[en] History

[Xuca]

It's great stuff, really shows the point, only different from our story in slight things. And I'll write about the Slavs tomorrow, I promise!

@Mirco I have something about the Hungarians, I'll check it out, but it's not probably what you want.

EDIT: What's with the signature? :plot:

[Mircoslavux]

yes, it is about the bishops of esztergom in 13.-14. centuries,

further I want to know, how was looking like coronation process of the hungarian king at that time.

secondly I want to know more about Cumans tribes in Hungary during that time.

I was looking for some data at vikipedia, but it is all very general.

I'm staying with my novel at one spot, to move further I need some historical data. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to search. Secondly I'm not in Slovakia, so I can not search in archives. One friend of my should help me, nut till now nothing happened.

nice day
:go:

[Traveller]

What signature? Mirco's sig has always been like that! :wink:
I'm glad you liked it, although the translation was terrible! I await "The migration of the Slavs" and the next thing to translate (I could add to the list one "more academic" book for Bulgarian (and pre-Bulgarian, I think) history, if you'd like).

[Xuca]

Играта е на Найк...
You are getting careless... :nono:
--------------------------------------------------------------


Since the second century, the Slavs have, in small groups, moved over Carpats and colonised Panonia, on the left bank of Danube. Two large groups of Slavs have settled in Panonia and Wallachia between the 5th and 7th century. The 3rd group of tribes has in the middle of the 6th century settled in the area from eastern Alps to the northren Italy.

From the beginning of the 6th century the Slavs were attacking Byzantium, and the areas where the Slavs lived were called sklavinie (the lands of the Slavs).

To prevent the attacks, Byzantia, during Justinian , has built a system of defence forts on the Danube, and in the interior of the Balkans, but the Slavs quickly accustomed to the Byzantin war tactics, so the forts weren't a problem to them. At first, the slaws were just using the tactics “Hit&Run”, as they stroke, plundered, and retourned over the Danube with the loot. Later, whole families left in the Byzantian teritory over the winter, and some even left there permanently. The invasion of Slavs stroke Byzantia during the middle of the 6th century and the Slavs were freely plundering Dalmatia and Thrace.

The Avars have around 566. subdued the Slavs who lived in Panonia, and athey together attacked Byzantia. They conquered Sirmium around 582 and Singidunum and Viminacium in 584. They continued south and attacked Solun, but they couldn't conquer it. During the first siege of Solun, some tribes settled on the Balkans permanently.

At the end of the 6th century, the Slavs from Wallachia came toLower Moesia, and following the coast of the Black Sea, they went to Constantinople.

At the same time, Slavs and Avars plundered parts between Solun, Epir and Drach. Crossing Bosnia, they have in 614. Salona, the capital of Dalmatia. Last cooperative attack of Slavs and Avars was the one on Constantinople 626., of wich the Avars never recovered.

During the attacks, the population fleed to the mountains, or to the bigger sea forts, so the Slavs overflooded the Balkans by the end of the 6th century.

The tribes got their names by the places where they lived: Timochani, Neretljani, Zahumljani, Travunjani, Dukljani, Konavljani, Karantanci etc. while some cept their names – Rinhini, Smoljani, Sagudati, Draguviti.

Serbs and Croats came to the Balkans rather late, in the beginning of the 7th century. Later some of the other tribes accepted their names. Emperor Constantin VII Profirogenit wrote about them in his book “About the running of the Empire”, where he says that they came to the Balkans during the Emperor Heraclius.


I shortened it a little.

[Traveller]

You are getting careless... :nono:
Hey, that was in the Bulgarian thread AND on Cyrillic. And the only people, who can read Cyrillic on this forum already know it. Besides, haven't you forgotten what you already did? :wink:

Oh, and I see you've "shortened" it more than a little. Anyway, I'm starting reading it and you (or Mirco, do you want to choose something from my (and/or Xuca's) list?) choose something new!


Edit: I believe I could add "some more things" to your text. It reminded me of my university history themes, so I remembered I could add them to the list, too:

1. Formation of the Bulgarian state (the end of the IVth to the beginning of the VIIIth century). (Possible is also the formulation "Slavs and Bulgars IV - end of VII century) - there's quite much for the Slavic migration here
2. Building the medieval Bulgarian statehood (end of VII - middle of IX century)
3. Converting the Bulgarians. Creation and spreading of the Slavic writing
4. Political and cultural might of Bulgaria in the times of Tsar Simeon
5. The Bogomil movement in medieval Bulgaria
6. Falling of Bulgaria under Byzantine rule (the middle of the X century - 1018)
7. Restoration, strenghtening and might of the Bulgarian state at the Assens (this theme could be divided to two: until 1207, 1207 - 1241)
8. The church and the heresies in medieval Bulgaria
9. Falling of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule
10. Administrative, economical and social changes in the Bulgarian society (XV-XVII century)
11. Anti-Ottoman rebellions among the Bulgarian people (XV-XVII century)
12. Religion, way of life, culture XV-XVII century
13. Early "Vazrazhdane" (Revival, Renaissance)
14. Movement for worldly education and culture during the Revival
15. Church-national fights of the Bulgarians during the Revival
16. National-liberation fights of the Bulgarians from the Crimean war until the end of the 60s of the XIX century
17. National-liberation fights of the Bulgarians during the 70s of the XIX century (end of 60s - middle of 70s of the XIX century)
18. The April insurrection (1876)
19. The liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman ule (1876-1878)
20. Restoration of the Bulgarian statehood (1878-1879)
21. State-political and public-economical development of Bulgaria 1879-1886
22. The Unification between Kniazestvo Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia
23. State-political and public-economical development of Bulgaria (1886-1899)
24. State-political and public-economical development of Bulgaria from the beginning of the XX century until the Balkan wars
25. The Bulgarian national question from the Berlin congress to the Balkan wars (possible is also the formulation "The Macedonian question 1878-1912" and "The Ilinden-Preobrajenie insurrection"
26. Bulgaria in the Balkan wars
27. Bulgaria in WWI (1914-1919)
28. State-political and public-economical development of Bulgaria (1919-1923)
29. Bulgaria during WWII (1939-1945)


And some other themes:
Medieval Bulgarian history:
Part I - The roots: The Bulgarians
Part II - Asparukh. The birth of Danubian Bulgaria
Part III - In fight with Byzantium
Part IV - Bulgaria - a state of "barbaric" type
Part V - Kniaz Boris (852-889); bringing the Christian religion
Part VI - Tsar Simeon (893-927): pax Symeonica
Part VII - Tsar Petar (927-970): The age of hermits and dissidents
Part VIII - Tsar Samuil (976/997-1014): In battle for independence
Part IX - Under the rule of Byzantium: 1018-1186
Part X - Ivan I Assen and Petar (1186-1197): Restored Bulgaria
Part XI - Tsar Kaloian (1197-1207) and Tsar Ivan II Assen (1218-1241): Renovatio Imperii Bulgarorum et Graecorum
Part XII - Bulgaria in shadow: 1241-1300
Part XIII - Bulgaria before the sunset: 1300-1393/1396

[Xuca]

5. The Bogomil movement in medieval Bulgaria, but only if it mentions Bosnia, but if it doesn't, 29. Bulgaria during WWII (1939-1945). Looking from my list, I would like to write about 13.Vuk Karadzic - Reform of the Serbian lanague.
WARNING: THIS IS PROBABLY BORING TO EVERYONE ELSE THAN ME!
So, if you think it could be boring, pick something else.

