Hristifor Račanin ( sr-Cyrl, Христофор Рачанин; c. 1595 – 1670) was a Serbian scribe working on ornately decorated manuscripts. He is best known for ''Psaltir s posledovanjem'', written in 1645. He was the abbot of the Rača monastery on the Drina River. The Museum of the

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

is in possession of a small number of ornately decorated (illuminated) manuscripts by unknown scribes, though a few have been identified, namely Priest-Monk Hristifor Račanin. His name has been preserved in the manuscripts in the Museum collection. Born in the 1670s, Hristifor would soon enter the monastery seeking knowledge. A Serbian monastery in the eighteenth century was considered the bastion of learning. In fact, the Eastern Orthodox Church was a manifestation of knowledge and learning at a time when a torrent of Turkish invaders swept the Balkans. Hristifor nowadays scarcely earns a mention by historians of literature. In his day, however, he was much read in

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 ...

and

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. In 1688 during the Austro-Turkish wars, when the ousted Turks were recovering and advancing toward Rača Monastery, near the Drina River, the abbot called for a general evacuation. Hristifor and other monks packed up and left to join their compatriots in northern Serbia. Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria led the capture of Belgrade in 1688 from the Ottomans, with the full support of Serbian insurgents under the command of

Jovan Monasterlija Jovan Monasterlija ( sr-cyr, Јован Монастерлија; fl. 1683–1706) was a Serbian ''vice-voivode'' (podvojvoda) and Austrian (Holy Roman Empire) imperial officer that led a Serbian Militia against the Ottoman Empire and other enemie ...

. Literary critic Jovan Skerlić gives credit to Kiprijan Račanin, Jerotej Račanin,

Ćirjak Račanin Ćirjak Račanin ( sr-cyr, Ћирјак Рачанин; probably the area of Bajina Bašta, Serbia c. 1660 – Szentendre, Hungary 1731) was a Serbian writer and monk. There was as much of the moralist as of the wit in Ćirjak Račanin, and that ...

Grigorije Račanin Grigorije Račanin (Serbian: Григорије Рачанин; Bajina Bašta, Serbia, after 1668 - Szentendre, Habsburg monarchy, after 1739) was a Serbian monk and writer. He is best remembered for his travelogue on rafting in the Balkans in 1 ...

Simeon Račanin Simeon Račanin ( sr-Cyrl, Симеон Рачанин; 1676–1700) was a Serbian Orthodox monk and translator. He is mentioned in 1700 along with several other monks at the Rača monastery, all wearing the epithet '' Račanin'': Kiprijan Račan ...

Teodor Račanin Teodor Račanin ( sr-Cyrl, Теодор Рачанин; 1500 – 1560) was a writer and Serbian Orthodox monk of the Račan Scriptorium School mentioned in Ottoman sources of 16th century literature. Biography Monk-scribe Teodor Račanin was given ...

Gavril Stefanović Venclović Gavril is a variant of the name Gabriel, may refer to: *Gavril Atanasov, Macedonian icon painter from Berovo in the 19th century *Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni (1746–1821), Romanian clergyman who served as Metropolitan of Moldavia *Gavril Balint (born ...

(also called Račanin) and Hristifor Račanin for keeping Serbian literature alive after Serbia's occupation by the Turks. In 1668, he transcribed Teodosije's Service to St.

Petar of Koriša Petar Koriški (in Serbian: Петар Коришки; lived in the 13th century) was the first anachoretic saint of Medieval Kingdom of Serbia, who lived in a cave on Rusenica mountain, part of the Šar Mountains range, where he gained fame as an ...

now preserved in its entirety in the Collection of

Baltazar Bogišić Balthazar, or variant spellings, may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Balthazar'' (novel), by Lawrence Durrell, 1958 * ''Balthasar'', an 1889 book by Anatole France * ''Professor Balthazar'', a Croatian animated TV series, 1967-1978 ...

Cavtat Cavtat (, it, Ragusa Vecchia, lit=Old Ragusa) is a village in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. It is on the Adriatic Sea coast south of Dubrovnik and is the centre of the Konavle municipality. History Antiquity The original city was ...

. All this led up to the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

where Serbian volunteers joined the Austrian army in the thousands to defeat the Turks from invading Europe. Yet, both the Ottoman and Austrian empires, lorded over Serbian lands until 1912 when the Turks were finally removed from the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and 1918 with the disintegration of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hristifor Račanin 17th-century Serbian people Serbian abbots Serbian writers

See also

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Sources