Bregova, issuing in full force near
Stolatz to flow into the Neretva.
The most remarkable of all these rivers is the
Trebinytchitza. It is supposed that its first appear-
ance is the river Moushitza, whose head-waters are in
the mountains about Gatchko Polye. After almost
encircling that plain, which it irrigates, it sinks from
sight at the foot of the Vidosh mountain through the
bottom of a small pool at the altitude of 936 metres.
At a distance of about 20 miles due south, near Biletch,
at an altitude of 350 metres, the Trebinytchitza
bursts into sight from the rocky walls of the valley
forming a river of a volume navigable for rowing
boats. It flows some distance southward, then bend-
ing northward and rounding the entire Gliva Planina,
in all about 50 miles, the Trebinytchitza suddenly
drops from sight among boulders and rocks. It is
supposed that in its hidden channels it doubles like a
hare upon its own surface course, flowing south-
easterly for 20 miles; then, having wended its laby-
rinthine way along the western slopes of the coastal
Planina, it breaks open for itself a rocky gate of
issuance not two miles from the sea's edge; there,
under the name of the Ombla, so broad and deep
that it anchors steamships, it finally throws its wa-
ters into the Adriatic Sea, forming the harbour of
Gravosa.
MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS 99
The general characteristic of all the rivers belonging
to the three great river systems of the Serb Block, the
Northern, Western, and Southern, are steep and high
banks. With the exception of the two great natural
valleys of the Morava-Vardar and the Maritza, lying
between parallel ranges, all of these rivers are char-
acterised by deep-cut valleys, and in Herzegovina,
Montenegro, and Old Servia they are often hewn
through solid rock, forming wild canons.
At certain points, where the banks are low and the
subsoil impervious, there is much swamp-land. The
largest of these swamps are at different parts of the
Sava River, the delta of the Neretva River, and on the
shores of the lake of Scutari. The deep valleys walled
in by mountain steeps through which there is insuffi-
cient escape sometimes cause the waters to dam up
and become sinks where streams disappear in mo-
rasses. These places are called "blat os." Other valleys
of similar character but with impervious beds form
healthy lakes of good water. Indeed, the water of
mountain springs, streams, and rivers everywhere
throughout these lands, except in swampy places, is
noted for being good to drink, and delicious, often
possessing curative or healing properties.
2. MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, THEIR FLORA AND
THEIR FAUNA
The north-western part of the Serb Block, within
the triangle formed by the rivers Drava, Sava, and
Danube, is penetrated by a long spur of the south-
eastern Alps. These long Alpine spurs diminish in
altitude as they reach out eastward and are framed
100 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
by the plains of those rivers. These ranges are 219
miles long, and where they enter Croatia from the
west they form the mountain groups of the Uskoks,
3,818 feet in altitude, and the Matzel range on the
borders of Styria, 2,015 feet in height. These two
mountain ranges are joined on the south by the Ivan-
chitza mountains, 3,468 feet, and the Slyeme, 3,363
feet, both tending southward. These ranges extend
toward the east as the Kalnik, 2,116 feet, first, then
fall in altitude to the low hills of the Byelo Vrh, to
rise again as the south-eastern Slavonian Mountains,
whose highest peaks are the Tsrny Vrh, 2,688 feet,
the Papouk, 3,100 feet, and the Brezovo Polye, 3,207
feet. The final sharp outcropping of these ranges is
the Vrdnik or Frushka Gora, 1,935 feet, on the
Danube.
The Carst Ranges
In the west, along the coast line, in Istria, Croatia,
Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and western Montenegro,
the ranges belong to formations called " Carst" (place
of stones), long, rugged stretches of bleak and arid
limestone, reddish in colour in Istria and southern
Croatia, and ashen or steely gray in its southern part
lying in Herzegovina, southern Dalmatia, and Mon-
tenegro.
The dryness of this formation is caused by the
porous nature of the limestone which drinks up the
rain and drains it into the deep underground channels
formed by impervious beds of sandstone and clay.
The stony masses of the Carst range, averaging an
altitude of 4,000 feet, from which rise rocky peaks
THE CARST RANGES 101
bare of plant life and desolate, make a stern barrier
between the lovely coast line with its bright vegeta-
tion, its flourishing gardens and teeming fields, and
the interior central and western lands of the other
mountain chains, with their finely wooded slopes and
their fertile valleys enriched by the alluvial loam of
many rivers and streams. This formidable Carst
wall is sternly impressive, with its broken bastions and
buttresses, its curiously carved and moulded sculp-
ture of winds and waters, sometimes like a huge
coliseum or amphitheatre with ranging rows of seats,
or shaped into suggestions of weird towers and tur-
rets or cathedral walls and domes, its obelisks and
separate shafts cleft from the main mass standing as
menacing sentinels, its "glacis" strewn with huge rocks
and boulders, its caves fantastically roofed with sta-
lactites, often dark donjons of Nature inhabited by a
whole underworld of sightless creatures of night in-
cluding (according to Elisee Reclus) "seven species
of reptiles, eyeless coleoptera, arachids, centipedes,
crustaceans, and molluscs." "Gates of Hell" the an-
cients called these caverns ; then there are those other
subterranean passages winding for miles upon miles
of unknown ways within the hidden foundations,
carrying the pure and crystal waters of numerous
inland rivers and streams from western regions and
finally opening to them, through its flood-gates, egress
to the sea.
The precipitous walls of this bleak, forbidding
barrier rear their arid stony heights along the entire
seaboard of the eastern Adriatic, from Styria to Scu-
tari, as if inhibiting all would-be invaders from the
102 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
fair countries lying eastward and shielded by these
mighty rockworks as by a line of first defence, though
each valley of those lands in turn lies intrenched in
its own ranges of harsh hills and mountains.
The altitude of the passes across this high Carst
plateau is from 2,300 to 4,533 feet. The highest
peaks of the Carst toward the south are the Orien,
6,174 feet, the corner-stone where the boundaries of
Montenegro, Dalmatia, and Herzegovina meet near
Cattaro. In western Montenegro the Lovtchen rises
to 5,726 feet, the Nyegosh, on the Banyani Plateau,
1,606 feet high. The highest peaks toward the north
are the Great Kapella, 5,374 feet, and the beautiful
Velebit rising 5,768 feet, near the sea on the borders
of Croatia and Dalmatia. The atmospheric effects
of this mountain and its surroundings, viewed from a
distance, show gorgeous tints and colouring ranging
from purple to deep rose. These effects of "Alp gltihn "
are characteristic of the Carst in all its length.
Notwithstanding the apparent absence of soil from
the surface of this formation, which is swept bare by
the winds and washed clean by the rains, the Carst in
early spring-time is covered with sweet flowers ; and in
crevices which have chanced to garner a little soil,
several kinds of aromatic plants and resinous shrubs
find root, such as juniper, turpentine trees, and rock-
roses. The flora, repeating those of Central Europe
and the Pannonian plains, often includes as many as
from fifty to sixty species within a few square yards.
The flowers are of delightful fragrance, but their
foliage is scant and they are soon scorched in the
summer sun and blown away by the winds.
THE DINARIC SYSTEM 103
The Dinaric System
Striking from the same region as the Carst in the
extreme north-west, the Dinaric Alps south of the
Kulpa and Sava Rivers and west of the Carst moun-
tains, from which they differ radically in character,
stretch their many ranges and spurs in a south-
westerly direction across the main area of the great
Serb Block: Bosnia, Servia, Herzegovina, eastern
Montenegro, and Old Servia. They lie for the most
part in long, unbroken ranges called Planinas, with
long, irregular summit lines from which rise sharply
defined peaks. As in eastern Montenegro and Old
Servia at some points where they penetrate the Carst
formations, they take the forms of high and rugged
plateaux. The entire Dinaric system in general has
slopes covered by thick woods, some of which bear
the character of virgin forests of great beauty. The
trees include fir and other cone-bearers, beech, birch,
ash, maple, oak, and all others belonging to the
Alpine flora. Along the lower belts, in addition to
these, specimens of trees and plants belonging to the
Pontic or Black Sea flora are to be found. In Bosnia
the limit of the tree belt lies at about 5,200 feet.
Above that altitude the vegetation is entirely alpine,
providing good grazing for cattle when the snow melts.
In eastern Montenegro, where the three systems of
Carst, Dinaric, and Albano-Macedonian Alps meet
and knot together, the trees up to the 2,600-foot belt
are beeches, oak, ash, maple, birch, juniper, lilac,
and rhododendron; above this point, up to 4,200 feet,
the main woods are oak ; beyond that altitude, up to
104 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the unmelting snow, are the firs, pines, and other
cone-bearers. In Servia and Old Servia the mountain
slopes are generally cultivated up to the 1,900-foot
line; from that line to 3,500 feet oaks predomi-
nate; above that, up to 5,200 feet, beeches predomi-
nate; and beyond that line come the cone-bearers
and juniper-trees. In the lands these mountains
traverse the flora and characteristics of all these
different systems meet and intermingle. They are the
eastern Alpine flora, most clearly defined in Bosnia;
the Pannonian flora, in central and northern Servia;
the Carpathian and Balkan flora, in the eastern re-
gions; and in the south the flora of the primitive or
Macedo-Dardanian flora.
The mountains of the Dinaric system receive a
heavy rainfall and give rise to great numbers of
springs and rivers, and are characterised by richly
productive valleys and slopes. The highest points
are the Trescavitza Planina, 7,111 feet, and the
Byelasnitza, 6,718 feet, both south-west of Serayevo,
in Bosnia; also the Vranitza; the Zee, 6,444 feet;
the Lelia, 6,725 feet; and the Maglitch, rising from the
Volnyinak chain. The south-western border of Servia
is formed by high ranges belonging to the Dinaric
system; the highest points are the Golya Planina,
6,279 feet, and the Kopaonik mountains, 6,955 feet.
South of the Kopaonik are the high plateaux of Old
Servia rising in the west to the high Brdas of Monte-
negro, whose loftiest altitudes are the Dormitor, on
the plateau of the Chirovo Petchina, 8,216 feet; the
Koutchki Kom, 8,092 feet; the Sto, 7,371 feet; the
Gradishte, 7,212 feet; the Yablancov Vrh, 7,159
THE SHUMADIA MOUNTAINS 105
feet; and the Zhiovo, 6,932 feet. Numerous other
peaks range from 4,800 to 6,500 feet in height.
Montenegro is, in fact, one vast complicated mountain
mass, a true fortress of nature.
The Albanian Ranges
The Albanian-Macedonian system, running north
in several chains from the Pindus and Olympus
masses on the Greek border, meets the Dinaric and
Carst formations in eastern and southern Montenegro
and penetrates Old Servia in its central and southern
regions by spurs called the Albanian Alps, rising to
6,500 feet, and the Shar Dagh, 8,160 feet, cut by the
deep gorges of katdianik Pass after which it con-
tinues as the Kara Dagh with an altitude of 5,850
feet. These mountains in the main follow the char-
acteristics of the Dinarics, being well covered with
forests and giving rise to many springs and streams.
The Shumadia Mountains
These great systems of the Dinaric, the Carst, and
the Albanian-Macedonian form all the mountains of
the Serbland territory west of the long valley of the
rivers Morava and Yardar, with the exception of the
group of mountains in central Servia called the
Shumadia. The Shumadia is of a soft crystalline
formation on a granite foundation with extensive
hill lands of tertiary deposit. It is exceedingly rich
in soil, thickly wooded, chiefly with oak and nut
trees, and produces, where under cultivation, three
crops a year. Its flora is entirely Pannonic. It is
characterised otherwise by deeply cut valleys and a
106 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
network of streams and rivulets flowing from springs
of crystal pure drinking water. The highest peak of
the Shumadia is the Veliki Shtouratz, 3,800 feet in
height.
Carpathians, Balkans, and the Rhodope System
The mountain systems east of the Morava-Vardar
valley are part of the the Carpathians, Balkans, and
the Rhodope. The Carpathian Mountains in the
north-eastern part of the Serb-inhabted territory are
called the Banat Mountains, up to where they are
deeply cut by the Danube River in the famous gorges
between Baziash and Turnu Severinu, called at one
point the Iron Gates. South of the Danube they
form the mountains filling the whole part of Servia
east of the Morava, where between that river and the
Timok their highest point is the Golyubinye Planina,
4,922 feet. Farther south they join and mass with the
Balkans. At the head-waters of the Black Timok
their height in the Rtanye summit is 5,096 feet. The
formation of the Servian Carpathians is crystalline
and paleozoic schist broken by eruptive rock. Their
slopes form one unbroken line of oak, chestnut, and
beech trees; their flora is Carpathian.
South of the Nishava River, to the east of the
Morava, the Rhodope Mountains present a purely
primitive formation. In south-eastern Servia the
Souva Planina, whose highest summit is the Sokolov
Kamen (6,435 feet), is a spur of the Rhodope. East
of the Vardar, in Old Servia, the spurs of the Rhodope
are the Plashkavitza Planina and the low Malesh
Planina between the Vardar and the Struma Rivers.
THE RHODOPE SYSTEM 107
Like all the other systems, the Rhodope are richly
wooded, having plenteous water and a productive
soil. The flora is Pontian or southern.
The fauna of all those mountain systems includes
various species of deer, bear, wild boars, wolves,
foxes, martens, ermine, otter, and beaver, which have
always supported a considerable fur trade centred
up to about fifty years ago in Old Servia. The birds
include the eagle, the falcon, the hawk, the Balkan
raven, a kind of black vulture, pheasants, wild
pigeons and doves, partridges (called also the stone
lien), and many wild wood birds, including the night-
ingale. Along the numerous rivers, springs, pools,
and marshes are many kinds of water-fowl, including
wild geese, ducks, and smaller aquatic birds; also
quantities of tortoises (yellow and black), frogs, eels,
etc. Among the fishes of the Danube is the sturgeon;
trout and perch abound in all the other rivers.
The larger plains, besides those of the Sava, low
and marshy, and the plain at the mouth of the Morava,
are the productive plains north of the Danube in the
Banat and Batchka, the plains of the Zeta, in Mon-
tenegro, which surround the lake of Scutari, and many
small plains in Bosnia and Croatia; in Old Servia
there are the plains of the great and little Kossovo,
the Metoya, and of Tetovo. The plains of Kossovo
and Tetovo were former sea basins. The main part
of the Serb-inhabited territory is rich in ores and
minerals, the richest regions in ore being the eastern
part of Bosnia and the southern, central, and eastern
parts of Servia, where were the famous mines of
antiquity and the Middle Ages.
CHAPTER III
INDEPENDENT SERVIAN LANDS
T
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA (SRBIYA)
^HE Kingdom of Servia
separated on the north
from the Serbs of southern
Hungary by the Danube
River, and touching Bulgaria
on its eastern border, occu-
pies the central and greater
section of the eastern half of
the Serb-inhabited block
whose eastern border it forms
south of the Danube down to
the limits of Old Servia on the South. On the west it
borders Bosnia-Herzegovina. The area is 18,650
square miles.
Population. — The population in 1906 was 2,717,221,
of which 2,692,000 were Servians and of the remain-
ing, foreign, 16,267 were Austro-Hungarian subjects
(mostly of Serb race); and 5,909 Turkish subjects
(Serbs from Macedonia).
There are 1,407 communes, with 4,267 villages
and 85 towns.
The largest towns are:
Belgrade, 77,816; Nish, 21,946; Kragouyevatz,
15,596; Leskovatz, 13,647; Pozharevatz, 12,162;
Shabatz, 12,151; Vranya, 11,375; and Pirot, 10,000.
108
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 109
The average yearly increase of births over deaths
is 1.68 per cent. There is no emigration from Servia
to other countries. The Servians absent from their
country number about 1,000 students, diplomatic and
consular agents, commercial representatives, etc.
Constitution and Government
Servia is a constitutional monarchy, the crown being
hereditary, according to primogeniture, in the male
posterity of King Peter I, Karageorgevich, elected by
the Greater National Assembly, June 15, 1903.
The King receives a civil list of 1,200,000 dinars
($240,000) yearly.
The Constitution, as framed in 1888 and amended
in 1903 by the National Assembly, decrees to all Serbs
equality before the law, right of public meeting, free-
dom of conscience, freedom of the press, and the
right of association; abolishes capital punishment for
political offences, refuses extradition of political de-
linquents, guarantees safety of home and property,
and excludes confiscation.
The legislative power is exercised by the King and
the other national representatives. The signatures of
both are necessary to the legality of a measure.
The executive power resides in the King, who exer-
cises it through a cabinet of ministers appointed or
dismissed by him, and who are responsible to the
nation.
The portfolios are: Foreign Affairs, Interior, War,
Finance, Public Works, Commerce, Industry and
Agriculture, Education and Worship, and Justice.
The ordinary Parliament or National Assembly,
110 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
called the "Narodna Skupshtina," meets every year
on October 1 at the latest, and is re-elected every
four years, the elections occurring on May 21. It
is composed of 160 members at present, each county
electing one member for every 4,500 ratepayers, with
an extra member for each surplus 3,000 souls. The
members, eligible only at thirty years of age, are
chosen by secret and direct ballot. They receive a
salary of fifteen dinars (three dollars) per day, with
travelling expenses. During the period of mandate
the members cannot be brought before a court of
justice or arrested without a warrant from the Skup-
shtina, unless taken in flagrante delicto.
Priests, communal mayors, and government em-
ployees cannot sit in Parliament. Every male Servian
twenty-one years of age and paying fifteen dinars
(three dollars) direct taxes is entitled to vote.
It lies in the prerogative of either the King or the
Skupshtina to propose bills. The Skusphtina alone
decides all questions of State revenue and expendi-
ture, which cannot be increased or their use deter-
mined without its consent. It examines and passes
upon the budget, which without its sanction has no
legal value. The Government requires the authorisa-
tion of the Skupshtina in order to conclude a loan.
In addition to the regular Parliament, a greater or
"Grand Skupshtina" may be convoked by the King
on extraordinary occasions, fixed by the Constitution
("Ustav"), such as for the revision of the Constitu-
tion, making statutory territorial rectification of a
border, the consideration of dynastic questions, or
the appointment of regents for a ruling minor.
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 111
Administration. — The chief administrative author-
ity is the State Council, which remains in permanent
session. Part of its members are appointed by the
King, the others are elected by the Skupshtina. The
chief matters upon which the State Council delib-
erates are: projected laws, questions of administra-
tive competence and obligation, complaints of injury
to private rights resulting from royal and ministerial
decrees, matters relative to departmental and com-
munal surtaxes and loans, and the transfer of their
real property, the expropriation of private property
for public purposes, the final settlement of debts due
to the State which cannot be collected, the payment
of extraordinary sums sanctioned by the budget, and
exceptional admissions to the privilege of Servian
citizenship.
State accounts are examined by a Board of State
accountants consisting of a president and four mem-
bers.
Religion. — The national church is the Orthodox
Servian Church, which is autocephalous, depending
upon no foreign authority, but maintaining unity of
dogma with the Oriental (Ecumenical Christian
Church. The entire population belongs to this faith,
with the exception of about 30,000, of which 10,400
are Roman Catholics, about 5,500 Jews, 1,400 Prot-
estants, 3,000 Mohammedans, and several thousand
Mohammedan Gipsies. There are also some few
representatives of other sects. The Servian Orthodox
Church is governed by an ecclesiastical body, of which
the Metropolitan, Archbishop of Belgrade, is the
president, and which is responsible to the Minister of
112 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Education and Worship. Liberty of conscience is
entirely unrestricted, and the priests of all the non-
orthodox religions are free from all State interference.
In 1906, according to the " Statesman's Year Book,"
there were in Servia 731 churches and chapels and
54 monasteries; the clergy numbered 1,041 and
monks 102. The property of the churches was
valued at 14,923,122 dinars, and that of the monas-
teries, 7,343,909 dinars; the revenue of the churches
was 665,007 dinars, the expenditure being 562,275
dinars; the income of the monasteries was 249,807
dinars, their expenditure, 221,223 dinars.
Education. — The expense of all grades of public
schools in Servia is borne by the public treasury of
either the central Government or the municipalities,
and all grades and branches of public educational
institutions are under the Ministry of Education.
Elementary and primary schooling is compulsory.
Kindergartens are open to children from the ages
of four to seven, and the elementary schooling, with
a course of from four to six years' duration, is com-
pulsory for all children, beginning at the age of six,
or in some cases at seven. In 1906 there were 1,203
elementary schools with 2,339 teachers.
In addition to special winter courses in villages,
there were five private schools, one of which was a
Roman Catholic and one Protestant.
The higher secondary schools have an eight years'
curriculum, conferring the degree of B.A., which
entitles the student to enter the University of Bel-
grade. There are twenty such schools with 347
teachers and 6,061 pupils. Those pupils who take an
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 113
incomplete course of secondary schooling enter tech-
nical schools: the Commercial Academy, which has a
three years' course; one of the four normal schools
(two male, two female) for the training of teachers,
or a seminary for the education of priests which has
a nine years' course. There are three special schools,
one for agriculture, one for viticulture, and one for
arboriculture; three superior schools for girls ex-
clusively, with 87 teachers and 1,048 students; also
a Government military academy. The "Great
School," or University, was founded at Belgrade in
1838 with four faculties, Science, Law, Letters, and
Technology, with the aim of furnishing a practical
equipment for utilitarian purposes. In 1907 an
Agricultural faculty was added and a Medical faculty
projected.
The University had, in 1906, 67 professors and 780
students. The lecturers comprise regular professors,
special professors, permanent preceptors, temporary
preceptors (elected each three years), honorary pro-
fessors, and teachers. Professors may also have
assistants.
Forty years constitute the term of service of the
regular professors. Their salary, beginning at 6,000
dinars ($1,200) a year, reaches a maximum of 9,000
dinars ($1,800). The salary of honorary lecturers is
voted by the administrative board of the University.
In the elementary schools teachers, male and female,
begin with 800 dinars salary, which increases to 2,550
and 3,000 dinars in the twenty-seventh year. After
the thirtieth year they are entitled to retire on full-pay
pensions. Teachers of the secondary schools and
114 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
technical colleges, beginning as assistant teachers,
obtain a gradual promotion in salary and status, and
can become professors upon passing a required exam-
ination. The regular salary of these teachers begins
at 2,400 dinars and increases to 6,000. After thirty
years' service they are entitled to retire with full-pay
pensions.
For 1906 the expenditure on elementary schools
was 4,577,110 dinars; on secondary schools, 1,249,-
972; on the theological school, 169,325; on the
normal schools, 126,198; on the special schools,
164,189; on the superior schools for girls, 194,432;
and on the University of Belgrade, 493,000—6,974,226
dinars on those schools.
Justice, Crime, Pauperism. — Judges are appointed
by the King, but the independence of the Bench is
guarded by the fact that the appointment is per-
petual and non-revocable except under impeach-
ment of the incumbent.
There are twenty-four courts of first instance, a
court of appeal, a court of cassation, and a tribunal
of commerce. The number of convictions in all
the courts of first instance in 1906 was 3,972, and
the three penal establishments held 3,177 prisoners
(3,079 males and 98 females), under sentence of hard
labour.
Pauperism is unknown in Servia, even the poorest
citizen possessing a certain amount of inalienable
property. The correlative of the pauper, the work-
house, is equally unknown. Belgrade has a free
municipal hospital, and there is an orphanage sup-
ported entirely by voluntary contributions.
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 115
Matrimony. — The number of males is always in
excess of the number of females in Servia, the last
census showing the proportion to be 943 women to
1,000 men. Of the girls, 3.73 per cent, marry before
the age of sixteen, and of the men 42 per cent, before
the age of twenty. More than 45 per cent, of the
total population, including those previously widowed,
are married. The average birth-rate per married
couple is 4.40 per cent. Illegitimacy of children is
almost unknown in Servia.
The Army
Military service is obligatory and universal in Ser-
via, all men between the ages of eighteen and fifty
being liable to be called to the colours.
The defence comprises the National Army and the
Lev'ee en masse ("Poslyednya Odbrana").
The National Army is composed of men between
the ages of twenty-one and forty-four and is divided
into three Bans. The first Ban is the Field Force, or
first line, men from twenty-one to thirty-one, forming
the Regular Army and its Reserves. The second Ban
provides for the formation of troops of the second
line, and in time of peace consists of "cadres" only.
The third Ban is the Home Defence. The Levee en
masse comprises all men able to carry arms, from
eighteen to twenty-one and from forty-five to fifty,
and all individuals able to carry arms not employed in
the National Army. The time of service in the Reg-
ular Army or Field Army is ten years, of which two
years are passed under the colours for artillery and
cavalry; one and a half years for infantry and the
116 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
other branches; eight or eight and a half years in
the Reserve (Regular Army). After ten years' service
in the Field Army the soldier serves six years in the
Reserve of the second Ban, and thereafter passes for
eight years into the third Ban.
The conditions of temporary exemption from ser-
vice with the colours are the same as in all countries
where military service is obligatory. The sole bread-
winner and the only son of a widowed mother de-
pendent upon him, etc., have only a month of in-
struction and belong to the " Ersatz Reserve," with
liability to short periods of drill. Students having
passed their B.A. serve only six months if they are
able to pass the examination for sub-lieutenant of
Reserve, or, failing that, they serve fourteen months.
The yearly recruiting contingent averages 24,700
men. Servia is organised into five divisional military
districts, each of which contributes one infantry divi-
sion of two brigades — that is, consisting of four in-
fantry regiments, one regiment of field artillery, and
one regiment of divisional cavalry. The infantry
regiments are recruited territorially. The Servian in-
fantry is organised in twenty regiments of three field
battalions and one dej)ot battalion. The cavalry con-
sists of five regiments of divisional cavalry, existing
in time of peace only in cadre; four cavalry regiments
each of four squadrons, the squadron of 197 horses.
These four regiments are complete in time of peace
and form a separate cavalry division. The artillery
consists of five regiments of field artillery, each of
three divisions of three batteries (nine batteries), the
batteries having four guns in peace and six in war;
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 117
one mountain artillery regiment of two divisions of
three batteries; one howitzer regiment of two divi-
sions and three batteries each; one battery of horse
artillery which expands in war time into two batteries
of four guns each.
The engineers consist of one battalion of five field
companies, two companes of pontooniers, one mining,
one telegraph, and one railway company. On mob-
ilisation the five field companies are each attached to
one infantry division, together with a pontoon section.
The second Ban exists in time of peace as cadres
only. In time of war the second Ban comprises fifteen
infantry regiments each of three battalions, five regi-
ments of divisional cavalry, and the necessary engineers.
The third Ban has no organisation at present, but
the necessary number of men and material is there to
form fifteen regiments of infantry and five squadrons
of cavalry.
The Royal Guard is composed of one company of
infantry and one squadron of cavalry, the men of
these bodies being selected from among the infantry
and cavalry of the Regular Army.
The Servian army in time of war consists of five
infantry divisions, one cavalry division, one mountain
artillery regiment, one howitzer artillery regiment,
sanitary troops, train engineers, etc., a total of about
110,000 combatants for the field army.
The second Ban includes about 65,000 combatants,
the third Ban from about 50,000 to G0,000 men.
The Servian infantry is armed with the Mauser rifle,
repeating model, 1899; 7 mm. The artillery is armed
with modern quick-firing field and mountain guns,
118 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
system Shneider-Canet since 1908. Besides, there is
the old but still good De Bange artillery material with
which the batteries were armed up to 1908. Of this
material there are 350 pieces of field, mountain, and
howitzer guns, with which in war reserve artillery
formations will be armed.
Further, there are about 120 machine guns, system
Maxim and Hotchkiss.
The peace strength of the Servian army, according
to the Budget of 1907, was 35,605 officers and men
and 1,838 gendarmes. The military expenditure is
about $4,500,000 per annum.
Fortifications. — The junction of roads and railways
at Nish is protected and commanded by extensive
works.
On the Bulgarian border at Zayetchar are five
forts, and Pirot, on the railway line, Nish to Sofia,
near the Bulgarian border, is strongly fortified.
The State possesses on the Danube one steamer
used as a military transport.
Finance
State Budget. — The principal prerogative of the
National Skupshtina is to examine, to pass on, or re-
ject the Budget laid before it by the Cabinet without
the power of augmenting the various credits. In case
the Skupshtina should delay the ratification of the
new Budget that of the last year may hold good for
another period, otherwise the Budget is good only
for one year. The King sanctions the Budget in con-
junction with the State Council. The amounts fixed
in the Budget for certain purposes cannot be diverted
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA
119
to other purposes, nor can the deficit of one depart-
ment be covered by a surplus in another department.
In case of extraordinary and unforeseen expenses,
the Government can call upon complementary and
extraordinary credit foreseen and regulated by law.
State Budget. —
Revenues (in Francs) :
YEAR ESTIMATED ACTUAL
1886 46,000,000 28,775,256
1896 63,659,720 59,116,858
1904 89,236,721 87,902,436
1905 87,896,000 87,676,437
1906 89,207,072 91,270,374
1907 90,452,752 94,824,117
1908 95,239,037
1909 99,031,444
1910 113,977,744
Expenditures (in Francs) :
YEAR ESTIMATED ACTUAL
1886 45,968,639 39,225,046
1896 63,355,606 64,947,113
1904 89,143,835 85,153,797
1905 87,632,278 84,908,931
1906 89,145,095 87,335,640
1907 90,387,225 86,689,952
1908 95,091,251
1909 98,932,757
1910 112,893,075
120
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Chief Items of Revenues:
Francs
Direct Taxes (1907) 26,029,090
Indirect Taxes (Customs, etc.) (1907) . 14,500,000
Monopolies (1907) 25,310,000
Stamp Duties (1907) 5,525,000
State Railways, Post and Telegraphs, Do-
mains (1907) 19,000,000
Chief Items of Expenditures:
Civil List
Debt (Public) Charge (1907)
Pensions (1907) ....
Public Instruction (1905) .
Ministry of Finance (1907)
War (1907) .
" Public Works (190;
" Foreign Affairs
" Justice .
" Commerce and Agriculture
•V)
1,200,000
23,741,948
4,481,197
6,052,391
9,192,714
20,498,885
9,361,648
2,359,034
2,285,379
3,087,868
Public Debt. — In 1863 Servia contracted her first
public debt and issued her first public loan, which
was augmented by several other small debts during
the war with Turkey in 1876-8. In 1881 she con-
tracted her first important debt of 33,000,000 francs
for railway purposes. Finally, after some other loans,
the Servian Government and a syndicate consolidated
in 1895 all the Servian public debts contracted prior
to that date from the year 1881, the Serbian Govern-
ment giving as guarantee its net revenues from rail-
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA
121
ways, customs, monopolies, taxes, and returns of the
obet (excise). The Autonomous Administration of
Monopolies manages these revenues and superintends
the exact payment of the annuities.
Table of Servia's Public Debts
6
"3
Nominal
value of loan
{in francs).
Actual
amount of
indebtedness
(in francs).
1
2
3
1
6
7
8
9
Loan in Russia in 1S7G .
Lottery loan of 18S1 ....
Loan on obligations of the L'p-
rava Fondova, 1886 .
Loan on tobacco bonds in 1SS8
Consolidation loan of 1895 .
Loan for railway exploitation
in 1899 ..."....
Loan of 1900
2 %
5 %
4 %
5 %
5%
33,000,000
12,000,000
10,000,000
355,292,000
11,500,000
00,000,000
95,000,000
150,000,000
3,750,000
24,730,000
7,293,000
9,170,000
339,900,000
4,800,000
57,538,500
94,194,500
150,000,000
The total actual indebtedness of Servia amounted
on January 1, 1909, to 541,370,000 francs. Servia
pays her annuities regularly. The annual debt charge
in 1907 was 23^ 11,948 dinars.
Money. —The principal bank in Servia is the Na-
tional Bank of Servia, at Belgrade, nominal capital
20,000,000 dinars, of which 6,500,000 is paid up. Its
bank-note circulation in December, 1907, amounted
to 37,362,92*3 dinars, with cash on hand, 14,105,842
dinars in gold and 7,434,967 dinars in silver. Of
importance is the Export Bank, which assists in the
122 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
exportation of Servian products and has agencies in
other countries. The Uprava Fondova (Mortgage
Bank) is a large State institution making important
advances to a large amount for agricultural opera-
tions.
There are seven State savings banks and a Class
Lottery (German system), twenty-four ordinary pri-
vate banks, and six hundred agricultural co-operative
societies on the Ucifeisen co-operative banking sys-
tem.
Servia adopted by the law of June 20, 1875, the
decimal system for its moneys, weights, and measures.
The Servian dinar is equal to one franc, or twenty
cents, in United States currency.
A hundred paras make one dinar. There are in
circulation gold coins of ten and twenty dinars, and
silver coins of five, two, one, and one-half dinars;
bronze coins are of ten and five and two paras; nickel
coins of five, ten, and twenty paras.
Products and Industries
Every condition is favourable to agriculture. A good
climate, a plenteous supply of good water, richness of
soil, with a quality of loam yielding often three crops a
year, favourable rural organisation and traditions, the
Servians' natural pleasure in the development of the
soil, the dignity of agricultural pursuits — all combine
to make of Servia, with improved means of com-
munication and the opening up of adequate facilities
for transportation to other countries, a land destined
to become more and more an important source of
all kinds of agricultural products. Those fortunate
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 123
conditions, together with her rich and various ore
and mineral deposits, point to a bounteous prosperity
in store for her as a producer of raw materials.
The realisation of these facts has resulted in giving
the Servian Ministry of Agriculture control over a
far-reaching organisation for the furtherance not
only of agriculture proper but of production in all
its branches. In addition to the large number of pri-
vate agricultural institutions, the State has founded
schools for the teaching and scientific study of farm-
ing and of the cultivation of vines and orchards (near
Negotin, in the wine-producing district of north-
western Servia); an agricultural and cattle-raising
school near Shaba ts; a cattle-raising institution at
Dobrichevo, with branches in three other districts;
a magnificent agricultural estate near Belgrade (at
Topchider); six State vine nurseries which (by the
introduction of American vines into Servia) have suc-
ceeded in stamping out the phylloxera that threatened
the total destruction of the vines in the early eighties.
This institution not only distributes the American
vines to the people, but gives instruction in the art
of grafting. There are also in the country three model
practical agricultural farm schools, fifty-one model
nurseries for fruit-growing, apiculture, sericulture,
and poultry-farming, where instruction is freely given
in all these branches.'
The Ministry of Agriculture inspects all institu-
tions where agriculture and its branches are taught,
1 The Agricultural and Chemical Station at Belgrade, enlarged in 1902
with a section for Phytopathology, studies the different parasites and ill-
nesses of plants and the means of combating them, and is bound to give
gratuitous information on illnesses of plants to all interested persons.
124 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and collects and publishes statistical data concerning
all departments of the country's development.
At the beginning of 1906 there were 528 private
agricultural associations incorporated into the Union
of Agricultural Societies, with a central administra-
tion at Belgrade. Among the many other private
societies for the furtherance of the interests of prod-
uce are the Servian Agricultural Society, founded in
1869, the Apiculture Society, Sericulture Society, etc.
Practically every Servian countryman owns and
tills his own land, possessing from 10 to 20, to 30, on
up to 100 or even 200 acres, but rarely more. Of the
total population, 84.23 per cent, are engaged in agri-
culture and cattle-raising.
Cereals. — Although maize (Indian corn) is the
largest of all the cereal crops, it is used almost uni-
versally for bread in the rural districts and as food
for cattle and hogs, and therefore figures less on ex-
port lists than does wheat. The maize export fig-
ures for 1905 were about 20,476,279 kilogrammes, as
against a wheat export of 93,146,686 kilogrammes.
The other cereals according to importance are:
barley, oats, rye, millet, and buckwheat.
Vegetables. — The vegetables are beans, onions, chilli
peppers, cabbage, garlic, leeks, pumpkins, water-
melons (in great quantity), musk-melons, cucumbers,
with some potatoes and tomatoes. Beet-root has been
cultivated recently to a certain extent.
Hemp and flax are produced in important quan-
tities in Servia. They are used in the weaving of
home-made linen for wearing apparel and household
purposes, but are exported as well. Tobacco, a
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA Uo
Government monopoly, is exported in considerable
amount from Servia.
Fruit. — The conditions are exceptionally favour-
able for fruit-growing, which has taken the lead of
all agricultural products. Plums are raised in
greater quantities than any other fruit, though all
mid-European varieties of fruit are abundant in
Servia — apples, pears, quinces, cherries, apricots,
nuts, grapes. All of these fruits are of fine quality
and ripen in good condition, it being found possible
to export them fresh from the tree. Plums and their
products, prunes (dried plums), "Pekmez" (made by
boiling ripe plums down in their own sugar to a stiff,
smooth jam), and the famous Servian plum brandy
(slivovitza), are imported in large quantities, and
are much in demand in European markets. The
wine of Xegotin is of fine quality, and is now exported
under its own name. Formerly a Bordeaux firm im-
ported it and resold it, labelled with a Bordeaux
brand. In the same way the Servian prunes often
find their way to the public as French or German
fruit.
Cattle and Other Domestic Animals. — More than
one-half of the total export revenues is derived
from cattle and hogs. Their flesh is exceedingly
wholesome, as a result of their feeding on the grass
of meadows and hillsides, and having fresh, good
water to drink, and sanitary natural conditions gen-
erally.
The estimate gives: 174,363 horses, 969,953 head
of cattle, 3,160,166 sheep, 908,108 hogs, 500,063
goats, 7,710 buffaloes, 1,271 asses, etc.
126 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Poultry. — The revenue from the exportation of
poultry and eggs becomes year by year more im-
portant; in 1905 it was 1,893,580 francs.
The cultivation of silk-worms is reviving in Servia
and is in a promising state. In the Middle Ages silk-
producing was of important value. In 1905 silk-
worm seed and cocoons were exported to the extent
of 97,256 kilogrammes, value, $19,240.
Hunting and Fishing. — The mountains of Servia
abound in game: deer, stag, fallow deer, and hare;
the bear, wild boar, wolf, wild-cat, weasel, fox, etc.;
several species of birds and water-fowl : eagles, hawks,
vultures, doves, partridge, woodcock, etc. Game
laws exist as in other countries.
The streams hold plentiful fish — trout and perch
in the hill streams and pools, and larger fish, especially
sturgeon, in the Danube and Sava.
Forestry. — More than 31.4 per cent, of the total area
of Servia is covered with forests; 36.2 per cent, of
these belong to the State, 42.8 per cent, to the muni-
cipalities and villages, 1.1 per cent, to monasteries
and churches, and 19.9 per cent, are private property.
The most numerous trees are the different species
of oak and the beech; besides these, the leaf-trees
(90 per cent, of the forests) include several species of
maple-trees, ash, elm, lime, birch, hornbeam, black
alder, white alder, several species of poplar and of
willow; walnut, hazel-nut, and several species of six
other kinds of trees. Ten per cent, of the forest-trees
are cone-bearers, chiefly pines and fir-trees in the
south-western part of Servia.
The forest riches of Servia are practically untapped,
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 127
on account of insufficient means of communication.
The State, therefore, cannot at present profit by its
enormous forests, which form one of Servia's rich
stores of resource. At this time more timber is
imported into the country than is taken out of it.
Minerals and Ore. — Servia is rich in mineral and
ore deposits, especially in copper, gold, coal, lead,
and silver. All of the rivers of the realm are gold-
bearing to some extent. During Turkish times
no mines were worked, and they were more or less
forgotten, but the development of peaceful and
flourishing conditions in free Servia has led to the re-
location of some of the old mines (several of them
were exploited by the Romans), and investigation
under government supervision has revealed the exist-
ence of many fresh deposits.
Much foreign and local capital is already being in-
vested in works for the exploitation of some of these
mines.
The State works coal and lignite beds, and a Bel-
gian company is among the foreign concessionaries.
The output of various ores for 1906 was 2,375,067
metric tons.
Mining is carried on for gold, copper, lead, zinc,
antimony, silver, iron, quicksilver, asbestos, arsenic,
chromium, graphite, gypsum, sulphur, marbles;
building: stone and oil shales are found.
For the development of mining industries, as well
as for every other branch of the development of Ser-
via's rich resources, extended means of communica-
tion and an augmentation of the railway system are
necessary. Indeed, it may be said that Servia is a
128 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
pioneer country of enormous and varied wealth of
natural resources, lying in the heart of Europe, a
mine of undeveloped treasure, guarded intact by the
very enemies who have, as it were, bound the land to
inaction and imprisoned the capacities of her people
so many hundred years.
Industries. — Industries, as they are understood in
Europe, have not as yet made much important prog-
ress. It is doubted whether the true prosperity of the
Serb country lies in that direction. Some have hoped
that this fair land, where pauperism and millionairism
are equally unknown, may be able to escape the
blankness of desolation and misery of the vast army
of the non-possessing class who feed the machinery
of the great industries of more Western worlds —
"feed" them with their own lives in more senses than
one.
The arts of handicraft, however, constitute a
special and precious attainment, and have since
earliest times been cultivated and developed in Ser-
vian lands. Though these articles are produced pri-
marily for domestic, if not for personal use, some of
them became known elsewhere.
The famous carpets and rugs of Pirot, in the tchel-
lim weave (like the Persian "kelim" stitch), whose
rich colourings are yet sober and harmonious, while
the designs are severe and elegant, have been made
and perfected during centuries by Servian girls and
women working by traditional methods, from de-
signs carried in the mind only, and imagined or modi-
fied according to the individual taste and fancy of
the weavers. It is rare that any design is ever re-
peated. Each family has its inherited processes and
THE KINGDOM OF SERVIA 129
secrets as to extracting and combining colours, etc.
The colours are all "sap-colours," or vegetable dyes,
and the carpets can be washed without being dam-
aged. The wools are from a special breed of Servian
sheep, and are carefully selected. The work is done
at home in the houses, and the products are sold by
the Zadrugas.
The Pirot Carpet Zadruga is at present a co-
operative society, composed of the women who weave
the carpets, and is aided by the State with capital.
Founded in 1902, it is managed by a council of seven
members and two committees of five each, one of
supervision and the other of estimates, the last being
composed of persons who are not financially inter-
ested in the Imimuc-s but who are good judges of
carpets, and tli«" prices they fix are accepted as being
fair and right. This Pirot Zadruga has in the short
time since its foundation turned out work with great
success, which lias been awarded several "Grand
Prix" in different European exhibitions. Another
department of women's handicraft is the weaving of
all fabrics, from the most exquisite and sheer silken
textures to the stoutest and most durable for wear
a imI household purposes. These textures and the
beautiful embroideries and needle-work point, which
the Servian women make, are greatly admired by
travellers from other lands. The men's handicrafts
are numerous, and include many matters relating to
building, metal work, work in wood, leather, pottery,
etc. The desire to make it possible for the handi-
crafts products to hold their own in the presence of
machine-made cheap articles has caused the matter
to be closely studied, and has inspired the creation of
130 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
institutions for preserving and improving the meth-
ods and conditions of production and the introduc-
tion of laws in their interest. Holiday primary
schools for handicraft have been founded in all the
chief towns, and two higher handicrafts schools in
Belgrade and Kragouyevatz. Both the State and
private corporations aid students to study art abroad.
Handicraft banks have been set up to furnish the
artisans with capital at low rates of interest. The
State endeavours, by all means of treaty and arrange-
ment with foreign governments, to help the sale of
the works of handicrafts.
Modern Manufactures. — The most important of
these are flour-milling, which is rapidly developing,
meat-packing, sugar-making from beet-root, tobacco
manufacture, and the making of arms and ammuni-
tion at Kragouyevatz, etc., etc.
Commerce. — Only 4.41 per cent, of the Servian
population are engaged in commerce:
YEAR IMPORTS EXPORTS TRANSIT
1903 58,235,262 59,967,704 32,734,422
1906 44,328,642 71,604,098 48,645,925
1907 70,583,327 81,491,262 55,963,728
Lines of Communication. — The main railroad line
of Servia is the line from Belgrade to Nish and east-
ward, via Pirot, in Servia, and via Sofia, in Bulgaria,
to Constantinople, a section of the Orient express
route, with the connection of the same line at Nish,
continuing due south to Salonica, through the Mo-
rava-Vardar valley. There are some secondary
branches: Smederevo-Velika Plana, Lapovo-Kragu-
yevatz, a total of 390 miles. The necessity of road
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 131
development is great, and the Government has
planned, and is building, by degrees, about 700 miles
of narrow-gauge railroads.
There are 3,490 miles of highways.
One hundred and ninety-eight miles of the Dan-
ube are navigable, lying along the northern border,
as well as 90 miles of the Sava river. The Drina,
on the western border, gives 106 miles of navigable
riverway for small craft.
The Servian Steamship Company plies on the Sava
and the Danube, alongside of several other foreign
river steamboat companies. At the end of 1907 there
were 2,140 miles of telegraph with 5,042 miles of
wire, and 175 telegraph offices. The post-office, tele-
graph, and telephone services belong to the State.
There were 1,451 post-offices carrying internally,
alone, in 1907, 43,700,000 letters.
2. THE PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO (TSRNAGORA)
MONTENEGRO, a co-
lossal mass of moun-
tain piled upon mountain,
occupies the extreme south-
western point of the Servian
Block, touching the Adriatic
Sea for twenty-eight miles
from Duleigno to Antivari,
thence continuing its west-
ern border along the slender
coastal strip of Dalmatia, then following the south-
eastern boundary of Herzegovina in a north-easterly
132 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
trend, up to a point of junction with Novi-Bazar
(Old Servia), whose south- western border it follows
to the Albanian territory, whose northern limits form
the south-eastern border of Montenegro.
The area is about 3,630 square miles. The entire
population is Servian, and numbers from about
250,000 to 280,000, the fluctuation being accountable
to the large stream of emigration to America and the
numbers who continually repatriate themselves after
having worked for some time, often years, abroad.
The Montenegrins are broad-shouldered and tall,
averaging over six feet in height. There are two
types: those in the southern and western parts of
the country are usually dark-complexioned, while in
the Brdas, the central, northern, and eastern regions,
the prevailing type is fair with light brown hair and
gray eyes.
Administration and Social Organisation
As in all Servian lands, the basis of the social or-
ganisation is the Family — formed into Zadrugas.
Several such families form a Bratstvo (brother-
hood), several Bratstvos, a Selo (village) or a Pleme
(clan), and a group of Plemes form a Zhupa or
Nahia. The Turkish word "Nahia" has come to be
in general use to-day. Montenegro comprises eight
Nahias.
Up to 1851 Montenegro was governed in accord-
ance with traditionary Serb custom, by popular as-
sembly. The chief executive power was in the hands
of a governor, who was elected, and superior to him
was the Bishop, who, as spiritual head of the united
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 133
clans — his diocese including them all — was looked
upon as the supreme authority. In 1851 Bishop
Danilo, uncle of the present Prince of Montenegro,
secularised himself by a coup d'etat and merged the
ancient confederation of clans into an absolute Prin-
cipality, for which he obtained, under the a?gis of
Russia, recognition by the European Powers.
Constitution. — The Constitution dates from De-
cember 19, 1905, and the first Parliament on Western
lines assembled in Montenegro in 1906, being dis-
solved in 1907. With that grant Montenegro became
a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The Skupsh-
tina (Parliament) meets at the capital, Cettinye, every
year, on October 31, being convoked by the Prince.
Its members are elected by universal suffrage for a
term of four years. One representative is elected by
each of the fifty-six Capitanats, or districts, and
one each by the six towns, Cettinye, Podgoritza,
Nikshitch, Kolashin, Antivari, and Dulcigno. There
are also twelve members who sit in virtue of their
offices; they are: The Montenegrin Orthodox
Metropolitan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Antivari, the [Montenegrin Mussulman Mufti, six
high officials of the State, and three generals nomi-
nated by the Prince, making seventy-four members
in all.
The portfolios of the Cabinet are held by six min-
isters. The President of the Council holds the two
portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Justice; the Min-
istry of the Interior and Agriculture, one; Posts and
Telegraphs, one; Finance and Public Works, one;
Education and Worship, one, and one for War.
134 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Royal Family. — The reigning Prince is Ni-
cola I. Petrovitch Nyegosh, born October 7 (O. S.,
September 25), 1841, proclaimed Prince of Tsrnagora
and the Brdas, as successor to his uncle, Danilo I.
the first Prince of Montenegro (Tsrnagora and the
Brdas), on August 14, 1860.
Religion. — The whole population of Montenegro
belongs to the Servian Orthodox Church, with the
exception of about 10,000 Roman Catholics and
14,000 Mohammedans.
Montenegro is divided into two Orthodox dioceses,
Cettinye and Ostrog. Cettinye is subdivided into 8
proto-presbyteries with 84 parishes, Ostrog has 9
proto-presbyteries with 75 parishes. Both Sees are
united in the person of the Bishop of Cettinye, who
is the Metropolitan of the Servian Orthodox Church
of Montenegro. The clergy under him numbers 180.
There are 117 Orthodox churches in Montenegro.
The Orthodox clergy is maintained by the govern-
ment, out of a budgetary item called church tax,
levied on each head of a household.
The Roman Catholics have 10 parishes with 13
priests and a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Antivari.
These parishes are all situated on the lake of Scutari
in the coastal district. In the same district are also
situated the 19 Mussulman communities and 33 ex-
pounders of the Koran under the authority of a
Mufti.
Education. — Schooling in Montenegro is free and
in elementary grades compulsory. There is one
gymnasium, or classical college, conferring the degree
of B.A., at Cettinye, a seminary for orthodox priests,
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 135
and 120 lower schools, and a girls' special high school
with about 100 resident pupils.
There are printing-presses at Cettinye and Niks-
hitch issuing books and newspapers. The first
printing-press in this land was set up at Podgoritza,
in 1492, and flourished until it was suppressed by
the Turks in the sixteenth century, along with all
other printing-presses throughout Serb lands.
Justice, Crime, and Pauperism. — The judicial code
formulated by V. Bogishitch, founded on the Servian
code and codifying old, unwritten tradition and laws,
is gradually coming into usage.
The justice of the peace of each community is also
its mayor. There are 56 district courts, each pre-
sided over by the head of the district, or Capetan,
and five town courts; those are all the courts of first
instance.
There are courts of second instance, or courts of
appeal, in the five principal towns, and a supreme
court called the Veliki sud in Cettinye, which is the
court of highest and final instance and has jurisdic-
tion over the whole principality. Grace for criminal
offences lies with the Prince, but crime in general is
rare.
There is no workhouse, but the Government annu-
ally gives employment on public works to those who
are poor.
Finance
Budget. — The Budget estimates for 1907 showed
the revenues to amount to 2,980,000 perper (francs),
derived chiefly from land taxes, customs, and monop-
136 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
olies. The expenditure was 2,888,893 perper (francs),
covering :
Prince's civil list and appanages of royal
princes 180,000 perper.
Justice 150,000
Interior 580,913
Foreign Affairs 150,881
Finance 448,759
War 200,000
Worship and Instruction 197,847
The Public Debt amounts to 1,G57,192 perpers.
Money. — Since 1908 Montenegro has her own
monetary system. One perper equals one franc,
divided into a hundred centimes. There are three
banks, the Bank of Montenegro, at Cettinye, and
banks at Podgoritza and Nikshitch.
The Army.
The army of Montenegro is Montenegro. A con-
tinual state of war through five hundred years has
given Montenegro the character of a military camp,
and has made the Montenegrin-Serbians a people
of soldiers, and one may also say a people of aris-
tocrats — each clan of the Tsrnagora can trace its
blood and its armorial bearings beyond the thirteenth
century.
It is natural under these circumstances that the
Montenegrin army should include every man able to
bear arms; and the spirit still holds of the old, un-
written law: "Whoever once shows himself to be a
coward shall never more carry arms, shall wear a
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 137
woman's apron, and shall be chased out of the coun-
try by women."
The rule is that all men from thirty to forty-five
years of age serve in the first line of the army; all
from sixteen to twenty and from forty-five to sixty in
the second line. The estimated strength of the army
in time of war is 38,000 men, of whom 25,000 belong
to the first line.
Organisation. — In time of peace there is a school
battalion of 690 men, who remain four months under
instruction, giving place to a new batch. Besides
this, there is a school battery instructing batches of
100 men for six months. In war time the army com-
prises 58 battalions of infantry with nine batteries,
each possessing four Krupp 7 cm. guns and two
field-guns.
The higher formations are the nine brigades.
The Montenegrin Army possesses 40,000 Russian
ordinance repeating rifles, pattern "Moskovska,"
with 30,000,000 cartridges; also 39,900 Berdan,
20,000 Werndls, 20,000 Martinis, 12,000 Krnkas,
5,000 Wenzels, all single-loading rifles, and 29,000
revolvers; 36 mountain guns, 12 field-guns, also
other muzzle-loading and breech-loading guns, how-
itzers, and mitrailleuses.
There are also two batteries of quick-firing field-
guns, Russian army pattern; and an order has been
placed for a number of Maxim guns, which would
be specially adaptable to the Montenegrin country.
The uniform of the Montenegrin Army is the national
costume; however, the Prince has the design of
abolishing the national dress and putting the guards
138 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and the school troops into a uniform copied from one
of the European armies. The ambulance service
consists of a detachment sent from the Russian army.
