111^ o l a ■*'oajAINlHn' ^OFCAIIFO/?^ ^amit^ "%3AIN(V3\\v ^UIBRARYQr ^UIBR. ojitvj-jo^ ^ojiivj-jo^ ^OFCAUFO/?^ ^EUNIVER% %3DNVS01^ mat ^OKALIFOflfc, in^ u3 <% i f"-' 1 i , \tfEl!NIVERto lilfT 1 ov^ A'ER5//> <&■ -Z V ' * 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 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<• (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 ;mf 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, ;mt 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«- 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 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 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 ;mt" 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\ 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 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 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 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 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 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<- 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 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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Lot Angeles This book it DUE on the latt date stamped belov itJN l 3 mb 1978 11379 i A98Z «- M ^4 ilJUv — , >. tTim = .N 3 3 1158 00133 6857 i REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 737 588 4