the isles of great silence monastic life on lake scutari under the patronage of the balsha

8/10/2019 The Isles of Great Silence Monastic Life on Lake Scutari Under the Patronage of the Balsha

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Marka Tomi Djuri

Institute for Balkan StudiesSerbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsBelgrade

e Isles of Great SilenceMonastic Life on Lake Scutari under the Patronage of the Balis

Abstract: At the time Zeta was ruled by the local lords of the Bali family, in thelate fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth century, the islets in Lake Scutari(Skadarsko jezero) in Zeta were lively centres of monastic life. e paper looks at theforms of monastic life as suggested by the spatial organization and architecture of

the monastic complexes founded by the Balis, and by the surviving written sources.e most important documentary source is the correspondence between Jelena Baliand her spiritual father, Nikon, preserved in the manuscript known as Goriki zbornik(Gorica Collection). e letters show that Lake Scutari was a centre of monasticismtouched by hesychast-inspired spirituality where both the eremitic and coenobitic

ways of life were practised.Keywords: Lake Scutari, monasteries, monasticism, Jelena Bali, Nikon the Jerusalem-

ite, Gorica Collection (Goriki zbornik)

The Bali familys architectural legacy on Lake Scutari comprises three

monastic complexes in the islets of Stareva Gorica (also known asStarevo), Beka (also known as Gorica or Brezovica) and Moranik.eoldest monastery, with the church dedicated to the Dormition of the Vir-gin, was built in Stareva Gorica in under Djuradj (George) IBali.e monastic complex in Beka includes two churches: one, earlier,

For the activity of the Balis as ktetors on Lake Scutari, see V. J. Djuri, Balii.Arhitektura, inIstorija Crne Gore, vol. II/ (Titograd: Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore,), , and his Srpski dravni sabori u Pei i crkveno graditeljstvo, in O kne-

zu Lazaru, eds. I. Boi & V. J. Djuri(Belgrade: Filozofski fakultet, ), ; G.Radovi, Crkve i manastiri na Skadarskom jezeru,Izgradnja: (), .

e monasticism on Lake Scutari has not received much scholarly attention so far. Forone of the few exceptions, see D. Popovi, Pustinjsko monatvo u doba Brankovia,in Pad Srpske despotovine . godine, ed. M. Spremi (Belgrade: Serbian Academy ofSciences and Arts, ), .For the dating of the monastery, see Lj. Stojanovi,Stari srpski zapisi i natpisi, vol. I(Belgrade: ; fasc. ed. by Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Matica Srpska, Na-tional Library, ), no. , . For architectural analysis, see Dj. Bokovi, Izvetaj i

kratke beleke sa putovanja, Starinarser. III, vol. VI (), ; V. Petkovi, Pre-gled crkvenih spomenika kroz povesnicu srpskog naroda(Belgrade: Nauna knjiga, ),; A. Deroko,Monumentalna i dekorativna arhitektura u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji(Bel-grade: Nauna knjiga, ), ; Djuri, Balii. Arhitektura, ; P. Mijovi,Vjeno na krajini, in Virpazar, Bar, Ulcinj, ed. N. Gaevi (CetinjeBelgrade: Obod,

DOI: ./BALCTOriginal scholarly work


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dedicated to St George,the other, later, to the Annunciation.ere is nodating evidence for the older church, but it may be assumed that its kte-torwas Djuradj II Stracimirovi Bali and that it was constructed some-time in the last two decades of the fourteenth century.e founder of the

younger church was Jelena Bali, daughter of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovi(r. ) and wife of Djuradj II Stracimirovi Bali, and she intendedit as her funerary church. e inscription carved on the lintel places its con-struction into the year : ...s#zda se hram# sy. prqs(ve)tje b(ogorodi)ce. s# tr+dom# i tkupom#. bogo~#stivoi g(ospo)gi ele. d#weri s(ve)topo~ib{ago kneza lazara. a podru`e g(ospo)di(na) g$rg% stracimiro-vik%. v# lqto. . C.M.I. [the church of the Most Holy Virgin builtthrough the efforts and means of pious Lady Jela, daughter of the late Holy

Prince Lazar and wife of Lord Djuradj Stracimirovic in the year ].

e monastery of Moranik in the islet of the same name, with the churchdedicated to the Virgin, was first referred to in a charter issued by BalaIII Djurdjevi in , which gives grounds to assume that he had been itsfounder.

), ; S. Popovi, Krst u krugu: arhitektura manastira u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji (Bel-grade: Prosveta & Republiki zavod za zatitu spomenika, ), ; T. Pejovi,Manastiri na tlu Crne Gore (Novi SadCetinje: Pravoslavna re, ), ; .

Markovi & R. Vujii, Spomenici kulture Crne Gore (Novi Sad: Presmedij; Cetinje:Republiki zavod za zatitu spomenika culture, ), ; S. Petkovi, Kulturnabatina Crne Gore(Novi Sad: Pravoslavna re, ), .Bokovi, Izvetaj i kratke beleke, ; Petkovi, Pregled crkvenih spomenika, ;Djuri, Balii. Arhitektura, ; Mijovi, Vjeno na krajini, ; Pejovi,Manas-tiri na tlu Crne Gore, ; Markovi & Vujii, Spomenici kulture, ; Popovi,Krst u krugu, ; Petkovi, Kulturna batina, .Petkovi, Pregled crkvenih spomenika, ; Bokovi, Izvetaj i kratke beleke, ;Djuri, Balii. Arhitektura, ; Mijovi, Vjeno na krajini, ; Pejovi,Manas-

tiri na tlu Crne Gore, ; Markovi & Vujii, Spomenici kulture, .e earliest reference to the church of St George occurs in the last will and testa-ment of Jelena Bali of , in the context of her bequest of a sum for its repair, cf.Lj. Stojanovi, Stare srpske povelje i pisma, vol. I (Belgrade: Srpska kraljevska akademija,), ; D. I. Sindik, Testament Jelene Bali inNikon Jerusalimac. Vrijeme linost djelo, ed. J. ulibrk (Cetinje: Svetigora, ), . G. Tomovi, Morfologija irilinih natpisa na Balkanu (Belgrade: Istorijski institut,), ; Stojanovi, Povelje i pisma, vol. I, ; Bokovi, Izvetaj i kratkebeleke,.

St. Novakovi, Zakonski spomenici srpskih drava srednjeg veka, V (Belgrade ),; Bokovi, Izvetaj i kratke beleke, ; Petkovi, Pregled crkvenih spomenika,; P. Mijovi, Umjetniko blago Crne Gore (Belgrade: Jugoslovenska revija; Titograd:Pobjeda, ), ; . Markovi, Manastir Moranik Glasnik Narodnog muzeja CrneGoreI (), ; Pejovi,Manastiri na tlu Crne Gore, ; Popovi, Krst u krugu, ;


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M. Tomi Djuri, e Isles of Great Silence

e Bali dynasty ruled Zeta from to from Scutari (Alb.Skhoder, Serb. Skadar), and subsequently from Ulcinj in Lower Zeta.eirreign was marked by a rapid political rise. At the assembly of secular lordsand church leaders summoned at Pe in , Prince Lazar and Djuradj

I Bali emerged as the most powerful of local lords competing for powerin the disintegrating Serbian Empire after the death of the last Nemanjiruler, Emperor Stefan Uro V, in . One of the decisions of the assemblywas to encourage monks from Mount Athos and other Orthodox centresto settle in the Morava Valley, the realm of Prince Lazar, and in Zeta. Asa result, numerous monastic communities arose in these regions.e as-sembly decision becomes understandable in the light of the fact that thereligious situation in Zeta had been marked by the presence of both Roman

Catholic and Orthodox populations. e political position of Djuradj IIStracimirovi and his son and heir Bala III was marked by the effort topreserve the integrity of their realm against the Venetians, the Ottomansand the Hungarians, who all struggled for control over the coastal areaswhose strategic centre was Lake Scutari.Venetian expansion had begun inthe late fourteenth century. More frequently than their predecessors, youngBala III and his mother, Jelena Bali, acted before the Venetians as pro-tectors of the jurisdictional powers of the Serbian Orthodox Church andits Metropolitanate of Zeta. Even after the widowed Jelena remarried the

Grand Duke of Hum, Sandalj Hrani, and moved to Bosnia (), hersons political agenda for Zeta included its close alliance with the Despotateof Serbia and counted on the support of his uncle, Despot Stefan, in re-sisting Venetian pressure. Zeta and northern Albania were densely coveredwith Roman Catholic bishoprics,but, according to an agreement reached

Markovi & Vujii, Spomenici kulture Crne Gore, ; Petkovi, Kulturna batinaCrne Gore, .

