Charter of Ravanica ( sr, Раваничка повеља) was the founding charter of the
Ravanica
The Ravanica Monastery ( sr, / ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Kučaj mountains near Senje, a village in Ćuprija municipality in Central Serbia. It was built in 1375–1377 as an endowment of prince Lazar of Serbia, who is buried t ...
monastery, the main endowment (
ktetor
''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...
), and burial place of
Prince Lazar
Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval List of Serbian monarchs, Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbia ...
of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
(r. 1371-1389†), issued in 1381.
The Ravanica charter is not preserved in original, however, there is a well preserved copy of the
Vrdnik
Vrdnik ( sr-Cyrl, Врдник; ) is a village located in the municipality of Irig, northern Serbia, in the Vojvodina province of Serbia. It is located at southern slopes of Fruška Gora, at the border of the national park. As of 2011 census, it ...
transcript of the 17th century. The text of the charter is written in a fine dark colour, and the capital letters are in green, with a red surrounding. In the upper central part of the charter there is a depiction of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, and beside him, two angels. The image of Jesus is intertwined with vines of bright colours. On the charter is a silver stamp with gold platings on which the figure of Prince Lazar is on one side, and Jesus Christ on the throne on the other side. The charter is exhibited at the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade (Ed. MS 196–200). The Bologna transcript (which hasn't been published in full
[Ćorović-Ljubinković 1966, p. i]) signed by
Patriarch Ephraim (t. 1375–1380, 1389–1390), is the second transcription preserved of the original.
[Ćorović-Ljubinković 1966, p. viii]
According to the Vrdnik transcript, the charter dates from 1381, and according to the Bologna transcript, Ravanica dates from 1376/1377.
[
]
See also
*List of medieval Serbian literature
Medieval Serbian literature or Old Serbian literature ( sr, Стара српска књижевност) refers to the literature written in medieval forms of Serbian language, up to the end of the 15th century, with its traditions extending in ...
Notes
{{reflist, 3
Sources
*Project Rastko
"Раваничка повеља кнеза Лазара из 1381. године"
*Barišić, F. (1974) O poveljama kneza Lazara i patrijarha Spiridona. Zbornik Filozofskog fakulteta, XII-1
*Ćirković, S.M. (1981) Ravanička hrisovulja. u: Manastir Ravanica 1381–1981, Spomenica o šestoj stogodišnjici, Beograd
*Mirjana Ćorović-Ljubinković, Ravanica, "Jugoslavija", 1966
15th-century establishments in Serbia
Medieval charters and cartularies of Serbia
Lazarević dynasty
History of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Pomoravlje District