Papers by Aleksandar Krstić
Istorijski časopis, 2023
The paper deals with the noble Arbanas family (Hungarian: Orbonász) of Carașova, whose members pe... more The paper deals with the noble Arbanas family (Hungarian: Orbonász) of Carașova, whose members performed important administrative and military duties in the southern border areas of Hungary during the 15th century. The scarce source material allows us to follow only the basic outlines of their activities. The most prominent members of this family and the founders of its two branches were the brothers George and Vukašin Arbanas. In 1437, George kept the royal castle of Carașova in present-day Romanian Banat (Hungarian: Krassófő, Serbian: Karaševo) as an honour, which proves that he already had a significant position in the borderline Caraș (Krassó) County at that time. In the Hungarian and Romanian historiography, it is considered that the brothers originate from a Serbian noble family from the territory of Albania. It is interesting that two Serbian annals mention a certain Vukašin Zuprović as a prominent participant in the Hungarian campaign against the Ottomans in Serbia in 1437. The civil war in Hungary after the death of King Albert (1439) favoured the further rise of the Arbanas brothers. As a supporter of King Wladislas I and John Hunyadi, George reached the position of the count of Timiş (Temes) in 1441–1442. Vukašin was given a significant role in the management of Timiş County, as some kind of his brother’s representative. The offspring of George and Vukašin built their careers on the southern border of Hungary during the reign of Matthias Corvinus. In the late 1480s, George the Younger performed the duty of the captain or the ban of Belgrade, while Vukašin’s son Peter was the captain of the Haram castle on the Danube in Caraș County (1489).
Analele Banatului, S.N., Arheologie – Istorie, 2023
Inscriptions on buildings, wall paintings and tombstones, as well as marginal notes of copyists a... more Inscriptions on buildings, wall paintings and tombstones, as well as marginal notes of copyists and readers of books are important sources for the study of daily life in Serbia and Bosnia in the Middle Ages. They contain information about the erection and painting of churches and monasteries, their founders, builders and painters, and sometimes about the reasons and circumstances in which these buildings were created. The tombstone inscriptions can offer basic information about deceased persons and their lives and often depict the beliefs, ethics and culture of the nobility. Records of copyists, translators and manuscript illuminators reveal both religious motives that led them to accept this endeavor, as well as various difficulties they faced in their work (from inadequate sources, poor quality writing material, to the difficult conditions in which they copied, translated and decorated books – cold, hunger, lack of sleep, sight problems, social disturbances and wars). Similar marginalia about the difficulties they encountered in everyday life, about illness, death or fear of the Turks were often left by the readers of these books, and empty pages or margins in the books were sometimes used to list someone’s income and expenses, draft private contracts or record global and local news.
Migrations in the Slavic Cultural Space. From the Middle Ages to the Present Day, 2022
Serbian migrations to the area of present-day Banat from the late 14th to the second half of the ... more Serbian migrations to the area of present-day Banat from the late 14th to the second half of the 16th centuries were primarily driven by Ottoman conquests. Ottoman incursions into southern Hungary after the fall of the Serbian state (1459) caused great demographic losses, which the Hungarian authorities tried to compensate for by organizing the mass relocations of the population from northern Serbia to their territory. They also accepted those Serbs who were moving to Hungary on their own and who were willing to enter the military service. This paper analyses the results of these migratory movements until the Ottoman conquest of Banat (1552), with a focus on the area of southern Banat, i.e. the nahiyes of Şemlik (Vršac) and Boğça (Bocşa), on the basis of data provided by the first Ottoman census of the Sanjak of Timişoara from 1554.
