WORSHIPPING THE DEAD IN 18TH CENTURY SERBIA. THE EXAMPLE OF BELA CRKVA

CLAUDIA MAYR-VESELINOVIĆ

The 18th century was a century of changes in the Balkans. Due to the transfer of the Potiska i Pomoriska vojna granica at the end of the first half of the 18th century, the Habsburg’s military boarder went from the Croatian costal area via the Banat to Transylvania (the historical region Siebenbürgen). The Austrian empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780) had her own plans for this region: In the 1740s, plans for the settlement (or colonialisation) and therefore, the resettlement of the already existing population was translated into practice. The religious diversity of the Vojvodina became even more diverse. These changes are still visible today in many cities and towns throughout the province of Vojvodina. In Bela Crkva, a town founded in 1717 due to the inclusion of the Banat into the Habsburg monarchy. Until this very day, houses of worship are present and in use, the Serbian Orthodox church Sv. Petra I Pavla, the roman-catholic church Sv. Ana, the Russian Orthodox Church Sv. Jovana Bogoslova and the Romanian Orthodox church, except for the Protestant church (due to historical reasons, the former German population of the town is on the merge of existing, church services are not held anymore). In addition, there was also a synagogue (one of the two in the southern Banat), built in 1835 and destroyed in 1950. Did the coexistence of different faiths and ethnicities influence religious everyday rites, like worshipping the dead?

WHY BELA CRKVA AND WORSHIPPING OF THE DEAD?

Bela Crkva is one of the cities that were created in the area of the historical Banat during the time of the German colonisation in the 18th century (more details below). As such, it gives an excellent example about how a multi- ethnical, multi-religious and multi-lingual society lived together or co- existed throughout the following centuries (at least until World War I respectively World War II, because both were followed by heavy, mostly forced, population changes). This kind of mixed society seems to be special, but certainly is not – at least in the region of Vojvodina, which is, “sui generis a multinational and, even more

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importantly, a multicultural region”1 with at least 27 ethnic minorities. Still, the legacy of this cultural mosaic or salad bowl2 is visible on nearly every street of the city throughout façades, churches, the city and its arrangement itself. Because the different houses of worship (except for the synagogue, see below) are all still standing and mostly in use, at least during high religious holidays, these buildings in my opinion portray a very mixed, but nevertheless functional society, hence they are a “voice of an era of transition”. They remained through history and still represent the multi- national society. Unfortunately, due to historical processes, this society does not exist anymore, but it is still visible in these buildings. Therefore, Bela Crkva seems to be an excellent example of how the picture of a city does not change, although the population itself does. Not only the churches still exist, the graveyards do as well and so does worshipping of the dead. Three Orthodox faiths Serbian, being the most dominant nowadays, Romanian and Russian; Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths dominated the population and left their mark on the landscape of the city. Therefore, I will describe the historical process and when which faith “arrived” together with the new settlers in Bela Crkva in the following chapter as well as their houses of worship. Then, I am writing about worshipping the dead in its various shapes, using the example of Pentecost. I am also trying to argue why, although the population of Bela Crkva was rather small, assumption or adoption of rites or customs, as far as noticeable in literature, did not take place.

COLONIALISM AND NEW FAITHS

Confessional coexistence and conflicts – terms that come to one’s mind when studying today’s autonomous Serbian province of Vojvodina. Hence, the religious, cultural, ethnic and lingual diversity of this region root in the 18th century. After about 200 years under Ottoman rule, the region was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy. Two treaties, the treaty of Karlowitz 1699 and the treaty of Passarowitz in 1718 induced the Austrian dominance in this part of Europe. The treaty of Karlowitz followed the Austro-Ottoman war (1683-1697), a prelude to the end of Ottoman rule in Central and Southeast Europe. The treaty of Passarowitz was a peace treaty signed by the Habsburg monarchy, the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. Although Ottoman successful fought the Venetians in 1714 and 1718, the Imperial Army’s general Prince Eugene of Savoy and his troops

1 Tomić, Đorđe: Vojvodina – a region between Middle Europe and the Balkans. In: István Tarrósy, and Georg Rosskogler (Eds.): Regional co-operations as a Central European perspective. Proceedings of the 1st DRC Summer School, Pécs 2004. Pécs 2005, p. 101. 2 Bruce Thornton, Melting pots and salad bowls. Hoover Digest 2012, No. 4. Available at: https://www.hoover.org/research/melting-pots-and-salad-bowls (accessed 2/28/2018).