J. Jeli, Zeta i dinastija Balia (Podgorica: Matica crnogorska, ) = G. Gelcich,La Zedda e la Dinastia dei Balidi(Spalato );Istorija Crne Gore II/, ; Isto-rija srpskog naroda, vol. II, texts by D. Bogdanovi and R. Mihalji (Belgrade: Srpskaknjievna zadruga, ); J. V. Fine, e Late Medieval Balkans. A Critical Study fromthe Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest (Ann Arbor: University of MichiganPress, ).Djuri, Srpski dravni sabori, .For a detailed study on the ecclesiastical situation in fifteenth-century Zeta, see M.Spremi, Crkvene prilike u Zeti u doba Nikona Jerusalimca, inNikon Jerusalimac, ed.

J. ulibrk, . See also I. Boi in Istorija Crne Gore, II/, ; J. Kali, Srbi upoznom srednjem veku(Belgrade: Institute for Balkan Studies, ), .e bishoprics were seated in: Kotor (Cattaro), Budva (Budua), Ulcinj (Dulcigno),Skadar (Scutari), Drisht (Drivasto), Danje (Dagnum) and Lezsha (Alessio), cf. Spremi,Crkvene prilike u Zeti, .


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tion, often a result of divine providence, is a toposof medieval hagiography,including Serbian.Correspondence between Jelena Bali and her spiri-tual guide, Nikon the Jerusalemite, contained in the manuscript known asthe Gorica Collection(Goriki zbornik,/),provides information about

two churches in the islet of Beka. In his reply to Jelenas third letter, Nikondescribes the site of the church of the Annunciation, Jelenas foundation, andthat of St Georges in its immediate vicinity (a): Paky `e v#zvqwaet#nam# h(risto)l$be tvoe, %ko szdanenyi tobo$ hram# epaion# obitqlis(veta)go i glavnago veliko m(u~e)nika tropefora gerga v# mqstqrekomqm gorica [Once more, you have shown us your love of Christ, likethe temple you built next to the glorious community of the holy great-martyr and vanquisher George, in the place known as Gorica]. On the other

hand, such locations for the foundations of the Balis ensured the neces-sary safety to the monastic communities. e lake islets formed a naturallysheltered spatial whole, which played a role in the architectural shaping ofthe monastic complexes. Namely, unlike the strongly fortified contemporarymonasteries in the northern Serbian realm encompassing the basin of the(Velika) Morava River and therefore informally termed Moravian Serbia,the lake monasteries of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were simplyenclosed by massive walls and had no more than one tower, which virtuallynever served a defensive purpose.

A.-M. Talbot,Founders choices: monastery site selection in Byzantium, in Found-ers and Refounders of Byzantine Monasteries, ed. M. Mullett (Belfast Enetrprises, ),; S. Mojsilovi, Prostorna struktura manastira srednjovekovne Srbije, Saoptenja (), , and Byzantine influences in the architecture of monastery sitesand buildings in medieval Serbia,XVI Internationaler Byzantinistenkongress, Akten II/

(), ; S. Popovi, Shaping a monastery settlement in the Late ByzantineBalkans, in Shaping Community: e Art and Archaeology of Monasticism, ed. S. McNally(BAR, ), , as well as her Dividing the indivisible, , and e Byz-antine monastery: its spatial iconography and the questions of sacredness, in Hierotopy:Studies in the Making of Sacred Space, ed. A. Lidov (Moscow: Indrik, ), .E.g., the Serbian archbishop Danilo (Daniel) II (ca ), author of the Livesof the Serbian Kings and Archbishops,says the following of the Banjska monastery churchof St Stephen () in Kosovo, a foundation of King Stefan Uro II Milutin: Youare a blessed and virtuousChrist-loving king, because you found a peaceful place for yourselfand the memory of you will live on forever: Arhiepiskop Danilo II, ivoti kraljeva i arhi-episkopa srpskih(Belgrade: Srpska knjievna zadruga, ), .e manuscript is kept in the Archives of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,Belgrade, under no. .Popovi, Krst u krugu,.


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e monasteries in the area of Lake Scutari are popularly known asthe Holy Mount of Zeta.eir organization undoubtedly emulated theHoly Mount of Athos.Similar monastic communities arose in other partsof medieval Serbia: the Koria area,the Mount of Lesnovo,the environs

of the monastery of Treskavac,the gorges of the Crnica and the Mlava.ese communities were frequently quite complex, as they practised boththe coenobitic and eremitic ways of life in appropriate architectural settings:monastic enclosures, churches, kelliaand hermitages.

Djuri, Balii. Arhitektura, . See also the section titled Krug Zetske Svete Goreofthe volumeNikon Jerusalimac, ed. J. ulibrk, ; V. Balj, Ideje isihazma u prepisci

Jelene Bali i Nikona Jerusalimca, in epan Polje i njegove svetinje kroz vijekove, ed. G.

Tomovi (Berane: Svevidje, ), . For the holy mountains in Byzantium, see A-M.Talbot, Holy Mountain, in Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, vol. II (English OxfordUniversity Press, ), , and her Les saintes montagnes Byzance, in Le sacreet son inscription dans lespace Byzance et en Occident. Etudes compares, ed. M. Kaplan(Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, ); Panel papers VI., Monastic Mountains andDeserts, Proceedings of the st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Vol. II,Abstracts of Panel papers (London ), ; P. Soustal,ed. Heilige Berge undWsten, Byzanz und sein Umfeld(Vienna: sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaf-ten, ).A. Bryer & M. Cunningham, eds.Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism(Aldershot:

Variroum, ); M. ivojinovi, Istorija Hilandara, vol. I (Belgrade: Prosveta, ).On different types of monasticism on Mount Athos, see M. ivojinovi, Svetogorskekelije i pirgovi u srednjem veku(Belgrade: Viyantoloki institute SANU, ); D. Pa-pahrisantu, Atonsko monatvo, poeci i organizacija (Belgrade: Drutvo prijatelja SveteGore Atonske, ); M. ivojinovi, Aton pojava opteia i poeci osobenoia, inSedma kazivanja o Svetoj Gori, eds. M. ivojinovi & Z. Raki (Belgrade ), .D. Popovi, e Cult of St Peter of Koria: Stages of Development and Patterns,BalcanicaXVIII (), .S. Gabeli, Nepoznati lokaliteti u okolini Lesnovskog manastira, ZLUMS (),

, andManastir Lesnovo(Belgrade: Stubovi kulture, ), .S. Smoli Makuljevi, Sakralna topografija manastira Treskavca, BalcanicaXXXV(), , as well as her Two models of sacred space in the Byzantine and me-dieval visual culture of the Balkans: the monasteries of Prohor Pinja and Treskavac,JB (), , and Sakralna topografija svetih gora: SinajAtonTreskavac,in Sedma kazivanja, .S. Popovi, e last Hesychast safe havens in late fourteenth- and fifteenth-centurymonasteries in the northern Balkans, ZRVI (), ; T. Starodubcev, eformation of a holy mount in Late Middle Ages: the case of the River Crnica Gorge,

in Proceedings of the nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, vol. III,Abstracts ofFree Communications(Sofia ), . D. Popovi, Pustinje i svete gore srednjovekovne Srbije. Pisani izvori, prostorniobrasci, graditeljska reenja, ZRVIXLIV (), ; S. Popovi, e architec-tural transformation of laurain Middle and Late Byzantium, in th Annual Byzan-


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e building activity of the Balis and the organization of theirfoundations on Lake Scutari followed the monastic ideals established inMoravian Serbia and Mount Athos.In terms of architecture, this inspira-tion is recognizable in the use of the Athonite trefoil (or triconch) plan for

the foundations which were modest in size and continued the architecturaltradition of Zeta in style. Stone was the main construction material, whilethe shapes of vaults, arches, windows and bell-towers followed the then pre-vailing Gothic style.In addition to Stareva Gorica, Beka and Moranik,the monastery of the Most Pure Virgin of Krajina should also be noted, asthey all taken together constitute the westernmost group of the Athonite-inspired trefoil churches.

