A Tour in Macedonia
Uploaded by
Nikos MisolidisA Tour in Macedonia
Uploaded by
Nikos MisolidisUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
SAN DIEGO
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GEISa LIBRARY
LA JOLLA,
-^
J'.-
rfe"C
MACEDONIA
A BULWARK AGAINST
GERMANY
The
Fight of the Slovenes, the Western
Branch of the Jugoslavs, for National
Existence
By BoGUMiL VosNJAK,
of
Translated by
Crown
late
Zagreb
Lecturer of the University
(Croatia).
Fanny
S.
Copeland.
8vo, 4s. 6d. net.
Postage
5rf.
" Not only a piece of powerful propaganda, but a
literary production of high quality.
Full of illumination on Near Eastern questions."
Pall Mall Gazette.
A DYING EMPIRE
By BOGUMlL VOSNJAK.
With a Preface by
Crown
T. P.
O'Connor, M.P.
Postage Sd.
Svo, 4s. 6ci. net.
In this account of the Dying Empire of Austria the
author has tried to describe the sociological factors in
the breakdown of the Hapsburg Empire, and to show
that in the fabric of a "'Central Europe" is closely
woven the idea of a predominating Pan-Germanism.
Either Germany must stretch from Hamburg to
Trieste and Salonika, or Austria-Hungary must be
dismembered.
There
is
no
alternative.
London: George Allen & Uxwin Limited
MACEDONIA
BY
T. R.
GEORGEVITCH
LONDON GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
:
^.
'h-
First published in 2918
(Ail right* r4*rved)
PREFACE
Traditions and accepted opinions die hard, no matter
what their origin. Even the most erroneous view, once
has taken root, can only be disproved with great
It has become a matter of conviction, or
difficulty.
it
and these are really feelings, and have no direct
people
connection whatsoever with logic and truth
helief,
be as firmly convinced
will
in their belief
in
a false-
In course of time,
both material
interests,
national
and
individual,
and moral, become so firmly bound up with the existing
hood as
in their belief in a truth.
social,
belief
they render
t^iat
all
it
more immune
the
to
criticism.
In
scientific questions
as great a prestige as one
interests
of
an accepted opinion possesses
which bears upon the material
The number
an individual or nation.
trouble to go to the fountain-head and get
those
who
their
information at
first
the rest perforce accept
without verifying them.
hand
is
very small indeed
and conclusions
information
By
dint of constant repetition
a given information gains universal
belief, as for
majority of people the repetition of an
much
of
the
assertion has as
value as an argument, and one which they are
least able to oppose.
In
this
book the author has
and publish them
tried to collate his facts
as a contribution to the elucidatioa
PREFACE
vi
of the
facts
Macedonian question.
is
still
the best
wherefore the reader
way
is
After
all,
arriving
of
asked
the adducing of
at
the truth;
independently
author's conclusions, and passing over
have a polemical tone in the text
all
kindly
that
of
the
might
to give his
attention to the facts which are marshalled in this book,
and to form his own opinion, independent of his own
preconceived ideas and independent of the author's
opinion.
T. R.
G.
LoNDOK, January 1918.
SERBIAN ORTHOGRAPHY
= sh in English " ship.'"
''cats."
c = ts
"
church."
c = ch
in
c = (the same, softer =
s
,,
"nature").
= y in English " yof."
= in French ''jour.''
nj = n in English "new.''*
"got
g=g
j
CONTENTS
1
3UTR0DUCTI0N
Confusion as regards definition of Macedonia Correct
conception of Macedonia Origin of confusion Subject
of this book Historical and literary sources consulted
by the author.
II
12
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
The Southeni Slavs and
their
arrival
in
their
present
Ethnographic
changes brought about by their
arrivalEthnical unity of the Southern Slavs The
Bulgars and their invasion of the Southern Slav lands
between the Danube and the Balkan mountains Con-
territory
between the Bulgars and the conquered Slavs
Their gradual fusion into the present Bulgarian nation
Traces of old Bulgarian qualities in the modem Bulgars
Territory in which the present Bulgarian nation was
trast
evolved.
Ill
22
THE MACKDOKIAN STATE
The Macedonian Slavs Bulgarian invasion of Macedonia
Contrast between the Bulgars and the Macedonian
Slavs Adverse conditions under the Bulgars Revolt of
the Macedonian Slavs and emancipation from the Bul-
gars Renewal
of Byzantine domination in ISIacedonia
Revolt and emancipation from Byzantium The Macedonian State Its rise Frontiers Name of the Mace-
'donian State.
CONTENTS
Hi
IV
Vkoa
BULGARIAN BULE
IN
MACEDONIA
.29^
Subjugation of the Macedonian State by Byzantium in
1018 Bulgars shake ofif the Byzantine yoke in 1186
Second Bulgarian invasion of Macedonia
Macedonia
under the Latins and Epirotes Fresh Bulgarian invasion
of Macedonia
Macedonia under the Byzantines and
Epirotes Bulgars possess i\facedonia once more for a
brief period and then lose it for good in 1256.
V
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
.33
Systematic unification of Serbian territory under the
Nemanjici Part of Macedonia won by King Uro5 in 1258
Macedonia added to Serbia under King Milutin and
King Stephan Decanski Bulgaria makes war upon
Stephan Decansld in 1330 Macedonia's fate permanently
decided in favour of Serbia by the Serbian victory over
the Bulgars Subsequent insignificance of Bulgaria
Serbian magnanimity towai'ds Bulgaria King (afterwards
Tear) Du.san unites the whole of Macedonia with Serbia
Bulgars no longer interested in Macedonia Bulgars
conscious of having no claim on Macedonia Bulgars
recognize the legitimacy of the Serbian rule in Macedonia
Macedonia considered a Serbian country Macedonians
never called anything but " Serbs " in historic records
Dismemberment of the Serbian Empire
Macedonian
States always referred to as " Serbian " Turks conquer
Macedonia as a Serbian country This fact recognized
by all historic sources, including Bulgarian Serbian influence in Macedonia under the Turkish rule Serbian
princes in Macedonia under Turkish suzerainty Serbian
Sultana Marija and her importance for the Macedonian
'
Serbs.
VI
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN
IN MACEDONIA
.
RULES
.
Comparative duration of Bulgarian and Serbian rules in
Macedonia Bulgars and conquered Slavs in Macedonia
CONTENTS
ix
vkum
Bulgars are masters, and Macedonians slaves
of
why they never mhigled No traces
two nations
Reasons
left
Bulgarian rule in
regards civilization
Macedonia, either ethnically or as
Misconceptions concerning Bulgaria's
creation of Slav letters and literature The
Macedonians pioneers of Christianity among the Slavs
role in the
The
first
Slav apostles natives of Macedonia
Bulgars also
Language of earliest
Second Bulgarian
tyrannical, and obnoxious.
receive Christianity from Macedonia
Slav books merely called ' Slav "
rule in Macedonia, short,
Serbs and Macedonians are but one nation Serbian rulers
the liberators and uniters of the Serbian nation into one
Serbian rule in Macedonia represents the
state entity
Building of monasteries
zenith of Serbian civilization
and intellectual progress in Macedonia Serbian literature
Macedonia Dusan's Code originated in Macedonia
Macedonia the heart and focus of the Serbian Empire
Serbian capitals situated in Macedonia State CouncUs,
at which the fate of the nation was decided, held in
Macedonia It was in Macedonia that Serbia was elevated
to the rank of an Empire and the Serbian Church to that
Byzantine influence reaches Serbia
of a Patriarchate
in
through Macedonia.