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defeated them. As a result, the Banat, parts of Serbia and Wallachia belonged now to the Habsburg monarchy. Since Ottoman disengaged from the region due to the treaties, the Habsburg’s colonisation went ahead. One of the major figures amongst this settlement and population plan for the Banat was Count Claudius Florimund de Mercy (1666-1734), an imperial field marshal and commander of the Banat. Many of the future villages and settlements were planned as camps for soldiers (e. g. Lagersdorf) and evidently grew into settlements. Already during the Austro-Ottoman war (1716-1718) people were recruited in Tyrol, Carniola, Silesia, Czech and the area between the rivers Danube and Rhine; mostly mineworkers, craftsmen and a few farmers. The first arrivals in Bela Crkva were recorded in 17173. The following century was characterised by waves of colonisation. Besides the German settlers, also Spaniards and Italians moved to this region, sought for their knowledge in agriculture, gardening, viticulture and fruit growing. Due to political reasons and war periods, the Banat region had no big population. Besides the Serbs themselves, people from all over the Holy Roman Empire moved; Germans, Magyars, Slovaks, Czechs, French, Polish, Romanians, Russians and in smaller numbers Bulgarians, Armenians, Jews and Albanians moved there in the 18th and 19th century in search of a better future4. However, the people who already lived there, mostly orthodox Serbs and orthodox Romanians, now feared “Germanisation” and Catholisation. The former “compact” villages that guaranteed an ethnic majority in special parts of the Banat now had to mix to hinder the “snatch of the Banat” and to “civilise the Romanians”5. The town Bela Crkva was the one picked by de Mercy for German settlement. Already mentioned in 1335 as Alba Ecclesia, it was officially recorded as Weisskirchen in 1717. The catholic church, dedicated to St. Leonhard, was built on the ruins of the former church. Bela Crkva remained a town with a relatively consistent population6. As mentioned, former population of Serbs and Romanians mostly feared germanisation and catholisation. The received opinion was that only roman-catholic colonialists were good colonialists, so eventually protestants, whom it was allowed to settle because they were imagined as good colonists, first had to convert. Similar was the situation in the 1760s. The Austrian sovereign Maria Theresa (1717-1780) accelerated the colonisation of the Banat, which was still intended only for roman-catholic settlers7. Freedom of worship,

3 Borislav Jankulov, Pregled kolonizacija Vojvodine u XVIII i XIX veku. Novi Sad 1961, p. 8. 4 Босић, Мила: Божићни обичаји Срба у Војводини. ИРО Вук Караџића, Етнографски музеј београд, Војвођански музеј. Нови Сад 1985, p.14. 5 Jankulov, p. 10. 6 Jankulov, p. 11. 7 Jankulov, p. 27.

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guaranteed to the settlers by Joseph II. (1741-1790) in 1782 (linked to his Patent of Toleration which guaranteed religious freedom to non-catholic Christians, also meaning that they could exercise their faith in churches)8 made it easier to recruit new settlers. Thanks to Joseph II. Edict of Tolerance in 1782, Jews had more rights to trade, but were still restricted in settling and marriage. They are mentioned in Bela Crkva for the end of the 18th century9 and even had their synagogue (built in 1835/36 and torn down in 1949/1950). The different places of worship can still be visited in modern Bela Crkva. By the middle of the 19th century, the following religious groups were represented in Bela Crkva: Roman-Catholics, Protestants, Serbian-Orthodox, Romanian-Orthodox, Jews, and Evangelical-Reformed. During the 1920, due to the Russian civil war, refugees from nowadays Belarus and the Ukraine arrived in the town an eventually built their church in 1930/3110.