Command and Officers. — The chief of the army is
the Prince, and the commander of the newly created
troops is the Heir-Apparent. A Russian officer has
lately arrived in Montenegro, under order of the
Tsar, to supervise the expenses of the war budget
and the reorganization of the Montenegrin Army.
Of the 750 officers, fifty have been educated in Rus-
sian, French, and Italian military schools.
Mobilisation. — The traditional organisation of the
army has heretofore made it possible that the army
should be mobilised and concentrated within three or
four days. Every man has his own equipment and
arms in his own house, and the old method of mob-
ilisation simply consists in a bugle-call to arms; thus,
in all mobilisations the troops were gathered in the
districts and on the complete war footing within four
hours after the call. In 1887, within eight hours,
10,000 men, one- third of the army, were ready for
action on the Herzegovian border.
The innovations being now steadily introduced will
greatly encumber this swiftness of handling.
Instruction. — Until 1896 no service regulation ex-
isted in Montenegro. Tactics were based on tradi-
tional axioms formed by five hundred years of suc-
cessful experience. In 1896 a field-service regula-
tion, adapted from those of the Russian and the
Italian armies, was introduced ; the masses, however,
and the leaders are opposed to this imposition, and
hold to the old traditional tactics as being those best
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 139
suited to the relief and character of that mountainous
country. The principle of those old tactics is the
defensive, with retarded opening of fire at short dis-
tances, and sudden, energetic offensive attack at the
moment when the enemy is shaken by the fire.
Spirit and Discipline. — The warlike spirit is the
same as it has been these five hundred years, uncon-
querable.
For a successful defence of the country, the military
forces of Montenegro are more than sufficient, and
their value as an army of invasion of a neighbouring
State should not be underestimated.
Products and Industries
The land is owned by the cultivators of the soil,
who live and work in house communities (Zadrugas).
There are no large estates.
The high plateaux grow barley, rye, and oats; the
plains of Nikshitch and Zhablyak produce wheat and
Indian corn. On the littoral, oranges, lemons, al-
monds, and figs are raised. In the valleys, basins,
and dolinas the inhabitants are agriculturalists,
growing maize, potatoes, grain, melons, grapes,
apples, pears, prunes, nuts, and tobacco. In the
alluvial and coast territories of the south the prod-
ucts include figs, olives, grapes, grain, pomegranates,
almonds, mulberries, quinces, sumach wood, and an-
other wood called "macchia," oleander, laurel, myr-
tle, erik, spartium, and stone oak.
In the higher regions the population live chiefly
by the raising of cattle on a system similar to that in
Switzerland in the high Alpine districts.
140 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The live stock is: 500,000 sheep and goats, 60,000
cattle, 8,000 swine, 3,000 horses, 30,000 bee-hives.
The manufacture, selling, and exportation of to-
bacco are a State monopoly exploited since 1903 by
an Italian syndicate.
An Italo-Montenegrin syndicate, recently formed
to prospect for minerals, has discovered beds of man-
ganese and iron pyrites.
Commerce. — The exports of Montenegro for 1906
were valued at $1,041,665. They include cattle,
sheep, goats, wool, hides, skins for glove manufac-
ture, furs, sumach wood for dying purposes, chry-
santhemums for insect powder, tobacco, wood for
walking-sticks, smoked mutton (castradino), cheese,
dried and smoked fish, and sardines (scorances),
honey, beeswax, olive-oil, wine, and fruits.
The imports were about $1,250,000, and included
salt from Turkey (salt is a government monopoly)
of $55,000 a year; petroleum from Russia; maize,
cottons, hardware, arms, ammunition, sugar, coffee,
rice, and grain.
Lines of Communication. — There is a good wagon
road from Cattaro to Cettinye, from Riyeka via Pod-
goritza and Danilograd to Nikshitch, another from
Riyeka to Antivari via Virbazar, one from Antivari
to Dulcigno, a road from Podgoritza via Plavnitza to
the lake of Scutari, one from Nikshitch to Kolashin
and the Moratcha valley. All of the other roads are
bridle paths and mountain trails. An electrical rail-
road is in course of construction from Antivari, on the
Servian Sea (Adriatic), to Nikshitch, of about 100
miles in length. There are 528 miles of telegraph
PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO 141
lines, twenty-three offices, two radio-telegraphic sta-
tions, and twenty-one post-offices.
The Montenegrin Government possesses one war-
ship (old), a gift of Russia, one steamer of 659 tons;
there are sixteen sailing boats with a tonnage of 3,647
tons, and three small steamers on the lake of Scutari.
CHAPTER IV
SERVIAN LANDS UNDER FOREIGN
DOMINATION
1. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (UNDER AUSTRIA-
HUNGARY)
B
OSNIA forms the northern
and broader part of a trian-
gular area of territory, of which
Herzegovina forms the narrowing
southern point, imbedded in the
Serb Block between Croatia and
Dalmatia on the west, Croatia-
Slavonia on the north, the kingdom
of Servia and Old Servia on the east, Montenegro on
the south-east, and piercing through to the Adriatic
Sea, with the extreme southern point where Dalmatia
thins down to the mere coast line at Klek north of
Ragusa and Sutorina south of Ragusa. The area is
19,702 square miles.
Population. — The population is entirely Servian in
race and language, and numbered, in 1905, 1,568,092
(828,190 males and 739,902 females). In addition to
this number, there has been a regular garrison of
Austro-Hungarian troops of 22,000, which has been
raised since the annexation of October, 1908, and
stands at 50,000 men. There are also, making up
the administrative, official, and other non-Bosnian
142
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 143
temporary class of inhabitants, 70,848 Austro-Hun-
garians, comprising all officials, high and low, of the
administration, the judges in all the courts of justice,
police, Roman Catholic clergy, merchants, and other
exploiters of various kinds.
There are fifty-one towns and markets, with a
population reaching 2,000, and four towns with over
10,000: Serayevo, the capital, having 38,083 inhabi-
tants; Mostar, 14,370; Banyaluka, 13,556; and
Dolna-Tuzla, 10,227.
In 1875 the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
after the example of their neighbour and sister-State,
Servia, who had succeeded in reconquering her long-
lost liberty, rose in insurrection against the Turkish
rule. They had already won important victories and
wrested concessions from their Ottoman masters;
their complete autonomy was indeed in sight, being
guaranteed to them by the Constantinople Conference
of 1876, and more recently by the San Stefano treaty,
when in 1878 the Congress of Berlin convened for the
purpose of deliberating upon the results of the Russo-
Rumano-Serbo-Montenegrin war against Turkey,
and the modification of the treaty of San Stefano,
which the four Powers above named, following the
lead of Russia, had just concluded with the Sultan.
The great European Powers at the Berlin Con-
gress, actuated by motives and interests not to be here
examined, arranged by a combination of mutual con-
cessions to abrogate the treaty of San Stefano, and to
ignore the concessions hard-won at the sword's point
from Turkey by Bosnia-Herzegovina, and at the
request of Austria to hand over to Austria-Hungary
144 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
for administration and occupation those Servian
lands which she had been unable to conquer during
centuries of armed attempt to subdue and hold. The
people of those countries opposed the invasion of the
Austro-Hungarian troops, who were only able after
four years of bloody fighting to enter and impose their
administration upon the population.
Austria-Hungary has recently (October 5, 1908)
annexed the provinces outright, in violation of the
treaty promises made at the Berlin Congress.
Administration
The administration during the last thirty years
has been entirely Austro-Hungarian, the inhabitants
having been allowed no share in public affairs ex-
cept the payment of taxes and furnishing of recruits
to the Austro-Hungarian Army. The administration
is exercised by an office in Vienna, called the "Bos-
nian Bureau," forming a special department of the
Ministry of Finance common to Austria and Hun-
gary. The bureau controls the government seated
at Serayevo Bosnia, which has four departments:
Finance, Interior, Justice, and Public Works.
The Austro-Hungarian Government has established
throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina an elaborate
and complete police system, penetrating every de-
partment of life, public and private, such as is un-
known in any other country.
The provinces are promised a constitutional gov-
ernment with a diet, consisting of ecclesiastical mem-
bers and deputies elected on the basis of so-called
universal suffrage; that suffrage, however, on account
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 145
of arbitrary determination of the number of repre-
sentatives, according to nationality or religion, does
not anywhere in Austria-Hungary mean equal repre-
sentation. The territory is divided into six counties
as superior administrative divisions and fifty-four
sub-divisions.
Finance. — In 1907 the revenue for expenditure in
the administration of these lands was 60,840,391
crowns, 1 the amount expended, 60,811,717 crowns.
The money system and weights and measures are
the same as in Austria-Hungary.
The most important of the financial institutions is
the Bosnian Bank at Serayevo. A Hungarian mort-
gage bank for Bosnian business has just been founded
at Buda-Pesth.
The Army. — Military service is compulsory and
under the general military law of Austria-Hungary.
Austria levies in Bosnia and Herzegovina four in-
fantry regiments, each of five battalions— four "line"
and one "depot"; one rifle battalion and four sec-
tions of train ; no artillery and no cavalry ; a total of
7,100 men on a peace-footing. All of these troops are
quartered outside of the country, in Austria or in the
Magyar towns of Hungary. Military expenditure is
5,947,200 crowns annually. The permanent garrison
is composed of non-native troops, all Germans and
Magyars, and numbers thirty-four battalions and
twelve batteries of artillery. The troops constitute
the Fifteenth Austro-Hungarian iVrmy Corps, and
are organised in small brigades of two or three bat-
talions for "local warfare." 2
1 A crown is about twenty-one cents. 2 See " Statesman's Year Book."
146 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Religion. — There are mainly three religious creeds
in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Of the total population
43 per cent, belong to the Serb-Orthodox Church,
35 per cent, are Serb-Mohammedans, 21 per cent,
are Roman Catholics — among the Roman Catholics
being counted all of the foreign officials and the army
of occupation, or, rather, the army of annexation, as
it has recently become — 0.5 per cent, of the inhabi-
tants are Jews, 0.2 per cent. Protestants.
The Mohammedan population are the descendants
of the old Servian feudal landlords of Turkish days,
and still live under the agricultural regime of the six-
teenth century. Their highest religious authority is
the Sheik-ul-Islaam at Constantinople, who is locally
represented by a legate called the "Reis-el-Ulema."
The expenses in those lands of the Mohammedan
cult — of mosques, schools, hospitals, baths, etc. — are
met by the income from the entailed religious landed
estates called "vacouf." The vacouf is at present
administered by the Austro-Hungarian Government.
The Roman Catholic population are found mostly
around Travnik and Mostar; the non-native Roman
Catholics are Austro-Hungarians.
From the time of the Turkish invasion in the fif-
teenth century up to the Austrian occupation in 1878
the religious life of the Bosnian Roman Catholics
centred in the Franciscan monasteries, with their
bishop at Travnik. Those Franciscan monks were
looked on with kindness by the other creeds, with
whom they were not unsympathetic in their dealings ;
but since 1878 the administration of the Roman
Catholic Church interests has been taken out of the
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 147
hands of the Franciscans and delivered over to the
Jesuits. The present head of Catholic authority in
those lands is the Archbishop of Serayevo and the
Bishops of Mostar, Banyaluka, and Trebigne.
The Orthodox Serbs, forming numerically the
strongest element of the population, have as religious
head the Orthodox Metropolitan at Serayevo and the
two Bishops of Dolna-Tuzla and Mostar.
Education. — The schooling in Bosnia-Herzegovina
is in general poor; the lower schools are all denomi-
national.
Those which are Roman Catholic are subventioned
by the Austro-Hungarian Government. The Mo-
hammedan schools are supported by the vacouf
foundations, and the Orthodox schools have no sub-
vention, but are kept up by the Orthodox Church
communities. These Church communities exist in
all Serb lands, and are the centres of national remem-
brance and hope.
Education is not compulsory, though it is free in
the lower grades.
In 1907 there were 379 elementary (denomina-
tional) schools, Catholic and Orthodox Christian,
and, of lower Mohammedan schools, 940. There
were also five gymnasia, one Realschule, or modern
school; one military school for the sons of Austro-
Hungarian officers and government employees; also
eleven girls' schools, nine commercial schools, three
seminaries for the education of priests — Roman Cath-
olic, Serb-Orthodox, and Serb-Mohammedan (Law
school) ; three training colleges for teachers, one for
each creed. Technical and industrial schools exist
148 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
in several of the larger towns. There has been some
slight attempt at introducing the teaching of prac-
tical agriculture in certain village schools.
Justice, Crime, Pauperism. — There is an upper
court of justice in Serayevo, six district courts and
fifty-one county courts of first instance. All judges
in all courts are imported from Austria-Hungary. In
the district and county courts two "assessors" are
allowed from the inhabitants to "advise" the judge
in criminal causes. Judges are appointed by the
Austro-Hungarian Government, and are removable
by advice to the Government by the Austro-Hungarian
political officials in Bosnia.
There is a great deal of starvation; during 1902
three thousand families, numbering about ten thou-
sand persons, were starving and obliged to emigrate.
They went into Servia. The yearly emigration is very
large. There are no reliable statistics available for
pauperism and crime.
Of the inhabitants, 1,400,000, or 88 per cent., are
connected with agriculture; 2.13 per cent, are land-
lords, owning vast estates; 33.45 per cent, are free
agriculturalists, owning land; 38.25 per cent, are
"Kmets," whose condition makes them practically
serfs; 11.26 per cent, are "Kmets," who possess cer-
tain free holdings in addition to the land to which
they are bound; 3.25 per cent, are otherwise occu-
pied in agriculture (hired labourers).
The taxes and various charges due to government
and landlord (collected for the landlord by the gov-
ernment) amount to from 75 per cent, to 80 per cent,
on the average, and not infrequently to 90 per cent.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 149
and 95 per cent, of the agriculturalists' gross returns.
It is a system which is steadily dispossessing and
pauperising the agricultural classes, driving them
from their land to the profit of the big estates.
Products and Industries
The chief food staples of the population are milk,
sheep-cheese, maize, rice, and mutton.
Of the total area, 2,335,894 hectares are arable
land. Of this, 1,030,246 hectares are ploughed soil,
929,226 are pastures, 331,246 are meadows, 34,413
are gardens, and 5,760 are vineyards.
The harvest average is 17,178,000 metric quintals,
the half of which is maize and fodder; 5,500,000
metric quintals of grain, 2,700,000 metric quintals of
vegetables and fruit, 650,000 metric quintals of po-
tatoes, 350,000 metric quintals of sugar-beets, grown
near Doboj, 32,000 metric quintals of tobacco.
The southern valleys of Herzegovina grow almonds,
chestnuts, figs, and pomegranates. The plum har-
vest is 240,000 metric quintals. The grape harvest is
64,000 metric quintals.
There are in Bosnia-Herzegovina 245,000 horses
and mules, 1,417,000 cattle, 3,230,000 sheep, 1,447,-
000 goats, 662,000 pigs.
The horses are small, being crossed with Arab
blood. They are hardy, and make good pack-horses
and mountain climbers. Sheep and goats are mostly
bred in Herzegovina, where the town of Livno is the
great wool market. Most of the pigs and fowls are
raised in the Posavina district. There are 140,000
beehives in the country.
150 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Among the hills and mountains game is plenteous,
both big and small. The swamps abound in water-
fowl.
About 50 per cent, of the total area comprises
woods and forests. Of this wooded area, 58 per
cent, is covered by deciduous trees; 42 per cent, by
cone-bearers of the pine order.
Of the 2,580,000 hectares of forest land, 2,029,000
are State property; 551,000 belong to the Moham-
medan vakouf.
About the inhabited places and the parts traversed
by roads, trees are sparse, and where once cut down
do not again appear. A characteristic of the Bosnian
formation is that deforestation develops a Carst or
bleak limestone surface, the soil being quickly washed
away by the rains. 1 Where the land has not been
denuded of trees, the soil remains and yields fine
harvests.
Mining. — Bosnia-Herzegovina is rich in mineral
and ore deposits. The mining industry was very im-
portant in this region during antiquity and in the
Middle Ages, but under Turkish rule it was entirely
1 A remarkable instance of this action is to be observed on the Romanya
Planina, near Serayevo, which was the scene of a picturesque incident at
the time of the Austrian occupation; the Austrian troops erected several
blockhouses on the Romanya Planina, and it was thought advisable to
utilise the spot for the cultivation of vegetables for the garrison. It was
intended also in this way to give a lesson in scientific agriculture to the good
inhabitants of the country, who had repeated to the Austrians the popular
Bosnian saying, " If you disturb the trees and boulders on our mountains,
the earth becomes cursed ground." The soldiers, in scorn of such super-
stition, were set to work to remove the many large stones which littered
the land; they had hardly finished that hard and arduous clearing when
a storm of rain swept over the country; the Bora blew, and behold the place
was again covered even more thickly than before with stones and boulders,
both huge and small! The surface had simply melted down, baring a new
layer of the same formation.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 151
abandoned, and the very location of the mines was
forgotten. Coal deposits are being again worked at
Senitza and Krtchka, near Dolna-Tuzla. These two
mines produced, in 1900, 2,296,432 metric quintals of
coal, with a working staff of 807 miners.
The copper deposits near Senyiaka are beginning
to be worked. Manganese ore is worked at Chelian-
ovich and Vogoshtcha, and produced 50,000 metric
quintals in 1900. Chrome is found at Douboshtina,
gold in the Vrbas and Lashva Rivers, near Travnik.
There are silver mines, the famous mines of the
Middle Ages, at Srebenitza, on the Servian border;
they were the property, in 1400, of despot Stephan
Lazarovich. There are' lead mines at Olovo, salt
springs at Siminhan and Dolna-Tuzla (Tuzla means
salt, in Turkish). The Austro-Hungarian salt mo-
nopoly produced from these springs 125,000 metric
quintals of salt in 1900.
Mercury is found near Foynitza and Kreshevo, and
yielded thirty-eight metric quintals in 1900. Deposits
of antimony and of gypsum exist at various points
in Bosnia. Crude oil has been found near Roshanye.
There are many mineral springs near Srebrenatza,
hot sulphur waters near Gata, at Jlidze, and at Ban-
yaluka, and bitter-salt springs near Dolna-Tuzla.
Industries. — Prior to the Austrian occupation the
entire industry of the country was the home or cottage
industry, including carpet-weaving, embroidery, nee-
dle-work, cotton and silk gossamer weaving, inlaid
metal work, gold and silver filigree, and arms, es-
pecially swords, wrought finely and inlaid with silver
and other metals.
152 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Austro-Hungarian Government brought in
factory industries which are in foreign hands en-
couraged and protected by many privileges. These
privileges are such that the foreign-owned industries
become private monopolies. There is at Serayevo a
carpet and tapestry factory, where the famous hand-
made French "Gobelin" make is imitated with
machinery. Iron and steel works are at Zenitza and
Varosh, an oil-refining plant at Brod. In addition to
those are various factories for making alcohol, am-
monia, soda, soap, candles, paper, cloth, leather,
liquor, sugar, beer; four Government tobacco fac-
tories, and the Electrical Carbid Works.
Lines of Communication. — There are 679 miles of
railroad, nearly all narrow-guage. The principal
line is Brod-Serayevo-Mostar-Gabela-Gravosa (346
miles).
The post-offices, all military, are 89 in number;
the military telegraph offices, 159. There are also
213 miles of telephone lines.
Commerce. — The value of the exports to Austria-
Hungary was estimated in 1907 to be 112,100,703
crowns, and that of the imports to 114,492,195
crowns. The exports comprise raw products, wood,
coal, animals, hides, wool, wax, prunes, grains, min-
erals, and tobacco. The imports are food stuffs,
flour, manufactured articles. Of the exports, 97 per
cent, are to Austria-Hungary, and the entire imports
are from Austria-Hungary.
DALMATIA
153
2. DALMATIA (UNDER AUSTRIA)
THE Austrian province of
Dalmatia, called the "King-
dom" of Dalmatia, is a strip of
territory extending for 390 kilo-
metres along the eastern shore of
the Adriatic, with a width varying
from two to seventy kilometres.
It is the extreme western boun-
dary of the Serb Block. The
northern boundary touches Croatia, while on the
east it is flanked by Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
narrow southern confine edging on Montenegro.
Tongues f Herzegovina reach out to the sea-shore
across this long, narrow stretch of coastwise land,
transsecting it at two points, at Kleck and Sutorina.
These strips of territory were ceded to Turkey by
old Ragusa (Dubrovnik), with the design of interpos-
ing barriers between herself and Venetian Dalmatia.
Twenty larger islands and numerous smaller ones,
with many small projections called "scogliae," lie
thickly strewn along the entire water-front. This
water-front, of 520 kilometres, is rocky and precipitous
in character, and is broken by promontories and penin-
sulas, forming a large number of bays and straits.
Population. — According to the census of 1900 the
population numbered 593,789, with a yearly increase
of 1.26 per cent. To every square kilometre there are
forty-six inhabitants, with a proportion of 1,000 males
to 968 females. The yearly emigration is large.
154 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Of the population, 96.65 per cent, are Serbs, 2.61
per cent, are Italians residing in the towns, the islands,
and the ports.
Towns rich in historic association from ancient
days front on the sea-coast line : Zara, Sebenico (Shi-
benik), Trau, Spalato (Splet), whose sea front is to-
day formed by the ancient walls of the palace of the
Roman Emperor Diocletian; Ragusa (Dubrovnik),
to whose walls still cling fragments of the proud and
powerful little republic, respected by the Turks and
Venetians, and reduced only by modern French and
Austrian invaders. All of these towns of the Adriatic
had great commercial importance up to 1815, the time
when they were incorporated into Austria. Since
then general trade has declined and shrivelled to
merely local coastwise traffic, until to-day they are
more or less dead — interesting chiefly as monuments
of a flourishing and magnificent past.
Administration
Dalmatia is an Austrian province called a "King-
dom," whose king is the Emperor of Austria. He
rules by means of a Governor, assisted by a local diet
including, besides the Roman Catholic Archbishop
and the Orthodox Bishop of Zara, forty-one mem-
bers, elected by direct ballot in the towns and indi-
rect voting in the country districts. This provincial
diet is able to legislate on matters which do not
depend upon the central Parliament at Vienna. It
regulates the local affairs relating to taxes, cultiva-
tion of the soil, education (under restrictions con-
DALMATIA 155
tained in laws passed by the Vienna Parliament),
charity institutions, and public works.
Dalmatia sends eleven members to the Reichsrath,
or Austrian Parliament, in Vienna. The voting for
them is by so-called universal suffrage, which is con-
trolled, however, by the system of districts, resulting
in the return of the majority of representatives for
the minority of the electorate.
The country is divided into thirteen administrative
districts, under "district captains." Most of the
officials are German, sent from Austria.
The Army. — Dalmatia furnishes to the Austrian
common army eight battalions of infantry, one regi-
ment (four battalions) to the Austrian "Landwehr,"
with one squadron of Landwehr cavalry. Dalmatia is
also a recruiting territory for the Austro-Hungariun
navy.
Religion. — The Roman Church is represented by
the Archbishop of Zara and five Bishops — of Seben-
ico, Spalato, Lesina, Ragusa, and Cattaro. The
Servian Orthodox Church is represented by the two
Bishops of Zara and Cattaro; they are placed by the
Austrian Government under the jurisdiction of the
Metropolitan residing at Czernovitz, in Galitzia, on
the Russian border, distant more than one thousand
miles.
Education. — Dalmatia holds six Roman Catholic
theological seminaries, subventioned by the State, for
the training of priests; the Serb-Orthodox Church
has no seminaries, and its parishes are frequently
unable to procure a priest. There are two schools
for the training of secular teachers, one male, one
156 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
female; five "gymnasia," with classical courses;
two "reale" schools, or high schools, non-classical;
and one agricultural school. There are 367 elemen-
tary public schools and twenty private schools.
Products and Industries
Of the total area, 10.7 per cent, are lands devoted
to agriculture, 46.3 per cent, to grazing, 6.4 per cent,
to vineyards, and 3.7 per cent, to garden and meadow
land. There are only 30.9 per cent, of underwood
or brushwood and low forest.
In 1901 the main crop was 695,000 metric quintals
of grain foods, especially maize; 32,000 hectolitres of
peas, beans, and other pod vegetables; 192,800 metric
quintals of potatoes. The entire harvest was not
sufficient for the nourishment of the population; it
was necessary to cover the lack of food by imports.
Only olive-oil, 66,300 metric quintals, and wine,
1,355,800 hectolitres, met the domestic demand and
showed some surplus for export. Cherries, almonds,
melons, figs, pomegranates, and quinces are the
principal fruits. Dalmatia produced 16,700 metric
quintals of tobacco. Large fields of wild chrysan-
themums are cultivated for the manufacture of insect
powder to the amount of 5,100 metric quintals. The
grass lands gave 2,550 metric quintals of hay; the
forests yielded 445,000 cubic metres of wood. There
is not much cattle or horse raising on account of the
scarcity of fodder.
In 1901 the country possessed 26,368 horses,
38,506 donkeys, 108,216 cattle, 88,039 sheep, 187,676
goats, and 56,748 pigs.
DALMATIA 157
Dalmatia is poor in game, either big or small,
except in regard to water- fowl in the Neretva (Narenta)
delta.
Bees are largely cultivated, on the islands especially,
the total number of hives being 24,413. Silk cocoons
amounted to 20,000 kilogrammes. The sea-fishing
industry employed 8,461 fishermen and 1,955 boats.
The fish, molluscs, and sponges put on the market in
1901 brought 2,417,000 crowns.
The mineral products included that year 1,320,955
metric quintals of brown coal, especially from the
mines on Monte Promino. Limestone and marble
quarries are found in Dalmatia; sea-salt is a monop-
oly belonging to the Austrian Government, and pro-
duced at Arbe, Pago and Stagno, in 1901, 69,563
metric quintals.
Industries. — There is barely any industry beyond
home-crafts for local employment, with the exception
of the manufacture of liqueurs, Maraschino and Ro-
soglio. Attached to these factories are glass-blowing
works for the production of the necessary bottles.
There are a few chalk and brick kilns, oil presses, flour
mills, soap factories, and fish-preserving concerns.
In several ports are small yards for the construc-
tion of fishing boats and other small coast craft. The
population furnishes, as it has during many centuries
past, the finest sailors in the Mediterranean, cool,
determined, hardy, and steady. The number of
registered boats of all kinds in the province is 7,832,
of 42,109 tons, with 19,330 sailors. At the sixty-seven
ports there were 50,366 calls during the year, with
7,320,344 tons. There are 326 kilometres of rail-
158
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ways in the country, 149 post-offices, 110 telegraph
offices, and three banks, besides two savings banks
and sixteen loan institutions.
3. CROATIA-SLAVONIA (UNDER HUNGARY)
THE territory of those semi-
autonomous provinces, desig-
nated the "United Kingdoms of
Croatia and Slavonia," occupies,
with [stria, the extreme north-west-
ern region of the Serb-inhabited
Block, clasping and partly encir-
cling north-western Bosnia, form-
ing an arm whose elbow touches
Trieste at the head of the Adriatic Sea, whose fore-
arm extends down the coast to the northern limits of
Dalmatia, and whose upper arm and shoulder lie
eastward across southern Hungary up to the Dan-
ube River above Belgrade, Servia. The total area
of Croatia-Slavonia is 16,423 square miles.
Population. — The census of 1901 gave the popula-
tion as 2,400,766, and the garrisons counted as 2,416,-
304, of whom 1,209,533 were males and 1,206,971 fe-
males, averaging 56.8 persons per square kilometre.
There are 1,478,825 Serbo-Croats who are Roman
Catholics, 612,604 Serbo-Croats who are Orthodox,
and 12,810 Serbo-Croatian "Uniats" (Orthodox
Christians recognising the supremacy of the Pope),
making the Serbo-Croats a total of 87 per cent, of
the population. There are 134,000 Germans, 90,000
Magyars, and some few Italians and Jews.
CROATIA-SLAVONIA 159
Administration and Political Organisation
When the "Ausgleich" was made in 1867 between
Austria and Hungary, Croatia had to choose between
remaining an Austrian province ruled in the German
tongue by Germans or accepting the offer of Hungary
of semi-autonomy and dependency upon Hungary.
The arrangement between Hungary and Croatia forms
a treaty called the "Nagoda," made in 1868, to which
several clauses were added in 1873. The Croats
stipulated that the official language for all interior
affairs should be Serbo-Croat.
The administration was settled to be under a
"Banus" as Lord Lieutenant, appointed by the
Emperor of Austria as King of Hungary. The Ban
is responsible to the King, to the Hungarian Prime
Minister, and to the Croatian Diet.
The Ban is ;i>>i>t<<l by ;i (iovcrnment committee
called the "Croatian Government," forming three
autonomous departments: Interior, Justice and Cults,
and Public Instruction. This board of government
is represented in the Hungarian Cabinet by one
minister called "Minister for Croatia-Slavonia."
The financial administration is in the hands of six
Directors of Finance.
The legislative body of Croatia is the Diet, which
has the right to legislate on questions of interior ad-
ministration, cult, public instruction, and justice,
except in all matters affecting naval and marine
affairs and naturalisation and citizenship.
The Croatian Diet has one hundred and twelve
members elected for a period of three years — in the
160 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
country districts by indirect election and in the towns
by direct ballot.
The members include, in addition to the elected
representatives, the Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb,
the Orthodox Servian Patriarch of Carlo vitz, six
Bishops, and the Dean of the Roman Catholic Ca-
thedral of Zagreb, the eight Zhupans who are the ad-
ministrative heads of the eight "comitats," or coun-
ties, the "Comes" of Turopolye, and the eight
"Magnates," or feudal lords, who are mostly of
foreign origin.
Of these members of the Croatian Diet, all the
Archbishops and Bishops and the Roman Catholic
Dean of Zagreb and three Croatian Magnates have
seats in the Hungarian House of Magnates at Buda-
Pesth, while forty members of the Croatian Diet sit
in the Hungarian Lower House, or Reichstag.
Croatia is separated administratively into eight
counties, the heads of which are the Vice-Zhupans.
There are seventy subdivisional districts and seven-
teen so-called Royal Free towns, with elected auton-
omous magistrates or mayors.
All questions relating to Commerce, Industry,
Mining, Agriculture, Public Works, Communications,
Post and Telegraph, Finance and War depend di-
rectly upon the Hungarian ministries or legislation.
Budget. — Of the total revenue of Croatia, 56 per
cent, is paid into the Hungarian treasury, the remain-
ing 44 per cent, being the only amount available to
meet the expenses of the Autonomous Croat admin-
istration. In 1901 the total revenue was 44,683,723
crowns, which, after deducting the expenses of collec-
CROATIA-SLAVOXIA 161
tion and official manipulation, left a net revenue of
36,120,150 crowns, so that the 56 per cent, to Hun-
gary was 20,227,284 crowns and the remaining 44
per cent, for Croatia was 15,892,864 crowns. The
Croatian apportionment, having to cover all adminis-
trative and public affairs, educational, etc., in the
country, cannot ever come near to being sufficient.
The Croatian exchequer is in a chronic state of
deficit. In 1904 the internal Croatian budget called
for an expenditure of 20,600,000 crowns, creating for
that year a deficit of 3,800,000 crowns. 1
Credit. — There are in Croatia 198 financial institu-
tions. Among these are seventy-five savings banks,
twenty-one ordinary banks, and one mortgage bank.
Zagreb, Esseg, and Zengg have chambers of com-
merce.
Justice. — There are nine Royal courts and sixty-
nine District Courts of Justice of first instance, one
court of second instance called the "Banial table,"
and a Supreme Court called the "Table of Septem-
virs," with seven judges.
The Army. — Croatia and Slavonia furnish to the
common Austro-Hungarian army one army corps,
the Thirteenth, composed of two infantry divisions,
each of two brigades, the brigade of two infantry
regiments of four battalions each ; one cavalry brigade
of two cavalry regiments, each of six squadrons; one
1 It is interesting to contrast with these figures the income of the free
Kingdom of Servia with an area and population of about the same extent
and the same race. The income of the Servian Kingdom was, in 1907,
95,000,000 francs, with a well-balanced expenditure, leaving a revenue
surplus of 41,000 franca. Servia with no emigration and no paupers,
Croatia with an enormous emigration of uneducated and unskilled labor
and a population practically starving.
162 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
artillery brigade consisting of one corps artillery
regiment, armed with howitzers, and three divisional
field artillery regiments, and all the other necessary
army corps field establishments.
To the Hungarian Honved (militia) Croatia and
Slavonia furnishes one infantry division of two bri-
gades and four regiments. This division has the
Serbo-Croat language as language of command, and
is called the "Domobrantzi" (Croatian militia).
Religion. — In Croatia the 227 parishes of the Ser-
vian Orthodox Church, which is independent and has
for head the Servian Patriarch of Karlovitz, are div-
ided, besides the diocese of the Patriarch as Arch-
bishop, into two more dioceses or bishoprics. There
are eighteen orthodox monasteries, which are mostly
situated in the Frushka Gora.
The "Uniates" (Orthodox Christians who rec-
ognise the Pope) have one Bishopric, dependent
on the Roman Catholic Archbishop.
The Roman Catholic Church has one Archbishop
and three Bishops. There are forty-seven Roman
Catholic monasteries and convents.
Under Archbishop Strossmayer the Church in
Croatia and Slavonia obtained from the Pope, Leo
XIII, the restoration of the Paleo-Slovene language,
instead of Latin, in the Roman Catholic services and
mass. That old Slavonic church language had been in
use in the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia from the
introduction of Christianity up to the twelfth century,
and in some localities had never been abandoned.
Education. — In Croatia-Slavonia are 1,442 public
elementary schools, with 2,670 teachers and 210,544
CRO ATI A-SLAVONI A 1 63
pupils. Of the population, 44 per cent, are able to
read and write. There are nine gymnasia, or classical
high schools, and nine real gymnasia, or modern high
schools, both giving degrees of B.iV., with 329 pro-
fessors and 6,898 students; one forest school ; one girl
lyceum; six normal schools, mixed; and three Roman
Catholic seminaries for priests and one orthodox
priestly seminary. The language of the schools up to
1874 was generally German, and practically no serious
educational institutions existed, but since that date,
as a result of the attainment of the semi-autonomy
which is the present Croat regime, and of the bit-
terly fought insistence of the inhabitants, there has
been better educational means, and the language
of the schools — the people's language — the Serbo-
Croat.
At Zagreb there is a university, founded in 1875,
with 86 professors, 934 students; among them were,
in 1905, 14 women students.
There is an agricultural school at Krishevatz, a
nautical school at Buccari, five higher and four lower
schools of industry and commerce, with 7,224 pupils.
There are also one State and five municipal music
schools, four schools for the blind, deaf, and mute,
and four prison schools connected with the four State
prisons.
There are at Zagreb also a national library, a
national museum, and an art school — the Croatian
South Slavonic Academy of Science — with which are
affiliated several scientific societies. One hundred
and fourteen newspapers and periodicals appear in
Croatia-Slavonia ; they are published either in Serbo-
164 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Croat (Latin alphabet), in Serb (Cyrillic alphabet),
in German, and several in the Magyar language.
Products and Industries
The Serbo-Croat population is chiefly agricultu-
ral. The Germans, with the exception of some
few colonists who are agriculturalists, are petty man-
ufacturers and industrial skilled labourers and em-
ployees on the great landed estates. The garrison
are German and Magyar, as are also many of the
Government officials. The Italians live in the coast
towns. Of the population, 85 per cent, are agri-
cultural. In the districts north of the Kulpa the pro-
ductive area is 94 per cent. ; in the Carst region it is
81.5 per cent. Of these areas, 32 per cent, is arable
and garden land; 38 per cent, is woodland, especially
oak and beech forests; 23 per cent, is pasture and
grazing land, and 1 per cent, is devoted to vineyards.
The principal products are 3,700,000 metric quin-
tals of wheat, 1,400,000 metric quintals of rye,
700,000 metric quintals of barley, 900,000 metric
quintals of oats, 5,200,000 metric quintals of maize
and all kinds of vegetables, beets, flax, hemp, colza,
woods (oak and beech), prunes, wine (especially in
Syrmia), and tobacco near Pozhega. In Slavonia
there is much cattle and horse raising, and droves
of hogs roam in the oak forests. Many fowl are
produced there also, but not many sheep. In 1905
there were in the country 311,359 horses, 908,780
cattle, 595,902 sheep, 22,418 goats, 882,952 hogs,
2,459 donkeys, 1,002 mules, 3,349,208 fowl, and 96,-
334 beehives.
CROATIA-SLAVOXIA 165
The rivers abound in fish, and in the marshes
about Esseg a considerable culture of leeches is
carried on. Of all countries of the Serb Block, Croatia
is perhaps the least rich in mineral and ore deposits.
There are some sulphur mines near Radoboye, iron-
ore mines near Roude, coal near Rasinye, in North-
west Croatia, and brown coal at different points
between the Drava and Kulpa Rivers and in the
Frushka Gora.
Industries. — The industries in the towns are in the
hands of petty manufacturers and handicraftsmen;
in the country there are only domestic and cottage
industries. These are especially the spinning and
weaving of wool, silk, and linen. The peasants weave
the "Tchellims" carpets similar to those woven in
all the other Servian lands. In Syrmia about 17,000
men and 14.5,000 women weave the fine silk and
cotton texture called "misir." These gauzes fre-
quently contain silver and gold threads, are crinkly in
surface, and are equal to the very finest Indian weaves
of the same nature. These textures are also woven
throughout all the other Servian lands. In the former
military confines where the great forests are, the cot-
tage industry chiefly concerns wooden manufacture,
including not only fine wood carvings, but articles
such as barrels, tubs, wooden implements, bowls,
dishes, etc.
The large factory industry is only a new develop-
ment. There are 110 such factories employing 9,862
workmen. They manufacture cement, glass, paper,
furniture, wood flooring (parquetry), machinery,
leather, stoneware pottery, tannin, bricks, wooden-
166 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ware, and tobacco. There are also steam saw-mills,
cotton and woollen mills, flour mills, several small
ship-building yards, and 23,000 spirit distilleries.
The number of the petty manufacturers in the towns
is 30,000.
Commerce. — The exports of Croatia include grain,
wool, wine, etc. The littoral exports chiefly wood. Sla-
vonia exports grains, hides, oxen, hogs, honey, plums,
apples, slivovitza (or plum brandy) , and bee's- wax,
eggs, and fowls.
Manufactured articles of luxury and art form the
chief import.
Croatia possesses ten small seaports with an almost
purely local commerce; they are Buccari, Porto-Re,
Szelce, Novi, Zengg, Cirkvenitza, San Giorgio, Sti-
nizza, Jablanacz, and Carlopago. The coastwise traf-
fic is in the hands of the Hungaro-Croatian Steam-
ship Company. The traffic on the rivers Danube and
Drava up to Legrad, and on the Sava and Kulpa up
to Karlstadt, is carried on by the Hungarian Danube
Lloyd Steamship Company.
Lines of Communication. — As Croatia south of the
Kulpa has few railways, the traffic is mainly by wag-
on road. Three of these wagon roads are Karlovatz
(Karlstadt) -Ryeka (Fiume), Karlovatz-Zengg, Kar-
lovatz-Porto-Re. The Hungarian State Railroad runs
lines from Gross-Kanisha through Zagreb (Agram)
to Ryeka (Fiume), from Zagreb to Dobrlin, from
Zagreb to Brod-Dalya-Esseg, Brod-Vincovce-Zemun
(Semlin) ; in all, 1,808 kilometres. Zagreb and Esseg
possess short lines of street railways.
BAN AT AND BATCHKA 167
4. BANAT AND BATCHKA (UNDER HUNGARY)
BANAT and Batchka represent to-day only an
old geographical expression for the Hungarian
"Comitats" (counties) of Batch-Bodrog, Torontal,
Temesh, and Krasso. A part of the old military con-
fines have also been absorbed into these comitats.
They form the northern limits of the great Serb-
inhabited Block and comprise southern Hungary up
to the Maros River, being bounded on the west by
the southern trend of the Danube River and on the
east by the Transylvanian Carpathians; while on
the south they join the northern border of Servia,
from which they are separated only by the Danube
in its eastern course.
The area is 14,459 square miles.
The Banat and Batchka, before being finally ab-
sorbed into Hungary in 18G0, formed the Austrian
Crownland called the "Servian Voyvodina (Duchy)
and the Banat of Temesh," with their separate ad-
ministration called "Landesregierung" of the Servian
Voyvodina and Temesh Banat, under a Lord Lieu-
tenant-Governor. It was divided into five adminis-
trative districts.
The population of this area (1901) is composed of
758,862 Servians, forming a solid mass in the southern
part of the territory, the former "Servian Voyvodina,"
and in the other portions, the Banat of Temesh, in-
termingled sparsely with 560,229 Roumanians in the
Carpathian region, 449,557 Germans and 344,133
Magyars in the northern districts. Of these, 1,300,000
Map showing the
i rritory.
BANAT AND BATCHKA 169
ment sent agents to the non- Magyar districts, who
took by force large numbers of the poorer children
from their parents and carried them away to Magyar
localities, where they were brought up as Magyars
and not allowed to know either their parents or their
religion. The attention of Europe was in time drawn
to these practices, and aroused such protests that
these outrages have during the past few years been
discontinued.
Products. — These lands form vast plains rich with
alluvial soil up to the slopes of the Carpathians on
the east. They yield plenteous harvests of wheat,
barley, rye, maize, oats, rice, tobacco, colsa, nuts,
fruits, wine, and honey. They are famous for their
fine horses and cattle. The rivers Maros, Theiss,
Danube, and their tributaries abound in many kinds
of fish, including the sturgeon. The hilly and moun-
tainous districts are rich in minerals and ore deposits
— gold, silver, lead, zinc, iron, copper, and coal.
Among many mineral springs the most famous are
the Roman Baths of Mehadia on the Roumanian
border.
170
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
5. old servia stara srbiya (under turkey-
in-europe)
IS
Rashka
V\ r^\ /~*7 (~\S^ Servia (Vilayet of Kos-
^kJJ*^J?£ \J sovo with Sandjak of Novi-
Bazar, and parts of the vilayets
of Monastir and Salonika), join-
ing Servia on the north, Bosnia,
Montenegro, and Albania on the
west and south-west and on the
eastern side the region of the river
Struma, forms the southernmost
limit of the Serb-inhabited Block
of territory. These lands, lying in
central and north-western Mace-
donia, are part of Turkey.
There are no reliable statistics
of the population, but the "States-
man's Year Book" places the
number of inhabitants of Kossovo
Vilayet at 1,038,000. The local
church records show 711,556 Ser-
vians and 250,000 as estimated to be the number of
Mohammedan and Roman Catholic Albanians. The
number of Servians on the Servian Church registers of
the Serb part of the vilayet of Monastir is 314,000.
The only statistics available for the Vilayet of Salonika
(population, 1,127,000) state 700,000 of the inhabi-
tants to be "Christian." Of these, 525,000 are Ser-
vians and Bulgarians, the rest Greeks and Vlachs.
Of the inhabitants, 427,000 are Mohammedans —
Macedonia
OLD SERVIA— STARA SRBYIA 171
either of Asiatic or Slavonic origin, and in the town of
Salonika there are a large number of Jews.
In the diocese of Doyran, in Macedonia, Vilayet
of Salonika, near the Bulgarian border, 40 per cent,
of the Slavonic population are under the Patriarch of
Constantinople and call themselves Servians; 60 per
cent, are under the Bulgarian Exarch and call them-
selves Bulgarians.
In the district of Yenidje-Vardar, on the Vardar
River, Vilayet of Salonika, north-w r est of Salonika,
88 per cent, of the Slavs belong to the Patriarchat,
and in general call themselves Serbs or Macedo-
Slovenes — terms which are, as used, interchangeable;
12 per cent, are under the Bulgarian Exarch and call
themselves Bulgarians. In the Sandjak of Drama,
Vilayet of Salonika, eastward beyond the river
Struma, 75 per cent, of the Slavs are under the
Patriarch of Constantinople and call themselves Ser-
vians and Macedo-Slovenes, while 25 per cent, are
under the Exarchat and call themselves Bulgarians.
In the district of Salonika, Vilayet of Salonika, 60 per
cent, of the Slavs are under the Patriarchat, calling
themselves Servians or Macedo-Slovenes, while 40
per cent, are under the Exarchat, calling themselves
Bulgarians.
Administration. — The administration is Turkish,
the officials being Turks appointed from Constanti-
nople. The Christians have little or no part in their
own government. Speaking in general, the Christian
population in these regions are still in a condition of
serfdom, and their oppression under the late Turkish
absolute regime, notorious throughout the world, was
172 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
usually referred to as the "Macedonian Problem."
The present "New" Turkish State promises the
reforms so long needed for the regeneration of the
people and the economic development of the coun-
try's resources.
Hitherto, under Turkish rule, the Christians have
not been allowed to carry arms or to serve in the
army, but instead have been obliged to pay an "army
tax."
Education. — The Servian Church communities sup-
port 284 Servian schools in Old Servia.
The Servian schools are the most ancient educa-
tional institutions in Turkey, and were the only ones
there from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century.
They were connected with the Serb monasteries and
churches. During the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies these schools increased much in number and
scope. In 1878, after the Serbo-Turkish war, the
Turkish Government closed many of the Serb schools
in Turkey, and in all such places other schools were
founded by the Bulgarians. Prior to that time there
had not existed any Bulgarian schools in Macedonia.
During the last fifteen or twenty years only has the
Ottoman Government permitted the reopening of
Servian schools.
Of the present 283 Servian schools, 266 are primary
— 227 for boys and 39 for girls ; eight are high schools ;
one a girls' handicraft school; five are incomplete
gymnasia (classical) , two of these being for girls and
three for boys ; one complete classical school for boys
at Salonika ; one normal school for teachers at Uskub
(Scoplyia) ; and one seminary for priests at Prisren.
OLD SERVIA— STAR A SRBIYA 173
Of these schools, 209 are in the Vilayet of Kossovo,
28 in Salonika, 43 in Monastir Vilayet, two at Scu-
tari, and two at Constantinople.
Products. — The earth of these lands is rich both as
regards soil and minerals, but the conditions of misery
and chronic disorder hitherto prevailing have blocked
the way to every kind of normal development. The
mines of Old Servia were famous in antiquity and
the Middle Ages, and with those of Spain were the
chief source of gold and silver for Europe. Old rec-
ords show that the gold and silver mines near Novo
Brdo, in Kossovo, close to the present Servian border,
furnished to the Servian ruler in the early fifteenth
century an annual income of about $480,000 (about
200,000 ducats). From the time of the Turkish con-
quest all mining ceased, and only recently has that
industry begun to be revived in Turkey. It is hoped
that under a liberal and constitutional government a
better day is dawning for the people of Old Servia
and their country.
Lines of ( 'ommunication. — The great natural north-
to-south route from the Danube to the /Egean Sea,
through the valley of the Morava and Vardar Rivers,
traverses this country, cutting through some of its
richest districts. The railway making junction at
Zibevtehe on the Servian border with the Serb part of
the Orient-Express line lies through this valley to
Salonika.
Architecture and Monuments. — There are in Mace-
donia many beautiful mediaeval churches, monas-
teries, and other buildings with ruined castles, and
they all date from the Old Servian Empire and Kin
174 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
doms, as do also all of the people's songs, traditions,
and their whole poetic expression.
Kossovo was the heart and centre of that old em-
pire and the scene of the far-famed battle-field where
its final overthrow — after one hundred and fifty years'
fight— was begun in that terrific shock of June 15,
1389, when the whole force of the Servian nation
gathered in defence against the whole huge strength
and myriad numbers of the invading Turkish hosts.
SERB POPULATION ESTIMATED FOR DECEMBER, 1909 (oil bcUlS
of yearly percentage of increase)
A. INDEPENDENT SERVIAN LANDS
Kingdom of Servia 2,923,000
Principality of Montenegro 280,000
B. SERVIAN LANDS UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION
Bosnia-Herzegovina (under Austria-Hungary) . . 1,713,000
Dalmatia \ , , . . . 067,000
T . . >• (under Austria)
Istna ) ' 133,000
Croatia-SIavonia ) , , _ ..... 2,334,000
BanatandBatchkaf (^der Hungary) ^^
Old Servia (under Turkey) 1,376,000
Total for the Serb race 10,298,000
PART III
CIVILISATION AND CULTURE
FROM EARLY TIMES UP
TO THE P It E S E N T
CHAPTER V
SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND CONDITIONS
PRIOR TO ABOUT 1100. 1
THE period referred to as "pre-Balkan" in
Serb history is the time before the year 600 A.D.
Prior to that date there had always been, during
the Christian era and no doubt earlier, a small,
steady inpouring of Slavs from the Volga and other
regions north of the Carpathians, quietly coming
to take up their homes in the Balkan Peninsula
among the remnants of the Slavs of antiquity
and the few scattered colonists of other races and
relics of past invasions, which formed the sparse
1 Those students of political administration and civilisation whose in-
terest in Servian conceptions of justice and liberty, as exemplified in the
institutions created by a free Servian State, may be awakened to further
inquiry, are referred, for an exhaustive examination of the Code Doushan
and other historical documents, to the works in German, Russian, French,
and Servian upon which is based the following short survey of mediaeval
Servian civilisation and culture. Foremost among these are:
The works of Stoyan Xovakovich: " People and Land in the Old Servian
State," "Pronyari and Bashtinci," "Selo," and the "Code of the Servian
Emperor, Stephan Doushan," written in Servian and translated into Rus-
sian and German.
Studies of agrarian and economic conditions, etc., by Dr. Vlainatz,
written in Servian and German.
"Monumenta Serbica spectantia historiam Serbiae, Bosnae et Ragusii,'
edited by F. Miklosich, Vienna, 1858.
Glasnik, organ of the Servian scientific societies.
Spomenik, organ of the Servian Royal Academy of Science, Belgrade.
Rad, organ of the Croatian Academy of Science, Zagreb.
"Servian Monuments in the Archives of Ragusa," edited by Prince
Medo Poutchich.
177
L78 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
populations <>f those regions up t<> tin* early years
of the seventh centuiy. Then occurred the greal
migration of Servians into those lands, which
they entered as conquerors in organised tribes or
Plemes.
As has already been seen (Par! T, page 89), the
Slav peoples from the most ancient times were organ-
ised in communities of Mood-relationship : Zadrugas,
including all relatives in the first, second, third, and
fourth degrees; Hod, a group of Zadrugas; and
Pleme or Clan, the highest formation, including all
the others.
Lauded properly was considered as (he hereditary
possession of the community, and was worked in
common. Land being plenteous and free, no real
properly rights existed. What was recognised was
the right to plant where one had cleared and to har-
vest where one had sown.
The growth of the Xadruga usually developed into
the village, which resulted sometimes in villages
forming a single Rod bearing the name of a single
family, as the " Brankovitche," etc. The village did
not, however, always represent a single family and
its relatives, but the people of a village always be-
longed to the same Pleme.
The Pleme or Clan (used also as "tribe") is
the representative body politic, and of para-
mount importance socially, as well as politically,
among all Slavs in general and especially the
Serbs. Each Pleme occupied its own separate
territory, and formed a political and territorial
division.
EARLY SOCIAL CONDITIONS 179
After 600 A. D., in the great and final migration
of the Serb people into the Balkan Peninsula, when
they came in organised Clans or Plemes to settle
their new land, the territory occupied by the Pleme
was called a "Zhupa." The centre of the Zhupa
was the "Grad" (the fortified place). The head or
supreme authority of a Zhupa was elected, and was
called "Zhupan," who in time came by custom to be
chosen from one special family; and later, the right
to furnish the man to be elected as Zhupan grew to
be vested in the same family.
All of the affairs of the Zhupa or Pleme were in
the hands of an assembly composed of the Stare-
shinas or heads of the Rods (or gentes).
The Emperor Constantin Porphyrogenet said, in
speaking of the Serbs: "They have no princes in the
ordinary sense, except elected chieftains called Zhu-
pans, as have other Slav peoples."
Under the influences of wars of defence, and for
other causes imposing special duties and measures
of authority, involving differences in modes of life,
class distinctions were developed. These class dis-
tinctions, however, did not bring about the domina-
tion of one class by another. Many institutions and
customs -how that the democratic principle of equal-
ity between man and man, regardless of place or class
distinction, was never destroyed; but, on the con-
trary, as expressed in the representative governing
assemblies, etc., that principle formed always the
fundamental conception of Serb society. New con-
ditions found by the Servian Clans at the time of
their great migration and settlement of the Balkan
180 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
lands wrought by degrees changes in their social
and agrarian organisation.
Factors in Those Changes. — The excellent Slav
characteristics of democratic equality and freedom
came at once into conflict with principles existing in
Rome and Byzance, which were in every respect dia-
metrically opposed to those of the Serb organisation.
In this conflict the Servian customs, founded
on ideals of independence, came in time to !>«■
shaken, then modified, and even, to a certain extent,
superseded.
