Ćirjak Račanin ( sr-cyr, Ћирјак Рачанин; probably the area of

Bajina Bašta Bajina Bašta ( sr-Cyrl, Бајина Башта, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The town lies in the valley of the Drina river at the eastern edge of Tara National Park. According to the 2022 ce ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

c. 1660 –

Szentendre Szentendre, also known as Saint Andrew is a riverside town in Pest County, Hungary, between the capital city Budapest and Pilis Mountains, Pilis-Visegrád Mountains. The town is known for its museums (most notably the :hu: Szentendrei Szabadtéri ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

1731) was a Serbian writer and monk. There was as much of the moralist as of the wit in Ćirjak Račanin, and that side found its purest expression in devotional texts, which he is said to have not only ornately decorated and illuminated but composed during long nights of guard duty in the tower of the fortified

Rača monastery Rača may refer to: Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rača, Vlasenica, a village near Vlasenica Croatia * Nova Rača, a village and municipality near Bjelovar North Macedonia * Rača, Ohrid Serbia * Rača, Serbia, a town and municipality in � ...

. The Turks several times carried out reprisals against the monks for engaging in educational activities and promoting Serbian culture (copying ancient church manuscripts and writing books and disseminating them). Eventually, the monks were forced to take their

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

with them and with their spiritual leader,

Arsenije III Čarnojević Arsenije ( sr-cyr, Арсеније; ) is a Serbian language, Serbian given name, a variant of the Greek name ''Arsenios''. Diminutives of the name include ''Arsen'', ''Arsa'' and ''Arso (disambiguation), Arso''. It may refer to: *Arsenije Sremac ...

, went to join the Christian forces in the

Battle of Zenta The Battle of Zenta, also known as the Battle of Senta, took place on 11 September 1697 near Zenta, in the Kingdom of Hungary, then under Ottoman occupation (present-day Serbia). It was a decisive engagement of the Great Turkish War, fought ...

in northern Serbia. At the time Serbia, with the help of Austria, harbored hope to rid itself of the Ottoman yoke. Two of Serbia's greatest sons,

Đorđe Branković, Count of Podgorica Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе; transliterated Djordje) is a masculine given name of Slavic names, Slavic origin, common in Serbian language, Serbian. It is derived from Ancient Greek, Greek ''Georgios'' (''George (given name), George'' in English ...

, and

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 ...

were gathering volunteers for the ultimate confrontation. Ćirjak Račanin, like his fellow monks, joined the insurgents, led by Monasterlija, who was under the supreme commander of the Austrian crown. After the defeat of the Ottoman army, Ćirjak Račanin left the Austrian army to give his full attention to Serbian politics and his writing career.

Work

An Anthology (''Zbornik'') of the

from 1649, now located at the

Belgrade University Library The University Library ''Svetozar Marković'' () is the main library in the University of Belgrade system, named after Svetozar Marković, a Serbian political activist in the 19th century. It is located on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra, King Alexande ...

in Belgrade, contains a short history of the Serbian people from the time of King

Stefan Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Saint King, was the King of Serbia between 1282–1321, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was one ...

, mid-13th century until the middle of the 17th century when it was written. The writer of this book was attributed to Ćirjak Račanin.

References

Sources

* *

Jovan Skerlić Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as o ...

, ''Istorija nove srpske književnosti'' (Belgrade, 1914, 1921) pages 26–28. {{DEFAULTSORT:Racanin, Cirjak 17th-century Serbian writers Serbian monks Serbian male writers People from Bajina Bašta 1660s births 1731 deaths Habsburg Serbs 18th-century Serbian writers Serbian Orthodox clergy Refugees of the Great Turkish War

Work

See also

References

Sources