BY

REV. W. DENTON, M.A.

CHAPTER THE FOURTH.

MODERN SERVIAN CHURCHES—THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. MICHAEL, BELGRADE—THE ICONOSTASIS—ST. GEORGE’S DAY—VERNACULAR SERVICE—ORDINATION OF A PRIEST—BLESSING THE DISHES OF CORN—JEWISH CHARACTER OF SERVICE INTERVIEW WITH THE AROHBISHOP.

On the same ridge on which the fortress is situated, and near to it, a little removed from the busiest part of the city, but in the old Turkish quarter, stands the Cathedral of Belgrade. It is not a church of any antiquity, since, like most of the churches in this country, its foundation dates only from the time of the deliverance of Servia from the Turkish yoke. For the greater part of the time that Servia was an integral part of the Turkish empire, and was governed by pashas, it was unlawful for the Christians in any part of the country to meet for the purpose of divine service; and even in later times, when this law was somewhat relaxed, and the existence of a few mean churches, mostly in the interior of the country, was connived at, still the Christians were not allowed to make any outward and visible sign of assembling for public worship, and were strictly forbidden the use of bells to their churches. When, however, the victories, first of Kara George,¹ and afterwards of. Prince Milosh,² had freed the people from any future apprehension from the Turks, the liberty of worship was granted by express stipulation throughout the country. Then it was that large churches, mostly of brick covered with plaster, were built in all the larger towns and villages. The cathedrals of Belgrade and of Schabatz, and the large parish church at Semandria,³ were all built as soon as it was possible to do so, and all within the last thirty years. Unfortunately, the haste with which they were erected is evident in their present condition. The three churches just named all show signs of their faulty construction; and from the large cracks and rents which are visible in the walls and roofs of all of them, it is more than probable that in a few years they will either fall to the ground or have to be taken down.

The cathedral of Belgrade, the metropolitan church of Servia, which is dedicated in memory of the Archangel Michael, is from ninety to a hundred feet in length, and has a very close resemblance to many of the churches which were built in our own towns in the days when Sir John Soane was reckoned an authority on church-building, and when Wyattyille and Nash were the fashionable architects. At the west end it has a well-proportioned tower, surmounted by a bulbous spire of the type so common in Germany. The latter is painted of a chocolate colour, relieved with gilding and set off with wreaths of flowers, urns, cornucopias, and suchlike classical ornaments, and is supported by, or at least surmounts, a frieze or tympanum with Ionic pilasters. The choir, which slightly projects beyond the line of the rest of the church, makes the building transeptal, and, as in all churches of the Greek rite, the east end terminates in an apex. Though there is little beauty in the exterior of the building, yet the situation of the cathedral is very striking; and its height, towering as it does above the mosques and minarets, and overtopping all other buildings in the city, makes it the most conspicuous object which meets the eye of the traveller as he approaches Belgrade. In the interior the arrangements are those which are usually met with in the churches throughout the East.

‘The cathedral is divided into the sanctuary, which is cut off from the rest of the building, and hidden from the attendants of public worship by the iconostasis; the choir, which is set apart for the singers; the nave, where the men present at the service stand, and which, in this cathedral, is sunk one step below the choir to the east and the narthex to the west; a double narthex, which is reserved for the women, and an internal porch running the whole way across the building. Over the western narthex is a gallery, of which no use seems to be made. It was in former times occupied by the women, but these, as I have just said, now stand below. The iconostasis in an Eastern church takes, in some sort, the place of the chancel-rail which, in the churches of Western Europe, divides the sanctuary from the choir. Instead, however, of being a mere
rail, as with us, it is a partition sometimes running to the roof, and almost always reaching two-thirds of the way to it. In this screen or partition are three doorways, generally with a low door to each, and usually with a veil in addition. Within this space stands the altar, which is nearly square, and behind it the seat of the archbishop. On the north side are the credence-table, aumbry, and piscina; and on the south is the cupboard for the vestments, and shelves containing the library of the church.