VII
TURKISH RULE IN MACEDONIA
Complete
disappearance of
.70
Bulgars under Turkish
the
not arrested by Turkish con Serbian national
quest Macedonians remain Serbian under Turkish rule
Significance of the independent Serbian Patriarchate
for the Serbian nation during the Turkish rule Mace-
rule
life
donia an integral part of the Serbian Patriarchate.
VII {Continued)
MACEDONIA FROM THE LOSS OF HER INDEPENDENCE TO
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
(1413-1459)
The
role of the Serbian State devolves
Patriarchate
Character
Serbian sentiment
among
of
the
upon the Serbian
Serbian
Patriarchate
the Macedonian clergy
Serbian
-75
CONTENTS
PAGE
sentiment among the Macedonian people The Macedonians seek refuge only among Serbs They feel among
kinsmen with the Serbs Part played by Macedonians
among the Serbs as a whole.
VII {Continued)
MACEDONIA
FROM
THE
SUPPRESSION
OF
PATRIARCHATE TO ITS RESTORATION
THE
SERBIAN
(1459-1557)
80
Suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate mid its superby the Archiepiscopate of Ochrida Greek character of the Archiepiscopate; Slav and Serbian clergy
in it
Detriment caused to the Serbian nation by the
suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Vitality of the
Serbian nation The Archiepiscopate of Ochrida " Serbicized "
Sad plight of the Serbian people in those days'
Serbian literature barely kept alive in Macedonia Serbian
sentiment of the clergy in Macedonia Serbian historic
records and sources call the Macedonians ' Serbs "
Other historic sources do the same.
session
VII {Continued)
THE RESTORATION OP THE SERBIAN
PATRI.\RCHATE TO ITS SECOND SUPPRESSION (1557-
MACEDONIA
1766)
FROM
.90
Restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate Jurisdiction of
the restored Serbian Patriarchate based on the principle
Reorganization of the Church the standard
and national
raised within the
jurisdiction of the Serbian Patriarchate Increased importance of the Serbian Patriarchs Their relations with
foreign Powers Hard lot of the Serbs in Macedonia
Macedonian missions
help in Russia for Serbian
Churches These missions
themselves "Serbian"
The Serbian migrations Macedonian emigrants everywhere
themselves "Serbian" Relations between Macedonian emigrants and Macedonian Serbs Migrations en
masse from Macedonia to Austria under Patriarch
Arsenije III Serbian sentiment of Macedonian emigrants
of nationality
of religion, literature,
life
solicit
call
call
hn
Austria
Bole of Macedonians among the
Serbs
in
CONTENTS
xi
PAGB
Austria Serbian historic records speak of Macedonians
as " Serbs "
So do all non-Serbian historic records
Suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Protest by the
Metropolitan of Montenegro against this crime against
the Serbian nation as a whole, of which the Macedonians
also
form
part.
VITI
MACEDONIA AND THE SERBIAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION 109
Serbian sentiment of the Macedonians after the suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Sad plight of Macedonia after the suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate
Macedonian aspirations
Participation of Macedonians in Austro-Turkish War (1788-1791) for
liberation of the Serbs from the Turks Participation of
Serbian sj^mpathy for Macedonia
to emancipate Serbian nation from the Turks
Macedonians in the Serbian insurrection tmder Karageorge
and Milos Obrenovie at the beginning of the nineteenth
century Moral support for Serbia from Macedonia Mace-
donian national poetry celebrates the struggle of the Serbian
nation against the Turks.
IX
BULGARLIN
PROPAGANDA
BESUBRECTION
IN
MACEDONIA.
BULGARIAN
.
.119
Europe after the fall of
the Bulgarian Empire in the Middle Ages Bulgars in
Bulgaria without national consciousness Attempts at
national awakening The Ruthenian G. Venelin forms an
Bulgars,
idealistic picture of the Bulgars and rouses them
inspired by Venelin's fables, begin to dream of Great
Bulgaria The romantic enthusiast George S. Rakovski
Stephan Verkovic and
fosters Bulgarian megalomania
Bulgars completely forgotten in
Bulgarian antiquities All Bulgars united in
the conception of their unlimited greatness Education
of the rising generation in this spirit Biilgarian ideas
take hold in Russia Committees for the propaganda of
the Bulgarian idea in Russia Russian scholars, infected
by Bulgarism, become its pioneers Sympathy for the
Bulgars spreads from Russia to the rest of Europe.
his forged
CONTENTS
xu
IX
BULGARIAN ACTION
IN
....
{Continued)
MACEDONIA
PAOR
134
The Greek Church abuses its power over the Shivs in the
Empire Slav dissatisfaction Inability of the
Serbs to fight the Greek Church The Bulgars, assisted by
Russia, open their campaign The Uniate Church (Greek
Catholicism) among the Bulgars The Russians, alarmed
Turkish
the progress of the Uniate Church, increase their
help to the Bulgars The Greek Patriarch, alarmed at
the growth of the Uniate Church, yields to the Bulgars
The Porte, taking the part of the Bulgars, interat
venes with the Greek Patriarch, and the Sultan declares
the independence of the Bulgarian Church in Turkey
Significance of the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Detriment caused to the Serbs in Turkey by the
Attitude of the
creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Greek Church towards the Macedonian Serbs Macedonians begin to turn Uniate Russia advises them to
join the Bulgars in their struggle against the Greek Church
Macedonians help Bulgars, but only to free themselves
from the Greek clergy The Macedo-Roumanians do the
same The Bulgarian Exarchate and Macedonia Turks
side with Bulgars in Macedonia ^New Bulgarian bishoprics
Forcible Bulgarization of the Macedonians
Creation of independent Bulgaria Propaganda in Macedonia from Bulgaria Many Macedonian Serbs refuse to
join the Bulgars Bulgarian terror among Serbian population of Macedonia Bulgarian comitadjis in Macedonia
Destruction of Serbian records and monuments in
in Macedonia
Macedonia.
.....