This is all if Mirco doesn't pick anything.

[Traveller]

Well, Ok! Let's hear about Vuk Karadzic! It would be interesting for me too, actually...
And I'll see for №5 or 29 from my "preparation for the university history entrance exam" themes. Btw don't forget that the old list (with the books) is still "active". And most of it is on an easier level than the university themes (they're slightly more academic).

[Xuca]

Vuk Karadzic it is.

Vuk was born in a village called Trshic in 1787. He went to school for only a short time, because it was closed by the Turks. He learnt to read and write all by himself, and during the First Serbian Uprising, he wnt to the first Serbian high school, and after, not being able to fight (he had a sick leg), he was a scribe in the first Serbian government.

After the uprising, in 1813. he fleed to Vienna, where he met Jernej Kopitar, a Slovenian who was the censor of the royal library. He presented him his ideas, and got a huge encouragement. He wrote the first Serban grammar “Pismenica serbskoga jezika po govoru prostoga naroda napisana” - “Grammar of the Serbian lanague written in the lanague of the simple people“ the next year, using the reformed cyrilic alphabet of Sava Mrkalj. He also printed his first collection of Serbian folk poems “Mala prostonarodna slavenoserbska pjesnarica” - “Little simple-folked Slavenoserbian reciter”.

In 1818. he printed the first Serbian vocabulary “Rjechnik”. He also included the second, improved Serbian grammar, which used shtokavian dialect and (i)jekavian pronounciation. He determend the accents, and vocal changes(not sure if this is the right word).

The Rjechnik was written in Vuk's reformed cyrilic alphabet. He created a fonetic alphabet, with 29 letters. He disposed of obsolete caracters, and added 6 new ones: Љљ, Њњ, Јј, Ђђ, Ћћ and Џџ. So the alphabet was like this:
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ђђ, Ее, Жж, Зз, Ии, Јј, Кк, Лл, Љљ, Мм, Нн, Њњ, Оо, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Ћћ, Уу, Фф, Цц, Чч, Џџ, Шш. His moto was “Пиши као што говориш, читај као што је написано” - “Write same like you speak, pronounce same as it is written”

The Rjechnik was refused by many people because of:
1.Use of naughty words.
2.Taking j from latin alphabet
3.(I)jekavian pronountiation. Ekavian was used in almost whole Serbia, and (I)jekavian in Croatia, so many feared of the Catholic influence. Same goes for j.
4.Using of the ordinary, people's lanague. In most Vojvodina, rich people speaked a weird mix of Serban and Russian – Slavjanoserbski or Slavenosrpski.

In 1836. Vuk was collecting folk poems in Montenegro, and heard something new: H(Xx). H wasn't used in most of Serbia, and he liked it so much, that he included it in the alphabet, so the present-day alphabet has 30 characters: Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ђђ, Ее, Жж, Зз, Ии, Јј, Кк, Лл, Љљ, Мм, Нн, Њњ, Оо, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Ћћ, Уу, Фф, Хх, Цц, Чч, Џџ, Шш. We still leave out H in most of the words, but that's grammatically incorrect.

In 1850. Vuk Karadzic (Вук Караџић) and Djura Danichic(Ђура Даничић) met with the members of the Ilyrian movement Dimitrije Demetar, Ivan Mažuranić, Ivan Kukuljević, Vinko Pacel and Stjepan Pejaković in order to create a mutual lanague Srpskohrvatski – Serbocroatian. They agreed in the following:
1.Shtokavian dialect(Croats agreed this, although majority of the Croats speak Kajkavian and Chakavian)
2.(I)jekavian pronounciation(Serbs agreed this, although majority of the Serbs speak ekavian
3.Equal use of cyrilic and latin alphabet.
Many Croats like to think that Serbocroatian was created by the comunists, but it wasn't.

Vuk's alphabet and common lanague were accepted as official in Serbia in 1868, four years after his death.

In 1836 Croat Ljudevit Gaj created Croatian latin alphabet, using Vuk's cyrilic and Chech latin:
Aa – Aa
Бб - Bb
Вв - Vv
Гг - Gg
Дд - Dd
Ђђ - Đđ
Ее - Ee
Жж - Žž
Зз - Zz
Ии - Ii
Јј - Jj
Кк - Kk
Лл - Ll
Љљ - Ljlj
Мм - Mm
Нн - Nn
Њњ - Njnj
Оо - Oo
Пп - Pp
Рр - Rr
Сс - Ss
Тт - Tt
Ћћ - Ćć
Уу - Uu
Фф - Ff
Хх - Hh
Цц- Cc
Чч - Čč
Џџ - Dždž
Шш – Šš

It's nearly fonetic, only three letters are spoiling that – lj, nj, dž. This is the alphabet that we, besides the cyrilic, use today, f.e. Vuk Karadžić.

[Elvain]

yes, it is about the bishops of esztergom in 13.-14. centuries,

further I want to know, how was looking like coronation process of the hungarian king at that time.

secondly I want to know more about Cumans tribes in Hungary during that time.

I was looking for some data at vikipedia, but it is all very general.

I'm staying with my novel at one spot, to move further I need some historical data. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to search. Secondly I'm not in Slovakia, so I can not search in archives. One friend of my should help me, nut till now nothing happened.

nice day
:go:
maybe try to ask in Paradox history forums. There are far more people to help you, so good luck there

unfortunately what I know is all very general too.. The only thing I know exactly about the coronation that it used to be done in Pressburg(so nowadays Bratislava)

[Xuca]

Hey, Elvain, have you atleast read what I wrote? :sad:

[Traveller]

Hah, I just got happy too to see Elvain has posted here... and he's actually working for the competition! :wink:
Good, Xuca! I've learned a little for Vuk Karadzic in my last year in school (it was about Balkan liberation movements and recent history, so it started with Greek and Serbian liberations and also mentioning Vuk Karadzic), but not with details.


Now I'll see for my part of the translations, but before that I'll add another book (and probably edit all the themes in my first post):

"History of the Bulgarian people, from the beginning of human life on our lands until the Bulgarian Revival" by Petar Mutafchiev and Vera Mutafchieva (note: the first part (of P. Mutafchiev, a Byzantinist) is quite old (from 1943-1948), so some information could be outdated, the second part (by his daughter, V. Mutafchieva, an Ottomanist) is for the Ottoman times and is from around 1992-1995; Note2: I'll also put the pages here, so that you could see relatively how long a chapter is)


Volume One. First Bulgarian Tsardom

Foreword.....9

I. Introduction. Prehistory and ancient period in the past of the Balkan Peninsula
1. Prehistoric culture in Bulgarian lands.....11
2. Thracians and Illyrians.....15
Original motherland and resettlement. Thracian and Illyrian tribes.....15
Way of life of Thracians and Illyrians.....17
Political organizations by Thracians and Illyrians. The Celts on the Balkan Peninsula.....20
3. The Balkan Peninsula under Roman rule.....22
4. The great migration of peoples and the decline of the Roman power in the Danubian-Balkan lands. Goths and Huns.....27
5. Reasons for the preservation of the Eastern Roman Empire.....31

II. Slavs, Bulgars (Note: my term for Proto-Bulgarians) and Avars
1. Original motherland and resettlement of the Slavs.....34
2. Way of life and culture of the ancient Slavs.....35
3. Age of Slavic invasions over the Balkan Peninsula.....42
4. Bulgars, origins and tribes.....46
5. Avars. Origins and way of life. Avar Empire.....48

III. Age of Slavic migration in the Balkan Peninsula
1. Transformation of the Eastern Roman Empire into Byzantine.....53
2. Resettlement of the Slavs to the peninsula; lands taken by Bulgarian and Serbian Slavs.....55
3. Fate of the old population of the Balkan lands.....57
4. Byzantium and the Balkan Slavs in the first decades of the resettlement.....59

IV. Background and beginning of the Bulgarian state on the Balkan Peninsula
1. Creation and disintegration of Kubrat's Great Bulgaria.....62
2. Establishment of the Bulgarian state on the Balkan Peninsula. Isperikh and Kuber.....66
3. Way of life, culture, state structure and military organization of the Bulgars.....70
4. The last years from the reign of Isperikh. Tervel and beginning of the state's expansion.....75

V. The state crysis in Bulgaria during the VIII century
1. Byzantium at the first iconoclastic emperors. Campaigns of Konstantin V against Bulgaria and the created by them internal war.....81
2. Overcoming of the external danger and first steps towards internal peace.....86
Telerig.....86
Kardam.....88

VI. The state upsurge of Bulgaria in the first half of IX century
1. The work of Krum.....92
2. The Bulgar reaction at the close successors of Krum.....101
Omurtag.....101
Malamir.....106
3. End of the anti-Slavic reaction. Pressian and the joining of the Macedonian lands to the Bulgarian state.....107

VII. Convertion of the Bulgarian people
1. Boris I (852-888). Foreign-political relation.....111
2. Chrisitanity in the Bulgarian lands until the middle of the IX century.....113
3. Reasons for the acceptance of the Christianity by Boris.....114
4. The Bulgarian ecclesiastical question in IX century.....117
5. Legislative work of Boris and cares for the structure of the Bulgarian church.....122

VIII. Beginning of the Slavic writing in Bulgaria
1. Cyril and Methodius. Life and work.....125
2. Kliment and Naum.....127
3. Last years from the reign of Boris.....131

IX. The age of Simeon
1. Beginning of Simeon's reign. First war with Byzantium. Arrival of the Magyars.....136
2. Economical and cultural upsurge of Bulgaria by Simeon.....142
3. Second period of Simeon's reign. Bulgarian Tsardom.....147

X. Decline of Simeon's Bulgaria
1. Petar. The truce with Byzantium and its consequences. Rebellions against Petar. Serbs and Magyars.....159
2. The social question in Bulgaria during the X century.....161
3. Spiritual state of the Bulgarian nation at the time of Petar. Seclusion (hermitage) and Bogomil movement.....167

XI. Falling of Preslav's Tsardom
1. End of the fourty-year peace with Byzantium.....175
2. The Russian Kniaz Svetoslav in Bulgaria.....176
3. The battle of Svetoslav with Byzantium. Falling of Eastern Bulgarian under Byzantine rule.....177

XII. Ohrid's Tsardom
1. Beginning and first period of its wars with Byzantium.....180
2. Tsar Samuil.....184
3. Falling of Ohrid's Tsardom.....188
4. Character and structure of Orhid's Tsardom.....190



Volume Two. Second Bulgarian Tsardom


I. The Bulgarians under Byzantine yoke
1. Administrative and ecclesiastical structure of the Bulgarian lands; the position of the Bulgarian nation under foreign rule.....195
2. Attempts for liberation. Insurrections of Petar Delian and Georgi Voiteh.....201
3. Pechenegs, Uzes and Kumans in the Bulgarian lands. Magyars, Normans and Crusaders.....205
4. A new rise of Bogomilism and seclusion in the Bulgarian lands.....207
5. Ethnical changes in the Balkan lands in XI-XII century.....208

II. Battle for liberation from Byzantine yoke. Petar and Assen
1. The European South-East in the end of XII century.....212
2. Preparation and beginning of the Bulgarian insurrection.....213
3. The question for the participation of the Wallachians in the Bulgarian liberation movement.....215
4. Second period in the liberation movement.....217

III. Bulgaria by Kaloian
1. Continuing the battle against Byzantium. Ivanko and Dobromir Hrus.....223
2. Relations of Kaloian with the Magyars. Creation of the Tsarigrad's Latin Empire. Ecclesiastic union with Rome.....226
3. The fight of Kaloian with Latins and Greeks.....229

IV. Boril (1207-1218)
1. The temporary decline of Bulgaria. Slav.....236
2. Strez and the attempt of the Serbs to settle in Macedonia.....237
3. Internal relations by Boril and an upsurge of the Bogomil movement.....239

V. Age of Ivan Assen II (1218-1241)
1. The Balkan Peninsula in the first quarter of XIII century.....242
2. Bulgaria - the only great power in the European South-East. The battle of Klokotnitsa and its consequences.....244
3. Structure of the Tarnovo Tsardom.....246
4. Relations of Ivan Assen II with Latins and Niceans. Restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.....248