The factors directly Influencing these changes were
externa] and internal, political and economic, and,
according as they bore with force or lightly on the
inhabitants, they conditioned the date and the ex-
tent of the assimilation by the Servians of the social
and agrarian conditions of Rome and Byzance.
Upon one part of the Serbs an actively modifying
factor was the continual subjection to Byzance.
Among the other part of the Serl> people, although
the subjection was hut temporary, there was still
unceasing outer intercourse with Byzance. and within
were modifying factors of a personal or material
nature.
When the Serbs had entered and taken possession
of the Balkan lands, Byzance, being unable to hold
them in submission, obtained from them acceptance
of the imperial suzerain authority, and a small
tribute in return for recognition of Servian tribal
autonomy.
Lorenz von Stein says: "Conquest in subjuga-
ting a population gives to the conqueror superior
EARLY SOCIAL CONDITIONS 181
rights over the soil." Though the Balkans were
much depopulated before the Serbs entered in gen-
eral migration, they found some few inhabitants
whom they placed under subjection, thus form-
ing two classes, one of free men — that is, the
conquerors; the others the old settlers, the con-
quered. Clan feuds and clan fights among the
conquerors, continual contact with Byzance on one
side and Western Europe on the other, all tended
to modify the old pre-existing Slav institutions and
customs of the Serbs in the sense of falling away of
democracy.
Social development and the evolution of social
conditions arc always in closest relationship with
agriculture — that is, with the means of cultivation
and the tenure of the soil and distribution of
produce.
When the Serbs took possession of these lands,
they found there a complete system of agrarian and
social organisation, which the Byzantine rulers at-
tempted to impose or introduce among the new-
comers. In so far as a transformation was effected.
it occurred only by degrees — more swiftly with those
coming earlier under direct Bvzantine rule: slowlv
■
with those who were never the direct subjects of
Byzance but remained semi-dependent, and who
preserved their self-government, maintaining a more
or less unhampered national life under Byzantine
suzerainty.
For purposes of study the Serbs up to the begin-
ning of the twelfth centurv must be considered in two
groups:
182 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Those who became and remained direct subjects
of Byzance for tens and hundreds of years, and
those who maintained their self-government and
national independent existence whether or not under
Byzantine superior rule.
1. DIRECT SUBJECTS OF BYZANCE
The Serbs belonging to this section were those of
the earlier and small inflowings who had been com-
ing a few at a time during several hundred years to
take their place among the inhabitants as subjects
of Byzance. On arrival they had the choice of two
alternatives, either to become free peasants on gov-
ernment land, or to become soldiers with the prospect
of a small land-apportionment. The regions they
inhabited in the eighth century were southern
Thracia, southern Macedonia, and northern Greece.
For purposes of this survey of conditions which the
Serbs had to meet on their arrival in Byzantium, only
those affecting rustic and agrarian life are considered,
because the Serbs did not live in the towns but al-
ways sought the land. One distinct difference evi-
dent even to-day between Greek and Slav character
is that the Greek is essentially a townsman and mer-
chant, while the Serb or other Slav is a countryman
and agricultural producer.
In Byzance there were three forms of landed
property finding their correlatives in the main divi-
sions of the social strata of the empire. These kinds
of properties were: the Imperial or State property;
the ecclesiastical appanage of churches and monas-
DIRECT SUBJECTS OF BYZANCE 183
teries; and privately owned property, generally in
great estates — "Latifundia."
Dependent upon these for their relation to the soil
and their property rights, where such existed, were
the lower strata of the Byzantine population, the
"Free Peasants," " Bondsmen," the "Serfs," and the
"Slaves."
Intimately connected with the Imperial or State
Byzantine property were the so-called "Free Peas-
ants," who lived in communities called "Metroco-
mias." State lands were apportioned to them to hold
in common; the members having equal rights on the
soil wert- also each equally with the others responsi-
ble to the treasury for the amount of the State levy.
The individual had only the "usus" and "fructus"
of those acres periodically allotted to him. He had
the privilege of parting with lii> share although he
u as Dot its proprietor.
This class of peasants originally dependent only
upon the "Fiseus," or State and who were denomi-
nated "Poor People" or "Common People" "Vul-
garos" or "Pauper*' decreased Blowly in numl
and in time disappeared. 1
1 In Byzanee the term "Rich and Powerful" was used to high
officials and the p oo a onoo ra >>f Latifundia. All of the other inhabi-
tants came under t .cation of "Poor people." There was also
used to desig: corruption of the Latin for
"Common people," which came to be pronounced "bougar. "
All of the Byzantine writers and tho^- of the Turkish times including
Hadji Khalfa, a famous Turk:- g : pher of the early seventeenth cen-
tury, in mentioning I - - inhabiting the lands of the Strouma
and tho^- i of that rivt.-r, apply to them the national name of
3 -vians, " which -ople themselves to designate
those populations up to about the beginning of the nineteenth century,
when, a? the result of the execration by the Turk - v. ho were
184 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The causes of this destruction were first and
chiefly the system of tax-gathering, which in Byzance
—as in the Turkey of the nineteenth century and
pre-revolutionary France — lay at the bottom of many
incurable ills.
In order to escape the exactions and abuses of the
tax-collectors, the free peasants chose a patron-
protector, voluntarily submitting to be "Clientes"
under the Patrocinium of that class officially called,
in contradistinction to himself, "Rich and Powerful." 1
It often occurred that the State gave over to an
individual, in payment or reward for services, the col-
lection and enjoyment during a certain period of a
Metroeomia or other State levy. This temporary
privilege easily devoluted amidst the unwieldy ma-
chinery of Byzantine administration into a perpetual
right. In either case the free peasant ceased to be
free, and fell into the subservient position of peasants
on the great lordly estates.
then successful in their great insurrections, the name "bougar" reappears
as applied to the Serbo-Slovenic population of those lands.
The word "bougar" is used to-day in Turkey to indicate (1) people
who follow menial pursuits; (2) a term of contempt as applied to all Slavs;
(3) all kinds of menial labour is called by the Slavs themselves " bougarska
rabota" (menial work); (4) anything in a state of deterioration, that is,
spoiling; for instance, the inhabitants say of wheat or other grain that is
" going bad " it " izbougari se. " The lowest grade of grain is spoken of as
"bougarka. " An equivalent in the language for "simpleton" is "Asli
bougar." The same term is used where the English would use the word
"pauper," recalling also the French of "pouvre bougre" (poor devil).
This word has no connection whatever with the national name of the citi-
zens of Bulgaria, which is based on "Blgar, Blgarin, " or Blgarska-ta"
(Bulgaria). Strangers travelling in Macedonia generally confuse those
terms of widely different derivation, taking " bougar " for " Blgar. "
1 It is useful here to state at once that in all dealings whatever with the
rustic population of whatever order except the slaves, the unit w r as not the
individual but the hearth or smoke-stack.
DIRECT SUBJECTS OF BYZAXCE 185
The mass of Byzantine peasants on the lordly
estates, whether those of great nobles or the Church,
lived in a condition of subjection and came to be
called "Paroikies" (Trapoi/cos). They belonged to two
categories: those of the most favoured situation were
the"Coloni liberi" (free colonists), those of the second
category were the "Coloni censibus adscripticii," or
bonded colonists.
The coloni liberi were small farmers holding the
land from the owner of the estate and paying rent.
They performed, also, certain personal services deter-
mined by special contract. They worked the land
with their own means of production, and were rela-
tively freemen not under the jurisdiction of the land-
lord, but after a period of thirty years their right to
leave the rented farms expired.
The coloni censibtu adscripticii, bonded tenants,
were bound to the soil as hereditary subjects of the
owner of the estate. They were under his personal
jurisdiction. They tilled the soil with the means of
production furnished by him.
This classification and organisation were fixed by
the Justinian legislation. Continual revolts result-
ing from the inability of the Slavonic populations
to accept or understand the subjecting conditions
imposed on the tiller of the soil by Byzantine usages
or laws necessitated in the middle of the eighth
century a reorganisation of the agrarian regulations.
These laws are known as the "leges rusticse."
Their object was the lowering of the ground-rent, and
the transformation of the conditions of servitude into
that of rent-paying tenancy. Besides regulating the
186 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
status of the "Free husbandmen" on State lands,
they decreed reforms for the "liberi" and "adscrip-
ticii" abolishing servitude. The "liberi" were trans-
formed into the class called "Mortitis," tithe-payers,
retaining their former privileges, the rent and dues
to the owner of the estate being fixed at the tenth
part of the harvest. The rent of the adscripticii to
be called "farmer-in-half " was fixed at half of the
harvest.
Another kind of properly existing in Byzance,
affecting the Serb peoples, was the "Soldier-land,"
held in tenancy from the State in return for the per-
formance of certain military services.
That land could be inherited by the relatives of
the incumbent up to the sixth degree of relationship,
but it could not be sold or divided. Each successive
heir could only enter into possession by continuing
to perform the military service conditioning the
original grant. 1
The " Latifundia." — One of the great means of
agricultural production in old Rome and afterward in
Byzance, on the great landed estates, or " latif undia,"
was the slave-labour, the "servi rustici" (agrarian
slaves). The word indicates the status of those
labourers dispossessed of all rights and totally unre-
munerated, so forming the cheapest labour. The
free and even the bonded tillers of the soil met in
this unpaid labour, a competition which by degrees
1 The ordinances of Emperor Constantin Porphyrogenet fixed the scale
of value of these lands at four pounds (liberum) gold for cavalry and men
of the .Egean, Samian, and Cyprian fleet; two liberum gold for men of
the other fleets. Nikephoros Phocas, in an edict of 963, fixes the value at
twelve liberum gold for men in armour.
DIRECT SUBJECTS OF BYZANCE 187
broke their own force of resistance and degraded
their own situation to almost that of slaves.
An indication of the number in which the agrarian
slaves swarmed on these Latifundia, as well as a
glimpse at social conditions of Byzance, is afforded by
the papers in the settling up of the estate of the oft-
cited rich "widow Danielis," in the ninth century,
the Emperor Leo VI being the legatee and executor.
To him personally she left eighty large properties —
Latifundia. lie found these estates so overrun by
the number of slaves that he set free three thousand
of them. Some years before, this same widow had
made a present to the Emperor Basilius I of five hun-
dred slaves, among which were one hundred eunuchs
and one hundred female slaves highly skilled in fine
embroidery and weaving.
The influence of the leges rusticw was only of short
duration. Very soon the great Byzantine landlords
again succeeded in fixing their "Paroikes" on the
glebe, and in raising the rents from the low figure
established by the leges rusHcas.
They went even further: fortified by the cheap
slave labour, they augmented and aggrandised their
estates, adding to them the small acres belonging to
the free peasants and the soldiers, and reducing their
own bondsmen to near slavery. These manipula-
tions were of such injury to the State, its treasury,
and its military resources, as well as to the public
welfare, that several of the Emperors undertook to
stem the growing evil by edicts stigmatising the prac-
tices of the great lords. The co-Emperor, Romanus
Lecapanus, in his edict of 928, says that these prac-
188 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
tices were carried out "by means of usury and fraud-
ulent acquisition." Emperor Porphyrogenet, twenty
years Later, says: "Under the pretext of purchase,
gift, inheritance, . . . etc., . . . they [the Rich and
Powerful] make [add] other men's property to their
own and so drive the 'Poor' from home and house."
The measures adopted in these edicts were in-
tended to prevent the disappearance of the free
peasant and the soldier agriculturalist, and to enforce
restitution of the ill-gotten properties to their former
petty owners. All of these ordinances forbade the
"Rich and Powerful" acquiring, l>y any means what-
ever, the land of the "Poor" and declaring such ac-
quisitions null and void. Further, they regulated the
sale and purchase of the land of the free peasants so
as to exclude the possibility of their falling into the
hands of the "Rich and Powerful."
These edicts also decreed that all properties for-
merly in the possession of the "Poor" should be re-
stored with or without compensation according to the
equity of the case. Other Emperors decreed that the
"Rich and Powerful" could not sell their land to an-
other person of their own class, but only to peasants.
In time these edicts and measures were neglected and
some of them rescinded, and during a certain period
the principle was in usage, that land could be bought
and sold only by persons of the same social status.
The last Byzantine Emperor who endeavoured to
arrest the system practised by the great "possessing"
classes who were bringing the State into decadence
and anarchy was Basilius II. His edicts and ordi-
nances remained in force during a century or so.
NEVER SUBJECTS OF BYZANCE 189
At the end of the twelfth century and beginning
of the thirteenth the small free peasant class had
ceased to exist.
Hermonopulos, Judge of Thessalonika (Salonika)
in 1345, under John Paleologue, says in his "Manual
of Law" that all these edicts are "antiquated and
out of use."
The land and all sources of production in the
hands of a class numerically small, the mass of the
people dispossessed and in direct subjection to this
powerful minority, therefore estranged from all idea
of the State as a part of themselves, ready to welcome
any conqueror who might give them in change a
glimpse of hope — such was the condition of Byzance
when thai empire first brought to Europe as her
hired mercenaries the mere handful of Turks who
were the forerunners of the mighty invasions from tin-
Orient which afterward filled those lands for hundreds
of years and indeed up to the present time. For it
is curious to observe that all of those regions which
remained under Byzance up to within one hundred
or fifty years of the coming of the Turks, being once
subjected to the Ottomans were never again able to
find strength enough to rise and throw off the yoke.
J. SERBS OF THE GREAT MIGRATION NEVER ENDER
BYZANTINE DIRECT RULE EARLY SERVIAN STATES
The Serb Clans of the great migrations of the early
seventh century occupied the territories which their
descendants now inhabit — that is, the western, north-
western, and central part of the Balkan Peninsula.
190 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
They always remained more or less independent
and retained their self-government. Byzance was
never able to impose upon them, as upon tin 1 small
Serb groups which during previous centuries had
drifted into the peninsula to become direct subjects
of Byzance, the social system as it existed through-
out the Empire at the time of their arrival. The
development of social conditions among the Serbs
of the great migration was, on the contrary, a Dat-
ura! evolution based on principles of organisation
brought with them, which were common in one form
or other to all Slavonic nations.
History seems to show that democratic equality
cannot remain absolute among men for any length
of time, especially among primitive peoples. Till-
ing of the soil and its defence against attack brought
the first separation of classes. The plough and the
sword cannot long be exercised by the same hand:
the hand that wielded the sword gave protection;
the hand that held the plough, grateful for that
safety, rewarded the protector with fruits of its toil.
The basis of all the Slavonic social organisation,
as has already been seen, is the family community,
"Zadruga," among Serbs. When the Zadruga in-
creased and subdivided into new Zadrugas, the old
central house remained morally still the centre, as
being the original (old) "home-hearth" and source
of all the younger groups.
Ancestral worship, born of filial loyalty, was the
basic conception in the old religious beliefs of Sla-
vonic peoples. The spirits of the ancestors roamed
about the old central home-hearth. Toward it as
NEVER SUBJECTS OF BYZANCE 191
toward a shrine all hearts were lifted. The kinsman
occupying the house was the guardian of a sacred
tradition and became the "Primus inter pares" of
his kinsfolk. If he was not the chief of the "Rod"
or "Pleme" having sprung from that central house
the general atavistic sentiment invested him in a
certain degree with sacerdotal character. 1
The fact that the man who presided at the old
central home-hearth became the leader and most
important man caused his property to be enlarged
and also his political power as representative of his
kinsfolk. As administrator of the general interests be-
in^ the embodiment in his own person, not of over-
Lordship in the sense of greater means of personal
enjoyment, pleasure, Luxury, or pride, but the up-
holder of justice and right, he became the nobleman.
On purely Slavonic soil this aristocratic develop-
ment as outlined required hundreds of years and was
even then never wholly recognised as an institution. 2
' The only nobiliary title of purely Slavonic origin i- the title "Knez"
(Serb), "Knia a and Polish), "Kniahe" (Tcheck), the equiva-
ef or Prince princepe). That title designated the man who
rmed for the people the sacrificial rites, a leader in religious exercises,
as well u in military and political affairs. In Polish and Tcheck the
priest is still called "Knes." Thu " First-man" was also taken to be the
-t and most learned man of the elan, and the most skilled in all lore.
A scholar, a learned man, or a writer i- to-day called in Servian "kniz-
hevnik," erudition and literature are " knishevnost," and book ifl " kniga
,, r knyega " - M and other Slavonic land- the only real Slavonic
title is " Knez" (prince), developed from clans or tribal chief.
- [] ., n to-day the "Muzhik" 'little man"), or common people,
not the idea that the kniai or nobleman is hi- ••better," as is the
in many non-Slavonic countries, or that he is of different "flesh or blood "
from him be looks upon him as a more powerful "big brother,"
•.horn as such he owes a kind of respect or deference, and who might
on occasion rightfully exercise a power of authority over him, but who in
sum is a man like himself.
192 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
When the Serbs came to the Balkans each Pleme
or Clan occupied for itself a separate extent of terri-
tory. Each Rod, each Zadruga, took that land
within the Clan domain which appeared to it most
attractive. The territory of the Clan (Pleme) was the
"Zhupa," its elected head was the "Zhupan," a Knez.
Constantin Porphyrogenet writes, speaking of the
Serbs in Dalmatia and Bosnia, then called Illiria:
"After the baptism of the Slavs the Emperor Basilius
I ordered that all those christened should elect chief-
tains from that family which they specially honoured,
and up to to-day they are ruled by chiefs issued from
those families chosen under Basilius I and from no
others."
Chieftains had always been elected among Serbs,
but the order of Basilius to choose them from cer-
tain special families was new to Slavonic custom.
That was the coming in among them of the principle
of heredity.
The Clan as a clan came under direct Byzantine
authority, and its chief was the representative not
only of the Clan's people but of the Clan's territory,
among the Clans and before the Imperial authority.
That centralisation of power involving inequality
of responsibility brought about a tendency toward
class segregation (differentiation). The develop-
ment occurred along the individualistic lines of
Rome and Byzance which were in antagonism with
the original Slavonic principle of common life and
equality in regard to possession of land and labour.
The result of the appearance of this foreign principle
brought about recognition of superior rights of pos-
EARLY SERVIAN STATES 193
session over the common land of the Pleme and even
of the Rod, and the hereditary chief of Pleme or Rod
developed into the superior lord of the territory.
The other members of the Clan or of the Rod had
their material and individual independence dimin-
ished, and with time fell into the position of political
subjects of the chief.
Evolution of State up to the Twelfth Century.
The Serbs of the great migration on entering the
Balkan Peninsula and for some time afterward
had no higher political organisation than the Clan
or Pleme. Their sentiment of union or nationality
was expressed in those times by temporary loose
confederations effected in the hour of common
danger; that hour passed, the desire for the local
independence of each Clan reasserted itself and
slackened the bonds.
The attempts made to subdue them by Byzance,
profiting by their system of fluctuating organisation,
the Tartaric conquerors of Bulgaria, the Francs,
the Venetians, and later the Hungarians (Magyars),
taught the Serbs that for resistance the creation of a
large and vigorous State was a necessity.
Some of the Servian chiefs or Knezes, Peter Goyini-
kovich, Chastav, Samuel, Stephan Voislav, and Bodin,
are seen making the attempt to unite with their own
small States the neighbouring Servian territories.
Those rulers who united under their control a
number of Clan territories, or Zhupas, were called
Grand-Zhupans (Velko-Zhupan).
194 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Zhupans were responsible personally to the
Grand-Zhupan, but the Clan within its limits had
complete liberty and autonomy.
The Serbian State therefore consisted of a federa-
tion of Clans and groups of Clans, each one indepen-
dent and autonomous. 1
The size of that federation and its period of dura-
tion depended upon the individual strength of its
head. Any weakness of the individual grip of that
"general," Knez or King, had its reaction at once in a
relaxation of the bands of the federation and a fall-
ing away of its provinces. The clear conception of
a general State strong enough to resist invasion
dawned by degrees in the Serb consciousness, and
after several efforts and attempts found its final
formulation in the State as organised by Stephan
Nemanya which was adhered to in principle by his
successors, culminating in the great Empire of
Doushan.
Interior Organisation. — From earliest ages up to
the present time the principle of absolutism never
entered into the notions of the Serb people. Not
only their institutions and laws, but their State and
official documents attest that fact; all such ordinances
and edicts — and there are hundreds of them — begin
with the following formula: "We . . . [name] took
council with . . . [with my wife, my sons, uncles,
1 This severely democratic organisation possesses the fault and the great
one of its quality, growing out of excessive democratic sentiment and the
assertion of individual rights, involving the too great respect for the will
of the minority. This fault belongs not only to the Servian nation, but
to all purely Slavonic races like the Russians and the Poles, as for in-
stance in the Polish Congress (Parliament) was the " Liberum Veto."
EARLY SERVIAN STATES 195
cousins, the whole Zadruga] with the Bishops and
Abbots, with the Nobility great and small, with the
whole Assembly, etc. [each person generally desig-
nated by name], and we do ordain, . . . etc."
Zhwpa. — In the central part of each Clan's terri-
tory or Zhupa was a fortified place, called the " Grad,"
containing; a stronghold or castle, where lived the
Zhupan or Knez, with his "aids" (in the executive
duties). In the Grad met the assembly of the
Zhupa, called Zbor, Sabor, or Vetche, which was the
legislative body and the ultimate repository of all
power in the Zhupa, political or other. It was com-
posed of the Stareshinas of the different Rods or
Zadrugas. This Assembly deliberated upon all
affairs affecting the Clan. In days before the Zhu-
pans became hereditary they were elected by the
Sabor; after that time the Zhupan took the advice
and counsel of the Assembly in decisions concerning
all important public acts.
When the Zhupas became united into a State
these Sabors retained their complete local autonomy
and the Zhupans and chiefs of Rods with the Church-
men formed the National Assembly of the Grand-
Zhupanat, or federations of Zhupas. Out of this
developed the Great National Assembly of the king-
dom, the Grand-Zhupan being elected King.
The principle of the election of kings and em-
perors, even if partly fictitious and dwindling at
times into mere confirmation, was always main-
tained among; the Serbs. Self-g;overnment likewise
never lapsed, and was found in the free municipal or
village administrations as well as in the Zhupa, and
196 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
there is no evidence, documentary or other, to indi-
cate that the Serb State ever interfered in the organi-
sation of the local administrations.
At the Zhupa's assembly at the Grad the judiciary
were elected. In justice the fundamental principle
was, "A man must be judged by his peers." At that
time the highest judicial power was vested exclusively
in a body of men who were chosen for short fixed
terms by the Assembly from among the general
people forming a kind of jury. They judged criminal
as well as civil cases, and the decision depended upon
their unanimity or general agreement of opinion.
CHAPTER VI
SOCIAL ORGANISATION FROM ABOUT
1100 TO ABOUT 1470 (SERVIAN KING-
DOMS AND EMPIRE)
All of the studies of this period are based on the old docu-
ments still extant in the National and other Archives and on the
"Zakonik Tzara Doushana" (Code of the Emperor Doushan),
which is a codification made in 1346 by the Great National
Legislative Assembly, presided over by the Emperor, of all the
Servian laws, ordinances, and customary usages remaining in
force from the founding of a Servian State up to that time.
1. CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION OF THE SER-
VIAN STATE
THE history of the Servian State from its earliest
inception shows it to have always been gov-
erned on constitutional principles, and whether
under Prince, King, or Emperor, Servia was always
a constitutional monarchy — that is, the Sovereign
ruled with the aid of a parliament or legislative
assembly.
The Sabor or State's Assembly was already in ex-
istence under Stephan Nemanya as the normal
development of an old Servian institution, and was
called by him to his help in creating Servian unity.
Documents show that with its assistance he elabo-
rated laws for the suppression of Bogomilism (1173).
The formulation of all laws enacted under Servian
197
198 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
kings, from that time up to the empire under Dou-
shan, demonstrates that no law was passed, and no
grant of land or of any other kind was made without
the assent of the National Assembly.
It was the privilege of the Sabor nominally to elect
the King, to acclaim him, and to be present at his
coronation. It was also the Sabor's right to elect
the Bishops and Archbishops and, at a later period,
the Patriarch of the Servian Orthodox Church. The
records of the sessions of Parliament and the details
regulating its date of opening and duration are not
known. But the Ruler convened the Sabor, and
there is evidence that no year passed without a ses-
sion of the National Assembly being held in delib-
eration with the Ruler.
The Sabor was composed of the Ruler; the Queen
or Empress (all documents indicate that the wife of
the Sovereign had a legal participation in the deliber-
ations of the State's Assembly); the higher monastic
clergy — the Patriarch, Archbishops, Bishops, and
Abbots; the Nobility — both great and small; and in
certain cases the military leaders even when they did
not belong to the nobility. In the time of Stephan
Nemanya and up to King Miloutin's reign the com-
mon people were represented by delegates. In the
later period those delegates or their descendants,
being the headmen of villages (Stareshinas), had de-
veloped into the Nobility, which on becoming he-
reditary caused the practical disappearance of the
elective rights of the Commoners. At a still later
period attempts were made by the people to regain
direct representation in the National Assembly.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS, 1100 TO 1470 199
In addition to the general Parliament, there existed
a permanent Council of State, a kind of Privy Council,
whose members were chosen from among the Sabor.
The Sabor dealt with all of the most important
affairs, such as legislation, taxation, judiciary matters,
measures of State and political administration, mili-
tary organisation and administration, foreign affairs,
warS; appropriations, and the election of Bishops. \
In accordance with old Slavonic custom and the
people's rights, the Ruler acted only after obtaining
the counsel and consent, even if but formally, of his
wife, his family, his relatives (his Zadruga), and cer-
tain lay and spiritual dignitaries (Council of State),
and with them the body of the State's Assembly.
A decree <>!' grant of the Emperor Stephan Doushan
in 1349 to the monastery of "The Mother of God,"
says: "... My Imperial Majesty took counsel
with . . . the Empress Madam Elena, with our son
King Urosh, with the Holy Patriarch of the Serbs
and Greeks, Lord Sava, and with all Archbishops
and Ileinimens . . . with all the Vlastela Great and
Small, and with the whole Assembly of the Serbs,
the Greeks and people of the Littoral . . . and do
ordain: . . ." (Monumcnta Serbica).
The executive power was entirely in the hands of
the Ruler, who was also commander-in-chief of the
army and presided over the Sabor. The voice of
the Assembly, however, was at times so powerful
that it overruled that of the Sovereign. There are
several instances of kings having been dethroned or
heirs being put out of line of succession by decree of
the Sabor.
200 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Ruler of the United Servian States, Prince,
King, or Emperor, was, as head of the State, superior
lord or proprietor of all land not private property.
And by legal fiction he was superior owner of
even the land in private possession. He disposed
of the free land of the realm only with the advice
and consent of his family, the Council of State, and
the Sabor. 1
The chief of the State Chancellery was called
"Logothet" (" Word-bearer"). There was a High
Steward of the Realm, " Veliki Chelnik," who pre-
sided over the affairs of the Interior and Justice, a
Lord of the Treasury called "Riznitchkni Chelnik,"
having in charge the financial administration of the
Realm.
The administration of the State as a whole was
strongly centralised, with local autonomy in the
Zhupas and the villages.
All State officials, especially under the Empire,
were either chosen from the Nobility or, upon their
appointment, entered the ranks of the Nobles.
From the beginning of the thirteenth century on-
ward the State was divided into provinces called
*No great difference can be established between the State lands and
those privately owned by the Sovereign; they are often confounded with
each other in dealings, a legal fiction identifying the State with the person
of the Ruler.
That same principle, brought about the nominal ownership of the lands
occupied by the Rods and Plemes by their chiefs, who became at that time
lords in the newly developed nobility classes.
It is evident, however, that the Sovereign could not or did not arbi-
trarily and illegally seize or dispose of lands in the possession of others.
A document of King Stephan Miloutin, 1317 (Spomenik, III, p. 16), says:
"... And all that I gave whatsoever to the Holy Monasteries ... I gave
it out of my own possession, or I bought, or I asked leave to take [from
public lands] or exchanged with the Lord Archbishop or with others. ..."
STATE AND CROWN REVENUES 201
"drzhava" ("holding"), and the term "Zhupa"
came to be applied to sub-divisions of these provinces,
which were also called "Oblasti."
The holders of these territories were in no sense
feudal lords, they were royal or imperial administra-
tors under the Crown and the Assembly. Their
title was "Knez." 1 They were provincial governors
and military commanders of the territory. Their
office was limited either to a lifetime or to a set
period. They were removable in case of non-fulfil-
ment of duty. In Bosnia the administrator of a
province was a "Voyvoda," while in Rashka the title
"Voyvod" meant a military commander.
2. STATE AND CROWN REVENUES
The administration of the customs dues and
revenues was in charge of a special body under the
Royal, later the Imperial, Treasury, and included
customs and revenue agents called "Tzareniks,"
who were appointed over districts. These Tzareniks
not only collected the revenues, both customs and
inland, but they presided also as judges over com-
mercial courts sitting to arbitrate trade or market
matters. The laws visited heavy punishments upon
them in case of the abuse of power in their own in-
terests.
1 At a later time " Knez " came to be the highest nobiliary title next to
that of the King's son, and was translated as "Prince." "Zhupan" was
"Count." The title "Knez," with some prefix, was used to indicate
different official posts. In modern Senna, before it became a kingdom,
the Prince Ruler was called "Knez" and the village mayor was called
"Seoski-Knez."
202 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The sources of Crown and State revenues were
many:
(1) Crown lands or State domains. These lands
were not bestowed by the Ruler in fief upon the
members of the Nobility, but were kept under direct
Crown administration, the holders being called
"Tzarske lyudi" (Imperial folk) under the empire
and "Kralyevske lyudi" under the kingdom. The
revenues from these lands were paid into the State
Treasury.
(2) The tax called "Sotje," levied on the land
(in recognition of the legal fiction by which the
State is the owner of the land), was paid by all
classes alike. It was levied on the house or
"hearth," and paid either in "kind" or in coin.
The amount of the tax, whether in "kind" or coin,
was fixed by law.
(3) Customs dues, which were paid in the form of
toll on bridges and roads or trade licenses, applied
to individuals or market-places near towns or to
monasteries or places near the border.
(4) The revenue called "Srbski dohodak" (Ser-
vian income), which was a fixed contribution paid by
the Republic and merchants of Ragusa, in lieu of all
separate trade licenses. It gave them the right to
trade freely throughout the Servian Realm, and
guaranteed to them security under the protection of
the Servian State authorities.
(5) Fines and penalties imposed by the courts of
justice, which were called "Globa," were paid in the
earlier period in live stock, horses or oxen, and in
later times in money.
STATE AND CROWN REVENUES 203
(6) Mining industries and coinage of money.
The income from these sources, especially from the
rich gold and silver mines, was very large. The
Servian "Despot," Djouradj Voukovich Brankovich,
obtained a yearly income from the Kopaonik mines
alone of 200,000 ducats (representing about half
a million dollars) in the first half of the fifteenth
century.
(7) Under the obligation of hospitality, called
"priselitza," all communities, monasteries, towns,
and nobles gave free hospitality, during one day and
one night, to the Ruler or members of his family, or
high State officials, to foreign embassies, the army,
or to travellers or merchantmen. It was necessary
to afford to the imperial convoy or to the embassies,
State dignitaries, etc., transport facilities and safe
personal conduct through the territory or across the
estate, according to the limits and conditions fixed
by law.
(8) In case of public necessity, or for the construc-
tion of public works or buildings, the Ruler had the
right to call upon every or any subject in the Realm,
noble or other, only the clergy and their tenants
in earlier times being exempt, to contribute time and
personal work or to provide substitutes for such
services.
(9) In emergency extra taxes were sometimes
levied called "podantzi" and "na-metzi"; and
during the period of defence against the Turks, a tax
called "Ouncha" for armaments and other means of
defence, and the "Turk-tax" for the payment of
Tribute-money.
204 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
3. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS WITH LOCAL SELF-
GOVERNMENT AND THE FAMILY AS A SOCIAL UNIT
The adminstrative divisions having local self gov-
ernment were the Zhupa or County and its sub-
divisions, the Village and "Grad," districts.
The Zhupa (County). — In the earliest times each
Zhupa was a small State, which during the period of
unification of Serb lands into a great whole was trans-
formed and by the thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
turies came to represent merely an administrative
division of the State or Empire.
Zhupa and Pleme were originally interchangeable
terms meaning the territory occupied by the Plemes.
In the later period these two terms became disasso-
ciated, Pleme referring no longer to the inhabitants of a
Zhupa, but being restricted to mean merely "family."
All that remained in the fourteenth century of the
original organisation of the Zhupa was the "Zhupa
Common," grazing and forest lands; duties common
to all; and common responsibility for public order.
Articles 74, 75, and 76 of the Code Doushan clearly
says that all grazing and forest lands not private
property ("Zabel," i. e., with proved title) belong in
common to all the inhabitants of the Zhupa.
From the earliest days there was at a central
point in the Zhupa a fortified castle called "Grad,"
about which in certain cases, and always in mining
districts, gathered a settlement or town the purlieus
of which formed the town district. This organ-
isation of a fortified Zhupa stronghold persisted up
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 205
to the fifteenth century. Article 127 of the Code
Doushan says that when a Grad or a Tower (fortifi-
cation) is destroyed the townsmen and the whole
Zhupa shall rebuild the Grad or Tower. Some-
times church domains and their tenants were exempt
from this duty.
The inhabitants of a Zhupa (called Zhuplanyi) had
to furnish transport service to the imperial convoys
"from Grad to Zhupa, thence to the border of the
Zhupa, and thence across the next Zhupa to its Grad"
(Article 60). The church domains and their tenants
were (Article 23) not exempt from these transport
duties. All personal services and expenses on such
occasions were equally distributed among the houses
of the Zhupa.
The joint responsibility of the Zhupa in all matters
of public order was established by Articles 58, 126,
158, and 191, which decreed that in case of crimes
committed by persons unknown, complete reparation
shall be made to sufferers by the Zhupa. These
articles clearly indicate that the Zhupa was made re-
sponsible for its own policing.
This common responsibility, as well as the equal
distribution of Zhupa taxes and charges, called
Priplata, not coming directly under the State's admin-
istration, were dealt with by the Zhupa assembly.
The territory of a Zhupa was either the bashtina 1
of a Prince or great noble, or a pronya, 1 or it might be
made up of any of the three kinds of property, im-
perial or royal, church, or a noble's bashtina. In
case the whole Zhupa was the bashtina of one of the
1 For pronya and bashtina see page 223 under Property.
206 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
great lords, or if it was as a whole bestowed in pronya
the Bashtiniks or the Pronyars (Articles 108, 134,
149, Code Doushan) were the State's administrators
of the Zhupa. Should the Zhupa be mixed or com-
posed of more than one kind of tenure (Article 157),
the administrator of the Zhupa was the governor of
the Grad, called "Tjephalia" (from the Greek
Kephalia — captain) .
The "Grad" {Town). — In mediaeval Servia there
were no towns in the modern sense. The "Grads"
or castles were of two kind, the fortified castle at a
central point of the Zhupa, and the fortified strong-
hold built for the protection of the markets at cross-
roads or some mining centre. The latter was the
only kind which formed a town— the Zhupa castle
did not gather about it a town. The castle of the
Zhupa, fortified like all others of the period with high
walls and a moat, was the place of residence of the
Bashtinik or Pronyar of the Zhupa, or of the State's
administrator, the Tjephalia (captain) or governor.
There was always within its walls a strong military
guard used to keep watch over the Zhupa and police it.
There also resided the learned judges when they were
not on "circuit." When the country was attacked
by an enemy the inhabitants were received within the
walls of the fortifications, and the Zhupan defended
the place. It was rare that market-places or any
commercial life grouped itself about the castle, unless
the castle chanced to be situated near mines or great
commercial roads. The other kind of Grad, gather-
ing about it a "town," was usually built on some
high or dominant point for the protection of the
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 207
mines, or as natural trading-places. These towns
were inhabited chiefly by Saxons, who were the
miners, and Ragusans or other merchants of the lit-
toral. The home Servians were slow to come to live
in these agglomerations. Outside of the Grad walls,
generally on the hill-slopes, were the small houses,
usually of wood, ranged around an open space, upon
which fronted the church in stone or brick. To-day
the ruins of fortresses and of the churches outside the
walls indicate the situation of these towns. This town
"at the foot" of the Grad was called "po-gradje."
There lived the miners, or commercial people, mer-
chants, and handicraftsmen. All of these men could
at choice live in the village or rural communities in-
stead of in the town, except the goldsmiths, who were
obliged to live in the "Grad" (po-gradje) or Trgo-
vishtiye (Trg is market). "If a goldsmith is found
in a selo [village] the selo shall be punished by being
dispersed" (Articles 168, 169, Code Doushan). This
drastic regulation is supposed to have been aimed at
the prevention of the illegal coinage of money.
The townsmen were mostly of foreign origin, and
were generally either those who had settled in the
country and had acquired property (bashtina), or
those who were still what were called "Guests."
The whole population of a po-gradje or trgovishtiye
was under the direct administration of the Tjephalia
of the Grad. "The Tjephalia shall levy as income
a tax [on the townsmen] fixed by the law. He shall
also have the right to buy [what he needs] for one
dinar what others pay two dinars for, . . . but he can
only buy from the townsmen" (Article 63). Accord-
208 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ing to Article 127, the townsmen had to keep the Grad
in repair, help guard it and defend it in danger. A
document of Knez (Tsar) Lazar Hrebelianovich to
the Ragusans in 1387 says: "The Ragusans, mer-
chants, or handicraftsmen who have bashtina [free
inheritable property] in the Grad of Novo Brdo, shall
be under obligation to rebuild or repair the Grad
and guard it; only those who still are 'guests' and
have not bought any bashtina shall perform these
duties or not as they choose." '
Towns, in a modern sense, as a place of residence,
came into Servia only with the Turks, and under the
Turkish regime the inhabitants of the towns were all
Moslems.
Selo (Village or Rural Community). — The Zhupa
was composed of rural communities or settlements
called " selos " (villages). Each selo occupying its own
territory was a distinct corporate unit. In earliest
times each selo was identified with a family group or
Rod. Such selos of Rod origin are referred to in
the "Monumenta Serbica," pp. 144, 191, 196, 197,
and 198, naming "Stoyanovci," "Smilyovci," "Ra-
danovci," "Deyovci" (i. e., descendants of Stoyan,
Smilyan, etc.), but in general the rural communities
were not any longer representative of a single family.
At a later period, under the Turkish rule, family
village groupings again occurred.
The boundaries on selo lands were clearly defined,
as is seen in documents of the time ; they were streams,
1 "Monumenta Serbica," p. 206; ibid., p. 208; recapitulation by Despot
George Voukovich-Brankovich, ibid., p. 52. Similar document by King
Stephan Urosh, 1240-1272.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 209
valleys, roads, ditches, trees, houses, and even certain
"acres" of well-known persons. "Where no natural
border-line existed, such bournes were set up in hewn
stone. A judgment concerning a boundary dispute
given by Prince George Tsrnoyevitch of Zeta, 1494,
deals with the boundary limits of the village lands
of a nobleman, Ilyia Lyeshovitch. The jury was
composed of twenty-four noblemen; upon the fixing
of the limits under "tte-^tt-pervision of the Pristav
(sheriff) Kosyier, "the bourne stones were fixed by
master stone-mason Ostoyia."
The houses in a Servian village of that period were
rarely closely set together, but more often the selo
community was made up of many loose and straggling
groups, or of clusters of two or three houses scattered
widely over the lands of the community.
The delimitation of the land occupied by the selo
was intimately connected with the duties and respon-
sibilities of that community. The village was put
under obligation to maintain public order, and was
liable to be punished and subject to fine and payment
of damages in case of incendiarism (Article 100).
In the event of " Vrazhda" (murder), "if the assassin
is unknown or cannot be discovered, the community is
fined five hundred perpers." Sometimes "Vrazhda"
was the act of disinterring a body of the dead and
burning it, which was done as the result of a super-
stitious belief found in Balkan lands among the more
ignorant people, according to which some unseen
physical emanation or body comes from the grave to
fasten on the living and suck away their blood or life
forces. That kind of "Vrazhda," due to belief in
210 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
vampires, was punishable by a fine of five hundred
perpers levied on the community. If any priest was
found taking part in such proceedings he was dis-
missed from the priesthood (Article 20). The meas-
ure was intended to destroy the superstition.
In case any animals, horses, or cattle should be
killed or maliciously injured in passing through the
village domains, the selo community was held to
make entire compensation to the owners (Article 199).
Article 92 says that if a horse has been stolen and
its owner discovers it with a rider on its back, both
the horse and man shall be taken to the nearest village,
which shall deliver them, horse and rider, to the judge
for trial. A penalty of fifty perpers, called "potka"
(Article 77), was imposed on any village failing to
perform that duty. Articles 58, 144, and 191 deal
similarly with cases of punishments and fines imposed
on villages for failure to protect public order and
secure punishment of the criminal.
The nearest surrounding villages to unoccupied
land outside of any village domains are held respon-
sible for the maintaining of order and the policing of
those regions; and the communities are all jointly
punished by fines or otherwise should crimes be com-
mitted in those unowned lands (Article 58).
Article 145 says: "In all Zhupas, Grads, and Kra-
yinas there shall not be any robber or thief. Any
village which fails to deliver up, or protects, a robber
or thief shall be dispersed." The same punishment
of dispersal and confiscation by the State of all
property (Article 111) was meted out to any village
that refused to execute the orders of a judge or pre-
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 211
vented such execution. The same punishment was
inflicted on any selo permitting a goldsmith to settle
within its boundaries (Article 168).
It is probable that the "selishtye," places where
villages once stood, not only mark sites razed by
war, but are sometimes due to the punishment of
dispersal visited by the law on an erring village.
Concerning the common corporate rights of the
village, research has not been able to establish any
facts clearly; but the surmise is that such rights ex-
isted. In the Archangel deeds of grant, Emperor
Doushan uses the expression: "The selo Yelkovatz
within its limits and all its rights."
The rights may have referred to forest and grazing-
land privileges in the Zhupa outside of the village
domains. Among the general duties of a rural com-
munity as a corporate unit was the "priselitza"
(hospitality), the duty incumbent on a village (in
addition to the Zhupa "priselitza") to lodge and
feed members of the reigning family, high state
officials, foreign ambassadors, and the part provision-
ing of the army, men and horses, etc. All the articles
of the Code Doushan regulating this matter show
plainly that the law was mindful to prevent the abuse
of that "hospitality" in order that it should not be-
come burdensome to the selos. Article 133 says:
"If an ambassador passes a village on his way to and
fro to see the Sovereign, he may stop in the village
one night and have a morning and evening meal [for
himself and train], but he can ask for no more, and
must pass on to the next village." Article 187 says
that if the Emperor, the Empress, or any member of
212 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the Sovereign family stops at a village overnight, no
other person following them shall ask hospitality;
such a traveller must pay the price sevenfold of what
he takes. The abuse of "Priselitza" (hospitality)
by officials or others having such right was liable
(Article 57) to be punished by dismissal from their
posts and loss of their property holdings.
In the study of rural communities an important
difference is seen between selo and katoun. The
difference was sharply accentuated in the earlier
period, but in the fifteenth century the difference has
disappeared and the terms are interchangeable.
The selo 1 was the rural community of agricul-
turalists. The katoun was the settlement of the stock-
raisers, who ranged their herds far over the country,
returning sometimes after months to their homes in
the katouns.
All documentary evidence indicates that both selo
and katoun were, in their inner organisation and ad-
ministration, self-governing. They possessed a vil-
lage assembly called "Zbor." A document of King
Stephan Detchanski (" Monumenta Serbica") says, in
relation to a litigation in a border dispute, that "there
were present at the trial the Judge Bogdan, the
jury, the witnesses, and the'Zbors' of the [contending]
villages. . . ."
1 Documentary evidence shows that in the rural communities called
selo there were often from one hundred to two hundred koutchas (houses
or households), but generally they numbered from fifty to seventy. There
were never fewer than twenty, each household averaging from ten to forty
members. The katouns, rural communities of the stock-breeders, num-
bered from twenty to fifty households, which were often single families,
numbering less therefore by household than in the selos composed of
agriculturalists.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 213
All documents appear to indicate that in all cases
of local petty disputes among themselves the in-
habitants of the selos or katouns went before a small
jury or committee of arbitration called "conscientious"
or "good men" (dobri lyudi), nominated by them-
selves, and presided over by the village elder. This
institution of self-administrated justice has survived
in the rural communities of Serb lands through the
centuries and is found among them even to-day.
There are still to-day in Montenegro and other Serb
regions the "dobri lyudi/'
There is no evidence to show that the administra-
tion of the Servian State, or even that of the Zhupa,
ever interfered in the local self-government of the
rural communities. Article 146 of the Code Doushan
gives only the titles of the village elders in the differ-
ent districts as representing the rural communities.
There are mentioned "Seoski knez" (village chief),
a title which existed up to the nineteenth century;
"permitchur" (premier-man), from the Greek
TrpifjLiKijpios ; "predstoynik" (standing first); "Seoski
vladalatz" (village ruler); and "Seoski Chelnik"
(village headman).
House (Koutcha). — The units composing the Grad,
Selo, or Katoun were the "Koutcha" (house).
That term applied legally, not to the building espe-
cially, but to the family. In all matters of economic
ordinance, taxes and duties and privileges, obliga-
tions toward public order, crime and punishment,
etc., the law and the State held the Koutcha, or
family, primarily responsible; the individual was a
secondary consideration. The Archangel document
214 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
says: "... They [villagers] shall 'robot' [for the
monastery] two days in the week," and "dimitzom"
pro fumo — i. e., to furnish one worker by "smoke-
stack." Another document says: "They shall work
for the holy church two days weekly, each Kout-
cha. . ." — i. e., each family or household to furnish
one worker for two days each week.
Article 66 says: "If a koutcha is cited to appear
before a court of justice by a sheriff or other ' Judge's
man,' the koutcha shall have the right to send any
one of the 'bratenci' [brothers or cousins living in
that koutcha in Zadruga] to answer for the whole
koutcha. If a member of the koutcha is found near
the precincts of the court, and receives the citation,
he cannot be forced to appear for his house, but has
the right to send 'his elder brother' [the head of the
Zadruga] to answer the charge."
Article 71 reads: "If a crime is committed by
one of those living in one house, be he brother,
son, or relative, the head of the house shall answer
for it, pay the fine, or deliver the guilty one to the
court."
It is evident, however, that the Zadruga of Kout-
chas, or family with its descendants and collateral
relatives in joint property, was not the only family
formation. There was the "inocosna," or single
family with joint property. There was also the
family group joined by blood ties living around the
same central hearth, but with separate individual
property, "separate in bread and goods," as it was
called, or the single family with separate property
rights as is common to-day elsewhere.
THE SOVEREIGN AND COURT 215
Article 70 says: "In cases where those living about
a central hearth, sons of one father, sons of brothers,
or other relatives, hold their property 'separate in
bread and goods/ each separate portion of the
property shall furnish one man's 'robot' [work]."
Article 52 provides that in case of "disloyalty" or
"crime," no brother for brother, nor father for son,
nor relative for relative, shall be responsible, if they
live in separate houses and are innocent; . . . only
the house of the guilty person shall pay the fine etc.
Stoyan Novakovitch calculates that the households
or koutchas, inmates of the central house and its
surrounding vayats, counted as many as from thir-
teen to twenty male members alone.
4. THE SOVEREIGN AND THE COURT
The rights of succession to the throne in the Ser-
vian ruling; family according to the old Servian cus-
torn belonged to the eldest member of the family.
Many Servian rulers tried to break that law and
leave their thrones to their sons, which was the occa-
sion of many civil wars, and sometimes the seizure
of the throne took place by usurpation and not in
legal line of succession. The Nemanyas, in order
to preserve the throne to their sons, adopted the
method of causing them to be publicly consecrated
and acclaimed as their successors.
To the Ruler's son, so consecrated, was given at
time of consecration a province to rule. It was
generally Zeta (modern Tzernagora, i. e., Monte-
negro) or Rashka. The consecrated heir to the
216 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
throne, besides his baptised Christian name, assumed
the name of "Stephan," the Greek equivalent for the
Latin "Augustus," which remained joined to his
other name when he came to the throne.
The Servian Rulers in early times had no fixed
capital. With the extension of Servian territories
southward the capital moved southward from Rashka
to Prishtina and Prisren, then to Skoplyia (Uskub).
With the loss of those southern lands the capital was
removed first to Krushevatz; then to the Castle of
Boratch (now in ruins) and Belgrade; then to Se-
mendria (Smederevo).
The Emperor Doushan lived at the castles of
Rashka, Prishtina, the Grad of Prisren, at Skoplyia
(to-day, Uskub), and at Seres in Macedonia. The
old Uskub was wilfully destroyed and burned in
1689 by Austrian troops. General Piccolomini in
command of them, declared the city to have been
one of the most marvellous sights for beauty which
he had ever beheld. It was then what the Servians
had made it, a place of marble splendour, 1 where
was convoked the National Assembly which in 1346
proclaimed the Empire, and where the same Assem-
bly, under the presidency of the Servian Emperor,
elaborated and promulgated the Code Doushan.
The famous painting 2 "The Crowning of the
Emperor Doushan" — an enormous canvas now the
property of the State, in which the Servian artist
Paya Iovanovich, with exact historical detail, repre-
1 As it stands rebuilt at the present time, it is only an ordinary Turkish
town on the railway line from Belgrade to Salonika.
2 Exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1900, and afterward in 1907 in
London. See frontispiece.
THE SOVEREIGN AND COURT 217
sents the event, is an impressive and splendid pic-
ture of royal magnificence. The gorgeous and beau-
tiful costumes of the Emperor, the Empress, and their
little son the young King; the robes of the Patriarch
and the Archbishops and Bishops, of the high officers
of State, the military leaders and other soldiers; the
harness of the horses; the graceful ecmjers, and all
the acessories, show forth an Imperial Court second
to none in stately grandeur.
Such was the Court of the old Servian Empire
under Doushan.
Tsar Lazar Hrebelianovich lived at Krushevatz,
to-day in central Servia on the western Morava
River near the railway line not far to the north-west
of Nish. There to-day are the ruins of the "White
Tower" of the ballads, from which the Tsarina
Militza leaned to strain her eyes toward the battle-
field of Kossovo. Near that place is the monastery
built by this storied daughter of the Nemaniads, and
where her ashes now repose. At Krushevatz, too,
stands in good repair the church built by Tsar Lazar
called the "Lazaritza." Within its walls still gather
the faithful, and before its holy altars rise incense and
worship from true Servian hearts to-day as of old.
The symbols of the Sovereign's supreme authority
were the sceptre, the purple mantle which was worn
over a "Dalmatica," ' the throne chair, the diadem
1 Hamilton Jackson gives an interesting account of the origin and use
of the " Dalmatica" robe in his book on the eastern shores of the Adriatic.
He says that this garment, which was the ordinary costume of the Dal-
matian dignitaries and headmen, was introduced in Rome by the Roman
Emperor Decius "the Illyrian" (a Dalmatian), and was worn by the
nobles of the Court of Valerian. The Emperor Commodus sometimes
wore it on occasions of solemnity. S. Cyprian, who succeeded Donatus
218 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
of State or Crown, the Sword of State, and the
national flag called "Steg."
The Court of the Servian rulers in the main outline
of formula and order of ceremonial was modelled
after that of the Byzantine emperors. However, in
certain regards exemplifying the old Servian ideas
recognising the right of the individual to self-respect,
the ceremonial at the Servian royal or imperial
Court differed essentially from that of the Byzantine.
For instance, at Constantinople the rule was that
when a great noble or prince came into the presence
of the Emperor he advanced, bowed, knelt, and kissed
the Emperor's thigh and then his knee. When a
commoner came into the Byzantine ruler's presence
he prostrated himself to the earth.
At the Servian Court, when a prince or great noble
entered the Imperial Presence, he stood erect, the
Servian Emperor advanced to him, and placing his
hand on the noble's shoulder, the noble doing the
same to him, the ruler kissed him on the temple,
while he did the same to the Sovereign. When a com-
moner came before the Servian Emperor he simply
stood erect after kissing the hand of the Sovereign.
There was no servility either in form or in idea.
as Bishop of Carthage, speaks of its use as an ancient thing. It was ac-
cepted as the Eucharistic vestment in North Africa and worn by Bishops.
S. Eutychian, Pope in 275, ordered the alternative use of the dalmatica
for clothing the bodies of martyrs with the "colobium" (a long tunic of
crimson silk), which had been in use. The dalmatica was first worn by
the celebrant, but when the chasuble came into use in the Roman Catholic
Church it became the vestment of the deacons. S. Symmachus conceded
to S. Csesarius Bishop of Orleans in 508, as a favour, that his deacons
might wear the dalmatica, and S. Gregory granted the same privilege to
the archdeacons of the Franks. At a later period the use of the dalmat-
ica was granted to Kings for their coronation.
