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

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

bishop and metropolitan, and the caretaker of the

Dragović monastery Dragovic, Dragović or Dragovič may refer to: People * Dragović (surname), a South Slavic surname Places * Dragovič, Juršinci, a village in Slovenia * Dragović, Pakrac, a village in Croatia * Dragović Monastery, a monastery in Croatia See ...

Early life

Ljubibratić was born in

Piva Piva may refer to: Locations * Piva (Drina), a river in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina * Piva, Montenegro, a region in Montenegro and tribe * Lake Piva, a reservoir in Montenegro * Piva River, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea * Piva Trail ...

, and belonged to the Ruđić brotherhood, at a time when the region was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. 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 Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

. In 1690, he and the Tvrdoš brotherhood (including his brother Stevan) left

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...

for

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Херцег Нови, ) is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of ...

, 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, ; ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael, located near the river Krka, east of Kistanje, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. It is the best known monastery of the S ...

and Krupa monastery, 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 known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

, 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 (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

; 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 been recruited by

Peter I of Russia Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, ...

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

Pruth River Campaign The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , ) is a river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube, and is long. Part of its course forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates on the eas ...

).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 (: 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 probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

'' 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 () is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of Sveti Đorđe Island, St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. History Acc ...

. He strengthened ties with the

Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...

, 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. ...

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