VI. The last Assens
1. Koloman I (1241-1246) and Mikhail Assen (1246-1257).....252
2. Konstantin Assen (1257-1277).....256

VII. Internal situation of Bulgaria during the XIII century
1. State organization and social relations.....264

VIII. The civil war in Bulgaria. The Tatar dominion and the political disintegration of the Bulgarian lands (1277-1300)
1. The rule of Tsaritsa Maria.....273
2. Ivailo.....274
3. Ivan Assen III.....278
4. The end of Ivailo.....280
5. Reign of Georgi I Terterius (1280-1292).....281
6. Smilets (1292-1298).....284

IX. Attempts for restoration of the state's might (1300-1371)
1. Teodor Svetoslav (1300-1322).....288
2. Mikhail Shishman.....294
3. Ivan Stefan.....295
4. Ivan Aleksander.....293
5. Spiritual life in the Second Bulgarian Tsardom.....298



Volume Three. Bulgaria under Ottoman rule


I. Arrival and early conquests of the Ottomans
1. The dawn of the Ottoman expansion.....305
2. Arrival of the Ottomans.....308
3. Momchil.....311
4. Sources for the Ottoman actions on the Balkans.....312

II. Conquest of the southern and western Bulgarian lands
1. The Ottomans set foot in Europe.....315
2. The first wave of the invasion.....317
3. Silence from the Ottomans.....319
4. The death of Ivan Aleksander. The battle of Chernomen.....322
5. The second wave of the invasion.....324

III. Conquest of the northern Bulgarian lands
1. The end of the Tsardom of Tarnovo.....326
2. The end of the Tsardom of Bdin.....330
3. Consequences of the Ottoman expansion.....331

IV. The Bulgarian lands in the Ottoman state (XV-XVIII century)
1. Early forms of the Ottoman military organization.....336
2. Basic institutions of landowning by the Ottomans.....337
3. The Ottoman centralism.....339
4. Development of the timar system.....340
5. The feudalisation of the Ottoman society.....343
6. The developed Ottoman feudalism.....345
7. The ayanluk.....348

V. The Bulgarian society under Ottoman rule until the Revival
1. Population.....353
2. Status of the peasant population.....357
3. The Bulgarian cities under the Turks.....361
4. The Bulgarian municipality/commune.....365
5. Religious discrimination.....367
6. The Islamization.....370
7. Spiritual life.....375
8. Some observations over the life of the Bulgarians during the XV-XVIII century.....382

VI. Foreign- and internal-political events during the XV-XVIII century
1. Interregnum in the Ottoman state. Konstantin and Frujin.....386
2. The Ottomans and Europe. Expansion of the Ottoman Empire.....388
3. First Ottoman battle failures. The haidutstvo.....391
4. Austrian-Turkish wars and the related with them liberation attempts of the Bulgarians. Catholic propaganda by us in XVII century.....394
5. The Bulgarians and the Russian-Turkish wars from the XVII-XVIII century.....402
6. The crucial XVIII century.....405
7. The anarchy.....407-411

[Traveller]

Xuca, I'm currently translating the thing about Bulgaria in WWII (there's almost nothing for Bosnia in the Bogomil theme). And in the meantime I'll choose another of yours: "3. Stefan Nemanja, the Nemanjic house; St. Sava". I've also copied all the lists in my first post. And btw when you choose something, please, say also from which book it is!

Btw weren't you going to revive the Macedonian thread? And now I see the Romanian one should soon be lifted up...

[Xuca]

I forgot to include pictures of Vuk.

Young Vuk (http://www.suc.org/culture/history/Hist_Serb_Culture/chi/pictures/Vuk_Karadzic.jpeg) and old Vuk (http://vuk-karadzic.freeservers.com/kazalo/2Item27.gif)

I already posted something about Stefan Nemanja and St. Sava somewhere, so I could add to that the Nemanjic dynasty and Stefan Prvovenchani, besides that nothing else interesting until Tsar Dushan, but that's already 4.

About the Macedonians, I just thought you could post your translation there, and than we could discuss about that.

About Bogumils, I knew only a little about them, but they could come from Bulgaria to Serbia ( this is just an assumption), than Stefan Nemanja banished them to Bosnia, where they became the official Bosnian religion, and were later the first to convert to Islam. So _I changed my mind, after you finish with WWII, tell us about the Bogumils! :hello:

[Traveller]

Bulgaria during the WWII (1939-1945)