GENERAL SOCIAL CONDITIONS 219
O. SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN GENERAL
Every Serb or subject of the Servian State was
recognised by the law in both his personal and real
status — that is, in his individual and property rights
involving privileges and duties.
The status of "slave" or "right-less" person, as
being the property of another individual, was abso-
lutly unknown in all epochs to the Servian State and
social organisation. 1
During those early centuries called the Dark Ages
in Europe, when throughout Western countries
all privileges and enjoyment were held by the pos-
sessing classes and all duties and pains were borne
by the enslaved masses, the Servian State was not
able to maintain in their integrity the ancient Servian
race ideals of equality
The Servian people came to be separated into three
main divisions:
(1) The Nobility, great or territorial, called "Veli-
ka Vlastela," and the lesser nobilitv, "Mala Vlas-
tela," including State and military officials.
(2) The higher and lower Monastic Clergy.
(3) Commoners or non-nobles, called "Sebar"
or "Sebri," townsmen, and villagers (who were
agriculturalists or cattle-breeders).
The entire population, whether nobility or com-
moners, possessed hereditary property rights and
1 See page 267 for international communications and remonstrances of
the Servian princes, kings, and emperors in protection of individual
liberty and condemning slavery and slave-trade, which in those times was
common in other lands of Europe.
220 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
freehold property called "bashtina." All were alike
direct subjects of the Crown and all alike pos-
sessed the right before justice to be adjudged by
their peers. Justice was dispensed by the Crown
through imperial or royal judges — aided by a jury.
All adjustments of privileges and duties as between
landlord and tenant, servitudes incumbent on the
land, etc., were strictly fixed by law.
In the earlier period the "Sebri" (through their
house representatives), as well as the nobility
and higher clergy, formed part of the National
Assembly. During the later period the nobility
and clergy had alone the right to sit in the Nat-
ional Assembly or "Sabor." The Sebri had no
direct national representation, their political rights
being restricted to the local Zhupa and town
or village assemblies, deliberating solely upon local
interests.
There are no documents to show that the State
ever interfered in the local administration of the
Zhupa and the town or village affairs.
In addition to the three great classes forming
the bulk of the population was a fourth social
division, small in numbers, called "Otrok," whose
position — the lowest in the Servian social hierarchy
— approximated that of a serf. But the Otrok was
recognised by the law in his personal status and
individual rights of family, etc., and rights to
possess property. He was bound to the soil; the
owner of that soil had the right of pronouncing
justice in all disputes and litigation between the
Otroks themselves, but in regard to all other
THE NOBILITY 221
offences against the public order, such as fraud,
theft, robbery, assault, murder, incendiarism, ab-
duction, kidnapping, etc., the Otroks were judged
by the imperial or royal courts of justice.
6. THE NOBILITY
A Servian nobleman was called Vlastelin (Holder
of Power). In a certain document of the thirteenth
century the word "Boyarin" or "Boyar" (Warrior) is
used. There were two orders of nobility: The Ve-
lika Vlastela, or Great Nobles of the Realm, and the
Mala Vlastela, Lesser Nobles or Provincial Nobility,
called also Ylastelitchitzi. The great nobility of
the Realm , which was formed of the families of
the former independent Knezes and Zhupans,
among whom were counted the Patriarch, Arch-
bishops and Bishops, and the higher administrative
officials, sat in the National Legislative Assembly.
The Lesser Nobles or Provincial Nobility, were the
descendants of the nobility of the former indepen-
dent Zhupas — that is, heads of the ancient sub-
divisions of the Zhupas, as chiefs of the Rods and
other Stareshinas. All of the lesser State officials
belonged to this class of nobility. The lesser nobil-
ity had representation in the National Assembly. A
difference of degree in privileges existed between
the two orders in regard to punishments in the law
courts.
The crime or delict was, in the eyes of the law, al-
ways the same, whether committed by Great Noble,
Lesser Noble, or Commoner; the only discrimination
222 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
was in regard to the nature and extent of the penalty
and punishments inflicted.
According to Article 50 of Code Doushan: "If
a Vlastelin insults, injures, or works dishonour to a
Vlastelitchitz he shall pay a fine of a hundred perpers. 1
If a member of the lesser order is the offender against
one of the great nobles, he not only pays as a penalty
the one hundred perpers, but he receives corporal
punishment of several strokes."
The Vlastelin or Great Noble enjoyed certain
privileges of special deference to his order. Article
62 of the Code Doushan provides that if a Vlastelin
is to be cited before a court of justice, the judge must
call him by special mandate, all other men being
cited to appear by simple writ. A further privilege
of the Great Vlastela was that they could be called
upon to appear before a court of justice only in the
forenoon, never in the afternoon. The reasons in
full for the citation must be set forth in detail in the
special mandate. If a Vlastelin who has been cited
with all form due him and by the "Pristav" (Sheriff)
"does not appear before mid-day, he shall pay a fine
of six oxen (Article 56)."
All offices of State, both great and small, at the
Royal or Imperial Court, military, administrative, and
judicial, were occupied by both orders of the nobility.
The high dignitaries of the Church were considered
to belong to the Vlastela. A document of King
1 According to Cibario a "perper" is equal to six francs in metal or ten
francs in "kind." In the Hilendar documents of King Miloutin, 1293 or
1303, the value of a horse is set down as thirty perpers, the price of a mare
as twenty perpers. See also evaluation in the "Archangel" document of
the Emperor Doushan.
THE NOBILITY 223
Miloutin, 1305, says: ". . . There were present the
Vlastela, the Archbishop of Bar Lord Marin, the
Bishop of Hulm Lord John, the Bishop of the Zeta
Lord Michael. . . ."
In addition to those belonging by right of inheri-
tance to the ancient nobility both higher and lesser,
the Emperor Doushan conferred the privileges of
nobility upon Commoners (Sebars) in recompense for
and in recognition of merit or eminent services,
together with life interest in land. The lesser nobil-
ity were also recruited from the bravest among the
warriors. They were invested with a degree of
chivalry. As military service was obligatory and
universal to all Serbs alike of whatever class, it fol-
lowed that bravery and merit opened the door to all
distinctions and to noble rank, even the highest.
Property
The landed property of the nobles, greater and
lesser, was of two sorts of holdings: Bashtina and
Pronyas.
The hereditary property was called the "nobles'
Bashtina." In many documents of Bosnian rulers
and of provincial governors and in documents of the
Republic of Ragusa the correct and purely Servian
expression "Plemenito," or "Plemenshtina" (from
Pleme), is used instead of "Bashtina." 1
These bashtinas or plemenitos had for the greater
part belonged to the more ancient nobility from the
1 See document of King Stephan Ostoya of Bosnia, 1399; document of
Veliko Voyvod (Duke) Sandal Hranich, 1490; document of Voyvod
Djouradj, 1434, etc.
224 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
period of the appearance of individual possessory
rights among Serbs; certain other bashtinas were the
gifts of kings or emperors to nobles.
But most of the royal and imperial land grants
were not "bashtina," but "pronya," or life-tenure —
the second kind of noble holding. Pronyas were
bestowed by the Ruler in return for public services,
past, present, or to be rendered to the State.
Bashtina. — The characteristics of the nobles' bash-
tina were:
First. — Full rights of proprietorship in regard to the
land, and mastership of the "Otrok" 1 on the soil.
The full extent of the protection afforded to prop-
erty rights is seen clearly in Articles 39 and 40 of the
Code Doushan, which say: "Neither the Emperor
nor the King, his heir nor the Empress, shall have
the right to take away by force the bashtina from a
Bashtinik. They can only take it with the free con-
sent of its owner." The same is true of a Church or
Church property held as bashtina: "Neither the
Emperor nor the Patriarch shall have the right to
dispossess the Bashtinik and add that Church estate
to the Patriarchal estate."
King Stephan Miloutin states with pride in the
Saint Stephan document, 1317, that he has not once
annulled unlawfully or by force any grant or deed of
1 Articles 44 to 46 of the Code Doushan deal with the relations between
the Bashtinik (owner of bashtina) and Otroks. See also further defini-
tions in the document of the grant of the King of Bosnia, Thomas Osto-
jich, 1458, to Logothet Stepan (Mon. Serb., p. 481), showing that the
Otrok cannot be sold, given away, or disposed of at the master's will. In
case the property changes hands, the Otrok has the option of remaining
on the land or of following the previous owner of the land. See p. 264,
"Otrok."
THE NOBILITY 225
bashtina given by his forefathers, and that he has
only confirmed acts of voluntary sales, gifts, or ex-
changes made by the owners themselves. In similar
language speak the Emperor Stephan Doushan in
the "Archangel" document, and Prince Ivan Cerno-
yevch of Zeta, in a document of 1458.
The bashtina became forfeit to the State in case
of disloyalty to the State or Ruler on the part of its
owner, also for disobedience to the laws, refusal to
recognise judicial authority. Article 107 says that
the property of whosoever shall send away and refuse
to obey a "Pristav" (Sheriff), or any other official
delegated by the judge, shall be forfeit to the State.
Article 111 also deals with the same matter of
the confiscation of property as punishment for con-
tempt of judicial authority or decisions and orders,
violence to the judge's dignity or person — "doing
shame to a judge." Article 138 says: "Whoever
falsifies by adding to or changing the text of any
public or official document, his property shall be con-
fiscated." Article 140 deals with cases of disloyalty
or high treason. Among other published docu-
ments of the period is that of "Despot" 1 Stephan
Lazarovich-IIrebelianovich, 1403, confiscating a bash-
tina. (Belgrade Archives).
The holder of a bashtina was held responsible for
public order within his domain. Article 145 decrees:
"There shall be no robber or thief. The village
where a robber or thief is found shall be dispersed,
'The Servian title "Despot," a word borrowed from the Greek, was
the royal title worn by the Servian rulers after the fall of the Empire,
instead of Krai or Kin^. which meant complete sovereignty, while "Despot"
inferred the paying of a tribute to a Suzerain.
226 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
etc. . . . The lord of the village (Bashtinik or
Pronyar) shall be brought bound before the court
and shall pay back all that was robbed or stolen,
or he shall receive the same punishment as that meted
to the robber or thief."
Article 173 says: "If a noble brings a robber or
thief in his train to the royal or imperial Court, be
he Greek, German, or Serb, he shall receive the same
punishment as that meted to the robber or thief."
Second. — The holder of a noble bashtina enjoyed
the right to dispose of it provided that he could
secure the consent of his family or Zadruga.
In the deed of sale of a bashtina by the Zhupan
Belyak and the Voyvoda Radich Sankovich to
Ragusa, in 1391, they say: ". . . And all this is con-
sented to and confirmed by all the undersigned, . . .
our wives, our dear sisters, our uncles, . . . our
brothers, . . . for them and for their children, and
all the descendants of us all . . . all our Vlastela
[noble vassals] ..." etc.
Similar in form is a deed of gift, by the brothers
Roman, Grgour, and Vouk Brankovich, 1365, to
the monastery of Hilendar.
The transfers of bashtina property were not legal
without the consent and confirmation of the ruler,
who embodied the affirmation of the State as superior
proprietor of the whole territory of the realm. A
document of 1349, of Emperor Stephan Doushan,
reads: "... Sevastocrator Deyan prayed my Maj-
esty to consent and to confirm his gift of ... to the
Monastery . . . after the Emperor had taken coun-
sel with the Empress, his son the King Urosh, with
THE NOBILITY 227
thePatriarch,alltheArchbishops,Bishops,Hegoumen,
and all the Great and Lesser Vlastela, My Imperial
Majesty gave and wrote this document consenting
and confirming . . ." etc. Another document of
Knez (and Tsar) Lazar Hrebelianovich, 1381, in
response to a petition of the Chelnik (Minister of
State), Musa and son, confirms a deed of gift of land
to the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon.
Third. — Full rights of inheritance restricted to a
certain line of succession. The restricting clauses of
the Code Doushan say that in default of direct heirs
— children and grandchildren, etc.— a bashtina could
go collaterally only to cousins in the male line up to
the third degree. Other written documents show
that if the deceased had sons, daughters were ex-
cluded, but in default of sons, daughters inherited.
These rules applied to single families. In regard to the
Zadruga joint property, daughters were excluded from
inheritance, in view of the fact that they left the pa-
ternal Zadruga upon marriage to enter as full mem-
bers those of their husbands. Had they possessed
property rights in the joint estate, the division of
property with each daughter's marriage would have
continually sapped the strength of the paternal Za-
druga. However, the law determined that each
member of a Zadruga, male or female, could possess
and inherit individual bashtina which was not a part
of the Zadruga joint property.
Article 48 says that "if a Vlastelin dies, his battle-
horse and his armour go to the Emperor." (This was
in affirmation of the principle whereby the Vlastelin,
like every other Serb, was the State's warrior and not
228 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
an independent soldier "warring" on his own ac-
count, as was the case elsewhere in western mediaeval
Europe.) Further, the dead Vlastelin's "Svita" (gold
and pearl embroidered robe), and his golden girdle
went to his son, and in default of a son, to his
daughter, who was free to sell or give them away.
The old Slavonic right of inheritance gave an equal
share to each child, primogeniture not being known,
and even in regard to the throne it was long before
that principle became established.
Bashtina rights exacted corresponding duties and
obligations toward the State and the ruler. These
duties were — First — Obligatory military service, from
which exemption could be allowed by the ruler under
conditions fixed by law and custom. Second. — Pay-
ment of the royal or imperial tax called "Sotje."
Article 42 says: "The bashtina is free of all robot '
and other dues except the sotje tax and military ser-
vice." Articles 42 and 198 fixed the "sotje" at one
"kabal" 2 of grain or one perper (Article 68) in
money, levied on the household or "hearth," and
payable partly on October 26, St. Demetrius' Day,
and the rest at Christmas. Third. — Special taxes in
the form of gifts and contributions for building and
'"Robot" was a contribution of manual labor on public works, etc.
A similar exaction exists to-day in nearly all countries of Europe for the
up-keep of public highways or dikes, etc. In France every landowner has
to furnish either manual labor or "carting" toward the maintenance of
the roads, to be furnished in labor or money.
2 The "kabal" was more or less the Roman or Byzantine weight-and-
surface-measure unit called the "modius." As surface measure it was
in Servian, the "mat." As weight, the "kabal" (about two-thirds of a
modern bushel) was the amount of grain required to sow a surface of two
hundred square "orgya," one "orgya" being nine and a half spans of
the hand.
THE NOBILITY 229
other royal or imperial purposes — building of monas-
teries, palaces, etc. — also registration fees. Article
128 refers to these contributions and fixes the duties
and registration fees payable to the State on all
bashtina transactions. The fee per village was thirty
perpers (about sixty dollars)— for one horse, one
perper; for a mare, one-half perper. Article 134 per-
mits the "Djak" or Registration clerk to levy a fee
— for his clerical services — of six perpers per village.
Pronya. — (Second form of the nobleman's landed-
estate.) The expression "Pronya" {irpovoia) is said
to have applied in Byzance to the charge and ad-
ministration of a district, and came in time to des-
ignate a special form of landed estate, in which mean-
ing in the thirteenth century it was adopted by the
Serbs. The Servian pronya ' was a landed estate or
certain revenues of a district bestowed during life
upon military or administrative dignitaries of the
State in payment for services past or present, mili-
tary or civil.
The pronya right was only the usufructus. It
excluded the rights of free disposal by sale or gift.
Article 59 says in substance that a pronyar can only
sell or buy a bashtina. To sell or buy a pronya or
dispose of it in any way was forbidden. Any such
dealings were declared null and void.
1 Analogous with the Servian pronya was the Russian " Pomiestnishtvo,"
introduced into Russia in the early sixteenth century, and out of which
the Empress Catherine in the eighteenth century created a free landed
nobility by abolishing the " personal State servitude " of the " Pomiestnik,"
and thereby inadvertently created also legal serfdom in Russia, as she
neglected to free at the same time the tenants ("Mushiks") from their
obligatory servitudes toward the "Pomiestnik." Alexander IPs libera-
tion of the serfs was the tardy and incomplete reparation for that act.
230 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Only by special imperial or royal deed of gift
could the pronya be transformed into a bashtina.
On the death of the pronyar the estate returned
to the Crown, which could re-bestow it upon the
pronyar's son only where that son was able to assume
the duties and obligations forming the basis of his
father's tenure. Or the Crown could bestow the
pronya upon some other candidate.
The pronya was always the benefice of an office.
The ruler could dispossess the pronyar for default in
duty or non-fulfilment of obligations or abuse of
authority. Article 142 declares forfeit of pronya and
office for treason, abuse of authority, etc.
Article 57 declares the pronya forfeit for the
abuse of the law of hospitality (Priselitza) or
for oppressing the people on the lands of the
pronya.
If the bashtina or pronya were a border district it
was called " Krayina," ' and the holder of it " Krayish-
nik" or "Border-lord." His duty was to watch
over the security of the borders and keep the gar-
risons of defence in good condition.
1 Gregoras, the Byzantine chronicler, who went to Skoplyia (Uskub) with
an embassy to ask the Servian King Stephan Detchanski's aid for the
Emperor Andronikos the Elder, writes: "When we passed the Struma
River . . . and came into thick woods, we were suddenly surrounded by
men clad in black woollen garments, who darted forth from behind trees
and rocks like devils out of the earth. They wore no heavy armour, being
armed only with lances, battle-axes, and bows and arrows. They could not
understand our (Greek) tongue. They barred the way of our embassy, but
accosted us good-naturedly. There was nothing of the bandit in their
looks. When we answered their greeting — as some of us knew their lan-
guage — they told us what they were doing in such an abandoned spot:
that they were guarding the border from any persons who might enter to
attack and plunder the villages of the interior. " These men were the
" Krayishnitzi, " armed men of the Border-lord, on duty.
THE CLERGY AND THE CHURCH 231
Article 49 says that "should a foreign army or
troops enter the State and plunder and retire again
unmolested, the Vlastelin or pronyar who is the
Border-lord and through whose territory the plunder-
ing forces passed, shall make good all the damage
done by the plunderers.
Article 143 says that "should robbers [small private
bands or individuals] cross the borders into the ad-
ministrative territory of a Border-lord, he shall repay
the depredations sevenfold."
7. THE CLERGY AND THE CHURCH
The organisation of the clergy in its civil and social
aspect comprised two orders : first, the Monastic, in-
cluding the Patriarch, Archbishops, Bishops, Archi-
mandrites (Higher Abbot) Hegoumen (Abbots),
Monks, and Djakons (postulants), who had no
property rights and no family rights (could not
be married). They could live only in monas-
teries.
The second order of clergy — the main body in num-
bers — was formed of the parish incumbents. They
were the Proto-Popa (or Archpriest, the priest-
intendant of a number of parishes) ; the Popa or
parish priest, and the Beadle (layman in Church ser-
vice). To this order marriage was obligatory, and
its members enjoyed full property rights, and in their
social status, whether Vlastelin or Commoner — they
were under the ordinary law, and retained the social
status and political rights to which they were born as
Servian subjects.
232 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
This order is therefore to be considered in relation
to the common laws of the realm.
But the monastic order was subject to special laws
fixing its special privileges and duties in regard both
to the State and the people. This order headed by
the higher clergy, Patriarch, Archbishops, Archiman-
drite, Hegouman (Abbot), who were socially part of
the nobility as lords spiritual, and the lesser mo-
nastic Clergy (commoners)— i. e. y the Monks (Kalud-
jers) and the Djakons (postulant priests, who were
the aids to higher clergy in sacerdotal functions) —
was, as regards administration, autonomous within the
monastic domain. These domains were called " Me-
tokhia," and belonged to the monastery and not to
the individuals of the monastic order. The monastic
community possessed only the usus and fructus of
these church domains, subject to the fulfilment of
the duties and obligations (servitudes) due to the
State and public from monasteries. 1
Article 25 (Code Doushan) says: "The Emperor,
the Patriarch and the Logothet (chancellor of the
realm) shall alone have supreme supervision over the
monasteries . . ." etc.
The members of the monastic order were obliged
to live in the monastery on the monastic domain, and
in absolute equality and poverty.
"No monk or nun shall live outside of a monastery
or convent . . ." etc. (Article 17, Code Doushan.)
A document of King Miloutin says: "The monk
shall possess nothing and shall not have in his cell
1 There were exceedingly few convents for women in the Serb-Orthodox
Church at any time, and in modern times none whatever.
THE CLERGY AND THE CHURCH 233
even a needle and thread without having received it
'in benediction' from the 'Old one"' — i. e., the abbot
in charge gives it to him according to his need from
the community stores.
There are evidences, however, that higher monastic
dignitaries, such as Archbishops and Bishops, some-
times received estates. There are no evidences to
show that estates so received conveyed anything more
than the usufructus during a lifetime. In some cases
these gift estates, stipulating generally the applica-
tion of revenues to certain purposes, remained, after
the death of the beneficiary, as endowment upon the
ecclesiastical office.
The duration of the possession of domain by the
church was unlimited and absolute. The right to
sell or dispose in any way of church property, espe-
cially real estate, was narrowly restricted, and the
tendency was to prevent entirely such transactions,
affecting even the right to let land or to rent other
© ©
land.
The administrative head of the monastery was the
Hegouman (Abbot), elected by all the monks of the
monastery in assembly as sole nominators.
On the community principle, the right to deal
with the monastic property — having regard especially
to "mobilier," fruit of harvest, live stock, etc., re-
sided in the community alone, the Hegouman in all
these transactions being obliged to get the direct or
© © o
indirect advice or authority of the others.
Obligations and Duties. — The monastic incomes
had to be devoted to the nourishment and clothing of
the monks, the feeding and clothing of poor and dis-
234 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
abled persons — hospital work and poor relief being
the chief duties of the monasteries — and the giving
of food and lodging to travellers and wayfarers dur-
ing a period fixed by law (generally some three days).
There were also educational duties.
Article 28 (Code Doushan) says: "In all church
monasteries the poor and disabled shall be fed as
prescribed by the law. Should any one fail in this
duty, be he Archbishop, Bishop, or Hegouman, he
shall be dismissed from his (ecclesiastical) office."
A document of Chelnik Radich specifies that the
monastery shall distribute at least twelve portions of
food at the church doors every day.
The Archangel document of Emperor Stephan
Doushan specifies the hospital duties, decreeing:
"Each monastery shall have a hospital with at least
twelve beds, and whoever is ill shall be taken into the
hospital, except the blind and the lame" — for whom
provision was made elsewhere as to food and cloth-
ing — Article 28.
Chelnik Radich's document says: "The food for
the ill in the hospital shall be furnished by the kitchens
of the monastery."
Article 175 (Code Doushan) fixing conditions of
hospitality to travellers, says: "No woman can be
received at a monastery except the Queen or the
Empress."
The document of Chelnik Radich, specifies the
duties of monasteries in regard to hospitality to
travellers.
The privileges which the monastic order enjoyed
in view of all these duties and obligations were also
THE CLERGY AND THE CHURCH 235
fixed by public law. The monastic domains were
exempt from all "small or great" "robot" (corvee or
personal labour) toward the State or the protector
of the church (domain). The tenants on the church
lands were free from military duties and many of the
"Metokhias" (church domains) were by special
royal or imperial grant freed from the "sotje" tax.
In later years in the fifteenth century, under press-
ure of the Turkish invasion, many of the exemp-
tions referring to military service, payment of taxes,
and certain "robots" were revoked as the nation
then called on every resource of defence.
The general conditions attending the church hold-
ing varied somewhat according to the origin of the
domainal foundations, and were influenced by the
nature of the property before it became church land,
causing three classifications.
There was, first, the great or State or Patriarchal
"Church" (estates), comprising all monastic and
church lands attached to the Sees of the Patriarchs,
Archbishops, and Bishops. The second class was the
Royal or Imperial "Church," including monasteries
and churches founded by the Rulers and forming the
greatest number. This class came entirely under the
ordinance of public law for monastic and church
property. The third kind was the "Bashtina
Church," depending on the special charter given to
the church by the Lord of the bashtina who founded
it, and remaining an integral part of that bashtina.
These charters were framed within the limits of the
public law, which in the main governed all classes of
church holdings.
236 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
All church or monastic foundations or any
other public utility — drinking-fountains, etc. — were
and are still called in Servian "Zaduzhbina" (in
duty's weal).
Although it was customary, especially with the
Nemanya Rulers and the great nobles of that time,
to found monasteries and churches (Zaduzhbinas),
those church foundations could never attain the same
extent of power in the State as that possessed by
those of the Roman Catholic Church in Western
Europe, the reason being that the Serb Churches
were, without exception, founded for direct purposes
of public utility, and the obligations and conditions
contained in the charter formed part of the public
law, which gave to the people the right to exact ful-
filment of those duties. 1
8. SEBAR OR COMMONER
Taken in a general sense, all of the non-noble
inhabitants came under the broad classification of
"Sebar, plural Sebri, or as a class Sebrdyia." In
the revised edition of the Code Doushan, 1346,
Article 152, the population is considered under three
classifications: Vlastela, Sredni Lyudi (middle folks),
and Sebrdyia. What Sredni Lyudi meant cannot be
determined by the documents or other articles of the
code, as not one of them mentions it again. It has
been thought that the term may indicate an attempt
to create, out of the lower part of the lesser nobility
1 Even to-day the Servian wayfarer finds hospitality at a monastery as
a matter of ancient custom and law.
SEBAR OR COMMONER 237
and that part of the commoners most conspicuous
through distinguished attainment or superior fortune,
a gentry or a middle class. If such were the case the
attempt evidently came to naught.
The Sebri as a class, comprising the whole non-
noble population, had in the fourteenth century no
participation in State affairs, and did not sit in the
great national assembly (Sabor) ; either they had
been excluded from the Great Sabor or they had not
yet attained that measure of their national rights.
Article 69 says distinctly that the Sebri are forbidden
to sit in the Sabor.
Two Croatian documents of 1527 complain of a
certain great lord who attempts to force poor no-
blemen to become Sebars, that is, to deprive them
of their national political rights. (Koukoulyevitch,
"Acta Croat," pp. 225, 231.)
The Sebar, however, had voice in the local
administration through representation in the as-
semblies of the Zhupa and of his own Grad
or Selo.
The Sebar in his personal and individual status
was recognised and protected from violence and op-
pression, or the suppression of his personal rights,
by the powerful classes (nobility) possessing superi-
or political privileges.
The Sebar and nobleman alike, in all litigations
civil or criminal, could be judged only by the royal
or imperial courts of justice.
In regard to crimes against public order directly
specified, all men, whether nobleman or Sebar or
others, were equal before the law, and the punishment
238 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
meted out was the same to all alike, These crimes
were specified in Articles 21, 93, 95, 96, 107, 118, 130,
140, 144, etc. For instance, Article 21 says: "Who-
ever sells a Christian (man, woman, or child), his
hand shall be cut off and his nose slit." Article 95
says: "Whoever kills a bishop or priest or monk shall
be hanged, and whoever insults such a one shall pay
one hundred perpers." Article 96 says: "Whoever
is a parricide, a matricide, a fratricide, or an infan-
ticide shall be burned at the stake." Article 130
says: "Whoever destroys a church in war or in peace
time shall be hanged."
In regard to a number of other crimes considered
to be less against the general public order, and bear-
ing more particularly on the individual, the kind and
degree of punishment varied according to the social
status of the culprit and the injured party. Article
94 refers to manslaughter committed in a Zhupa or
a Grad by a nobleman against a Sebar, fixing the
penalty at the payment of a thousand perpers. If
the same crime were committed by a Sebar against a
nobleman, the Sebar paid three hundred perpers and
had one hand chopped off. Article 53 decrees that
should a nobleman violate a gentlewoman or any
other, both of his hands should be chopped off and
his nose slit. If a Sebar should violate a noblewoman
he was to be hanged. If he violate one of his own
class or any other, not a gentlewoman, his hands
were to be chopped off and his nose slit. Article 155
provides that should a Vlastelin insult a Sebar he
pay one hundred perpers; should a Sebar insult a
Vlastelin he pay one hundred perpers and receive
SEBAR OR COMMONER 239
several lashes. Article 85 declares if any one utters
in public a "baboonska retch" (babboon word), i. e.,
words of immoral, shameless, or godless teaching, if
the offender be a vlastelin he shall pay one hundred
perpers fine ; and if a Sebar he is to pay twelve per-
pers and receive the lash.
The Sebars were the inhabitants of either a grad
(town) or of a selo (rural community).
Gradjani. — The Sebar inhabitants of towns were
called Gradjani, but did not form any closed
or separate class or cast. They had special
duties toward their Grad (see page 206, under
Grad). The Gradjani in their property rights
differed in no way from the Sebars of the rural
communities.
The Gradjani (townsmen) are spoken of as
Sebars, in a document of King Miloutin to the
Monastery of Hilendar, 1309 (Spomenik, III, p. 14),
also in a patent given by the Nun Eugenia (the
Tsaritza Militza, widow of Tsar Lazar Hrebe-
lianovich) and her two sons, Prince Stephan and
Vouk Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich, 1395, to the Rus-
sian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. (Glasnik,
XXIV.)
Zemlyani. — No difference at all existed in the
social status between the townsmen and the rural
inhabitants. As the townsmen were called Gradjani,
so the countrymen were called "Zhuplyani" — men
of the Zhupa— or "Zemlyani"— men of the soil.
Called Zemlyani in a document of King Stephan
the "first-crowned" and in Article 174 of the Code
Doushan, "Lyudi Zemalski or Lyudi Zemlyani."
240 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Among the Zemlyani the agriculturalists were called
"Serbs" and the stock-breeders were termed in gen-
eral "Flacks." 1
The Sebar's property was safeguarded to him by
the same laws which protects! the property of the
nobility. The Sebar possessed bashtina bearing in
principle the same privileges and character as the
bashtina of the nobles, with the sole difference thai
the Sebar's bashtina was often in sonic degree de-
pendent upon the bashtina of the Dobleman. li" the
Sebar added to his bashtina by lands, mills, or other
property which he bought, that properly was called
"Kouplyanitza 1 ' (bought).
Article 45 says, if a Vlastelin or other man (i. e.
Sebar) possesses a bashtina church! monastery I , neither
the Emperor nor the Patriarch nor any other of the
clergy (bishop is meant) shall have the righi to
bring it under the Great Church. But the Bash-
tinik (Vlastelin or Sebar owning the church) has the
right to put a monk there.
The Archangel document says: "... And My
Imperial Majesty gave to the Archangel Monastery
. . . Orland Micovitch, with his bashtina, his vine-
yards, mills, and tenants, and all he had in the Grad
Prisren, with his bashtina-village of Seltchani . . ."
(i. e. y the taxes, dues, and servitudes from his
properties) .
1 This term arose from the fact that in ancient times when the Serbs
came into the Balkan lands in the migrations they found certain groups
of cattle-breeders who were called Vlachs. Vlach is thought to be a form
of the name "Welsh." In time, when these Vlachs had become entirely
assimilated with the Serbs, the Serb stock-raisers still continued to be
called generically Vlachs.
SEBAR OR COMMONER 241
A deed of exchange between the Emperor Doushan
and a Sebar named Mladen Vladoyevitch, states:
". . . The Emperor took with their free will and
consent, and not by force, from Mladen Vladoye-
vitch, his mother and his relatives, their Church of
Saint Saviour at Prisren, with all belonging to it, vil-
lages, tenants, acres, vineyards, and 'rights' which
they had in the Grad of Prisren or in the Zhupa — or
elsewhere, and gave to them in exchange, in the Grad
of Ochrida church for church, village for village, vine-
yard for vineyard, mill for mill, and all that the St.
Andrea Church had prior to then; . . . all that shall
be the bashtina of Mladen and his mother. ..."
(Glasnik, XV, p. 270.
The situation of the Sebars, Gradjani (towns-
men or Zemlyani (rural Sebars) varied according to
the privileges of their landed property, or the duties
which the land possessed by them owed to its su-
perior lord, and which, therefore, were incumbent on
the tenant or inferior landlord.
The two main orders of Sebars were the "Slobodni
Lyudi" "independent men. men possessing bash-
tina unencumbered by servitudes except toward the
State"' including rich Sebars with tenants, and those
who had no tenants] : and the order of Sebars called
"Merops" or "Kmets" in the Code Doushan, who
themselves were merely tenant-, or whose bashtinas
bore, in addition to the servitudes toward the State,
other servitudes toward a domain.
242 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
"Slobodnyi Lyudi"
The "Slobodnyi Lyudi" ("independent people")
formed a considerable proportion of the population.
They were all commoners or Sebars, who possessed
free bashtinas, bearing the same privileges and
duties as those of the nobles — that is, paying the
"sotje-tax" and military service, and all other obli-
gations exacted by the State from the bashtina of the
Vlastela. It has been surmised that "Sredni Lyudi"
(middle folks) was another term for "Slobodni
Lyudi," but there is no documentary indication to
that effect.
These rights were extended also to the Parish
Priest, and to a widow with children.
The Parish Priest. — The parish priest enjoyed the
privileges of the Slobodni Lyudi.
Article 11 of the Code Doushan ordains that the
bishops shall appoint a priest, called Popa, to every
parish, Grad, or rural community. There was usually
one priest to every twenty or thirty " Koutchas."
The popa so appointed could not desert his parish.
Unlike the monks living in the monasteries, bound to
absolute poverty, the parish priest, whose duties lay
among the people, had family rights and duties, and
the use of "three pieces of land" fixed by law, called
"Zhdrebyie," which was the source of his income.
This land was free of all dues and robot-duty except
to the State. Whatever extension of land the popa
might add to his three pieces came under the ordinary
law of tenant's land and could claim no exemption.
SEBAR OR COMMONER 243
If a popa brought with him to the priesthood
inherited land property (bashtina) it also enjoyed
the same immunity as did the usual church land,
but he had no right to ask for or receive the "three
pieces of land" allotted to the popa having no
bashtina.
The son of a priest having only his "Zhdrebyie"
could inherit from his father if he "learned the
Book" and followed his father as priest; other-
wise he could not inherit the "Zhdrebyie," but
became a "Merop," that is, an ordinary member
of the rural community with the usual rights and
obligations.
Article 31 says: "A priest who is a bashtinik shall
keep his bashtina and it shall be free. The priest
who has no bashtina shall receive three pieces
of arable land . . . and it shall be free. ... If
that priest takes more land he shall perform robot-
work due from the extra land taken as fixed by
law. . . ."
Article 65 provides that "the priest who has not
his own 'stas' [Greek for bashtina] shall receive
three pieces of arable land and shall not be able to
leave the parish, . . . but if the over-lord of the
parish refuses to give him the three pieces of land
he shall make complaint to his bishop, who shall
bring the matter before the Vlastelin or over-lord,
asking him to give the land as the law requires. If
the Vlastelin or over-lord refuse, the priest is free
to leave the parish. If the priest owns a bashtina
the over-lord cannot send him away from that
parish."
244 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
King Stephan Detchanski, in the Detchani docu-
ment, says: "If the son of a priest 'learns the Book'
[becomes a priest] he may remain with his lather on
the Zhdrebyie [i.e., he may inherit it]. If he does
not 'learn the Book' he shall become a Merop. ..."
A popa was often attached to a monastery— Living
outside of its precincts — to look after its temporal
business affairs, a kind of intendant.
The parish priests were exempt from certain taxes
paid by laymen. Article 37 says that the parish
priests "are exempt from church taxes, which they
shall collect from other bashtiniks" —[to hand it over
to the Bishops]. A document of King Stephan, "The
First Crowned," to the Monastery of Zhitcha, 1222,
says: "... The taxes that come in from the Popas
[priests], the Vlacs, or the Serbi, called the 'ecelesia-
lical Bir,' shall be given to this monastery. . . ."
A document of King Stephan Detchanski says:
"... The Vrhovina [tax] which prior to now the
popas have paid to the Bishop of Hvostno, they shall
hereafter pay to the monastery of Detchani, . . .
because my Royal Majesty has bought this Vrhovina
from the Bishop of Hvostno . . . for four hundred
sheep and their lambs, and five hundred perpers. . . .
Therefore the popas and the other people [on those
lands] shall not be any longer within the authority
of the Bishop or Archbishop, and shall not pay them
the Vrhovina or other dues as they have heretofore
done. . . ."
The Vrhovina and Bir were different names for the
same tax, which was two dinars for each "bed" or
married couple.
SEBAR OR COMMONER 245
The Widow, "the poor Spinner.'''' — Article 64 says:
"The poor Spinner [meaning a widow with children]
shall be exempt from robot-work and all other taxes
and dues from which the priest is exempt."
The Mir ops or Kmcts
The great mass of the Servian population was
formed of those holding land either as tenants of a
domain or whose bashtina was encumbered with
servitude toward a domain. They gave to the
domain a certain measure of manual labour fixed by
law. That labour was used by the over-lord to
work his private estate.
They went for justice before the royal or the im-
perial courts of justice only, the over-lord having no
jurisdiction or any other rights whatever over them.
They included: (1) The "maistors," that is, the
handicraftsmen, master masons, master smith-
wrights, wheel-wrights, saddlers, armourers, etc.
I Sokalniks Sheriff's men, court ushers, messen-
gers, etc., and probably men who gave armed ser-
vice to the over-lord as his retainers. (3) The
simple agriculturalist, called Meropah or Merop in
the (Ode Doushan. These same people were called
in south-east Servia, "Parikes" (a term of Byzan-
tine origin); in northern or north-western or western
Servia, Kmet.
A document of Ivan Tsrnoyevich, Prince of
Zeta (Montenegro) in 1485, mentions an exchange
between him and a nobleman named Ratko Osto-
yich ''with his brothers, cousins, nephews." "In
246 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
exchange I gave to them, with their consent, field for
field, . . . grapevine for grapevine, . . . tree for tree,
as bashtina for all time, . . . and all that was the
estate of the House Ostoyich shall be monastic
'Stoupovi' [estate], all that was Kmetshtina [land
held by the Kmets of the domain of the Ostoyich]
shall be the Kmetshtina of the Church and the
Kmets on it shall perform robot-work for the Church
estate." ("Monumenta Serbica.")
The Kmetshtina or land held by the merops, and
which was not merop-bashtina, was divided among
them in equal parts. See Article 67.
Legal Characteristics of the Merop Tenure. — Legal
measures were enacted to prevent those land con-
tracts, which were for life, from being broken, either
by the merop abandoning his land to pass to some
other domain, or by the over-lord enticing tenants
from another domain to his own, or by an over-
lord driving away merops in order to seize their
land. Article 22 of the Code Doushan says: " Merops
who have abandoned their lands to go and settle on
church lands shall return to their original domain."
Article 201: "If a merop abandons his tenure, the
over-lord of his domain, upon finding him, can have
him punished and exact a bond for good behaviour,
but he cannot seize any of that merop's property."
Article 32 says: "If administrators of church vil-
lages and lands drive away tenants of those lands,
merops or vlachs, . . . they [the administrators] shall
be bound and imprisoned, lose the lands and people
they had in administration, and shall remain in
prison until they shall have brought back all those
SEBAR OR COMMONER 247
whom they drove away." Article 93 says: "Who-
ever entices or takes away a tenant from another do-
main shall replace him sevenfold." In the same
sense are the Articles 115, 140, 141, and 164.
In spite of these restrictions aimed at preventing
violation of tenure by either party, the full liberty of
action of the tenant otherwise was protected. Article
121 says : " No Vlastelin, greater or lesser, nor any one
else, shall prevent his tenants or any other person,
merchant or other, from attending the market-places.
All persons shall be free to come and go as they will."
Article 122 says that whoever violates this law shall
pay a fine of three hundred perpers or ten horses.
A document of King Stephan Doushan to the Re-
public of Ragusa says: "If any person interfere
[harmfully] with the business dealings of a Ragusan
and a zemlyanin who is selling grain or other prod-
ucts to the Ragusan, he will incur My anger and
pay a fine of five hundred perpers."
The "Saint Stephan" document of King Miloutin
says: "No abbot shall force a tenant on church lands
to work for any other persons, but every tenant of
church lands is free to perform whatever work he will
for others, but only in addition to the obligatory work
on his own land to which he shall return."
A document of 1391 between Ragusa and the
brothers Sankovich (Zhupan Belyiak and Voyvoda
Radich) is a mutual agreement stipulating that their
people should be free to interchange allegiances and
freely migrate from one territory to the other. 1
1 A privilege almost unknown elsewhere in Europe up to the beginning
of the nineteenth century.
248 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Foreign emigrants were accepted as tenants, unless
excluded by treaties with foreign States. (Articles
117, etc.)
The guarantees of personal liberty, protection of
'life and property, the safeguard of all individual
rights, as well as the fixing of responsibility, secured
by the organisation and efficient administration of jus-
tice and public order in Servia, created conditions of
great prosperity and content among all classes of the
population. To such an extent was this true that
there occurred important emigrations into Servia
from neighbouring countries.
The biographer of the Emperor Doushan, Gregori-
ous Zamblack, says: "In Servia there was so great
a prosperity that many people from afar left volun-
tarily their native lands and settled in Servia." (See
Glasnik, XI, p. 67.)
This historian's statement is confirmed by other
documentary evidence, first among which are the
land grants to emigrants recording their names and
their native countries. These show emigrants from
Italy, Germany, the hereditary Austrian lands,
Hungary, Transylvania, Byzance, and Asia Minor.
Bashtina Rights of Merops. — The merops or
kmets have the same right as other Sebars (com-
moners) or a nobleman to possess bashtina (freehold
property inheritable) , except that the merop or kmet
bashtina bears a servitude toward the domain and
its over-lord, which was the obligation to furnish
(for the whole bashtina, however large the family
might be) one man's work for a certain number of
days fixed by law per year.
SEBAR OR COMMONER 249
The merop or kmet had full right to dispose of
his bashtina. Article 174 says: "The Zemlyani-Mer-
ops who possess their own bashtina land, vineyards,
and 'Kouplenitze' ['bought in addition'] shall be free
to bestow that property in dowry, to place it under
monastic domain, or to sell it, on condition that there
shall be always a work-hand to perform the robot-
work for the over-lord." A document of the Em-
peror Doushan to the Archbishop Jacob of Seres says :
"The pariks shall not pay tithes on behalf of their
bashtinas, 1 but if they work church land in addition
they must pay tithes of one-tenth to the church on
the produce of those lands." (GlamiJc, XXIV.) A
document of King Stephan Detchanski to the Arch-
bishop of Prisren refers to "Saint Simeon's Church
domain with all its people and their vineyards, mills,
'na-mestyias' [farms], bashtinas, and kouplenitze. . . ."
(Glasnik, XIX.)
The laws of inheritance in regard to the bashtinas
of the zemlyani resembled those concerning the bash-
tinas of the nobles. Males only inherited, or, in de-
fault of male heirs, the women inherited only the
Selishtye (farm building), the garden, and the best
piece of land. The Saint Stephan document, 1313, by
King Miloutin, says: "The poor Spinner [the widow]
who has a minor son shall remain in possession of
the whole bashtina until he grows up, but if she has
no son she shall keep only the buildings, the garden,
and the best piece of land."
1 Under Byzance the inhabitants of Seres paid tithes on their property
to the over-lord. This document shows that on Seres becoming Servian
these tithes were abolished.
250 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The father could bestow his bashtina or part of it
upon his daughter either as dowry or gift, or he could
give it to others during his life; but dying intestate,
it followed these regular laws of inheritance.
In case the " zemlyani-merop " had no bashtina, or
their holding was too small, it was customary for the
Domain to allot to them whatever lands they needed
as bashtina. This was a policy intended to keep the
tenant on the territory. The Archangel document
says: "... My Imperial Majesty settled the master
masons, . . . with all their brothers and children, . . .
and gave them the lands in the village Youtoglavi . . .
arable land, meadows, mills, vineyards, . . . and all
of this shall be the bashtina belonging to them
and their children. ..." (Glas?iik, XV.) The same
Archangel document continues: "And the Hegoumen
[Abbot] of the Archangel Monastery told to my Im-
perial Majesty . . . that it [the Monastery] possesses
in the village of Senyani a large vineyard, but not
enough people to cultivate it by robot- work. . . .
He also said that those people possess very little land
of their own. . . . Therefore My Imperial Majesty
ordered that those people shall divide among them-
selves all the land which the Church holds in those
villages and they shall own it as bashtina."
Zemlyani could also acquire bashtina in other
ways, such as by the clearing of forests which gave
title to the land. A document of King Miloutin to
the Hilendar Monastery, 1318, says: "Where the
folk of the Archbishop shall clear land within this
forest and make of it fields or meadows it shall be
theirs in bashtina." These rights were abused, and
SEBAR OR COMMONER 251
so there was brought into usage a principle taken
from the Justinian Code, that a man must get
permission from the owner of the forest to clear the
forest land, and that those lands could only be held
by him for three years — after which they reverted to
the owner.
Article 123 says: "In all places where the Saxons '
have cleared land prior to this Sabor [Legislative
Assembly, 1349], they shall retain those lands in pos-
session. However, if they have taken land without
the right to do so from a noble or any one else, he
shall bring suit against them according to the laws
of the Holy King Miloutin, but henceforth the Saxons
shall no more cut down woods. If they clear they
shall not plant the soil nor settle on it, but leave it
uncultivated so that the forest can grow anew. No
one shall forbid the Saxon to cut wood, but he shall
cut only what is necessary for the mine or the market."
Obligations of the Zemlyanin- Merop Toward the
Domain. — Every merop had certain duties to per-
form toward the domain from which were exempt
the Priest and the "poor Spinner," meaning a widow
with children.
In regard to the rest of the zemlyani the reciprocal
rights and duties between the over-lord and them-
selves were clearly defined by law. Article 68 de-
fines exactly the dues, robot-dues, and duties of the
merop (zemlyanin) toward the over-lord, conclud-
ing with the words: "Nothing shall be taken or
1 The Saxons here mentioned were the descendants of those German
miners who emigrated to Servia in the time of King Vladislav, 1224-37,
an event which marked the beginning of the development of the mining
industry in Servia.
252 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
exacted from the merop which is not prescribed by
the law." If the domain exacts beyond what the
law allowed, or in any way oppressed the tenant, the
tenant had the right to cite the over-lord to appear
before the royal or imperial courts and receive justice.
The article dealing with this point makes it clear
that there is to be no respect of persons in the applica-
tion of this law, to which any person of any rank
whatever, even the Ruler himself, is amenable. This
Article 139 establishing clearly the right of the merop
to sue for justice in the law courts irrespective of the
rank or position of the offender, is in full keeping
with the modern spirit of justice. This law had been
in practice among the Serbs as early as the twelfth
century, when the population of Western Europe
were sunk in the misery of the Dark Ages, and it was
incorporated in the great Servian Codification so far
back as 1349, when Western Europe was still unable
to show any similar conception of equality before the
law — which, indeed, began only slowly to dawn there
in the seventeenth century.
Article 139 says: "To the merop in the realm of
My Imperial Majesty the over-lords [public officials,
etc.] shall do nothing against the law and nothing
exact that is not fixed by the law. The merop shall
only do robot-work and give to their over-lords that
which My Imperial Majesty has inscribed in the law.
If their over-lords should do anything to them con-
trary to the law My Imperial Majesty orders that
every merop shall be of the will and free to take legal
proceedings against his over-lord [so offending].
Should that lord be even My Imperial Majesty or the
1 .
.
I? 1
^f ■•
■ «
1 rf? .*
SEBAR OR COMMONER 253
Empress, or the Church or the Vlastela of My Im-
perial Majesty [State officials], or whosoever else — no
one shall be able to keep him away from the law
courts, and the judge shall judge his case as it is ac-
cording to the law. If before the courts the merop
wins against his over-lord the judge shall have care to
see that the over-lord shall pay in time to the merop
[what the court awards, without delay]. The judge
shall also look to it that the over-lord takes no re-
venge against that merop."
Church Tenants. — All of the zemlyani living on
the Church domains, except during periods of
national defence against the Turks, were exempt
from all imperial robot-work or tax. Article 26 says :
"All churches within my Empire are free from all
robot great and small."
The list of these exemptions are: (1) Military
service; (2) Building corvee or robot on fortifica-
tions, Grads, or other State buildings (Article 128);
(3) Guarding of the Grad ; (4) Furnishing relays for
transport service, called "provoz" (Article 34), except
when the Sovereign himself travels; (5) Feeding and
caring for the horses and dogs and their grooms,
except when the Sovereign himself stays at the
Monastery [document of King Vladislav, 1224,
to the Monastery of the Mother of God]; (6)
Huntsman's service; (7) Convoy or guard of hon-
our to foreign Ambassadors; (8) The Imperial tax
of "Sotje," dimnitza, grazing licence, mast licence
[for hogs].
All of these exemptions from duties to which all
other classes of zemlyani were subject were conceded
254 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
to the church domains directly by the State, and the
church tenants incidentally benefited thereby.
These exemptions existed up to the middle of the
fourteenth century, but it must be borne in mind
that the monasteries were not, for all that, free of
obligations toward the State or public. In return
for each one of these exemptions a public duty
of another kind was imposed upon the monastery.
(See page 233.) With the Turkish invasion many
of those exemptions were repealed, and in those
times, the end of the fourteenth and the fifteenth
centuries, the monasteries participated in the Turk-
tax [tribute], military service, building of fortifi-
cations, etc. (Document of Vouk Brankovich, 1392;
Document of George Brankovich, 1419; Docu-
ment of Despot Stephan Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich,
1411.)
The servitudes of the zemlyani or tenants of the
church lands toward those domains varied accord-
ing to the statutes or deeds founding the churches and
bestowing them with land. Documentary evidence
for the measure of robot-work given by the zemlyani
to the church can be found in many documents or
deeds of that period, but the most explicit on that
subject in the Saint Stephan Document of King
Miloutin, 1313.
The measure of robot -work of the zemlyani
toward the church were of three kinds :
(1) The first kind was based on work alone. To
each house of the zemlyani was given a fixed extent
of land of the church estate (Stoupovi) to be worked ;
the extent of this land surface was from seven and a
SEBAR OR COMMONER 255
half to nine mats, 1 which land surface they were
bound to cultivate, plough, sow, etc., delivering the
harvest to the monastery. It was the monastery
which decided what crop was to be sown, whether of
wheat, oats, barley, etc. This measure of work was
exacted from the agriculturalist. The handicrafts-
men and the sokalniks, in view of their other duties,
had only to do a third of this work measure.
In the case of single families, where there was only
one man (yedinatzi), the law prescribed that several
of them should form a work community, which com-
munity would represent the robot-unity; and it was
the duty of the Hegoumen (Abbot) to organise these
communities so that, as the law says, "the duties
should not fall heavier upon the yedinatz than upon
a household living in Zadruga."
A curious ordinance, showing that the spirit of the
time turned more to the agricultural exploitation of
the soil than to the development of industry or handi-
craft, provides that among the sons of handicraftsmen,
only one could take up the trade of his father, as
"master handicraftsman," the others becoming either
sokalniks or merops. Similar in aim was the regula-
tion concerning the sons of priests. Besides the till-
ing of the soil of the stipulated surface measure, other
robots or dues, fixed either by time or by the amount
of work, were incumbent on the zemlyani living on a
church domain. Those were the mowing of grass
land, working of the remaining arable soil of the
1 One mat was identical with the Italian measure, the modius, which is
equal to 1992.5 square yards; or one mat is equal to two-fifths of an
acre. Seven and a half to nine mats make from three to three and three-
fifth acres.
256 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
church estate, vineyards, etc. This servitude was
incumbent on all and everybody (zamanizom, i. e.
altogether). The other robots or services were of a
negligible quantity, and covered this or the other of
the monastery's needs, such as hunter's service,
building, transport, etc. Some services were espe-
cially required from merops, some from sokalniks,
others from maistors. There were also dues "in
kind," which fell on one or the other of the zemlyani
either regularly, like the "bee-tithe," or extraordina-
rily, as on the occasion of the visit of the Ruler to the
monastery.
(2) The characteristic of the second manner of
allotting the work (robot) was to measure it exclu-
sively by time. This method of fixing the servitude
incumbent on the inhabitants of a church domain
was in general use in a later period, the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries. The Archangel document of
Emperor Stephan Doushan, fixing the servitude, says:
"Two days in the week, 'nad dimicom' [a workman
per house or family], they shall perform the robot
apportioned to them by the Hegoumen, . . . make hay,
and work in the vineyard, ... as the law says." The
Hilendar document of the same Emperor prescribes:
"Two days' robot in the week, two days' in the
autumn, one day ploughing in the spring, one day
haymaking and one day working in the vineyard."
These ordinances meant that each house was to
furnish to the monastery, one worker for two days in
the week, at the disposal of the Hegoumen (Abbot).
There was also certain work of the season to be per-
formed by everybody (zamanizom) : haymaking,
SEBAR OR COMMONER 257
autumn and spring ploughing, vineyard work, etc.,
fixed at two days in the year. In fixing the work
duties by time, no difference is made between a
merop, a sokalnik, or a handicraftsman. There exist
some ordinances concerning individual merops or
handicraftsmen which mitigate for these individuals
the robot-work, making it different, or fixing money
payment in its place. But as always these exceptions
confirm the general rule. The other dues incumbent
on the zemlyani, the furnishing of lambskins, flax,
wine, bee-tithes, etc., were of a negligible quantity in
comparison with robot-service.
