Hieromonk Mardarije ( sr-cyr, Јеромонах Мардарије; 1552–66) was a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...

and one of the most important early

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

printers. Mardarije was the first Belgrade printer and last great printer of

srbulje A srbulјa ( sr-cyrl, србуља), srbulje in plural, is a liturgical book written or printed in the Serbian recension of Old Serbian (Serbo-Balkanic), which was the written language of Serbs from the 12th century to the 1830s. The term was use ...

books. Mardarije first printed books at the Belgrade printing house in 1552. When its owner gave up the printing business, he moved the printing press to Mrkšina crkva monastery in

Kosjerić Kosjeríć ( sr-cyr, Косјерић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The municipality has a population of 12,090 inhabitants, but the town itself has 3,992. The municipality's area is , with 26 v ...

where he established the

Mrkšina crkva printing house The Mrkšina crkva printing house ( sr, Штампарија Манастира Мркшина Црква; Мркшиначка штампарија) was a printing house established in 1562 in the Monastery of Mrkšina Crkva in village Kosjerić i ...

Belgrade printing house

Mardarije worked as an editor and printer at the Belgrade printing house owned first by Count Radiša Dmitrović and later by

Trojan Gundulić Trojan Gundulić ( it, Troiano Gondola; c. 1500 - c. 1555) was a merchant and printer from the Republic of Ragusa who is remembered for his participation in the printing of the first book in Belgrade, '' The Four Gospels'' ("Četverojevanđelje" ...

. According to some sources, it was Hieromonk Mardarije who inspired first Dmitrović and then Gundulić to invest in the printing business and organized all activities during the set-up of the printing house in Belgrade. In 1552 he printed a

Gospel Book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazar ...

(Четворојеванђеље). Mardarije is the author of the

afterword An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. An afterword may be written by someone other ...

published at the end of the Gospel Book in which he succinctly described how the book came into being, the establishment of the Belgrade printing house and its key people. Mardarije edited this book under great influence of the books published in the

Crnojević printing house The Crnojević printing house ( sr, Штампарија Црнојевића, Štamparija Crnojevića) or Cetinje printing house ( sr, Цетињска штампарија, Cetinjska štamparija), was the first printing house in Southeastern Eur ...

Mrkšina crkva printing house

When Gundulić gave up printing books, Mardarije moved the printing press from Belgrade to the Mrkšina crkva monastery in

and established the

in it. Two books were printed in the Mrkšina crkva printing house: a Gospel Book, printed in 1562 and a Flowery Triodon (Триод Цветни) in 1566. The Flowery Triodon is recognizable because in this book Mardarije preferred to use figural motives instead of the

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

Misidentification with Hegumen Mardarije

In many earlier sources Hieromonk Mardarije is misidentified with

Hegumen Mardarije Hegumen Mardarije ( sr-cyr, Игумен Мардарије; 1543–45) was a Serbian Orthodox monk and one of the first printers of Serbian language books. Mardarije received his education in the Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Pljevlja. To sa ...

who was also a printer, but in the

Mileševa printing house The Mileševa printing house ( sr, Милешевска штампарија) was a printing house established in 1544 in the Mileševa monastery near Prijepolje, Ottoman Empire (modern day Serbia). Three srbulje books were printed in this printin ...

. Taking in consideration that Mardarije of the Mrkšina crkva printing house never referred to himself in his books as a

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

(a much higher position), it was concluded that Hieromonk Mardarije and Hegumen Mardarije were two different persons.

References

Sources

External links

Online scanned version of the 1546 Молитвеник at the Library of Matica Srpska website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardarije, Hieromonk 16th-century printers 16th-century Serbian people Serbian printers 16th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy Serbian monks Serb priests People from Bijelo Polje Serbs of Montenegro 16th-century Christian monks 16th-century businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire