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 SERVIA

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SERVIA

lutin (1282-1321), while retaining for himself the title of king. The separation from Rome was completed during the reigns of these two princes and has con- tinued from that period until the present day, al- though several popes have exerted themselves to re- establish the union, e. g. Nicholas IV (1288), Benedict XI (1303), and Clement V (1308).

Stephen Milutin conquered several provinces of the Byzantine Empire, and advanced victoriously as far as Mount Athos, besides receiving Bosnia, without striking a blow, as the dowry of his wife, a daughter of the Hungarian king, Stephen V. During his reign and that of his son Stephen IV, Urosch (1320-31), Servia gained a European reputation and was the leading power of Eastern Europe. The son carried on a successful war against the revived Bulgarian kingdom and broke its power forever. Stephen IV, Urosch, was willing, in 1323, to unite with Rome and abandon the schism in order to secure the aid of Western Europe against the claims to the throne of his half-brother Vladislav; but this union with Rome was only of short duration. As in the latter years of his reign he showed a preference for the son of a second marriage, his eldest son Stephen Duschan rose against him and threw him into a prison, where he was soon killed, Stephen Duschan being probably an ac- complice in his death. The constant aim of this, the greatest of all the rulers of Servia (1331-55), was to establish a Greater Servia, which should unite all the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, to conquer Constan- tinople, and to win for himself the crown of a new Oriental empire with its centre at Constantinople. Taking advantage of the civil war in the Eastern Empire he was able, in 1336-40 and in 1345, to con- quer Albania, Macedonia, Epirus, and Thcssaly, and undertook thirteen campaigns again.st Constanti- nople in which he advanced as far as the imperial capital itself. In 1346 he was crowned at Skopje as "Tsar of the Serbs and Greeks"; this is translated in Latin documents as " Imperator Rasciie et Romaniie". At the same time, in a Servian synod, he had the Ser- vian Archbishop of Ipck created an independent "Metropolitan of the Serbs and Greeks", notwith- standing the anathema of the Church of Constanti- nople. The new head of the Servian Church had twenty metropolitans and bishops under him.

Stephen Duschan's reign has been called the Golden Age of Servia, because he gave the country a better administration and judicial system, sought to improve education, mining, commerce, etc., and, in 1349, issucnl a code of laws, an important monument of the Kingdom of Servia. He was very host ile to tlie Catholic Church. Article 6 of his code punished with death any Servian who adhered to the "Latin her- esy", or any Latin ecclesiastic who sought to make proselytes. Yet he repeatedly entered into relations with the pope in order to gain aid from Western Europe against the constantly increasing danger of Turkish invasion, and held out the prospect of union with the Latin Church. The great kingdom he had created soon fell to pieces during the reign of his weak son, Urosch V (1355-71). Vlka.sin, a Servian noble, rose against Urosch as a rival and gained almost the entire country for his cause; the strength of the king- dom was frittered away by internal disorders and civil wars, and thus the way was prei)arofi for the Turks. Vlkasin lost both the throne and liis life at the battle on the Maritza River (26 Septeniljer, 1371). in which he took part as an ally of the Eastern Empire. Two mf)nths later, Urosch V also died, and with his death the Nemanyich dynasty became extinct. The nobles disputed over a successor; Lazar Gobljanovitch, one of the most prominent, formed an alliance with the Bul- garians, Albanians, and Bosniains, and defeated a vice- roy of the Turkish Sultan, Annn-ath I. However, the Serbs suffered a severe defeat on 15 June, 1389, in the terrible battle on the Plain of Kossovo (the Plain of

the Blackbirds). Lazar and a large number of the most distinguished Serbs were taken prisoners and were beheaded during the night after the battle. The land was defenceless against the Turks, and Servian independence was in abeyance for four hundred years. Amurath's successor, Bajazet, divided the country between a son and a son-in-law of Lazar, both of whom were obliged to pay tribute to the Turks and to take part in the Turkish mihtary expeditions. In 1459 ^lohammed II put an end to the sovereignty of these two rulers. Servia was formally incorporated into the Turkish Empire and was divided into pasha- lics. Many Servian families were destroyed, many others fled to Hungary, some 200,000 persons were dragged away as slaves. The Servian Patriarchate of Ipek was also suppressed, and the Servian Cliurch was placed under the control of the Gni-co-Hulgarian Patriarchate of Schrida. In 1557 the Patriarchate of Ipek was re-established, and remained independent until its second suppression in 1766.

For more than two hundred years the name of Ser- via almost entirely disappeared from history. How- ever, the Turks maintained only a military occupa- tion of the country; they wrung large sums of money from the people, and took large numbers of young men to be trained as Janizaries. But they did not claim any land for themselves, and thus the Serbs under the Turkish yoke were able to preserve their language, customs, religion, and the memory of the heroic age of their countr\' until the hour of deliverance. The folk-songs, which celebrated the exploits of their most famous heroes, did much to preserve the national consciousness during the worst periods of oppression, by keeping before the people the recollection of Servia's history and past greatness. The first hope of deliverance from the Turkish yoke came from Aus- tria which, under Charles of Lorraine, repeatedly de- feated the Turks in the years 1684-86 and took pos- session of several provinces. When, in 1690, the Em- peror Leopold I issued a proclamation declaring that he would protect the religion and the political rights of all Slavonic peoples on the Balkan peninsula, and called upon them to rise against the Turks, about 36,000 Servian and Albanian families, led by their patriarch, emigrated from Servaa. After Leopold had given them the desired guarantees they crossed the Save and settled in Slavonia, in Syrmia, and in some of the Hungarian cities, where their descendants now form a considerable portion of the population. Their rights have always been protected by the emperor, and the see of a Servian patriarch was established at Carlo- wit z. The victories of Prince Eugene of Savoy forced Turkey to surrender all of Servia to Austria by the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718). But the Austrian Government was not able to win the sympathy of its new subjects, and, after the unsuccessful war of Charles VI against Turkey (1738-39), Servia was re- troceded to that power.

Although the Serbs themselves had contributed largely to the restoration of the Turkish supremacy, their loyalty was ill repaid by the cruelties of the Janizary revolt. At the request of the Greek Ortho- dox Church, the Patriarchate of Ipek was again sup- pressed, in 1766, and the Ser\-ian Church was placed directly under the Patriarch of Constantinople, who sent as bishops to Servaa almost exchisively men of Greek nationality, who were hostile to Servian efforts for liberty. During the war against Turkey carried on by Joseph II and Catherine 11, in the years 1788- 1790, the Serbs rose in favour of Austria. In 1804 a general revolt was provoked by the atrocities of the Janizaries. The head of the rebellion was George Petrowitch, who was also called Karagcorge (Black George). A series of victories delivered the country from the Turkish soldiers, and in 1807 even Belgrade was taken. The people, however, were not sufficiently supported by Russia, and could not obtain complete