(3) The third plan of measuring and fixing the
servitude of tenants on the church domains was in
contrast with the two foregoing methods, as it was in
principle the payment of rent in money or in kind,
but not in work. This was specially the case with
those monasteries whose domains were very small,
comprising almost solely the church estates. In
such a case the monastery, instead of working the
church lands by means of the labour due to the do-
main by the inhabitants, settled them with farmers
who were simply renters. The monastery was no
longer the over-lord but the landlord. This rent
was in general one-tenth of all farm produce.
There were also monasteries which owned more land
than could be worked with the labour dues controlled
by them, and those lands were let out to others. Many
are the ordinances which forbade the letting of such
land, but where it was allowed by the Sovereign with
the consent of the Sabor, the rent was fixed either at
one-third or one-fourth of the harvest revenue.
258 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
There is evidence of the existence of many church
domains where all three methods of fixing the dues
and servitudes were in use.
The Conditions of Robot and Dues of the Zemlyani
Living on Domains Belonging to the State, the Sover-
eign, or Private Individuals. — The conditions of ser-
vice and the amount of dues were similar to those
required from tenants of church domains.
According to the Code Doushan, each house of a
zemlyanin (merop) had to give the labour of one
man during two days each week in cultivation of
the domain. Each of those tenants was also obliged
to work (all working together) one day in the year at
haymaking and one day at vineyard culture. Article
68 says: "The merop [one man per house] shall work
two days each week for the Pronyiar and shall pay
the Imperial Perper. 1 Further, he shall work one day
at haymaking and one day in the vineyard, and that
working altogether [zamanizom]. If the Pronyiar has
no vineyard he can apply this one day's [vineyard]
labour to any other use. What a merop has ploughed
or hoed he shall also reap, but in addition to what
is fixed by the law nothing shall be exacted from
him." Article 139 and other articles of the Code
Doushan also strictly forbade the over-lord to levy any
further labour dues than the amount fixed by the law.
In addition to these labour dues which the zem-
lyanin gave to their domain, they owed to the State
certain duties, viz.: (1) The Sotje tax or Imperial
Perper, which tax was collected by the over-lord and
delivered by him to the imperial treasury. (2) Mili-
1 Perper or the Sotje tax, payable either in kind or money. (Article 198.)
SEBAR OR COMMONER 259
tary service — incumbent upon every bashtinik noble
or commoner. (3) In connection with the military
service was the quartering of the imperial troops and
the army transport service. However, Article 135
restricts and regulates this service, providing that in
a village district where troops have camped in passing
through the land, no others may stop during the
season. (4) To lodge and give hospitality and tran-
sport service to the imperial convoy (Article 60).
(5) To feed and shelter the imperial herds, horses,
dogs, and falcons in transit, and give hospitality to
their grooms. These duties were limited, and the
villages were protected by legal restrictions. Article
187 says: "If the imperial horses or herds pause at a
village, the grooms and herdsmen shall bear an im-
perial letter" (showing their right to receive hos-
pitality). Article 189 says: "The villagers shall give
to the grooms, herdsmen, etc., only what is mentioned
in the imperial letter and nothing further." Article
38 is in the same sense. (6) The zemlyani also gave
to the State manual labour for the building of forti-
fications, fortresses, castles, and other public con-
structions (Articles 127, 128). (7) They also fur-
nished service as guards of public roads and fortresses
in their own districts (Articles 157, 158). (8) Finally
they had to give hospitality and act as guard of
honour through their own districts to foreign am-
bassadors and to certain especially mentioned State
dignitaries — the State banner-bearer, the chancellor,
etc. (Article 57) ; but the stay of these travellers in a
village or district was limited to the time of one night
and two meals (Article 110). Articles 155, 156 for-
260 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
bade any other Vlastelin (nobleman or State official)
to accept "Priselitza" (hospitality) in any village with-
out paying for what he received, unless it be a village
in his own domain. Article 159 allowed the travel-
lino- merchant or tradesman to ask of the village one
night's lodging and food — without payment.
In addition to these duties the zemlyani paid a tax
to the ecclesiastical authorities, called either the "dim-
nica," " Vrhovina," or "Bir." To the State they paid
certain occasional surcharges of taxes — "podanci"
and "nameei"; further, to the Zhupa, the Zhupa tax,
called "Priplata." What all those taxes exactly
amounted to cannot be determined from the docu-
ments extant, but they do not appear to have been
heavy or the cause of complaint. The zemlyani paid
fees for grazing or mast-licences, " travina " or " zhiro-
vina," for cattle and hogs on lands outside of the
village domain. At a later period during the heavy
time of defence against the Turks in the fifteenth cen-
tury, two extra taxes were introduced, one the"uncha,"
for national defence, payable in two instalments, sum-
mer and winter, similar to the sotje, and the so-called
Turk-tax to meet the tribute exacted by the Sultans.
Both the Uncha and the Turk-tax were paid by every-
body, nobleman and commoner, church and laymen.
Vlachs
More or less different from the preceding picture is
the condition of the vlachs (cattle-raisers). This
term vlachs in this period does not merely designate
the descendants of the ancient Thako-Ulyrians but
SEBAR OR COMMONER 2G1
was applied also to those Servians who were not
agriculturalists but were stock-raisers.
The different circumstances growing out of the
development of property rights first in the valleys —
which were settled with agriculturalists — then ex-
tending over the high alpine grazing lands, modified
by degrees the free and wide roaming of the vlachs,
whose sole rule had been to follow their cattle wher-
ever they might lead, seldom returning to the start-
ing-point. These roaming habits became in time
regulated and limited so that they centred about
settlements. There was the winter settlement, or
"zimishtye"; and the summer settlement, or "le-
tishtye" (Article 197), was the summer grazing range.
The permanent settlement of the vlachs, the
"Katoun," was in the earlier times simply the scat-
tered herdsmen's huts in the hills, without any delimi-
tation of a Katoun district. In the later period the
Katoun was like any other village.
A curious phase of the roaming habits of the
vlachs was that from ancient times they were the
public carriers for commerce and trade throughout
the Balkan Peninsula. The nomadic character of
the vlachs caused them to be insensible of the prop-
erty rights or results of labour of the other inhabi-
tants of the lands they traversed, and destructive of
property and of social organisation. They were not
looked upon with favour, and their passage across
the lands became more and more marked by quarrels
and law-suits.
A letter from the Government of Ragusa to the
King of Bosnia, 1406, states that certain vlachs, at
262 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the request of the King, had been permitted to winter
on Ragusan territory, and complains that those
vlachs have shown themselves to be quarrelsome,
bad people, having no regard for others, and that they
had wrought great damage to the neighbourhood;
that they had also killed a man, and that henceforth
the Republic of Ragusa would refuse to give permis-
sion for the vlachs to winter within their territory.
As early as the time of Stephan Nemanya, in 1198,
the Servian rulers attempted to subject the vlachs
to some regulation, and to fix them in settlements.
As a rule they were not taken into the army except to
do transport service. It was forbidden by law for a
Servian (agriculturalist) to marry a vlach woman.
If such a marriage occurred, the woman had to leave
the vlachs and settle in her husband's village. He
was not allowed to join the cattle-breeders, and as a
penalty he lost his right, for him and his children, to
bear arms in the defence of his country. He was
classed with the transport men.
Among other protective measures, the law forbade
the vlachs to pass during the same year where other
vlachs had passed before them, or to follow after an
imperial or State convoy, etc. (Articles 82, 187, 135.)
Article 82 adds: "If vlachs violate the law, the oldest
among them, their leader, shall be bound and de-
livered to the headman of the village and held until
they have paid all damage done sevenfold ; also they
shall pay the 'Potka.'" 1
1 Potka was the fine for trespassing. It was one hundred perpers for
vlachs and fifty perpers for agriculturalists. Half of the fine went to the
State and half to the Domain. (Article 77.)
SEBAR OR COMMONER 263
The vlachs were judged in the imperial courts for all
crimes: bloodshed, vendetta ("djak"), murder, vio-
lence, kidnapping, robbery, theft, and land disputes.
In regard to petty offences among themselves, they
came before the Katoun Elders and the Katoun court
of popular judges, called Men of Conscience.
Labour and Other Dues of Vlachs. — The chief ex-
tant documents relating to this subject are the Hilen-
dar document of Stephan Nemanye, 1198; the Hil-
endar document of King Miloutin, 1293; the Saint
Stephan document of the same king; the letters patent
granted by King Stephan Doushan to the monastery
of Hretovo, 1337; and the Code Doushan.
If vlachs were attached to a domain, either church
or other, they gave labour dues toward the stock-
raising of the domain, sometimes receiving payment,
when the stock belonged entirely to the estate, in coin
or in kind, called "mesetchina"; or they took charge
of herds on shares. In such cases they were exempt
from all other work and dues. The vlachs who pos-
sessed their own herds gave robot-dues — transport
service, haymaking, or even ploughing; or in lieu of
work they gave the domain yearly one ewe and lamb
with one fleece, or a horse or other animal; in leap
years an extra horse or other animal, or thirty perpers.
There were separate grazing laws fixing the licences
for the winter and summer ranging. (Articles 81 and
197 ; and further, the Detchanski document, 1330, and
the St. Nicholas document of King Vladislav, 1234.)
These licences were : from each herd of three hundred
sheep, two sheep, two lambs, one cheese, and one
heavy dinar; of each one hundred mares, one mare;
264 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
of each one hundred head of cattle, one animal. In
small herds one sheep and lamb were paid out of
every hundred. The licence for ranging hogs over
oak-mast were in like proportions.
9. OTROKS
The class of otroks, few in number and not wide-
spread, was the lowest in the social order, yet they
were never slaves. Their situation was easier than
that of the "serf" in Western Europe. They had
family rights and property rights; they were judged
for crimes by the Imperial or Royal Courts of justice,
though they did not have the right of personal appeal
to the Emperor (Article 72) enjoyed by all other
classes of the Servian social organisation.
What the otrok really was — whether a man under
ransom, a fugitive criminal, or a debtor — cannot be
determined, but whatever his origin, he was not a
slave or bondsman, and his position was superior to
that class to which the term "serf" was applied in
Western Europe.
Article 44 says: "The Otrok shall be bashtina to
the domain to which they belong, but an Otrok shall
never be given away in dowry or sold."
His rights are indicated in a deed of exchange of
1419. Prince Alexa Petrovitch exchanges his " Grad "
Biyela, in Bosnia, with the Bosnian Voyvod Sandaly
for a village of thirty houses. This deed fixes as
terms that "Alexa shall upon the surrendering of the
Castle vacate it with all his family, all his movable
goods, and all those of his Otroks who choose to
OTROKS 265
follow him" ("Servian Monuments in the Ragusan
Archives," by Prince Medo Putchich.) Another
document of King Stephan Doushan, 1336, refers to
the otroks "who voluntarily become part of a Church
domain." The document enumerates those otroks
by name showing among them "a master smith."
The Hilendar document of King Miloutin, 1300,
proves that the otrock enjoyed complete family
rights: "... Desislav and his son-in-law Rad,
Berislav, his son-in-law Dragiya, and his second son-
in-law Tudor. . . . Stanko, his brother-in-law [shura
— brother of the wife] Dobre, . . . Radin and his
brother-in-law [pashenog — husband of the wife's
sister] Dragiya, . . ." etc.
Article 46 says: "... And the Otroks, which
some Bashtiniks have, shall be in bashtina; . . .
only those Otroks whom the Bashtinik or his wife or
his son can 'forgive' [oprostiti] shall be free."
What is it that the Vlastelin has to forgive, or to
what did this "forgive" [oprostiti] apply? The
answer is perhaps indicated in a letter written by the
Council of Ragusa, in 1408, to Princess Mara (La-
zarovich) and her son George Brankovich. The
Ragusan Republic sends as prisoner with this letter
a Ragusan citizen named Frank Vassilyevich, who is
a debtor [criminal ?] toward Mara and her son
George, and who had not been able to wipe out his
wrong or his debt. The letter states that this is the
second time this man had been sent, owing to the
fact that Mara and her son George had previously
held him once and let him go, but that "now they
shall have him again and do with him, . . . your
266 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
debtor, . . . what you will." (" Servian Monuments,
Putchich.) The Servian word for "transgressor" or
"debtor" is the same, which appears to strengthen
the indications that an otrok was a debtor either
morally or materially who was paying his debt by
personal service. A phrase of the Code Doushan
says that if a man suffers wrong from a "bad" otrok
he shall not claim damages from the otrok's master,
but shall take redress from the otrok himself.
Not only were the over-lord's rights to dispose of the
otrok limited, but equally restricted were his powers
of jurisdiction over him. Yet the otrok was the only
class whatever over whom the lord of the domain held
judicial authority of even the smallest nature. Article
103 says: "... The Otroks shall be able to enter
suit concerning their mutual affairs before their lord,
but in regard to all other offences, such as murder,
manslaughter, vendetta, robbery, theft, kidnapping,
etc., they shall be judged only by the Imperial Courts."
Article 67 provides that the merops and otroks
shall divide among themselves the land of a village
domain according to the proportion in which they
pay their robot and other dues to the domain. This
and other articles, as well as other documents, show
that the otroks were able to possess property.
Anti-Slavery
The Servian ideas and usages concerning slavery
and slave-trade merit more than passing mention.
The Byzantine Emperor, Mavrikios (d. 602), says
that the Serbs did not put their prisoners of war into
OTROKS 267
slavery as all other nations did, but held them only
a certain time subject to ransom; or if there was no
ransom, the prisoner was allowed to remain with
them, "free and friendly." (Jirecek, "History of
the Bulgarians.")
The institution of slavery as then practised all over
the rest of Europe and in Byzance was wholly un-
known in Servia. There is no document to show
any trace of slavery, or that there ever existed in
mediaeval Servia any class of human beings treated
as chattels to be bought and sold. Article 21 of
the Code Doushan says: "Whoever sells a Christian
shall lose his hand and have his nose slit. . . ."
A letter of the Zhupan Tchernomar, 1253, to the
Republic of Ragusa complains that the Ragusans
have kidnapped (stolen) people away from his lands
and "sold them on the other side of the sea."
(" Monumenta Serbica.") A treaty of ]2.Y. y > between
King Stephan Ourosh and Ragusa says that the
Council of Ragusa admits that there are persons in
Ragusa whom the Ragusans had kidnapped, but that
these people were not yet sold, and that they under-
take to free them and return them to the King.
In 1320, 1325, and 1340 strong representations
were made by the Servian kings against slave-trade.
The original documents of complaint have not yet
been discovered, but there are extant the Ragusan
ordinances citing these representations. These or-
dinances forbid under heavy penalties the accepting,
the concealing, the selling, or the transportation to a
slave-market of Servian men or women as slaves.
In the ordinance of 1325 the same prohibition in
268 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
regard to Servians is strictly enjoined upon all foreign
traders who come and go in Ragusa.
In 1400 the King of Bosnia, Stephan Ostoya, com-
plains to Ragusa of the existence of slave-trade. The
answer of Ragusa reads : " . . . Be it known to thy Maj-
esty that we have sent orders to all market places and
published that no persons shall buy or sell human be-
ings. We will not allow that any one shall trade in hu-
man flesh. ... If any person is found acting contrary
to this order we will so punish him that no beholder
[or those who see it] shall ever dare to do the same."
There is a letter written in 1419 from Ragusa to
Prince Paul Youriyevich which reads: "... And
what you [Prince Paul] write us about those who have
sold human beings, it is, dear friend, already known
to the whole world that we have taken much pains,
have written much, have ordered much, and have
made known, in so far as our power goes, that human
beings shall not any more be bought or sold. . . ."
With the coming of the Turkish invasion, slave-
trade, which was a normal condition of the Ottoman
social and political organisation, and which, indeed,
was then practised in most regions of the world, was in-
troduced for the first time into Serb lands, and under
the Turkish domination flourished as a legitimate form
of commerce.
10. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
From the twelfth century to the middle of the
fifteenth century the judicial system in the Ser-
vian State, as it existed under the Servian Empire,
before that under the Kingdom, and even at a far
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 269
earlier period, was one of the noblest monuments of
Servian civilisation and, indeed, of all Christian
civilisation of that day. It was King Miloutin, in
1290, who, basing himself on the old usages and
customs, first firmly formulated the administration
of justice in Servia.
Before his time justice was administered locally in
the counties or Zhupas by a popularly elected court
of judges (kind of jury) and by the Sovereign in
person. King Miloutin organised a body of judges
learned in the law, which formed part of the regular
State administration. They became the Royal and,
later on, the Imperial Judges. Each judicial dis-
trict had a bench of "learned" judges appointed by
the Sovereign.
Early in the thirteenth century the principle of
circuit courts and travelling judges were Servian
institutions.
Article 179 says: "The judges shall travel through
their districts [circuits] and look into the affairs of
the poor and oppressed and right their wrongs then
and there," being invested with powers of public
prosecutors.
Article 180 says: "Judges while travelling are not
allowed to exact or take by force anything, either
food or any other thing. They can accept only what
is voluntarily offered them." (They received incomes
from the State as pronyars.)
The Courts were: (1) The Royal, later Imperial
Courts, comprising the Circuit or District Courts,
the presiding Judges of which were appointed by the
Sovereign (Article 179), and the Courts of the Grads
270 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
or Town Courts, over which presided the Kephalia.
(2) the Village or Rural Courts composed of judges
locally elected. (3) Commercial Courts, of which
the presiding judges were State officials connected
with the Treasury Department. They were the
"Tzariniks," who were intrusted also with the col-
lection of the inland and customs revenues. (4) the
Ecclesiastical Courts.
In all cases civil or criminal, decision was reached
by means of a jury, an institution existing from
earliest ages in the administration of Servian Justice.
The Royal, later Imperial Courts, judged all
matters, civil or criminal; every citizen of the State
had the right to ask justice of those courts or of the
Sovereign himself. (Article 72.)
Equality Before the Law and Rights of the Indi-
vidual
The Sovereign himself (the Emperor), according
to the Code Doushan, could be cited before the
courts by the meanest of his subjects for an offence
which would bring any other individual there.
Article 139 says: "The Vlastelin shall not do any-
thing contrary to the law against a Merop in the
lands of My Imperial Majesty. The Merop shall
only 'robot' and give to their over-lord what My
Imperial Majesty has prescribed in the law. If their
over-lord shall, contrary to the law, do them any
wrong, so My Imperial Majesty orders : each Merop
shall be ' of the will ' and free to sue his over-lord in
the law courts, should that over-lord be My Impe-
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 271
rial Majesty, or the Empress, or the Church, or
the Vlastele of My Imperial Majesty [Government
officials], or any one else. No person shall have the
power to keep him away from the courts, and the
judges shall judge his case on its merits according to
the law, and if before the court the Merop win his
case against his over-lord the imperial judge shall
take care to see to it that the over-lord pays to the
Merop and in time what the judgment awards. The
judge shall also see to it that the over-lord does not
take any revenge against the Merop."
Article 172 says: "All judges shall judge according
to the law as it is written and prescribed in the
'Zakonik' [Code Doushan] and not in fear before
My Imperial Majesty."
Article 171 : "In case My Imperial Majesty should
give to any person a 'writing' in anger or in friend-
ship or in grace, which is contrary to the law and not
according to justice or the legal ordinances, the judge
shall pay no heed to that writing and shall judge
regularly and according to law and shall see to it
that his judgment is executed."
Article 72 edicts that every member of the popula-
tion except the otrok had the right to ask the Sov-
ereign personally to sit in judgment on his case.
This popular privilege, however, led to such extraor-
dinary abuse that it was limited by the legislative
assembly of 1354 in Articles 181 and 182, which
latter decreed that "No person living within a
court circuit shall call his adversary or cause him to
be called before the Emperor for judgment. Further
he shall not have the right to bring his adversary
272 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
before a court out of his own district, but he shall
sue for judgment in the courts within his own dis-
trict." (See also Article 175.)
So long as an individual had not been personally
served with a writ to appear, the Court could not pro-
nounce judgment against him or her. (Article 104.)
"If a case concerns a poor widow who is not
in a position to complain or to go before the court
to defend herself, she shall nominate a substitute
who shall speak for her in the case." (Articles 66
and 73.)
Article 184 forbids imprisonment without a writ
of judgment or a written order of the judge. It says :
"None of the Vlastele [here referring to adminis-
trators] or Kephalia having the administration of
Grads and market-places shall imprison a man with-
out an imperial writ or an order of the judge. Should
any man do so without this express writ, he shall pay
a fine of five hundred perpers."
Article 185 is to the same effect, but applies to the
administrators of State-prisons.
These imperial writs were securely prevented from
ever assuming the character of the "lettres de cachet"
of the French kings at the time of the French Revolu-
tion by the general observation of many safeguards
to the people's rights provided by the Servian law —
notably in Articles 139, 171, etc., setting the Sover-
eign, before justice, on an equality with the humblest
of his subjects.
Articles 112 and 113 give the right of asylum and
protection to any unjustly persecuted person at either
the Emperor's court or that of the Patriarch.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 273
Procedure
The order of court procedure was: The complaint
or accusation ; issue of the writ or citation before the
court; service of the writ on the defending party;
appearance of the complainant and defendant before
the court; statement of the complaint and defence;
argument of the complaint or prosecution ; argument
of the defence; judgment and execution of the judg-
ment. The proofs accepted in both criminal and
civil cases were: The testimony of witnesses, written
proof, such as letters, documents, etc., and the appli-
cation of an oath to the accused or the contestants. 1
The procedure and conduct of the cases before the
courts were verbal, but the verdicts and judgments
rendered were written. The litigants were not al-
lowed to become personal or abusive to each other
in the presence of the court, but were bound to main-
tain correct attitude and behaviour. They were not
allowed to change the complaint during the course
of the trial.
All judgments were as a rule definitive. Only
cases which one of the judges desired to take for a
higher opinion were "appealed" and taken before
the Sovereign.
Article 181 provides that should the suit concern
a difficult matter, "and should the judges find theni-
1 The superstitious means of ascertaining guilt called the "judgment
of God," trial by ordeal, water, fire, etc., then in general use all over
Europe, was permitted in Servia, though it was no part of the regular
procedure, and was not much employed. The person so condemned had
the right by law to appeal to the Sovereign for clemency.
274 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
selves unable to come to a decision in pure justice,
. . . one of the judges shall come with both litigants
before My Imperial Majesty."
Article 163 says: "All judgments rendered by the
courts must be written in books kept for that pur-
pose. The persons in whose favour the judgment is
pronounced shall receive from the court a written
copy of that judgment." (See also Article 181 to the
same effect.)
Article 89 says: "If a man causes another one to be
brought before the court under an accusation and
himself fails to be present in court when the accused
comes up for trial, the accused after having waited
during the time fixed by law shall, if his accuser does
not appear in court, be considered free from the
accusation" (i. e. the case against him is dismissed).
Article 148 says: "If a judge appointed by My Im-
perial Majesty shall give an order concerning a robber
or a thief, or any prosecution or law-suit, all who fail
to obey the judge's writ, whether a Church authority
or a Vlastelin or any other human being within my
Empire, shall be punished as disobedient and dis-
loyal to My Imperial Majesty" (i. e. y punished by
confiscation of property).
Article 111 says that if any Vlastelin insults a
judge when serving in his official capacity, or show
contempt for a judgment rendered, all his property
shall be confiscated; should a village so offend, it
shall be dispersed.
Each judge was assisted in the execution of the
judgment rendered and in all other proceedings of
the court by the "Pristav," or sheriff, and his men,
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 275
called " Sokalniks, " who served the writs and did
police duties. This Pristav was invested with the
right to act as public prosecutor; he could also act
as the defender of an accused person.
Money fines were collected by an officer called
"Globar," "Globa" being the fine itself.
The authority exercised by the Pristavs and Sokal-
niks in the fulfilment of their duties is shown in
Article 107: "If any person resists a Pristav or the
Sokalnik of a judge (in the execution of his duties)
his property shall be liable to confiscation."
Article 178 says: "Should persons resist the exe-
cution of a judge's order placed in the hands of his
Pristav or Sokalnik or send them away, the judges
shall commission the Khephalias or Vlastele [ad-
ministrators] of those districts to execute the orders
of the court. Should those administrators [Govern-
ment Officials] in turn refuse to execute the judge's
order, they shall also be punished in the same way as
the other disobedient persons" {i. e., by confiscation
of property).
The Pristavs, who must be "good, just, and vera-
cious" men (Article 163), in serving a writ may not
deliver it to the wife, if the husband is not at home.
Neither is it permitted to cite the wife before the
court without her husband. The wife shall inform
her husband that he is called to appear before the
court, but so long as he remains in ignorance of that
fact he cannot be considered guilty." (Article 104.)
Article 162 provides that the Pristavs shall not act
except in strict accordance with the written order
put in their hands by the judge. "Therefore the
276 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
judges shall always retain a copy of the orders or
writs given by them to their Pristavs or Sokalniks.
Should those officers of the court be accused of exe-
cuting otherwise than was ordered in the writ, or of
altering the terms of the writ, they shall justify them-
selves before the court, and should it be proven that
they have executed the court's order in exact accord-
ance with the writ — of which the judge has a true
copy, they shall be declared innocent, but if it be
proven that they did fail to execute the judge's order
in strict accordance with its terms, or that they altered
those terms, they shall as punishment have both
hands cut off and their tongues cut out."
The Constitution of Juries
The Constitutiofi of Juries (Code Doushan, Articles
76, 80, 151, 152, 153).— The most ancient judicial in-
stitution among the Serbs was the jury. From
times of earliest records every man had to be judged,
whether in civil or criminal cases, by his peers. This
is clearly formulated in the Code Doushan (Article
152): "As in the time of my grandfather, the holy
King Miloutin, the Vlastelin shall be judged only
by Vlastelins, the Commoner by Commoners," re-
ferring to the composition of the jury.
Documents show that a nobleman was judged by
nobles, a commoner by commoners, a commercial
man by commercial men, a handicraftsman by handi-
craftsmen, agriculturalists or merops by men of their
own condition ; and even the otrok had a right to be
judged by a jury of otroks. In mixed cases, vlas-
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 277
telin and commoner, etc., the jury was composed half
of noblemen and the other half of commoners, etc.
The Servian jurymen were especially elected for
each case. They were sworn to give justly and truly
the result of their opinion, being entitled to say only
"guilty" or "not guilty." The Code Doushan, re-
ferring to the jury, says, Article 151 : "From this time
forth the jury, to judge in both important cases and
those of less importance, shall be composed of twenty-
four jurors for the great suits, twelve for lesser ones,
and for small affairs six jurymen. The juryman
must not be a relative of either party to the suit,
neither shall he be in friendship or at enmity with
either. The juror shall only pronounce 'guilty' or
'not guilty' [or in civil cases who is right and who is
wrong]." A majority decided.
Article 80 refers to land actions. In case of a
boundary dispute between villages, for example, each
of the two villages furnished one-half of the jury and
•the court was held on the site of the ground in dispute.
According to the procedure a fixed number of wit-
nesses were cited, chosen generally from among the
oldest inhabitants. These witnesses, like the jurors,
were put under the "terrible" oath. (Article 151.)
The Detchanski document referring to a certain
boundary litigation says: "There were present the
Judge Bogdan, the jury, the witnesses, and the
'Zbor' of the villages."
The jury was sworn in by the priest under what
was called the "terrible oath," and they deliberated
within the Church. (Article 151.)
There were juries of three natures:
278 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
(1) The oldest form, the "Porota," was made up
of popular judges chosen from among the inhabi-
tants for the occasion. They were sworn in to listen
to the case. They not only gave judgment, but from
among their number named certain members to see
that the judgment was executed.
(2) The type most resembling the modern jury
was called either "Porota" (Porotnik) or "Dou-
shevni Lyudi" (Doushnik). They found a verdict,
and it was the duty of the royal or imperial judges
who presided to pronounce sentence and enforce the
execution of the judgment.
(3) The third sort of jury was the "Dobri Lyudi"
or "men of good conscience" who were not sworn in,
but who acted as arbitrators and mediators in small
litigations.
Ecclesiastical Courts
The questions which were judged by the ecclesias-
tical courts were those bearing directly on morality
and the sacraments, such as marriage, divorce, adul-
tery, blasphemy, etc. The judge presiding over
these courts was called the "Archiyereyin." (Articles
2 and 12.) No layman was qualified to sit in judg-
ment on such matters.
Marriage was a sacrament and was legalised by
the church only. The church alone, and that in
rare cases, could pronounce divorce (a usage which
still obtains in the Servia of to-day). The Code
Doushan says: "If a husband repudiates his wife,
he must pay penalty: if a Vlastelin, a penalty of six
oxen; if he be a lesser noble, two horses; and if a
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 279
commoner, two oxen. If a wife abandons her hus-
band the penalties are the same, but if she cannot pay
these fines her punishment may be commuted into
strokes with the lash. The husband has the right
forcibly to take her back. In case the husband has
abandoned his wife he is forced to return to her; if
he has meantime cohabited with another woman he
shall be forced to abandon that woman and return
to his wife. A heavy punishment of lashes was
visited on the woman who abandoned her husband
for another man. Parents were forbidden to en-
courage a daughter to abandon the husband's home.
DO ...
Every subject had the right to sue for justice in
the imperial courts of justice — district or circuit
courts or others. One article, however, of the Code
Doushan appears to be at variance with these rights,
and in it certain students have detected the presence
of "feudal" justice in Old Servia. That article is
somewhat obscure in terms. It is Article 33, which
says: "The church people shall bring their law-
suits before their archbishop, bishop, or igouman.
If both parties belong to the same church, they shall
stand for justice before the head of that church, but
if they belong to two different churches, the heads of
both churches shall sit in judgment."
Only three papers among a large mass of docu-
ments indicate that Article 33 might refer to church
tenants. Those documents are: (1) Prince Con-
standin to the Church of the Ascension at Shtip, 1388,
and (2) Tsar Lazar Hrebelianovich, 1387, to the
Russian Church of St. Panteleymon on Mount Athos.
The third document is the confirmation of the last by
280 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the widow of Tsar Lazar, Militza (then a nun under
the name of Eugenia). It is signed by her and her
two sons Stephan and Vouk, 1395. (Olasnik,
XXIV, pp. 271-287.)
All other documents, such as those of Emperor
Doushan, 1347, to the Monastery of Lyeshnovo
(Glamik, XXVII); of King Miloutin, 1322, to the
Monastery of Gratchanitza ("Monuments Serbica" ;
the Detchanski document, 1330 (Glamik, XII I; a
document of King Doushan, 133G ("Mod. Serb."
a document of Despot Stephan Lazarovich-Hrebeiia-
novich, 1403, to Hilendar ("Mon. Serb."), with all
the others extant, are in complete accordance with the
spirit of free justice exemplified by the Servian Codex.
It is evident that, with some few exceptions, the
church tenants went for justice to the ordinary pub-
lic courts of justice.
Private Law
All matters relating to private law concerning
property rights, inheritance, bashtina, servitudes, etc.,
and the rights of the individual were clearly defined
in the Code Doushan, though most of them were
regulated by usage rather than by the written law.
Criminal and Penal Law
All crimes and penal offences came under the
direct jurisdiction of the Royal or Imperial Courts,
and no person of whatever rank was above the law.
The Code Doushan shows an advance in justice
as then administered over the rest of Europe in that
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 281
money fines did not make up the sole sort of punish-
ment applied. Long imprisonment pending heavy
ransom was not practised in Servia, although prisoners
of war were sometimes held for ransom during a cer-
tain lapse of time. They were generally well fed and
allowed to take the air. Such a captive says in the
ballad of "Ban Strahinya," "Red wine didst thou
give me and white bread, and oft brought me forth
to the sunshine."
The Servian modes of punishment as fixed by the
law included not only money fines, but imprisonment,
the lash, the death penalty, dismissal from office, and
dispersal of villages. The confiscation of property,
so common in Western Europe, 1 lay alone in the
power of the Sovereign in Servia, and was very re-
stricted by the laws to certain well-defined cases of
crime, such a- high treason, robbery, resistance to
cution of a judicial order, and the forgery of public
unents. [See Articles no. 111, 107, 138 of the
( . le Doushan.
[nsult, bodily injury, manslaughter, illegal percep-
tion, or extortion of taxes or customs dues, and
illegal imprisonment without judgment, were pun-
ished by money fin- impanied by corporal or
other severe punishment. A juryman for a preju-
diced "finding" in the exercise of his duties was pun-
ished by a fine of one thousand perpers, and was
liable as well, according to circumstances, to corporal
■These money fil the punishments usually inflicted by "Jus-
Hurope, and were in reality only means of
rtkrn, by tortui r to extract confessions that would entail the
■ r the opportunity to seize an individual's estate
or belong
282 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
punishment. The same punishment was meted out
to a judge for a like offence. In cases where a fine
was inflicted it could be transmuted, as at the pres-
ent day, into imprisonment.
A judge could commit the accused to prison await-
ing trial. If the prisoner, however, could find a per-
son or persons to give bond, and guarantee his attend-
ance at the court for trial and judgment, he could
ask and obtain liberation pending his trial.
The crime or offence was always the same in the
eyes of the law by whomsoever committed.
A differentiation was made in regard to the stand-
ard of punishment for certain crimes considered as
offences not so much against public order as against
the private individual as an individual. (Articles 53,
55, 85, etc.) For all crimes against public order,
such as murder, robbery, incendiarism, theft, etc.,
exactly the same punishment was inflicted upon the
highest noble as upon the individual lowest in the
social order. (Articles 21, 93, 95, 96, 107, 118, 130,
140, 144, etc.)
In regard to those offences, where a differentiation
of punishment existed as applied to persons of differ-
ent social orders, the disparity was exceedingly slight
in comparison with the justice meted out in Western
Europe at' the same period to persons of different
social ranks.
Servia never knew feudal justice in mediaeval
times or at any other period. Never in the Servian
State did the Lord of the Domain possess right of
justice over his tenants. The only member of the
population who received a kind of ''feudal justice,"
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 283
and that only in regard to petty fights, disputes, and
affairs with those of his own order, was the otroI\
(Article 103. ) But although he came before the
over-lord of the domain in these matters, even the
otrok, in regard to all serious offences and crimes,
such as murder, manslaughter, vendetta, robbery,
theft, kidnapping, etc., went for trial before the
public courts of justice.
The two greatesl crimes against society were con-
sidered by the Servian State to be robbery and the
abuse of power. Article 1 12 says: "If a Vlastelin,
whom My Imperial Majesty has given land and
Grad to administer, should plunder or oppress the
villages or the people or disobey the ordinances and
laws given by My Imperial Majesty at the Sabor,
his administrative territory shall be taken away
and the damages and depredations he has com-
mitted shall be paid by his house and he himself
shall be punished like a fugitive from justice."
Article ■'>' "It* a Vlastelin is on Priselitza
[hospitality rights], and on that occasion abuses this
right or does damages, or plunders, puts fire to
houses, etc such Vlastelin shall loose his
administrative territory, shall not any more be given
any administrative post, and shall be punished like
a fugiti\
It is supposed that the special stigma on "robbery"
was emphasised by the necessity of safe-guarding the
security of the public roads, as the great land route
between Western Europe and the Orient lay through
ia then as now.
Articles 145 and 173 deal with robbers and thieves.
284 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Article 145 says: "Throughout all the land . . .
there shall be no robber nor no thief; ... the village
where a robber or a thief is found shall be dispersed ;
... a robber shall be hanged and a thief blinded.
. . The over-lord of the village shall be brought
bound before the court ... he shall pay back all
that was robbed or stolen . . . and [in certain cases]
shall be punished in the same way as the robber or
the thief."
Article 173 says: "If a Vlastelin, be he Greek,
German, or Serb, bring in his train to the Imperial
Court a robber or a thief, he shall receive the
same punishment as that given to the robber or
the thief."
All evidence seems to indicate that the Rulers of
mediaeval Servia were successful in practically stamp-
ing out robbery, and securing an astonishing measure
of security to travellers, at a time when in the rest
of Europe highway robbery was a flourishing and
highly profitable profession.
Responsibility and Restitution
Another most interesting phase of Servian legisla-
tion was the principle of "responsibility." This
principle grew out of the ancient usages of common
life and the solidarity of interests in the house com-
munity, the Zadruga, the Grad, and the Servian vil-
lage. Another prominent principle in Servian legis-
lation was that of restitution. Recompense for all
damage was given the first place in justice, while
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 285
punishment by fine or otherwise was only a second-
ary consideration.
The Zhupa, the Grad, the village, the Zadruga or
house were each within its boundaries held respon-
sible for the acts there committed, and were obliged
to make full and complete restitution. Throughout
the entire territory of the State the Sovereign was held
personally responsible for public order. If merchant-
men (who were generally foreigners) were robbed or
suffered loss by theft within Servian territory, the
Servian law made the ruler liable personally to com-
pensate fully the merchants for their losses, with the
ri^ht held in reserve afterward to find and punish
the evil-doer, robber, or thief.
In Doushan's time these principles of responsi-
bility and restitution were transferred to the shoul-
ders of officials and administrators, locally, wherever
they might be stationed.
Article 100 related to incendiarism; Article 20 to
murder; Article 199 to the mutilation or malicious
killing of domestic animals by persons unknown;
Article 92 says: "If. a horse is stolen and its owner
finds it and recognises it as his property, he shall
deliver up the thief to the nearest village, which
shall keep him in custody to be handed over to the
judge for judgment. The village refusing to
fulfil this duty must pay a penalty and make good
any loss."
Articles 58, 77, 144, and 191 all bear upon the re-
sponsibilities of villages and individuals for crimes
committed within their precincts. Article 188 fixes
the responsibility of villages in reference to crimes
286 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
committed on neighbouring waste or unowned lands
outside of their own boundaries, which regions the
law exacted of them to police and keep in order no
less than their own territory, all the near villages
being made responsible.
Justice for Foreigners
All civil disputes or law-suits between Servians
and foreigners, and criminal cases between or in-
volving foreigners, were judged before the imperial
courts with the same procedure and privileges as if
all parties were Servians.
If the litigants were of the same nationality
they had a jury awarded them of their own nation,
or if litigants were of mixed nationality the jury
was of the two nationalities, half and half. The
Ragusans had special privileges allowing them to
be judged according to their own laws and before
their own consuls.
Was the judicial and executive organisation such
as to obtain the effective observance of the law and
principles laid down in Article 139 ? All documen-
tary evidence extant, according to historians and
special students of that period, shows the answer to
be in the affirmative. All evidence gives abundant
proof that the abilities of every subject of the State
to ask for justice in the public law courts, and to
obtain that justice against even the highest in the
land was so great that more could not be desired
even to-day.
THE ARMY 287
The whole measure of protection of the individual
and the rights of redress insured by the laws and their
effective execution in mediaeval Servia was in favour
of the common people and had special solicitude for
the humbler member of society— for those who in
other countries of the world were at that same epoch
known as "rightless persons."
11. THE ARMY
Concerning the organisation of the fighting forces,
the only data hitherto available — those found in the
(Ode Doushan and certain old documents — are not
sufficient to give complete information.
It is known that instead of the Clans-bands of
warriors of the earlier Servian period, the military
forces of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries became
formulated into more regular organisation.
From the time of Stephan Xemanya every man pos-
sessing a Bashtina or landed freehold property,
whether noble or commoner, came to the army.
To bear arms in the defence of the country was an
honour and a privilege.
Military service was obligatory for every able-
bodied man, the church tenants only being exempt
(their work being given to the monasteries who cared
for the poor and the suffering).
There were two kinds of levies: first, the ordinary
levy composed of the nobility, both great and small,
who came to the flag followed by their own men,
their special armed retainers, and at their own cost.
The second kind of levy was the "Zamanitchka
288 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Voyska" (all together) — all nobles with their re-
tainers and all commoners, that is, the whole male
population liable to service.
Only in times of grave national peril was the
Zamanitchka Voyska called. In all ordinary wars
or campaigns the Vlastela and other Bashtiniks with
their retainers made up the army.
A document of King Stephan of Bosnia, 1458, to
the Logothet Stepan Ratkovich, frees him from
military service — "unless myself goes to war, then he
shall come with his men; if a Zamanitchka Voyska is
called for, all his villages, as do all others in our Land,
shall join" (the levy).
Article 42 fixes that "each Bashtina shall pay the
Sotje tax and also provide military service."
The working of the Servian army organisation can
be seen in the Servian translations annexed to the
Zakonik of ancient Roman and Byzantine military
service laws and field service regulations. Those
adopted were especially the military laws of Con-
stantine the Great and Justinian.
One of these runs: "If war has begun . . . the
whole army, each Knez and Voyvoda and each
Vlastelin with his men shall join his Emperor, there
where he is; . . . that Vlastelin who does not so
come shall be deprived of all property which shall
(thereafter) belong to the Emperor."
Cavalry was the great arm of mediaeval Europe,
but the Servians, in addition to cavalry both light and
heavy, made important use of infantry. These foot-
soldiers were sebars recruited from the main mass of
the population. They were armed with the lance,
THE ARMY 289
a long-handled battle-axe, and bow and arrows and
later the crossbow.
Shepherds and other cattle-men ("Vlachs") were
not employed as fighters, but served in the army train,
called "komora," for transport and provisioning.
The Vlastela were the military leaders. The Sov-
ereign was supreme commander of all the military
forces. Should he not, however, take the field per-
sonally — all Servian rulers generally headed their
troops in person — he intrusted the supreme com-
mand to one of the chief leaders with title of "Veliki
Voyvoda" — High Military Chief. To him was dele-
gated during the campaign the Sovereign's authority
in regard to the control of all the forces.
Article 129 fixes the hierarchy of military command
in accordance with the civil position of the Vlastela
in the State. The Servian military organisation was,
however, at no time the same as that of feudal West-
ern Europe.
The Sovereign did not possess the power to decide
for war or peace. He exercised that authority in
conjunction with the National Assembly. As the
call to arms of both levies of the national troops de-
pended to so great an extent on the will of the Na-
tional Assembly, it was the custom of Servian rulers
to engage a permanent fighting force under their sole
order, a body of mercenaries. Documents show
that these mercenaries were heavy cavalry clad with
heavy armour. They included knights from Ger-
many, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain.
At the battle of Velbuzhd, on July 28, 1330, between
the Servians commanded by King Stephan Detchan-
290 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
ski and the Bulgarians, which made of Bulgaria a
Servian State from that day up to the Turkish con-
quest, the number of these mercenary knights formed
a body of one thousand five hundred. The papal
legate, who was sent from Rome to the court of
Doushan as a special ambassador, reported that he
saw three hundred of this foreign knightly company
under the command of a famous Germanic knight
named Palman Bracht.
At the battle of Kossovo, Vouk Brankovich, one
of the sons-in-law of Tsar Lazar, led a body of Hun-
garian and German mercenary horsemen. Accord-
ing to popular tradition, it was the falling back of
Vouk Brankovich's men that lost the day — and the
empire — to the Servians. 1
In regard to the whole organisation as well as
equipment of heavy field pieces for throwing projec-
tiles, the army followed Byzantine models.
The soldiers were equipped with either light or
heavy weapons and armour. The heavily armed
horsemen were called "Oklopnik." They wore a
closed and heavy helmet of steel, body-armour back
and front, with shoulders, arms, and legs shielded
with steel — the full suit of armour in Western style,
with steel gloves and gauntlets. Their steeds were
also armoured. Their weapons were a heavy mace
and the German broadsword and lance.
1 The story is often repeated in Bosnia that at the time of the Austro-
Hungarian occupation in 1878 an old Serb Moslem Bey named Branko-
vitch was taunted by a Hungarian officer of Hussars, who said: "It was
one of your name who ran away at Kossovo, and gave the country to the
Turks!" "Yes, yes, we know that alas," said the Bey, "but remember,
Major, the men under him were a contingent of Hungarian mercenaries."
THE ARMY 291
The light cavalry wore an open helmet with a band
down the front to protect only the nose, a "toya" — a
kind of breast-plate composed of heavy chain armour, 1
with arms and legs protected, and steel gauntlets. As
weapons they bore a curved sword, a light lance, and
a mace. Some bodies of light cavalry carried bows
and arrows; their horses were unarmoured.
The infantry wore light toyas and all arms carried
shields and helmet. The favourite arm of the Ser-
vians was the lance. 2
The first cannon used in Servia was a small one
brought to Kossovo field, as is supposed, by King
Tvrtko of Bosnia, to whom it had been given as a
present from Italians. Firearms came into general
use during the fifteenth century. Flags and standards
were used, and trumpets to call to the fight.
During that period it was the usage among all
feudal armies of Europe for the warriors to forage
for themselves during the campaigns, which were
generally of short duration or made up of short ex-
peditions. The same conditions prevailed in the
Servian lands. During the march through the coun-
try, however, the communities were by law bound
to provide certain quantities of food and lodging for
man and beast for which they were indemnified. In
1 The man on the white horse in the picture of the "Servian Exodus,"
wears the " Toya " armour and also the old Servian helmet. The coro-
nation of Doushan, the frontispiece, also shows the Servian mediaeval
armour and accoutrement.
2 After the arrival of the Servians of the Exodus in Southern Hungary,
their deeds of prowess with the lance attracted the attention of the Prus-
sian King, who enlisted a body of the Servian lancers in his service. He
formed with them the famous "Bosnian Corps" of lancers which, under
Frederick the Great, became the "Prussian Lancers." or "Uhlans."
292 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
garrison the warriors were quartered free, with fire
service and fodder for the beast. When the borders
were crossed into foreign countries a daily allowance
("diurnum") was made to each warrior for his keep.
Pillaging, looting, or any molesting of the in-
habitants within the country where troops were
quartered was stringently forbidden and severely
punished. But pillaging was allowed by permission
in the enemy's land.
12. RESOURCES, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRIES
Agriculture. — The riches of the country in the
Middle Ages, as to-day, lay chiefly in agricultural
products and stock-raising. B. von Kallay said:
"All the evidence shows that in agriculture and
stock-raising the Servians reached a very high point
of excellence.' , They raised especially wheat, barley,
oats, rye, and millet, a grain known to the Serbs, and
cultivated by them from remotest antiquity, and in-
troduced from Servia into Western Europe in the
second half of the thirteenth century.
The greatest extent of land under cultivation was
devoted to wheat. Legislation concerning agriculture
reveals the fact that there were habitually two crops,
and that they knew "spring and autumn sowing,"
also that all the Nemanya rulers took deep interest
in furthering and especially protecting agriculture and
agriculturalists. The land and the labour of the tiller
of the soil were objects of solicitude fully evidenced
by the laws safeguarding the crops from damage or
depredations, and allowing the owner to sue any
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 293
person of whatever degree in the courts of justice for
injury to his fields or for oppressive administration.
Besides wheat, barley, rye, and millet, flax and
hemp were much cultivated. Silkworm cultivation
was wide-spread, and the silks woven as a home indus-
try were renowned and sold all over Europe as
Oriental silks.
Grape culture and wine-making were of much im-
portance in Servia. The most famous of European
wines, the "flaming Tokay," came from vineyards
planted by the Servian Despot, George Brankovich,
with vines taken from Servia, and were owned by
the Servian Despots up to 1526. The Tokay from
those same old vineyards — considered the most pre-
cious wine in the world — is to-day the pride of the
Hungarian Crown properties.
The vlachs (stock-raisers) bred horses, cattle, hogs,
and sheep.
Forests. — The forests, essentially in character the
same as to-day though more thickly wooded, were
considered in general as State property. There were
immense and dense oak forests producing a heavy
and rich fall of acorns. The Code Doushan pro-
vides for "mast-licences." Where forests were part
of private property, the State still had a right to re-
ceive half of the revenue from the mast-licence.
Wood was much used in early times as building
material, and from the great forests of Zeta (Monte-
negro), Zahoumlyia (Herzegovina), and Rashka large
amounts of timber were exported for ship-building.
Fires were made of wood or charcoal; much wood
also went into the timbering of the mines.
294 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The legislative assembly of 1349 decreed laws pre-
serving the forests and providing for re-afforestation.
Hunting. — Much hunting of wild animals was
carried on for furs. Up to the beginning of the nine-
teenth century the Balkans were the centre of a
great fur-trade, Ochrida, a town of mediaeval Servia,
being the trading-point for furs, sable, ermine, fox,
bear, etc.
The nobility, or Vlastelin, hunted with dogs and
with falcons. Boar, bear, and deer were the chief
objects of the hunt. The commoners gave hunts-
man service to the domain, especially in the quest of
dangerous or mischievous animals such as wolves,
foxes, weasels, martens, etc. The hare — not the
rabbit, but the dark-fleshed game hare — was hunted
by all classes. The special duties of certain vassals
of the monasteries was hunting in order to provide
game for the tables.
The many laws scattered through Servian legisla-
tion protecting land under cultivation and crops, and
the principle of responsibility and restitution of
recompense for any damage to agricultural property,
make it appear unlikely that huntsmen were allowed
to pass across planted fields, as Serbia was never
feudal. There is no record referring directly
to hunts passing across growing fields — a privilege
deriving from feudal rights, and still existing to-day
in some countries of Western Europe where the
feudal regime still leaves many traces.
Mining. — The region of the Balkan Peninsula
enclosed within the great Serb-inhabited block of
territory was known even in antiquity for its rich
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 295
deposits of gold and silver, the revenues from which
financed the great wars of Philip of Macedonia and
Alexander the Great.
In the Middle Ages the proper development of
mining in Servia in the same regions began under
King Vladislav with the importation of Saxon
miners. The minerals extracted were gold, silver,
copper, lead, tin, and zinc. Travellers of the four-
teenth century report that in Servia there were five
gold mines and six silver mines being worked. The
mines and ores extracted from them were, under
Servian mediaeval law, the property of the State, but
it was usual for the State to lease the exploitation of
the mines to private individuals, who were generally
Ragusans, Venetians, Italians, or Saxons. The lease
was on terms of royalties or rental at fixed yearly
payments. The gold and silver mines of Novo
Brdo, as evidenced by documents, were worked in
the fifteenth century by Ragusans, who paid for them
to the Servian rulers two hundred thousand ducats
rental, or about four hundred and eighty thousand
dollars yearly.
The Servian gold and silver mines attracted large
numbers of Venetians and Italians, who flocked to the
mining Grads, which became also the centre of highly
skilled art-workers in metals who made for expor-
tation many objects of art in gold, silver, and bronze.
Commerce and Industry. — In addition to agricul-
tural pursuits and cattle-raising, the chief occupa-
tions of the Servian populations, commerce and the
mining industry, attained a certain importance be-
tween the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries.
296 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Commerce was principally in the hands of the Ser-
vians along the Adriatic littoral, foremost among
whom were the Ragusans. With them competed the
Venetians. Servians, too, of the interior engaged in
commerce to a lesser extent.
Servia's position astride the land routes between
Europe and the Orient gave her a large transit trade.
Indian merchandise passed through Servia.
The value of this commerce, chiefly in the hands
of Venetians and Ragusans, was fully recognised by
the Servian kings and legislature, and is indicated by
their many commercial treaties with Ragusa and
Venice, in the numerous privileges and advantages
accorded by Servian law to merchantmen and their
caravans, and in the responsibility assumed by the
Servian State and rulers for any loss or damage
suffered by the merchants en route or by their goods
in transit through the country.
The very considerable extension of commerce
throughout Servia was due chiefly to the enterprise
of the Ragusans, and to the wise dealings with them
on the part of the Servian State. The wisdom of the
Servian rulers in all that concerned the economic in-
terests of the country is seen in these measures, and
in the important privileges accorded to the Ragusans,
who, in return for these privileges and the perfect
security and protection which their commerce found
in those lands, paid yearly to the Servian treasury
five hundred golden ducats in addition to the import
or customs duties on their wares.
All merchandise had to pass into the country
through certain fixed posts or towns where the customs
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 297
houses were, and where the import dues were levied
by the Tzareniks.
Servia sent into Italy and Byzance gold and
silver bars, and golden and silver objects of art
and ornaments of highly perfected workmanship
wrought by Italian and Venetian as well as by
Servian goldsmiths. The art of filigree then brought
to high excellence has remained to the present
time one of the characteristic arts of Servian jewel-
makers.
Servian exports also included soft lead from
Bosnia and hard (mixed with antimony) from Se-
brenitza and Podrina; hides, live-stock, woods (es-
pecially for ship-building); smoked and dried beef,
hams, mutton (smoked), game, and other meats;
honey and beeswax; wines, grain, wheat, barley, and
rye; tanned leather, resin, pitch, charcoal, flax, hemp;
wool and silk (chiefly to Italian weavers of silken
fabrics and fine cloth makers).
The imports were: salt from Ragusa; arms
(cuirasses, swords, shields, and all other armour) for
knights and warriors from Italy, Spain, and Germany;
velvets, fine silken textures, and cloth of gold from
Italy and the Orient ; pearls and precious stones, and
gold and silver threads for embroideries from Con-
stantinople; church ornaments and vestment stuffs,
fine household furniture, chiefly Venetian, for the
nobles; and many articles of personal luxury and
dainties for the table. These table dainties were
called "djiakonia" (student's food).