X
SEBBIA AND MACI':D0NTA
Serbia the refuge for the Macedonians Macedonians
accepted as Serbs in Serbia Macedonians always considered foreigners in Bulgaria Serbian public opinion
looks upon Macedonians as formmg part of the Serbian
nation So
do Serbia's statesmen So does Serbian
science Non-Serbian science takes the same view
Serbia welcomes Bulgarian immigrants and assists the
Bulgarian Church movement so long as Bulgaria does not
lay claim to Macedonia also Serbia's inability to check
160'
CONTENTS
xiii
PAQK
Bulgarian encroachment in Macedonia Serbian interest
Serbian schools opened Assistance of the
in Macedonia
Macedonians
Serbian Church movement in Macedonia
as guardians of Serbian nationality Serbian schools in
Macedonia Macedonians petition for a restoration of the
Serbian Patriarchate Failing in this request, they ask for
Serbian bishops Insurrection in Macedonia in favour of
annexation to Serbia Macedonians appeal to Prince Milan
of Serbia and to the Congress of Berlin to be permitted to
belong to Serbia, and not to Bulgaria Macedonians' brave
Bulgarian
fight against Bulgarian comitadjis In spite of
all
propaganda the better part
The
of
Macedonia remains Serbian
rest ostensibly sides with the Bulgars.
XI
MACEDONIAN DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
Language
of the
Macedonian Slavs
188
merely called
originally
No mention of Bulgarian language in Macedonia up
to the beginning of the nineteenth century Language of
literary records in Macedonia Serbian throughout the Middle
Ages Serbian also in the nineteenth century imtil the
" Slav "
advent of the Bulgarian propaganda Difference between
Macedonian and Bulgarian languages noticed at a very
early date Macedonian idiom not identical in all districts
Insufficiency of linguistic material for thorough study
All Macedonian dialects belong to
of Macedonian idiom
one type Macedonian dialects are Serbian Morphology
Etymology The article as it appears in Macedonian
dialects is not a Bulgarian characteristic.
......
XII
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
Old Slav
tribal
system completely broken up by Old Bul-
garian State system Tribal system preserved in Macedonia
and other Serbian lands Hence the identity of social
Typically Serbian custorae
Macedonia The "Slava" Bulgarian campaign against
"Slava" in Macedonia "Preslava" Village "Slava
conditions
and customs
in
"
Custom
of pilgrimage to Serbian monasteries
to the Monastery of Decani.
Pilgrimages
200
CONTENTS
xiv
XIII
PAOB
POPULAR TRADITION
.210
Beauty and wealth of Serbian popular tradition Ethnographic element and historic memories enshrined in it
Macedonia considered a Serbian country by non-Mace-
donian Serbian popular tradition National tradition of
Macedonia shows a purely Serbian character Example
from beginning of eighteenth century Examples from the
nineteenth century
Folk poetry in Macedonia purely
Serbian Bulgarian collections of Macedonian national
poetry reveal purely Serbian characters in spite of touching
and editing Eeference to none but Serbian historic events,
places, and characters
No reference to Bulgarian historic
.events, places, and characters
Serbian monasteries famous
in Macedonian folk poetry
Serbian names in Macedonian
poetry Language in Macedonian poetry- pure Serbian
According to national tradition the liberation and unification
of all Serbia
is
bound up with Macedonia.
.......
XIV
CONCLUSION
22S-
SUPPLEMENTS
I.
STORY OF THE PROGRESS OF THE BULGARIAN CHURCH
MOVEMENT, TOLD BY
II.
OF THE
PROPAGANDA
STOUY
OF
IV.
HAD2I MISEV, OF VELES
235
THE STORY OF JOVAN VELJIC, OF DEBAR, TELLING
HOW THE BULGARIAN TEACHERS MADE HIM A
BULOAR BY FORCE
238
.
III.
T.
BITOL.T
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
BULGARIAN
......
IN
MACEDONIA, TOLD
BY A CITIZEN
240
PETITIONS OF MACEDONIANS TO THE SERBIAN PRINCE
....
MILAN AND TO THE CONGRESS OP BERLIN TO BE
UNITED WITH SERBIA
245
A.
From
the districts of Kicevo, Prilep and Veles, with the
signatures of
etc.,
170 mayors, priests, archimandrites,
seals of 44 communes.
appended and bearing the
CONTENTS
XV
B. Petition addressed to Prince Milan, signed by 520
parish councils, etc., from 'the districts of Kumanovo,
Kratovo, Palanka, Istip, Petric, Strumica and Kocani,
with the seals of 220 communes affixed, drawn up on,
June 2, 1878, at Kozjak.
C. Petition addressed to the British Consul at Vranje, as
Envoy of the Berlin Congress, signed in Vranje, on
June 11, 1878, by 20 natives of Gilane (from the
towns and villages of Gilane, Pasijan, Petrovac,
Banilug, Kopotovo, Domorovac, Kufedze, Koretiste,
Stanisor, Budrig, Partes, Grizimi, Mocar, Miganovac,
and Busrnac).
500 distinguished citizens, archimandrites,
etc., of the districts of
Kicevo, Ochrida, Debar, and Elbasan, with the seals
of 308 communes affixed, dated from the Monastery of
D. Petition
priests,
of
teachers, mayors,
Cista Precista in Skrzava at the Sabor (meeting) of
June
15, 1878,
and addressed
to the "
King
" of Serbia.
E. Petition addressed to the British Consul (Envoy of the
Berlin Congress), dated Gilane, Jime 18, 1878, and
signed by 375 distinguished inhabitants from the
A footnote
districts of Gilane, Skoplje, and Tetovo.
accounts for the absence of parish seals by explaining
that plundering Circassians and Albanians had taken
them away.
F. Petition to the " King " of Serbia, dated Skoplje, June
20, 1878, with the seals of more than 50 communes
Nobody had dared to sign, as of the signaaffixed.
tories to the Bozince petition 250 had been arrested
in Skoplje alone, of whom only 50 had come out of
prison alive. In the face of such intimidation it is
truly amazing that the mayors of 50 communes yet
had courage
to affix their seals.
G. Petition to the Berlin Congress, dated " On the Gjerman
Planina, July 1, 1878," bearing 800 signatures and the
seals of 196 communes and monasteries from the
districts of Kumanovo, Kratovo, Kocani, and Palanka.
(An almost identical but far more explicit petition,
bearing 350 signatures and 145 seals, was presented to
the Prince of Serbia.)
CONTENTS
xvi
PAOX
V.
INCOMPLETE
LIST
OF
BULGARIAN
SERBIAN SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS IN
VI.
UPON
MACEDONIA
254
ATTACKS
LIST OF SERBS MURDERED BY THE
BULGARS OR AGENTS OF THE BULGARIAN COMMITTEE IN MACEDONIA BETWEEN 1881 AND 1909 256
INCOMPLETE
VII.
INCOMPLETE LIST OF ATTEMPTED MURDERS PERPETRATED BY BULGARS ON SERBS BETWEEN 1897
AND
Tin.
1901
BULGARIAN PROCLAMATION
THE
INHABITANTS
AGAINST
THE
OF
TURKS
IN
1879,
CALLING
.282
UPON
....