The iconostasis of the cathedral of Belgrade is a fair specimen of the usual form and decoration of an iconostasis, and a description may give some idea of this essential feature in every Eastern church, and save the necessity of my saying more about it when speaking of other churches. It consists of a wooden partition set off and divided into seven spaces by two rows of Corinthian columns richly painted and gilded, and adorned with paintings of a German rather than of a Byzantine type. In the upper tier is a series of scenes from the life of our Blessed Lord. ‘These are—(1) Christ with the doctors in the Temple; (2) The adoration of the shepherds; (3) The circumcision and presentation in the Temple; (4) The Resurrection; (5) The Baptism of Christ; (6) The Transfiguration; (7) The Ascension. The lower tier is decorated with figures, which
are those of—(1) The archangel Michael; (2) The Blessed Virgin; (3) Our Blessed Lord; (4) St. John the Baptist. The remaining three spaces are occupied by the three doors of the iconostasis. Before the iconostasis, fourteen silver lamps are suspended from the ceiling in two rows. In less important churches, seven lamps is the usual number that will be found, and in poor and rural churches this dwindles often to a solitary lamp.

Outside the iconostasis, in the north and south walls, are recesses for the choir, with paintings of David and Isaiah; whilst immediately in front of the iconostasis are fixed two large standard candlesticks of brass, with spikes on the rim of the bowl for the insertion of smaller candles, offered usually in fulfilment of a vow, or on the great feast-days of the Church. From the north wall of the choir projects an half-octagonal wooden pulpit; this is reached by stairs inserted in the thickness of the wall. Directly opposite, by the south wall. of the choir, are stalls for the archbishop and prince, and adjoining the latter, but standing in the nave, and not in the choir, like the others, one
for the princess. These stalls are decorated respectively with a painting of the sainted Archbishop Sava,⁴ of a king, and of the Blessed Virgin. A little in front of the central door of the iconostasis, is the ambo from which the Gospel is read to the people. This is a round stone of one, two, or three steps, the number being apparently regulated according to the dignity of the church. In this cathedral, it is of three steps. The nave, immediately to the west of the choir, and, as I have before said, sunk one step below it, is entirely bare of seats of any kind. The only support for tired worshippers—and the services of the Greek Church are very tiring—is from a kind of miserere stalls placed against the walls and pillars round three sides of the nave. Again, to the west of the nave, is the narthex, in which the women stand during the service, Beyond this is a second narthex, in which is the font, made of the common brown marble of the country, and still beyond this the porch of the church.

The 5th of May, according to the calendar of the Western Church, but only the 23rd of April, according to the reckoning of the Eastern Church, which is twelve days behind the rest of Christendom, is the feast-day of St. George, one of the most popular saints in the orthodox communion. Throughout Servia this day is observed as the chief gala day in the year; and occurring as it does in the opening days of spring, the observances are of the most festive kind. Many a graceful custom indeed of the old heathen times still lingers in the rites by which this day is celebrated; and the Christian peasant, unsuspicious of their source, uses on this occasion the symbolic forms of the worship of nature which has now lost all significance. It is, in fact, the May-day and the St. Valontine’s day of England, with their respective rites, which we have borrowed mostly from heathenism, united into one, and mingled with devout customs, which have sprung up since the conversion of these nations to Christianity.⁵

These saints’ days of the Eastem Church, however, assume an importance over and above their character as holidays, when labour is universally put aside, and the people give themselves over to joy and recreation. To the observance of these days, Ricaut attributes, in a great measure, the preservation of the Christianity of these nations during the times of Ottoman rule. They were days in which the faith of the downtrodden people of Servia and of Roumelia⁶ was reanimated by the direct teaching of their priests—by the symbolic instruction of the rites of religion, and by communion with each other. Those who, under the influence of fear or the seductions of interest, had relapsed to the creed of their rulers, were oftentimes reclaimed from Mahometanism by the tenacity with which they clung to the feast-days of the Church. At the present moment the fidelity of the Albanians, and those Bosnians who have become Mussulmans, is doubted throughout the East, from the fact that, mingled with the Mahometan faith, they have still retained the observance of many of the feast-days of the orthodox Church.

