BY

REV. W. DENTON, M.A.

CHAPTER THE FIFTH.

ORTHODOX CHURCH—SERVIAN BISHOPRICS—NUMBER AND INCOME OF CLERGY—DIVISION OF DIOCESES— PAROCHIAL AND MONASTIC CLERGY — SERMONS—CATECHISM AND SCHOOLS — WALLACHIAN CHURCHES—SUNDAY—ST. MARK’S DAY —CEMETERY —DANCES—BURIAL OF CHILD—DRESS OF WOMEN.

The Church in Servia is a portion of the Eastern, or, as it proudly calls itself, the Orthodox Church, and as such is, of course, in communion with the patriarchal see of Constantinople. The theory and the practice of the Eastern Church are in accordance with what English Churchmen have always contended to be the Catholic idea of the Church. The various Churches in communion with the patriarchal see of Constantinople, such as those of Russia, of Greece, of Servia, and the Orthodox Church in Hungary,¹ acknowledge the primacy of the patriarch of Constantinople, but know nothing, and acknowledge nothing, of a supremacy in that patriarch. So far as they are bishops, every bishop of the Orthodox Church is the brother, subordinate indeed to him in virtue of his office of universal primate of the Church, but equal in the episcopate. The name of the patriarch is inserted in the Communion-office of each separate Church, and certificates of the consecration, at least to the metropolitical sees, are always made to him. The bond which unites the primates of the other Churches to the central see of Constantinople is that of fraternal affection, the love and respect of younger brethren to the elder brother of the Church. .

The Servian Church is at present governed by four prelates, the Archbishop of Belgrade, who is the metropolitan, and the three suffragan bishops of Schabatz, Nogotin, and Tchatchat. Ricaut, indeed, speaks of an Archbishop of Servia at Epikion (Ipeik),² with sixteen bishops under him, but this includes the whole of the ancient sees within the bounds of the old Servian empire, and comprises those of Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Slavonia. The bishoprics of Servia proper are only four in number. The present occupiers of the sees are Michel of Belgrade, Gabriel of Schabatz, Guerassime of Negotin, and Yoaniquié of Tchatchat.

On a vacancy occurring in any one of those sees, the parish priests and Hegumons, or Archimandrites throughout the diocese, are summoned by their respective archriests to appoint an administrator of the bishopric pending the election of a successor to the deceased bishop. Afterwards the same persons proceed to an election of a bishop. When this has been done, the name of the person who has been elected to the vacant office is forwarded to the prince, and unless there should be some obvious objection to the priest who has been selected, the approbation of the Government is, as a matter of course, given. The newly elected prelate is then consecrated by the other three bishops, and immediately after this has taken place, as the first act of the new bishop, information is sent to the Patriarch of Constantinople of the vacancy, the election, and the consecration. On receipt of this information, the congratulations of the Patriarch are sent to the new bishop.

Usually, though not invariably, the choice of the electors of the metropolitical see of Belgrade will rest upon one of the suffragan bishops. The revenue of each of the three suffragan sees is said to be nearly 1,000 l. per annum, and that of the Archbishop almost double this sum.

The number of clergy throughout Servia, as well parochial as monastic, is between seven and eight hundred. The income of the parochial clergy is partially derived from fees and offerings at baptisms, marriages, churchings, and at extraordinary masses, such, for instance, as for the safety of one about to travel, or for the recovery of a sick person. But in addition to these fluctuating sources of income, every person in the parish, young and old, is assessed at twelve okas³ of maize for the support of the parochial priest. Again, in addition to both these sources of revenue, at least several of the churches have glebes often of some extent, and already of considerable value. Whenever more attention is paid to agriculture, and the value of land rises in consequence of the increase of population, the incomes of the country clergy will be proportionally augmented. The monastic clergy, in addition to their duties as such, have also the charge of the parishes, often of considerable extent, around the walls of their respective monasteries, and have, therefore, the same claim for a maintenance as the rest of their clerical brethren. The income allotted to the bishops is paid directly by the Government, and is the compensation given to them for the ancient landed property of their respective sees, which was confiscated during the times of Turkish occupation.

