dimitrije djordjevic -the role of st. vitus day in modern serbian history

8/11/2019 Dimitrije Djordjevic -The Role of St. Vitus Day in Modern Serbian History

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SERBI N STUDIES

PUBLISHED BY

THE

NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR SERBIAN STUDIES

CONTENTS VOLUME

5,

NUMBER 3

SPRING

1990

Thomas A. Emmert

PROLOGUE TO KOSOVO:

THE

ERA

OF

PRINCE

LAZAR

5

Tanya Popovic

THE BATTLE

OF KOSOVO IN

THE

INTERPLAY OF

EPIC

BARDS AND

THE

EPIC AUDIENCE 21

Dimitrije Djordjevic

THE

ROLE

OF

ST.

VITUS DAY IN

MODERN

SERBIAN

HISTORY 33

David MacKenzie

ILIJA GARASANIN: MAN AND STATESMAN 41

Alex

N.

Dragnich

JOV

AN

RISTIC AND

SERBIA S

STRUGGLE FOR

INDEPENDENCE

AND

DEMOCRACY 57

Dragan Milivojevic

SOCIAL ASPECTS

OF

EARLY

SERBO-CROA

TIAN

TEXTBOOKS AND READERS OF ENGLISH FOR

U S

IMMIGRANTS 67

NOTES

(Student Essay)

Jelena S. Bankovic-Rosul

THE AWAKENING

OF

THE SLEEPERS IN DANILO KIS S

ENCYCLOPEDI

OF

THE DE D 85


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33

THE

ROLE

OF ST. VITUS DAY IN MODERN SERBIAN HISTORY

In 1887, on the

occasion

of the celebration of Vidovdan (Saint

Vitus day) in the Serbian monastery of Ravanica, Nikanor, the

Bi

s

hop

of Pakrac,

addressed his

flock with these words: "I

shall

not make .

a long sermon.

t

is

enough

to tell you: Bre

thren,

today is Vidovdan "

For Serbs, scattered

over

the central,

northern and

western Bal

kans, living

in

two

independent

Serbian States

born

through revo

lutions

and wars

during the

nineteenth century,

as well as subjected

to the Ottoman

and

Habsburg rule,

Vidovdan

embodied their

his-

torical memory." t became

synonymous

for the 1389 Battle of

Ko

sovo, which took place on that day, and

which determined people 's

collective

and

individual

destiny.

Vidovdan

was

imbedded

in

the

ethnic

and national self-awareness. t

became

the incentive for

sur-

vival, the inspiration in the struggle for human and national liber

ation. The myth and legend of Kosovo and Vidovdan were transmitted

to posterity by the popular epic poetry, by the Serbian

Orthodox

Church, by intellectuals

and

historians, as

well

as by national

and

political leaders in modern times.

Generations of Serbs

and

historians

divided

the national

past

into

two periods: before

and

after the Kosovo battle. Later, following the

birth and

ascendancy of the

modern

Serbian state

in

the 19th

and

20th centuries, three kinds of traditions emerged: the

old

cult of

th

e

Ko

sovo ballle, the worship of the 1804--1815 uprisings, and

th

e 1912-

1918 wars.

The

first marked the

defea

t

of th

e medieval Stale, the

second announced

the beginning

and

the

third

the victory of

th

e

reborn slat

e

Among Serbian national holidays Vidovdan was among the most

important. t symbolized the death

and

resurrection, the despair

and

hope

, the end of an epoch and the beginning of a

new

era. During

the Ottoman rule it offered a fath rland even before it

was

organized .

It

was

woven in the texture of

modern

Serbian nationalism in mod

ern times. In 1889, in agreement

with

religious authorities, the Ser

bian

government confirmed

Vidovdan

as the

day

consecrated

to

all

those who sacr

ifi

ed th eir lives for th e Faith

and

the Fatherland.

