Nikola Radonja ( sr, Никола Радоња) or Nikola Radonja Branković or Gerasim or Roman, (c. 1330–1399) was a 14th-century Serbian nobleman and

chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

, a member of the

Branković dynasty The House of Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Бранковић, Brankovići / Бранковићи, ) is a Serbian medieval noble family and dynasty. According to genealogies created in the first half of the 15th century, the family descends via female ...

as the eldest son of

Branko Mladenović Branko ( sr-cyr, Бранко; 1331–65) was a Serbian magnate who served to king and Serbian Empire, emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55), and emperor Stefan Uroš V (r. 1355–71), with the titles of ''sluga'' and later ''sevastokrator''. A me ...

. He is remembered as the author of "Gerasim's Chronicle."

Name

In documents he was referred with one or two out of four different names he had during his life: Nikola, Radonja (Radohna), Roman and Gerasim.

Early life

Radonja was a member of the

as the eldest son of

. Radonja's younger brothers were

Vuk Branković Vuk Branković ( sr-cyr, Вук Бранковић, , 1345 – 6 October 1397) was a Serbian medieval nobleman who, during the Fall of the Serbian Empire, inherited a province that extended over present-day southern and southwestern Serbia, enti ...

and

Grgur Branković Grgur Branković (1415 – 16 October 1459) was a 15th-century Serbian nobleman. Grgur was the eldest son of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković and Eirene Kantakouzene. In 1439, after the Ottomans captured Smederevo, the capital of the Serbian ...

. He was married to Jelena, a sister of

Uglješa Mrnjavčević Jovan Uglješa Mrnjavčević ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Угљеша Мрњавчевић; fl. 1346–1371), known as Jovan Uglješa ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Угљеша), was a Serbian medieval nobleman of the Mrnjavčević family and one of the mo ...

. Radonja had a title of

caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

( sr, ћесар) and controlled an estate in

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

region where he and his wife Jelena lived with their two daughters.

Monastic life

When his wife and daughters died at very young ages, Radonja resigned his feudal position and after Autumn 1364 took monastic vows and name Gerasim while his father

was still alive. There he served and helped with great merit Hilendar and also the monasteries of Koutloumousiou and Agiou Pavlou monastery. Thanks to the Radonja's influence, Vuk Branković became the first of Serbian feudal lords who gained ktitor's privileges in Hilandar after the

fall of the Serbian Empire The fall of the Serbian Empire was a decades-long process in the late 14th century. Following the death of childless Emperor Stefan Uroš V in 1371, the Empire was left without an heir and the magnates, '' velikaši'', obtained the rule of its pr ...

, beginning in 1371. The earliest mention of Radonja under his monastic name Gerasim was in a charter of Vuk Branković issued to

Hilandar Monastery 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 ...

in 1376/77. Around 1380 Radonja, together with Arsenije Bagaš, bought ruined Agiou Pavlou monastery from Xeropotamou Monastery and reconstructed it. In period 1379—89 Radonja was a priest in the Hilandar Monastery and was again mentioned as Gerasim, a brother of Vuk Branković, in the 1389 document written by

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 ...

. There he achieved hieroschemamonk degree of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. Around 1392 Radonja and group of notable "elders" from Hilandar visited court of the Lazarević family, successors of

, and requested a church in Ibar and its estates to be granted to Hilandar, according to the promise given by its former lord, Obrad Dragoslavić. After the death of Vuk Branković in 1396, Radonja took Vuk's body to the Agiou Pavlou monastery 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 ...

. Radonja died on 3 December 1399 probably in Agiou Pavlou monastery.

Gerasim's Chronicle

Nikola Radonja, as monk Gerasim, was one of the people who appeared in the Serbian 1389 historical drama/war film ''

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...

'', in interpretation of the actor Tanasije Uzunović. According to some speculations, Radonja was author of the Gerasim's Chronicle ( sr, Герасимов летопис), allegedly disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century, which supposedly explains that

Miloš Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name Sportsmen * Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower * Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer * Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...

killed sultan

Murad Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It ...

with a spear during the

in 1389.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radonja, Nikola Branković dynasty 14th-century Serbian nobility 1399 deaths Year of birth unknown People of the Serbian Empire Medieval Serbian Orthodox clergy Medieval Athos Serbian monks 14th-century Christian monks 14th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy People associated with Hilandar Monastery People associated with Agiou Pavlou Monastery