" Trade-routes." — Merchandise was transported to
and from and through the country on pack-horses
298 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and in wagons, which developed a good-road system
in all directions.
The main roads were:
(1) From Salona (to-day, Spalatro), on the Adri-
atic, across Dalmatia and Bosnia to Syrmium (to-day
Mitrovitza, on the Save) and Belgrade.
(2) The "Via de Bosina," from Ragusa to Tre-
bigne, thence to Fotcha and Plevlye, passing by the
monastery of Mileshevo, to Sienitza, Trgovishtiye
(to-day Novi-Bazar), and thence to Voutchitrn, on
Kossovo plain.
(3) The road called sometimes "Via de Ragusa,"
from Ragusa through Trgovishtiye, following the
valley of the river Toplitza, crossing the foot-hills
of the Kopaonik mountains, passing Scoplyia (to-day
Uskub) to Nish, thence to Plovden (Philippopolis) ,
to Constantinople. It was a fifteen days' journey by
this road from Ragusa to Nish, and from there to
Constantinople another fortnight.
(4) The highway called "Via de Zenta," or Zeta,
starting from the mouth of the river Boyana, the port
of Skodra (Scutari, in Albania), along the valley of
the Drin to Prisren, thence to Lyplyian, on Kossovo
plain, on through Novo-Brdo to Vranyia and Nish.
(5) The road from Belgrade through the valley of
the Morava River, and from there across Vranyia
and Scoplyia (Uskub), following the valley of the
Vardar to Salonika. From Scoplyia, a branch of
this road leads over Kumanovo and Velbuzhd
(to-day, Kustendil) to Philippopolis and on to Con-
stantinople. Another branch from Nish along the
valley of the Nisheva River, through Sofia, Philip-
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 299
popolis, to Constantinople. This latter road from
Belgrade to Constantinople was the far-famed road
of the Crusaders, and was called the "Via Egnatia."
Money. — The moneys used in the older periods up
to the time of Stephan Nemanya were for the most
part Byzantine or Venetian coin. Under King
Vladislav in the early thirteenth century appeared
Servian-minted silver. Under King Miloutin, Ser-
vian gold and copper pieces were also minted.
The coins bear the image or the crest of the Sove-
reign, and the inscriptions are in Servian and in
Latin. The Latin was necessary from the nature of
the Servian commerce which was international.
Documents show that not only Servian money but
also foreign coin was in large circulation. These coins
were generally spoken of as Italian and Byzantine.
There existed no coin called "perper," but the
"perper" as a representative value was a counting
unit, equalling the price of one "kabal" of grain.
The monetary coin in silver was the "heavy dinar,"
and the copper coin was the small or "light dinar."
The weight unit for precious metals was the
"litra," a quantity of pure silver weighing about ten
and one-quarter ounces. According to the fluctua-
tions in the market value of pure silver, the value of
the "litra" in perper s varied from twelve perpers in
the thirteenth century to twenty-two perpers in the
middle of the fifteenth century. Under Doushan, in
13.50 the value of the litra was sixteen perpers. The
value of the perper was about $1.20.
In Venice, Ragusa, and other Adriatic coast towns
in Dalmatia and Italy it is seen in the commercial
300 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
transactions of the time that a litra was counted as
twenty perpers — and the Venetian gold piece, the
ducat, was counted as two perpers. The Servian
gold piece, the "Zlatnik" was also two perpers.
At a later period a Servian "big" silver piece,
called "Untcha," was coined equivalent to a perper.
Twelve "heavy dinars," or "Srebreniks" (silver),
represented a perper. The Srebrenik was divided
into two coins, "Polutniks" (from half — polo vina") ;
one polutnik was made into two "soldi" or "groshe."
The soldo was the smallest silver coin and was
broken into two copper pieces called little dinars or
paras.
The minting and coining of money was the privi-
lege solely of the ruler as representing the State. A
licence was sometimes delegated to a provincial gov-
ernor in whose districts gold or silver mining was car-
ried on. There existed no specific place known as
the mint, but the coins were turned out by gold and
silver smiths under Government appointment. It
was for that reason that it was a grave offence for
any gold or silver smith to be found in a village,
and was punishable by the dispersion of the village.
CHAPTER VII
THE SERVIANS UNDER TURKISH RULE
FROM ABOUT 1470 TO ABOUT 1800
IN the year 1413 the southern Servian provinces
were unable longer to hold out against the
Turks. Servia in 1459, Bosnia in 1463, and Herze-
govina in 1481 were all finaJly conquered and became
Turkish provinces.
The basis of Ottoman power was the sword
and the Ottoman State was and is an organised
theocracy.
The Mohammedan religion is not a religion in the
Christian sense involving principally the problems of
morality, spiritual growth, and immortality. Mo-
hammedanism is a state of society founded on a
collection of laws and legal principles dealing with
and ruling every event of individual and public life.
The vast community of believers in various countries
of the world basing their entire political, social, and
religious fabric on that collection of laws, and the
mystical, ethical, and philosophical tenets given by
Mahomet in the Koran, afterward developed by the
masters of the "Four schools" of Mohammedan
teaching, forms "Islam." 1
1 Hence the necessity in Turkey and all other Moslem countries for
every would-be reform or progressive act to be Islamized, which means
to prove its basis in Islam, failing which it is rejected by the true believer.
301
302 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
For that reason where Islam is master no other
civil status is recognised except in tolerance and in
subordination to Islam. There can be no assimila-
tion with people of other creeds or civilisation. The
perception of that fact was vividly set forth in the
arguments of that Sultan, in the seventeenth century,
who urged that as Moslem victor and Christian
vanquished could never make one people, Ottoman
domination could become secure only by the universal
slaughter of all Christians in conquered territories.
Up to our own time that conclusion has haunted
Stamboul like an evil dream.
The conquered Christian populations were dis-
armed and dispossessed of all property, and were
soon pressed into a condition of serfdom under Turk-
ish masters. They were called "giours" and in the
mass the "rayah," "the herd." Whoever renounced
his faith and became a Mohammedan was thereby
instantly naturalised into Islam, receiving the status
and all the life-chances of a born Osmanli. That
was the sole means in his power of escaping from
the subjected masses or of opening a door of oppor-
tunity.
The Servians in general refused to accept that
door of escape from durance vile, and remained true
to their Christian and national faith, even through
the long night of practical extinction, hoping for a
dawn though long deferred.
Many of the Servian nobles and numbers of the
common people fled to Serb lands under Venice or
those under Hungary. Certain ones among the
nobles and others became Moslems, thereby preserv-
TURKISH RULE, 1470 TO 1800 303
ing their lands and castles, and authority was given
to them under the Turks as Pashas, Beys, Agas, and
Spahis. They became ranged, in the eyes of the
general populations, on the side of the conquerors,
and were looked upon by the people as Turks.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the inhabitants
had not only been subject to Turkish attack, but had
been obliged as well to stand, ever beating back
Hungarian invasions, the greater part of the nobles,
mostly Bogomils, went over in a body to Mohamme-
danism.
Large numbers of Serbs, loyal to their faith and
home traditions, escaped to the mountain fastnesses
from which they were able to harass the Turks of
the plains and so maintain a relative independence.
The Servians of the Rayah lived under great op-
pression and humiliation, their only means of pro-
tection being through the Servian Patriarch so long
as one existed.
In case of acts of injustice or violence suffered at
the hands of individual Turks, there was no possible
redress. The Christians were forbidden the use of
horses or camels, only mules and asses being allowed
them. They were forbidden to ride even a mule or
an ass in the presence of a Turk. It was not per-
mitted that their houses should have a better appear-
ance than Turkish houses. For their faith they had
much to suffer. The clergy, few in number, were
kept in miserable conditions, and churches which
had been destroyed were not allowed to be rebuilt,
the building of new churches being strictly forbidden.
The sound of church bells was forbidden as was also
304 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the reading aloud of the Holy Scriptures or the pro-
nunciation of the name of Jesus Christ.
It was not lawful to make the sign of the cross, to
show a cross, or to eat pork in the sight of a Turk.
The Rayah were not allowed openly to bury
their dead; Christian burials took place at night
or in secret; mourning for the dead was strictly
prohibited either by costume or by symbol or in any
other way.
Church services were often held in some secluded
spot in forest or glen, sometimes under a chosen
tree marked with a cross; or ordinary houses
were built as if for a family, with a central hearth,
and sometimes with surrounding storehouse and
stable to avoid suspicion, and were consecrated
and used secretly as churches. Such houses still
exist in Macedonia.
1. THE ARMY OF CONQUEST
The Turkish army of conquest was composed of
two main bodies, Spahis and Janissaries. The
Spahis were the feudal cavalry. They were specially
created to be settled on the lands won. These two
branches of the army had been created by Ourkhan,
son of Osman, to be the most terrific weapon of
Turkish conquest. There existed also an irregular
army body called Akhindji, bands of horsemen giv-
ing military service in return for the right to plunder
and loot. They were the terror of all countries
through which they passed, burning and pillaging
along their road and carrying away the inhabitants
THE ARMY OF CONQUEST 305
to be sold as slaves. In modern times they are called
Bashi-bazouks.
As the countries were conquered the soil was appor-
tioned out to the Spahis — in large feudal estates called
Ziamet to the leaders, and in smaller ones called
Timars to other Spahis.
A body of nine hundred Spahis formed a Sandjak
or regiment under the command of an "Alayi bey."
By extension the word Sandjak designated the ad-
ministrative district which furnished the regiment.
The Janissaries were the main body of the Turk-
ish army, and were stationed in and around the
Sultan's headquarters. Unlike the Spahis, they
were not settled on the soil, but were paid a solde,
and were not allowed to hold or possess any landed
properties.
This invincible fighting force was formed of the
finest mettle in all lands under Turkish sway. Each
five or seven years a special commission was sent by
the Sultan throughout the empire to collect a human
tax called "devchurme." All Christian boys from
five to seven years of age found perfect of form and
build were forcibly severed from their parents and
brought to Constantinople, there to be trained up as
Moslem Turks and Janissaries.
As the chief part of the Christian populations of
Moslem dominions were Serbs, the Janissaries by
the end of the fifteenth century were, for the most
part, of Servian blood.
Parents, in order to keep their children back from
the "devchurme," often maimed or crippled them,
or branded them with a cross on the forehead so that
306 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
whatever befell, they themselves would know that
they had been carried away from Christian homes. 1
The Janissaries were trained and held under the
severest discipline, and separated as a military order
from ordinary life; they were not allowed to marry,
and were considered the slaves of the Sultan, by
whom they were clothed and fed.
Their insignia were the copper kettles 2 in which
the "Sultan's soup" was made. These kettles were
carried like standards before the Janissary troops.
The Janissaries were imbued with the sense of
haughty pride in their bold prowess and relentless
performance of their soldiers' duty, "striking steel
through heart and soul if need be." At the time of
their formation the Sheikh Bectashi, whose successors
are the Sheikhs of Konia, and invest the Sultan,
spoke 3 to the new troops and said: "You shall be
called Yeni Cheri; your faces shall always be white
and shining. You shall never leave a battle-field
except as victors!" In the course of time, at the end
of centuries, this flaming weapon became a sword of
double edge, and by strange fate cut the hands that
held it and was the means involved by destiny in
the freeing of the subjugated lands.
1 The greatest of all Turkish Grand Vizirs, Mehemet Sokolovich, and
six other Grand Vizirs were Serbs, all of whom as children had been car-
ried away as "devchurme" to Constantinople.
2 These kettles, each being covered with a skin, were also used as drums.
In time of complaint or discontent the kettles were turned upside down
as a signal of refusal to drink the " Sultan's soup."
3 In speaking, Sheikh Bectashi rested his hand upon the head of one of
the Janissaries and his white sleeve fell over the hair. From that time,
in remembrance of this incident, the Janissaries adopted as headgear a
white felt piece like a sleeve which formed a high cap for the skull and,
bending, drooped down behind.
TURKISH ADMINISTRATION 307
2. METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION
After the fall of Constantinople, in 1453, the
Sultan Mohammed II, 1451-81, was able to bring
the Serb lands one by one under his direct rule, and
at the moment of his death the Ottoman Empire
comprised thirty-six Sandjaks or Sandjak-beyliks,
which were territories settled by a Sandjak (regi-
ment) of Spahis, whose commanders or Beys were
also their administrators. A group of several Sand-
jaks formed a Beylerbeylik, under the command and
administration of their superior officer the Beylerbey.
The Spahi-luks, the Sandjak-beyliks, and the Bey-
lerbeyliks by the time of Sultan Suleyman, 1520-66,
had become hereditary, and were a powerful privi-
leged and dominating class, ruling as feudal lords
the Christian Rayah, who were in the position of
serfs.
It was only after the zenith of the Ottoman con-
quest was reached, with the victory over Hungary
and the Servian Despotat at the battle of Mohacs in
1526, that Suleyman the Magnificent and his Grand
Vizir, Mehemet Sokolovich, made laws regulating
the land tenures and fixing the rentals, taxes, and
other services of the Christian Rayah toward the
Spahis.
The Empire was reorganised by Mehemet Sokolo-
vich into two hundred and fifty-one Sandjaks and
into twenty-one provinces or Beylerbeyliks. The
governor of each of these provinces was invested with
the title of Vizir. In the Turkish Empire in Europe
308 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
there were four of these provinces: Roumili, the
largest, comprising all the Balkan Peninsula south of
the Danube; the second was western Hungary,
"Province of Buda"; the third was eastern Hungary,
"Province of Temes." etc.
The succeeding Sultans were unable to maintain
the Empire at the height to which it had been raised,
being given up entirely to sensuous pleasures and
becoming debauched and weak. Their reigns began
a period of anarchy in Turkish administration com-
parable to the worst days of Byzance. The State
was controlled by intrigues of women and eunuchs
of the harems, and of greedy Vizirs and a gluttonous
bureaucracy, all like vampires sucking the life forces
of the Christian Rayah.
There exist many "impressions" of travellers
written by Western ambassadors of those times to
the Turkish Court. Mouradja d'Ohson, himself a
Levantine, writing in 1780, gives one of the most
striking pictures of conditions in the Turkish Empire
as they were found in the eighteenth century. The
matter in his book has been completed in detail by
writings of Christian Servians who lived under con-
ditions described by him: Nenadovich in his me-
moirs, Vouk Stephanovich Karadjich, and Vidako-
vich in his autobiography, all of whom were among
the leaders of the Servian revolution.
Mouradja d'Ohson gives an account of the
division of the Empire into one hundred and sixty-
three departments called Livas. Several Livas
formed a Vilayet or province; there were twenty-six
such Vilayets.
TURKISH ADMINISTRATION 309
Turkey in Europe was made up of the Vilayet of
Roumili, the Vilayet of Bosnia, and that of Silistria
and of Djezaer (Greece).
Each Liva was subdivided into casas (Kazas),
communal districts, consisting of either a town and
its dependencies or of a rural canton called Nahia,
each with its own municipal jurisdiction.
At the head of each Vilayet was the Pasha "of
three horse-tails," with rank of Vizir. He had the
general supervision of the whole Vilayet, and also
one or more Livas under his direct personal admin-
istration. The other Livas in the Vilayet were gov-
erned by a Pasha of two horse-tails' rank. 1 It was
during that time that the term Pashalik came into
general use.
It was the Turkish system frequently to change the
Pashas. They were never allowed to remain in
their Livas long enough to accumulate any individual
power. This continual change opened the door to a
vast merchandise in offices. The large amount of
"bakshish" which a Pasha was compelled to dis-
pense at the successive gates leading to the final at-
tainment of the coveted post, or in order to keep such
a post for any length of time, had to be "recouped"
1 The honorary title "Pasha," a Persian term meaning "the foot of the
Shah," was conferred by the Turkish sultans upon the superior military
leaders or high officials. The highest Pasha was the Pasha of three horse-
tails, so designated from his right to be preceded by a standard staff bear-
ing a globe from which floated the number of "horse-tails" to which his
rank entitled him. The administrative heads of the Turkish provinces
were generally invested with the title of Pasha. The provinces or ad-
ministrative divisions came by usage to be popularly denominated "Pa-
shalik." The Pasha in his administration of his Liva was aided by two or
three men elected from the moslems of his Pashalik, called "Ayans"
(notables) .
310 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
somehow, and it was the province that paid through
exactions of various kinds, levied by the Pashas,
who, once installed, were responsible to no one,
and had free range of the Pashalik during the
limited period of their sway. These governors held
over the population, both Christian and Turks,
power of life and death and absolute power regard-
ing property.
All that was asked of them at Stamboul was that
they should send enough tax money to the imperial
treasury and that the province should give no trouble
to the Sublime Porte.
The Pasha resided in the chief town of the Pashalik,
which he rarely left from the time of his arrival up to
his departure. He administered the province through
agents whom he appointed. The Pasha was the
chief military commander of the Pashalik. Pasha
Beys and Spahis resided in the towns at the seat of
government.
Each Pashalik (Liva) was subdivided into Nahias
in which the Turkish officials concerned themselves
especially with the administration of justice.
In the medjliss, or law courts, judgments were
pronounced in the name of the Sultan, but on the
basis of Islamic law and regulation. Serbs had no
legal rights and were unable to obtain justice before
the law against Moslems.
Dwelling in the towns were the judges of higher
rank called Mollahs and Muftis. At the head of
each Nahia district was a Kadi. The Kadi was
aided in the execution of his judgments by an im-
portant person called the Musselim, who was the
TURKISH ADMINISTRATION 311
sheriff and chief of police for the Nahia, representing
the authority of the Pasha.
Neither Kadi nor Musselim received a salary,
their payment consisting of the fines, costs of litiga-
tions, and bribes, all of which were fixed arbitrarily
by themselves. The Kadis and Mollas were ap-
pointed by the Sublime Porte at Stamboul.
Turkish justice at that time knew no other penalty
than money fines, with the exception of all cases
which could be accounted "political offences," such
as disobedience of a Christian regarding the orders
of a Turk, punishable with death, etc. The money
fines were not imposed upon the accused individual,
but were exacted from the House, family, or com-
munity to which the individual belonged— a grim
and distorted application of the old Servian legal
principle of responsibility and restitution. As an
example of this, in the "Danitza," pp. 82-85, Vouk
Stephanovich Karadjich recounts: "If a dead body
were found in a district, whether the resu^ of murder,
accident, or natural death while travelling, all the
surrounding villages had to pay the "blood-tax,"
which was one thousand piasters. The Turkish
authorities made no attempt to apprehend the assas-
sin, did not even inquire whether or no death was due
to a murder. The assassin had only to live in retire-
ment until the tax was paid ; he could then take his
accustomed place, not being regarded, in fact, by the
Turkish authorities as a wholly unuseful member of
society.
The Kadis coming from Constantinople were
rarely acquainted with the language of the people,
312 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
and therefore even with the best intentions were not
able to dispense real justice. The Musselim (chief
of police, sheriff, etc.) was a Turkish official nomi-
nated by the Pasha, and was generally well versed in
the people's tongue. He was the terror of the dis-
trict. A person cited before the Kadi who failed to
appear, even for the smallest offence, had nothing
left for him but flight, for if he were caught his life
was forfeited. The oppression of the Kadis and
Musselims became at times so heavy that the popula-
tion diminished through flight or threatened emigra-
tion en masse. Only when that state of things was
reached did the Turkish authorities remove a Kadi,
and the distraught population, in a momentary hope
of betterment, paused before taking the road into
the unknown. Nenadovich, 1 in his "Memoari, "
tells that in his "nahia" of Valyevo, during a
very short period of time, eighteen of those Kadis
were successively withdrawn in order to arrest the
emigration of the people.
Remains of Servian Self-government
Entirely subordinated to this Turkish govern-
mental system, there was allowed to exist a purely
Servian administration, the remains of the old Ser-
vian organisation, the self-governing village and
Zhupa. The Turks, on coming in, completely de-
stroyed the higher circles of administration, but re-
tained the lower formations, imposing themselves and
their system, however, upon the lower Servian strata.
1 Nenadovich was one of the leaders of the insurrections of 1804-15.
TURKISH ADMINISTRATION 313
They were quick to see the value of local institutions
which, being shorn of all authority, could be made
the instruments of control over a race which, even in
slavery, never called itself conquered.
Every village under Turkish rule continued to
elect its own chief men and judges, who in all matters
between Serb and Serb judged after the old Servian
laws. These judges, however, possessed no execu-
tive power — which was vested solely in Turkish
hands— and the Servian judge's decision could only
hold good in case both parties were completely satis-
fied. Otherwise the case was taken before the Kadi,
a privilege of which the Servians were chary to take
advantage.
The village chief, Seoski-Knez, acted as a mediator
between the people and the Turkish authorities.
Karadjich and Nenadovich tell that when a Serb
was arrested for an offence against Turks, or clashed
with the Turkish authorities, the village headman
at once went to intercede or negotiate with the Kadi,
and was often able, by payment or otherwise, to have
the man set free.
Holding the same position in regard to the districts
of the nahias which the village headmen, or Seoski-
Knez, held in villages were the heads of districts,
called then also "zhoupas, or Knezhinas" whose
title was "Obor-Knez." They were elected by the
people and nominated by the Pasha. They pos-
sessed no land, and their only function was to keep
order in the districts. They were responsible to the
Turkish Pasha, who allowed them a small detachment
of "Pandours" (armed police). The Obor-Knez
314 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
acted as spokesman for the inhabitants in their
relations with the Pasha, and apportioned among
the rayah of a district its allotment of taxes. An
Obor-Knez of wit and devotion to his people was
able to obtain much mitigation of the burdens
laid upon them. During the great insurrections
of the early nineteenth century the Obor-Knezes
were generally the leaders.
3. TURKISH FORMS OF HOLDINGS IN APPROPRIATION
OF SERVIAN LANDS
According to the rules laid down in Islam for the
settlement of conquered lands, the Serb lands as
they were acquired were separated into three main
divisions: First — Vakouf — Church Property — the
landed and other estates of the "pious foundations,"
the income from which was devoted to the building
of mosques, to their charities, and to other Moslem
religious and educational purposes. Those funds
formed the " Beit-ul-mal " and were under a separate
department of administration. Second — Allodial
lands, subdivided into lands of Islam which paid only
tithes to the Sultan, and Kharatch or tribute-lands,
paying kharatch tax and an impost varying from one-
eighth to one-half of all its proceeds. The allodial
lands in conquered Serb territory fell under the cate-
gory of Haratch land, and was bestowed by the
Sultans upon different individuals in the form of
"moukade" and "malitchane" estates. Third —
The largest bulk of conquered territories was reserved
as domanial lands, and was separated into:
TAXES AND OTHER EXACTIONS 315
(1) Miri land, the revenues of which went directly
into the State treasury.
(2) Waste lands, not cultivated, always large
areas in Turkey.
(3) Private domains of the Sultan.
(4) Escheat, or forfeited lands.
(5) Lands which were appanages of the Sultan's
mother and the other members of his family.
(6) Lands of which the revenues were attached to
the office of Vizir.
(7) Land the revenues of which were attached to
the offices of Pashas of the second rank.
(8) The vast areas of Ziamets and Timars, all
spahiluks.
The Timar was an estate of from three hundred to
five hundred acres, and the Ziamet an estate of over
five hundred acres, both furnishing one man at arms
for each three thousand aspers revenue. In the earlier
period there existed the higher fiefs or Beyliks.
4. TAXES AND OTHER EXACTIONS
The Spahis, on receiving from the Sultan the land of
the conquered Serbs, entered into relationship with
the inhabitants at first as landlord with tenant, but
under a feudal system instead of under that belonging
to the old Servian organisation.
The tenants, instead of giving, as under Servian
laws, a few days a year robot-work in total payment
to the over-lord for their holdings, paid under the
Turkish regime money under various heads: rental,
taxes, and other money dues in addition to one-tenth
316 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
at least "in kind" of their produce. The Spahis,
unlike the Servian lord of a domain, did not live on
their estates among the rural inhabitants, but in the
towns or fortified villages. So long as all money ex-
actions were met, the rayah, who sank to a state of
serfdom under this system, was free to come and go
as he would. In the earlier period of Turkish times
he might sell or otherwise dispose of his tenure or
move from one Spahiluk to another; he had only to
see to it that prior to his departure all the necessary
moneys and levies in kind due to the Spahi were paid
for the year. The Spahis were free from all taxation.
They were lords not only of the soil, but of the rayah
— the Christians living on it. Holding the land in
fief from the Sultan in return for military service,
they formed a privileged class in regard to Christian
and Turk.
Their relations with the populations were limited
to their arrival during harvest time in the villages of
their estates to collect the various taxes and tithes.
Instead of this personal tour they sometimes sent
agents. The Spahis in Bosnia-Herzegovina, called
Beys, were, as has been seen, the old Servian-Bosnian
nobility, who at the time of the conquest, rather than
become Hungarian, had gone over to Mohammedan-
ism, acknowledging the Sultan's rule. The Servians
of other Serb lands, more removed from the danger
of Hungarian occupation, had with but few excep-
tions refused to renounce their Christian creed, and
were not made Spahis by the Sultan, but either
emigrated or fell into the common mass of the de-
spoiled rayah. Over these were sometimes set
TAXES AND OTHER EXACTIONS 317
Spahis of Bosnian or Herzegovinian origin from the
lesser and poorer Serb nobility of those western
countries.
In the towns and palankas the Spahis — all Moslem,
whether Osmanli or Serb — detachments of Janis-
saries, and the Turkish officials, all living in idleness
on the fruits of the Servian agriculturalist's toil, were
surrounded by a hungry Turkish mob of hangers-on,
which assembled there from all Ottoman countries.
Only a few of those Turks lived by certain handi-
crafts permitted to them alone and forbidden to
Christians.
This separation of the inhabitants into two divi-
sions, Moslems in the towns and Christians in the
country, was the beginning of the idea in Serb lands
of towns as places of residence. It is also the cause of
the Asiatic character, maintained even to-day in
Balkan regions in the appearance of towns that have
not been rebuilt. The Serb villages, which then
began to hide themselves away from the general view
in ravines and secluded mountain valleys, have the
aspect of western hamlets.
During the active period of conquest under the
powerful Sultans, Mohammed II, Selim, and Sule.y-
man, the whole Serb territory was held in a state of
military occupation, the obligations of the subjected
peoples to their Turkish masters being ill-defined.
The khanouns of Suleyman, inaugurated by his
Grand Vizir the Servian Mehemet Sokolovich, re-
organising land holdings, and the obligations of the
Christian rayah, limited and defined the rentals,
taxes, and all services and dues payable to these
318 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Turkish feudal lords. According to these laws the
holdings of the Spahis were not real possession, but
only a stipend; they did not have dwellings on the
estates, but lived in the garrison towns. They could
not forcibly eject the tenants or prevent them from
moving away to settle elsewhere. After the death of
the Serb Vizir who framed these regulations they
fell into disuse. The Spahiluks again became heredi-
tary by custom, and the people were not able to limit
their obligations. However, the principle had been
partially developed that it was necessary for the
Moslem feudal lord to be on good terms with his
tenants, and their interests being in some particulars
identical with his own, the Spahis often took sides
with the people as against the over-exactions of
Pashas and others who collected taxes from them.
The tax revenues of the Spahi, paid to him by the
Christian under the Khanouns of Suleyman, were:
(1) The poll-tax: one piaster for each married
person.
(2) "Espendje," or permission from the Spahi to
marry: two piasters.
(3) The tax called "kotar" — hedge-tax: two pi-
asters for the right of herds to feed within hedged
pastures.
(4) The mill-tax, for the right to grind grain : one
piaster per head.
(5) The kettle-tax, per pot-still: two piasters for
the distillation of plum-brandy.
(6) The oak-mast-tax: four paras per hog where
there were no acorns, and six to ten paras where
acorns were plentiful.
TAXES AND OTHER EXACTIONS 319
(7) "Dessetak," or tax in kind: one-tenth or more
of all agricultural produce.
Should the Spahi dwell near his Spahiluk, he re-
quired from the inhabitants, in addition to these
taxes, manual labour and personal service.
In some instances the Serb communities were able
to make an arrangement with the Spahis to pay a
yearly fixed sum in lieu of all other taxes and dues.
An exceptional tax was levied as hospitality rights
to meet the expenses of the yearly visit of the Spahi or
his agent for the collection of the taxes. Each priest
had to pay to his Spahi two or two and a half piasters
a year and present him with a pair of stockings. The
monastery paid yearly to the Spahi from ten to
twelve piasters, and the village attached to a monas-
tery paid him from two to two and a half piasters
per inhabitant.
As no taxes were paid by Moslems, they being
soldiers in war time and in time of peace "guardians
of the Faith ' ' and order, the whole weight of supply-
ing the revenue, not only to Pashas, Beys, and Spahis,
but also for all State expenses, fell upon the Christian
ray ah.
In addition to the taxes and dues to the Spahis and
Pashas, the conquered Servian population had to bear
the burdens of provisioning the Turkish army, of the
transport of cannon and all other war munitions, of
personal manual labour on the construction and re-
pair of roads and fortresses, and of agricultural
labour on the Sultan's personal domains and on those
of the pious foundations. These services, called the
"Koulouk" tax, which was imposed in addition to the
320 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
work given to the Spahis, required also that the people
should bear all incidental expenses, even when the
duty necessitated journeys to regions far remote from
the places where they lived. As an instance of this,
the inhabitants around Belgrade were obliged to go
to Constantinople to cut hay and perform other
"Koulouk" labour on the Sultan's lands. The small
village of Belgrad on the outskirts of Constantinople
was founded by those workers in remembrance of
their distant home district.
Among the other taxes which the Christian rayah
had to pay to the Sultan, the State, and the province
were :
(1) The "Kharadje," for the right to walk on
the Sultan's soil, was a poll-tax levied on every
male from the seventh year of his age to his death.
The Kharadje was estimated by the Defterdars
(financial agents) of the Sultan, and varied accord-
ing to region and circumstance. It was collected
by the Christian headman of the village and turned
over to the Spahi or to Turkish officials called
"Oumen."
(2) The Glavnitza (chief tax) paid by all men
come to manhood, was used in provincial adminis-
tration, and was calculated according to the capacity
of the people to pay. 1
(3) The Tchibouk, a tax on live stock of every
kind and on fowls.
(4) A yearly "espendje," a tax for the Sultan in
addition to that paid to the Spahi, was a golden
ducat collected from every married couple.
1 Gavrilovitch, Spomenik, III, p. 177.
TAXES AND OTHER EXACTIONS 321
In addition to the yield of these taxes the Sultan
derived other income from the provinces. The
revenues from customs, tolls, fishing, and other
licences were supposed to go to Constantinople,
but for the most part paused in the treasury of
the Pasha.
The Servian writers of the period, Prota M.
Nenadovitch and others, give a picture of the Obor-
Knez and the village knez coming to the chief town
of the Nahia, each bringing his bill of expenses for
the past year, covering the cost of receptions to the
Pasha and his agents, public works, payment of
pandours, etc. These accounts were audited by old
agas and, when approved, received the seal of the
Kadi. When the acccounts of all the Nahias in the
province were confirmed, they were submitted to
the Pasha, who added to them what he demanded
for his own expenses. The sum-total to be col-
lected was then divided among the whole number
of taxable heads. A statement of that number
was required from the head of each village, who,
by every imaginable means, sought to save the
people as much as possible from the weight of
over-exaction. This system developing ruse and
trickery, and attacking directly the moral forces of
the race, was one of the miseries of the Turkish
oppression.
When the total amount of yearly taxes to be col-
lected was fixed by the Pashas and the obligation
divided among the Nahias, it was customary for the
Servian headmen of all the villages of each Nahia to
meet together on an appointed day with two or three
322 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
men of each village to hear the reading by the Kadi
of the amount of taxes exacted, and afterward to
discuss and fix between themselves the equitable
distribution of the burden among the villages. So
in turn the headman of each village, in the presence
of the people, apportioned the tax according to the
capacity of individuals to pay. All the poor and ill
and crippled presented themselves among the others
to be examined as to their ability to bear their part
of the tax, and to be declared exempt in case they
were found unable to pay.
The most fiery trial which the conquered Servians
had to live through was helpless submission to the
"Devchurme" tax.
From all the young children — flower of the Serb
race — gathered by this fearful tax to Constantinople,
the finest creatures were selected and especially
trained to enter the Sultan's direct service. From
among them were recruited the Turkish dignitaries,
the Spahis and Pashas, but the greater part were
made into Janissaries. By the middle of the six-
teenth century the heart of the Turkish army was
composed of Janissaries of Serb blood, their swords
turned against their own fathers and mothers. Most
of the Turkish officials were also by that time of
the Serb race. Not only the great statesman and
soldier, Mehemet Sokolovich, but six other Grand
Vizirs were children of the " Devchurme" tax. Up
to the time of the treaty of Pozharevatz, 1718, a
large proportion of the administrative documents
at Constantinople were written in the Servian
language.
PHANARIOT CLERGY 323
It has been rightly said that if during the period of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Servian
people had been willing to abjure their Christian
faith, the Ottoman State would be to-day a Servian
Empire of Mohammedan faith.
5. CHRISTIAN CLERGY
The clergy formed an intermediate social stratum
between the people and the Mohammedans. During
the suppression of the Servian Patriarchat, all of
the higher clergy were Greek sent from Constanti-
nople, whose affiliations were rather with the Turks
than with the Servians. The lower clergy and the
Servian monks were from the people, and shared in
general the lot of their Servian brothers.
From 1463, the time of the downfall of Servian
independence, up to the re-erection of the Servian
Patriarchat in 1557 by the Turkish Grand Vizir, the
Serb Mehemet Sokolovich, and from the final absorp-
tion of that Patriarchat by Constantinople in 1767,
all of the bishops for the Servian Eparchiyas were
Greek, Phanariot, and obtained those Sees by pay-
ment for them in Constantinople of a money price.
Their administration differed not at all from that
of the Pashas and other Turkish officials in being an
exploitation of the Serb population. They dwelt in
the towns side by side with the Turks. They had
under their order a Turkish guard, and wore swords
and other arms.
The Servian clergy, from among the people, were
compelled to pay to the Greek bishop for their con-
324 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
secration a minimum of one hundred piasters.
Scarcely any other qualification was required of
them than their ability to pay that and other sums.
The clergy also received contributions from the
people. The village priest received fifteen okas of
grain per married couple, the oka being about two
and one-quarter pounds weight. He was also entitled
to two piasters for performing the marriage ceremony
and one piaster for the burial service. The village
priest in his turn paid to the bishop four piasters as
a yearly tax. The bishop further collected twelve
piasters for each chimney in his Eparchiya. While
travelling he received free hospitality and a payment
of five piasters from each village through which he
passed on his journey.
The properties possessed by the monasteries under
the kingdom and the empire were lost to them under
the Turks. Not only through Turkish depredations
and destruction, but after the fall of the Serbian
patriarch when the Phanariot bishops came in,
much of the property of the Servian monasteries was
sold or bartered away. By the end of the eighteenth
century it was rare that any possessions remained
to a monastery.
The monasteries being without funds were kept in
repair by the people of the neighbouring villages, who
came willingly and without pay to do whatever work
was necessary. The one advantage which they se-
cured by those services was the privilege of electing
the head of the monastery, the Hegoumen. On
account of the dearth of parish priests, the monks
often went out to the surrounding villages where
PHANARIOT CLERGY 325
there was no priest to offer the sacraments and per-
form the parish work.
The main source of income for the monastery dur-
ing this period was voluntary gifts. 1
The Servian parish clergy and monks living in the
monasteries were continually subject to practical
blackmail from the Greek (Phanariot) bishops, who
intimidated them under constant threat of inter-
diction. The Phanariot bishops also had the power
to punish by imprisonment and by the lash.
It is not astonishing that during these unhappy
periods very few of the Serb clergy, with some brill-
iant exceptions, were able to read the mass. They
had simply learned by rote how to perform the rites
of marriage, baptism, burial, and other ceremonies.
Their lives were miserable. In addition to the un-
limited exactions of the Greek bishops, tLey were
obliged to pay taxes to the Spahis. 2
The monks were in somewhat better circumstances
than were the parish priests. Living in the monas-
teries, they were able to study, and were less exposed
to the miseries suffered by the priests who had to
live among the people, and therefore came in daily
contact with the Turks.
The day of the patron saint of the monastery
was made a time of great festivity. People came
1 Nenadovitch, in his "Memoari," says: "In those times there existed
no higher position [for Servians] than to be village knez or headman, a
popa [parish priest], or a kalugjer [monk]. The pandour or village guard
was also an envied position! "
2 In contrast with this woful picture was the enlightened condition of
the Servian clergy, both high and low, during the period, about two hundred
years of the existence of the Serb Patriarchat, from the date of its re-
erection by Mehemet Sokolovich to 1767.
326 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
from far and near, the occasion combining the
characteristics of a fair with those of a popular
national meeting.
There met the headmen of distant villages and
clans. There was dancing, feasting, and various
other forms of entertainment. These convocations
in honour of a saint — the only opportunity left to the
Serbs of gathering together — were called Sabors,
after the name of the ancient Assembly. Under
cover of these occasions of enjoyment, the Servians
discussed more serious matters, holding thus furtively,
and without Turkish interference or knowledge, an
assembly for political purposes, which they called
"Skupshtina," a term which survives to-day as the
name of the Servian parliament. To these saints'
festivals or Sabors — a word also at present in use ap-
plied to church meetings — came the Gouzlars, sing-
ing the old national songs. There many an insur-
rection was planned and means of common action
discussed. These meetings, the one outlet of na-
tional feeling, made of the monasteries dearly cher-
ished centres of hope. To them turned the hearts
utterly bereft of comfort. There glowed ever bright
the holy central fire of the home hearth, gathering
sweet and glorious memories of the past and visions
of a future when the Turks would be driven from
the land and once more Serb homes would be set in
blossoming gardens amidst purple plum-trees and
their central hearths new lighted from the sacred fire
— "when sorrow and sighing should flee away."
THE "BERAT BASHI-KNEZES" 327
6. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE " BERAT BASHI-KNEZES,"
AND THEIR TERRITORIES
In the Ottoman scheme of conquest and military
occupation it was the policy of the sultans to leave
almost intact certain districts as small semi-indepen-
dent principalities, under their national Christian
counts or princes, taking from them in lieu of all
other levies a fixed yearly tribute. Being isolated
and crippled of all power of successful revolt — at the
same time their complete subjection offering prospect
of a troublesome resistance that would halt the march
of invasion— it was found wise to leave these Servian
chiefs in undisturbed possession of their lands and
to make no effort to destroy their self-administrative
systems.
When the western Serb confines should be reached,
it would then be time to consider the best means
of grinding these stumbling-stones into the gen-
eral dust.
At first there were a considerable number of these
tributary autonomous regions. Some of them ex-
tended over several nahias. The dignity of their
hereditary chief as count or even prince was recog-
nised by the Sultan, who claimed only as suzerain
a fixed tribute and the right to invest them in office,
which was done by special "Berat." They were
called by the title of " Bashi-Knez," and no armed
Turk might enter their borders. Such were the
Stari-Vlah lands, lying at present partly in modern
Servia and partly in the Sandjak of Novi-Bazar; the
328 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
lands of the Vassoyevich clan, part of present Monte-
negro and part of the Sandjak of Novi-Bazar; Pop-
ovopoyle in Herzegovina ; Cerni Gori now in modern
Servia, and many others.
Bound in the iron network of conquest, these
semi-independent districts were in later times one
by one closed in upon. Many of them disappeared
with the great Servian insurrection of 1595, called
St. Sava's insurrection, which for a brief moment
caused the Turkish dominion to stagger, freeing all
Serb lands as far as Sofia.
The war between Austria and Turkey in 1689
destroyed almost the last vestiges of these oases of
Servian independence,
Hoping in Austrian promises of help to free the
Serb lands, the people, headed by their Bashi-
Knezes, rose again in insurrection as the Austrian
army advanced. The Austrian promises proved
delusive. The inhabitants were left to the fury of
the Turks, who were then in a position to make an
end of the Bashi-Knez fiefs. 1 Nearly all were swept
out of existence with sword and flame, and their
chiefs punished with barbaric revenge. Eighty thou-
sand Servian families, guided by Patriarch Arsen III,
fled into Austria, 2 there to find an even deeper misery
than any they had ever before known.
1 The Servian Vassoyevich clan was still under a Bashi-Knez by Sul-
tan's Berat well into the nineteenth century, when the last Prince Vassoye-
vich, driven out by the Turks, died as a British Consul at Serajevo. The
Miridites, one of the old Albanian self-governing clans, was mentioned as
still existing by the Treaty of Berlin. The Greek general, Vassos, who
won distinction in the Turko-Greek war of 1897, is descended from this
princely family Vassoyevich.
2 See illustration 586.
HAYDOUKS AND OUSKOKS 329
Besides these special privileged feudal principalities
in Serb lands, there were a number of individual
Christians who, for special services of different kinds,
were exempt from taxation and other oppressive
conditions. They were: (1) The " Shahidjias," who
kept the falcons and hunting-dogs of the Sultan and
the Pashas; they were under special protection of
the Sultan, paid no taxes, and had the right to carry
arms. (2) The "Martolosi" (Borderers) who were
Christian soldiers on the Turkish borders and in
some other parts of the country. They were paid
and were exempt from taxation. (3) A few Chris-
tians permanently employed in the care of the Sultan's
horses, care of war material, transport for the armies,
etc. They also were exempt from taxation.
7. HAYDOUKS AND OUSKOKS
The heavy situation of the Serbs made of them
the "blood enemy" of their Turkish conquerors,
and they stood always ready to rise up into fight
against them "for life or death." The best and
most heroic of the race, unwilling to submit to such
violence and oppression, withdrew high up into
the mountain fastnesses and became Haydouk and
Ouskok.
The mountain forests and high plateaus were the
meeting-places of the Haydouks; the neighbouring
Yenetian Dalmatia and the Austrian Croatia became
the rallying-points for the Ouskoks.
There were Haydouks throughout all the Serb
countries. They were looked upon as "avengers of
330 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Kossovo" and "protectors of the people"; seeing
that Christians had no hope of help anywhere,
they carried on a perpetual and unequal warfare
against the strong Turkish Empire.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
Haydoukdom w T as at its highest flower. At that
time there were so many Haydouks throughout the
Serb lands of the Balkan Peninsula fighting against
Turks and all other oppressors of the Christian in-
habitants that the Turks could find no security on
the high-roads or even in their own homes. The
Haydouks lived in groups in the mountain forests,
and when even two of them were together one was
nominated the chief, or "Haram-basha." Generally
they formed into large bands, and sometimes such
bands numbered as high as a thousand men. But
as it was difficult for any length of time to feed such
a large company, they separated most often into
smaller groups which operated independently on
ordinary occasions, but joined forces for important
action. Attached to the service of each Haydouk
was a "Yatack," a dweller in the lowlands, with
whom the Haydouk was accustomed to find refuge
during the snowy months. During the rest of the
year, when the Haydouk found it possible to take up
his life in the high hills, his Yatack brought him
food and replenished his supplies of ammunition and
carried him news and information of what went on
among the enemy, and performed other services of
devotion to the Haydouk and the general cause.
The Haydouk, while he was obliged to remain with
the Yatack in the winter, became for the time being
HAYDOUKS AND OUSKOKS 331
a shepherd and herder of the cattle or other live stock
of the Yatack.
A number of Haydouks, instead of going to the
Yatack in the winter-time, simply crossed the border
into Venetian Dalmatia or Austrian Croatia. They
were the Ouskoks, from the word " ouskotchiti,"
"crossing over," or the "escapers." When the snows
began to melt on the Serb mountains the Haydouks
and Ouskoks returned to their heights and reorgan-
ised their groups for ready action. If one of them
were missing, having been killed in the interim, it
was considered the first duty of the band to avenge
the death, which was generally fulfilled in the most
savage and barbarous form. This warfare of the
Haydouks against the Turks prevented the Serbs
from ever submitting to subjection and kept up the
moral force of the nation. It maintained among
the whole Serb people an unceasing state of move-
ment and ferment.
The name of "Serb" became in the mind of the
Turk synonymous with the word "unconquerable,"
and to-day even, the Turkish word for liberty is
" serbeshty," a derivative, it is said, of " Serb." That
continual agitation never ceased until the freeing
of modern Servia.
About the Haydouks and Ouskoks, whose life
was to give their lives for the people, the Serbs have
in their ballads and songs woven a garland of ever-
green sweet memory. As long as the Servian name
endures the remembrance of these men will not
perish.
332 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
8. DOWNFALL OF THE JANISSARIES SERVIAN INDE-
PENDENCE
In the beginning of the seventeenth century tin 1
"Bevclim-me'' tax was abolished — no more Serb
boys were carried off to Constantinople. From that
moment new forces surged up in the Servian rate
—reinforced with its own best blood. The loss
to Constantinople was proportionately great. Well-
springs of power began to run dry. Within a gene-
ration the dearth was felt in all departments of ad-
ministration and control. Then began a period of
weakness and decay. The Janissaries, enrolled from
volunteers under relaxed rules, degenerated from
their ancient force and character as a fine and well-
disciplined military order, and by the second half
of the eighteenth century they had come to be re-
cruited from the human refuse, the spoiled lives, the
desperados of all Europe and Asia. Unamenable
to control, they began to play the part of Roman
pretorians. The Sultan dispersed them in small
commands throughout the empire as guards of forti-
fied towns, placing them under the orders of the
pashas of Vilayets and Livas.
The Janissaries carried their unruliness with them,
and before long tried to enforce their own will upon
the pasha instead of receiving orders from him. On
account of the power of their organisation they were
able to act in concert, making demands through
their comrades in Constantinople. The pashas found
themselves unable to resist them, and were finally
DOWNFALL OF THE JANISSARIES 333
forced to bend under the yoke of the Janissaries,
who began to rule the provinces. Their agas and
commanders took the title "Dahi," probably from
"Dey," Dey being the title of the princes of the
Barbary States of North Africa. The Janissaries
had first advised, then exacted; then _t hpy h gggn.
actively to interfere in th e^^n^nisjratjon_ of justice
and in the private affairs of individuals. They
came ^mlo^bitler^onflict with thejjpah5 7 whom
theyjb ated for their privile ge of holding land. So
it chanced that the first Serb uprisings of the
last century against the arrogance and violence
of the Janissaries were supported by the Moslem
Spahis.
Karadjicfa and Nenadovich describe vividly how
the Janissaries seized the land. A Janissary Aga
with jsome few _fol lowers of_his own kind entered a
villa ge to which he took a fancy , declared hi mself jts
own er, terrified the unarmed inhabitants into su b-
mis sion, for t ifi ed himself in a tow er — with gene ral ly
another watch-tower on the opposite side of the village
— joined the houses. by_a wall, so _formjng palisa des
or an enclosure, and proceede d to crush the entire
populati on into serfd om^ T hese f ormatio ns wer e
called J.'^fchifliks," the usurping Janissaries calling
the mselves " Tchifl ik-Sahibis."
Since then many of those Tchifliks have been
formed and exist to-day throughout Macedonia.
Within the last thirty years disordered conditions
have allowed such Tchifliks to be created on the
same plan in north-western Macedonia by marauding
Albanians.
334 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Tchifliks and the domination in other ways of
the Janissaries, whose ranks held the robbers of all
nations and whatever human dregs eould be got to-
gether, brought about a state of affairs so unendur-
able that the Servian population of that territory,
forming to-day the kingdom of Servia, found strength
to rise in 1804, " armed, with despair," in the heroic
revolt in which they finally won their freedom.
The attempts of the sultans to recall the Janissaries
to order and discipline only aroused them to greatei
fury. They revolted and deposed sultan after sul-
tan—after Sultan Selim III, Mustapha, bringing in
Mahmoud II.
The entire Turkish dominions were in movement
with rebellion and insurrection. In Albania, All
Pasha of Yanina strove for independence; Monte-
negro was extending its borders; at Vidin, Pasvan
Oglou, a Bosnian Serb Spahi, was attempting,
sword in hand, to carve for himself a principality out
of north-western Bulgaria; in Egypt the Albanian,
Mehemet Ali, was fighting to clear away the old
Turkish system and lay the basis of a new empire;
in the Hedjaz, in Arabia, the sect of the Wahabits,
were in arms against Constantinople; "in the
Pashalik of Belgrade" was the great Serb uprising.
This general breaking up of order throughout the
Turkish realm opened at last the door of destiny to
the Serb people— the "door that is open and none
can shut it."
CHAPTER VIII
THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS
1. TURKISH ATTEMPTS AT REFORM
MAIIMOUD II, with swift and savage methods,
swept the Janissaries out of existence, and sup-
pressed the entire ancient military system. His suc-
cessor, Abdul Medjid, in 1839, went even further, and
with the chart of Gulhane and Tanzimat abolished
the old form of provincial administration, which was
replaced by an organisation copied from Western
Europe.
During those periods of change the old Spahiluks
were transformed into Tchifliks, reducing the in-
habitants to still lower levels of serfdom. The Tan-
zimat, instead of bettering the conditions of the
Christian populations, as was its supposed intention,
forced them into deeper misery. The old system
with all its woes still offered one loophole from the
worst, and that was the collection of the taxes by
the Servian headmen. That custom had been care-
fully manipulated through the centuries by the Ser-
vians until it was made the means of preventing at
least complete degradation and race extinction.
With the Tanzimat, bringing a whole hierarchy of
tax-collecting agents with boards of estimation and
administration from without, the people were robbed
335
336 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
of their last means of defence against the greed,
cruelty, and rapine of the Turkish owners of the soil
and the officials.
David Urquart vividly portrays these conditions,
and in his reports to his government he urged the
value of that feature of the old system which made it
possible for the Servian headmen to themselves col-
lect the taxes, and strongly advised its reinstatement.
However, every fibre of administration had become
infected with corruption and with destructive oppres-
sion. The numbers of those whom the Christians
had been accustomed to nurture with their life forces
were replaced with swarms of officials and ruthless
agents bent on draining the people to the uttermost.
Nothing practical was ever accomplished to stay the
ravages of misrule. The literature of the Macedonian
Question has made the world familiar with its results.
In 1856 the Sultan, as the outcome of the Paris Con-
gress, proclaimed a new charter of reforms, the" Hatti-
Houmayoun," which was to provide for the adminis-
trative and financial reorganisation of the empire.
In 1876 Abdul Hamid proclaimed a constitution
for Turkey with Parliament and responsible min-
isters, complete equality in the State for Christians
and Moslems, alike, etc. That equality had been
promised by the Gulhane charter and the Hatti-
Houmayoun, but the people remained only the un-
happy victims of these and many other so-called
reforms edifying in expression and phraseology, un-
workable in practice.
In 1908 the Young Turkish revolution established
THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS 337
a constitution, and the proclamation by the new
regime of equal liberty and rights to all races,
tongues, and creeds in Ottoman lands, with the
avowed intention of obliterating the effects of the
administrative catastrophies of past Turkish rule,
and of harmonising the elements of these old super-
posed systems, has called forth expressions of good-
will from all Christendom.
This succession of attempts at reforms and all of
those general proclamations of equal liberties and
rights, constitutions, etc., expressive of general prin-
ciples dear to Europe as embodying an accepted pan-
acea, failed in Turkey, because they ignored the real
evils which oppressed and still oppress the population.
Those evils are : first, the forms of rural landholding
and the agrarian conditions in general which made and
still make of the Christian agriculturalist the bonded
serf of Moslem landlords, and second, the fiscal system
with its forms of taxation and methods of perception.
All proclamations of liberty, equality, etc., by the
Turkish Government can only share the failure of
the former attempts, unless they result in the practical
solving of these root-questions which call for the
abolition of serfdom in freeing the peasant landhold-
ings and a thorough reform of the fiscal system.
2. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA AN AUSTRIAN PROVINCE
In 1878 Bosnia-Herzegovina was occupied by
Austria, who has since then changed nothing in so
far as the agrarian conditions and the amounts and
338 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
form of taxation are concerned, except that the
agriculturalist is no longer allowed to pay taxes Tin
kind," although the basis of taxation is in kind, but
must pay in cash the amounts fixed by the govern-
ment agents. 1
3. SOVEREIGN PRINCIPALITY OF MONTENEGRO
The inaccessible heights of Tzernagora and the
Brdas, formerly part of Zeta, which together make up
at present the principality of Montenegro, were able
to hold their own against the Turks and always main-
tained their independence, even throughout the period
of the Turkish occupation in other Serb lands. They
preserved, up to the present century, the ancient tra-
ditional laws and custom concerning justice and
other matters within the frame of the old Servian
self-governing Zhupa and village organisation.
During the whole period of Turkish domination,
those Zhupas or Clans formed a federation which,
1 The agent arrives during harvest to estimate the yield of the crops,
and collects from the farmer at a rate which had at an earlier date been
fixed by the authorities as the rate to be that year collected for the prod-
uce. That rate may be far in excess of the price which the farmer could
get in the market at the time of paying his taxes.