Int

en

tionally or by historical coincidence on Vidovdan 18 76 th war

against the Ollomans was declared,

the

1881 Secret Convention

with

Austria-Hungary was signed,

th

e

1914

Sarajevo assassination took

place,

th

e 1921 Yugoslav Conslilution was proclaimed and the 1948


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Resolution of the Cominform was declar d. Unti l th nd of World

War II Vidovdan marked the

end

nf the s

ho

l y

ar

when awards

were bestowed upon the

best

students.

Reference

to

the past

characterized

the d velopm nt f modern

nationalism

in Europe during the age of nali nal renai an after

1815.

In

the search for the national soul Lh l bralion of the

days

of

fallen heroes was to confirm the national identity nd unity.

In the

study of

the

cult of St. Vitus day among Lh rbs, my es-

teemed colleague and old friend, Professor Ekm i

fr

m arajevo

compare

d it

with th

e Fete de la Federation inaugural d

in

179 0

in France

as a token of

the

united

and

undivi ibl nation, as well

as

was

the Day of the Bastille or the Totenf s t introdu d by Wil-

helm

III in Prussia. The celebration

of

Vidovdan among th Serbs

expressed, in general terms, similar trends

of

m d rn nati nalism.

But, at the same time there was one differen . Day lebra ting

fallen heroes were

in

Europe decreed fTOm above, by rul ers or gov-

ernments. Vidovdan

emerged among the S rbs g nuin I

y

from

the

grassroots, from the illiterate village community. nlil ffi ially

ce

l-

ebrated, it already exis ted in the people's

mind,

in its

raJ

history,

refreshed

and adapted in epic ballads as a part

Lh

f lk tradition.

This tradition was spread by Serbian migrations v r th r gions

they

settled during

the

Ottoman

times. At the beginning it onlrib-

uted

to the feelings of

ethnic

unity of the

Serbs

and, lat r ,

to

their

affiliation

with their modern

nation.

From the day of their

conversion

to Christianity th

outh

Slavs

celebrated St. Vitus day,

dedi

cated to an Italian ain l fr m Lucania

(303 P.C.). The conservative peasant community for nturies pre-

served customs related to the pagan god Sv vid or Vid the Slavic

name for St. Vitus. According to Milan Milic vi , in

th

1380's peas-

ant

girls would

soak

the h

erb

Vidovcica in water and wash their

faces

with

it.

However,

the

battle

of

Kosovo, whi h t k pia e on

the

saint's

day,

gave another

mean ing to it. According

to

p asants'

belief the rivers

will

turn

red

on

Vidovdan,

olor d

by th

blood

of

fallen heroes at Kosovo. After the battle Kraljevic

Marko

asleep

to wake up on the day when Kosovo will be avenged. In M nt negro

women carried black scarves around their heads and th man's cap

was

embroidered

with black for mourning

of

th Vidovd n Kosovo


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battle. At the beginning of the 19th century the Serbian church marked

Vidovdan

with

red le

ll

ers in religious ca lendars.

eeded in th

e people's mind,

chanted by

peasant bards whose

poems

Vuk

Karadzic collected, the Vidovdan message was further

modified

and adapted to

contemporary needs

of

the modern epoch.

Historians

and

intellectuals referred to the cu

ll

of

Vidovdan

in

trans

forming the instinctive

popular

national feelings into modern, mass

nationalism. upported by the Church, the au thorities of the grad

ually developing Serbian Statehood in the 19th century offered their

support o

the Vidovdan legacy.

Although Karadjordje appeared in the popular mind as the avenger

of Kosovo, the leadership of the 1804 Serbian uprising extolled the

medieval slate tradition

and

the

cult

of Steven, the First Crowned

King

t

symbolized the ascendancy of Statehood, while Kosovo meant

its collapse. The tragic defeat suffered

in

1813 invigorated the mem

ory of the sacrifice of two central figures of the Vidovdan myth: the

martyrdom of Prince Lazar

and

the heroic regicide

of

Milos Obilic.

