Domentijan ( sr-cyr, Доментијан; c. 1210-after 1264), also known as Domentijan the Hilandarian (Доментијан Хиландарац), was a major figure in medieval Serbian literature and philosophy.
[Mateja Matejić and Dragan Milivojević, "An Anthology of Medieval Serbian Literature in English" (Columbus, Ohio, Slavica Publioshers, Inc., 1978), p. 55] He was a monk at the
Hilandar
The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...
Monastery and a contemporary of
Saint Sava
Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...
.
In fact, he accompanied St. Sava when the latter visited the Holy Land. He was much respected by the royal court, as well as by the monks on
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
. Athonite scribe Teodore's account of his troubles, recorded on the pages of
John Exarch
John the Exarch (also transcribed Joan Ekzarh; ) was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and translator, one of the most important men of letters working at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century ...
's ''
Hexameron
The term Hexameron (Greek: Ἡ Ἑξαήμερος Δημιουργία ''Hē Hexaēmeros Dēmiourgia'') refers either to the genre of theological treatise that describes God's work on the six days of creation or to the six days of creation thems ...
'' (''Šestodnev''), which Teodore was copying at Domentijan's request, contains many references concerning Domentijan's humanity and assistance extended to him. The manuscript is now in the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
It may be concluded that Domentijan was essentially a hymnologist who wrote biographies to two Serbian saints but, in fact, glorified monasticism and Christianity.
Biography of St. Sava
Domentijan's biography of St. Sava, written c. 1253 (and an earlier one of St. Simeon Nemanja) was expressly written by order of the royal court of King
Stefan Uroš I
Stefan Uroš I ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош I; 1223 – May 1, 1277), known as Uroš the Great (Урош Велики) was the King of Serbia from 1243 to 1276, succeeding his brother Stefan Vladislav. He was one of the most important rulers ...
, seven years after Sava's death. It is a work giving an account of St. Sava's life, yet it is also an apotheosis of monasticism. Domentijan's style is characterized by fluent narration, panegyric diction, an abundance of theological and mystical elements with an emphasis on a spiritual and clearly monastic point of view. Domentijan wrote it in the ''kellion'' (cell) built by Sava at
Karyes
Karyes (Greek: Καρυές, before 1930: Αράχωβα - ''Arachova'') is a village of the Peloponnese peninsula, which is located in the southern part of Greece. The Peloponnese is made up of a number of states and Karyes belongs to the state ...
, the Athonite seat.
Biography of St. Simeon
For his biography of St. Simeon, Domentijan used material from works of previous authors and thus unintentionally preserved some of them until contemporary time.
He drew freely from Stefan the First-Crowned's biography of Stefan Nemanja; one-third of his own biography of St. Sava; and in the ''Panegyric to St. Simeon'', he used a few lines from Ilarion's ''Panegyric to St. Vladimir''.
Legacy
He is included in
The 100 most prominent Serbs
''The 100 most prominent Serbs'' ( sr-Cyrl, 100 најзнаменитијих Срба) is a book containing the biographies of the hundred most important Serbs compiled by a committee of academicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. ...
.
Đura Daničić
Đura ( sr-Cyrl, Ђура; also transliterated Djura) is a Serbian male given name derived from ''Đurađ'' (a Serbian variant of ''George'').
It may refer to:
* Đura Dokić (1873–1946), a Serbian general, notable for being an Axis collabora ...
published Domentijan's texts in Belgrade in 1865.
Srpska književna zadruga
The Serbian Literary Guild or Serbian Literary Cooperative is Serbia's oldest writers' organization and the second oldest still existing publishing house after Matica srpska.
History
It was founded in Belgrade on 29 April 1892 in the no longer e ...
adapted them to modern language in 1938.
See also
*
John the Deacon
*
Teodosije Teodosije ( sr-cyr, Теодосије) is a Serbian variant of the Greek name ''Theodosius'', and may refer to:
*Teodosije Hilandarac (1246-1328), cleric and writer
* Teodosije, Metropolitan of Zeta (before 1446)
* Teodosije, Bishop of Vršac (16 ...
*
Danilo II, Serbian Archbishop
Danilo II ( sr-cyr, Данило II) was the Archbishop of Serbs 1324 to 1337, under the rule of Kings Stephen Uroš III (1321–1331) and Dušan the Mighty (1331–1355, crowned Emperor in 1345). As a Serbian monk, he was also a chronicler, ac ...
*
Stefan Dušan
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gr ...
*
Elder Siluan Siluan ( sr-cyr, Силуан; 14th century) was a Serbian Orthodox monk and poet who lived and worked in the Hilandar monastery at Mount Athos in the 14th century. Very little is known about him. The mystical tradition of prayer known as hesychasm ...
*
Teodosije the Hilandarian
Teodosije the Hilandarian or Theodosije of Hilandar ( sr, Теодосије Хиландарац/Teodosije Hilandarac; 1246–1328) was a Serbian Orthodox clergyman and one of the most important Serbian writers in the Middle Ages; the Serbian Acad ...
(1246-1328), one of the most important Serbian writers in the Middle Ages, and the next great Athonite in the Serbian literature of the 13th century.
*
Elder Grigorije
Elder Grigorije ( sr, Старац Григорије; 1310–55) was a Serbian Orthodox clergyman and writer. Grigorije hailed from the Prizren region, and was a nobleman in the Serbian Empire until he took monastic vows and received the monasti ...