Иницијал : часопис за средњовековне студије = Initial : a Review of Medieval Studies, 2023
The paper represents a critical edition with photographs, description, translation into Serbian a... more The paper represents a critical edition with photographs, description, translation into Serbian and diplomatic analysis of three Latin documents issued in Hungary in 1404 and 1405 by Dmitar (Demetrius) Kraljević, the youngest son of Serbian King Vukašin (1365–1371). After his father's death in the Battle of the Maritsa River (1371) Dmitar stayed at his family's territory in western Macedonia, but he crossed over to Hungary with his brother Andrijaš in 1394. Entering the service of King Sigismund of Luxembourg, Dmitar performed the duties of the count of Zaránd and the castellan of Világosvár for several years and in this capacity, he issued the mentioned documents. Two of these documents, regarding a property dispute between the noblemen Ladislaus Syke of Pankota and Alexis of Őstelek, were issued on September 1 and 15, 1404 in Szineke (Sintea Mică) in Zaránd County. These two acts have been known for more than a century since they were published in the collection of documents on the Hungarian-Serbian relations in the Middle Ages by Lajos Thallóczy and Аntal Áldásy (1907). The third document, which Dmitar Kraljević issued in Buda on March 1, 1405, regarding the regulation of the dispute over а mill and mill canals on the Fehér-Körös (Crişul Alb) river between the aforementioned Ladislaus of Pankota and Stephen Ördög of Csama, was not known or published until now. The special value of this document is that it has a well-preserved wax seal of Dmitar Kraljević with a heraldic representation and a Cyrillic inscription in the Serbian language (“This is the seal of Dmitar Kraljević”), which was also unknown until now. The other two documents also bore the same seal, but they were too damaged to be of any use. On the basis of the seal, it can be concluded that Dmitar had his share in the government of the Mrnjavčević state in western Macedonia. The seal inscription also testifies that the anthroponym Kraljević, recorded in folk tradition concerning Dmitar's brother King Marko (1371–1395), was their surname in the true sense of the word. All three documents are kept in the Erdödy family archive, which is deposited in the Austrian State Archives in Vienna (Österreichische Staatsarchiv, Wien. Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Familienarchiv Erdödy).
Inicijal. Časopis za srednjovekovne studije. Initial. A Review of Medieval Studies , 2022
The paper presents a critical edition of the judgment of the city court of Buda of 2 April 1433 r... more The paper presents a critical edition of the judgment of the city court of Buda of 2 April 1433 regarding the dispute over the lease of the chamber in Nagybánya (Rivulus Dominarum) in Hungary (present-day Baia Mare in Romania). The judgment contains the transcripts of a letter of Despot Đurađ Branković to Queen Barbara and the Hungarian Estates of 20 August 1432, issued in Smederevo, and a letter of the city council of Nagybánya, issued on 20 February of 1433. These documents provide an insight into the way the Serbian ruler leased regal revenues on his Hungarian estates received from King Sigismund of Luxembourg. The paper also provides a detailed diplomatic analysis of the document with photographs, description and translation into Serbian.
Građa o prošlosti Bosne 14, 2021
The paper presents a critical edition of the charter of King Stjepan Ostojić of Bosnia, issued to... more The paper presents a critical edition of the charter of King Stjepan Ostojić of Bosnia, issued to the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) in Sutjeska on December 4, 1419. The king confirmed to Dubrovnik the eternal possession of the župa (district) of Konavli and the fortress of Sokol, with all appurtenant villages, hamlets, people, rights and borders. According to the charter, the city of Dubrovnik previously bought the Konavli district and the fortress of Sokol from dukes Sandalj Hranić Kosača and Petar Pavlović, while in fact at that moment only Kosača sold his part of Konavli to Dubrovnik. The charter was issued at the request of the envoys of Dubrovnik, and with the consent of Queen Mother Kujava, the nobility and magnates of the Bosnian Kingdom.
Eparhija bačka u osmovekovnoj istoriji Srpske pravoslavne crkve, 2021
In this paper, the authors examine the region of Bačka and the ecclesiastical relations on its te... more In this paper, the authors examine the region of Bačka and the ecclesiastical relations on its territory from the late medieval period until the end of the Ottoman Rule in 1699. The chronology of the bishops and archbishops (metropolitans) of Bačka and Szeged is also provided, with some corrections of the well-known timeline of these high ecclesiastical figures. The Monasteries of Bođani, Kovilj and Batmonostor are also described, alongside a detailed observation on their creation and early history. The authors also tried, on the basis of the very scarce source material, to reconstruct cultural and economic life of these monasteries, as well as their social role. In the paper for the first time the original Ottoman document about Kovilj monastery is presented, as well as some other unpublished source material in Latin. Furthermore, there is a thorough analysis of the network of churches and parishes, as well as the priests in the towns and villages of Bačka in the Ottoman period with some new assumptions about lesser known Orthodox priests and temples in this region.