Illustration 1: Plan von Weisskirchen 1944. Beilage zum Heimatbuch von Weisskirchen, Zeichnung (1978) von Ing. Karl Schab USA. In: Verein Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft (eds.): Heimatbuch der Stadt Weißkirchen im Banat, Selbstverlag des Vereins Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft, Salzburg 1980, enclosure map.

8 Jankulov, p. 36. 9 Jankulov, p. 67. 10 Verein Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft (Hg.), Heimatbuch der Stadt Weißkirchen im Banat, Selbstverlag des Vereins Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft. Salzburg 1980, p. 317, 326‒331.

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Illustration 2: Postcard, printery Kuhn und Hepke, 1898 (Private ownership).

Illustration 3 and 4: Wikimedia Common, key word: Bela Crkva.

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Illustration 1 Serbian-Orthodox church (built 1751), Illustration 2 Romanian-Orthodox church (built 1872) (Wikimedia Common, key word: Bela Crkva).

Although different faiths were established, and the inhabitants lived mainly peacefully next to each other, mixed relationships were not common. Therefore, visible changes in customs or rites, especially regarding funerals, did not take place. What we can see studying the books on customs and rites in the Vojvodina is the fact that the settlers brought their customs and traditions into the new domiciles and held on to them. This may be the reason why worshipping the dead, deeply entrenched in all form of Orthodox churches, was and is visible in Bela Crkva, but only in the Orthodox community. According to known sources, the German community, although over two centuries the biggest community in the town, did not take on these customs. Also there is no evidence that it came to any reciprocation with the Orthodox community. Instead, high holidays such as Pentecost, which is celebrated by nearly all Christian communities, were and are observed exclusively throughout the community’s rules. However, similarities like the use of the same plants in celebrating and decorating (the graves) are common. In the following part, rites following Pentecost will be described. Since there is no form of worshipping the dead during this festivity in the Roman-catholic or Evangelical church, Orthodox customs will be described.

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WORSHIPPING THE DEAD

Worshipping the dead or ancestor worship is heavily practiced in all Orthodox churches, but not that much in Catholicism11. It is mostly a mixture of old, ancient Greek rites as well as relicts of proto-Slavic and old Slavic beliefs that the Slavs brought with them, altogether accumulated in the varieties of Orthodox beliefs. Regarding the relevant literature, the Serbian Orthodox church tried to get rid of “pagan” rituals, but since they are so deeply rooted within the peoples’ belief, it is impossible to do so. In a region like the Vojvodina, were it was and is normal that cities and villages are multi-ethnical and -confessional, one could think that there also happened mixtures of traditions and customs happened, which, as far as known to the author, is not true. Although, the society there seems to be “open” for other faiths or religious persuasion, as one might observe in the welcoming and protection of Hussites in the 16th century in northern Banat12, one might rather speak of a co-existence than of a mixed society or even religion. Rituals of worshipping the dead are often linked to water and plants, as I describe hereafter. The Christian holiday of Pentecost, known in nowadays Vojvodina as “Duhovi” “Dovi” or “Rusalije” (a term known also in other Slavonic languages like Slovakian, Russian, Slovenian and Romanians living in the Banat region) in its exercise in the Banat it most likely originates from the cult of the dead (Mithraism) in ancient Greece. It was believed that the dead arose from their graves on that day, so tombs were decorated with flowers (mostly with roses by the Romans, therefore the holiday was named “rosationis” or “dies rosae”). To worship the ancestors, the Serbian orthodox in the southeast Banat spill(ed) water, bailed once a day at sunrise by a pure girl or the lady of the house, sometimes the water had to be carried to the neighbour’s houses. The water then must be poured for the sun, the moon and every known deceased either on the grass or into a river. The vessel has to be filled again and needs to be carried into the house13. Graveyards have to be visited and grave stones must be decorated with flowers or linden twigs. The Banatske Here (Vlachs that identify as Serbs14) also put cherries on the graves for the diseased; women who lost their