e oldest monastic complex and the prototype of the Bali tre-

foil churches is the monastery church of the Dormition of the Virgin inStareva Gorica, one of the three largest islands.It is widely accepted thatits construction followed the earliest use of the trefoil plan in Serbia, whichdid not begin until after the Assembly at Pe in . An inscriptionmade in a Prologue written between and (now in the State Li-brary in Berlin, no. ), says that the Prologue was written under DjuradjI Bali:Si svety prolog# s#pisa sq u Gorici svetago starca Makari%v# dny blago~#styvago gospodina Gurga Bal#{yka ne mazde radi, n#blagoslovena radi [is holy prologue was written in the Gorica of the

holy man Makarije in the days of our virtuous sire Djuradj Bali, not for

tine Studies Conference, Abstracts of Papers, Harvard University (), , andher Koinobiaor laurai: a question of architectural transformation of the Late Byzantinemonastery in the Balkans, inXXeCongrs international des tudes byzantines. III. Com-munication libres,Paris (), .

Djuri, Srpski dravni sabori, . e popularity of monastic and asceticthemes in the literary works created in Zeta also attests to contact between Zeta andMount Athos, cf. D. Bogdanovi, Goriki zbornik, in Istorija Crne Gore, vol. II/,, as well as hisIstorija stare srpske knjievnosti(Belgrade: Srpska knjievna za-druga, ), .Djuri, Balii. Arhitektura, , and his Srpski dravni sabori, (withearlier literature on Athonite architecture).G. Babi-Djordjevi & V. J. Djuri, Polet umetnosti, in Istorija srpskog naroda, vol.II (Belgrade ), , .

See note herein.Danilovi nastavljai. Danilov uenik. Drugi nastavlja Danilovog zbornika(Belgrade:Srpska knjievna zadruga, ), ; N. Radoji, Srpski dravni sabori u srednjemveku(Belgrade: Srpska kraljevska akademija, ), ; Djuri, Srpski dravnisabori, .


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the sake of reward but for the sake of good].e same inscription suggeststhat the island was named after the holy man or aba Makarije (Makarios),Stareva Gorica literally meaning the old mans islet. Popular traditionassociates the founding of the monastery with this highly revered ascetic

who supposedly lived on the island. Systematic archaeological investiga-tions carried out in / provide a clearer picture of the chronology andorganization of the monastery.

e katholikondedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin, built on atrefoil plan, is quite small in size (. m long by . m wide).e domerests on a circular drum, while the faades are utterly simple, exhibitingneither pilasters nor any architectural mouldings or sculpture. e interiorspace is divided by a system of niches. Topographic evidence suggests that

the monastery was enclosed with a wall, except on the south side, which isbounded by a precipitous rock. e north side of the church abuts the rockface or, in other words, it did not occupy the centre of the enclosure. Ap-preciation for the Nemanji foundations in terms of layout was achievedby setting the entrance to the enclosure south-west of the entrance to thechurch. e complex comprised dormitories on the south-west side, apaved path from the landing-place to the monasterys gate, and a flightof stairs between the gate and the church. A narthex with an open porch,surviving in traces, was subsequently added at the west end of the church.

A chapel with an apse,surviving to the height of roof cornice, was addedat the south side, and a small oblong room abutting the rock was added onthe north. Its purpose is not quite clear, but it has been assumed that it wasthere that Makarije pursued his ascetic path.e room suffered damageas a result of a rock fall two years ago, which caused its roof system to col-

Lj. Stojanovi, Stari srpski zapisi i natpisi, vol. I, , no. ; the name Djuradj Baliin the inscription refers to Djuradj I Bali (r. ), given the use of the patro-nymic. Makarije must have died by the time the Prologue was written, given the epithetholy attached to his name, cf. I. Ruvarac, Kamici priloci za drugi Zetski dom(Cetinje), .Pejovi,Manastiri na tlu Crne Gore, ; Markovi & Vujii, Spomenici kultureCrne Gore, .Bokovi, Izvetaj i kratke beleke, .Popovi, Krst u krugu, .On the side chapels of Byzantine and Serbian churches, see G. Babi, Les chapelles

annexes des glises byzantines(Paris: Klincksieck, ); S. uri, Architectural signifi-cance of subsidiary chapels in Middle Byzantine churches, JSAH (), ;S. Popovi, Raspored kapela u vizantijskim manastirima, Saoptenja/ (/),.Markovi & Vujii, Spomenici kulture Crne Gore,.


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lapse.A good reputation of the monastery of the Virgin as a manuscriptcopying centre lived into the sixteenth century, as evidenced by the fact thatthe famous Serbian printer Boidar Vukovi was buried, according to hisown wish, in the abovementioned south chapel ().Unlike the other

Bali foundations, the church of the Dormition of the Virgin abutted arock, which allows us to think of the possibility that the site had originallybeen a natural anchoritic abode. Even though there is no reliable evidenceto support such an assumption, other examples of similar monastic com-munities seem to confirm that the possibility is worthy of being taken intoaccount. Analysis of the spatial pattern of eremitic abodes located in thevicinity of churches shows that coenobitic communities usually grew outof informal gatherings of followers around the cave abode of a revered her-

mit.

e most prominent examples of this community formation patternin the Balkans are the shrines of St Peter of Koriaand St John of Rila.In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, spatial association of the churchbuilding and a rockis found in the case of the church of St Michael theArchangel in Berat, Albania (about ),the Virgin Agiogaloussena in

is was the situation I found in July . I am much indebted to Fr. Gregory for his

hospitality and for his information about the north room.Istorija Crne Gore, vol.II/, .Popovi, Krst u krugu, ; D. Popovi, Monah pustinjak, in Privatni ivot u srp-skim zemljama srednjeg veka, eds. D. Popovi & S. Marjanovi Duani (Belgrade: Clio,), .Popovi, Cult of St Peter of Koria.I. Dujev, e Saint from Rila and his Monastery(Sofia ; repr. Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies Prof. I. Dujev, ); see also the volume edited by S. Kuiumdzhieva,Kulturnoto nasledstvo na Rilskiia manastir Sustoianie i perspektivi na prouchavaneto,

opazvaneto i restavriraneto mu (Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, ). For exam-ples in Palestinian monasticism, see J. Patrich, Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism.A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries(DumbartonOaks Research Library and Collections, ); for Mount Athos, see R. Morris, eOrigins of Athos, in Bryer& Cunningham, eds.Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasti-cism, .On the symbolic and functional aspects of this spatial pattern, with examples fromthe early and middle Byzantine periods, cf. S. uri, Cave and Church. An EasternChristian hierotopical synthesis, in Hierotopy. e Creation of Sacred Spaces in Byzan-

tium and Medieval Russia,ed. A. Lidov (Moscow: Indrik, ), . G. Koch, ed. Albanien. Kulturdenkmler eines unbekannten Landes aus Jahren(Marburg ), ; A. Meksi, Tri kisha Byzantine t Beratit,Monumentet (),. e former role and function of this rock is an insufficiently studied question, cf.uri, Cave and Church.


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Chios (thirteenth or fourteenth century),and the Virgin Perivleptos inMistra (third quarter of the thirteenth century).Proximity between therock and the church in Stareva Gorica may be looked at in the broaderframework of Orthodox monastic architecture. e practice of constructing

churches in the immediate vicinity of rocks, observable from the earliestexamples in Palestinian monasticism until the late Byzantine period, is alsodocumented by numerous examples in Serbia,Macedonia, Bulgariaand Greece.