Srednji vek u srpskoj nauci, istoriji, književnosti i umetnosti IX, 2021
Two old Serbian annals, The Nikoljski and The Branković’s, record that Sultan Mehmed II took the ... more Two old Serbian annals, The Nikoljski and The Branković’s, record that Sultan Mehmed II took the great bells of the Resava monastery to Constantinople due to the betrayal of a monk. According to these annals, this happened after the sultan destroyed the fortifications built by Despot Vuk Grgurević and the Hungarians at the confluence of the Morava and Danube during the blockade of Smederevo. Both annals incorrectly date these events in 1474, instead of 1476. The Ottomans took over this monastery, the main endowment of the Serbian ruler Despot Stefan Lazarević (1389–1427), in May 1458. They housed numerous military crew composed of Muslims and Christians in the monastery strongholds. The monastery seems to have managed to survive under the new conditions, but for less than two decades. The Resava monks, led by the monk Nikon, held two villages as a timar in 1467, with the obligation to provide two crew members for the service in the fortress of Resava. However, the monastery was abolished and its church of the Holy Trinity converted into a fortress warehouse before the next census in 1477, at about the same time as the monastery bells were taken away. Since the monk Nikon remained in the Ottoman service afterwards and received a new, smaller timar in the Morava valley, the author suggests that he could be the monk blamed for the treason by the Serbian annals.
Inicijal. Časopis za srednjovekovne studije, 2021
Despot Stefan Lazarević received the castle and town of Munkács in Bereg County in northeastern H... more Despot Stefan Lazarević received the castle and town of Munkács in Bereg County in northeastern Hungary (today Mukachevo in western Ukraine) from the Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxemburg, probably in 1422 or 1423. King Sigismund granted the inhabitants of Munkács the right to hold the annual fair, which began on the feast of Saint Cosmas and Damian on 27 September and lasted fifteen days. Despot Stefan confirmed this privilege by his charter, which is not preserved. Two and a half months before his death, on 6 May 1427, the Serbian ruler issued a document in Latin in his court in Nekudim in the Jasenica valley (near today's Smederevska Palanka), inviting all state dignitaries and local government representatives in Hungary to enable the free admission of the people and traders to the mentioned fair. The paper presents a critical edition of this last known document issued by Despot Stefan, with photographs, description, translation into Serbian and diplomatic analysis.
Saopštenja RZZZSK 53 , 2021
The paper disputes the claim stated in the earlier literature that the oldest mention of Rakovica... more The paper disputes the claim stated in the earlier literature that the oldest mention of Rakovica monastery near Belgrade may be found in the travelogue of Felix Petančić from 1502. It was based on an incorrect assumption of Petar Matković from 1879 that Petančić's "Ravanicense monasterium", that is, Ravanica monastery, was wrongly transcribed instead of "Racauicense monasterium". As a matter of fact, Petančić actually appropriated the treatise of the Bishop of Ulcinj, Martin Segon from Novi Brdo, on the roads that could be used in order to attack the Ottomans on the Balkan Peninsula from the 1480's. Therefore, the first reliable mention of the Monastery of Rakovica remains the census of the Sanjak of Smederevo from 1560, when this monastery was inscribed next to the village of Vrčin in the Nahiye of Avala. The paper considers this information in the light of the tradition about the relocation of the monastery, but also having in mind the results of the archaeological surveys of the Stari manastir [Old monastery] site near the village of Rakovica during which no remains of a monastery complex were discovered. Arguments have been presented in support of the thesis that "Radul the Voivode," mentioned in the 1701 charter of Constantin Brâncoveanu as the founder of the Monastery of Rakovica, was most likely Voivode Radu IV of Wallachia (1496-1508). He probably rebuilt a deserted monastery at the very border between Hungarian Belgrade and the Ottoman territory after 1503. In the end, it is concluded that the favorable conditions for the founding of an Orthodox monastery in such a place existed only during the Serbian rule in Belgrade, at the time of the reign of King Dragutin (1284-1316) or, more likely, during the reign of Despot Stefan Lazarević (1404-1427).