Each diocese is divided into three or four portions, following the secular arrangement of the country into departments, and over each of these divisions an archpriest is appointed by the bishop of the diocese. These, with one archdeacon for the whole diocese, constitute the assistants of the bishop. These divisions regulate the mode of episcopal visitation. Thus, for instance, Schabatz has three departments, and consequently, three arch-priests; and every year the bishop visits the churches of each of these divisions, thus making a visitation of his whole diocese in three years. This is in accordance with the ancient canons of the Church. The course of education for the priesthood lasts four years, which is spent by the candidate for orders at the seminary at Belgrade. At this seminary all who are to be parish priests, monks, or schoolmasters, are required to attend, and until the whole time has been completed, none are eligible for any of these offices.

The parochial clergy whom I met with in Servia seemed to me to have much the same relative position to their flocks which their brethren possess in England. They are much respected and their marriage and life in the midst of their flocks give them considerable influence in the whole social economy of the parish. They mingle freely with their people, and are in noways a distinct caste from them. The monastic clergy, however, are said to be inferior to their brethren of the secular clergy, and so far as I could judge, though my opportunities of so doing were but limited, I believe that this is a correct estimate. It is, perhaps, hardly correct to say that they are peasants in cassocks, rather than clergymen, though this seemed to me not far from the truth. It is this inferiority, probably, which makes the monastic life unpopular in Servia, and has led to motion in the Skoupschina⁴ for permitting the marriage of every clergyman, whether secular or regular; in other words, to abolish the monastic order. This and the difficulty which is felt of finding men willing to become monks are indications of the general unpopularity of monasticism in the abstract.

As the monasteries throughout Servia were for the most part destroyed during the time that the country was occupied by the Turks, there are no libraries remaining within their walls, nor anything to attract the student to these retreats. Whatever treasures they might once have possessed have been long since dispersed. The churches themselves would most probably have shared the same fate’ as the monastic buildings, but for their convenience as stables, and the delight with which Mahometan hatred to Christianity was able to indulge itself by applying these sacred buildings to such an use. In these churches the heads of the saints, but more especially the face of our Blessed Lord, amongst the frescoes, are invariably so riddled by bullets as to show that they were used as a common target by the Turkish soldiery.

Whilst the monastic clergy are necessarily unmarried, and live in common, the rule throughout the Eastern Church is that the parish priest should be married, and this rule is so invariable, that on the death of the wife of a parish priest, the widower, since he is not allowed to contract a second marriage, and is, by the death of his wife, absolutely disqualified from holding a parochial charge, is compelled to enter a monastery. But for the supply of compulsory monks thus obtained, it would not be possible to find a sufficient number of men to become inmates of these retreats. To these persons, however, possessing no natural vocation for such a life, accustomed to the active duties of a parish, and to mingling in the world, the monotony and restraint of a monastic life, without any of the aids by which such a life could be made tolerable to them, must needs be irksome, and already the question of permitting the parish priest who has lost his wife to contract a second marriage has been agitated in the Servian Church. Some few of the monastic clergy are, however, employed as theological professors and teachers in the seminary at Belgrade, and these furnish the Servian episcopate with its more learned bishops. The present Archbishop received his education in a Russian monastery, and the Bishop of Schabatz, probably the most learned of the Servian bishops, was for a while Professor of Theology at Belgrade. From the monastic or unmarried clergy the bishops are always selected, so that except in the comparatively rare instances in which the choice of the electors may happen to fail on a widower, it is impossible that the bishop should have had any experience in
the government of parish. In this case it is hard to see how they can be the advisers of those under their rule in the nice and difficult questions which a priest may sometimes desire to submit to the bishop.

There is but little instruction throughout the East by means of preaching. The pulpit indeed rarely occurs in a Servian church. Of the thirty or forty churches which I visited in Servia, only one—the cathedral of Belgrade—is furnished with a pulpit. Sermons, indeed, are rarely or ever delivered, except on tho greater feast-days of the Church. One of the bishops, the Bishop of Schabats, is, however, distinguished as a pulpit orator. The religious instruction is given in schools, and by means of the service-books and the ceremonial of the Eastern Church, which is full of a recognised symbolism suited, as a vehicle of instruction, to the Eastern mind. In the primary schools throughout Servia, a simple, but accurate, catechism of Christian doctrine, similar to the Church Catechism in our own Prayer-book, is used for this purpose. And as every schoolmaster is required to go through the same course of theological instruction as the parish priest, he is well fitted to superintend the theological training of the children of the Church.

