I am not sure how much do you know about Serbian literature, but if I tell you that even the great Johan Wolfgang von Goethe was impressed and astonished by its beauty – you might want to find out more about it!
How it all began
Two educated Greeks from Thessaloniki – Cyril and Methodius were sent for missionary work to Serbia. They were the ones who created the first Slavic alphabet – Glagolitic alphabet. After a while Cyrilic alphabet was created too and also the first Slavic literary language!
Literature – the Light in Dark Medieval Century
Our literature of medieval century is extremely important for our development as a nation. We were somehow always between East and West so you can recognize the influence of both cultures. However, we could say that Byzantine influence overcame all other through the time. Translation was an important activity right from the beginning of literature development. The most of books were translated from the Greek language.
Of course, The Bible was the most important book – but during medieval period we didn’t have it as one book. We had many texts that were used in churches and monasteries, some of the most common were: psaltirs and gospels.
Apocrypha
As in many other cultures, we also had apocrypha. The origin of this name is in Latin - adjective apocryphus means secret/non-canonical. In fact, apocryphal writings are documents that were not accepted by church but were widely spread and people read them with joy and interest. In many cases they actually opened another view and perspective. They were often full of fantastic scenes and episodes so people liked and generally understood them better than The Bible.
The Miroslav’s Gospel – Unique Masterpiece of World Heritage
This manuscript dates from around 1180 and it is not only the oldest, but also the most beautiful Serbian medieval manuscript! The work is decorated with approximately 300 stylized miniatures of outstanding beauty. By its style which is the mixture of the influences from the West and the East, the Miroslav’s Gospel is the unique manuscript of its kind in the region, as well as in the world. By its beauty and uniqueness the Miroslav’s Gospel will influence later other manuscripts of the region, as well as of the Medieval Europe.
In 2005, Miroslav’s Gospel was inscribed on the UNESCO “Memory of the World” register.
But, there is one more thing less known about this manuscript that makes it even more amazing! It is the magnificent and unbelievable story of how the manuscript survived through centuries.
This manuscript is definitely a silent witness of Serbian history. Nobody knows who took the Gospel in monastery Hilandar, but it was definitely there until 1896 when king Aleksandar Obrenovic brought it back to Serbia. In 1903, king and his wife were killed and the only thing that was stolen from their palace was – Miroslav’s Gospel!
During the First World War the Miroslav’s Gospel was on the Greek island Corfu.
Between two world wars it was in the hands of family Karadjordjevic. Even though the Ministry of Education decided that the Miroslav’s Gospel must be kept in the National Library, prince Pavle Karadjordjevic didn’t follow the orders and kept it for himself.
But, if he didn’t behave like that, we probably wouldn’t have it today. In 1941 Serbian National Library was bombed and almost 500 000 different books that represented our national treasure were completely destroyed!
This amazing story about the history of the Miroslav’s Gospel inspired Bosko Savkovic and he made a documentary movie In the beginning there was a word which won 9 international awards. You can watch the whole movie completely free on YouTube.
Jefimija the nun
We had many important writers during medieval period, but if I have to choose only one, than it would definitely be Jefimija. Jefimija is the first female Serbian poet. She had a tragic life that was mainly a result of tragic historical events. After the death of her father and her young son, she also lost a husband in the Battle of Marica. After these tragic events she moved to Krusevac, the capital of Serbia back then and my hometown too, and she stayed at Krusevac fortress, at the home of prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic and his wife Milica. Shortly after she came to Krusevac she became a nun.
The Praise to Saint Prince Lazar
Her best known text is the one she wrote on the cover of the reliquary containing the relics of Prince Lazar – The Praise to Saint Prince Lazar.
This text is both amazing work of literature and an amazing work of art – she embroidered the text with golden thread on a length of silk. This text is considered to be one of the finest work of Serbian literature.
This is just a short introduction to our Medieaval literature. I chose the most important and the most interesting parts of it, but there is so much more amazing details considering our medieval literature and art. I hope you enjoyed. The story about our folk literature is coming soon!