Istorijski časopis 70, 2021
The paper discusses data on the estates of the Jakšić family in eastern Slavonia and Srem based m... more The paper discusses data on the estates of the Jakšić family in eastern Slavonia and Srem based mostly on unpublished documents, which has not drawn special attention of the previous historiography. In 1477, the brothers Stefan and Dmitar Jakšić received the Kórógy fortress with the associated possessions in Valkó County from Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. The estate remained in the possession of the Jakšićs for sixty years, until the fall of Slavonia under Ottoman rule, but the data about it provided by sources are very scarce. An approximate idea of the structure of this estate of the Jakšićs can be obtained on the basis of the census of the Kórógy estate from 1469. In Srem County, the Jakšićs owned the castle (castellum) and the market town (oppidum) of Árpatarló with at least six villages and one wasteland, as reported by judicial acts related to the conflict between Marko and Dmitar Jakšić the Younger with the baronial family Geréb of Vingárt over this estate (1496–1498). The document from 1519 concerning the manner of collecting the church tithe from wine in the market town of Árpatarló and its appurtenances gives some new data about this estate. Árpatarló was destroyed in the following years during the Ottoman attacks on Srem, and its exact location is unknown. According to one opinion, Árpatarló is identical with the present-day town of Ruma, and according to another opinion, it was located on the site of Gradina south of the monastery and the settlement of Krušedol.
Politics and Society in the Central and South-Eastern Europe. Life under the Shadow of the Ottoman Empire's Expansion (15th–16th Centuries), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference 3th-5th October 2019, Timișoara, 2021
The paper analyses the legal position of the Orthodox Church in northern Serbia and its attitude ... more The paper analyses the legal position of the Orthodox Church in northern Serbia and its attitude towards the Ottoman authorities and the Archbishopric of Ohrid during the first century of Ottoman
rule in that area. Based on the data that are primarily provided by the Ottoman censuses (defters) from the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries, but also by other sources, the legal and economic position and the number of monasteries in northern Serbia are analyzed. The data in these sources about the parish clergy are also considered, as well as the process of Islamization, which was primarily
characteristic of urban settlements and their overall transformation into the centers of the oriental type.
Građa o prošlosti Bosne 13, 2020
The paper presents critical editions with translations of two last preserved letters that the Dub... more The paper presents critical editions with translations of two last preserved letters that the Dubrovnik municipality sent to Knez Grgur Vukosalić, protesting against the customs he set before Ston and demanding that it be abolished. The letter belongs to the corpus of documents related to the dispute over the Ston customs from 1416–1418, which are kept in the State Archives in Dubrovnik.
Šumadija u XV veku, 2018
Articles on seven medieval fortresses and towns in northern Serbia, published in the monographs "... more Articles on seven medieval fortresses and towns in northern Serbia, published in the monographs "Šumadija u XV veku [Šumadija in the 15th century]" (Belgrade, 2018).
Revue d`études sud est Europeen, 2021
Voivode Miloš Belmužević was a significant figure in 15th century Serbian history. He was born to... more Voivode Miloš Belmužević was a significant figure in 15th century Serbian history. He was born to a noble family, whose members performed administrative duties in Zeta and northern Serbia during the reign of Despot Đurađ Branković (1427–1456). After moving to Hungary, Belmužević fought the Ottomans along the border, but also on other battlefields, as the commander of a large detachment of light cavalry – hussars. He was wounded serving King Matthias Corvinus in Silesia in 1488, and he distinguished himself during the wars of King Wladislas II Jagello against Maximilian Habsburg and Jan Albrecht in western and northern Hungary (1490–1491). For his loyal service and military merits, Belmužević was rewarded by King Matthias on several occasions, starting from 1483, with estates in Timiş, Cenad and Bač counties.