The conclusion of the Versailles system of peace treaties (1919), which fixed the end of WWI, transferring the whole blame only on the losing side, places the beginning of the road to WWII. Territorially and economically robbed, the losing countries become a nest of an inevitable desire for revenge. The idea for a revision of the peace treaties is led by Germany, especially after Adolf Hitler comes to power in 1933. Germany begins to reject one by one the restrictive terms of the treaty of Versailles. In 1935 Germany initiates again the obligatory military service and on the next year occupies with its forces the demilitarized by the treaty region of Rhein. The disappointed by the results of the WWI Italy also begins expansionist politics and occupies Ethiopia. The clear-sighted politics realize that the start of the war is only a matter of time.
The initiative of the fascist states is not met with the needed attention and determination from the side of England and France. As for the USSR, Moscow never reconciled itself with the lost after WWI territories and also orients itself towards a revision.
In this complicated for Bulgaria situation there is no alternative than to keep its neutrality and non-alignment. In the beginning of the 30s the neutrality gives its first fruits with the removal of the restrictive military terms. In front of the coming war the Bulgarian government understands very well that without a modernized army, it won’t have the possibility to defend its national interests and sovereignty. After the armament of Germany is permitted, the “breakthrough” for Bulgaria isn’t late. On the 31st of July 1938 Bulgaria signs with the countries of the Balkan pact (Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia) the Solun agreement, which removes the restrictive military terms for our country. Through this agreement Bulgaria renounces the heaviest terms of the Neuille treaty, without breaking its neutrality and non-alignment and without taking any additional engagements in exchange of the returned right. From this moment the Bulgarian foreign policy is submitted only to the aim of achieving a peaceful revision.
In the autumn of 1939 fateful events for the European peace happen. Under German pressure England, France and Italy agree that the Sudetian region of Czechoslovakia, in which the German population is predominant, should be disjoined. The signed in Munchen revisionist act is the first after the war, which changes the territorial status after 1919. Tsar Boris III takes a direct part in the negotiations around Munchen, by taking the role of a courier between London and Berlin. His participation in the preparation of the conference shows that the Bulgarian diplomacy will continue searching for a peaceful revision of the Neuille peace treaty. The Munchen agreement gives hopes that the peaceful revisionist wave could also reach the Balkans.
After Munchen the Bulgarian government prepares itself for practical realization of its aims – the regaining of the state’s territories, which belonged to Bulgaria before the Bucharest peace (1913). But the government realizes that the objective could not be achieved at once, but through gradual realization of the separate points of the Bulgarian territorial program. As most realistic it appears to be the claim for correcting the border in Southern Dobrudzha, because the USSR also intents to put Romania under revisionist pressure.
In the Spring of 1939 the Prime Minister Georgi Kioseivanov issues and spreads to the Bulgarian diplomatic representatives a secret directive under №19, in which he rates the Bulgarian demands: Southern Dobruszha – to the borders defined by the Berlin congress, Aegean Thrace – in the borders defined by the Bucharest peace (1913) and eventually the given to Yugoslavia with the Neuille treaty Western Ends.
The aim of Georgi Kioseivanov is Turkey and Yugoslavia to be neutralized and thus a pressure to be given over the Balkan pact by the axis Athens-Bucharest. In its decision the government assesses that the Pact is an ineffective organization, which would crumble by the first pressure. Directive №19 shows that Bulgaria would continue its policy of non-alignment. In the meantime it’s given that Bulgaria is economically bound with Germany, which makes it impossible for her to be on the side of the western democracies.
On the 23rd of August 1939 the USSR and Germany conclude a non-aggression pact, which decides the fate of Poland, Besarabia, Bukovina, and the Baltic states. The two totalitarian powers divide between each other the Eastern space of Europe. Thus the hands of Germany are untied to attack Poland (1.IX.1939), with which the beginning of the WWII is placed. For the Bulgarian diplomacy it becomes clear that it would be able to continue its policy of neutrality only if the war doesn’t reach the Bulgarian borders. The war conclusively wipes away the possibility for understanding between Germany and Italy, on one side, and England and France – on the other.
In the spring of 1940 the German troops crush for several days its enemies in Western Europe and the changes in South-Eastern Europe come to the front. Using the engagement of Germany to the west, in accordance with the agreements between the two states, on the 28th of June 1940 the Soviet troops start the return of Besarabia and Bukovina to the USSR. For Bulgaria this is a good moment to give a pressure over Bucharest, in order to take back Southern Dobrudzha. Manoeuvring between Berlin and Moscow, Bulgaria secures the agreement of the Romanian diplomacy for negotiations.
On the 7th of September 1940 an agreement is signed between Bulgaria and Romania in the Romanian city of Kraiowa, according to which Southern Dobrudzha is returned to Bulgaria. By this way the policy of peaceful revision gives its first fruits.
After concluding the Kraiowa agreement a massive pressure from the side of Germany towards Bulgaria started, which aimed for the joining of Bulgaria to the signed on the 27th of September 1940 Tripartite pact between Germany, Italy and Japan. The pressure over Bulgaria began to take a dictatorial form. On the 16th of October 1940 the German foreign minister Ribentrop demands from Sofia to determine its policy towards the Pact within two days. In the same day in Rome Mussolini states to the Bulgarian ambassador that he expects Bulgaria to join to the expected war with Greece. Sofia understands that between Italy and Germany there is no coordination, which gives it the possibility to reject the both offers.
Two days after the Italian-German pressure the government in Sofia is warned also from the English King George VI that if Bulgaria puts itself among the enemies of the British Empire, it will become a stage of battle actions. The USA joins the diplomatic pressure on Bulgaria as well.
After the bitter lessons from the previous wars, in front of the country is left only one possible way of action – prolonging and delaying the committing until the last possible moment.
The USSR is also taking an active part in the pressure over Bulgaria by striving to gain exceptional rights in the eastern parts of the Balkans. On the 12th and 13th November 1940 the Soviet foreign minister Viacheslav Molotov visits Berlin, in order to receive Hitler’s permission for the USSR to give Bulgaria guarantees like the ones given by Germany to Romania. It’s a matter of having Soviet bases in the Bulgarian ports and airports. Hitler declines this offer, but Molotov tries to achieve his goal by sending a direct message to Sofia. The general secretary of the Soviet foreign ministry A. Sobolev arrives in Sofia and offers concluding a pact for mutual aid and acknowledging the interests of the both countries in the Black Sea basin. The USSR promises to help Bulgaria “realize its national aspirations not only in Western, but also in Eastern Thrace” and in exchange Bulgaria should recognize the Soviet territorial interests in the Straits. But in Sobolev’s offer the declared from the Soviet side in Berlin right of Bulgaria to restore its sovereignty in the territories given to Yugoslavia is missing.
Sobolev’s offer and his mission in the country are accompanied with a loud campaign of the communist party, which gathers signatures in support of the Soviet offer. But the government fears from an untimely joining to the war and declines the offer.
Thus the first offensive for the joining of Bulgaria to the fights ends with a failure.
In the beginning of 1941 the situation on the peninsula changes. Hitler begins realizing his intentions for a war with the USSR and this forces him to strengthen his position in the South-Eastern part of the continent. For this purpose Berlin aims to bind Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey. On the 17th of February 1941 Bulgaria and Turkey sign a pact of non-aggression.