On the morning of St. George’s-day I was awakened very early by the more than usual bustle in the streets, and by the noise of tho bells of the cathedral, calling people to an early service. -As, however, I had been informed the evening before, that the archbishop himself would be present at the Communion office, which would commence at eight o’clock in the morning, I waited until that hour. When I arrived at the cathedral, the service had not commenced, although the church was already three parts filled, and mostly by me. These were of all classes, from the minister of state to the labourer, standing side by side without distinction in that house where all distinctions should end. The space allotted to women in tho narthex is, in all churches, small compared with that in the nave, which is reserved exclusively for the men. In some of our churches, especially in the country parts of England, we find this custom of the men and women being placed apart still retained. With us, however, the division is a longitudinal one; and if the men are seated on the north side, the women are placed of the south. In the Eastern Church, the rule of the division of the sexes is rigidly observed, but with these differences, that, instead of sitting, all the worshippers stand, and, in place of the different sexes occupying the north and south, they stand west and east. Almost every one, however, whether man or woman, on entering the church, goes to a little moveable sloping desk, which is, at the time of service, placed in the centre of the nave, and on which two paintings or icons are placed —one of the patron-saint to whose honour the church is dedicated, and the other of our crucified or risen Lord. Ono of these, or sometimes both, are reverently kissed, and a small offering deposited on the table, or dropped into the alms-chest within. This, together with a cross made upon the forehead, is the act of devotion on entering a church. On this occasion a priest, who stood at the desk (phekonastasse), anointed every one who presented himself with holy oil, signing him with a cross, and using for that purpose a small silver stylus.

Soon after I had arrived the archbishop came into the church, attended by five or six priests in copes, and vested in their other sacerdotal garments, and by the Bishops of Tchatchat and Negotin, who, however, wore their ordinary dress, and dark cloaks with a priest’s hat, from which hung a black veil, These two took their places in the choir-stalls on the south side of the cathedral. The rest of the attendants of the archbishop went with him to the phekonastasse, where, having taken the stylus from the hand of the priest, he first signed himself, and then the attendant priests and deacons, with the cross on the forehead. Then, going into the sanctuary with his attendants, he was vested in his episcopal robes, the whole of which was covered with a cope consisting almost entirely of cloth of gold ; together with this, a bonnet was placed on his head, such as we see in representations of the Jewish high priest, resplendent with precious stones, and surmounted by a large emerald cross, Prince Michel was present, attended by the Minister of Police and by his aides-de-camp, who stood in the crowd with the rest of the people. The whole service, as in all the Servian churches, was in old Sclavonic, which is, in fact, the archaic form of the vernacular, and the parent of the language at present spoken in Servia. From its close resemblance to the modern Servian, and it may be from long usage, this ecclesiastical language is pretty generally understood by the people, the great mass of whom joined in the suffrages and hymns, and chanted their part throughout the service. The language was entirely new to me, and the office—that of St. John Chrysostom—in a great measure so. As is the custom throughout the Eastern Church, part of the service was chanted within, and other portions outside the iconostasis. The epistle and gospel were read by two deacons from the ambo in the choir.

During the whole of the service, six boys with cassocks of red-printed calico, ornamented with a green cross, stood near the central door of the sanctuary, each of them holding a small standard; four others, in linen surplices with a red cross, held tapers, which were extinguished and relighted several times at various parts of the service. The whole church, indeed, was full of the lights of candles, though the effect of all this blaze was, in a great measure, lost in the glare of the day. Outside the sanctuary two large wax candles had been lighted before the service began, and continued lighted until the close. Round the rim of each of the large standard candlesticks which contained these greater lights, as many long votive tapers were blazing as could be stuck into the spikes made for that purpose. On the ground were some forty or fifty candles. The glass chandeliers again, which hung from the roof, were each of them a pyramid of lighted candles, whilst, on the altar within the iconostasis, stood, on the north side, two wax tapers bound together with ribbon, emblematic of the divine and human natures of Him who is “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world;” and, on the south side, three wax tapers bound in the same way together, and typical of the Triune Godhead. These lights were taken from the altar, and handed to the archbishop when he was about to bless the assembled people.