Monastic life in the islet of Stareva Gorica unfolded in an epochmarked by hesychast influences. e arrival of Serbian, Bulgarian and Greekmonks from Mount Athos and Bulgaria in the Morava Valley and Zeta

Ch. Bouras, Chios(Athens: National Bank of Greece, ), . A. S. Louvi, Larchitecture et la sculpture de la Perivleptos de Mistra (se dedoctorat de IIIe cycle, Universit de Paris, Panthon, Sorbonne, Paris ); uri,Cave and Church,.e question of cave churches in medieval Serbia has been most thoroughly studiedby D. Popovi in a number of texts, e.g. Peinske crkve i isposnice u oblasti Polimlja dosadanji rezultati i pravci daljeg prouavanja, Mileevski zapisi (), ;

Peterni spomenici u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji. Rezultati i pravci istraivanja, GlasnikDKS (), ; Pustinje i svete gore srednjovekovne Srbije, ZRVIXLIV(), ; (with M. Popovi), An Example of Anchoritic Monasticism in theBalkans: the Monastery Complex at Kaludra near Berane, in Archeologia Abrahami-ca. Studies in archaeology and artistic tradition of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, ed. L.Beliaev (Moscow: Indrik, ), ; Pustinjsko monatvo u doba Brankovia,; Deanska pustinja u okvirima vizantijskog i srpskog eremitskog monatva,in D. Popovi et al., Deanska pustinja. Skitovi i kelije manastira Deana (Belgrade: Insti-tute for Balkan Studies, ), .Gabeli, Nepoznati lokaliteti,, andManastir Lesnovo, ; M. Radu-

jko, Dradnjanski manastiri Svetog Nikole (I. Nastanak i arhitektura), Zograf (), , and Dradnjanski manastiri Svetog Nikole (II. ivopis), Zograf (), ; Smoli Makuljevi, Sakralna topografija manastira Treskavca, ; G. A. Angeliev ura, Peternite crkvi vo Ohridsko-prespanskiot region (R. Make-donija, R. Albanija, R. Grcija)(Struga ). L. Mavrodinova, Ivanovskite skalni curkvi. Bulgarskiat prinos v svetovnoto kulturnonasledstvo(Sofia ).D. Nicol,Meteora. e Rock Monastery of essaly(London: Chapman and Hall, );N. Nikonanos, Meteora: a complete guide to the monasteries and their history (Athens:

Athenon, ), and e Mountain of Cells, in Routes of Faith in the Medieval Medi-terranean.History, Monuments, People, Pilgrimage, Perspectives, ed. E. Hadjitryphonos(essaloniki: University Studio Press, ), ; E. Kollias, (Athens:Melissa, ); A. Klzer, Das Ganos-Gebirge in Osttrakien (Iiklar Dagi), in HeiligeBerge und Wsten, ed. P. Soustal, .


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gave a strong impetus to eremitism.Patriarch Ephrem the most distin-guished spiritual authority of the period and a man of remarkable achieve-ment in the ecclesio-political sphere, twice at the head of the Serbian Church( and ), belonged to an ascetically-minded monastic elite

himself.According to the most comprehensive source for his biography,the Life of the Holy Patriarch Ephrempenned by Bishop Mark, Ephrem spentmost of his life in the hesychasteriaof the monastery of Deani, the SerbianPatriarchate of Pe and the Holy Archangels of Prizren.

Under the Lazarevi and Brankovi dynasties, eremitic and kelli-otic monasticism developed in craggy landscapes around natural caves androcks.e last hesychast abodes in the northern Balkans before the finalOttoman conquest were set up in the canyon of the Crnica and, further

north, in the Mlava river gorge.

ey were organized as lavrai, with a coe-nobitic monastery functioning as their administrative seat and individualkelliascattered in its immediate vicinity.

e other group of Bali foundations is situated in the islet of Beka.e monastic complex includes two churches of different dates: St Georges,presumably built in the last two decades of the fourteenth century by Djur-adj II Stracimirovi Bali,and the funerary church of Jelena Bali, con-structed in and dedicated to the Annunciation.Having returned toZeta after the death, in , of her second husband, Duke Sandalj Hrani,

Jelena Bali set out to build her funerary church in the immediate vicinityof the foundation of her first husband, Djuradj II Stracimirovi. She did nottake monastic vows, but she spent her last years in Draevica near Bar andon the islet, looking after the Serbian Orthodox monasteries in her realm

Jeromonah Amfilohije (Radovi), Sinaiti i njihov znaaj u ivotu Srbije XIV i XVveka, inManastir Ravanica. Spomenica o estoj stogodinjici (Belgrade: Prosveta, ),; Djuri, Srpski dravni sabori, .

On Patriach Ephrem as a historical figure and his saintly cult, see D. Popovi, Patri-jarh Jefrem jedan poznosrednjovekovni svetiteljski kult, ZRVIXLIII (), . Marko Peki, itije svetog patrijarha Jefrema, in est pisaca XIV veka, ed. D.Bogdanovi (Belgrade: Prosveta & Srpska knjievna zadruga, ), .Popovi, Krst u krugu, ; Popovi, Pustinjsko monatvo u doba Brankovi, andpassim.M. Brmboli, Mala Sveta Gora u klisuri reke Crnice, SaoptenjaXXXXXXI[] (), ; Popovi, e last hesychast safe havens; Starodubcev, Formation

of a Holy Mount, .Popovi, Last hesychast safe havens, , , .See notes and herein.See notes and herein.


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and living her life very much like a nun. e remarkable political and cul-tural role she played in Zeta has been given much scholarly attention.

e layout of the complex follows a different pattern from the onein Stareva Gorica. Unlike the church abutting the rock face in Stareva

Gorica, these two churches are free-standing structures. Archaeological ex-cavations carried out in have shown that the monastery was enclosedwith a stone wall and that it was not furnished with fortifications. It wasaccessed from the east by a paved causeway leading from the landing-placeto the gate. e surviving structural remains include a stone building on anoblong plan north of the church of the Annunciation, which was observablyconstructed in phases.e church of St George is a trefoil in plan, has adome resting on protruding pilasters, and a circular drum common to all

island churches of the period. e long and low church building is screenedby a massive bell-gable in front of its west side. In the church, next to thesouth wall, is a tomb, presumably of the founder, Djuradj II StracimiroviBali. e Annunciation church differs f rom the rest of the group in plan: alongitudinal building with an eastern apse and no aisles, possibly as a resultof a stylistic shift in the architecture of Zeta under the Crnojevi dynasty. Inthe church, next to the south wall, is the tomb of the founder, Jelena Bali.

e most exhaustive bibliography on Jelena Bali is provided by S. Tomin, Bibli-ografija radova o Jeleni Bali, Knjienstvo (). On Jelenas banking activities inDubrovnik and Kotor, and her court office that managed her finances, see Dj. Toi,Sandaljeva udovica Jelena Hrani, ZRVIXLI (), . See also Z. Gavrilovi,Women in Serbian politics, diplomacy and art, in Byzantine Style, Religion and Civi-lization, ed. E. Jeffreys (Cambridge University Press, ), . On the aristocratic

womens patronage in Byzantium and Serbia, see Female founders in Byzantium and be-yond: an international colloquium,Vienna , eds. M. Mullet, M. Grnbart & L. eis(forthcoming): http://www.univie.ac.at/femalefounders/abstracts_files, and therein es-pecially A. Vukovitch, e Epistles of Princess Jelena Bali, an example of the role ofthe noblewomen as patrons in late medieval Zeta; see also S. Tomin, Ktitorke poznogsrednjeg veka. Prilog poznavanju, Letopis Matice srpske/ (Nov. ), ;N. Gagova, Knigite na yuzhnoslavyanskia vladatelski suprugi v XIV i XV v. i sustavitel-skata kontseptsia na Bdinskia sbornik, Vladeteli i knigi. Uchastieto na yuzhnoslavyanskiavladetel v proizvodstvoto i upotrebata na knigi prez srednoveokovieto (IXXV v.): retseptsiy-ata na vizantiyskia model (Sofia: PAM, ), ; A.-M. Talbot, Building activityin Constantinople under Andronikos II: the role of women patrons in the constructionand restoration of monasteries, in Byzantine Constantinople: Monuments, Topography

and Everyday life, ed. N. Necipoglu (Leiden: Brill, ), ; E. Koubena, Asurvey of aristocratic women founders of monasteries in Constantinople between theeleventh and the fifteenth centuries, in Women and Byzantine Monasticism, eds. J. Y.Perreault et al. (Athens: Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens, ), .Popovi, Krst u krugu, .