(fl. 1310-1355), builder of Saint Archangels Monastery
*
Antonije Bagaš
Anthony Bagaš also known as Arsenije Bagaš ( sr, Антоније Багаш; fl. 1366 – 1385) was a Serbian nobleman from Kastoria who retreated to Mount Athos in between 1356 and 1366, where he later bought and restored the ruined Ath ...
(fl. 1356-1366), bought and restored the Agiou Pavlou monastery
*
Lazar the Hilandarian
Lazar ( sr, Лазар, russian: Лазарь), also known as Lazar the Serb or Lazar the Hilandarian ( fl. 1404), was a Serbian Orthodox monk-scribe and horologist who invented and built the first known mechanical public clock in Russia in 1404. ...
(fl. 1404), the first known Serbian and Russian watchmaker
*
Pachomius the Serb
Pachomius the Serb (russian: Пахомий Серб, sr, Пахомије Србин), also known as Pachomius Logothetes, russian: Пахомий Логофет, el, Παχώμιος Λογοθέτης) was a 15th-century Serbian hagiographer ...
(fl. 1440s-1484), hagiographer of the Russian Church
*
Miroslav Gospel
Miroslav Gospel ( sr, Мирослављево jеванђеље / Miroslavljevo jevanđelje, ) is a 362-page Serbian illuminated manuscript Gospel Book on parchment with very rich decorations. It is one of the oldest surviving documents written ...
*
Gabriel the Hilandarian Gabriel the Hilandarian ( 1359–d. after 1412) was a Serbian monk- scribe. There is very little information available about Gabriel the Hilandarian, like most modest monks who lived in the 14th and early 15th century. It is known that he translated ...
*
Constantine of Kostenets Constantine of Kostenets ( bg, Константин Костенечки, Konstantin Kostenechki; born ca. 1380, died after 1431), also known as Constantine the Philosopher ( sr, Константин Филозоф), was a medieval Bulgarian scholar ...
*
Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev
Cyprian ( bg, Киприан, russian: Киприан, be, Кіпрыян, uk, Кипріан) (c. 1336 – 16 September 1406) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Russia and Lithuania (2 December 1375–12 February 1376) and the Metropolitan of K ...
and All Rus'
*
Gregory Tsamblak
Gregory Tsamblak or Grigorij Camblak ( bg, Григорий Цамблак, sr-Cyr, Григорије Цамблак; c. 1365–1420) was a Bulgarian writer and cleric. He was the pretended Metropolitan of Lithuania between 1413 and 1420. A Bulga ...
*
Isaija the Monk
Isaija the Monk ( sr, Инок Исаија or in English: Inok Isaija; ca. 1300–after 1375), also known as Elder Isaija (Elder Isaiah) () and Isaija of Serres (Elder Isaiah of Serres) (), was a 14th-century Serbian monk, one of many Serbian mo ...
*
Grigorije of Gornjak
Grigorije of Gornjak ( sr, Григорије Горњачки, Григорије из Горњака; 1375–1379), also known as Grigorije the Younger () and Grigorije the Silent (), was Serbian Orthodox monk who was canonized as saint. He stud ...
*
Radoslav's Gospel
Radoslav's Gospel (also known as ''Leningrad Serbian Gospel'', ''Gospel of the Spiritual Visarion'', and ''Tetraevangelion of Inok from Dalša'') was created in 1429 by miniaturist Radoslav and celibate priest Feodor, a Serbian monk-scribe from D ...
(Inok of Dalša)
*
Rajčin Sudić Rajčin Sudić (c. 1335-after 1360) was a Serbian monk- scribe who lived and worked during the time of Lord Vojihna, the father of Jefimija.
From the inscription Rajčin Sudić left in the margin of the Chronicles written in the 14th Century, we k ...
*
Romylos of Vidin
Romylos of Vidin also known as Romylos of Ravanica or Romylus the Athonite (''Romil Svetogorac'', ''Romil Svetogorski''); ( bg, Ромил Бдински; sr, Ромил Раванички) was a 14th-century Bulgarian cleric, a disciple of Greg ...
*
Marko Pećki
Marko Pećki (village of Ljevoši, near Peć in Kosovo, Serbia, 1360 – Ljevoši, Kosovo, Serbia, after 1411) was a Serbian medieval writer and poet who lived at the time of Prince Lazar of Serbia and Stefan Lazarević. He is best known for the " ...
*
Grigorije Vasilije
*
Danilo III (patriarch)
Danilo III ( sr-cyr, Данило III; also called Danilo the Younger, 1350–1400) was the fifth Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1390–1396), a writer and poet, known also for transferring the relics of Lazar of Serbia from the church ...
*
Anonymous Athonite Anonymous Athonite (also known in Serbia as Nepoznati Svetogorac; late 14th to mid-15th century) was Isaija the Monk's biographer and one of the many unidentified authors of Medieval works. It is assumed that he wrote "The Life of the Elder Isaiah" ...
References
Sources
* (old Serbian)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domentijan
1210 births
13th-century deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death unknown
13th-century Serbian writers
Medieval Serbian Orthodox clergy
Medieval Athos
People of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)
13th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy
Hagiographers
Medieval European scribes
13th-century Christian monks
People associated with Hilandar Monastery