During the first Communion office, the deacon, who had just read the gospel, was ordained priest. This, of course, took place within the iconostasis, and a part of the office was used with the door closed and the veil down, so that a portion only of the solemnity was seen by the congregation. Two priests, each of them holding a hand of the candidate for the priesthood, presented him to the archbishop, who was seated at the north corner of the altar. The attendant priests did not join with the archbishop in laying their hands upon the head of the deacon as with us: this, according to the directions of the Greek ordinal, was the act of the archbishop alone. After his ordination, the stole of the deacon was taken from the neck of the newly ordained priest, and for it the Epitrahil, or priest’s stole, was substituted. He was then vested in the chasuble (phelon), and cincture (payasse), and maniples (epimanikia), and was then led by the same priest who had presented him to the archbishop four times round
the altar. At the corners of the altar are always placed the emblems of the four Evangelists, and these as he passed he reverently kissed, in token of his obligation to teach and to preach the truths contained in their writings. As he passed in front of the archbishop, who remained seated, the newly-made priest knelt. When he had gone round the altar the prescribed number of times, he then took his place with the remainder of his brethren, and joined with them in the service assigned to the priests.

Whilst the service of the Holy Communion was going on, dishes of baked corn were brought in from time to time covered with white sugar, and ornamented with various devices made with coloured comfits. In the centre of each of these dishes a lighted candle was stuck, and the whole, to the number of some forty or fifty, were placed on the floor of the choir on either side of the ambo. At the end of the service of the Mass, these dishes were blessed by the archbishop, and were then removed by their respective owners. These make an important figure on the table at the evening meal of the households by whom they have been sent. Some persons, in place of dishes of corn, brought a loaf into the church for the same purpose.

The whole of this accumulation of services, which had lasted upwards of two hours, was brought to an end by the archbishop’s benediction of the people, and by the distribution of a small piece of holy bread to all who desired to receive it.

‘The whole ceremonial, not only in its broader features, but down to the minuter details, appeared to me essentially Jewish. Let it not be for a moment supposed that I use this word in disparagement of the ceremonial. This linking together of type and antitype, of promise and fulfilment, seems to me to invest the services of the orthodox Church with a peculiar solemnity. It was as though the unvarying East had retained so much of the services of the elder Church as could be made applicable to Christian worship, and had thus restored to them their full and spiritual meaning. This was so much the case that as I stood in the cathedral of Belgrade, with the myriad lights blazing around, and listened to the full choir chanting antiphonally, whilst the people answered in responsive chorus, using the selfsame music which may still be heard in the Jewish synagogue; and whilst with the voices of the people, clouds of incense symbolizing “the prayers of the saints,” rose within and without the door of the sanctuary, with its veil of scarlet covering the way to the Holy of Holies, I seemed to be standing within that older temple at Jerusalem, and listening to the music which, at least, from the time of David, has been the sacred heritage of God’s Church. This illusion was completed when I saw before me the tall form of the priests, clothed in flowing oriental garments, full-bearded, and with heads as guiltless of the razor as the Nazarites of old. And if the sound of the Gospel, and the name of the Redeemer of mankind, and the sight of the Cross borne aloft, as in triumph before the archbishop, reminded me that I was in a Christian temple, it recalled, at the same time, to my mind the fact that Christianity is the fulfilment, not the destruction, of the old law, and that the new temple of the Catholic Church is but the old temple of Moses and of the prophets, made more glorious than before “by reason of the glory that excelleth.”

Two days after my arrival at Belgrade, I sent, through a Servian gentleman to whom I was afterwards indebted for many acts of kindness and for much valuable information on the state of the Church and also on the manners and customs of the Servian people, a letter to the archbishop, telling him that I was a clergyman of the English Church staying at Belgrade, and intending to make a short visit into the interior of Servia, and that I should be glad to be allowed to pay my respects to him. I received immediately a message in answer to my letter, appointing the next day at eleven o’clock for an interview.

On calling with the same friend, who kindly acted as my interpreter on this and other occasions, we were shown into an ante-room, the floor of which, guiltless of any covering, was of polished wood inlaid. Every-thing about the apartment denoted great simplicity, and almost the only ornament was a portrait of the national Saint of Servia, the Prince-Archbishop Sava. A few minutes after our arrival, the archbishop entered, and invited us to follow him into an inner room, which, from its size and furniture, seemed to be a kind of State apartment. It was a long room, of some forty feet in length, with handsome but simple furniture, consisting chiefly of a large table, with chairs, and a couch or divan at one end, over which hung a painting of the Crucifixion.