During the reign of the Obrenovices 1815-1842 the accent was placed

on the 1815 uprising, while the

cult

of the previous 1804-1813

movement was deliberately neglected. Along

with

the further con

solidation and organization of the Serbian State as well as through

the ex tension of the Serbian national program, the legacy of Emperor

Dusan the Mighty became cen tral. Garasanin's

Nacertonije

written

in

1844, quoted the crucial effects

of

the Kosovo battle

but

found

the

coun

try's future in the restoration of the pre-Kosovo Serbian

State tradition. Both Serbian dynasties, the Obrenovices

and

Kar

adjordjevices presented themselves as heirs

and

successors of me

dieval rulers.

The

later organized political parties during the last

decades of the century modified the Vidovdan message according

to

their ideological and political polarizations. The conservatives

remembered Prince Lazar's Oath on the eve of Vidovdan, which

called

for

unity. Domestic political dissent caused, according

to

them,

the 1389 defeat. On the contrary, the Liberals referred

to

the dem

ocratic resistance of the people, to the message

of

the Mother govic

and the servant Goluban

and

the popular struggle for freedom.

Whatever

th

e pragmatic approach

to

the Kosovo message might

be, Vidovdan continued to

be

commemorated

in

the public at large.

As

one writer from Vojvodina described it the cul l of

Kosovo

heroes

was presented

to

children at Christmas, the

slovo

was quoted

in


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Dimilrije Djordjevic

36

proverbs and curses

The Church took the leading role in organizing Vidovdan com

memorations during the first decades of the century. Ecclesiastical

calendars presented Vidovdan as the Emperor Lazar's

Day

men

tioning St. Vitus

only

additionally. Vidovdan was dedicated to the

day of national grievance and repentance. Vidovdan was consid

ered in general as the day of national mourning. Lat r on, during

the last decades of the century, the

churches

w

re

on Vidovdan

draped

n

black, black flags were put

oul on

houses, national stan

dards were at half-mast and

invitations for the commemoration were

printed with

black margins.

The

cult of Vidovdan blossomed during the period of

o m n l i c i ~ m

in the

1850's

and

1860's. Formed in 1847, the So i ty

of

Serb1an

Youth chose Vidovdan for the founding

day

when

our

heroic

~ o r -

efathers sacrificed themselves for freedom. One

of

ils foundmg

members

made

the inflamatory appeal: Will we, an we, dare we

go lo Kosovo. Historians of the romanticist school idealized the

past. Portraits of Kosovo warriors were reproduced

and

displayed

in

peasant

and

urban homes. Vidovdan became the major topic

in

literature, dramatic arts and paintings. Student associations glorified

the sacrifice of their ancestors, which culminated in the national

euphoria of

the

Omladina in the

1870's.

While the church, the youth and the nalionalisli public were

commemorating Vidovdan, the

state

authorities wore forced

lo

take

a

cautious

attitude.

Until

1878 Serbia was

in

a

vassal

relationship

with the Ottoman empire. The international status f Serbia was

fragile,

which

was manifested during the Crimean war,

national

up-

heavals during the 1860's

and

the eruption of tho Ea tern Crisis

in

1875. Until 1867

Turkish

nizams were still patrolling the streets of

Belgrade, while the pasha was residing in the city's fortress. Serbian

governments were involved

in

underground revolutionary activities

aiming

toward

the liberation

and

unification of Serb

under

Habs

burg

and Ottoman

rule. However, to openly

and

officially organize

celebrations and commemorations of a ballle in

which

the Serbs

fought the Turks

and one

of their knights assassinated the sultan

would be an affront to the Olloman suzerain. The first public cele

bration of Vidovdan Look place in the Beograd reading room in 1847

But when in 1851 slate officials parliciaptod in the organization

of

Vidovdan

festivity, the Ollomans protested vigorously and

the

Ser-


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Oimilrije Djordjevic

37

bian

government

had to

fire the incriminated officials . In 1865, when

invited to write the text for the Serbian national anthem, the poet

Jovan

Jovanovic-Zmaj from Novi Sad was explicitly warned from

Belgrade

not to

mention Vidovdan, in regard

to

the Turkish reaction.