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Chapels were added on the north and south sides. Burial pits have beenarchaeologically attested in the south chapel as well.

e earliest reference to the monastic complex with the church dedi-cated to the Virgin in the island of Moranik is found in the charter of

Bala III Djurdjevi issued in , where his donation of a salt pan to themonastery suggests that he might have been its founder.Archaeologicalexcavations carried out in make it possible to give a more reliable ac-count of the original appearance of the complex and the date of its indi-vidual parts.e monastery was enclosed with a wall, and a paved path ledfrom the landing-place to the gate.e church is an abbreviated trefoil inplan (.m by m) with two quite low apses at the sides. e architecturaltype, dedication and function point to the practice of Bala IIIs predeces-

sors of the Bali family. e church had a narthex and an open porch. Achapel with an apse was added on the south side of the church. South of thechurch was a refectory and north of it a cluster of cells. Between these twobuildings was a four-level tower with a chapel on the top floor.

Apart from the surviving structural remains, an important source forcreating a picture of the monastic life on Lake Scutari is the already men-tioned Gorica Collection, which contains letters exchanged between JelenaBali and Nikon the Jerusalemite,a manuscript created in /. Es-pecially relevant to our topic are Jelenas thoughts on spiritual matters, her

interest in monastic literature and in the organization of life in a monas-tery. e manuscript attests to an important local feature of late medievalspirituality, i.e. to the influence of learned refugee monks active in the area

Pejovi,Manastiri na tlu Crne Gore, .See note herein. Bala accessed to power in , which places the construction ofthe church into a period between and . e archaeological investigation was carried out by the Institute for the Protec-

tion of Cultural Monuments of Montenegro. e excavation report was published byMarkovi, Manastir Moranik, .Pejovi,Manastiri na tlu Crne Gore, ; Popovi, Krst u krugu, .Markovi, Manastir Moranik, , also reports on a small one-room church,

with walls preserved to roof cornice height, discovered at the highest point of the island.As there is no reference to it in the documentary sources, it may only be assumed thatit was intended either for use by the monks when the monastery was at its peak or asa funerary church of a noble person. In terms of ground plan and building method, itfinds its closest analogy in the funerary church of Jelena Bali in Beka. e tower ap-

parently formed part of a broader fortification system of Lake Scutari and its construc-tion preceded the other structures of the monastic settlement.For a bibliography on Nikon, see B. Bojovi, L idologie monarchique dans les hagio-biographies dynastiques du Moyen Age serbe(Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, ),; see also the volumeNikon Jerusalimac, ed. ulibrk.


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or even at the courts of local lords.e text belongs to the question-and-answer genre and has the form of an epistolary dialogue.e manu-script consists of two letters of Jelena Bali and three letters of her spiritualfather. ematically, the Collection may be described as an encyclopaedic

compilation, a flourishing literary genre in late medieval Slavic and Byzan-tine environments. ese miscellanies were intended for communal reading,which means that they served educative purposes. e choice of topics andthe entire contents of the Gorica Collectiongive some idea of what were theconcerns of a highborn woman,while her inclination towards hesychastspirituality was the result of the influential role of her learned spiritual fa-ther, Nikon,whose letters contain references to biblical and patristic texts.e Collectionmakes use of quotations and paraphrases of hagiographic-

historical, canonical, devotional, apocryphal, patristic, cosmological andgeographical literature.Letters of spiritual guidance were not too frequent in Byzantine

tradition, as evidenced by only a few surviving examples of this form ofcommunication between Byzantine aristocratic women and their spiritual

S. Radoji, Ideja o savrenom gradu u dravi kneza Lazara i despota StefanaLazarevia, Zograf (), .T. Subotin Golubovi, Pitanja i odgovori, in Leksikon srpskog srednjeg veka, eds. S.irkovi & R. Mihalji (Belgrade: Knowledge, ), . e Byzantine question-and-answer genre in an epistolary form was not unknown to Serbian literature. It wasused by St Sava (Sabas) of Serbia in Chapter of his Nomocanon, where he broughta translation of the letter of Niketas, Metropolitan of Heraklia, in reply to the ques-tions posed by Bishop Constantine. e Archbishop of Ohrid replies to King StefanRadoslavs fourteen liturgical and canonical questions. e Patriarch of Constantino-ple, Gennadios Scholarios, answers to the fifteen questions posed by Despot DjuradjBrankovi, cf. Dj. Trifunovi,Azbunik srpskih srednjovekovnih knjievnih pojmova(Bel-grade: Nolit, ), .

From the ample literature on epistolography, see e.g. T. V. Popov, Vizantiyskaiaepistolografia, inVizantiyskaia literature (Moscow: Nauka, ), ; S. Tomin,Epistolarna knjievnost i ene u srpskoj srednjovekovnoj kulturi, inanrovi srpskeknjievnosti, vol. , eds. Z. Karanovi & S. Radulovi (Novi Sad: Filozofski fakultet,), ; M. Mullett, Letters, Literacy and Literature in Byzantium (Aldershot:Ashgate, ).On the literacy and education of Byzantine upper-class women in Palaiologan times,cf. Angeliki E. Laiou, e role of women in Byzantine society,JB (), ; A.-M. Talbot, Bluestocking Nuns: Intellectual Life in the Convents of Late Byz-antine, Women and Religious Life in Byzantium(Aldershot: Ashgate, ), . Balj, Ideje isihazma, ; Jeromonah Jovan (ulibrk), Nikon Jerusalimac iisihastiko predanje, in Sveti Grigorije Palama u istoriji i sadanjosti (Srbinje ),.Bogdanovi, Goriki zbornik, .


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guides. In the ninth century, eodor the Studite maintained correspon-dence with a wide circle of women, including empresses, aristocratic womenand nuns, who sought his advice on spiritual and other matters.Of thecorrespondence maintained from to between the sevastokrato-

rissa Irene Komnene and her spiritual guide, the monk Iakovos, now onlysurvive forty-three letters written by the monk. e Serbian and Byz-antine examples show a measure of similarity in contents and structure.Nikons spiritual guidance as offered in the Gorica Collectionconcerns thepractice of bowing before the icons, the church ritual (l. b), prayer,charity, sin (l. b), and fasting,while Iakovos advice to Irene mostly con-cerns her must reads.In doctrinal terms, both cases are focused on thedogma of the Holy Trinity. e nature of the Holy Trinity in Iakovos letters

is explicated in his text On Faith,

while Nikons Profession of Faithspeaksof his own experience of the Holy Trinity through the mysteries of baptismand the Eucharist (b a).Nikons hesychast beliefs are confirmed

eodori Studitae Epistulae, Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae, vol. XXXI/, ed.G. Fatouros (Berlin: de Gruyter, ); A. P. Kazhdan & A.-M.Talbot, Women andIconoclasm, Byzantinische Zeitschrift/(/), .e letters are available in Iacobi Monachi Epistulae,Corpus Christianorum, SeriesGraeca , eds. E. Jeffreys & M. Jeffreys (Turnhout: Brepols, ). Towards the end ofher life, the sevastokratorissa Irene, widow of Manuel I Komnenos elder brother An-dronikos, was accused of being Manuels political enemy and arrested, cf. E. M. Jeffreys& M. J. Jeffreys, Who was the sevastokratorissa Eirene?,Byzantion (), ;V. Vasilevsky, O sevastokratorisse Irine, Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnago Prosveshche-nia (), ; E. Jeffreys, e sevastokratorissa Eirene as literary patroness:the monk Iakovos,JB/ (), . e monk Iakovos is known for his liter-ary work, which includes homilies to the Virgin, preserved in two manuscripts (Par. Gr.

and Vat. Gr. , PG , cols. ).Nikons reply with his advice on personal, moral and spiritual perfection was a com-pilation of quotations from the Scripture (a b, a), cf. Dj. Trifunovi, Dve po-slanice Jelene Bali i Nikonova Povest o jerusalimskim crkvama i svetim mestima,Knjievna istorija (), ; N. Gagova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik v konteksta na

yuzhnoslavyanskite vladatelski sbornitsi ot i v., inNikon Jerusalimac,ed. ulibrk,.Iacobi Monachi EpistulaeXXXVII.Iacobi Monachi Epistulae, XXXVIII.

