The Care of Serbian Medieval Rulers and High Church Dignitaries for Monastery Vineyards

Abstract

Предмет рада су различити видови старања српских средњовековних владара, архиепископа, епископа, игумана значајнијих манастира и других истакнутијих духовних лица о потребама тек основаних или обновљених манастира за виноградима, који представљају једна од најважнијих црквених имања. Сагледани су посебни начини прибављања винограда личним залагањем ктитора, у виду формирања нових засада и проширивања постојећих, куповине виноградарских имања или земљишта на коме је тек требало засадити винову лозу, као и замене појединачних винограда или читавих поседа са виноградима и вршења комасације виноградарског земљишта. Указано је и на тежњу за обезбеђивањем винограда у непосредној близини храмова, поред чега су истакнуте и друге специфичности у контексту настајања манастирских виноградарских комплекса.Serbian medieval rulers and high church dignitaries acquired vineyards for newly established or restored monasteries, primarily in the vicinity of the temple but also further afield. Vineyards were acquired mainly by forming new and expanding existing plantations, as well as by purchasing vineyard plots or land where grapevines were to be planted. The vineyards of the Athonite monasteries of Vatopedi and Hilandar were cared for by monks Sava and Simeon at the end of the 12th century. During the 13th and the first half of the 14th century, the vineyards of Hilandar were tended by Byzantine emperors, King Milutin, Hilandar abbots, and certain hieromonks. The same can be observed in the case of the Monastery of St. George near Skopje, restored by King Milutin (1300), the Monastery of Žiča and the Peć Archbishopric/Patriarchate, whose vineyards were cared for by Archbishop Danilo II (1324–1337) and the Bishop of Peć, Marko (1411), as well as the Monastery of Ravanica, the endowment of Prince Lazar (1381). One of the first vineyards of the Monastery of St. Archangels near Prizren was planted thanks to Abbot Jacob (1343). The care of vineyards could also be associated with the personal needs of the benefactor to reside in the monastery, as in the case of Archbishop Sava Nemanjić and the Karyes Cell (1217–1219, 1229). Significant monasteries such as St. George near Skopje and St. Archangels near Prizren, located near developed urban settlements, were gifted vineyards in the closest proximity to the city. Vineyards were either purchased from citizens or acquired through the exchange of properties, undertaken at the initiative of rulers and with the owners' consent, often to create a consolidated vineyard complex. King Stefan Dečanski carried out the exchange of vineyards for the Dečani Monastery (1331), Emperor Dušan for the Monastery of St. Archangels near Prizren (1343–1349/50), and Lord of Zeta Ivan Crnojević for the newly built Monastery of St. Mary in Cetinje (1485). In performing the exchange of vineyards for the Monastery of St. Archangels, Emperor Dušan also consolidated vineyard land in one of the stretches of the urban metoch of Prizren (a land belt in the immediate vicinity of the city). The city towers where the wine of wealthier monasteries was stored could also be acquired through the exchange of properties, as in the case of the Višegrad fortress near Prizren for the Monastery of St. Archangels