With

the consolidation of the Serbian international position and the

1878 recognized independence, the situation improved, although

the constant threat of Ottoman reactions was present until the 20th

cen tur

y n

1882, when Serbia was proclaimed Kingdom, King Milan

was named The First Crowned King After Kosovo. In that moment

it

was mainly used for domestic political purposes.

During the 19th century Vidovdan was commemorated among Serbs

in

the Habsburg and Ottoman empires, under the watchful eye of

respective authorities, sensitive

to

the outburst

of

Serbian national

feelings. The Vidovdan cult was the strongest

in

Vojvodina due

to

the advanced Serbian community and the role which the Church

played in it. Especially after the revolutionary days of 1848 Vi-

dovdan was remembered at

church

gatherings, popular fairs and

youth festivals as a token of national solidarity, pride and self-con

fidence. From 1869 the Orthodox calendars in Bosnia dedicated

Vi-

dovdan

as

the day

of

Emperor Lazar, Patriarch Yephremos

and

the

Martyr Vitus. When the 1875 uprising started

in

Bosnia

and

Her

cegovina the call addressed

to

peasants to join the movement almost

verbatim quoted Prince Lazar's Oath on the eve of Vidovdan 1389.

Vidovdan found its place

in

the formative stage of the Yugoslav

movement in Croatia. In 1840 the day was celebrated by students of

the Zagreb seminary. Danica Ilirska, the journal of the Illyrian

movement, published Kosovo epic poems. Its leader Ljudevit

Gaj

wrote in 1853 a series of essays on Vidovdan. On the occasion of

the 500th anniversary of the Kosovo ballle

in

1889 a solemn session

of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences

and

Arts was held in Zagreb,

with

speeches by the two most prominent Croatian scholars Franjo

Racki and Toma Maretic. At the beginning of the 20th century the

world famous Croatian sculptur Ivan Mestrovic designed the

i-

dovdanski Hram

(Sl. Vilus Temple). Il was never realized, although

the most important figures from the Kosovo epic were already made

in marble in 1908. Mestrovic's artistic vision was the greatest glor

ification of Vidovdan ever attempted.

The memory of Vidovdan was kept alive among the Serbs

in

the

Ottoman empire. The Orthodox seminary in Prizren, founded in


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Dimilrijc Djordjcvic

38

1871 became the nursery of the Vidovdan cull. Th lud nls' asso

ciation, Rastko, named after Sl. Sava's Jay nam , ommemoraled

Vidovdan in

order

to promote nali nal propaganda, and was ex

posed to the constant pressure of lh Ollornan -Albanian hostile en

vironment.

The

outburst of

Serbian

national dynamism at tho dawn of the

20th century

further

invigorated the cull of Vidovdan. To avenge

Kosovo became the slogan

of

the day. Among the orbian and Mon

tenegrin

war aims in

the 1912 war the priority

was to

reconquer and

liberate Kosovo. As a result the campaign had the

c h ~ r a

t r of a

Holy War. After the victory, students

and itizens

visited tho Kosovo

monasteries. Visits were

scheduled mainly on

Vidovdan

to

attend

the

solemn

service

in

Gracanica.

t was

there

in

1914 that a group

of

students

from Sarajevo

learned

the

news

of

Lh

assassination of

Franz Ferdinand.

There

is no doubt that Gavrilo Princip, planning

the regicide, was greatly influenced

by

the aura of doily which the

Bosnian nationalistic youth assigned to Milos Obilic, as w as by

Vidovdan, the day

when

the

Austrian

Crown Prin c visited the

os-

nian

capital.

The Vidovdan cult

reappeared again during World War 1 when

the Serbian

army

retreated to Kosovo, on its exodus to the Adriatic

shores. In that

dramatic moment,

the flamboyant vojvoda

Mi

si pro

posed a counter-offensive from Kosovo, imbued with the same

Vi

dovdan alternative

to win

or

to perish.