In the view of A. Jevti, Ispovedanje vere Nikona Jerusalimca, in Nikon Jerusalimac,ed. ulibrk, , Nikons assertion of his belief in the Holy Trinity, without addressingthe question of the begetting of the Son and the proceeding of the Holy Spirit, suggestsa fear of Islam rather than of the Latins; J. Puri, Trojina terminologija Ispovedanja

vere Nikona Jerusalimca, inNikon Jerusalimac, ed. ulibrk, .


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by his affirmation of the faith in the Holy Trinity, the central theme of allhesychasts.

Epistolography was an important vehicle for inspiring a sense ofshared values among the Constantinopolitan aristocratic class resurging

after . e culture of exchange, collection, publication and (public)reading of letters played an influential role in the self-representation of aris-tocratic intellectual circles in the Palaiologan age. Undoubtedly one ofthe most remarkable among the scholarly women in the reign of MichaelIII and Andronikos II was eodora Raoulaina (c. ), a writer,collector and patron of art and learning. About , she founded themonastery of St Andrew in Krisei in Constantinople, with a scriptoriumwhere some fifteen manuscripts were written and illuminated.at con-

text can explain the fact that the focus of her correspondence with Gregoryof Cyprus, Patriarch of Constantinople (), was the education ofan aristocratic woman rather than spiritual instruction.Patriarch Grego-rys twenty-nine surviving letters provide his recommendations for readingclassical writers.From the fourteenth century date the letters exchangedbetween Irene Eulogia Choumnaina Palaiologina, daughter of Nikepho-ros Choumnos and wife of Despot John Palaiologos, and her anonymousspiritual guide.After her husbands death in , she founded the con-vent of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople, to which she retired as a

A. Riehle, Rhetorik, Ritual und Reprsentation. Zur Briefliteratur gebildeter Elitenim sptbyzantinischen Konstantinopel (), in Urbanitas und Asteiotes. Kul-Kul-turelle Ausdrucksformen von Status, .. Jahrhundert, eds. K. Beyer & M. Grnbart(forthcoming).D. M. Nicol, e Byzantine Family Kantakouzenos ca. (Washington DC:

Dumbarton Oaks, ), no. , p. ; A. Riehle, eodora Raulaina als Stifterinund Patronin, in Female Founders in Byzantium and Beyond, .On the group of manuscripts illuminated there under the patronage of eodoraRaoulaina, see R. S. Nelson & J. Lowden, Palaeologina Group: Additional Manu-scripts and New Questions, Dumbarton Oaks Papers (), .C. N. Constantinides, Higher Education in Byzantium in the irteenth and FourteenthCenturies(Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre, ), .E. B. Fryde, e Early Palaeologan Renaissance ( c. )(Leiden: Brill, ),.

Parts of the correspondence are available in V. Laurant, La direction spirituelle Byzance. La correspondance dIrne-Eulogie Choumnaina Palologine avec son seconddirecteur, REB (), . It can be found in its entirety in A Womans Questfor Spiritual Guidance:e Correspondence of Princess Irene Eulogia Choumnaina, ed. A.Constantinides Hero (Brookline, MA: Hellenic College Press, ).


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nun until her death in .is correspondence reflects the spiritual andintellectual ferment which spurred dissension between humanist and Pa-lamite circles and touched the Byzantine aristocracy in the mid-fourteenthcentury. Even though the assumption that Eulogias spiritual advisor was a

hesychast should be taken with caution,the letters express high esteem forthe spiritual authorities such as eoleptos of Philadephia and AthanasiosI, Patriarch of Constantinople,whose writings bore relevance to the hesy-chast teaching of Gregory Palamas.

e Gorica Collectionshows that the late-medieval Serbian aristoc-racy draw on Byzantine literary traditions in its intellectual and spiritualpursuits. at the patronage of literary work was cultivated among South-Slavic aristocratic women as well, is shown by Bdinski Sbornik (Collection)

written in for Anna, wife of the Bulgarian tsar of Vidin, John Stratsi-mir.e compilation revolves around monastic themes: lives of female

A.-M. Talbot, Philanthropos: Typikonof Irene Choumnaina Palaiologina for theConvent of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople,in Byzantine Monastic Founda-tion Documents. A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders Typika and Testaments,III, eds. J. omas et al. (Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks, ), no. , ;A. Hero, Irene-Eulogia Choumnaina Palaiologina, Abbess of the Convent of Philan-thropos Soter in Constantinople, Byzantinische Forschungen IX (), ; V.Laurent, Une princesse byzantine au clotre: Irne-Eulogie Choumnos Palologine,fondatrice du couvent de femmes ,Echos dOrientXXIX(), ; R. Janin, Les Monastres du Christ Philanthrope Constantinople,Revue des Etudes byzantines IV (), ; idem, La gographie ecclsiastique delEmpire byzantin. Premire partie,Le sige de Constantinople et le Patriarcat cumnique.Tome III, Les glises et les monastres, nd ed. (Paris ), .e anonymous advisor states his love of solitude and quietness () more thanonce, but J. Meyendorff, in his Introduction toA Womans Quest for Spiritual Guidance,, suggests that it does not necessarily imply a hesychast monk, but may also imply a

life outside the usual monastic community.e young monk who acted as Eulogias spiritual guide also authored a few composi-tions in honour of Patriarch Athanasios I, the copies of which were kept in Xerolophos,the monastery founded by Athanasios I and an important hesychast centre in Constan-tinople. On eoleptos, see A. Constantinides Hero, e Life and Letters of eoleptos ofPhiladelphia(Brookline, MA: Hellenic College Press, ); R. E. Sinkewicz, eoleptosof Philadelpheia. e Monastic Discourses. A Critical Edition, Translation and Study, ser.Studies and Texts CXI (Toronto: Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, ); S.Salaville, Un directeur spirituel Byzance au dbut du XIVesicle: olepte de Phila-delphie. Homlie sur Nol et la vie religieuse,inMlanges Joseph de Ghellinck,MuseumLessianum. Section historique XIV, vol. II (Gembloux: J. Duculot, ), .Meyendorf, Introduction, .Bdinski Sbornik, Ghent Slavonic Ms , A.D. , facsimile edition with a presenta-tion by I. Dujev (London: Variorum Reprints, ).


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saints, excerpts from the Miterikonand accounts of the holy places in Je-rusalem.It is believed therefore to have been intended for novices or toa female monastery which enjoyed Annas patronage.A similar miscel-lany commissioned by an aristocratic woman is the eotokarion (State His-

torical Museum, Moscow, no. ) compiled in for the wife of LjeCrnojevi, Mara. It contains sermons for the feasts of the Virgin and themiracles of the Virgin,and is believed to have been intended for the mon-astery of the Dormition of the Virgin in the isle of Kom, a foundation ofthe Crnojevi family.

Although the Gorica Collectionstill awaits a comprehensive criticaledition, it has been the object of many studies looking at it from literary,philological, historical and theological perspectives.e questions posed

M. Petrova, A picture of female religious experience: Late-Byzantine anthologies ofwomen saints, in Kobieta w kulturze sredniowiecznej Europy(Poznan ), ;eadem, e Bdinski Sbornik: a case study. Otium. asopis za povijest svakodnevnice/- (), ; N. Georgieva-Gagova, Sustavitelskata kontseptsia na BdinskiSbornik, vprost za obrazovanite vladetelski suprugi i tehnite knigi, in Medievistika ikulturna antropologia. Sbornik v chest na -godishnana tvorcheska deynost na prof. DonkaPetkanova (Sofia ), .Gagova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik, .