Hitler tries to join also Yugoslavia to his combination, as the rulers in Sofia categorically state that in order of joining the Tripartite pact, Bulgaria wants to see Yugoslavia in it. Only after Belgrade confirms their readiness to enter the Pact and based on the fact that there’s a large German army on the Danube River, the government decides to join the Pact. On the 1st of March 1941 the Prime Minister Bogdan Filov signs in Vienna the joining of Bulgaria to the Tripartite pact. In the same day the armies of the Wehrmacht start entering the country and concentrating at the southern and the western border. Their aim is to crush the resisting to Mussolini Greece and to attack Yugoslavia, which in the last moment, after a coup, refuses to enter the Pact.
Immediately after this act the English and the American diplomats leave the country. After the defeat of Yugoslavia and Greece on the 19th of April 1941 the Bulgarian government sends armed subdivisions in the territories, populated by Bulgarians. Bulgaria receives for a temporary administration Vardar Macedonia and Aegean Thrace. The Bulgarian army is welcomed as liberator, Tsar Boris III is declared “Tsar-Unifier”, and the government raises its prestige incredibly high.
After strengthening its positions on the Balkans, Hitler starts his consecutive military campaign – against the USSR. On the 22nd of June 1941 the forces of the Wehrmacht cross the borders with the USSR. Immediately after the beginning of the military actions on the Eastern front, the Bulgarian communists start realizing a course of armed resistance. The decision is taken on the 24th of June 1941. Unlike the occupied countries, where the partisan movement is aimed against an occupier, in Bulgaria it is aimed against its own government, which gives a reflection on the scale and aims of the movement. The government has a high social support at this moment, because it manages to keep the country from a military defeat, does not send forces at the fronts and joins to Bulgaria almost all of the territories, populated by Bulgarians. Therefore the government doesn’t have big problems with limiting and counteracting the resistance, especially in the first phase of its opening. Strikes are delivered to the illegal movement, after conspiracy centers have been discovered, and the leaders of the resistance are arrested and sentenced to death and long-lasting terms in prison. The communists realize that alone they won’t be able to deal with the government and start looking for a unity of action with other oppositional groups.
As a main oppositional stream emerges the so called Legal opposition, which includes the remains of the traditional political parties, standing on the principles, sanctified by the Tarnovo Constitution. Among them are BZNS (Bulgarski Zemedelski Naroden Saiuz; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union) “Vrabcha 1”, led by Vergil Dimov, Dimitar Gichev and Konstantin Muraviev; the Democratic party of Nikola Mushanov; the former “sgovoristi” (“agreers”), gathered around Atanas Burov and a part of the socialist-democrats. They do not accept the armed form of resistance and therefore decline entering a combination with the communists. These parties are bound with the traditional values of the constitutionalism and western democracy, because of that they believe that the saving of the country is in establishing close relations wit England and the USA. On the 13th of December 1941, pressed by Hitler and Mussolini, the Bulgarian governors declare “a symbolic war” to England and the States. But this war becomes a reality when the English-American bombings over Bulgaria start in the winter of 1943.
The other alternative of the opposition is the Political sphere “Zveno”, parts of the Socialist-democratic and the Radical-democratic parties and BZNS “Pladne”. With their radical and authoritarian conceptions they are prone to an eventual cooperation with the communists.
The joining of Bulgaria in the war sharply changes the internal-political situation. The executive power is increased. Already in April 1940 was passed a Law for the national mobilization, with which the government takes the direct leadership of the bigger part of the economical sector in the state. Increased are the measures against the liberty of speech and press, restricted are the rights of correspondence, gatherings and meetings.
On the 21st of January 1941 one of the most shameful laws ever voted in the Bulgarian parliament enters in power - The law of the defense of the nation (ZZN). It copies a large part of the German legislation, concerning the Jews, which lose their civil and political rights. Forbidden are the mixed marriages, a large part of the Jewish possessions is seized, provided is for concentrating the Jewish population in different settlements. On the basis of the ZZN in August 1942 a Commissariat of the Jewish matters is created, led by the confident supporter of Hitler’s conceptions Aleksander Belev. The danger for the Bulgarian Jews impends in the end of 1942 when Germany starts a pressure over the Bulgarian government for “a conclusive decision of the Jewish matter” within the boundaries of Europe. On the 12th of February 1943 the Council of Ministers accepts the agreement for deporting 20 000 Bulgarian Jews to Germany. The government gives its agreement only for Jews from its “new” lands, motivating themselves that they’re not Bulgarian citizens. In March 1943 11 480 Jews from Thrace, Macedonia and the Pirot region are deported. This puts a beginning of mass protest among the Bulgarians, supported also from the Orthodox Church. Tsar Boris III takes a stand behind them as well, in result of which the government does not allow any further deportations of Jews.
In the meantime the battle of communists against the government is increasing more and more. On the 17th of June 1942 radio-station “Hristo Botev” broadcasts the program of the Fatherland Front (OF). This is an offer of the communists for a creation of a wide social front against the government. It isn’t mentioned in this program for a change of the social-political system in the country after the taking of power. It is insisted in it that Bulgaria should not take part in the direct battle actions, the Bulgarian troops to be withdrawn from the neighbouring states, the alliance with the Axis to be broken and the country to join the antihitlerist coalition. In the region of the internal policy it promises restoration of the Tarnovo Constitution and the provided by it rights and freedoms. Because the initiative comes from the communists, the other part of the opposition declines their offer.
In February 1943, after the Soviet army crushes the forces of the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad, a turning point of the battle actions gradually begins. This complicates the situation of Bulgaria as a German ally. The crisis is increased even more by the death of Tsar Boris III (the 28th of August 1943), who’s the most authoritative, consolidative figure in the Bulgarian political life. Since the heir to the throne Simeon II is under-age, a regency is chosen of Bogdan Filov, general Nikola Mihov and Prince Cyril, brother of the late tsar, with which the Constitution is violated, as relatives of the monarch have no right to be regents. As a Prime Minister the regents choose the previous financial minister Dobri Bozhilov.
The new government is pressed by the activated work of the armed resistance. Already since the beginning of 1943 the communists start creating their own military organization, which centralizes the partisan movement. As a response the government creates a gendarmerie for fighting the partisans, which not infrequently resorts to mass executions of whole families. Thus the conflict between partisans and government gets deeper and deeper, instead of calming down.
Simultaneously with the internal problems, the pressure from Moscow is increasing more and more. On the 18th of May 1944 the Soviet government delivers a harsh note to Bulgaria with the demand that Bulgaria should immediately break its alliance with Germany. In the same day the cabinet of Dobri Bozhilov hands its resignation, in order not to give a categorical answer. The created on the 1st of June 1944 government of Ivan Bagrianov has the task to find a way out of the deepening crysis.
Sofia tries to get out of the war and establishes contacts with the British and American diplomacy. In August 1944 Stoicho Moshanov is sent for negotiations in Ankara and Cairo, but the events forestall the truce.
On the 12th of August the parliamentary opposition and the Fatherland front come out with a common declaration for creating a “new constitutional government”. After a pressure from Moscow and the directive of Georgi Dimitrov the Fatherland front rejects their signature from the declaration. Left without the support of the OF, the parliamentary opposition creates on the 2nd of September 1944 the government of the National and the Democratic party and BZNS, led by Konstantin Muraviev. The new government makes attempts to restore the constitutional regime – the un-freely chosen National council (Narodno sabranie, the parliament) is dismissed, political amnesty is declared, the gendarmerie and the ban on the political parties are removed.