Vidovdan was

celebrated in

British schools during

th

e war. The

3rd detachment of

volunteers from the United Stat s mbroidered

on

the flag Vidovdanski

borci

iz Amerike

and

a group f volun

teers on the Salonika front took the

name

Vidovdanski bor i.

During one century, from 1889 until 1989, eel brali ns of enten

aries of the Kosovo battle

mirrored

the

spirit of the people and the

needs

of the Limes in which they Jived.

In 1889, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary comm mora lion,

Serbia was facing

the

crisis caused by the

dom

sli s

tru

gle for con

stitutionalism

and

parliamentarism,

the

victory of lib ralism en

acted

by

the 1888

Constitution, followed

by the abdicali n of King

Milan

and

the succession to the throne of his minor son Alexander.

The

popular

and official celebration

of Vidovdan

1889 had, besides

the

nationa l cause, the desire to

consolidate

the shaken dynasty and

to strengthen

the

new

liberal regime. On Vidovdan, Juno 15th (the


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old calendar) a solemn requiem to th e Kosovo warriors was held in

Krusevac, the ancient capital of Prince Lazar,

and

the foundation of

the monument dedicated lo the Kosovo martyrs was laid. In

the

following days the young King Alexander was annoinled in the Zica

monastery as the first annointed Serbian King after Kosovo. The

anniversary was celebrated in Montenegro, Vojvodina

and

other parts

where Serbs lived.

Fifty years later, in 1939 the

550lh

anniversary of Vidovdan was

commemorated in the atmosphere of the coming crisis

and

under

the stormy clouds which announced to Europe the outbreak of World

War II. Requiems of Vidovdan

in

Gracanica, both monasteries of

Ravanica in Resava and Srem, as well as the two Lazarica churches

in Krusevac

and

Dalmatia, were

held

in the presence of the repre-

sentatives of the army, the military and national societies. They de-

livered the message

to

the expected invader: Niti cemo se pokoriti

niti ukloniti (We shall neither submit, nor yield).

The Serbian people, faithful to their historical legacy, paid dearly

for this commitment during the second World War. Under the new

communist regime imposed after the end of the war, public and

official commemorations of Vidovdan were

not

allowed

and

the Vi-

dovdan memory was intentionally swept under the carpet. The only

organization which kept it alive for more than forty years, was the

Serbian Orthodox Church. However t proved to

be an

illusion to

brush out

th

e historical legacy. The national revival of the Serbs,

subj ec t

ed to

an artificial na tional symmetry in

th

e Yugoslav multi-

national stale, which divided

th

em and deprived them of authority

over their own territory, erupted like a volcano in recent years.

The

Vidovdan message became resurrected

as

a cornerstone in Serbian

history.

As

happened

in

centuries past, the culls of St. Sava and

Kosovo became again the cement lo unify th e nation, in the struggle

for national and human rights. On the eve of Vidovdan 1989 the

new, superb Temple of Saint Sava was consecrated in Belgrade, and

the next day over a million and a half Serbs from a

ll

over the country

attended the 600 years requiem

to

the Kosovo martyrs in Gracani a,

as well as the official eremony in Gazimeslan, where the 1389 ballle

took place. Popular gatherings in Romania (Bosnia) and Knin (Croa-

tia followed . Scholarly symposia

in

Belgrade, Sarajevo and other

places were dealing with the historical importance

of

the 1389 balllc

for

the Serbs, Yugoslavs, the Balkans and Europe.


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4

he historical herilage has a

double

meaning: of ficlion and real-

ity. l mirrors Lhe pasl and projecls the future. Tho Vid vdan mes-

sage

was

and is for the Serbs wherever h

ey Jive a Loken

of

their

past and present destiny.

Universily of California Santa Barbara

dimitrije djordjevic -the role of st. vitus day in modern serbian history

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