As to the service in the Church, in all the churches of Servia, with the exception of the Wallachian churches,⁵ the language used is the old Sclavonic, and though this
is now a dead language, and only made use of for ecclesiastical purposes, it bears so close a resemblance to the dialects or languages which have sprung from it,
that the people are always able to join in the hynms and prayers of the public service, and evidently fully understand the meaning of the words which they are using. From the hearty way in which the large mass of worshippers joined in the hymns and responsive portions of the Litany on St. George’s day at Belgrade, it was evident that the language of the service-book is still one that is “understanded of the common people.” Scattered, however, throughout the interior of Servia are large numbers of Wallachian peasants and labourers, who are under the governance of the bishops of the country, but who have their own distinctive churches and parish priests, and who make use of the, liturgy of the East translated into the Wallachian language. Except, however, in this, their churches differ in no respect from the rest of the churches of Servia. One practical inconvenience, indeed, results from this separation of the Wallachian and Servian congregations. The small village, which otherwise would require but one church, and is oftentimes utterly incapable of supporting more than one with its ministering priest, is compelled to divide the means of subsistence—it is hardly more than this—between two priests, and to maintain two squalid churches. This inconvenience arises from the dissimilarity of the two languages, the Wallachian bearing no resemblance to Sclavonic.

For many years the churches in Servia were indebted to Russia for the necessary service-books, which in the Eastern Church are numerous and of considerable bulk; and the majority of those in use at the present, day were printed at the imperial press at Moscow. About six years ago, however, a printing-press was established chiefly for this purpose at Belgrade, and since that time the churches have been wholly supplied by Servian-printed books. The type and paper of this printing-office are very clear and good, though the books, on the whole, are hardly equal in magnificence to those which were formerly printed in Russia. The bibles which are printed at this press, and which are commonly seen on the shelves of the peasant-cottages in the interior, are quite equal in general appearance to our English-printed bibles.

On the whole, and making allowances for the long persecution of the Church in Servia, the attainments and condition of the priests are remarkable, and their influence on the population gratifying. My own impressions fully bear out the estimate of one who, after a survey of the whole Orthodox Church, sums up his convictions in these weighty words: —

“We, too, with all our energy and life, may learn something from the otherwise unparalleled sight of whole nations and races of men, penetrated by the religious sentiment which visibly sways their minds even when it fails to reach their conduct, which if it has produced but few whom we should call saints or philosophers, has produced through centuries of oppression whole armies of confessors and martyrs. We may learn something from the sight of a calm strength, reposing ‘in the quietness and confidence’ of a treasure of hereditary belief, which its possessor is content to value for himself, without forcing it on the reception of others. We may learn something from the sight of Churches, where religion is not abandoned to the care of women and children, but is claimed as the right and the privilege of men; where the Church reposes not so much on the force and influence of its clergy as on the independent knowledge and manly zeal of its laity.”⁶

Sunday is better observed in Belgrade than in any other city which I have visited on the Continent. It is kept without any affectation of moroseness, but really as a day of rest and for public worship. Except in the case of the Turkish shops, all business is suspended on that day. In the morning the churches are well filled, and in the afternoon everybody makes friendly and family visits in a quiet way, or saunters into the country, or at least to Topschidere,⁷ by the side of the soothing and sabbatic Save. The other holy days are of a more mingled character—Sundays so far as the total suspension of all business is concerned, and gala days at least after the early morning mass. Even the Turkish shopkeepers close their shops on these days, and the Servian citizens make parties to the beautiful grounds of the prince’s summer palace, or to the neighouring monastery of Rakowitza,⁸ which is situated in the midst of very fine scenery.

On some of the greater féte days, as many as ten thousand people flock to this monastery, where, after service and a sermon, they scatter for picnics in the woods, or enjoy themselves at the fair which is held on this occasion. As there are no markets in Belgrade on these holidays, the traveller who may chance to be staying at the hotel there, is put to great straits to obtain his usual food. Bread may be had, but he is not likely to get butter, and if he take coffee, he must do so without milk. He can hardly post his letters, and cannot, if he wish it, buy a postage-stamp. The Servian calendar abounds in feast-days, which, over and above the saints whose virtues they commemorate, have their own historical or traditional hold over the people, as being oftentimes almost the only days on which any outward observances could be kept up during the times of Turkish oppression.