MACEDONIA
TO
RISK
284
MACEDONIA
I
INTBODUCTION
Confusion as regards definition of Macedonia Correct conception
Origin of confusion Subject of this book
of Macedonia
Historical and literary sources consulted by the author
ALTHOUGH
donia,
it
is
much has been
written about Mace-
not until recent years that any one
has succeeded in attaching a correct conception to the
term.
Hence every
extended his
own
writer on the subject of Macedonia
definition to such territorial area as
seemed convenient or expedient
her borders.
The widest
to
him
to include within
definition of
been furnished by the Bulgars.
This
is
Macedonia has
because in the
eyes of the Bulgars the frontiers of Macedonia proper
are too narrow for their extensive
pretensions in the
writers have
Several
Balkan Peninsula.
even gone so far as to include practically the whole
of the Turkish Empire in Europe under the head of
Non-Bulgarian writers on the subject
Macedonia.
have likewise enlarged the definition of Macedonia,
Bulgarian
either from ignorance, or out of political consideration
for this country or that, or because they took their cue
2
MACEDONIA
from the Bulgars, or because
it
did not occur to
them
to
devote special study to the definition of what ought to be
understood under Macedonia, and to estabhsh this by
critical investigation.
It is
only within recent years that Dr. J. Cvijic, Pro-
Geography
fessor of
at the University of Belgrade, has,
many
as the result of
exhaustive study of
years' travelling in
all
Macedonia and
the literary records in the country,
established beyond
all
Macedonia extends
to the
doubt that the central part of
middle (below Skoplje) and
lower reaches of the Vardar
that her territory extends
westward to the great lakes of Ochrida and Prespa, and
eastward to the River Struma and, in places, to the Eiver
Mesta. Consequently the territorial unit of Macedonia
would include the regions around Ochrida, Bitolj, Voden,
Salonica, Dojran, Strumica, Seres,
to the north of this
is
and Kavala.
In order to make the matter quite clear
some
by Mr.
of the reasons given
deprecate
to
Mr.
Cvijic's
sibly
be
criticism,
we
will
we
shall quote
But
Cvijic.
quote
arguments, touching which
laid to his
All else
not Macedonia.
in order
only those
it
charge that they are the biassed expres-
sion of a Serbian patriot of the present day, and
are consequently beyond cavil.
torial extent of
first
which
In establishing the
terri-
Macedonia, Mr. Cvijic has among other
material consulted the old
the
of
cannot pos-
maps published up to within
when there
decades of the nineteenth century,
were as yet no nationalist discussions over the frontiers
of the Balkan peoples and when the statements of
scientific
"From
geographers rested on facts alone.
the time," says Mr. Cviji6,
"when
in the six-
teenth century better and more complete geographical
maps
of
the European countries began to appear, and
INTRODUCTION
up to the eighteenth century the most rehable
the Balkan Peninsula are the Italian. After
right
maps
of
these
come Mercator's map and
French Geographers.
On
all
maps by the Koyal
maps the name of
south of the Sar Mounthe
these
Serbia extends over the regions
tain
and the Skoplje Crna Gora.
On
map drawn by
the
the Italian geographer Giac. Gastaldi, in 1566, Serbia
includes not only Kosovo Polje and
around Skoplje.
also the regions
Skoplje
itself
On many maps
but
draw^n
by the official Geographer of the Republic of Venice,'
the famous V. Coronelli, in 1692 (in the Corso Geogra'
'
fico
Serbia
'),
is
show^n as extending south of the ^ar
Mountain and the Skoplje Crna Gora.
we
practically always find the
legend
In those maps
'
Metropoli della
name of Skoplje. On many French
seventeenth-century maps drawn by the Royal GeograSerbia
beside the
'
'
phers/ Serbia includes not only Novi Pazar and Prizren,
but also the surroundings of Skoplje in the wider sense.
Similar frontiers are also assigned to Serbia in the
maps
by F. de Witt, in the maps in the atlases by Blaeu and
H. Moll, and in many others of the second half of the
In numerous maps by the well-
seventeenth century.
known
the
cartographer, Joh. Bapt.
first
Homann,
dating from
half of the eighteenth century, the districts of
Skoplje, Kratovo, and Custendil are included in Serbia,
and the
frontier of
Macedonia runs considerably south
In the maps published in Nuremberg by
Homann's Successors at the beginning of the nineteenth
century (in 1802, 1805, etc.) Serbia includes not only the
of
Skoplje.
regions of Novi
Pazar and Kosovo, but
Skoplje and Kratovo.
also those of
Similarly wide frontiers are also
assigned to Serbia in the books of the Serbian historian
J.
Rajii (eighteenth
century),
by the
geographer
P.
MACEDONIA
4
Solaric,
and by the father
Serbian literature, Vuk.
of
In
Karadzic (nineteenth century).
S.
Hshed by
S.
up
Serbia, as understood
shown
are
the
Tekelja in 1805, the wider
pubof
to the time of the Hberation,
Serbia
in detail.
PriStina, Vucitru (the
map
frontiers
whole
made
is
to include Prizren,
of Kosovo), Skoplje, Kratovo,
Geography of
Serbia,' by Baron Eotkirch, translated into Serbian and
the map copied by Stephan Milosevic in 1822, we find the
wider frontiers of Serbia, as also in the map by Fried of
Vienna in which the Serbian frontier runs south-east
Oustendil, Pirot, and
In the
Caribrod.
of Custendil.
" These
remarks
apply to
all
the more
geographical handbooks in which Serbia
and
her frontiers
is
mentioned
Similar instances
given.
are
important
and
proofs from the earlier cartographers could be tripled.
well-known
It is a
of
fact,
moreover, that this definition
Serbia was not merely a cartographic and literary
conception,
but
one that lived
in
the minds of
the
inhabitants, since persons from those regions (Kratovo,
Skoplje,
as
'
Ovce
Polje, etc.) described their native districts
Serbian countries.'
Thus
it
is
natural that
quite
after the Hberation of Serbia these regions
were called
Old Serbia, in order to distinguish them from the Principality.
...
know
tion of Serbia in
of
no map drawn prior
to the libera-
which the above-mentioned regions are
and this applies even to those
included in Macedonia;
which the name of Serbia is not indiIn many of the above-mentioned maps the name
districts across
cated.
Macedonia
is
indicated
across
the
counties extending
from the Skoplje southern frontier of Serbia, along the
Macedonia therefore
Vardar and up to Salonica.
includes mainly the middle and lower reaches of the
"
INTRODUCTION
and as
as the
Struma and
the east."
From
Struma and
far as the
(in
Lakes
the Great
Vardar, the regions around
west,
places) as far
the
in
(in places) as far
as the
Mesta
in
the foregoing
understood under the
it
clear
is
name
of
what was formerly
Macedonia.
The
con-
fusion of ideas with regard to her territorial extent
a thing of recent growth.
Greece has entailed
The
many changes
is
and
liberation of Serbia
in the geographical
conceptions of the Balkan Peninsula.