‘The archbishop having taken his seat on the couch, invited me to take my place by his side. After the first formal words of introduction, he rang a bell, and a servant appeared with the usual tray of sweetmeats, in this instance guava jelly, and glasses of cold water, which were handed to us. The archbishop, who is the metropolitan of the Church in Servia, was about three years since elected to the see, having before that time been Bishop of Shabatz. He is still young for his present post, being apparently about five-and-forty years of age, with a countenance of great gentleness and intelligence. His manners are very refined and agreeable, and his whole deportment is one of dignity befitting his position as the ruler of the Servian Church.⁷ I have rarely been so favourably impressed by any one in a short visit. On his head the archbishop had the usual high round hat which marks the ecclesiastical dignitary of the Eastern Church, and he wore a long black gown lined with purple, and confined at the waist by a broad girdle. On his breast hung suspended by a gold chain a pectoral cross of blue enamel, with figure of our Blessed Lord on the Cross very beautifully painted. During the whole of my interview with him, he held in his hands the customary string of white beads of which use is made by all classes both here, and in other parts of the East, not so much as an object of religion, or an assistance in prayer, but merely as farnishing an occupation for the fingers. It is, in fact, used for much the same purpose as a piece of string or a scrap of paper is by our public speakers, as a material aid to their eloquence, or as an American is said to use his knife, and to whittle the chairs or tables instead of sitting entirely without occupation.

The archbishop began the conversation by telling me the great pleasure it gave him to receive the visit of an English clergyman, especially, as he had always regarded the Church of England with peculiar interest, and remembered how much the Eastern Church, both in the present day and at past times, had been indebted to the literary labours of English clergymen. Recently he had been reading, and that with great pleasure, the Lectures of Canon Stanley on the Eastem Church,⁸ and was aware that Dr. Neale had written several works on the history and ritual of the same Church, though he had not, he regretted to say, been fortunate enough to meet with his writings. On
my expressing a hope that the increasing knowledge which English Churchmen acquired of the orthodox Church might lead to a larger amount of intercourse and more outward unity, the archbishop replied, that a prayer for the unity of God’s Church’ always made a part of his own daily devotions, and that he hoped in God’s good time that this might be.

He then referred to the condition of the English Church, and showed his perfect acquaintance with its distinctive position with reference to the Protestant communities of the Continent, whether Calvinistic or Lutheran. After this he kindly answered a variety of questions on points about which I was desirous of obtaining information, and then made a number of minute inquiries as to the practical workings of the English Church, and as to various parts of our ordinal. These questions led to my asking
him whether he had seen a copy of the English Book of Common Prayer; and on his saying that he had not; and that his ignorance of our language had, he regretted, interposed a bar to the knowledge, I mentioned the existence of Latin, Greek, and German copies, instancing these languages as they were all spoken by him—indeed, at times our conversation had been in Latin, without the medium of an interpreter—and offered to send him a Latin copy on my return to London, an offer for which he was pleased to thank me. In the course of our conversation, it had been mentioned that I was contemplating an excursion into the interior, and that I hoped in a few days to visit Schabatz, On hearing this, the Archbishop kindly offered to give me a letter to the clergy, both monastic and parochial, as well as one to the Bishop of Schabatz. These documents were sent to me the same evening.

At the close of our interview, the Archbishop took me through the palace to the room where the diocesan and provincial synods are held, and explained to me the constitution of these councils, one of which was to be held in a few days. He then led me to his private chapel, which is a miniature church in the centre of the palace, and consists of a sanctuary and choir. On the iconostasis were figures of St. Simeon,⁹ the Blessed Virgin, our Blessed Lord, and a saint whose name has escaped me, ‘The altar is of wood, without any footpace, nearly square, and about four feet on each side. Two candles stood on and at the back of the altar, and between them a crucifix of very superior workmanship. On the altar, as usual, were copies of the Gospels and of the Encologion, and on the south side of it lay a priest’s stole, This appears to be considered the proper place for the stole, as I noticed it, lying on the south side of the altar, in several churches which I visited,