11 For more information, since this is not the aim of the article, read for example Hansjakob Becker, and Hermann Ühlein (Eds), Liturgie im Angesicht des Todes. Judentum und Ostkirchen I: Texte und Kommentare. St. Ottilien 1997, especially Peter Plank, Der byzantinische Begräbnisritus, p. 773‒817. 12 Д. Ј.Поповић, Војводина И. Од најстаријих времена до велике сеобе. Нови Сад 1939, p. 371, 372. 13 Mila Босић, Годишњи обичаји Срба у Војводини.Музеј Војводине [итд]. Нови Сад 1996, p. 321. 14 Based on interviews and research by Milenko Filipović and Branislav Бukurov in their book: Банатске Хере. Нови Сад 1958.

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children won’t eat cherries until that day. This fruit is known in Christian mythology as symbol of power and fertility. As is common, big Church holidays are often preluded or followed by a commemoration day (so-called zadušnice). In the case of Pentecost, people in the Banat celebrate the Saturday before as duhovne zadušnice. These customs and rituals are typical for the Serbian orthodox church and therefore common for Serbs and Banatske Here15. Although the population of Bela Crkva changed over the centuries, these traditions and customs are still visible today. Nevertheless, none of the groups adopted traditions/customs/rites of one another but hold on to the original custom/rite that seems to be similar due to commonality of origin (in this case most likely the ancient Mithras cult as mentioned before).

CONCLUSION

Bela Crkva’s history shows us, that a multi-ethnical, multi-religious, multilingual society can exist and be taken as a model for the whole Vojvodina region. Due to historical processes and influences like colonisation and/or forced resettlements in the 18th and 19th century, mass murder, like the Holocaust (of approximately 20.000 Jewish people in Vojvodina, 4.000 survived) and expulsion during and after WW II (afterwards targeting mostly the German population, which in mainly German populated Bela Crkva had a huge impact), the population of the city changed. But, not the face – hence, the remaining churches tell us the story of this city as it once was, still visible in the present. Worshipping the dead plays a big part in Orthodox faith, visible in customs and rites connected to religious holidays and popular belief. Although living together for at least 300 years, no rites or customs of other religious groups were adopted – which I find very interesting and in my opinion also opens a greater research field for the future if we want to explore what the past can tell us about these multi-everything societies.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Borislav Jankulov, Pregled kolonizacija Vojvodine u XVIII i XIX veku. Novi Sad 1961.

Мила Босић, Годишњи обичаји Срба у Војводини. Нови Сад 1996.

15 Босић 1996, p. 185.

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Миле Недељковић, Годишњи обичаји у Срба. Вук Караџић. Београд 1990.

Д. Ј. Поповић, Војводина. Од најстаријих времена до велике сеобе. Нови Сад 1939.

Bruce Thornton, Melting pots and salad bowls. Hoover Digest 2012, No. 4. Available at: https://www.hoover.org/research/melting-pots-and-salad- bowls (accessed 2/28/2018).

Đorđe Tomić, Vojvodina – a region between Middle Europe and the Balkans. In: István Tarrósy and Gerald Rosskogler (Eds.), Regional co- operations as a central European perspective. Proceedings of the 1st DRC Summer School, Pécs 2004. Pécs 2005, p. 100‒114.

Verein Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft (Hg.), Heimatbuch der Stadt Weißkirchen im Banat. Salzburg 1980.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration 1: Plan von Weisskirchen 1944. Beilage zum Heimatbuch von Weisskirchen, Zeichnung (1978) von Ing. Karl Schab. In: Verein Weißkirchner Ortsgemeinschaft (Hg.), Heimatbuch der Stadt Weißkirchen im Banat. Salzburg 1980, enclosure map.

Illustration 2: Private Collection of Emanuel Veverica, Postcard, printery Kuhn und Hepke, 1898.

Illustration 3, 4, 6: Wikimedia Common, key word: Bela Crkva.

Illustration 5: Oteli v Serbii, http://otelivserbii.com/post_grad/bela- crkva/?type=destinacija (accessed 12/1/2017).

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