Rufim Boljević ( sr-cyr, Руфим Бољевић; 1673 – d. January 1685) was the

Serbian Orthodox 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 ...

Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje from 1662 or 1673 until his death in January 1685. He succeeded Mardarije Kornečanin ( fl. 1640–59), and was succeeded by Vasilije Veljekrajski.

Life

Boljević was from

Crmnica Crmnica ( Serbian and Montenegrin: Црмница, ) is a historical region in southern Montenegro, one of the communes of the municipality of Bar. It is one of the four sub-regions of Old Montenegro. Geography & Demographics Crmnica is located ...

, and belonged to the Plamenac brotherhood, and is scarcely mentioned as Rufim Plamenac (Руфим Пламенац). It is generally believed he succeeded Mardarije Kornečanin, mentioned between 1640 and 1659. The Cetinje see seems to have been unseated from 1660 until early 1662, when an unnamed Metropolitan of Cetinje is mentioned in a source from the

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

. Boljević is mentioned in sources from 1673, 1675, 1682 and 1685. He funded the construction of

water reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

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 ...

before being ortinated as Vladika. It has been theorized that it was Boljević who was mentioned in 1662 (by I. Stjepčević and P. Kovijančić). If he indeed had taken the seat in 1662, it means that he (as the Metropolitan) was one of two arbiters in the feud between ''harambaša'' Lazarić and Karučan from Crmnica, mentioned on November 2, 1662; as Boljević was from Crmnica, this has been taken as proof. It would also mean that he was active during the

Cretan War (1645–69) Cretan War may refer to multiple wars involving the island of Crete, including: * Cretan War (205–200 BC), a war between King Philip V of Macedon and Rhodes * Cretan War (1645–69), a war between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire Se ...

, in which many

hajduks A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, ...

(brigands) from the region of Montenegro participated in, in the service of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. A notable leader was

Bajo Pivljanin Bajo Pivljanin ( sr-cyr, Бајо Пивљанин – 7 May 1685), born Dragojlo Nikolić, was a Montenegrin and Serbian '' hajduk'' commander mostly active in the Ottoman territories of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia. Born in Piva, at the ...

. After the Cretan War, he was an active protester against Catholic propaganda, famous for his conversion of Kuči Vojvode

Lale Drekalov }; sq, Lala Drekali) was a vojvoda of the Kuči tribe in eastern Montenegro in the first half of the 17th century. Life His father was Drekale and his mother was the daughter of a vojvoda of Old Kuči. He had a brother, Nikolla who died with ...

from Catholicism to orthodoxy. He had notable influence on the Montenegrin tribes, meeting with common folk and stopped blood revenge, and

cursing Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, ru ...

evil-doers. He had been a staunch supporter of the

, and upon his death in January 1685, the Venetian Senate sent a letter to the Venetian governor of Kotor, expressing their "sorrow for the Metropolitan of Cetinje, who always showed interest in our service". He was the most loyal friend of Venice of his time. He was buried in Gornje Brčele monastery. He was succeeded by Vasilije Veljekrajski, who is only mentioned by Nićifor Dučić, without a lifespan or service period. A descendant of his,

Arsenije Plamenac Arsenije Plamenac ( sr-cyr, Арсеније Пламенац; 1766 – 1784) was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1781 and 1784, earlier the co-adjutor to Metropolitan Sava Petrović during the reign of Šćepan Mali (1767–73). Plamenac (Pl ...

, also served as Metropolitan (1781–1784).

Annotations

*Name: His name is mostly spelled ''Rufim Boljević'' (Руфим Бољевић), while his given name can be spelled as ''Ruvim'' (Рувим) as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boljevic, Ruvim 17th-century Serbian people 17th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Bishops of Montenegro and the Littoral People from Bar, Montenegro 1685 deaths Date of birth unknown

Life

See also

Annotations

References