Two days after the feast of St. George occurs that of St. Mark. I need not describe the service in the cathedral, which, in its essential features, was the same as that on the previous saint’s day. A singular scene, however, which I witnessed at the cemetery on the outskirts of the town, and around the church of St. Mark, merits a few words In its origin it was a religious service, and even now a certain religious symbolism may perhaps be traced by a zealous archaeologist in what is practically a secular fair. In some way or another, the day is devoted to the memory of the dead, and these are supposed to be honoured by the dances which take place on the green, which is really a part of the cemetery for that purpose kept free from graves. A religious dance may sound strange to us, in much the same way as a Servian would be unable to connect the idea of a bustling bazaar with the Christian duty of alms-giving. We have come to associate the idea of dancing with a crowded ball-room, or to regard it as the relaxation after a day of toil on the village green; but with the ancients the dance was an act of religious worship; and theatrical entertainments were observances rendered to the gods of heathenism. In these dances upon the cemetery-green and in the midst of the graves, we have perhaps a relic of the olden times—a solemn commemoration of the departed in the very place where their ashes mingle with common earth.

The cemetery of St. Mark, which is the general burial-place for all the Christian population of Belgrade, to whatever rite they belong, lies on the outskirts of the city, and rests in part upon a gigantic stone quarry, which supplies large quantities of the building materials used in the construction of the houses of the city.⁹ Most of the cemeteries in Servia, and amongst the Servian population of Slavonia, which I have seen, are either on the top of hills or on their slopes. The unhealthy low ground of Semlin,¹⁰ where the living die, and the healthy high ground which has been chosen for the burial of the dead, has been remarked by travellers. For some reason or other,
such a situation seems to be usually selected as the appropriate site for a cemetery. One of the best places for seeing Belgrade is from this cemetery of St. Mark. From it the eye not only takes in the streets of Belgrade, with the green lines of garden-ground mapping the city out into well-defined districts, but a large tract of the surrounding country, the two rivers as they run on either side of the city, and beyond them the low line of the Hungarian territory. Near the entrance to the cemetery stands the chapel of St. Mark, used chiefly for funeral purposes. It is divided into two unequal parts by the iconostasis, and consists of a sanctuary and choir and nave, but without any architectural division between these two latter portions. Within this chapel is the tomb of Prince Milan, the elder son of Prince Milosh,¹¹ and the brother of the reigning Prince of Servia. Milan was, indeed, for a short time after the abdication of his father, the recognised Prince of Servia; but as at that time he was himself dying, it is said that he was never made aware of the honours to which he had attained, His death made way for his younger brother Prince Michel.¹²

The belfry of the church, which is detached from the rest of the building, consists of the usual framework of timber. The cemetery is ill kept, ragged, and dirty. The scanty soil barely allows of the graves being dug a sufficient depth, and prevents the growth of shrubs which might otherwise cause it to have a less desolate appearance. The small amount of rain which falls at Belgrade, and which is leas than that in other parts of Servia, makes it very difficult to rear trees of any size, except in the lower parts of the town. The trees on the boulevards appear to have scarcely grown during the three years that they have been planted, and this want of water hinders any from being planted in those higher parts of the city where trees would add greatly to the beauty of the city and to the comfort of the passengers.

On St. Mark’s day the green in front of the cemetery was alive with a similar throng to that which in England is drawn together by the attractions of a country fair. The road, which lies between: the ruined mosque and the gate of the cemetery, was lined by a row of canvas booths, at which were sold wine, cream, Hungarian beer, water, cakes, and gingerbread; and where tempting lotteries, in which the stakes were piastres, and the possible prize spice-nuts, were continually crowded with youthful gamblers. From the inside of the booths came the cries of happy, but not intoxicated peasants, shopkeepers, and soldiers, and the voices of gipsy musicians singing national songs to the few Servian airs which exist, and accompanying the voice by the heat of the tambourine. Nature is pretty much the same in most parts of the world, and but for two or three points of difference, I might have supposed myself at a well-conducted fair in England. The dress was, of course, one mark of difference; but there were two noteworthy matters in which the Belgrade fair was behind—say one at Greenwich. Here were no pick-pockets and no drunkards.