"Cartographers
names have
new States. Even
are confused because the old geographical
ceased to tally with the names of
the Balkan Peninsula has been without a
name
then, for the whole of its extent had been called
Ottoman Empire in Europe,' 'European Turkey,'
because with small exceptions
it all
since
'
the
etc.,
belonged to Turkey.
In 1808 the German geographer Zeune, writing in the
periodical Gaea, gave the Balkan Peninsula the name
Hamushalbinsel,' which term was subsequently
of
'
At that time,
the Balkan
began
cartographers
the
Peninsula and its countries,
gradually to eHminate from the map the broader conception of Serbia and to apply this name only to the
modernized
liberated
tion of
.
'
Balkan
names were being
when
into
political
Serbia.
Peninsula.'
invented
for
Simultaneously the indica-
to be extended on the maps.
however, the broader conception of
Macedonia began
Sporadically,
Serbia was preserved throughout the earlier half of the
nineteenth century."
" Geografski Polozaj Makedonije i Stare Srbijc
Cvijic,
J.
("Geographical Conditions of Macedonia and Old Serbia"), " Srpski
Knjizevni Glasnik," vol. xi., 1904, pp. 208-212.
'
"
J. Cvijic, ibid., pp.
210-211.
MACEDONIA
With such
confusion prevaiHng in the ranks of the
professional cartographers with regard to the definition
of Macedonia,
it is not to be wondered at that the
"
Bulgarian
patriots," pohticians with an axe to grind,
and others imperfectly acquainted with the facts, put
forward the most extravagant claims as regards the
conception of Macedonia.
territorial
matters had
If
simple to apply that
name
her true
frontiers,
frontiers,
not forming part
enter
the
into
merely
thus
stood
Macedonia,
physical area of
since
would
it
regards the
still
that
all
of
outside
as
by the enlarged
else
it, it
included in
has become
necessary to deal with everything together.
why
in this
these
Macedonia, would not
But
discussion.
lies
Macedonia everything
conception has become involved in
only reason
be quite
only to the territory within
conception of
this
as
This
book the term Macedonia
is
the
is to
be understood as applying not only to Macedonia proper,
Old Serbia to which the
but also to a great part of
enlarged definition of Macedonia has been extended, and
which the Bulgars have claimed like everything else
wherever possible as coming within the scope of their
aspirations.
In writing
incorrectl)^
this
for
book
the
Macedonia according
we have
nonce
therefore
although
adopted the conception of
to the Bulgarian definition, viz. as
the territory extending from the Bulgarian State frontiers
*****
to the Sar
Mountain, to the Biver Drim, to the Gulf of
Salonica, and to the Eiver Mesta.
The
object of this book
is
to furnish a trustworthy
account of what the Macedonians are as to their origin,
what they were
in the past,
what they are
to-day,
and
INTRODUCTION
how
the present confusion arose, until the true position
"
of affairs
was forgotten and the
created.
In collecting material concerning
Macedonian Question"
I did my best to consult only the most
and the best authorities on Macedonia.
this
Question
reliable sources
Historical sources conveying information on the subject
are limited
number.
in
sources I have been
specially
cautious in
have restricted myself to
such as are unquestionably
careful
my
Doubtful historical
reliable.
to
reject.
attitude
notes of foreign travellers
in
the
have been
towards the casual
Balkan Peninsula.
Ignorant of the history, ignorant of the circumstances,
ignorant of the language, they have included statements
in their books
which are amazing in
Already in 1857, G.
their inaccuracy.
Eakovski, one of the greatest
S.
Bulgarian chauvinists, called the notes of such travellers
"poetic imaginations," and "tales from the 'Arabian
Nights,' " whenever he found their contents unfavourable
to
But the Bulgars soon forgot these
and whenever the notes of foreign traveller-
the Bulgars.
strictures,
authors are favourable to
them
at
the expense of the
Serbs and Greeks, they quote them abundantly.
travellers
have gone so
Kosovo
far as to say that
Some
Polje,
Prizren, and Novi Pazar are in Bulgaria, and the Bulgars
have greedily seized upon these statements and backed
them up with their own assertions that Macedonia is
Bulgarian.
level,
I desired
my
statements to be on a different
and have therefore been on
my
guard against
similar misstatements, although I have frequently found
it
asserted in books of travel that not only
inhabited by Serbs, but that Phihppopolis
oldest Serbian cities " ("
l^
Servie
")
is
is
Macedonia
" one of the
une des plus anciennes
villes
de
Historic data of this type prove nothing
MACEDONIA
They
in favour of either Serbs or Bulgars.
are utterly
valueless.
Much
has been written about Macedonia, and out of
material I have striven to use only the best.
this
all
The Bulgars
the subject
especially have w^ritten voluminously
it
was necessary
for
them
upon
to convince the
world by hook or by crook that Macedonia
is
Bulgarian,
and they have been indefatigable in writing about her.
Bulgarian literature dealing with Macedonia falls into
two categories.
The
first
of these consists of a host of
insignificant
small books and pamphlets, printed on vile paper in bad
type, written in a
style
and
padded
comprehension
of sane
criticism
and form which are beneath
arguments
with
priests,
teachers,
and
townships buried away in the
is
is
unlettered Bulgarian
clerks
interior,
from
and
and their purpose
villages
to convince the Bulgarian lower classes that
This
Bulgarian.
the
They have been written
men.
and published by half-educated,
small
beyond
literature
Macedonia
does not merit
serious
consideration.
The second category
consists of large volumes, printed
in superior type on superfine paper, written in pretentious
style
and form
and
aggressive
in
argument.
These
books bear on their title-pages the names of University
professors,
scientific
members
and
of academies, doctors of philosophy,
political
men, and they
are written some-
times in Bulgarian and sometimes in a foreign tongue.
Those written
how
in Bulgarian pursue the object of
showing
deeply the Bulgarian "high circles" are interested
Those written in a foreign tongue have
enhghtening public opinion in Europe on the
in Macedonia.
the task of
subject of Bulgaria's rights to Macedonia.
Hence these
INTRODUCTION
books are furnished with references, illustrations, and
maps. Very often more than one-half of the book
These
supplements.
consists of
Ever mindful
interesting.
knowledge
to a sufficient extent, their authors
ments
made
in everything that could be
claim
Bulgaria's
reinforce
to
books include not only the
the
state-
The
better
Macedonia,
to
the
of
have ladled
effective.
latter,
In their pages
"Bulgaria."
distinctly
are
aim and
check their
cannot
foreigners
that
books
their
of
these
but half Serbia in
heroes
of
Serbian
"
Bulgars
so are the liberators of Serbia,
and the present population of Serbia as well. These
volumes, too, abound in irrelevancies and puerilities. In
*'
history are
one
it
of'
the most recent of them,^ for instance,
1878
asserted that in
the
we
find
Serbs in extending the
Serbia encroached upon Bulgarian rights,
"
and subsequently in their new provinces " Serbicized
frontiers of
the Bulgarian
Leskovec
is
As an example
place-names.
which
quoted,
the
of
this
Serbs are accused of
having renamed Leskovac.