These conditions give rise to numerous tales like the following: An
Austrian says to a Bosnian whom he meets in the road, "How different
things are now from what they were under the Turks! Then if a Turk
met you in the road riding on your donkey, you had to pull your beast
aside, dismount, and wait for him to go by. Times are changed since then."
"Yes," answers the Serb, "much changed! Now I don't dismount;
now I have no donkey."
Or this:
The Austrian Governor riding one day through the woods saw an old
woman gathering sticks: "Ah, how much happier you are now than you
were under the Turks!" he said. "There are no more robbers in the
woods now."
"No," replies the old woman, "no more robbers in the woods. They've
all joined the tax-collectors and the military police."
THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS 339
in regard to common interior or foreign affairs, was
directed by an assembly of the heads of the Clans
and Zhupas. The chairman or president of that
assembly was the Bishop of Zeta residing at the
monastery at Cettinye. The assembly nominated
and elected as their executive chief an official called
"the Goubernador. " This regime persisted until
the middle of the nineteenth century when the Bishop,
Danilo, by a coup d'etat, secularised himself and pro-
claimed himself Prince and Autocrat of Montenegro
and as such was recognised by the European Powers.
Although the territory was able to keep itself free
from the Turks the institutions of civilisation and
culture which in early mediaeval times had reached
a high point of attainment in Zeta suffered and by
degrees disappeared under the continual and des-
perate strain of effort required in the defence of the
country during five hundred years.
Since 1880 Montenegro has had peace from Turkish
attack and has been slowly advancing toward cultural
development.
4. INDEPENDENT PRINCIPALITY — MODERN KINGDOM
OF SERVIA
In 1804-15 Servia fought her successful wars for
liberty. The State has since then developed at a
rapid rate a civilisation along modern and progres-
sive lines, bringing from the great past of the race,
in the experience of co-operation and in other
economic and social conceptions, a contribution of
perhaps no mean value to the problems which to-day
occupy general human attention.
CHAPTER IX
RELIGION AND EDUCATION
THE Servian Orthodox Church is the same, as
regards dogma, as the Russian, the Bulgarian,
Roumanian, and the Greek Church; all of these
churches, administratively considered and taken to-
gether, form in creed and dogma the body known as
the Christian Orthodox Church. The guardian of
its faith and creed is the (Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, who, however, is administrative head
of the Orthodox Church within the boundaries of the
Turkish Empire only.
Each one of the national churches — Servian, Rus-
sian, Roumanian, Greek, and Bulgarian — is entirely
independent administratively and is autocephalous
within the limits of its country's territory.
The Servian Church to-day is separated into sev-
eral independent bodies — that is, one for every Serb
land: Orthodox Servian; Montenegrin; Bosnia-Her-
zegovinian; the Servian Patriarchat at Karlovitz for
Southern Hungary, Croatia-Slavonia; the Dalmatian ;
and the Servian Archbishopric for Old Servia at
Uskub in Turkey-Macedonia.
The Servian Orthodox Church was never a "State
Church" in the sense in which the Roman Catholic
Church was the French State Church. But the
Servian Church has always been national, as being
340
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 341
to the whole people of all ranks a guardian of na-
tional hopes and the accepted formulation of spiritual
belief and worship.
The Code Doushan shows that under the com-
mon law the Servian Church was bound to pay
duties of no light nature for every privilege en-
joyed as a department of public administration.
Its power was always "delegated" and held in
trust. The priesthood could not arrogate authority
to themselves in matters temporal. Nor was the
priest ever an object of superstitious awe or fear
to the Servians.
Upon the fall of the Empire and the demolition
of the State by the Turks, the Church gathered
together the shattered fragments and became the
sole depositary of national existence, nationality
during the Turkish period becoming identified with
the Church.
Many of the Serbs and other Slavs who, as has
been seen, had slowly filtered back from Yolgan and
northern regions during early centuries, to become
subjects of Byzance in the Balkan lands, could have
heard the exhortations of St. Paul and others of
Christ's early disciples who brought His teaching to
the Balkan Peninsula immediately after His ascen-
sion. Many, no doubt, became members of the
early Christian Church societies founded by St.
Paul himself.
The spiritual conceptions of the Serbs of the great
migration, when they arrived in those lands in the
seventh century, appeared to derive from the phil-
osophy of the Zend A vesta and also bore resemblance
342 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
to the mythological symbolism of traditions that even
then were ancient in Greece. 1
The Servians were not slow to recognise in Chris-
tianity something they desired and took as their own.
The tenets of Christ embodied many of their most
cherished racial ideals and beliefs, pre-eminently
those of brotherly love, the co-operative principle,
and immortality.
Christian Slavs had begun early to go about
teaching the new faith. It has been strongly
claimed that the old monastery of St. George in
the Servian Banat of Temesh, which is still at
the present hour a living altar of Serb Orthodox
Christianity, dates from the eighth century. What-
ever the early impulses and attempts may have
been, the universal acclamation of Christianity by
the Servians as a nation, and their adoption of
it under the See of Constantinople, has been a
matter of clear history since about 860, when the
two "noble Slavonic disciples," as they are called,
the brothers Cyril and Method, put the New Testa-
ment and other scriptures into the Slavonic tongue
and travelled throughout the whole near East teach-
ing Christ.
They were the sons of the governor of Salonika.
Method had, for a time, been the administrator of
the Servian clans on the river Strouma, and he and
his brother had begun by making Christians of those
people and the inhabitants of the region of the Var-
dar River.
'The goddess Semele echoes the Serb "Zemlyia" (earth), enshrined in
the songs of all Slavonic lands.
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 343
Closely associated with the story of Cyril and
Method was a decisive page in political history — one
that thrilled through with the passionate desire of
conquest and domination, on one side, and on the
other the equally .stirring and determined effort of
self-defence of a race.
In the contest for supremacy between the Pope of
Rome and the Roman Emperor at Constantinople,
the Pope's master move was the creation of the
Western, or "Holy Roman Empire," by crown-
ing Charlemagne Emperor at Rome, expecting to
find in this newly erected pretension to world sov-
ereignty an imperial weapon against the Emperor
in Byzance.
In the movements of expansion of Charlemagne's
successors eastward of the Elbe River, then lands of
Slavonic populations, the Roman Catholic missioners
became the forerunners of Germanic and Frankish
invasions.
Romanisation meant the advent of a foreign con-
queror. This national danger, which pressed against
the Slavonic populations of the Moravian empire —
then extending over Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, and
what is now Germany east of the Elbe River — was
well understood by the Moravian ruler Ratislav,
and was soon perceived by the Servians under the
rule of the Grand-Zhupan Moutimir in Rashka.
The Moravian ruler Ratislav (846-70), through
his ambassador at Constantinople, petitioned the
Byzantine Emperor Michael III to send him priests
and missionaries who could teach his people in their
own language (Slavonic).
344 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The Emperor in response to that request chose the
two brothers Cyril and Method. 1
The Servian Grand-Zhupan Moutimir established
Christianity under the jurisdiction of Constantinople
as the religion of his State, erecting a bishopric at his
capital of "Ras," now called Novi-Bazar. The small
Servian States accepted the same faith. Throughout
the Serb lands a simple form of Christianity existed
which had been handed down from the early Church
societies founded by Saint Paul, Titus, and other dis-
ciples. These forms were most firmly rooted in the
Neretva.
The apprehensions of the Moravian and Servian
rulers have since been justified in Slavonic history.
It is a remarkable fact that no Slavonic nation
which embraced Roman Catholicism has ever been
able to maintain its independence. They have ever
found in the policy of the Holy See at Rome and in
its instruments the clergy the influences most destruc-
tive to their spirit of national character and inde-
pendence. This fact is made evident in the history
of the Slovenes in southern Austria, the history of the
Kingdom of Croatia, 2 the history of Bohemia, Mo-
1 In Moravia Cyril and Method came into sharp conflict with Roman
missionaries who contrived to take them to Rome, where Cyril died in
February, 869. Method returned to Moravia, where he was hunted by
the Roman Catholics, and was unable personally to complete his mission.
He died in 885. His disciples, driven away from their country by the
Pope's forces, went southward to Servia and Bulgaria.
2 Cyril and Method had converted Croatia to Christianity. A church
council under the direction of Rome, held at Spalato in 1059, decided that
all church books, mass, and other prayers and ceremonials in the churches
in Slavonic lands should be changed from the Slavonic to the Latin tongue.
At the same council the Croatian ruler accepted the jurisdiction of the See
of Rome personally and for the country. That decision met so strong a
resistance from the people that they were brought to submission only
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 345
ravia, Silesia, the complete Germanisation of the
Slavonic populations east of the Elbe, of the Slovacs
in Hungary, and in the history of Poland.
On the other hand all Slavonic States of Orthodox
faith have been able up to the present time to retain
their independence or to regain it when lost, the cause
being that the Eastern Church has always identified
itself in all lands with the national spirit which it has
cherished and inspired. The living proof of this is
seen in the history of Russia, Servia, Montenegro,
and Bulgaria.
1. ERECTION OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL SER-
VIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Although the Serb peoples had early accepted
Christianity, the contest between Rome and Constan-
tinople for supreme jurisdiction over all Christians
brought about continual changes of Church adminis-
tration and confusion in the public mind concerning
what the true faith really was— when Rome was
uppermost the Constantinople Patriarch was anathe-
matised, and vice versa when Constantinople was for
the moment victorious. These wranglings resulted in
general scepticism and indifference to religion ; of the
religiously inclined, the more conservative elements
in the twelfth century, the period coinciding with the complete loss of
Croatian political independence.
A curious fact that occurred under the papal rule of Leo XIII is worth
noting. With the re-establishment of Croatian autonomy (for interior
affairs only), an agitation took place supporting a general demand that
the mass and the ritual in the Roman Catholic churches of Croatia should
be read in the Paleo-Slovene language, which is the sacred language of the
Slavonic churches. The pressure was so great that Leo XIII granted
to those communities the privilege of choosing either the Latin or Paleo-
Slovene tongue.
846 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
among the inhabitants returned to their ancient pagan
rites, and the ranks of the primitive Paulician
Churches became reinforced by the "moderns" of
that time. When the idea was finally adopted by the
Papal Curia that the Slavonic spirit of democracy and
independence was a danger to Roman Catholicism,
and pursuant to that theory the Council of Spalato in
1059 abolished the use of the Slavonic tongue in the
rituals and introduced the principle of placing Bishops
of foreign birth and allegiance over the Churches in
Slavonic lands, the Slavonic people for the first time
saw clearly on which side their fight lay, and the pop-
ulation in large masses went into the Churches under
the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
and other large numbers entered the new Bogomil
sect, which was entirely free from ecclesiastical
authority.
In about the beginning of the thirteenth century
there 4 began to be distinctly formulated that under-
standing and alliance between the Popes of Rome and
the Kings of Hungary for united efforts toward the
subjugation of the Servian countries (the Pope to
obtain their Catholicisation, the Hungarian King to
conquer their territories), which has endured and
kept strife in those lands during the centuries up to
the present time, and which combination of forces
found at last the apparent culmination of its hopes in
regard to Bosnia, in the last crisis resulting in the an-
nexation by Austria-Hungary of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 1
1 One of the documents produced during the Berlin Congress by Count
Andrassy (Austro-Hungarian delegate), upon which was based the Austro-
Hungarian claim to be given by Europe the mandate to occupy Bosnia-
ller/.egovina, was a letter (of that period, about 1S7S) written by the
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 347
This Papal-Hungarian combination was a menace
augmented by the newly formed Latin Empire at
Constantinople, and the Servian Grand -Zhupan
Stephan in 1216 found it wise to recognise the juris-
diction of Rome, for which wisdom the Pope re-
warded him with a Royal Crown. A papal Legate
began in 1217 to organise the Church of Servia
under Rome.
That policy of Stephan 's met with hostility from
the Servians, and the general expression of dissatis-
faction, headed by the Sovereign's brother Sava, be-
came so threatening to public peace and even to the
position of the Ruler himself, that Stephan came to
an agreement with Sava for the reconsideration of
the question and the re-establishment of the Ortho-
dox Christian Faith, which upon Sava's advice was
to be independent administratively, of the (Ecu-
menical Patriarch at Constantinople and separate
from the Archbishopric of Ochrida.
Sava, afterward called Saint Sava, then went as the
Servian ruler's ambassador in the interest of the
Servian Church to Nicea, in Asia Minor, to negotiate
with the Byzantine Emperor Lascaris and the (Ecu-
menical Patriarch.
All conditions were propitious. The Despot of
Epirus and the Archbishop of Ochrida, representing
the authority in Europe of the Byzantine Emperor
and Patriarch, were quarrelling. Sava, profiting
thereby, and urging the value of Servian aid to a re-
Roman Catholic Bishop of Bosnia, born an Austrian subject, purporting
to be a general demand of the Bosnian populations to be annexed to
Austria-Hungary.
348 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
conquest of Constantinople, was able to obtain from
Lascaris and the Patriarch recognition of an inde-
pendent Servian Church, and himself was conse-
crated Archbishop of that Church by the Patriarch.
In 1219 the Servian Autocephalous Church was
created; its first Head, Archbishop Sava, on his return
to Servia (Rashka) organised that Church through
and through. He created eight bishoprics, and took
up his residence at Zhitcha, where his brother had
just completed a church and monastery, which re-
mained the seat of the Arch-Episcopal See of the
Servian Church up to the time when it was trans-
formed into a Patriarchat, with seat at Ipek.
There in the new church at Zhitcha 1 Archbishop
Sava crowned his brother king on Ascension Day,
1220.
This Stephan Nemanyich is always referred to as
the "first-crowned," not because there were no kings
of Servian race over Serb lands before him — there
were several — but because he was the first to be
crowned by the archbishop of an independent and
national Servian Church.
The bishoprics founded by Saint Sava were :
(1) The Eparchiya (bishopric) of Zeta, seated at the
monastery of Archangel Michael on the Prevlatzi;
this seat was later on removed to the monastery at
Cettinye, and became subsequently the autocephalous
Bishopric of Montenegro; (2) The Eparchiya of
Houm, with seat at the monastery of Sveta Bogorodit-
za (Holy Mother of God) ; (3) Eparchiya of Dabor at
1 All Servian kings have since that day been crowned at the Zhitcha
church.
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 349
the monastery of Saint Nicolas at Banya, on the
lower Lim; (4) Eparchiya of the Moravitza at the
monastery of Saint Archilia, to-day called Arilye;
(5) Eparchiya of Toplitza, seated at the monastery
of Saint Nicolas at Bela Cerkva, to-day called Kour-
shumlya; (6) Eparchiya of Boudimlya, seated at the
monastery of Saint George "Gjourgjovi Stoubovi"
near Beran ; (7) Eparchiya of Hvosna at the monas-
tery of the Holy Mother of God at Pech (Ipek),
which afterward became the See of the Servian Pa-
triarch; (8) Eparchiya of Ras in Rashka, where
it had existed before the time of Saint Sava, and was
renewed by him.
Saint Sava brought the bishops which he placed
over these Bishoprics from the Servian monastery
of Hilendar on Mount Athos. 1
He unified and revised the Church service, ex-
purgated and brought into uniformity the Church
books, and organised the Church with the genius of a
Statesman as well as of a Churchman, creating out of
it so powerful a national institution that it became
identified with the Servian race and was able to sur-
vive the early struggles of the Servian State as well
as the time of its proud prosperity under the Empire.
1 Mount Athos, on an arm of the Kalkidike south of Salonika, has, since
the Christian dawn, been the residence of hermits and monks of the Ortho-
dox faith. It is also called the Holy Mountain. There all of the Orthodox
lands, Russian, Greek, Bulgarian, Roumanian, and Servian, have at one
time or another founded and maintained monasteries, the sanctuaries of
prayer and the seats of learning.
That most easterly prong of the triple peninsula, the southern point of
which is Mount Athos, is the one crossed by the famous canal made by
Xerxes. The entire length of the consecrated promontory has been
recognised by the Turkish Government as the property of the monks and
a self-governing territory, possessing its own seaport with several small
commercial steamers, trafficking for their upkeep in olives and other prod-
350 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
During the dark Turkish period the Servian Church
as constructed by Saint Sava was the Servian people's
defender and their teacher, the guardian of their
national hope and faith in a better future. To-
day that Church is still the chief pillar of Servian
nationality.
The few Roman Catholics in Servia had also their
bishops and parish priests under the authority of the
Roman Catholic Archbishop, whose See was at Bar
(Antivari) .
To counteract the proselytising activity of the
Roman clergy, the Orthodox Servian Church estab-
lished priests called protopopas, whose duty it was to
prevent that propaganda from becoming oppressive to
the people.
2. BOGOMIL FAITH
In the twelfth century there arose in Servian
Christendom the sect of the "Bogomils," considered
a heresy by both Orthodox and Roman Catholic
forms of faith.
A Slavonic priest named Bogomil (God-lover),
first began to preach in Thracia and Macedonia the
doctrine called by his followers after his name.
ucts of the country. These boats are manned and commanded by
monks picturesque in their monkish garb.
No woman is allowed to land or come within the confines of this little
realm, and even no male stranger may do so without express permission.
On the site of the present Hilendar a monastery had existed from the
earliest Christian times but had fallen to ruins by 1196. In that year
Stephan Nemanya received the site as a gift from the Byzantine Emperor,
Alexis, and built there the Servian monastery, which was added to and
completed to form the present beautiful pile of Hilendar by subsequent
Servian rulers, several of whom, like Stephan Nemanya himself, abdicat-
ing in favour of their heirs, retired there to end their days in study and
divine contemplation.
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 351
Bogomilism, which spread through Servia, find-
ing its definitive retreat in Bosnia — where it played
an important part during centuries in the politi-
cal history of the land, its adherents finally, in
the Turkish period, becoming Moslems — possesses
for students a "live" interest even at the present
time, in that it embodied the first remote begin-
nings of the tendency to a simplified creed and a
reaction against ecclesiasticism, whose spirit, pene-
trating to France in the Albigenses, and to Eng-
land, reappearing with Wy cliff, and back again to
Slavonic Bohemia with Huss and the Moravian
Brethren, swelled at last to the full tide of the
Reformation and Protestantism with Luther, Cal-
vin, and Zwingli.
It has been said that the first theories of the Bo-
gomils have been traced to a spurious book entitled
"The Questions of the Theologian John to Christ
on Mount Tabor."
There exists a fourteenth-century manuscript of
this book which was especially treasured by both
Bogomils and Albigenses. A complete Latin text
of it was published in Paris in 1691 by the Domini-
can Benoist in his history of the Albigenses. That
text is fuller than the one in the old Slavonic.
The teaching founded on the dualism of good
and evil is supposed to be borrowed from the Man-
icheans. The mythical story was that the earth
was not created by God but by Satanael, after
his fall known as Satan. He created the earth
during a seven days' period of power given to
him by God, formed a man's body and forced
352 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
into it an angel from the third heaven ; then a female
form into which he ordered an angel of the second
heaven.
The deeds recorded in the Old Testament were
supposed to be the work of the evil one in the guise
of God, dominating humanity until Christ came to
set men free.
"The whole visible world is the work of Satan
— for from God can emanate nothing imperfect."
Just above this visible world is the invisible perfect
one. God is fighting to reinstate mankind in the
invisible perfect world.
The Bogomils thought that Christ was a spiritual
appearance and Mary an angel. They rejected the
Old Testament, baptism, the cross as a symbol, say-
ing: "Why honour that wherewith God was dis-
honoured?" They rejected the use of all pictures
or images of saints, the adoration of Mary, all
priests, ceremonies, or ecclesiastical hierarchies.
They took Holy Communion, but not as a sacrament,
only "in memoriam." They admitted no church
bells or any decoration, only a white table with the
Gospels lying on it. Matter was evil, therefore they
were sternly ascetic, ate only vegetables, condemned
an organised State, war, marriage, and the propa-
gation of the race. A brother, son of the same
father, was a "brother-in-sin," "sister-in-sin,"
"father" or "mother in sin." If they took a wife
("accepted to live in sin") they were free to give
her up should she prove not sufficiently God-fearing.
The term "brother" could only be applied in purity
to the fellow-man.
RELIGION AND EDUCATION 353
They forbade obedience to rulers or that of ser-
vants to their masters. They were opposed to all
constructive principle in social, civic, or political life.
They were, in fact, saintly anarchists and nihilists.
They were, as individuals, pure, honourable, and
truth-telling, but so long as they undertook to follow
their tenets rigorously to the letter, they formed a
disintegrating element of terrific force and became
a menace to the State. 1
Stephan Nemanya, alarmed at the spread of their
pernicious doctrines, called together in Rashka the
States Assembly, convoking the heads of the churches,
the nobility, and other representatives of the clans
and the people.
It was of vital importance that no disrupting in-
fluence should exist in the Servian State, which was
but just beginning to succeed in overcoming the
separatist tendencies of sectional over-independence,
and to form itself into a united and strong Servia.
The assembly passed, after long and heated debates,
a decision to make an end of Bogomilism. That de-
cision was put into strict and stern execution by
Nemanya. Most of the Bogomils of Rashka took
flight into Bosnia, where Ban Koulin, the Ruler, was
favourably disposed toward their sect.
The Bogomils in Bosnia, where they gathered as
a result of being hunted out of Rashka, Bulgaria,
1 The extreme mysticism of their faith appealed to that capacity for ex-
aggerated idealism which so strongly marks the Slavonic soul and is apt
to annul the power of sound reason at that point where the "idea-alone"
in supreme exaltation leaves its rightful realm of the contemplative and
forcibly attempts to enter that of the practical. Thus could nihilism
find easy propagation in Russia, as do similar fallacies appealing to the
divine in man like the " Doukhobortzi " (soul-fighters), who, having been
w:,\ THE SERA I \\ N.< >N I
;m<l Croatia, abated tin itj of their rules "f
condud enough to comply with th< dminis-
trative lawi and regulations and the demands of
practical life. There also they were the object of
unremitting attacks from the Hungarians, who again
and again, under pretext oi >f the Pope al
Rome to exterminate the Bo miils, invaded Bosnia,
and uever ceased through th<- centuries l<> w
blood? war againsl its inhabitants.
\> Boon as the Bogomils had ranged themselves
under Uwi and order, renouncing thai pari <>f their
cr e ed which was destructive to organised -■>< iety, the
Servian rulers Bhowed them tolerance. Their rorm
of faith was adopted b) a Dumber <>i the nobility in
Bosnia as well as by many <»t the people in general,
;m<l a succession of Bogomil rulers ^t<»«».| stanchly in
defence of creed and nation throughout ;ill the Pope's
Bosnian wars up to the time <>t the Turkish conquest.
Then, rather than capitulate i«» Catholic Hungarian
domination, they wenl over in a body to Mohamme-
danism. Especially was this true «>t" the nobles
who, as Moslems, were allowed to retain their do-
mains.
A^ "Pauliciaiis," some Bogomils \\<-nt in early
centuries to north [taly and thence to England,
where Henry II had them branded with red-hoi iron-.
The Emperor Stephan Doushan protected lln-
suppressed by I a Governmenl ictive to i now
so much of a problem in Canada, their land of n I
These extreme conceptions are related to tl nduwho, i
Bhown through a oiagnifying-glass that air and water are full of living
germs, had bis nose stuffed with wax and hie thai he might
"never more breathe the air or drink water to the destruction of so m
lives."
RELIGION AM) EDI ( ATION
B romils and bem freedom in the i •• of
their l>«'li< •:
( )l«l chronicles tell thai the Bosnian Servian nobles
Bogomils and even Catholics became Moslem
with the idea of returning to their Christian faith
when national independence should !»<• regained.
That time never came, and they continued to live as
Moslem feudal lords down t<> our own time. If is
said thai even to-day, side bj side with the exercise
Mohammedanism, they privately practise many
(»l«l Christian customs and rit»->, also that some of
the <>M Roman Catholic Bosnians, whose ancestors
bad been "forcibly convi it«-<l." still hand down in
eneration to another, the recital of
the Bogoinil faith.
D omilism i> at , t completely non-existent
in S<-rl> lands,
:>. ERECTION OF THE BERVIAN ORTHODOX PATRI-
AH« BAT
King Milniitin 1281 1 321 . grandfather <>f I
shan, founded four n< S ( > thodox Eparchias, or
Bishoprics, at Prisrei 5 plyis Uskub Zvetchan,
and Lyiplyan, and the Arch-Episcopal See was trans-
ferred from Zhitcha t<> [pek.
Under tin 1 Emperor Doushan tin- number of
Bparchias was brought up to twenty, and in 1845, at
[Jskub, tin- whole Servian clergy, the Archbishops of
< )> -ln-iila and I|)«-k, the Bulgarian Patriarch of Trn<
with \n> bishops, the Greek clergy and tin- monk-
Mount Athos, convened at the call of Emperor
S56 THE -i:i;\ I AN VIA >1 ' I I
Doushan and erected the autonomous Servian Patri-
archal electing as first Servian Patriarch, John,
Archbishop of [pek.
This election waa a ne^i departure from canonical
rules, being effected without tli<- aid or concurrence
of tin* (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
The Servian Patriarchal u;i». therefore, open to at-
tack as bearing an initial canonical error.
If was only seven years later, in 1352, thai the
Patriarch of Constantinople protested and launched
againsl the Servian Church, the Servian people,
and the Emperor Doushan lii> anathema. Thai
anathema developed in S<-r\i;i two opposing parties:
one oational and patriotic, averring the authority of
the Servian State in regard to the creation of the
Servian Patriarchat; the other part) agreeing with
the (Ecumenical Patriarch in pronouncing Doushan 'a
creation uncanonical and therefore illegal and un-
righteous. The Pactional discord thus so* o continued
up to the time of the disintegration of the empire,
to which resull it contributed aol b little.
The Turkish advance Into Servia, which had al-
ready succeeded in detaching those eastern Servian
lands, where especially the opponents of Doushan's
national policy predominated, caused Tsar Lazar
Hrebelianovich to realise the necessity of harmonising
those ecclesiastical differences by conciliating the
Patriarchat of Constantinople. In 1:57 I, after an
understanding with the Servian Patriarch Sava [V,
Lazar was able to obtain from the (Ecumenical
Patriarch the withdrawal of the anathema that had
been levelled against Doushan and his people, and
RELIGION AND EDUCATION
was able also to secure the recognition of the Servian
Patriarch as the head of the Serb National Church.
The happy conclusion of this peace between the Ser-
vianandthe Greek Churches was celebrated in 1374
at Prisreo w ith great Festivity
The period of the rule of the Nemanyas was the
most fertile of growth for the Servian churches and
monasteries. The Church received rich endowment
in order the better to meet her legal obligations, to
care for tin- >i<k. crippled, and infirm, to feed the
bungr} an«l t'nllil her mission as a Bource of learn-
iii--- and art. The Servian kings erected and main-
tained b Servian monastery at Constantinople with
departments of hospital, education, hospice for stu-
dents, and Library; also a like institution at Ra-
gusa and a monastic hospital and bospice at Jeru-
salem, which i> at present the Russian Orthodox
bospio
With tin- fall of tin- Servian D«->|»<»tat in 1459 the
Serbs lost their autonomous Patriarchal and the
dan ( burch came again under tin- jurisdiction
"i the Metropolitan of Ochrida as it had been
before tin- time of Saint Sava. That condition
of thin_:> robbed the Serbs of whatever protection
they might have been able to wrest from the Turk-
ish authorities, and increased the heavy oppression
borne by the Serb race. It endured for over a hun-
dred years.
The Servians made unceasing efforts t<> obtain
tin- re-establishment of their independent National
1 T: nous fort:
358 THE SKK\ IAN PEOPLE
Church, l»nt without success until the time when
Mehemel Sokolovich, a Servian, was tli«- Grand
Vizir of Sultan Soleyman 1 II, the " Magnificent,"
L520 66. Ilf had a brother named Macarius «rho
was a Servian monk. Although Grand Vizir M«-
hemel Sokolovich w&a a Moslem by faith, he could
not forget his origin and his people. Alter a meet-
ing with his brother in 1557 he re-established the
Servian autonomous church, with the Patriarchal
at [pek, and sel u|» his brother Marcarius as Ser-
vian Patriarch. So the Serb-Mohammedan Mehemel
Sokolovich gave his people a weapon of protection
against Turkish violence. The Turkish Sultans rec-
ognised the Serb Patriarch for the Serbs and the
( rreek Patriarch for the other Christians in his domin-
ions as the supreme heads of their respective Bocks.
Thus Church autonomy became identical with nation-
ality. That new autonomous Servian Patriarchal
came to form a power al»le to provide a compromise
between the people and the Ottoman authorities.
Macarius re-established the Church organisation,
which included in its splendid See all of the Serb
lands under Turkish rule. It included Servia,
Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Al-
bania, Croatia, Slavonia, Hungary, and Transyl-
vania. Among the privileges accorded to the Servian
Patriarch at Ipek, as recognised head of the Serb
race, were authority and jurisdiction in regard not
only to religious questions but to all civil matters,
which powers were exercised either directly or through
'Mentioned by Shakespeare in the casket scene in "The Merchant of
Venice."
RELIGION AM) EDUCATION 359
his executive agents. The bishops and t heir agents
had also tin- right to sil in court beside the Moslem
Mullah and Kadi, as representing the Christian
"Rayah."
The Servian Patriarchs played a great political role
in all of the relations between the Servian people and
the Turkish authorities with whom they were often
thereby in conflict. They had a deep hand in the
various insurrections against Turkish rule. The
Servian Church, remaining the sole institutional
guardian of the national spirit, which was kept
brightly glowing, was looked upon by the Turks
with growing distrust and dislike.
So it came about that after the insurrection of l«;s:>
the Patriarch Arsen UK won secretly by Austrian (;\\v
promises of liberty for his people, led an exodus of
Serbs into southern Hungary. Following the military
support given by the Serbs to the Austrians in the
Austro-Russian-Turkisl] war. Patriarch Arsen IV.
in 17:;7. forgetting the hitter disillusion of the first
Serb exodus, led a second emigration into Austrian
lands.
These events roused still further the ill-will and
ire of the Turks againsl the Servians.
k ABSORPTION t)F THE SERVIAN PATBIAHCHAT BY.
nil. GREEK PATRLARi II. SERVIAN CHURCH I \-
DER CONSTANTINOPLE
By the end of the seventeenth century the Patri-
arehat of Constantinople had become the political
machine of the Greek quarter in Stamboul, called
360 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
"the Phanar," and w&a used by 1 1 «» »-» • ( hreek families
(the "Phanariots") as a means of exploiting the
Orthodox populations of the Turkish Empire. 1
The Constantinople Patriarch, playing upon the
Sultan's desire to weaken the Serb Church, obtained
from the Sublime Porte, after the second Serb exodus
under the Servian Patriarch Arsen IV. 1737, an ex-
tension of (lie (Ecumenical Patriarch's right to eon-
firm the consecration of the Servian Patriarchs, and
began to auction oil' the Patriarchal of [pek I" the
highesl bidder.
During the last thirty years of the [pek establish-
ment there were no fewer than twelve Patriarchs of
Ipek of various nationalities Greeks, Armenians,
Turks, and others — set over the Serb Church by the
Phanar Patriarch.
Each one of these men, knowing that his tenure
would endure only until the appearance of a higher
bidder for his office, made hay while the sun shone.
That meant more and more burdensome taxation
for the people whose hitter complaints went un-
heeded.
In 1766 the Patriarch of Constantinople repre-
sented to the Sublime Porte that the Serb Patriarchal
should be suppressed as being pernicious to the en-
tire Orthodox Church.
In 1767 the Patriarch of Ipek, Yassiliye Brkitch,
was forced to abdicate. Upon the undertaking of the
Greek Patriarch to pay to the Sultan a tribute of
1 This period of about one hundred and fifty years of absolute corruption
coincides with that of the Phanariote Hospodars who, as Turkish govern-
ors, drained the resources of Valachia and Moldavia.
RELK.IOX AND EDUCATION 361
sixty-three thousand aspers " Kara-grosh," the Sul-
tan confirmed to him by hatti-sheriff the incorpora-
tion of the Serb Patriarchal into that of the (iieek
Patriarchal at Constantinople.
Those Bishops of the Serb Church who refused to
submit to the Sultan's act, such as the Serb Bishops
of Strumna, of Veles, of Presba, of Pelagonia, were
forcibly ejected and replaced l>v Greeks. The same
fate befell the Serb Bishops of Belgrade, of Ushitze,
of Novi-Bazar (Rashka . of Nish, of Samokov, of
[Jskub, of Stip, and the Bishops of Herzegovina and
Bosnia who appealed to the Russian Synod, claiming
protection and recognising the Holy Russian Synod
as supreme head of the Servian Church, bul with no
avail. Everywhere in Serb lands all bishops, and
even the lower Servian clergy, were dismissed and
replaced by < rreeks.
As the Patriarchs 1 prerogative included n<>( only
disciplinary and administrative power, l>nt civil
jurisdiction and the protection of the Serbs within
their bishoprics, the Serbs were, with the suppression
of their Patriarch and bishops, berefl of that protec-
tion and left to the mercy of Turks and Greeks.
Their position became unendurable.
The Greek Patriarchat, once in full possession,
auctioned off to the highest bidder the bishoprics.
The bishops, in their turn, quite openly auctioned off
the livings of the low ci- clergy, and all church offices
became the subject of common barter. Corruption
was Complicated by the continual exaction of " hak-
shish," from the Turks on one ride and the ecclesi-
astical superior on the other. The burden laid upon
362 THE SEIN I A\ PEOPLE
the people grew heavier and heavier, taxes \
added to taxes, each rank in the church hierarchy,
which had become Greek, levying it> nun tribute.
5. BE-E8TABUBHMENT OP INDEPENDENT BEBVIAM
( in la
Servian Church. — Thai part of Servis which now
forms the kingdom was subjected to those unhappy
conditions up (<> the greal Insurrection, lasting from
1804 15, in which the Servians won their freedom.
The first act of the new Servian State was t<> re-
establish the complete independence of the Servian
Church with full installation of Servian clen
Montenegrin Church.- The Bame religious miseries
never penetrated into Montenegro, which retained
its independence, and with the fall of the Servian
Patriarchal recognised the Russian Synod as supreme
authority.
Servian Church in Bosnia.— Owing to the peculiar
relations, up to 1840, of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the
Porte — its old Servian nobility having become Mos-
lem, and ruling in well-nigh undisturbed sway, eyeing
with jealous mistrust every new element of authority,
Moslem or Christian, that arrived from Constanti-
nople — the Greek Phanariol found very poor hunting
ground in those western ^vr}> lands. Jn 1880, after
the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-
Hungary, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and privileges
of nomination in that country were bought of the
Patriarch of Constantinople for a sum of money by
the Austro-Hungarian Government.
RELIGION AM) EDUCATION 86S
Bulgarian Exarchat. — The heaviest suffering fell
upon Bulgaria and the territory at the present time
forming part of Turkey.
The savage punishment visited by the Turkish
people on the Greek Phanariots in 1822, and the
recognition by Turkey of the Russian protectorate
over the Orthodox Christians of the Turkish Empire,
much modified in the first half of the nineteenth cen-
tury the methods of the Phanariol Bishops and
( lei
During the sixties in the nineteenth century a
movement headed by Prince Michael of Servia ;m<I
the Servian statesman Ybvan Ristich, supported by
Russia, wrought for the re-erection of an autono-
mous Slavonic Church in Turkey. Servia, still
struggling t<> fling off the last remains of Turkish
suzerainty, could Dot hope to have this Slavonic
Church take the form of the re-establishment of the
Servian Patriarchal at [pek.
'The moment coincided with th<- reawakening
from the slumber of centuries of a Bulgarian national
idea. TIk- Servian statesmen as Slavs supported
that .spirit of resuscitation, and it was due mainly f<>
their efforts, aided by Russia, that in ls;o the (Ecu-
menical Patriarch at ( Constantinople was won to give
consent for the erection of a Bulgarian Exarchat.
The Greek Patriarch erected the Exarchat within
the limits of Danubian Bulgaria (Bulgaria as it is
to-day). Hut the Herat of investiture given by the
Sultan provided that all parishes throughout Euro-
pean Turkey which were willing to eome under the
Bulgarian Exarch should be free to do so.
3G4 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The establishment of thai independent Slavonic
Church, as it was first looked upon, was greeted
with rejoicings by all Slavs in all Balkan lands.
Very in; in v parishes left the Greek Patriarchal and
went over to the Bulgarian Exarchat.
The Greek propaganda realising its loss
fierce attack againsl the new Exarchat, which the
Patriarch attempted to keep within tin' bounds of
Danubian Bulgaria. Finding nil efforts vain, the
(Ecumenical Patriarch hurled anathema against the
Exarchat.
Prior to that date the Greek propaganda was able
justly to hope that with the help of the Greek Patri-
archal a great Greek State could be erected <>n the
ruins of Macedonian Turkey.
The blow dealt by the Exarchat to the Greek
propaganda was deadly. The late (Ecumenical
Patriarch said to the German Byzantoloeue Geltzer:
"All is lost to my countrymen."
With the creation of Bulgaria in 1878 by Russia,
the Exarchat became the national political Bul-
garian Church — instead of the Slavonic ( hnreh w ln'.li
for eight years it had represented.
The Bulgarian Exarchat entered the field as rival
to the Greek propaganda in Macedonia. Then
occurred a curious phenomenon: the Bulgarian Ex-
archat becoming recognised by the populations in
Macedonia as a Bulgarising propaganda, large num-
bers of parishes, not wishing to be made Bulgarians,
forsook their new allegiance to the Exarchat and re-
entered the Greek Patriarchal which was wise
enough to provide them with Slavonic priests.
EDUCATION :;<;.-,
V an Archbishopric in Turkey. — In 1901,
for the first time in <>n<- hundred and thirty-five jrears,
the Servian Government was able to obtain from the
Turkish < rovernment ;m<I the Patriarch the establish-
ment of a Servian Archbishopric a1 Uskub and a
small Dumber of bishoprics for the Servians <>t" the
Turkish Empire. And in 1906 the Turkish Govern-
ment al><) recognised in Macedonia a Serb Millet or
nationality.
van Church in Austria-Hungary. — The history
of the Servian Church in Austria and Hungary,
especially after the arrival of the Serbs who came
with the immigration under t!i«' Patriarchs Arsen
1 1 1 and Arsen I \ . in 1688 and I ' continual
fight of resistance against political forces aimed at the
destruction <»f tli«- Servian Orthodoi faith and the
. ian nationalit
6. i in i \ i ion
I me of the chief functions «»f the monasteries of
mediaeval Servia was education in its higher grades.
The primary ;m<l lower instruction was given l>\ the
parish priests. Education was based on the classical
o-Latin learning coming through Byzance; it
was religious, philosophical, and legal. There was
much translation into Servian and study of Greek
and Latin classics, including philosophical, historical,
legal and dramatic uork^. For (In- liL r li<'^t learning
Servians went t<» Constantinople, where the Servian
kings had built a hospice for them, »>r to ItaK or
usa, where Emperor Doushan had founded a
library and hospice for their n-
36G THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Despot Stephan Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich, in
1407, when Servian lands were under the greatesl
strain of resistance againsl the unceasing pressure of
Turkish conquest, buill and founded the castle and
monastery of Resava called afterward Manassia
as a seat of higher learning. According to his charter
the monastery was formed to house all scholars,
whether laymen <>r ecclesiastics, who were devoted
to the pursuit of art, science, or any branch of
learning. Not only was tin- place destined to be a
source of instruction and research, but the great
works of learning ;m<l classical lore were l<> be
translated into Servian and copies made and senl
out to all oilier schools in Servian lands. Man-
assia fulfilled its mission during a quarter of a cen-
tury or more until finally broken up by the Turkish
invasion. It is noteworthy thai this foundation of the
Servian ruler anticipated by two hundred years the
founding by Mazarin of the French Academy.
After the conquest of t he Serb lands by the Turks,
the greater number of Servian scholars went to live
in Italy, at Venice, Florence, Pisa, Bologna, and
other towns. These scholars took with them a rich
treasure of translations into the Servian tongue from
the Greek, Latin, and Arabic classics, and many
manuscripts of these classics in the original languages.
On the walls of the Duomo at Florence can be read
to-day the names of some of these Servian families
whose works formed part of the glory of the Italian
Renascence.
Roumanian (Valaehian and Moldavian) State
documents of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
EDUCATION 307
indicate that Roumanians connected with public
affairs went for their studies to the Servian seats of
learning. .
Russian documents of the same centuries show
that Servian teachers were called to Moscow, Kieff,
and V.. jorod. In the old Russian libraries of
to-day it is found that the works of that period, of a
scientific nature, are mosl of them written in Ser-
rfanised Slavonic, or were works written in Servia
and carried to Russia. „..,,-,
Between 1450 and 1700 most of the official Turkish
documents in Constantinople were written in the
nan language, as all of the greater Turkish
Grand Vizirs and many of the other higher I urkisn
State officials were of the Serh race.
\t present the highest learning in Servian coun-
tries is found at the Diversities of Belgrade in Ser-
via and Zagreb in < ruatia.
CHAPTEB X
LITERATURE, THE FIXE ARTS, MUSIC,
AND THE DRAMA
IT can rightly be said thai the Holy Bible, "The
Book," as the Servians <all it, translated into
Paleo-Slovene by the two noble brothers Cyril and
Method, "the Slavonic disciples," in the middle of
the ninth century, was the firsl book in the language.
With it dawned Servian literature and all Servian
culture.
The Servians found in Christ and his hook the
supreme formulation of principles of brotherly love
and individual responsibility and dignity which had
formed the main ideals of their race, and, so far back
as could be known, had been characteristic of that
race's remotest ancestors.
Of this the great Code Doushan bears incon-
testable witness, embodying as it does more of the
Christian ideal than is to be found in any other
Code of those ages, and in some regards being
abreast of the best "justice and mercy" of mod-
ern attainment.
No less noble a monument to this fact, though in
that time less remarkable, was the Hilendar Monas-
tery on Mount Athos, the creation of Servian kings and
saints, which was held through centuries, and is even
up to the present, not only as a famous seat of learn-
368
LITERATURE 369
ing, l)iit as a day-spring of national and lofty racial
inspiration.
To trace the literary as all other cultural expres-
sions of the Servian people 1 is to follow the race
through the storm and sunshine of its varying
fortunes — sometimes through the "Valley of the
Shadow," where there is but plaint and chill still-
ness, sometimes out to more peaceful plains of tem-
porary repose and hope, where beauty once more
took heart and bright streams reflected the "sweet
light of day," singing in remembrance of glory agone
an<l in prescience of grandeur yet to be.
Servian literature, prior to the present time, had
never an opportunity to develop normally and
steadily, but was manifested as well as might l>e, now
in one region, now in another, during periods of
pause or comparative calm in the long battle of
national defen<
Servian literary production was of twofold char-
acter: that which was written and, alter 1494,
printed, and that other mass of poetic and vivid
expression recording the heart-beats of a race and
portraying even more exactly \{> intimate psycho-
logical history, with its power of intellectual imagery
and ideal, than the historical events which it de-
Bcribed. Epic poems, ballads, and songs, as well as
words of popular wit and wisdom embodied in "say-
ings," humourous stories, and parables, were handed
1 For reference see: P I Bafarik, "Geschi- - . 1-1. Literatur Illyr.
and : rben, Band 3, I 5; B. Jagich, "Historiya
Knjizhevnoati naroda hrvatekoga ili srbakoga," /. _■■ L867 Btoyan
Novakovich, " rpake knjishevi I, 1871; Pypin and
vifli, -i ,,-,.. ..;. ... r 5erbi8Chen Literatur," Leipzig, 1880; and J.
Grtchich, " Istoriya j-rp=ke knjizhevnost," Novi riad, 1903.
370 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
by word of mouth from generation to generation —
written only in the minds of the living.
Since the year 1814, when this spoken poetry and
lore began to be written out and published by Y<>uk
Stephanovich Karadjich, these two streams of Servian
literary expression flow together in one splendid chan-
nel, being able for the firsl time to make way unim-
peded, like some grand river gathering within its
bosom the living waters of a million mountain springs
and floods.
The written litem lure comprises: (1) The old
Servian literature belonging to the period of the Ser-
vian kingdoms and the Empire, up to the time of the
Turkish invasion; ( L 2) The "Dalmatian Literature,' 1
covering the time from the Turkish invasion to the
eighteenth century; (3) The literature' of the "Kay-
kavci," written in the local dialect spoken in north-
western Croatia covering the period from the middle
of the sixteenth up to the nineteenth century; (4)
The modern Servian and the new Serbo-Croat
literature developed during the last hundred years.
1. THE OLD SERVIAN LITERATURE
The literary monuments of this period are written
in the Paleo-Slovene, the sacred language of the Ser-
vian Orthodox Church and the first medium of
written Serb literature. Austere and classical in
mould, this body of literature yet resembled enough
the common speech of the people to be generally
understood. It became permeated with popular
words and expressions, and those wind-blown seeds
LITERATURE 371
from the vernacular bore constant flower, Servian-
ising the ancient written language into a form called
by philologists "Old Slavonic of the Servian Edition."
The chief productions were publications of the
Evangels and parts of the old Bible, holy legends,
homilies, and other works of a devout nature. There
wen- also biographies of Servian sovereigns and
bishops all of a panegyric character. Among the
most interesting of these books which have come
down to the present time is the biography of the
great ruler Stephan Nemanya, the unifier of mediaeval
Servia, who, on becoming a monk, took the name of
Simeon, canonised afterward as Saint Simeon. This
biography, written by his no less illustrious son-,
Sainl Sava, born in 117o\ died in 1237, the first
Archbishop of the Servian Church, and his other son
the "Prvoventchani" ("the First-Crowned"), King
Stephan, has been edited in modern times and pub-
lished by Shafarik (at Prague, in 1851) under the
title of "Xhivot Svetoga Simeouna."
The biography of Stephan Nemanya, written in
1264, and of Saint Sava, by the monk Domentian,
were edited and published in ls<J"> at Belgrade by
Danitchich as "Zhivol Svetoga Simeouna i Svetoga
Save."
Among the manuscripts of Mount Athos is the
"Rodoslov," written in 1272-1325 by Archbishop
Danielo, containing a consecutive story of the lives of
the Servian kings and archbishops. The author was
the contemporary of many of the persons whose
history he wrote, and the work, though a panegy-
ric, is of some historic value. It was edited and pub-
372 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
lished by Danitchich at Zagreb Agram, in 1866, u i m 1« r
the title of "Zhivot Kralya i Ajrch-Episcopa Srbski."
The oldest Servian annals or year-books extant
date from the beginning of the fourteenth century.
There are many extant, as almost all of the old
monasteries can show several of them.
The oldest surviving Bosnian document is a diplo-
ma of Kulin Ban of Bosnia, dated 11S9. There are
many State and church documents of subsequent date.
In the first half of the fifteenth century Constantine
the Philosopher wrote the life and times of Despot
Stephan Iiazarovich-Hrebelianovich. Thai monarch
himself wrote an essay on Love and translated some
of the Greek and Latin classics into Servian.
The greatest and most living literary monument
of that period is the codification of the laws, ordi-
nances, and customary usages of the Servians by
a commission of the legislative Servian body — the
great National Assembly, under the presidency and
guidance of the Emperor Stephan Doushan, called the
"Zakonik or Code Doushan." It was first promul-
gated by the Emperor in 1349 (at Scoplyia — Uskub —
in Macedonia), and was revised in 13.5 L
It has been edited and published, together with
studies of it, by Stoyan Novakovieh in modern Ser-
vian, at Belgrade in 1870; in Russian, at St. Peters-
burg, by Zigel, in 1872; by Florinsky, at Kiev, in
1888; by German writers; and also at Brussels in
the form of a short study in French by Borchegrave.
The language of these laws is explicit and direct,
and their spirit — like a Bosnian river re-issuing to day-
light after remaining long hidden in the earth's bosom
LITERATURE 373
— came hack with reconquered Servian liberty to fol-
low anew its course through modern Servian legislation.
The Old popular writings included, besides fiction
and the lives of heroes, tracts of a religious nature,
many of them referring to " Bogomilism."
Much read were a " Life of Alexander the Great,"
"The War of Troy," an Indian story called "Stefa-
nite and [chnitat," and another romantic novel
called "Vladimir and Kossara." There were many
translations from Greek and Latin classical writers,
more from the former man from the latter; transla-
tions of works of a military order, "The Art of War-
fare," etc., and numerous translations and studies
of Byzantine and Roman laws and codifications —
the Justinian Code, Trebonian, etc.
( )f the popular epic and lyric poetry of that period
very little was fixed in writing. Only a IV w frag-
ments of these have come down to us, though the
custom amon"- Serbs of chanting the deeds of heroes
and national events in ballad form was remarked by
many w liters and diplomats of the time, among them
Nicephores Gregores, a Byzantine historian, in a
document of 1326.
In 1 194 the first printing-press was established on
Servian soil at Obod, in Montenegro, by a Servian
nobleman, Bojidar Voukovich of Podgoritza. It
printed mostly religious books.
Although the Turks were masters of Servian lands,
printing-presses were rapidly set up in several places
and were at work from Belgrade to Montenegro.
Measures were, however, soon taken by the Turks
for their suppression, and by the second half of the
374 TIIK SERVIAN PEOPLE
sixteenth century there were no more Servian pre
left in Servian lands.
The Serb master printers wren! to Venice, where
they erected presses and continued to issue works in
Servian. Those productions were of a religious
nature, most of them for church use.
2. THE DALMATIAN PERIOD
The domination of the Turks from 1459 halted
the development of Intellectual and literary life in
Servian lands, excepl in Etagusa and in the Dal-
matian littoral (which was under Venetian rule),
from the latter half of the fifteenth up to the end of
the eighteenth century. Ragusa (in Servian, Dou-
brovnik) was during thai time the centre of Servian
literary production.
The Dalmatian literature, written generally in
verse, showed signs of Italian influence in form and in
matter, and was less national in character than is the
rest of Servian poetry, whose flame in all ages has
been lighted at the central "sacred fire" of the na-
tional hearth.
The Servian youth of that period generally studied
at the famous schools of Venice, Padua, Florence,
and elsewhere in Europe, and nearly all of the Ser-
vian writers of the time wrote in Greek, Latin, and
Italian as well as in their own language.
The great merit of the Dalmatian writers is that
they freed themselves from the Paleo-Slovene and
wrote in the Servian as it was spoken by the people.
Among these writers the earliest to win distinction
LITERATURE S75
was Marko Marulich of Spalato, 1450-1524. He
studied al Padua University and was a scholar of
large intellectual attainment. He saw in Christ the
supreme goal of human journeying, and his poetry
was religious, his chief work being "The Song and
History of the Holy Judith" (1521). As a writer
in Italian also lie lias sonic renown.
The "father" of the Ragusan poetic school i> the
lyric pod S. Mentchetich (1457 L501), followed by
George Drzhich died 15CJ . Hannibal Lutchicb
l 180 1540 . author of the drama "Robinya" ("The
Slave-Girl" , a romance of the Turkish wars; Nikola
Vetranich the monk Mavra 1482 l~>7<; , writer of
[Mysteries, "The Sacrifice of Abraham," etc., and of
the poems, M Remeta," " Putnik" ("The Wanderer" I,
"Italia," etc.; and Petar Hectorovich I 186 i:.; I .
author of the ] >< »« t i« • and philosophical "Ribanye."
A n<-\\ line of poets begins with Andra Chubra-
oovich (died 1550 and his epic song "Yedjoupka"
("Gypsy" : the dramatisl Nikola Nalyeshkovich
L510 Bl : Marin Dozhich (died L580 ; and Dinko
Ranyina 1586 l<i""i , a writer of love songs, epistles,
and didactic ami idyllic poems.
The highesl poinl <»t' the Dalmatian period during
two hundred years is reached by [van Gundulich
d.l.io ss . His life and work cover a portion of
the time of Shakespeare. He wrote many plays and
translated into Servian "Gerusaleme Liberata."
He threw off all imitation of Italian or classical forms,
and used the people's tongue with the power of
nature and with a magic glow. He shows in his
great epic poem, "Osman," the supreme life-drama
376 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
of his own age and the century preceding it tin-
mighty struggle between the Christiana of the Dear
Orient and the invading hosts of [slam.
The exultation when Christian victories are won i>
natural in a Christian, l>nt Turkish valour, too, Is not
denied its meed of praise. "( )sman " shot* a this char-
acteristic — odd-seeming; to strangers of the readi-
ness shown by Serbs in all their dealings, whether
military or political, with the followers of Mohammed
to recognise the virtues of the foe, sometimes to laud
a heroism directed against themselves, considering
only its intrinsic quality. 1
Junius Palmotich (1606-.>1 1 was also a playwright,
finding his subjects in old Ragusan tales and histori-
cal events. He founded several plays on Italian
works: Tasso's "Gerusaleme Liberata," Ariosto's
"Orlando Furioso," both of which were the chief
delight of cultured Europe at that time. He also
went to Ovid for inspiration, as did several other
Servian writers. The language \i>c(\, in spite of his
foreign classical subjects, was the simple Servian as
spoken by the people. His lyrics and other poems
are chiefly religious; his most important work.