K. Ivanova, Sbornik na Mara Leeva neizvesten pametnik na srbskama knininaot XV vek, in Slovensko srednjovekovno nasledje. Zbornik posveen profesoru DjordjuTrifunoviu, eds. Z. Viti et al. (Belgrade ), .For the studies of literary perspectives see N. Radoji, Dve istovetne prepiske iz XV

veka, jedna srpska i jedna vizantijska, Glasnik SANIV, (Belgrade ), ; Dj.Sp. Radojii, O smernoj Jeleni i njenom Otpisaniju bogoljubnom, Delo (Belgrade), , as well as his Tri Vizantinca kao stari srpski knjievnici, Tvorci idela stare srpske knjievnosti (Titograd: Grafiki zavod, ), ; Bogdanovi,Goriki zbornik, ; Trifunovi, Dve poslanice, ; S. Tomin, Ot-

pisanije bogoljubno Jelene Bali. Prilog shvatanju autorskog naela u srednjovekovnojknjievnosti, inNauni sastanak slavista u Vukove dane, vol. / (Belgrade ), ; Gagova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik, ; T. Jovanovi, Putovanje u Svetu zemlju usrpskoj knjievnosti od XIII do kraja XVIII veka, in Sveta zemlja u srpskoj knjievnostiod XIII do kraja XVIII veka,ed. T. Jovanovi (Belgrade ), . For philological stud-ies see D. Bogdanovi, Inventar rukopisa manastira Savina, in D. Medakovi, Manas-tir Savina. Velika crkva, riznica, rukopisi(Belgrade ), ; M. Grkovi, Poslanice

Jelene Bali,Nauni sastanak slavista u Vukove dane/ (Belgrade ), ; N.Sindik, Kodikologija Gorikog zbornika, inNikon Jerusalimac, ed. J. ulibrk, ;N. Dragin, O povesti Nikona Jerusalimca u Gorikom zborniku,Zbornik Matice srpske

za filologiju i lingvistiku (), . For the historical studies see S. irkovi,Metroloki odlomak Gorikog zbornika, ZRVIXVI (), ; N. Radoevi,Kozmografski i geografski odlomci Gorikog zbornika, ZRVIXX (), ;M. Ikonomu, Goriki zbornik poreklo, sadraj o kosmogoniji, CyrillomethodianumV (essaloniki ), ; Spremi, Crkvene prilike u Zeti, ; B. Bojovi,


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by Jelena Bali and Nikons answers address the issue of the organization ofmonastic life as well. Already in the second section titled God-Loving Reply(a b), Jelena speaks about her wavering between living a charitablelife in the world on the one hand and a life in the monastery on the other.

She asks her spiritual father to tell her something about both the communaland the solitary ways of life, in the light of the ongoing debate on spiritualmatters in which some argue that Basil the Great praised coenobitism, asopposed to those who suggest that he advocated a life in solitude and si-lence (a).In the third and longest section, Nikon makes mentionofJelenas funerary church in the island of Gorica (b): A ono eè gl(agol)e{i mnq %ko tako izvolise bo(g)u i nam# s#zdati m(oli)tvnyi hram#v# kameniè i grb#, n# v# mqsto aikom bezml#vnok# sim è i v#

tocq...%ko v# zemli doklitstqi tamo, v# ezqrq, r#savskom so ostrovimnozi. Mqsta kl$~ima sktqnom# p+styn&. pa~e èi monastyri velicizdannyi è t prq`d# [You say that you desired to build a house of wor-ship in stone, for God and for us, and a grave in a quiet place on the island in the land of Dioclea, on Rosava Lake, there are many islands, placeswhich happen [to be] sketic deserts, moreover, great monasteries, erectedlong ago]. As we can see, apart from the information about the location ofthe church,Nikon describes lake islands as places of sketic deserts. enext page contains the already quoted reference to Jelenas church and the

church of St George, followed by the Old Testament episode about Mo-ses delivering the Jewish people from bondage and their joy in the desert(a): Sly{i i v#nemli tvqt#. Jsrailtqne egda prqsta{e t rabot#egp#skyh# i v#seli{e se v# pustyn$ [e Jews ceased being Egyptianslaves and rejoiced in the desert]. Further down on the same page (b),Nikon describes the desert as the abode and place of temptation of theprophet Elijah, Job and St John the Baptist: ila è prq`(d)e i j(a)nn#semu poslqdova{e zakon+. I v# ubo v# karmili be(z)ml#va proho`(d)

Nikon le Hiorosolymitian, Le Recueil de Gorica,L idologie monarchiqe dans les hagio-biographies dynastiques du moyen age Serbe(Rome ), . For the studies of theo-logical perspectives see E. Economou, Some observations on the Hesychast Diaspora inthe fifteenth century,Studi sullOriente Cristiano/ (Rome ), ; M. Lazi,Isihazam srpske knjige(Ni ), , , ; Jevti, Ispovedanje vereNikona Jerusalimca, ; Puri, Trojina terminologija, ; A. Radovi,Hristolikost i bogorodinost ovjeka i ovjekovo stanje poslije smrti prema Nikonu Je-rusalimcu,inNikon Jerusalimac, ed. ulibrk,; Balj, Ideje isihazma, .Trifunovi, Dve poslanice, ; Balj, Ideje isihazma, .Gagova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik, , briefly refers to Nikons portrayal of the islandof Gorica as a desert. Nikon makes mentions four times of Jelenas church, cf. Gagova, GorichkiyatSbornik, .


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aa{e po(d)vigo sebe prisvaae. vè v# pustyni pr(q)byvae... [Elijah,and John before him, abided by the law. And Job, too, dwelling in the desert,went to quiet places to pursue ascetic labours].

Nikon calls the lake islets a desert and likens them to Old and New

Testament examples.e complex notion of the desert, central to East-ern Christian monasticism, as a rule refers to places intended for supremeforms of asceticism.e use of biblical metaphors suggests that the authorfelt it important to underscore that the practices were in fact the imitationof Scriptural models. Central biblical figures, such as Moses, the prophetElijah and John the Baptist, pursued an ascetic life in the desert, and it wasin the desert that Christ experienced his first temptation by the devil.Inmedieval Serbian texts, the word deserthad a range of meanings.In the

Gorica Collection, given the hesychast nature of the sources that Nikon drewfrom,the term desertwas used to denote the habitat of a hermit, the placeof his ascetic labours.

Our most important source for the issue of the organization of mo-nastic life e Rules of Sketic Life is Nikons third letter (a b).

On the use of biblical quotations in describing holy mountains,see D. Popovi, Pustin-je i svete gore srednjovekovne Srbije, ; Gagova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik, . On the notion of the desert, see e Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, vol. , s. v.Desert, by J. A.T(hompson) & A. C(utler), . On the Early Christian notion of thedesertdocumented in Byzantine written sources, see C. Rapp, Desert, City and Coun-tryside in the Early Christian Imagination, Church History and Religious Culture:/(), . On the terminology of eremitic monasticism, see Popovi, Deanskapustinja u okvirima vizantijskog i srpskog eremitskog monatva, . See alsoher Desert as Heavenly Jerusalem: the imagery of sacred space, inMaking New Jeru-salems. e Translation of Sacred Spaces in Christian Culture, ed. A. M. Lidov (Moscow), ; Pustinje i svete gore srednjovekovne Srbije, ; PustinoiteljstvoSvetog Save srpskog, Liceum, Kult svetih na Balkanu II (), ; as well as N.

Gagova & I. padijer, Dve varijante anahoretskog tipa u junoslovenskoj hagiografiji(Teodosijevo itije svetog Petra Korikog i Jevtimijevo itije svetog Jovana Rilskog),in Slovensko srednjovekovno nasledje, .Popovi, Desert as Heavenly Jerusalem, ; A. Guillaumont, La conception dudsert chez les moins dEgypt, Aux origines du monachisme chrtien(Bgrolles-en-Mau-Bgrolles-en-Mau-ges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine, ), .Popovi, Deanska pustinja, , and Pustinje i svete gore, . E.g. John Climacus, Simeon the New eologian, Gregory Sinaites, NikephorosKallistos Xanthopoulos, cf. Trifunovi, Dve poslanice, .

e text is titled: Prqdanja ustavm iè kromq monastirskago ustava ìvu-wih# sirq~# skytnqm#, pravilo v#sed#nevno iè my prqhm# t t#c# na{ihiè i zde da izloìm# proizvolq$wjim#, D. Bogdanovi, Katalog irilskih rukopisamanastira Hilandara(Belgrade: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti & Narodna bibli-oteka Srbije, ), .