In the meantime the texts
dating from 1836 to 1838,
1841, 1858, and 1861, and
quoted as supplements in the said book, and
maps from between 1853
invariably
given,
give
the
to
name
of
the town in
Serbian form of Leskovac, and not once in
form
of
Leskovec.
allegations
It
the
courage
to
its
its
Bulgarian
make
these
The supplements and notes to these books
are likewise interesting.
text is
takes
all
1878, which are likewise
favourable
to
If
even a single word of their
Bulgarian pretensions, they are
'
A. Ishirkov, Docteur es lettres, Professeur de Geographic a
rUniversit^ de Sofia, Membre dc I'Academie Bulgare dcs Sciences,
" Les confins occidentaux des Terres Bulgarcs," Lausanuc,
etc.
1916, pp. 119, 183, 189, 194, 202.
MACEDONIA
10
quoted to the public as gospel truth, regardless of their
authorship,
of
meaning,
their
correctness
their
(or
lack
and whether they contain statements such as that
it),
" the Morava rises in Bosnia," that "Nish is the capital
of Bulgaria," that " Custendil is not far from Prokuplje
near the Morava valley," or that " Prizren and Novi
Pazar arc in Bulgaria "
This
literature, too, does not
merit serious consideration.
Non-Bulgarian
literature dealing
In
likewise extensive.
writers on
Russian
Russia's children.
the
the
first
with Macedonia
place
The
subject.
The Russians
at
garian
nation,
it,
revealed
and spoiled
it
it
as
to
the
Bulgars
are
the beginning of
the nineteenth century discovered the
reared
is
we have
moribund Bul-
the world, fostered
it,
a parent spoils a sickly and
wayward child. Of Russian sympathies for the Bulgars
more will be said in another part of this book. Here
I
will
merely mention that
beside and
behind these
sympathies for the Bulgars there was also the question
of
Russia's
Russia
interests.
political
looked
upon
Bulgaria as a lever and an annexe for her political aims
in the
Balkan Peninsula.
Balkans
The
went hand
territory
hand with Russian
in
the stronger
greater Bulgaria,
the Balkans.
Hence
Bulgarian pretensions in the
in
Russian literature,
the limits claimed for
extends to
interests.
Russia's lever in
Bulgarian
it
by the
Bulgars.
Finally,
donia.
other foreigners have written
This
literature, too, is
books in which
spicuous by
inspired
its
all
knowledge
of
There are
the subject
is
con-
There are some which are
sympathy for the small and
the Bulgars. In some cases th^
absence.
by weak-kneed
insignificant nation of
about Mace-
very varied.
INTRODUCTION
11
wake
authors have been misled by following in the
to order for Bulgaria or the authors
Very few
pay.
of
been written with
books upon Macedonia have
knowledge of the subject, impar-
the
real
have endeavoured to be as careful
literary data as I
sources.
I
were in Bulgarian
independently, and honestly.
tially,
of
In others the books have been written
other writers.
in selecting
my
have been in choosing
my
historical
Of the huge mass of literature on Macedonia
have consulted only such works as are above reproach.
my work
Throughout
me
to be
disarm
have had but one aim before
set forth the truth so
unbiassed, to
criticism
even
from
Bulgarian
the
as
side.
to
I
have therefore made some concessions to the Bulgars.
In the
tion
first
place I have
extended
ture so far as
my
personal convic-
the territory of Macedonia to the limits
claimed by the Bulgars
my
against
it
have consulted their
was possible
to
do so
and
litera-
finally in
chapter on national tradition in Macedonia I have
consulted no collections of Macedonian national tradition,
but such as have been compiled by the Bulgars themselves in Macedonia.
This
book
is
written
centres and libraries.
far
from Serbian
scientific
There remain, therefore, some
books and references I was not able to consult for
my
work, and which would have thrown the statements in
this
light
book into stronger
upon
Bulgars
the
with
Macedonia.
relief,
malpractices
regard
to
and have shed a clearer
and
their
dishonesty
seizure
of
of
the
Serbian
II
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
The Southern Slavs and
their arrival in their present territory
Ethnographic changes brought about by their arrival Ethnical
unity of the Southern Slavs The Bulgars and their invasion of
the Southern Slav lands between the Danube and the Balkan
mountains Contrast between the Bulgars and the conquered
Slavs Their gradual fusion into the present Bulgarian nation
Traces of old Bulgarian qualities in the modem Bulgars
Territory in which the present Bulgarian nation was e-solved
THE
Southern
Slav
group
Slavs are
of
a branch
On
nations.
the
great
leaving the
main
of
body of the Slav community the Southern Slavs first
a long time in Central Europe in the
Beginplains between the Carpathians and the Alps.
remained for
Emperor Justinus
ning in the reign of the Byzantine
(518-527) and continuing up to that of Heraclius (610641), they gradually crossed the
into the Balkan
provinces of
Save and the Danube
Byzantine Empire,
the
until they finally spread over the
whole territory from
the Alps to the Carpathians in the north, to the
in the south, the Adriatic in the west,
and Black Seas
Morea
and the ^Egean
in the east.
With
the arrival of the Southern Slavs great ethno-
graphic
changes took place in the Balkan Peninsula.
The
ancient Greek inhabitants
the eastern and southern parts
13
who
lived principally in
of the
Balkan Peninsula
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
13
were pressed to the eastern and southern extremities of
The remnant of the ancient Illyrians
the Peninsula.
who
inhabited the western part of the Peninsula, were
driven farther into the mountains and intermingled with
The Roman
the numerous Slav settlers there.
colonists
remaining in the Peninsula were gradually absorbed
by the Slav masses or survived to any great extent
only in those regions where the Slav tide of invasion
was less strong, as in Thessaly and South Macedonia
(Tsintsars or Macedo-Roumanians)
and
in
Dacia
(Roumanians). Thus throughout the Balkan Peninsula
and far to the north of it the Southern Slavs became
still
the principal ethnic element.
This whole group of Slavs, extending from the Alps
the
to
Carpathians
whole
across the
Peninsula, went by this
common name
of
the Balkan
of Slavs.
Thus
they are so called by the Greek and Latin writers both
at the
time of their immigration and for a long time
afterwards.
The
territory in
called Slavinia (SKXa/3tvia<,
rarely
Sclavinica).
and that
which they
The name
settled
Sclavonia,
Sclavinia,
was
or
of Slavs for the nation
was retained by
There is a
province between the Rivers Drave and Save which is
called Slavonia to this day.
Apart from the Southern
the
of Slavinia for their country,
Southern Slavs for a very long time.
^lavs themselves, the
Southern Slav
name
nation has
of Slavs as applied to the
survived
also
among
the
Roumanians and Albanians to this day.^
The Southern Slavs were in every respect one nation.