Beyond the lane of canvas and the hilarious consumers of wine and beer, might be heard the noise of music and the bustle of a large throng of most industrious dancers. The sun was intensely hot; and those who had not taken shelter under the canvas and boughs of which the booths were made, were crowded together upon the grass under the trees, and trying to keep within the shade, except a large body of men and women, who were dancing with such vigour that the perspiration streamed down their faces and necks. About thirty of the women who were dancing had a headdress, and a fall reaching down the back to the waist, composed entirely of coins, mostly of silver, but with a few gold ones intermingled. The whole resembled a casque and neck-piece of chain-armour. Over the head-dress was worn a wreath of roses. The
coins, which were of all ages and to the number of a thousand in each head-dress, must have exceeded in value eighty pounds; what the weight might be could be guessed by the faces of the women, redder by far than the roses in their chaplets, and by the stream of perspiration which ran down their faces. It spoke much for the honesty of the idlers at the fair, that this display of wealth, which is envied more perhaps in Servia than even in England, could be made in safety. I much fear that neither at an English village fair nor in the streets of London could this amount of portable wealth have been seen and have long remained in the posses sion of the lawful owners. In addition to these headdresses, several of the women had necklaces and armlets heavy with gold or silver coins. These treasured but costly ornaments are worn by them on all occasions which will, by any possibility, allow of their display. At these dances I remarked that the dancers are not accustomed to hold each other by the hand, but by the girdle, which is sometimes a belt worn for that special purpose.

But however vigorous the dancers, and however hilarious the crowd, I was not allowed to forget that I was standing in the cemetery.

Whilst looking at the crowd, my attention was arrested by the piercing wail of a woman only a few yards from the place where I was standing, and on going to the spot, I found the gravedigger of the cemetery busy in making the grave of an infant; whilst the poor mother, standing by, awaited the bringing of the corpse. In a few moments the funeral procession, headed by two priests and a deacon, came through the cemetery to the grave. The priests had evidently come with the body from the home of the
parents, and the funeral service had no doubt commenced there. The coffin was that of a child only a few months old, and was coved at the top. After one or two short prayers—the whole not occupying three minutes, but interrupted throughout by the cries and sobs of the poor mother—the cover of the coffin was removed, in order that the relatives, in accordance with a beautiful and touching custom observed by the Christians throughout European Turkey, might take their last farewell of the inanimate clay, and press the last kiss of affection on the face of the corpse. As the mother stooped to perform this last office of love, her shrieks and wails again burst forth with’ increased strength, so as not easily to be forgotten. For a moment she struggled with the sexton, in order to retain the body of her little one; and whilst the earth was shovelled over the coffin, it was necessary for the bystanders to hold her back by main force, and with much difficulty she was at length removed from the grave. It was a harrowing scene, not soon to be effaced from the memory; and it seemed almost ghastly and revolting from its too close contact with the ringing merriment of the dancers and the sounds of mirth which proceeded from the bystanders. The bitterness of life, forced into such close contrast with its joys, seemed doubly bitter.

These fete days, however, are not only times for the display of the varied peasant costumes of the country. All the women, of whatever station they may be, appear in their best dresses on these occasions. When speaking of these dances, it may therefore not be out of place to say a few words upon the costume of the women in the upper and middle classes of Servia.

