n\/IM7ATmk Serbs in European Civilization NO A NOVA d.o.o. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Institute for Balkan Studies Special Edition N" 51 For the Publisher Roman Vehovec, Director For Co- Publisher Nikola Tasid, Director Edited by Radovan Samardiid Milan DuSkov Reviewed by Radovan Samardfic" P red rag Palavestra Miodrag Stojanovic" Secretaries Marina Adamovid Ljubodrag Ristic" Cover ftLay out NOVA Index Vojin An6id Translated by Dragana Vulidevid Radica Popovid Printed by Studio Design 1993. Edited in 1.000 copies ISBN 86-7583-015-7 SERBS IN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION 1993 CONTENTS PREFACE 7 Radovan Samardiid ARISTOCRATIC VERTICAL IN SERBIAN HISTORY 9 MiloS Blagojevid ON THE NATIONAL IDENTITY OF THE SERBS IN THE MIDDLE AGES 20 Dragoljub Dragojlovid SERBIAN SPIRITUAUTY IN THE 13™ AND 14™ CENTURIES AND WESTERN SCHOLASTICISM 32 Slavko Gavrilovid SERBS IN HUNGARY. SLAVONIA AND CROATIA IN STRUGGLES AGAINST THE TURKS (15™-18™ CENTURIES) 41 Petar Milosavljevid THE SERBIAN AND BALKAN REVOLUTIONS DM THE 19™ CENTURY 55 Veselin Djuretid POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES OF THE 20™ CENTURY AND SERBIAN ETHNIC BEING 65 Vojislav J. Djurid THE EUROPEAN SCOPE OF PAINTING IN MEDIEVAL SERBIA 72 Vojislav Korad SERBIAN ARCHITECTURE 90 BETWEEN BYZANTIUM AND THE WEST Dinko Davidov 1 15 REVIVAL OF SERBIAN ART IN THE 18™ CENTURY Miodrag B. Protid SERBIAN ART AND EUROPE: 138 ETHIC AND AESTHETIC ALTERNATIVES Iiena Grickat-Radulovid 146 SERBIAN MEDIEVAL LITERARY LANGUAGE Miroslav Pantid SERBIAN FOLK POETRY AND EUROPE 151 IN THE LATE 18™ AND THE EARLY 19™ CENTURIES Predrag Palavestra MAJOR TRENDS 159 IN RECENT SERBIAN LITERATURE Andrija Stojkovid THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT OF MATHEMATICS 166 AND NATURAL SCIENCES WITH THE SERBS Dragoslav Antonijevid BALKAN AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN LAYERS 179 IN SERBIAN FOLK CULTURE Djurica Krstid SERBIAN MEDIEVAL LAW AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAW 188 IN SUBSEQUENT PERIODS 196 INDEX The publishing of the book has been financially supported by the: Trgovadka banka DD SIPRO DD, Beograd COMPO, Svilajnac SrbijaSume JP Nivada EJR Ltd. Ministery of Culture of the Republic of Serbia The editorial preparation of the text has been financially supported by the: Ministery of Information of the Republic of Serbia Robne kuce "вeograd" PREFACE A design to publish such a book as Serbs in European Civilization, was outlined in the Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts long be fore the topic has gained its political up-to-dateness. That is the reason why it is neither for one-time use nor is it a result of day-to-day politics. It is rather an attempt to look into the contribuiton of Serbs to European civilization from various angles and through the achievements of several scientific disciplines. It was Radovan Samardiid, member of the Academy, who first initiated the idea of a symposium devoted to the subject contained in the book's title. During the 1989 Him- melsthtlr Symposium, at the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy for Western Europe, it was settled that the next conference should deal with such topic. The events in our country, however, made these plans impossible. Instead, in concert with City Library of Belgrade, our Institute brought forth a cycle of lectures under the same title which, slightly changed, make up contents of this book. These lectures were presented from January to April 1992, and, the reader may well see it, by the best scholars and greatest names of our science. Bringing them out in Serbian and English languages, the publish ers have had a wish to make precious evidence accessible to both domestic and foreign public. The Serbian contribution to European civilization having been rich and many-sided, could not be encompassed within one cycle of lectures alone. Thus, the Institute for Bal kan Studies and the City Library of Belgrade were compelled to select only one segment out of an ample scientific, cultural and political role that Serbs have played in the cre ation of European culture. It covers certain parts of history, history of arts, language and literature, philosophy, folk culture and law. Another cycle of lectures, planned by the two institutions, is to present the work of Serbian scientists for whose discoveries and insights the European and the world civilization is highly indebted. Among them are Ni kola Tesla and Mihailo Pupin, Mika Petrovid Alas and Milutin Milankovid, Jovan Cvijid, and many others. 