Besides having the name in common, they bore also
every other sign of being one nation. They spoke one
'
,114.
C. Jirecek, "Geachichte der Serben,"
t. i.,
Gotha, 1911, pp. 113-
MACEDONIA
14
language, they
all
possessed the same type of civilization,
the same religion, the same customs.
was
villages
their occupations
rearing.
Urban
unknown
to them.
civilization
Their social
They
everywhere the same.
also
were
and
life
lived mostly in
farming and
social life
cattle-
were as yet
Their social structure was in keep-
mode of life, and was organized
system.
Each Southern Slav tribe or
separate body bearing its own special
ing with their primitive
on the
tribal
clan formed a
The head
name.
of
the clan
assisted
by the
tribal
council conducted the internal affairs of the clan and
regulated the relations between his
own
clan and
its
They had nothing resembling a State or
commonwealth as yet. The southern and more numerous
neighbours.
division of the Southern
Slavs acknowledged the suze-
rainty of Byzantium, the northern and
owned the sway
princes
State,
were
and
its
of the
Avars.
The
lesser division
chiefs
tribal
semi-independent towards
the
power was not greatly
by the
The organized
same time among
felt
or
suzerain
tribes.
State did not arise everywhere at the
the Southern Slavs.
Their
first
native
State arose during the second half of the seventh century
and among the northern branch of the Southern Slavs,
the ancestors of the Slovenes of to-day, under the leadership of the native tribal princes.
Towards the end
of
the eighth century and in the beginning of the ninth the
Croatian State emerged on the shores of the Adriatic.
About the same time the Serbian State appeared in the
mountainous regions around the Rivers Drina, Ibar, and
Lim. The Macedonian Slavs, as we shall see, built up
their State rather later.
All these States the Southern
Slavs built up unaided, under the leadership of native
princes and chieftains, free from
all
foreign influence.
THE SOUTHERN
SLAVS.
15
Only one branch of the Southern Slavs met with a
different fate.
It was doomed, soon after its immigration, to fall under the sway of an ahen people, to link its
fate
with
it,
modify
to
and the whole
its civilization, its social
of its existence.
structure,
This was that branch of
the Southern Slavs which took possession of the Balkan
country bounded by the Danube in the north and the
Balkan mountains in the south, the River Iskar in the
west, and the Black Sea in the east.
Southern Slav clans had
In that area eight
They formed
settled.
the rest of the Southern Slavs, with
whom
part of
they shared
the same language and civilization, religion, and social
system. In the year 679 they were invaded by a nomad
people with a martial organization and of Turanian origin,
Like a hurricane the Bulgars overran the peaceful Slav tribes settled between the Danube
and the Balkan mountains and established their State in
called the Bulgars.
that territory.
While the ethnological problem
Slavs
is
of all other
Southern
and straightforward as we have
those Southern Slavs who were invaded by
quite simple
seen, that of
It is therefore necesfar more complex.
some further explanation concerning this
last-named branch of the Southern Slavs. These remarks
will at the same time explain the huge difference between
the Bulgars
is
sary to add
the Bulgars of to-day and
all
the rest of the Southern
Slavs.
Between the Bulgarian conquerors and the Slavs who
had to submit to them there was a vast difference. The
Bulgars were Mongols. The conquered Southern Slavs
were Indo-Europeans.
also
possessed
radically
they belonged to
two
Differing as regards race, they
differing
totally
In
fact,
nations,
with
languages.
different
MACEDONIA
16
forms
different
nomads
of
The Bulgars were
Southern Slavs were settled
civilization.
the conquered
farmers and keepers of
cattle.
The Bulgars were
nation of conquerors with a martial organization with
the central authority in the hands of the ruler
quered Southern Slavs were
the con-
pacific, divided into clans,
a nation loosely knit together without political unity.
The Bulgars possessed a
State structure
to the con-
quered Southern Slavs the self-contained State was yet
unknown.
The Bulgars owned a despotic rule the
;
conquered
Southern
had a
Slavs
democratic,
tribal
administration, in which the tribal assemblies took part.
The
religion
and customs
of the Bulgars differed
those of the conquered Southern Slavs.
burned their
dead
with
together
buried
or
their
living
them
wives
from
The Bulgars
grave-mounds
in
and
slaves
the
Southern Slavs, although they sometimes burned their
dead, never sacrificed the family and slaves of the
The
Bulgars
(princes)
had
deceased.
Boyards
their
polygamy
harems
among
practised
whole
Southern Slavs polygamy was very
rare.
the
Bulgarian
was barbarous in the extreme. If one of the
boyards rebelled and was defeated, then not only was
he deprived of his life and possessions, but his children
justice
and
all
his
kinsfolk
were
put to death
among
the
Southern Slavs the penalties were humane, and sentence
had to be passed by the assembl5^ The Bulgars lived
war and for war; the Southern Slavs only went to
war when they were attacked. The war customs of the
in
Bulgars were cruel
they
made
the skulls of their con-
quered enemies into goblets from which they quaffed
wine
at their
nanimous
banquets
the Southern Slavs were mag-
to their foes both
during and after the war.
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
17
In time of peace with Byzantium the Bulgars sold Slav
boys and
girls in
the slave market
held such a trade in abhorrence.
the Southern Slavs
The Bulgars and the
conquered Southern Slavs represented two distinct races,
and two totally distinct
The vast difference between the Bulgars
civilizations.
and the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula in the sixth and
seventh centuries, as described by the Byzantine historians Procopius and Maurikios, has also been emphatiwith two distinct languages
cally insisted
on by Const. Jirecek, the best Bulgarian
historian.!
The Bulgars were
greatly inferior in
They owed
conquered Southern Slavs.
numbers
to the
their victory over
the Southern Slavs solely to their martial organization
and brute
force.
The conquered Southern
conquerors.
Their hatred
Slavs had no love for their
is
easy to understand
An
one considers the contrast between them.
sian chronicler of
the eleventh century
knows
Bulgars " terrorized the conquered Slavs."
old
when
Rus-
that the
Many
of
the Slav tribes opposed a determined resistance to the
Bulgars.
When
the Bulgars attacked the
Slav tribe
by the Eiver Timok, these Slavs abandoned their
home by the Timok rather than submit to the Bulgars.
But in spite of all divergencies and all hates, closer
living
gradually supervened between the Bulgars
and the conquered Slavs mutual influence, adaptation,
and finally the fusion into one nation. The old name
relations
Turanian conquerors
of
Bulgars
became
name for this mixed Turano-Slav nation.
The Bulgars gradually settled down
'
Const.
Jirecek,
" Geschichte
pp. 131-134.
der
the general
their
new
Prague,
1876,
in
Bulgaren,"
MACEDONIA
18
among the conquered Southern Slavs. From
being nomads they became a settled people like the
territory
As the Bulgars were
Slavs.
were
many
in
the Slav majority.
suits of the Slavs.
selves
in
the
minority,
they
things compelled to adapt themselves to
They took up the agricultural purThe Bulgars also familiarized them-
with the customs and civilization of the Slavs.