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Nikon laid down the typikonfor the church and kellion of the Annuncia-tion monastery at Jelenas order,prescribing the rules of daily prayer forthe kellionand the rules for the Great, Apostles and Dormition fasts.etypikonalso contains sayings of the Fathers and instructions for the spiritual

struggle against evil thoughts. It also prescribes that a hesychast monkmust not have any possession other than his own rasa. As Nina Gagovarightfully observes, the Gorica Collection is unique among the manuscriptscommissioned by South-Slavic rulers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centu-ries in that it lays down the rule for a funerary church and its kellia. In theabove-cited account of Jelenas church, Nikon speaks of other lake islandsas places where monastic life observes the sketic rules of fasting and silence(b, a): We have heard, and indeed now we can see with our own eyes, that

there, in the land of Dioclea, on Rosava Lake, there are many islands, places whichhappen [to be] sketic deserts, moreover, great monasteries, erected long ago. And yousay that the life of the monks in them is praiseworthy and that they live in love,

filled with the peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and in fasting, and in great silence;and celebrating Gods mercy, with their mind set on the autocrat and king throughthe words of God; and therefore without loving any of earthly things, true piety isin those who have known the truth.In his answer to Jelenas question aboutthe coenobitic and eremitic ways of life, Nikon, ten pages later, changes theaddressee and says: vy `e, o(t)ci i br(a)ta[you, fathers and brethren],

which, unless it is an orthographic error, suggests that Jelena was surroundedby a monastic community. Nikons words: obitqli s(veta)go i glavnagoveliko m(u~e)nika tropefora gerga [the community of the holy andglorious great-martyr vanquisher George], attest to the presence of a monas-tic community around the church of St George (a). Briefly, Nikons lettersseem to suggest that Jelena required a sketic typikonin order for the alreadyestablished small monastic communities on Lake Scutari to be able to oper-ate under a single set of rules.

Bogdanovi, Goriki zbornik, ; Trifunovi, Dve poslanice, ; Ga-gova, Gorichkiyat Sbornik, .e Typikonprescribes that half the Psalter should be read in one night and day,

which is half the amount prescribed by the Typikon for the Karyes Kellion or theTypikonfor Observing the Psalter, both laid down by St Sava, cf. L. Mirkovi, Skitskiustavi Sv. Save, Brastvo (), .Trifunovi, Dve poslanice, .

Quoted from the translation from Old Slavonic into modern Serbian by hieromonkJovan (ulibrk), Uloga duhovnog oinstva u vaspitanju po Nikonu Jerusalimcu (BAthesis, Duhovna akademija Sv. Vasilija Ostrokog, ), .Fifteenth-century sketic typikahave survived in Russia, where they were broughtby Nil Sorskii, founder of anchoritic monasticism in Russia, cf. E. V. Romanenko, Nil


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e lack of documentary sources makes it difficult to keep furthertrack of the monastic life in the isles of Lake Scutari, but the monasterieseconomic history may be partly reconstructed from Ottoman imperial taxregisters (defters).According to the earliest Ottoman imperial tax register,

of , the monastery in Stareva Gorica was a taxpaying entity.Ac-cording to the one of /,the vineyards and crop fields owned by themonastery since the days of old were now recorded as monastic property.e surviving sources suggest that the monastery in Stareva Gorica stoodout as the wealthiest of all in the sanjak of Scutari.A Cattaran, and Veni-tian aristocrat, Mariano Bolizza (Marin Bolica), in his account of the sanjakof Scutari written in , described Stareva Gorica as one of the activemonasteries in the lake islets.According to the Russian ethnographer and

historian Pavel Rovinsky (), in the early twentieth century it wasunknown when exactly the church in Stareva Gorica fell into disuse.emonasteries of St George (Beka) and of the Virgin (Moranik) occur to-gether in the Ottoman defters of / and .e defters show that

Sorskii i tradicii russkogo monashestva(Moscow: Pamyatniki istoricheskoi mysli, ),as well as her Nil Sorskii i tradicii russkogo monashestva Nilo-Sorskii skit kakunikalnoe yavlenie monastyrskoi kultury Rusi XVXVII vv, Istoricheski vestnik (), .O. Zirojevi, Posedi manastira u Skadarskom sandaku (Novi Pazar: DamaD, ),.S. Pulaha, Defter-i mufassal Liva-i Iskenderiyye sene , vol. II (Tirana ), .e defter of / was created at the time the Ottoman central authority con-fiscated all church and monastic real property in the Balkans, and then resold it tothe original owners. For more detail about the process and reasons for it, see A. Foti,Konfiskacija i prodaja manastira (crkava) u doba Selima II (problem crkvenih vakufa),BalcanicaXXVII (), .

e monastic land holdings are listed in O. Zirojevi, Posedi manastira, : inthe village of Srbska, two fields; in the village of Grle (Grlje), one field; in the villageof Berislavci, twelve fields and a half of one more field; in the village of Goriani, twofields and the area of land called Radunov la; in the village of Gostilje, three fields; inthe village of Kadrun, four vineyards and ten dnms of fields; in the village of Krnica,two vineyards and the area of land [known as] ipta; and in the village of Mesa, two

vineyards.Zirojevi, Posedi manastira, .M. Bolica , Opis sandakata skadarskog iz . godine, StarineXII (Zagreb ),quoted in P. Rovinski, Crna Gora u prolosti i sadanjosti, vol. I (Cetinje: Izdavaki centar& Centralna narodna biblioteka; Sr. Karlovci/Novi Sad: Izdavaka knjiarnica ZoranaStojanovia, ), .Rovinski, Crna Gora, vol. IV, .Zirojevi, Posedi manastira, and .


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both monasteries regained full ownership of their former possessions,andthat they owned vineyards and land in the same villages.As has been saidabove, Bolizza described both monasteries as active in .

Conclusions suggested by this research concern several aspects of the

monastic life of the island communities on Lake Scutari. What we havebeen able to learn of the organization of monastic life from the materialand written sources is that there were in the islands both sketaeand smallercoenobitic communities and, very likely, recluses as well. Given that themonastic foundations of the Balis observed hesychast practices, it seemsreasonable to assume that small monastic communities of the type couldhave been formed outside the monastic enclosures as well. erefore, ar-chaeological field surveys in the area of Lake Scutari appear to be the logi-

cal next step in researching this topic. Apart from providing an insight intothe monastic lifestyles pursued by the island communities, the sources alsopermit a glimpse into their spiritual life. Remarkably important to this topicis the Gorica Collection, a literary work created in response to the spiritualneeds of Jelena Bali and the community in whose midst she spent a partof her life. e content and purpose of the manuscript shows that, in thespiritual climate of the period, strongly marked by hesychast beliefs andvalues, the island monasteries on Lake Scutari in Zeta were worthy pro-tagonists of Serbian culture and spirituality. In the area of the activity of

the Balis as monastic founders and patrons, the greatest credit should beascribed to Jelena Bali. A founder and renovator of two churches in theisland of Beka, and patron and sponsor of the Gorica Collection, she may beconsidered a relevant representative of late medieval court culture.

UDC --(. Skadar)(.)

According to the defter of , the monastery of St George owned three hous-es, and that of the Virgin (Moranik), only one, cf. Pulaha, Defter-i Mufassal , ;Zirojevi, Posedi manastira, .Beka and Moranik had land holdings in the villages of Kadrun (Skadar area), Bes(Krajina), Gostilje (abljak), Bobovite (Krajina). For a detailed list of their estates, seeZirojevi, Posedi manastira, and .Rovinski, Crna Gora, vol. I, .


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Despotate of Serbia in

KINGDOM

OF

BOSNI

A

Z e t a

AdriaticS

ea

LakeScutari

Ragusa Cattaro

OTTOM

AN

EM

PIRE

Durazzo

Bar

Dulcigno

Budua

Belgrade Smederevo

Skopje

Pec

Prizren

Novo Brdo

Thessaloniki

Balsics

Zvecan

ica

KINGDOM OF

HUNGARY

Lazarevics

Brankovics


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Lake Scutari. Monastery in Stareva Gorica with the church of the Dormition of theVirgin ()

Lake Scutari. Monastery in Stareva Gorica: ground plan


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Lake Scutari. Monastic complex in Beka: churches of St George (last two decades ofthe fourteenth century) and of the Annunciation ()

Lake Scutari. Monastic complex in Beka: ground plan


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Lake Scutari. Monastery in Moranik: ground plan

Lake Scutari. Monastery in Moranik with the church dedicated to the Virgin(fifteenth century)


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Balcanica XLIII

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