As the sanctuary, throughout the Orthodox Church, is specially reserved for the clergy, and others are not ‘usually allowed to enter, I was not sure, therefore, whether the Archbishop would permit the priest of another Church to pass the iconostasis. He, however, led me round the altar, and pointed out to me the position of the furniture, the table of prothesis, and the piscina. In the body of the chapel are two seats, one for the prince, should he be present, and the other for the Archbishop himself. On our quitting the chapel we were again conducted into the ante-room which we had a first entered, and there, before leaving, the Archbishop gave me his benediction. Embracing me, and kissing me on the cheek, and then laying his hands on my head, he made the sign of the cross three times, and pronounced the solemn words of blessing. Then as I shook hands with him and prepared to retire, he again assured me in the same words which he had used at the beginning of my interview, that the visit of an English clergyman had given him great pleasure, and that he had always regarded with great interest the Church of which I was a minister.

I have dwelt upon this interview because the recollection of the kindness of the Archbishop is what I am not likely ever to forget ; but I have done so not merely for this personal reason. The reception and kindness was not personal. I bore no letter of introduction to the Metropolitan of Servia. I was welcomed by him, and the kindness which he showed me solely arose from the fact that I was an English clergyman.

In the evening after the interview, a sealed letter to the Bishop of Schabatz, with directions that in the event of his absence it was to be opened and attended to by the consistory of that diocese; and another, of which I give the translation, were sent to the hotel where I was staying.

“Mr, William Denton, an English clergyman, Vicar of the Church of St. Bartholomew, in the City of London, is at present travelling in the East to acquire a more perfect knowledge and information of the state of the Orthodox Church, and with this view is passing through our country, and is about to visit our monasteries.

“By this letter, which is given at his desire, I commend him to the clergy and the superiors of the monasteries throughout Servia, requesting them to receive him with Christian hospitality whenever he may visit them, and to give him, with all courtesy, and in the spirit of our holy orthodox faith, all the information in their power respecting the antiquities of our Church.

“The Archbishop of Belgrade,
“and
“Metropolitan of Servia,

“MICHEL.”

At Belgrade, 18/30 April, 1862.¹⁰

On my,return to England, the Bishop of London kindly addressed the following letter to the Archbishop of Belgrade. I am confident that the gratification with which I print it will be shared by all who road it.

“ Archibaldus Episcopus Londinensis
Viro maxime Reverendo
Archiepiscopo de Belgrade,
Ecclesiae in Servia Metropolitano,
S.D.

“Quum quidam exhujusce Dioceseos Clericis, vir reverendus Gulielmus Denton, nuper ex Orientalibus Europae partibus regressus, nos certiorem fecerit, te eo in Servia peregrinante comiter et benigne usum esse statuimus tibi, Vir maxime reverende, gratias agere propter hanc tuam erga Ecclesiam Anglicanam et presbyterum nostrum benevolentiam.

“Hodie Londini ex omnibus fere orbis terrarum regionibus complures congregati sunt, artium liberalium amore incitati et studio pacis triumphos celebrandi. Nobis liceat, in hoc tot tamque, variarum gentium coetu, Deum opt. max. precari ut Christi Ecclesiae partes diu sejunctas charitatis et verae fidei vinculo constringat, et gregem tibi Frater commissum, plurima, eheu, per hos dies perpessum, abunde consoletur optimisque Spiritus Sancti donis perpetuo adornet. Vale, Frater, vivasque et Tu et Ecclesia tua.

“ Ita precatur
“ Frater tuus
“In Jesu Christo,
“Archibaldus Londinensis.”

“Datum Fulhamiae prope Londin, –
V Kal. Sex. MDCCCLXII.”

Translation by Books of Jeremiah:

Archibald, Bishop of London,
To the Most Reverend,
The Archbishop of Belgrade,
Metropolitan of the Church in Serbia,
Greetings.

“When a certain reverend cleric of this diocese, William Denton, recently returned from the parts of Eastern Europe, informed us that, while journeying in Serbia, you treated him with courtesy and kindness, we have resolved to offer you, Most Reverend Sir, our thanks for this benevolence you have shown towards the Anglican Church and our priest.