Further parts (from the textbook):
From the 5th of September 1944 – the USSR declares war to Bulgaria
The coup of the 9th of September
Participation of Bulgaria in the final stage of the war


=========================

Xuca, I haven't saw what you've posted about St. Sava and the Nemanjics, so if you could post it here...
Btw what translation should I post in the Macedonian thread? I don't have any translations.
And Ok, I'll translate something aboutht the Bogomils, but what? There are at least three topics for them. But I could say you're on the right direction - they came from Bulgaria to Bosnia (official religion there) and then created several other heresies in Western Europe, such as the Albigenses, Katars etc. Tell me what you want about them (and from where) and I'll translate it (although those uni topics are real hell)!

[Xuca]

I'll eagerly await the rest
Xuca, I haven't saw what you've posted about St. Sava and the Nemanjics, so if you could post it here...
That's what I planned to do, byographies of three men are all you need to know for a start.
Btw what translation should I post in the Macedonian thread? I don't have any translations."The ten lies of the Macedonism" by Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov, I meant that, any part you think is the most interesting.
And Ok, I'll translate something aboutht the Bogomils, but what? There are at least three topics for them. But I could say you're on the right direction - they came from Bulgaria to Bosnia (official religion there) and then created several other heresies in Western Europe, such as the Albigenses, Katars etc. Tell me what you want about them (and from where) and I'll translate it (although those uni topics are real hell)!Same as for the Macedonians, translate what you think is most interesting.

[Traveller]

Allright, I'll start translating about the Bogomils, although I still hesitate, which should I choose... And after that: Macedonia. And in the meantime I await your translation!

1...

[Xuca]

This was ment to be posted yesterday, but while I was writing, the problem with the forum happedned while I was writing, so sorry for being late
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Grand Zupan Stefan Nemanja (http://www.rcp-brcko.com/biografije/loza%20nemanjica/stefan-nemanja.jpg)

Stefan Nemanja was born in Podgorica, sometime after 1113. Although his early years are somewhaat obscure - even his year of birth and the actual identity of his father Zavida are both widely disputed - Nemanja nonetheless appears to have been at least indirectly related to the Raskan ruling family. Yet, the state institutions and subsequent spiritual legacy established by him and his sons marked such a break with earlier practices, that these (probably more so than uncertainties of his lineage) marked him as a founder of a brand new dynasty - indeed, one that was to become virtually synonymous with the glory of medieval Serbia.

Nemanja's rise to power comes sometime during 1166-8, first from the appanage of Dubocica (city of Leskovac), in the shadow of his elder brother Tihomir - a Byzantine appointee - and together with the two other brethren, Stracimir and Miroslav. Rising fraternal disputes effectively dissolved this tetrarchy, leading to the decisive battle of Pantino in Kosovo, where Tihomir perished, and Nemanja - aided, tradition has it, by St. George - prevailed. He was thenceforth to reign supreme as Grand Zupan, having secured pledges of allegiance from his two surviving brothers. This assertion of unity - perhaps as much as an opportunistic attempt to ride a short-lived tide of Hungarian-Venetian aggressiveness towards Byzantium - led him on a collision course with his nominal overlord, emperor Manuel. Abandoned by Western allies and facing a superior Byzantine force, Nemanja nevertheless did show political prowess and farsightedness. His spectacular surrender to Manuel in 1172, followed by seemingly humiliating ceremonies of submission at Constantinople - all ultimately led to his return and consolidation of power and stability in an autonomous Raska for the next eight years.

Not surprisingly, however, Nemanja's loyalty to the emperor did not survive the latter's death in 1180. During the 10-year aftermath, he took advantage of Byzantine internal disorders and a more favorable international situation (which included Hungarian, Crusader and Norman regional interests) to expanded considerably in all directions at the Empire's expense. Eastward, acquisitions included, among other areas, the plains of Kosovo, territory between Western and Great Morava (with the city of Nis, which then served as a capital), Timok and northern Macedonia. On the other side, most Adriatic coastal and littoral regions from Zahumlje, through Travunija and Zeta, to the Lake Skadar region were added. Despite initial hostilities, relations between Raska and the important merchant city-state of Dubrovnik were settled by the 1186 treaty that provided for a symbiotic relationship between the two throughout most of the Nemanjic dynasty. Further Serbian advances were checked by Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos, in 1190; however, the ensuing peace treaty left most acquisitions intact for the Serbian (Raskan) state, along with full recognition and an amicable disposition from the ailing Constantinopolitan court.

Having achieved considerable political successes on all fronts, the Nemanjic dynasty founder ensured smooth succession at the Sabor (council) of Ras, in 1196. There he abdicated in favor of his middle son, Stefan, and having bequeathed all his earthly possessions, proceeded to a life of spirituality as monk Simeon. He soon joined his youngest son St. Sava, at the monastic community of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) in Greece, where the two were shorlty to build the key center of Serbian spiritual life, the famed Hilandar monastery. Nemanja's deeds as a practical earthly sovereign were matched by his religious fervor and faith, as evidenced, above all, by his numerous church foundations and other generous ecclesiastic donations. Apart from Hilandar, his key endowement - the majestic Studenica monastery - as well as Djurdjevi Stupovi and several others, remain as lasting monuments to this effect. Nemanja-Simeon was canonized shortly after his death in 1200, his feast being on Feb. 26 (13). As word of the wonderworking quality of his relics spread throughout the realm along with the awareness of his deeds, so did the general veneraton of Simeon the Myrrh-flowing - as he came to be known as a result. While technically not the first Serbian saint, it was the establishment of his cult that laid the foundation for a firm national identity - backed at first by a strong state establishment, but ultimately surviving on its Christian ethics alone - for many centuries to come.

---------------------------------------------

Saint Sava (http://www.strugar.co.yu/slike2/0186.jpg)

Saint Sava (1175 or 1176 - January 12, 1235 or 1236), originally the prince Rastko Nemanjic (son of the Serbian ruler and founder of the Serbian medieval state Stefan Nemanja and brother of Stefan Prvovencani, first Serbian king), is the first Serb archbishop (1219-1233) and the most important saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church.

In his youth (around 1192) he escaped from home to join the orthodox monastic colony on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain on the Chalkidiki peninsula) and was given the name Sava. He first traveled to a Russian monastery and then moved to a Greek Monastery Vatoped. At the end of 1197 his father, king Stefan Nemanja joined him. In 1198 they together moved to and restored the abandoned monastery Hilandar, which was at that time the center of Serbian Christian monastic life.

St. Sava's father took the monastic vows under the name Simeon, and died in Hilandar on February 13, 1200. He is also canonised, as Saint Simeon.

After his father's death, Sava retreated to an ascetic nun in Kareya which he built himself in 1199. He also wrote the Kareya Typicon both for Hilandar and for the nun of ascetism. The last typicon is inscribed into the marble board at the ascetic nun, which today also exists in it. He stayed on Athos until the end of 1207.

St. Sava managed to persuade the patriarch of the Greek/Byzantine Orthodox Church to elevate St. Sava to the position of the first Serbian Archbishop, thereby establishing the Independence of Archbishopic of the Serbian Church in the year of 1219.