The costume of the women of this country is amongst the most striking and graceful of any of the dresses of Europe. If Hungary be the country in which the art of the tailor seems to have attained its greatest perfection, and if the dress of the Hungarian gentry is the very model of gentlemanly attire, Servia is the country from which the milliners and dressmakers of other nations might learn lessons of grace, and acquire the art of adding picturesqueness to the garments of their customers. Until a journey to Servia becomes part of the stated summer or, better still, the spring holiday of Englishwomen, they must be content to learn from a pen unpractised to describe Iadies’ dresses, how their sisters of Servia are accustomed to dress. Over a chemisette of lawn, muslin, or some other very fine material, the usual habit is a body or skirt of some rich silk—Magenta is a very favourite colour, though occasionally white muslin is used; this is put over a crinoline of as ample dimensions as are to be met with in Vienna or Paris. This garment is trimmed at the wrists with a deep edging of embroidery, most commonly of silver. Over this is worn a jacket, generally of very fine velvet; for this a very favourite colour is green. This jacket, also, is edged with a deep embroidery round the neck; at the bottom and the wrists, of gold lace. If the embroidery of the dress be of gold, then that of the jacket will be of silver. Round the waist is worn a large sash, with the ends hanging down in front, often as low as the bottom of the dress. The head-dress is a small cap, generally of red cloth, fitting close to the head. Sometimes, however, this cap is made of leather, silvered, or gilded to represent gold
ducats. Round this cap the hair, real or false, is braided in a deep band, so that every part of the cap is concealed, except the flat round top, from which a small gold coin,
or a pearl, is frequently pendant. Almost all the women wear heavy gold earrings. This dress is very costly, but is durable. One of these jackets, with its lace, will often cost from ten to twelve pounds sterling. Of course, as in all other countries, those who cannot afford so expensive a dress content themselves with one of a less costly material, and are satisfied with imitating the fashion of the garments, whilst choosing a humbler material, At Belgrade, unfortunately, the far loss graceful fashions of Paris are coming into use—silk cloaks that seem to be modelled from the watch-coats of the sentries of a Zouave regiment, and hair worn in imitation of the Empress Eugénie. The Servian costume, however, is so very becoming, and so far more beautiful than that of Paris, that I should regret to hear of its being laid aside.¹³

When it is remembered that Servia is only four days’ distance from London, or at the most that such a journey will not occupy more than a week, and when we take into account the wildness and beauty of the scenery, and the attraction it offers to the sportsman, it is very surprising that so few English travelers should visit the country. It is so much easier to keep to the beaten track, which hand-books make so smooth to us, than to explore new districts, that people are content with the Rhine or Moselle, when far more majestic rivers, with grander scenery and an equal historic character, are within their reach. As though the Drachenfels were a meet rival to the iron gates of the Danube, or the beauty of any part of the Rhine could compare with that of this river in the upper part of its course! Those who endure, as part of the necessary evils of travel, the dirt of Germany, and the petty and vexatious inconveniences with which some continental governments annoy the traveller, will be charmed with the cleanliness of the Servian people, and the perfect freedom which is enjoyed in a country where the constitution is as free and the franchise more extended than that of England. There are, indeed, no wealthy magnates as in Hungary; but the country houses of the Servian gentry, and the homesteads of the farmers, are as comfortable as can be desired; and a residence amongst this most hospitable people will be one of real enjoyment. In no country is life or property more secure, and the peasants of no part of continental Europe can compare with those of Servia for that truest of all courtesies, which is based upon a spirit of independence, and springs from true gentleness of character. The salutations of the peasants to the traveller have no trace of servility. They are universal, but they are the mutual homage which one frog man renders to another. I once asked of a Servian gentleman, “whether there were any nobles in Servia?” “Every Servian is noble,” was the proud reply. Whatever might be the social and political import of these words, when I look back upon the kindness, the courtesy, and the hospitality with which I was treated, I cannot consider the boast altogether without warrant; and, at any rate, I am recording the result of my own experience, when I say that every Servian is a gentleman.

1. BoJ note: this was also the Serbian church, as the Serbian Metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci was the leader of all the Orthodox believers in the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. ↩︎
2. BoJ note: Šabac, Negotin, Čačak, Peć ↩︎
3. BoJ note: a weight measurement, one oka was 1.28 kilograms. ↩︎
4. BoJ note: Skupština or Narodna Skupština (National Assembly) is the parliament of Serbia. ↩︎
5. BoJ note: Romanian. ↩︎
6. Auth. note: Stanley’s “Lectures on the Eastern Church,” Lect, I. ↩︎
7. BoJ note: Topčider, a hill and forest, now part of Belgrade. ↩︎
8. BoJ note: Rakovica. ↩︎
9. BoJ: today, the area of the former cemetery is a park and the quarry was turned into a swimming pool and an open-air venue for sports and music. ↩︎
10. BoJ note: Zemun, today a part of Belgrade. ↩︎
11. BoJ. 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. ↩︎
12. BoJ note: Mihailo Obrenović, Knez of Serbia 1839-1842 and 1860-1868 ↩︎
13. BoJ note: a variety of Serbian traditional dress can be explored here: https://narodnenosnjesrba.rs/eng/index.html ↩︎