7 The greatest space in the book, almost as an introduction, is dedicated to the histori cal position of the Serbian people within wider European framework: from the article of Radovan Samardiid, who follows a continuous rising of aristocratic vertical throughout Serbian history, and through the texts of MiloS Blagojevid, Dragoljub Dragojlovid, Slav- ko Gavrilovid, to Veselin Djuretid, who deals with the impact of 20th-century political ideologies upon the present conditions of Serbian ethnic entity. Two-way current of influence - from the Serbian art towards the European one, and vice versa - is featured by four leading historians of art. Vojislav J. Djurid and Vojislav Korad deal with Serbian mediaeval art and Europe, i.e. the relations between Byzantium and the West; Dinko Davidov depicts the revival of the Serbian 18th-century art, while Miodrag B. Protid enters upon the problems of our contemporary art through a dicho tomy of the ethic and aesthetic. Linguistic and literary questions in the book are treated by Irena Grickat-Radulovid, Miroslav Pantid and Predrag Palavestra. In respect to their importance each of these topics deserves a separate book. Finally, there are three texts covering the realms of philosophy (Andrija Stojkovid), folk culture (Dragoslav Antonijevid), and law (Djurica Krstid). They reveal a linkage of Serbian cultural and scientific heritage with the formation of European civilization and point to wide possibilities of further investigation. The book is here, in front of the reader, domestic and foreign. How it will be accept ed: whether with joy, inclination or suspicion, it is left to individual stand. The pleasure is of all those who have worked upon it, from authors, through the Institute for Balkan Studies and the City Library of Belgrade, to NOVA - the executive publisher and spon sor. 8 Radovan Samardzic ARISTOCRATIC VERTICAL IN SERBIAN HISTORY Instead of stating a claim, perhaphs this text should begin with a question: Are there collective illusions in a history of long standing which can, in turn, affect social be havior? Or, are such illusions, basically, the result of certain social preconditions? Perhaps it would be most appropriate to explain an ongoing phenomenon with the inter action of social institutions and social consciousness. This is the most difficult, but also the safest way to arrive at certain facts, even though it does not have to result in psycho logically the most subtle solutions. The Serbian legend has created a belief that the cream of the nobility, led by its mar tyr-prince, was wiped out in the Battle of Kosovo (1389). This belief, additionally, at ti mes edged over into a common conviction that Serbian chivalry, formed in the Nema- njid epoch, was wiped out completely in the battle. Even so, despite such prevailing con viction, the Serbs did not hesitate to determine their historical destiny by raising a verti cal in an unending effort of individuals and groups to achieve a noble position and pres tige. The deaths of the best continued to mark Serbian history, from time to time. This happened at times (not infrequent) when one conquerer or another discovered that it would be useful to deprive the Serbs of their leading men, or even destroy entire settlements. (These events did not anticipate genocide, they were genocide, carried out in conformity with the character and political beliefs of a certain period.) The nation's development was necessarily checked, particularly in the regions where such crimes were committed, where there was mass extermination or deprivation of leaders. Such shocks spread despondence afar, reverberating in circles. By defying it all, the Serbs did not allow themselves to fall rock bottom, instead they would raise their heads once more, and search the Balkans, the vast Pannonian plain and the ruined towns to find their roots again or at least a branch that would yield noble shoots, for themselves and their descen dants. There was barely an environment where the aristocratic vertical did not rise, again 9 Radovan SAMARDjid and again. This has lasted until recently, when the destiny of the Serbs fell into the hands of others. If the pre-Romantic and Romantic conviction that the spirit and character of Euro pean nations were instituted in the Middle Ages is at least partly true, then one must find in the Nemanjid epoch the roots of the Serbs' subsequent sense of aristocratic improve ment of the society and of its internal provisions underlying such endeavors. After wards, this occurrence may have been accommodated to new conditions and then reflected in the altered circumstances. In this lay its spiritual quintessence and internal strength. Legend says that the Serbs called down a curse upon the aristocracy for instigating the fall of the Nemanjid's empire with their mutual quarrels, but this shows exactly that they considered the state, which fell apart, to be their own with what was deepest in their collective being. May one presume that neither in latter-day history nor in the medieval times the Serbs experienced class indifference, even aversion towards their state, which was characteristic of Western nations (in the first place because the latter had the highest estates leading the state, mainly as its owners, representing its interests and ideology)? Like in the Biblical legends, the Nemanjid family, which issued forth rulers and leaders of the Serbian Church, was declared saintly while still alive and branching, and its cult remained in the foundations of Serbian Orthodoxy and a vital part of the histori cal heritage that subsequently determined the nation's destiny.