“Today in London, many from nearly all the regions of the world have gathered, inspired by the love of the liberal arts and the desire to celebrate the triumphs of peace. May it be permitted for us, in this assembly of so many and such diverse nations, to pray to Almighty God that He may bind together the parts of Christ’s Church, long separated, with the bond of charity and true faith, and that He may abundantly comfort the flock committed to your care, which, alas, has suffered so much in these days, and may perpetually adorn it with the best gifts of the Holy Spirit. Farewell, Brother, and may you and your Church live long.

“Thus prays your Brother
“In Jesus Christ,
Archibald, Bishop of London.”

“Given at Fulham, near London,
5 days before the Kalends of August, 1862.”

1. Tran. note: Đorđe Petrović, better known for his nickname Karađorđe (Black George). Leader of the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813) and the founder of the Karađorđević dynasty. Karađorđe first came to prominence during the Austro-Turkish war of 1788-1791 as a member of the Serbian freikorps (Serb auxiliaries from Serbia who fought with the Austrians). After the defeat of Austria, he lived in exile in Austria until 1794 when a general amnesty was announced. Until the start of the First Serbian uprising in 1804, he was a livestock merchant and after the defeat of the First Serbian Uprising, he escaped again to Austria, which handed him over to Russia instead of extraditing him to the Ottomans. In 1817 he returned to Serbia, but was promptly killed by agents of Miloš Obrenović, out of fear that the Ottomans would go back on the freedoms that they granted Serbia after the Second Serbian Uprising (1815-1817). ↩︎
2. Tran. note: Miloš Obrenović, the leader of the Second Serbian Uprising, Knez (Prince) of Serbia 1817-1839 and 1858-1860. Miloš Obrenović was a pig merchant who stood out in the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813) and rose to the position of vojvoda (military leader, nobility rank would be similar to a Duke). One of the few remaining vojvodas after the defeat of the First Serbian Uprising, Miloš was able to deftly negotiate increased rights for Serbia. In 1817, after the Second Serbian Uprising, he had Karađorđe, the leader of the First Serbian Uprising, killed in order to prevent loss of power and Ottoman concessions. Although an autocrat, Miloš ended feudalism in the first year of his reign and created the new, independent peasant class of society. During his first reign, the first Serbian constitution (1835 Sretenje Constitution) was written, but was revoked after 100 days after a joint threat by the Austrian, Russian and Ottoman Empires as being too liberal, including anti-slavery clauses. In his second reign, he persecuted political opponents who he saw responsible for this exile and the first law about legislature was passed, starting the parliamentary system in Serbia. Even though he was illiterate, 82 schools, 2 semi-gymnasiums, 1 gymnasium and the Liceum of the Principality of Serbia were founded during his first reign. ↩︎
3. Tran. note: Šabac, Smederevo. ↩︎
4. Tran. note: St. Sava, the first archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, son of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and brother of St King Stefan Nemanjić the First-Crowned. ↩︎
5. Auth. note: See Ranke’s History of Servia, Chapter IV. ↩︎
6. Tran. note: Ottoman term for their possessions in Europe. ↩︎
7. Tran. note: Here the reference is to the part of the Serbian Orthodox Church that was in Serbia, as the Patriarchate was not fully restored until 1920, following the second abolition by the Ottomans in 1766. Other Archbishops ruled over other parts of the Serbian flock (eg. the Metropolitan of Karlovci in the Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary). ↩︎
8. Auth. note: I presume the Archbishop was referring to the notices and copious extracts which appeared in several Russian reviews and periodicals immediately after the publication of Dr. Stanley’s book, as I believe this volume has not been translated, at least in extenso, into any of the, seven languages spoken by the Archbishop Michel. ↩︎
9. Tran. note: St. Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming, in lay life Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, father of St. Sava and the first Serbian king of the Nemanjić dynasty. ↩︎
10. Tran. note: Until 1918, Serbia used the Julian calendar and the Serbian Orthodox Church still does, necessitating the dual-date dating for correspondence. ↩︎