Savatije Ljubibratić ( sr-cyr, Саватије Љубибратић; Piva, c. 1660—Topla, January, 1716) 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 ...

bishop and metropolitan, and the caretaker of the

Dragović monastery The Dragović Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox monastery situated on a hill downstream the Cetina River not far from Vrlika in Croatia. When the artificial Peruća Lake was created, the original monastery sank due to lan ...

Early life

Ljubibratić was born in

Piva Piva may refer to: * Piva (river), a river in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina * Piva, Montenegro, a region in Montenegro and tribe * Piva River, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea * Piva Trail, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea ** Battle for Piva Tr ...

, and belonged to the

Ruđić In Piva, a historical tribe of Old Herzegovina (now western Montenegro), there was a brotherhood (''bratstvo'') named Ruđić ( sr-cyr, Руђић). The surname was mentioned in Church Slavonic documents of the Serbian Orthodox Hilandar monastery. T ...

brotherhood, at a time when the region was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Ljubibratić, as many of his relatives, took monastic vows and later became a bishop.

Bishop of Herzegovina

Since 1687, he was a notable participant in the struggle against the Ottomans, in Venetian support. On 10 December 1687, he was present at Tvrdoš when the priest and vojvoda Vukašin Gavrilović with his people came from Nikšić. In 1690, he and the Tvrdoš brotherhood (including his brother Stevan) left Trebinje for Herceg Novi, fleeing the Ottomans, where they renovated the Savina Monastery. The Republic of Venice recognized Savatije's episcopal rule as Metropolitan (''Vladika'') of Zahumlje in Novi in 1695. His ecclesiastical province stretched over "newly conquered areas". The Serbian Church made the first steps to establish an independent Serb municipality in the region of old Dračevica.

Bishop of Dalmatia

Metropolitan Nikodim Busović, the bishop "of all Orthodox Serbs on the Dalmatian continent", was banished from Dalmatia in early 1705. On the demand of the

Krka monastery The Krka Monastery ( sr-Cyrl, Манастир Крка, sr, Manastir Krka, italics=yes; hr, Samostan Krka) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael, located near the river Krka, east of Kistanje, in central Dalmatia, ...

and

Krupa monastery The Krupa Monastery ( sr, Манастир Крупа, Manastir Krupa) is a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox monastery on the Krupa River in Croatia. It is the oldest Orthodox monastery in Croatia. Location It is located on the souther ...

, Ljubibratić was appointed Nikodim's office by the Venetian government. Ljubibratić had taken this office in spite of Melentije Tipaldi (1658–1730), the Greek-Catholic bishop who was a driving force of

Uniatism The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

, and continued the struggle against the Uniatism of Serbs in Dalmatia. Tipaldi greatly undermined against Ljubibratić, so far that the Church Synod in Constantinople condemned Tipaldi and excluded him from the Orthodox Church as a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

; with this support, Ljubibratić was able to continue his service. In July 1705 Metropolitan Savatije Ljubibratić came back from the pilgrimage from Palestine and from the time his vessel entered the quarantine station called ''lazaretto'', he was subjected to the sanitary procedure by the staff of lazaretto in Herceg Novi as every other traveller aboard. After a lapse of 15 days, he was released. There he proceeded to build a bridge, churches and restore others. Savatije is credited for restoring Savina Monastery, Montenegro. Savatije and his brother Stevan became friends with colonel Mihailo Miloradović, who had along with

Metropolitan Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš (; 1670 – 11 January 1735) was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1697 and 1735, and the founder of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, which ruled Montenegro from 1697 to 1918. He was also known by the patronymic Dani ...

been recruited by

Peter I of Russia Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

to incite rebellion in Herzegovina against the Ottomans in 1710–11 (during the

Pruth River Campaign The Russo-Ottoman War of 1710—1711, also known as the Pruth River Campaign, was a brief military conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The main battle took place during 18-22 July 1711 in the basin of the Pruth riv ...

).Schultz, C. C. (2004). . Taleon Club Magazine
2004 no. 8
. Retrieved 2011-07-16. Archived fro
the original
on 2006-01-12. Ljubibratić successfully opposed the orders of the Catholic ''

curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

'' against the Orthodox believers in Dalmatia. Savatije declined Venetian official Ivan Burović's offers to begin Uniatism, Burović having sent the Catholic bishop of Kotor and his relative Vićentije Zmajević from

Perast Perast ( cnr, Пераст) is an old town in the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. History According to the pr ...

. He strengthened ties with the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć, and as a result of that,

Serbian Patriarch Mojsije I Mojsije I Rajović ( sr-cyr, Мојсије I Рајовић; died 13 April 1726 in Peć) was the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, from 1712 to 1725, with seat in the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć. Bef ...

visited Dalmatia in 1714, after Ljubibratić's request; this visit proved important for the preservation of Orthodoxy and somewhat paused pressure on the Orthodox church in Dalmatia. Savatije Ljubibratić died in January 1716, in the village of Topla, near Herceg Novi. His successor was his brother Stevan Ljubibratić.

Legacy

He was one of the more successful Serb national leaders of the 18th century.

References

Sources

* *
О вјерском животу и стању Цркве
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljubibratic, Savatije 18th-century Serbian people 17th-century Serbian people Ambassadors to the Republic of Venice Serbs of Montenegro History of the Serbs of Croatia 1716 deaths 17th-century births Eparchy of Dalmatia Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia Bishops of Zahumlje-Herzegovina 17th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 18th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Venetian period in the history of Croatia History of Dalmatia Serbs from the Ottoman Empire