Saint Sava is celebrated as the founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox Church and as patron saint of education and medicine among Serbs. His day is observed on January 27th of the Gregorian calendar (January 14th of the Julian calendar still observed by the Serbian Church). Since the 1830's, Saint Sava has become the patron saint of Serb schools and schoolchildren. On his day, students partake in recitals in church.

Sava died in 1237 and his sacred bones were held in the monastery Mileseva in southern Serbia. 360 years later the Ottoman Turks dug out his bones and burnt them on the main square in Belgrade.

The Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, whose construction was planned in 1939, begun in 1985 and awaits completion by 2004 is the largest active Orthodox temple in the world today. It was built on the place where the holy bones were burned.

Quote:

At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our place in the clash of currents, so they cried that we belong to neither side, and others that we belong exclusively to one side or the other. But I tell you, Ireneus, we are doomed by fate to be the East in the West and the West in the East, to acknowledge only heavenly Jerusalem beyond us, and here on earth--no one

- St. Sava to Ireneus, 13th century

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Stefan Prvovenchani (First-Crowned), (1196-1227) (http://www.kv-biblio.org.yu/Pics/Stefan%20Prvovencani.jpg)

As the founder of the Nemanjic dynasty retired to a life of spirituality and reflection, the challenging task of continuing his work fell on his hand-picked successor and middle son, Stefan Nemanjic. Navigating through the often troubled political waters of early 13th century southeastern Europe, Stefan managed during his reign of over 30 years to claim considerable accomplishments, having elevated the state to an internationally recognized and independent kingdom, and the church to an autocephalous archbishopric. However, the reign and deeds of Stefan are also intextricably tied to the name of St. Sava; indeed, the twin state-church achievements of this period the result of complementary statesmanship of the two brothers.

Early during Stefan's rule, the international context appeared favorable, as relations with the hitherto main threat - the Byzantine state - were cordial. Solidified by the grand zupan's marriage to emperor Alexios III's daughter, the former's prestige was further boosted by an unprecedented granting to a foreigner of the high Byzantine title of sebastocrator. But the venerable splendor of the Constantinopolitan court could not mask its decay, and this became painfully evident following its sack by Venetian-sponsored Latin Crusaders (1204). Stefan's problems began even earlier, emanating mainly from Hungary's expansionism, and its overt support for a rebellion by his seemingly disgruntled elder brother Vukan (1202). Having dislodged Stefan as legitimate zupan, Vukan ruled under Hungarian suzerainty for a couple of years, but by 1205, with Bulgarian help, Stefan managed to regain the throne, relegating his brother to his traditional Zeta appanage.

It is at this point that the remarkable figure of their third brother, Sava Nemanjic, enters the broader picture. Sava returned to Raska from Mt. Athos in 1207, bringing with him the relics of the holy dynasty's founder, St. Simeon. The relics served as the basis of a lasting peace Sava officiated between the two brothers, and having been laid to rest in the newly expanded and illuminated Studenica monastery, became the center of healing miracles and broad veneration. This phase of Sava's work in Serbia continued for the next 10 years.

The political climate having changed, Stefan was forced to look westward for the kinds of political support and recognition that his realm reqauired at that point. He remarried, this time to the granddaughter of the old Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo, Ana. Infamous as her grandfather was in connection with the shameful sack of Constantinople, Ana played a respectable role on her new court; the mourning of her death by her son, king Uros I, has been immortalized in one of the more famous frescoes at the Sopocani monastery. Futhermore, Stefan looked to the Pope to get that elusive state sybmol - the royal crown. Following customary diplomacy and associated promises of ecclesiastic union with Rome, the coronation did finally take place in 1217, and he is thus referred to as Prvovencani (First-Crowned).

Disgruntled by this dangerous leaning to the West - or perhaps just inspired to match it with necessary new steps in Church organization - Sava at this point leaves Serbia, only to come back two years later. But this time - having negotiated details with the Constantinopolitan patriarch in Nicean exile - hed does so as the head of the newly autocephalous Serbian archbishopric, with its first seat at the famous Zica monastery, erected by Stefan. Sava set up a number of new bishoprics and trained a domestic clergy and church hierarchy, drawing support from the already well-established Serbian monastic communities on Mt. Athos and elsewhere. Sava served in this position until his 1233 retirement in favor of his disciple Arsenije I, upon which he embarked on his second series of travels to the Holy Lands of the East. But just as he strived to unite this medieval Church and State, he harmoniously blended statesmanship with piousness: it remains a puzzle what was it - his skillful diplomacy or the halo and authoirity of a walking saint - that miraculously averted imminent attacks by Hungarians and Bulgarians during the mid-1210s.

Stefan retired peacefully in 1227, shortly before his death as monk Simeon. His deeds as a statesman were matched by his church-building, and his literary achievements, of which the hagiographic narative of his father's time - "The Life of St. Simeon" takes key place.

Though hard to summarize, St. Sava's far-reaching legacy nevertheless stems from his ability, at a time of moral and political dissaray following the Latin sack of Constantimople, to lay the ground for transforming a limited but important medieval ethnicum into a civilized and self-aware race, adherent to true, universal Christian morality and norms. And although his practical focus was on vigorously implementing this spiritual enlightenment on a national level - his reputation, message, and achievemnents were to transcend the boundaries of his homeland far and wide.


and, for the end, Nemanjic dynasty frescoe from monastery Visoki Dechani (http://www.kosovo.com/loza_nemanjica.jpg)

From left to right(not in the order of ruling):
Bottom row:St. Sava, St. Stefan Nemanja, St. Stefan Prvovenchani
Middle row: St. King Dragutin, St. King Milutin, St. King Urosh I
Top row: St. Tsar Urosh V "The Weak", Tsar Dushan "The mighty", St. King Stefan Dechanski


btw. I'm not jsut translating, now I used pre-translated stuff from three sites, and for Vuk, I used just a short chronology of his life, and wrote everything myself. (does this make me amateur historian? :scratch: :biggrin: )

[Traveller]

Oh, goodie! I'll read it tomorrow when I have time, cuz I'm going to lectures now. Btw remind me to check and add also this forum (http://forum.boinaslava.net/index.php?) and its threads to the list. As far as I see, there's also a sub-forum for "world history", so maybe more people would like it...

[Xuca]

Can you add this link (http://web.tiscali.it/v.crnice/srpski%20junaci.html) to your first post, with text "comics-like drawings of Serbian heros. Pick one for some historical info" or you could think of better text.

[Traveller]

Oh, sorry, but this will take awhile! A long while, actually, since I'm starting work, still going to lectures etc. and I don't have much free time... :sad: