3

SERBIAN 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
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD 85
Dimitrij e Djordjevic
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 shop
of Pakrac, addressed his flock with these words: "I shall not make .
a long sermon. It is enough to tell you: Brethren, 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." It 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. It 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 the
Kosovo ballle, the worship of the 1804--1815 uprisings, and the 1912-
1918 wars. The first marked the defeat of the medieval Stale, the
second announced the beginning and the third the victory of the
reborn slate.
Among Serbian national holidays Vidovdan was among the most
important. It 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 sacrifi ed their lives for the Faith and the Fatherland.
Intentionally or by historical coincidence on Vidovdan 18 76 th war
against the Ollomans was declared, the 1881 Secret Convention with
Austria-Hungary was signed, the 1914 Sarajevo assassination took
place, the 1921 Yugoslav Conslilution was proclaimed and the 1948
Dimitrije Djordjevic
34
Resolution of the Cominform was declar d. Until 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 fri end, Professor Ekm i fr m arajevo
compared it with the "Fete de la Federation" inaugural d in 1790
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 Iy, from the
grassroots, from the illiterate village community. nlil ffi ially cel-
ebrated, it already exis ted in the people's mind, in its raJ history,
refreshed and adapted in epic ballads as a part f Lh f lk tradition.
This tradition was spread by Serbian migrations ov 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, dedicated to an Italian ainl 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 meaning 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 f 11 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
Dimitrije Djordjevic 35
battle. At the beginning of the 19th century the Serbian church marked
Vidovdan with red lellers in religious calendars.
Seeded in the 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 cull of Vidovdan in trans-
forming the instinctive popular national feelings into modern, mass
nationalism. Supported by the Church, the authorities of the grad-
ually developing Serbian Statehood in the 19th century offered their
support Lo 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. It 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 extension of the Serbian national program, the legacy of Emperor
Dusan the Mighty became central. Garasanin's Nacertonije, written
in 1844, quoted the crucial effects of the Kosovo battle but found
the country'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 J ugovic
and the servant Goluban and the popular struggle for freedom.
Whatever the 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
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 in 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
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
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-
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
century. In 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 "Vi-
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
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. It 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 11 as by
Vidovdan, the day when the Austrian Crown Prin c visited the Bos-
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 the 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 stru 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 national cause, the desire to consolidate the shaken dynasty and
to strengthen the new liberal regime. On Vidovdan, Juno 15th (the
Dimilrije Djordjevic 39
old calendar) a solemn requiem to the 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 it proved to be an illusion to
brush out the historical legacy. The national revival of the Serbs,
subj ected to an artificial "national symmetry" in the Yugoslav multi-
national stale, which divided them 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 the 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 all 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.
Dimilrije Djordjevic 39
old calendar) a solemn requiem to the Kosovo warriors was held in
Krusevac, the ancient capital of Prince Lazar, and the foundation of
the monument dedicated to 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 lhe 550th anniversary of Vidovdan was
commemorated in the atmosphere of the coming crisis and under
the stormy clouds which announced lo Europe the outbreak of World
War II. Requiems of Vidovdan in Gracanica, both monasteries of
Ravanica in Resava and Srem, as well as the lwo 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 it proved to be an illusion to
brush oul the historical legacy. The national revival of the Serbs,
subjected to an artificial "national symmetry" in the Yugoslav multi-
national stale, which divided them 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 the nation, in the struggle
for national and human rights. On lhe ve of Vidovdan 1989 the
new, superb Temple of Saint Suva was consecrated in Belgrade, and
the next day over a million and a half Serbs from all over the country
attended the 600 years requiem lo lhe Kosovo martyrs in Gracanica,
as well as the official ceremony in Gazimestan, where the 1389 hallie
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 imparlance of tho 1389 balllo
for the Serbs, Yugoslavs, the Balkans and Europe.
Dimilrije Djordjevic
40
The historical herilage has a double meaning: of ficlion and real-
ity. lL mirrors Lhe pasl and projecls the future. Tho Vid vdan mes-
sage was and is for the Serbs, wherever Lhey Jive, a Loken of their
past and present destiny.
Universily of California Santa Barbara