The Serbian Chancellery ( sr, Српска канцеларија), sometimes known as the Slavic Chancellery (словенска канцеларија), was a diplomatical and economical office of several states of Serbia in the Middle Ages (such as Kingdom of Serbia, Kingdom of Bosnia,

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...

and

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

) in the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

(now in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

). It was established in the early 13th century. It served for Cyrillic transcription by Romanophones in the city in correspondence with Serbia and Slavic lands in the interior; with 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 ...

and members of the

Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква Босанска) was a Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent of and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodo ...

. The initial chancellors were Romans (Italics), or Slavophones, or Slavicized Romans who hailed from local

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

noble families. Only in the 14th century, there were scribes belonging to the lower classes, whose biographies are harder to determine. The head scribe (канцелар) of the chancellery was titled ''dijak srpski'' ("Serb scribe"). Three early names of chancellery scribes are known from between 1278 and 1336: Ozren, Stojan Ceprić (1312–19, a nobleman), and Stefan Benčulić. During the rule of King and Emperor

Stefan Dušan Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gre ...

(r. 1331–55), Jaketa Krusić was a chancellery scribe (ca. 1340–47), followed by Đivo Parmesan (1348–63). The next known chancellery scribes were Maroje Niklić (1379–87), Vidoš Bogdanić (1388–89, from

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

), Rusko Hristoforović (1392–1431, an important figure), Nikša Zvijezdić (1431–1455, sometimes known as Nikola) and Marinko Cvijetković (1455–74). Paskoje Primojević was the Serbian scribe in the 1482–1527 period, while his son Trajan Primojević was recorded in 1531.

References

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* * * * * * * * {{Serbian minority institutions and organizations in Croatia Croatia–Serbia relations Cyrillic script Serbian language History of the Serbs of Croatia Medieval Serbia 13th century in Serbia 14th century in Serbia 15th century in Serbia 13th century in Croatia 14th century in Croatia 15th century in Croatia Republic of Ragusa History of Dalmatia Medieval chancellors (government)