" Christiada," is based on the work of Giorolomo
Vida, written a hundred years earlier.
After the ruin of Ragusa by the earthquake of April
17, 1667, and the destruction of her riches and pros-
perity, the torch of literature was also dimmed, and
only flickered during the seventeenth century up to
the advent of James Palmotich (died 1680). He was
1 This may be partly explained in the sense of the wit who said, " It is
wonderful how much I like a man when I have fought with him."
LTTEB \ I I RE 37*3
a Ragusan patrician who wrote the epic poem "Dou-
brovnik Ponovryen"("Ragusa Renewed"). Between
Hi7«J and 1737 o • I oacio 1 1 h, a scholar of
it learning ami renown, at one time belonging to
tli<- faculty i»t' Padua. Ili^ works, like those of many
of his compatriots, were the flowering of a deeply re-
>us nature, the must beautiful among them being
his tran -I at ion into Servian of the Psalms of David.
\iidra Katchich Mioshich 1690 1731 . son of the
couchanl radiance of tin- Dalmatian period, and.
like those who had gone before, of high intellectual
ami classical attainment, was, in his nascent sense of
tie- riches Btored in tie- genius of the people, a kind
of Forerunner of the modern literary dawn.
Travelling through the Serb lands, he came
deeply under the ^p<-ll of the Servian - ad l>al-
lads in which he heard tin- people singing the deeds
of th»ir heroes, and he afterward published a hook
containing many of these national songs and some
bj himself in the same style and spirit. He attempted
to include in his collection songs of all the different
Serb lands, from Croatia to Bulgaria.
\il th<- writings of the Dalmatian poets were
edited and published between l^n!» and 1899, in
twenty-one volumes, by the South Slavonic Academy
at Zagreb.
.".. i BE mill; vi i i:i. OP I SE " K \VK kVCl"
This literature flourished in the north-western part
of Croatia, and was written in the local dialed of
that region called the Kaykavci, from the use of the
word "kav" instead of "shto" for "what." This
378 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
literature began with and was the fruit of the early
Protestant Reformation movement in the middle of
the sixteenth century, and continued to be produced
up to the nineteenth century. It La made up chiefly of
chronicles, year-books, popular poems, and works of
a popular religious nature. It has QOl left an\ great
literary landmarks.
4. MODERN SERVIAN AND NEW SERBO-CBOA1
LiTia; \i i itr;
The literature of the Serb region covering the last
hundred years is generally considered in two main
divisions, according to its relation to the two great
axes of modern Servian thought: that centring about
Belgrade in the kingdom of Servia, and about Nbvi
Sad in the Batchka, called Modern Servian, and that
having Zagreb as its centre, (.died New Serbo-
Croat. The only difference between them is the
alphabet employed: the Servian being written in
Cyrillic characters, the Serbo-Croat using the Latin
letters with accent marks borrowed from the Tcheck
orthography.
Modern Servian Literature
The beginning of the modern Servian period of
literature dates from the retreat of the Turks back
across the Danube. At that time the territory of the
present kingdom of Servia had not yet been able to
throw off the Turkish yoke, and the Serbs of the
newly cleared Banat and Batchka (in southern
Hungary) at once began to set up schools.
I.I I IK \ I l EtE
Hie Russians ien1 them teachers and pro
and proffered help to them in many ways. Russia
had also, for over a hundred years, been sending to tin-
tnd th<- Bulgarians church-books of all
kinds written in the old Russianised Paleo-Slovene.
< I ing to these causes, the first literary efforts of the
t and Batchka, the products of these
m liool- :iot printed in tin- old Paleo-Slovene of
tin- : i Edition, l»iit in a Russianised Paleo-
Slo\ • If enou ds and
expressions from the Servian languaj >p<»krn
•In- people, t<> become known as tin- "Slaveno-
Sen ian."
M si «»f the lit. ran productions up to the dote of
the ■ \\ ritten in tlii> Slaveno-
i.in. altli<. tain authors Still wrote in the
old Sen ian Slavonic.
>\\\> period include: tie- " 1 1 i»f <u-\
of th<- S I ' ' bj the last - in 1 teapot,
III Brankovich died I'll and the "His-
■ >f the S !'• Especially tin- (
ind Bulgarians," by 1 5 i - 1 1 < » j » [ovan Rayich
:<; 1801 . etc.
I ittle by little pun' Servian, as spoken f>\ fin- people,
ami found it> prophets and hero
Its pioneer \\a> |) C) radovich, who opened B
irdinary speech to
literary Ian.
Born in the B ■ • '• rchakovo vfllage in 11
from his earli< - imbued with ■ passion
for study. At th< I fourteen In- ran . rom
an apprenticeship and entered the monastery of
380 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Hopovo. After devouring the contents of the library
there he hungered for further learning and left Ho-
povo bound for Hilendar, Mount Athos. On the way
he fell ill at Cattaro (Montenegro). There he wrote
an essay in the every-day language which attained
immediate success.
After reaching Mount Athos he again left that place
for Smyrna, passed three years in a Greek school,
and came back via Corfu, Albania, Venice, Trieste,
and thence to Vienna, where he passed six years.
Everywhere he studied with avidity, giving lessons in
one language or another to pay his way. From
Vienna he went to Italy, then to Constantinople,
Moldavia, Moscow, Poland, and Germany. There
he paused to study at Leipzig, with which he was
much delighted. While there he published a small
book of his adventures and travels, dreaming always
of his compatriots with longings that they might share
the educational advantages to be found elsewhere.
No romance is more engaging than this little book,
every page aglow with pure patriotism. Yearning-
over his people, he realises the value to a race that
would survive of fidelity to strict and severe moral
rectitude, along with cultural expansion and literary
renascence. His is the first production in Modern
Servian and remains one of the most interesting.
After two years in Germany he went to England,
where he found hospitable appreciation and true
friends. Then he returned to Germany, where he
published his translations of .Esop's Fables in a
simple, clear style. After pushing still farther afield
—through Russia then back to Venice— the earthly
LITERATURE 881
journeyings of the old wanderer came to a close at
Belgrade, where he died in 1811.
He had gone there in answer to the call of Kara-
George, the first Liberator of modern Servia, who
made him first Minister of Public Instruction in the
new ly organised ( rovernment.
Among other educational works he laid the founda-
tions of the high school which has since developed
into the 1 University of Belgrade.
Following a Dumber of writers who were striving
toward hritcr forms, among whom was Dimitrye
Davidovich 1789 l s ;:i , publisher and editor dur-
ing two years of a Servian newspaper and a Ser-
vian almanac there appealed Vouk Stephanovich
Karadjich 178*2 l s, 'f . Of strong character and orig-
inal genius, he drew From the speech of the people a
rich and beauteOUfl literary medium, and endowed
the mother-tongue in return with a ooble and ele-
gant Formulation, simplifying and fixing its means
of orthography and it> Forms of grammar and con-
struction for the expression of a language which is
the most perfect and modern of all the Slavonic
dialects. It is to-day in universal use, written either
in Cyrillic (phonetic) alphabet or in Latin characters,
throughout all the regions of the great Servian Block
of territory.
Vouk Stephanovich Karadjich, like Obradovich,
the scholarly wanderers of the Dalmatian period, and
the ( )M Servian writers, possessed the fine intellectual
mettle which has bo often characterised Servian
writers, statesmen, and men of science, and was in
early childhood and ever after an ardent seeker For
382 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
knowledge. He was born in Servia and studied
first at Belgrade and Karlovitz. During the great
rebellion against Turkish rule he was secretary to
Kara-George and other leaders, and turned to good
account his journeys from one side of the country
to the other, to gather from the lips of the people
their songs and ballads, poems, proverbs, and tales.
After the flight of Kara-George he went to Vienna,
where he published all that wealth of national
literary treasure — never until that time put on
paper. The appearance of these poems was a reve-
lation to Europe, calling forth expressions of delight
and of astonishment that they should have so long
existed unknown to the Western world.
In the same year, 1814, he published a Servian
grammar, the forerunner of his great work. A
Serbo-German-Latin dictionary followed in 1818.
These publications, with studies and classifications
of the old customary and traditional forms of gram-
matical construction which he found in the mass of
matter he had collected, were epoch-making and,
indeed, coincided with the fresh dawn of a new epoch
in Servian national existence.
Like all reformers, he met at first with hot oppo-
sition from those who were unable to appreciate
the trend and potentiality of his work; many others
gave him enthusiastic support. His publication of
the Danitza (Morning Star) — 1826-29 — though pri-
marily devoted to literary interests, had a strong in-
fluence on the current of national ideas which were
once more stirring with awakening force among all
Serbs.
LITERATURE 383
A book would be required for any adequate exam-
ination of the various manifestations of the Servian
literary impulse throughout the Serb lands during the
firsl years of the modern renascence. Many literary
societies and clubs were founded in order to make
possible the publication of the works of young
authors, aewspapers, almanacs, brochures, etc., and
in order to bestow purses and prizes upon poor
Btudents. The two most important of these societies
were the "Matitza" (the "Servian Queen Bee")
and the "Omladina" ("Servian Youth"). The
history of the "Matitza," as first conceived by
Yovan Eladzhitch in 1823, and its final triumphant
establishment at Nbvi-Sad after many years of
courageous effort by it> promulgators against heavy
odds, makes in itself an inspiring tale. The "Om-
ladina"' is also an exemplification of true Servian
conquest by unflagging devotion to an ideal.
Novi-Sad is still a rallying-place for the Serbs of
South Hungary (Banat and Batchka), though the
founding of the Scientific Societies of Belgrade and
the swift educational growth of the young St;ite
across the Danube had the effect of transferring the
emtre of Servian culture from Novi-Sad to Belgrade.
Lucia n MouzhiNki (17T3 1887) wrote national odes
in classical form, and the poems of Vitjentiye Rakich,
who lived from 17.;ii to 1818, had their origin in pop-
ular legends. < ravril Kovatchevich, in the early nine-
teenth century, sang the songs of the Servian Insur-
rection under Kara-George and Milosh Obrenovitch.
Then came the novel-writers Athanas Stoyko-
vich and Milovan Vidakovich (1779-1841); Sima
384 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Milutinovich, born at Serayevo, Bosnia (1791-1 st; ;
the poet of a cycle of national songs called "Srbyi-
anka," an apotheosis of the fights for freedom; the
lyric poet and dramatist Yo van S. Popovich (1806
56), author of the tragedy "King Stephan Detchan-
ski"; the dramatist Lazar Lazarevich (1805-46),
who wrote the drama "Vladimir and Kosara" (1829);
and Yovan Subotich (1817-86), who wrote the epic
poem "Stephan Detchanski," into which he wove
numerous pieces of popular poetry and song.
The three most important of the lyric poets of the
time, chanting the national spirit, were: Branko
Raditchevich, Peter I, Petrovich-Nyegosh, Prince-
Bishop of Montenegro, and Zmay Yovan Yovano-
vich. Branko Raditchevich (1824-53) was the auth-
or of happy songs of young life and sweet love songs
written in elegant and musical verse; the Prince-
Bishop of Montenegro (1813-51), Petrovich-Nye-
gosh, great-uncle of the present Prince Nicola of
Montenegro, was a poet from youth, seeking in verse
the expression of sublime and philosophical ideas.
His finest work is "Gorski Vyenatz" ("Mountain
Garland"), wreathing a drama of poems about the
Black Mountain and its people; while Zmay Yovan
Yovanovich (1833-1904), the most popular of modern
Serb poets, was a writer of satirical verses, lyrics, and
children's songs, and a translator of poems from
many languages, including English, into Servian.
Other poets are Gjura Yakshich (1832-78), a
poet and novelist and the author of many stories and
plays much considered in the middle of the nine-
teenth century; Yovan Ilich (1832-76), Voyslav
LITERATURE 385
Hid, (1862 M • Lyouba Nenadovich, Voyslav Kat-
chanski, Milorad J. Mitrovich (1867-1907), Yovan
Doutchich, who is the modem sentimental lyric
poet, and Sv. Stephanovich, the lyric writer, poet-
philosopher, and translator of Shakespeare into the
Sen ian tongue.
The present Prince Nicola [., Petrovich-Nyegosh
of Montenegro, baa written many songs and poems
and has won especial distinction as the author of
the poetical drama "Balkanska Tzaritza" ("The
Balkan Empress" . This play has been translated
into several European Lang
bnong writers of corned) and drama are Kosta
Trifkovicb 1848 75 ; Milosh Cvetich (1845 L906 ,
author of the dramas "Tzar Doushan," "Nemanya,"
etc.; Dragoutin Uych, with " King Voukashin"; and
especiallj Lazar Kostich, born in 1841, author of the
best contemporary Servian dramas, among which
are *' Maxim Tzernoyevich," "Gordana," and " Pera
- edinatz." Kostich haa made tint- translations
Into Servian of Beveral of Shakespeare s masterpie<
The advancing nineteenth century developed sev-
eral writers who brought to a high degree of perfec-
tion the art of presenting vividly to the mind a p
or a day of life in Bhorl Btories. These short stories
have the characteristic that while they are written
with a luzht and occasionally a satirical touch, and
depict engaging or humourous traits of Servian life
and character, they are at the Bame time keen studies
of psychological, social, and racial conditions. The
first of these in importance were Lazar Lazarovicfa
(1851 90), Milan Militchevich, Ilya Voukitchevich
386 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
(1866-99), Yanko Vessilinovich (who died in 1904),
Stepan Mitrov Lyubisha, Stevan Srematz (who died
in 1906), Sima Matavouly, Marco Tzar, Milorad
Popovich Shaptchanin (1841-95), and Sv. Tchoro-
vich. Tchedo Mijatovich, former Servian Minister
in London, represents a considerable lisl of success-
ful novels, his style being especially noteworthy.
The best of these is "Ravko iz Rashina." He has
also published among historical studies "Gjouradj
Brankovich" and "The Conquest of Constanti-
nople."
The list of Servian historians includes Miloutino-
vich, "History of Montenegro" (1835) and "History
of Servia in 1813-1815"; Pavle Yovanovich, "His-
tory of the Important Events in Servia from 1459 to
1813"; A. Stoyatchkovich, "History of the Eastern
Slavonic Church Service" and "Sketches of the Life
of the Serb People in Hungary"; Milorad Medako-
vich, "History of Montenegro"; Danilo Medako-
vich, "History of the Servian People"; N. Krstich,
Panta Sretchkovich, "History of the Servians," in
two volumes; Yovan Ristich, late Prime Minister
and Regent for Prince, afterward King Milan,
"Diplomatic History of Servia in 1875-78," in two
volumes; D. Rouvaratz, M. Yakshich, N. Petro-
vich, M. Vesnich, Servian Minister in Paris, M.
Spalkoaivich, Servian Minister in London, Lyouba
Kovatchevich, Lyouba Yovanovich, M. Gavrilovich,
Chief Librarian of the State Archives, and St.
Stanoyevich, the author of half a dozen studies in
Servian history which he wrote in the Servian, Ger-
man, and Russian languages. Among these is his
LITERATURE 381
political and diplomatic history of the Servians,
recently published. M. Vlainatz is the author of
various historical, economical, and legal studies. M.
Gj. Militchevich, of ethnographic studies; V. Bogi-
shich, of studies of the Slavonic, especially the
South-Slavonic customary laws, and a codification of
the civil and penal laws of Montenegro.
Gjouro Danitchich (who died in 1882) was a
younger lieutenant of Karadjich. His chief works
were a "Servian Grammar" 1850), a "Syntax"
1858 . a '•Dictionary of Old Servian Literature,"
"History of Forms in the Servian Lang u age,"
"Roots and Construction of Servian Words," and
his monumental life-work the "Historical and Criti-
cal Dictionary of the Servian or < Iroal Language."
At the head of all living Servian historians is
Stoyan Novakovich, a pupil of Gjouro Danitchich.
Stat. -Miian as well as scholar, he has been Prime
Minister of Servia several times and is presidenl of
the Servian Academy of Science. His early publica-
tions included a "Servian Grammar" and other
linguistic studies, and he published in 1869 the • > IIi>-
tory of Servian Literature" and "Servian Bibli-
ography from 1741 tO 186*3 and from 1868 to is:';."
"Early Literature Written in Paleo-Slovene and
Serbo-Slovene," a "History of t 1 - nan St
from the Tenth to the Twelfth Centuries," "Old
Servian Heraldry," "Servians and 'Lurks in the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries," ''The Last of
the Brankovich's in History and National Soul:/' a
•Critical Examination of the Serbian National
Pesmas," and an edition of the original epic "B
388 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
sovo," with the later additions expurgated by phil-
ological means. Novakovich has also published
many other historical studies and a modern edition
of the "Zakonik Tzara Doushana."
The Archimandrite Illarion Rouvaratz was a
critic of history whose work, with all the defects of
its virtues, is precious to Servian students. Of vast
erudition and sharply scientific genius, zealous and
jealous for truthful exactitude, it was said of him
that his pen bit its way in with acid. On the specu-
lative subject as to final Servian mastery of their
perilous position in the midst of crushing forces, he
said: "If the man is of wood, he is shattered; if of
iron, he is bent — and stays bent; if he is of steel, he
will be bent this way and that, but ever springs
straight again. It is for the Servians to prove
whether there are more men among them of wood,
of iron, or of steel." '
To enumerate men who have won distinction in
the sciences : the name of a Servian of the eighteenth
century, renowned throughout Europe as a mathe-
matician, physicist, astronomer, and philosopher, is
Ruggiero Boshkovich, used as reference by Herbert
Spencer; Yovan Zhouyovich, geologist, published
in 1884, in French, in Paris his notable petrogra-
phic study of the rocks of the Cordilleras moun-
tains. He afterward made the geological survey
of Servia, published at Belgrade. Yosip Pantchich,
1 That remark was made in 1894, at Easter-time, to the author, who
treasures the remembrance of weeks passed at the monastery of Grgetek,
in Syrmia, as the guest of the venerable scholar and monk who, for all his
severity, was yet deeply revered and dearly loved by the people around
about.
LITERATURE 389
naturalist, famed in Europe, whose name is attached
to several botanical and zoological specimens, was
born in 1814 and died in 1888. Sima Lozanich
was a well-known chemical analyst. Mathemati-
cians of European distinction, having published
works in German, French, and Servian, are Lyuba
EQerich, I). Neshich, and 1). Stojanovich; Prof. N.
I. Stamenkovich, known for his hydrotechnical
studies, also invented an arithmometer for calculat-
ing the dimensions of the water sections of a canal
or river. 1 Branislav Petroniyevich is known both in
Europe and America as a philosophical thinker of
great value. Roth sides of the world likev. ise know the
works of geological, iphical, and ethnological
research by iovan Cviyich. At Columbia University,
New York, is M. I. Pupin, of Servian origin, a well-
known professor of electro-mechanics. Added to
these i- tie- Servian Nicola Tesla, a famous explorer
in electrical science, whose Conceptions and discov-
eries of principles, hurrying him ever forward with-
out always a halt for their material realisation in
concrete inventions, have been highly suggestive to
an age of powerful electricians.
Among the Servian scientific periodical publica-
tion^ are: Glastllk, organ of the Society of Servian
Scientists, in two parts, containing seventy-five and
fifteen volumes respectively; the Glas, from 1887 to
1908, represented in sixty-two volumes; the Spo-
menik, from 1888 up to the present time the organ of
1 At the author's request, Professor Stamenkovich, aided by Servian
engineers, has made the preliminary surveys and prepared the plans and
project for a ::•"■ "way to connect the Danube and the ^Egean Sea
through Servia and Turkey.
390 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
the Royal Servian Academy of Science; the Srbski
Knyizhevni Glasnik, the Letopis, in three hundred
volumes, published at Novi-Sad by the "Matitza
Srbska"; the Otachbina, in one hundred and twenty-
nine volumes, published at Belgrade; and the Go-
dishnitza Nicola Tchoupitcha, in twenty-one volumes.
The oldest Servian newspapers still being published
are the official Srbslce Novine, founded at Belgrade
in 1834, and the Zastava, at Novi-Sad, founded by
Miletich fifty- two years ago.
New Serbo-Croat Literature
The modern Serbo-Croat literature dates from
1830, when the reawakening of the Servian and
Croatian national sentiment took place and when
the tendency toward a unification began to be felt.
Its founder was Lyudevit Gaj (pronounced Gayhe),
Who was born at Krapina, in Croatia, in 1809, and
who died in 1872.
What Karadjich did for the reform and simpli-
fication of Servian orthography in Cyrillic characters
used by the people of eastern, central, and southern
parts of the great Serb Block of territory, Lyudevit
Gaj did for the Latin alphabet and spelling as used
by Croatians in the west. He based his reforms on
various accentual signs adopted from the Tcheks.
Gaj was also the moving spirit in the Serbo-Croat
renascence that was centring at Zagreb— Agram.
He and his friends, like his eastern Servian brother
Karadjich and his co-workers, were inspired by
the ideal of bringing the broken and crushed ruins
LITERATURE 391
of the race into structural form and unity. In the
same sense a Slovack, Ian Kollar, had stirred all
young Serbs as well as Slovacks with his poem
"Slaw Dcera" ("Daughter of Glory"). After sev-
eral works published in Serbo-Croat, German, and
Latin, Lyudevit Gaj launched out in the publication
at Zagreb, in 1835, of a newspaper, Hrvaiske Xo-
vine, giving political news, with a literary supplement
called DanUssa [Morning Star).
Lack of space prevents the discussion of the ap-
pearance and interesting development of "Ulyrian-
ism," a name of which Gaj and his fellow-workers
undertook for a shorl while to make a unifying sym-
bol. It is sufficient to recall the decree, in 1843, of the
Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, forbidding the words
"Illyrian, Illyriani>m, or Qlyria" to be used either
in newspapers, printed works, debates, or schools,
etc. It i> important to note, however, thai through
the efforts of Lyudevil Gaj, Vouk Stephanovich Ka-
radjich's restoration of the pure Servian tongue as
spoken by the people and as used in the works of old
Servian writers was also adopted by the Croatians.
The result of this Uniform acceptance is that at the
presenl time there remains only the slightest sec-
tional variation in the speech of all the different Serb
lands. In addition to the newspapers published by
( raj, he wrote many books all to the same end. Some
of them were text-books which were adopted by the
Serbian schools.
One of the effects of the work of Karadjich,
Gaj, and other ardent spirits of that new dawn was
the advent of the enlightened idea among Serbs of
392 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
keeping religious differences apart from national
considerations. In violation of Christ's teachii
priests and churches had long been made the ig-
norant means, by the stirring up of religious strife in
regions where Roman Catholics were numerous, of
strengthening a foreign domination over men of
Servian race.
However, in the middle of the nineteenth century,
the advocation of union between co-nationals who
differed in regard to ecclesiastical allegiance found a
friend, and almost a martyr, in Archbishop Stross-
mayer of Croatia, a high soul caring only for truth.
A devotee of art and learning, a lover of Christ and of
human beings, admired by the greatest of European
statesmen, he deserves always to be remembered by
Serbs for his work, carried on in spite of severe dis-
cipline from Rome and Vienna.
At his own expense Archbishop Strossmayer
founded the famous library and museum which
are now the pride of Zagreb. In connection with the
museum is a picture gallery given by him and an
art school. He was also the chief founder of the
Yougo-Slovenska Academia (South-Slavonic Academy
of Science) and the Croatian University.
During the inception and progress of these works
bringing into the field every possible auxiliary of his
authority and the force of the funds he commanded,
he waged a ceaseless campaign aimed at inducing
Servian Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, to
be no longer the victims of religious dissensions, but
to be united as brothers in their common cause of
nationality. In these aims this great Roman Catho-
LITERATURE 393
lie of Serbo-Germanic origin showed himself to be a
true Serb and a true Christian.
Am Serbo-Croal writers in addition to Gaj
were the lyric poet Stanko Vraz L810 •">! i, who
wrote "Gjoulabye" and "Gouzla i Tamboura";
the patriotic pod Dragoutin Rakovatz 1813 93 ;
Lyudevil Voukotinovich L81S 03 . author of "Py-
esme i Pripovetke" and "Ruzhe i Trnye"; and
Mirko Bogovich (1816 93 . with his songs, "Lyu-
bice," his political poem-, "Domorodni glasi," his
dramas, "Frankopan," 'Matiash Gubetz," etc.
Other writers were Dimitri Demeter 1MI 72 ; Evan
de Taruski born in 1819 , the lyric dramatist; and
the Bhort-story tellers Evan Koukoulyevich 1M<;
B9 . Ivan Yourkovich l s -7 89 . and Ivan Mazu-
ranich i s l 3 90 , who replaced the losl songs in
the poem '"( Km.- m." by Goundoulich, and wrote the
epi<- "Smii Small aghe Tchenghicha." The greatesl
Croatian lyric poet w;i> Colonel Petar Preradovich
1818 ; I . ; , fines! poem is "Poutnik" "The
Wanderer" . The other writers of drama and short
stories were [van Djezman 1841 73 . J. E. Tomich
born in 1843 , F. Markovich (born in 1845 . E.
Koumitchich (born in 1850 . and .1. Kozaratz (born
in 1858 . The authors of lyric poetry, aovels, and
plays were Aug. Shenoa St. Genois 1838 Bl .
Gjouro Arnold born in 1851 , Ksavei Shandor Gjal-
>ki, Silviye Kranjevich, Michael Nikolich (born in
1878 . M. Begovich "Xeres de la Afaraja" . A.
Tresich-Pavitchich, S. de Miletich (born in 1868 .
Srdjan Toutchich, [vo Voynovich, Yanko Leskovatz
(born in 1861 . A. Matosh, etc.
394 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Rad jugoslovenke akademije is the organ of the
Yougo-Slovenska Academia (South-Slavonic Academy
of Science), founded in 1866, the president of which
was for a long time the Croat historian Franyo Etat-
chki (1825-94). The most renowned Slavonic phil-
ologist at present living is the Serbo-Croat Vatroslav
Iagich (born in 1838), editor of the "Archives for
Slawische Philologie." He long occupied the chair
of Slavonic Philology at the universities of Vienna
and Berlin. He is renowned for his researches in
philology, archaeology, and literature.
Belonging also to the same group are the historian
Shima Lyubich (1822-96), Vyekoslav Klaich, who
wrote a "History of the Croats" (1898), and (he
encyclopaedist Boguslav Shoulek (1816-95). Liter-
ary researches have been made by A. Pavich, Peter
Matkovich, Lyudevit Voukotinovich, etc. ; researches
in ethnography and language by Franyo Kourelatz
(1811-74).
In Dalmatia were the patriotic and historic
writers, Knez Medo Poutchich (1821-82), Anton
Kazali (1815-94), and Yovan Soundetchich (1825-
1900), and the dramatist Matya Ban (1818-1903),
whose works still being played are "Meryima" and
'Tzar Lazar." At Ragusa a literary paper is pub-
lished called the Slovinac. The newspapers, maga-
zines, and other periodicals published in Serbo-
Croat are too numerous to chronicle.
POPULAB EPICS AM) LYRICS 395
5, PHE SI.KVIW \\I)(i;o\l I'ul'ILAREPICAXDLYRIC
I'ul.l \:\
The greatesl poetic treasure of the Servian people
is round in those epic songs and popular lyrics, tales,
and sayings which, unwritten during centuries, were
handed down from father to son, from mother to
daughter. Goethe has compared the greal cycles of
these Servian epics to the "Iliad" and the "Odys-
Some of the epic date from before the
Turkish invasion. They are naive, full of rough
force mingled with homeliness, Oriental fire, and a
Greek plastic quality. Sunn- sho^ traces of the old
Servian mythology. Others, especially the greal
epics, belong to the period of invasion, when Adri-
anople was the Sultan's Capital. Still others are
more modern, and even to-day such epics and songs
are composed on events of the time, both grave and
gay, by unknown bards of the people.
The heroic epics gather principally around the
battle "ii Kossovo field and the lasl of the Servian
Tsars, Lazar Qrebelianovich, and the personality
and knightly exploits of Marko Kralyevich. These
two cycles are complete. There are also fragments
of series of on Doushan the Emperor, Milosh
Obilich, hero of Kossovo, and many other heroes,
Servian rulers, and historic events dear to the mem-
ory of the people. All of the Servian risings and
the prowess of the Elaydouks have been chronicled
and chanted in song, ever and ever resung.
The Servian epics are always chanted, accom-
396 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
panied by the Gouzla. They are recitatives in
rhythmic declamation; the motif of the melody sug-
gested is fragmentary and runs within three or four
notes. Each note is divided into fractions of tones,
fixed in the execution and learned by ear, which
cannot be transcribed on the modern musical staff.
The cadences are grave and evocative, droning, yet
vibrating as if on human heartstrings. The Servian
heroic epics have a verse-line of ten syllables with
the csesura after the fourth syllable, the line being
without any fixed fall or tonality. O. Ilauser says
that the verse form of the Servian epic is very nearly
related to the verse-line called the "Spentamanyu"
line of the "Avesta" ("Zend)" of the Old Persians.
The epics of the Croats deal with the same historical
subjects and episodes as do those of the Servians, but
there is a slight difference in the verse-line, which has
fifteen syllables, with the caesura after the seventh, and
often has a refrain. The Croatian epic was rich in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but is now
entirely disappearing.
When Karadjich first collected and printed the
cyclus entitled, in his first edition (in 1818), "Laza-
ritza," he wrote: "The bards who sang these rhapso-
dies called them the 'Songs of Knez Lazar, or the
Battle of Kossovo.' Later they were published
under the title of 'Cyclus of the Battle of Kossovo."
In Stoyan Novakovich's edition, in which he aims
at exactitude of ancient form, the songs are:
I. Knez Lazar Builds His Memorial Church at
Ravanitza.
POPULAB EPICS AND LYRICS S97
II. The Turks on Kossovo Plain.
III. Sultan Muurad Sends His Challenge to Tsar
Lazar.
IV. Tsarina Militza Asks of Tsar Lazar that One
of Her Brothers Should Remain with Her
at Kroushevatz.
V. Tsar Lazar Chooses the Heavenly Kingdom.
VI. The Maiden of Kossovo and the Servian
Hero
VII. Milosh ObiUch Inquires His Way to the Turk-
ish ( lamp.
VIII. The Quarrel between Milosh Obilich and
Vouk Brankovich.
IX. The Battle of Kossovo.
X. Stephan \ - evich.
XI. News from the Battle of Kossovo.
XII. The Maiden of Kossovo.
XIII. The I > « • . 1 1 1 1 Of the YoUgOViches' Mother.
XI\. Sanctification of Tsar Lazar.
The following are literal translations rendering
tin- verse-line of ten syllables as well as possible of
BOngS V and XIII :
Song V
Tsah Lazab Chooses the Heavenly Kingdom
The original begins:
" Polctio -»k'» tit-a Mva
' < I I svetinye <>'l Yenisalima
'* I oo nod titsu lastavit
"To oe I>i<> Boko titsa Biva"
398 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
Flying comes a gray-like bird, a falcon,
From the Holy City, Jerusalem,
And a little swallow seems to carry —
— No, 'tis not a gray bird, not the falcon,
But it is the Holy Saint Elijah
And no little swallow is he bringing,
But a letter from God's Blessed Mother,
He bears it to the Tsar on Kossovo,
And on his knees the letter he lets drop,
The missive of itself began to speak:
"O Tsar Lazar, thou of glorious line,
"Between two Empires which one wilt thou choose?
"Dost thou desire the Kingdom most of God?
"Or dost thou choose the Empire of this World ?
"If the earthly Empire most thou lovest,
"Saddle the horses! tighten well the girths!
"And forthwith let thy knights their swords gird on.
"Then forward! Storm the Turks, make your assault!
"The Turkish army all, shall be brought low.
"But if the Heav'nly Kingdom thou dost choose,
"Then fashion thou a Church on Kossovo,
"Not of marble its foundations tracing,
"Only, of purest silk and scarlet build;
"There eat Christ's Bread, thy warriors prepare,
"For thy whole army will destruction find,
"And thou, too, Prince, — with it, thou wilt perish."
And when the Tsar had listened to those words,
The Tsar the question ponders o'er and o'er:
"Dear God, what shall I answer, how decide?
"Upon which Kingdom shall I set my choice —
"Shall I most desire the Heavn'ly Kingdom?
"Or, shall I choose an Empire of this world?
"If that I, in choosing either Kingdom,
"Should earthly Empire above all, desire —
"The earthly Kingdom is a little thing;
" — God's Kingdom is forever and for aye."
POPULAR EPK - AND LYRICS 399
Th«- Tsar wilTd for the Kingdom of the Lord,
Rather than the Crown of worldly Empire.
Then on Kossovo a Church he fashioned,
Not of Marble <li<l he lay its stones,
But of finest Mlk ;in<l scarlet built it.
Then he <;ill««l the Patriarch of Servians,
And twelve great Bishops thither brought,
The knightly ranks receive the Sacred Host,
And hold them ready t<» await th<- Turk-.
Of this song the famous Polish poet Adam Mitski-
yevich said, in February, 1841, in a lecture to the
College de Prance on the subject of the Servian
cyclus of rhapsodies: "The Christian idea was
never in verse expressed so beautifully and directly,
vet with its full mysticism, as in this song."
Song XIII
Tin. Death 01 phe Yougoviches' Mother
The original begins:
Mili B<>/li<- Tchouda velii
k.i'l m slezhe na Kosovo voyska
On toye voystsi devet Ybugovicha
I deseti star Youzhe Bogdane
Bo^ r ;i mob' Yougovicha mayka
I ).i yoy Bog <la t>t< hi sokolove
God adored! What a mighty wonder —
When the army on Kossovo gathered!
In that army, nin<- were sons of Yougo,
And truth was old Bogdan, great Ybug Bogdan.
The Yougoviches' mother prayed of God,
400
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
That the eyes of falcons' God would give her,
And white wings of the swan, she prayed He'd give,
That she might fly to far Kossovo Plain.
And might see there the nine Yougovichea
With them, the tenth, the great old Youg Bogdan.
What the mother prayed for, that God gave her:
Eyes of the falcon, He did give to her,
And to her gave, the while wings of the swan.
She flies away to far Kossovo Plain.
Dead, she finds, there, the Yougovichea nine.
And tenth of them, old Youg Bogdan lay (had!
Above them stood, nine spears of warriors;
On the spears, there were nine falcons silting;
Round about the spears, were nine fine horses,
And close to these, there stay'd fierce lions nine.
The nine war-steeds, they then began to neigh.
The fearsome lions nine, to snarl and roar,
While the falcons, all the nine were screaming.
But that mother's heart set hard like stone,
And from that heart no tear fell down.
Instead, she takes the nine good horses there,
The nine grim lions too, she takes with her,
Along with them she takes the falcons nine,
And to her Castel white, she then goes back.
Her sons' dear wives espy her from afar,
And hasten forth to meet her on the way.
Those widowed nine bewept and wailed their dead,
Nine children, fatherless, did cry and sob.
But even there, the mother's heart was hard,
So hard that heart, that from it no tear fell.
When darkness came, and when it was midnight,
POPULAR EPICS AND LYRICS 401
Damian'a white horse, restive grew and neighed,
The mother asks of Damian's love bereaved,
•() love of my dear Damian, daughter min<\
"Why does Damian's white horse neigh bo to us?
"Is he hungry to be fed with white wheat,
"Or does he thirst to drink of Svetchan's spring?* 1
The wife beloved of Damian answered her,
• Mother of Damian, mother of mine,
"He is ii"i hungry for the wheat bo white,
"Neither thirsts for water of Svetchan's spring,
•■For well his master, Damian. taught him,
I , , ,i big oats till midnight, and munch fine,
■ n„ii half the night to travel on the road.
"He no* is grieving f<>r thai master dear,
"Thai «'ii his back he broughl him not again."
But the mother's heart was still like stone,
And from that heart ao dry no tear did drip.
When it was light, the hour of new-born day.
Tu., vultures come a-flying, raven Mack.
With blood they're smear'd from shoulder unto win-.
Their l"-aks an- white with foam of battening:
They carry a dead hand, a hero's hand.
And on that hand there glows a wedding-ring.
Into the mother's lap they throw it.
The Yougoviches' mother lift- the hand.
Turn- and turns it. over and over again,
Then, beck'ning, saya to Damian's widowed love:
I daughter mine, beloved of Damian.
•• \Yould-t thou know to say whose hand is this?
•« — o mother mine, mother of Damian,
•'Von is the hand of OUT own Damian!
That marriage-ring I know full well, mother.
"Thai rin^' was with me on my wedding-day!"
Then Damian's mother takes the hand up.
Turns it over. -trok«> it. and play- with it-
Whisp"rin<: to the hand, she stammers starkly:
402 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
«_My hand— my dear, dear hand— my green apple!
"Where didst thou grow — and where hast thou been
plucked ?
"Here in my lap— 'tis here— that thou didst grow!
"Torn from the tree wert thou — on Kossovo!"
That sob of death, lightly her soul set free.
This poem is not only a song of the human heart,
but is also considered to be an allegory of the nine
Nemanya Kings — their mother, the old Servian
Kingdom.
Philip Vishnyich, a blind "Gouzlar" or bard,
born in Bosnia in 1767, possessed a phenomenal
memory in which he stored, as in a library, the whole
mass of the old Servian epics, ballads, and people's
songs. When the insurrection of 1804 broke out he
left Bosnia and came to Servia and sang in the camps
of the Servian soldiers. He was the poetic embodi-
ment of those wars. He himself composed, inspi-
rationally in the camps, chanting it as he then created
it from the fire of the Servian soul, the finest modern
Servian epic. Afterward, when the day was won, the
first work to issue from the Belgrade printing-press
was that battle-poem of the "Revolt."
Vouk Karadjich and Sima Miloutinovich were
among those who listened to the blind singer around
the bivouac fires, and were deeply stirred to action
and resolve which later bore immortal fruit to the
nation.
The lyrics, as melodies accompanied by words or
dancing or by words and dancing, are found among
Servians not only in the villages but in the towns.
POPULAR EPICS AND LYRICS 403
Some <>f these are so old that their first singers are
unknown. There are new ones which spring up
like the wild flowers of the field — sown by the wind
or an unknown hand coming from nobody can
say where. The lyrics are love songs and women's
songs, the latter mostly composed by women and
girls. There arc also drinking songs and chants of
marriage, birth, ami death, cremonials and merry-
making. The verse-metre of these lyrics is gener-
ally trochaee and dactyls.
Following is a drinking song from the Shumadia:
Soko leti \iM>k<>
Shiri krila shiroko
Tra/.lii locu viriovu
Trazhi vodu studenu
Devoj ka ga doziva
Oil' ovamo, >nk'»lt-
Evo loze vinove
I . >. rode studene
Studena \<- ka i led
A Blatka ye ka i med
Peeye brate peeye
\ I ~.-li >!ii<> >\ i.
Literally translated in tli<- measure of the original:
High the falcon Hies in air.
Stretches wide bis planing wings,
- • k> tin- vine with grapes for wine,
Seeks the icy water-sprii
Him tin- maiden beckons near,
"Hither, falcon, come to me!
"Here's tin- vine where wine-grapes grow!
** Here i> water cool ami clear.
404 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
"Fresh it is and cold as snow,
"The grapes are sweet as honey!
"Drink! brother, drink!
"Gay all are we!"
An Elegy
A Woman's Song from South-western Servia
The original begins:
Shto Morava moutna tetche ?
Da li Pasha konye poyie,
II' Pashina voyska brodi?
Why does Morava flow troubled ?
Do the Pasha's horses drink there,
Or the Pasha's soldiers cross it ?
Neither Pasha's horses drink there,
Nor the Pasha's soldiers cross it,
But two sisters bathing in it,
Olivera and Todora,
In the waves Todora perished,
Olivera gained the shore.
Spoke the dead face of the maiden,
"Olivera, O my sister.
"When thou goest to our mother,
"Tell not thou that mother sad,
"That the waves have closed above me,
"Say to her that I am married.
"'Tween two hills, my groomsmen, am I,
"Tween two forests, my bridesmaidens,
"And a marble stone, my bridegroom,
"Little grass my lover's sister,
"And for mother-in-law, the sod."
POPULAR EPICS AM) LYRICS 405
The first collection of the popular poetry made by
Vouk Stephanovich Karadjich, "Srpske narodne
pyesme," was translated into many foreign languages —
German, French, English, and Russian. In a second
volume he published the lyrics and women's songs,
'Srpske narodne pyesme iz Hercegovine" (new edi-
tion, 1891-190-2, two volumes, Belgrade).
The songs of the Bosnians were published by Bogo-
lviil> Petranovich, Belgrade, 1867—70, and Serayevo,
ISO?; also by Ristich in 1873. Raditchevich, in 1872,
published tin- Montenegrin songs. The Servian fairy
talcs were published by Karadjich, at Vienna, in
L870, and were republished at Belgrade in 1897,
the second volume, " Poslovice" ("sayings"), in 1900.
The Croat epics were published by Miklosich in
** Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Slavischen Volks poesie,"
Vol. I, ami in "Volks Epos der Kroaten," Vienna,
1S7U. A complete edition was made by Bogishich,
"Narodne pyesme izstariyih zapisa," Belgrade, 1S78;
also by the"Matitza Brvatska," at Zagreb, 189G -!>:>,
in four volumes.
Koiikoulyevieh published the folk songs of the
Kajkavci in the fourth volume of "Razlitchna
djela," Zagreb, 1847. A collection of fairy talcs
was published by M. Valyevatz, at Varasdin, in 1858,
and by Kourelatz, at Zagreb, in 1871.
0. the fine a uts
Students of the early Servian periods, Karitch
among others, have found that the arts and learning in
Servia prior to the Turkish invasion in no way ranked
406 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
below those of Western Europe and Constantinople.
As with learning, so was it true of the arts of archi-
tecture, sculpture, and painting, that they came into
Servia with Christianity through the door of Byzance.
Those arts were no longer a living force at Constan-
tinople, but were rather formulas of past attainment,
treasured by the few, a sealed book to the vulgar.
The oldest remains of Servian art date back no
further than the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Architecture
The Servian mediaeval architectural monuments,
judged by the few surviving remains, show an inter-
pretation of Byzantine style lofty in ideal and ele-
gant in construction. The characteristic design of
a large central cupola supported by four smaller ones
is often found in Servian churches of the period,
whose exteriors use vari-coloured marbles and stones
sometimes with brick, and the interiors, mural decora-
tions of painting and mosaic, in the best Byzantine
manner. Besides the constructions in pure Byzan-
tine style, there are others modified by the introduc-
tion of original Servian ideas, which seek inspiration
from the West as well as from the East. In some
cases the Servians based their art solely on western
models, which they developed with individual taste.
The finest architectural remains exemplifying both
or either of these manners are the church and mon-
astery of Detchani, built by King Stephan Detchan-
ski; the church and monastery of Studenitza, erected
by Stephan Nemanya; the Saint Lazar Church at
ARCHITECTURE 407
Kroushevatz, built by Tsar Lazar; the church and
monastery of Lyoubostinya, built by Tsarina Militza;
and the castle and the church of Manassia, built by
Despot Stephan Lazarovich. The architect of some
of these beautiful churches was Rade Borovich,
whose memory is honoured in many folk songs.
The castles and fortresses were constructed on the
Byzantine system of towers connected by walls.
One or sometimes two of these towers were higher
than the others, and within the walls was a second
building with towers and walls similar to the French
"Donjon" (the place of last defence). The castles
of the nobles, some of which remain inhabited in
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Albania, all
exhibit the same main characteristics. Enclosing an
inner court i> an unbroken wall of buildings with a
large and high tower at the place of entrance. This
plan is followed in principle in the architecture of
many monasteries, with the church in the court.
Such arc the monasteries of Mount Athos and Stude-
nitza. Manassia i- a true castle, with towers and
walls enclosing the church.
In the building of other public works — bridges,
roads, etc., some of which are still in good use, the
Serbs followed the methods and construction which
they found in the early Roman remains.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century the
architecture was unfortunately an imported bastard
renaissance of the ugliest type. At present a new
generation of architects who have studied in the
great art centres of the world have submitted plans
for public buildings, of beautiful and original design,
408 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
suggestive of a development of mediaeval Servian
architecture.
Sculpture
The Byzantine style as used in the churches by
the Orthodox Church admitted no statues. No
free scope or inspiration, therefore, was offered to
the sculptor such as brought forth the wonders in
marble of the Phidian period in Greece. The
Servian sculptors, however, studied in Italy, and
many of them, in the decorations on the Servian
churches and monasteries, broke loose from strict
Byzantine tradition and wrought many beautiful
conceptions in high and low relief, which they used
in representing saints and heraldic and symbolic ani-
mals, especially over the doors and windows. The
finest examples of this are in Saint Lazar's Church
at Kroushevatz, Studenitza, and the monastery of
Kalenitch. In Ragusa and along; the eastern shores
and islands of the Adriatic, where the Latin Church
prevailed, there are very beautiful sculptural remains.
Modern Servian sculpture is showing development
in some good works. Those of Pay a Iovanovich
exhibited in Paris salons have won prizes. Other
young sculptors are beginning to attract serious at-
tention in Paris, Rome, and London, where works
of S. Roksandich and George Iovanovich have re-
ceived high praise.
Painting
The old Servian painting was bound under By-
zantine traditions. Nevertheless, there are some
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA 409
portraits of rulers and other individuals painted
in the churches which show character in expression
and evident truth to life. Many others follow Byzan-
tine methods. A great place belongs to all these
painters, among Old Servian artists, who painted in
Venice, Florence, and other parts of Italy, many of
whose names, from Carpaccio to the modest painters
who were content to sign their works simply "Schia-
vone" the Slav), make part of the glory of the
Italian Renascence.
The foremost among modern Servian painters is
Paya [ovanovich (see frontispiece), Voukanovich,
Krstich Markovich, Todorovich, Milovanovich, Mu-
ral, Predich, Knezhevicb Potchek, Tchobayitch and
Lallich, have also won recognition. Danilovatz is
the best known among engravers and etchers. These
artists were born in the different regions of the Serb
Block, and have like most other modern painters gone
for technique to Paris, though in the subjects they have
painted they have generally sought inspiration in their
own national history or in scenes in their own lands.
7. MUSIC AM) THE DRAMA
All that remains of old Servian music is found in
the Servianised church music and that of the old
folk songs. The musician, Cornelius Stankovich,
collected and transcribed in the modern musical
staff that old church music and the people's melodies.
The melodies of the love songs are of slow and lan-
guorous rhythm, the notes not exceeding an octave.
Thev can be written on the modern musical staff.
410
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
"Savila se grana yorgovana" — "The lilac branch was
bending":
Largholto
fJ_j_S:
±r t *-*- *l l
n
-y
6#£?ii§il
feto
$tt g jpgig sgf|pll
"Sva se livada travom niyala" — "The meadow grass
was swaying":
Moderato
-0 r-H-
iM
V*-T-*
-^0-p- — 0— *-
m
-# — I— !-
~j~*
^^^TO
Fa
"Viyor dolom douye"-
Andantino
Oy devoyko devoykc.-'— " Maiden, O maiden":
Andante
eS&5^^^^3^§
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA 411
"Tri sou seye zbor zborile" — "Three sisters held
converse together":
Andante
*>7
H
^
^ZI
Hf»jT-
s
ril . . . . a tempo
piu mo&so
~| / - l7 - m * r ^lJ^ZI — , — ,1 ~ — , — il . i — [ I " — i-f-^- ■
tit
r ^i*r
l^t
^m
"I titchitza sanka ima " " E'en the little bird sleeps" :
Annunte
The opening and the cadence of these songs are
generally characteristic. When rendered in modern
412
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
harmony they are either in suspense or half finished.
Songs sung on joyous occasions, such as marriages
and festivals, and drinking songs follow the mood of
the moment.
"Dai da piyemo" — "Let us drink":
Sostenuto
> > > >
^^^_^pgpJ££gjf
*j
> > > >
£=£
0-F-0
va
#-#
-i — i
?—+-*
ite^l
In the dancing songs words and notes sharply
accentuate the rhythm. Especially is this true of
the "poskotchitze," which being spontaneous, in the
height of fun are sometimes more than saucy. The
heroic songs are sung by grown-up men only, the
lyrics by men and women, the "poskotchitze" only
by young men in the quick Kolo dances.
The lyric songs are generally sung by a group of
persons together; certain of the Kolo songs are
sung by the girls and women as they dance; some
women's songs are sung in strophe and anti-strophe
by different voices. The singing is generally in uni-
son, except in some districts where there are two
parts sung, one as a leading voice, the other as
support.
The dance music is played or played and sung in
all tempos, from vivace to andante:
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA 413
"Neda grivnu izgoubila" — "Nedda has lost her
bangle":
Moderato
s
t pjj \ WJU3 E& &Z&1
i
#-»-»
WU=ff^
^^m
"Srbiyanka ":
Giusto
-»■ * _ *
■GT
y^T
^= r^ ~'~ rr"i * fly * j - — =-m-^
^s
fe^^ -Hr a
14 koritarka":
AJIegro
* # r ,
fe ?T^ra
3tDt
414
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
#B^gia
"Gjurgjevka":
Allesro vivace
fcfc
g^ Mj'jL l ^ ^g^
m
^i : I ^
*-*-*
teffi
# — •
V V \
!_Li-_S
&=*
a
jJpjgggjpaiB
•! — frfc
£*£
fea#e#Nfei
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA
"Yelke tamnitcharke"'
Allegretto
415
fa^HlJgj^Jg&lfi^ &l
"Ousta'i diko zora ye!" — "Get up dear, 'tis day!"
Allegro vivo
ESEH3+ -r-g-H -
*.
S-Z£?EtS
te
3tS
•*-*:
&
1'?.
IJI
"Nishei lanka Kolo" is remarkable in that, although
oue of the oldest dance tunes, it resembles a modern
tune in structure:
Gratioso
416
THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
M:
Fine
poco a poco acceil
Vivace
rji
g^EJ S^ ^pg Sggl ^
^ poco a poco acceil
8rf& — i — ^-T — i — ^^- : I1
D. C. al Fine
The following dances are played, sung, danced,
and acted at the same time, recalling dances of Greek
antiquity:
" Stoyanke stoyano " :
^3
~±&}\ jjj-|-j^JU j A
^^ m
i
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA
"Igralo Kolo":
Tranquillo
417
■ J? £2 • p r i • • ■ i I r^ n" s m ? w ? i
Si
t=*=+
"Tita tita loboda":
Allegretto
n
# , . . 1 — S£ — pjtM m
fc
#-#
> : H^
**=;
I
Popular music is a part of life in Serb lands, and
there are many singing societies which cultivate the
national melodies, bringing them into modern har-
mony, generally in the form of the quartette. These
societies have given a great impulse to modern crea-
tive work of an original and national character.
Two composers of some merit are Davorin Yenko
and Iossip Marinkovich. There are several beauti-
ful compositions to the credit of each. Yenko has
composed a light opera, "Yratchar," and the over-
tures, "Kossovo" and "Tri svetla dana," all with
full orchestration. Several young composers are of
interesting promise.
418 THE SERVIAN PEOPLE
The highest class of modern instrumental music
at present in Servia is represented only by the
regimental bands and the orchestras of the theatres
at Belgrade, Novi-Sad, and Zagreb.
Drama
Fragments of old masques or plays, living still
to-day in "KGled;!,'' "Dodola," "Kralitze," "Laza-
ritze," are the survivals of ancient riles from mytho-
logical ages. They are declaimed, sung, and chanted
with strophe and anti-strophe, postured, mimed, and
danced, and contain chief characters and chorus in
which there can be traced ancient conceptions of
gods and goddesses, heroes and nymphs, expressive
not only of nature's forces, but of human and mystic
action and the courses of destiny.
The "Vertep" ("Cradle") is an adaptation of this
old dramatic expression. At Christmas time little
children, decked out as personages of the story,
make a tiny cradle, put a doll in it, and carry it
through the village, speaking and acting old dialogue
appropriate to the occasion.
Manuscripts show that the dramatic art flourished
in mediaeval Servia. The plays were not like the
morality plays, but were actual representations of
various parts of sacred story, resembling, so far as
can be judged, the Oberammergau Passion Play;
and in the fifteenth century, in Ragusa, realistic
plays of ordinary life were written and acted. One
of these, remembered as a masterpiece, was the
"Slave-Girl," by Lutchich.
In the early nineteenth century the dramatic art
MUSIC AND TUB DRAMA 419
was revived by the actor and writer Joachim Vouitch,
who organised a company of players which travelled
through all Servian lands giving Servian dramas.
In 1835 — five years after Servia was recognised as
independent his troupe played there at Kragouye-
vatz. Ni^ company and others had an important
pari in the revival of Servian national life.
The art of the theatre i> centred at present in the
national theatres at Belgrade, Zagreb, and Novi-
Sad. All three of those national theatres are estab-
lished t<> develop and promulgate the l><--t that can
be produced in the Drama, Comedy, and Opera.
<
LD ..
Form L9
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