Revue des études sud-est européenes, 2021
The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans is one of the great upheavals in the history of Southeast Eur... more The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans is one of the great upheavals in the history of Southeast Europe. Amazingly, it is rarely seen in context. Research is accordingly fragmented. The Bucharest conference of the Association internationale d'études du Sud-Est européen provided the appropriate framework for bundling recent research on this topic. Colleagues from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania accepted the invitation. The contributors are grateful that the Revue des études sud-est européennes enables the publication of the most important contributions of this panel. The essays address several questions: 1) The question of space: how is the process of conquest to be placed in an European context? How did the Ottomans, as the new masters, structure the conquered space and what significance do Islamic religious foundations, which are the backbone of every Islamic dominated society, have? 2) What insight do actor-centered approaches offer? Structuralist research has long neglected agents and agencies. Now individuals reappear in research. In this vein, the regional nobility is examined, both the Muslim regional elites (uç beys) and the Christian (Orthodox and Catholic) nobility. It becomes clear how the conquest radically transformed an old world, but did not destroy all structures of the Balkan Christian societies: contacts existed across the conflict boundaries, even if these should not be confused with peaceful relationships. The conquest also triggered great waves of refugees and created a political diaspora in Catholic Europe. The role of Hungary has often been overlooked by research often focused on Italy and particularly Venice. Here it is analyzed in detail. 3) The final Ottoman conquest was usually preceded by decades of Ottoman raids. This turmoil affected large parts of the Balkans. The consequences of the deliberate destabilization of the Christian Balkan states on trade and the economy have rarely been examined. The analysis of the Balkan caravan trade reveals how much the Ottoman raids affected the hurted regions in their economic development. The wearing down of the regional population is one of the explanations for the ultimate success of the Ottoman conquest. Of course, these three approaches do not exhaust the wealth of questions on the topic. In their bundled form, however, they give the reader an impression of ongoing debates. Hopefully they will also give impetus to further research on an era that has profoundly transformed the Balkans.
Građa o prošlosti Bosne , 2018
The paper presents a critical edition with a translation of the first preserved letter that the D... more The paper presents a critical edition with a translation of the first preserved letter that the Dubrovnik municipality sent to Knez Grgur Vukosalić, protesting against the customs he set before Ston and demanding that it be abolished. The letter belongs to the corpus of documents related to the dispute over the Ston customs from 1416–1418, which are kept in the State Archives in Dubrovnik.
Građa o prošlosti Bosne, 2019
The paper presents a critical edition with a translation of the second preserved letter that the ... more The paper presents a critical edition with a translation of the second preserved letter that the Dubrovnik authorities sent to Knez Grgur Vukosalić, protesting against the customs he set before Ston and demanding that it be abolished. The letter belongs to the corpus of documents related to the dispute over the Ston customs from 1416–1418, which are kept in the State Archives in Dubrovnik.
Arheološka topografija područja grada Pančeva, knj. 1, 2020
The chapter analyses medieval and modern toponyms and hydronyms in the present-day area of the Ci... more The chapter analyses medieval and modern toponyms and hydronyms in the present-day area of the City of Pančevo (south Banat, Serbia), about which data are provided by medieval Hungarian and other documentary and narrative sources, Ottoman defters (censuses) from the 16th century, Serbian pomeniks (monastic commemorative books from the 16th-17th centuries) and Austrian military and topographic maps from the 18th century. In addition to the presentation of data on each of the settlements from the Pančevo area (medieval and later), as well as the mentions of the rivers and local watercourses in the sources, a brief overview of historical events in that area during the Middle Ages and early Modern period is given.
A keresztény Európa határán: fejezetek az ezeréves magyar-szerb együttélés történetéből, 2020
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Papers by Aleksandar Krstić
rule in that area. Based on the data that are primarily provided by the Ottoman censuses (defters) from the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries, but also by other sources, the legal and economic position and the number of monasteries in northern Serbia are analyzed. The data in these sources about the parish clergy are also considered, as well as the process of Islamization, which was primarily
characteristic of urban settlements and their overall transformation into the centers of the oriental type.
rule in that area. Based on the data that are primarily provided by the Ottoman censuses (defters) from the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries, but also by other sources, the legal and economic position and the number of monasteries in northern Serbia are analyzed. The data in these sources about the parish clergy are also considered, as well as the process of Islamization, which was primarily
characteristic of urban settlements and their overall transformation into the centers of the oriental type.
The monograph presents more than 307 archeological sites registered in the area of five cadastral municipalities (Banatski Brestovac, Omoljica, Ivanovo, Starčevo and Vojlovica, which is also the urban settlement of Pančevo). In addition to the textual part, the sites are presented in 796 illustrations (photographs, maps, plates and tables).