Finally, the Bulgarian language gradually disappeared,
until
The
was completely ousted by the Slav tongue.
it
fusion of the Bulgars and the conquered Southern
Slavs
was
fairly rapid
years the process
who were
within two hundred and
The Bulgarian
was complete.
fifty
nobility,
very exclusive, of course amalgamated less
number of Bulgarian commons who
among the conquered Slavs but even the
easily than the small
lived scattered
Bulgarian nobility yielded
little
by
little.
Already in
812 we find a Bulgarian envoy to Constantinople bearing
the Slav name of Dragomir, and about the middle of the
ninth century Slav names occur even
among members
of the princely families.
Such was the influence of the Southern Slavs upon the
Bulgars. But the Bulgars, too, have left traces of their
Physical and moral
influence upon the conquered Slavs.
qualities are not so easily modified as the manner of
Hving, occupation, custom, and language of a race.
physique of the modern Bulgars
are, as a
Mongol
matter of
fact,
is
very striking.
The
They
no longer Mongols, but certain
features appear at the first glance.
Their short
stature, their well-built but thick-set figure, their very
pronounced roundness of face all are features which
distinguish the Bulgars from the true Southern Slavs.
They are the survival of the Mongolian type in the
Bulgarian physique. The moral qualities of the Turanian
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
19
Bulgar can also be traced in the Bulgars of to-day.
These quahties are no longer unalloyed, as among the
ancient Bulgars, but in the main they are still there.
The
insatiable
still
lust
of
possession
when they
the Bulgars
first
came
which characterized
to the Peninsula
equally strong in the Slavicized Bulgars.
difference
is
is
The only
that whereas the Turanian Bulgars were an
intrepid warrior horde, the Slav Bulgars are insatiable
grabbers only
The
risk.
when
there
is
a prospect of profit without
and brutality towards
old Turanian cruelty
all
mixed descendants only
those who are weaker than themselves
and sundry has persisted in
for the benefit of
their
towards their superiors in streogth these qualities are
toned
down even
The
to servility.
traces of the mental
and moral qualities of the Turanian Bulgars we find
and consistently expressed through the whole of
AVe can
Bulgarian history, both remote and recent.
recognize them in every description of the modern
clearly
Bulgar, no matter whether the description be furnished
by the Bulgars themselves or by foreigners. We can
trace them finally also in the Bulgarian attitude during
the great World War.
There is one more legacy from their Turanian antiquity,
which distinguished the Bulgars from the Southern Slavs
from the very first day of their life in the Balkan
Turano-Slav
Southern
which
and
Peninsula,
Slavs
that
distinguishes
completely
descendants
this
to
is
their
day from
social
the
their
true
organization.
Their State structure, which the Bulgars brought with
them
and
transplanted
among
the conquered
Slavs,
destroyed for good every trace of the Slav tribal organization.
During the course
of
their
history the State
organization of the Bulgars sometimes declined, but the
MACEDONIA
20
destroyed tribal organization of the
the
With
Bulgaria
all
those
customs which have their origin in the
clan,
never revived.
social
Slavs in
gens,
Bulgaria.
and the
While in
the tribal organization
family
all
disappeared
likewise
other Southern
Slav
in
countries
there are preserved to this day either the remains of the
.old
division
into
clans or tribes, and even the tribal
organization or at least recent memories of them, together
with the customs which refer to the clan, the gens,
and family, in Bulgaria all this disappeared very early
and left no trace. But whereas in Bulgaria the very
names of the clans have been lost, in Macedonia there
were not only clans in olden times,^ but they can be
The difference between
traced there to this day.^
Bulgaria and
Macedonia
in
this
respect
was already
pointed out in 1848 by the Kussian savant V. Grigorovic.
After quoting the names of clans which exist to-day in
Macedonia, he adds that the Bulgars " have no tribal
names."
Such are the Bulgars, and such are the differences
between them and the rest of the Southern Slavs. The
Slav language, which the Bulgars adopted from the
conquered Slavs, is the only feature on the strength of
Concerning the Slav tribes in Macedonia after the immigration of
the Southern Slavs, see B. Prokic, " Postanak jedne slovenske carevine u Makedoniji " ("Rise of a Slav Empire in Macedonia "), " Glas
Srpske Kraljevske Akadenije," vol. Ivi. pp. 294-297, quoting from
Byzantine sources the following names of Slav clans in Macedonia
Brsjaci, Dragovici, Sagudati, Velegostici, Vojinici, Rinkini, Strumljani, and Smoljani.
To this day the districts are accurately known in Macedonia
'
="
which
are inhabited by the following clans
Brsjaci, Mrvaci,
Sopovi, Polivaci, Babuni, Keckari, and Mijaci (V. Grigorovic, " Ocerk
putesestviji, po evropejskoj Turciji " (" Sketches by a Traveller in
:
European Turkey"), Kazan, 1848,
3
V. Grigorovic, " Ocerk,"
p. 196.
p. 196.
THE SOUTHERN SLAVS
21
which thpy have been included in the Slav group of
nations.
As far as other things are concerned, there
would be no place for them there.
The territory which saw the process of the evolution of
the Bulgarian nation was the very same as that which
the Turanian Bulgars occupied
to the
when they
first
came
It did not extend farther west
Balkan Peninsula.
than the Kiver Iskar in Modern Bulgaria, nor farther south
than to the Balkan Chain. Until the year 800 Bulgaria
by the River Iskar, and before
861 it did not extend beyond the Balkan Chain. At first
the Bulgarian capital was PHskov, to the north-east of
Sumen of to-day in Bulgaria. Later on it was Preslav,
on the northern slopes of the Balkan Chain. ^ There was
was bounded
the
Bulgarian State, and there the assimilation
first
between
in the west
Bulgars
and
Slavs
took
place
Bulgarian nation was created, and there
this
day, clearly distinct
rest of the
in
Southern Slavs.
all
The
its
there
qualities
difference
the
remains to
it
from the
between the
Bulgars within their well-defined frontiers and the Slavs
beyond those frontiers was observed very early by the
Byzantine writers.
territory
They speak
of the
Southern Slav
between the Adriatic and the Rhodope moun-
tains as Slavinia (2KXa/3/v/a), in order to distinguish
from Bulgaria, and they
former country as
it
refer to the inhabitants of the
Slavfs, in
order to distinguish
them
from the Bulgars.
'
"
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben," i. pp. 189-190.
B. Prokid, " Postanak jedne slovenske care vine u Makedoniji,"
pp. 299-300.
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben,"
i.
p. 194.
HI
TSE^ MACEDONIAN STATE
tfhe
Macedonian Slavs Bulgarian invasion of Macedonia Contrast
between the Bulgars and the Macedonian Slavs Adverse conditions under the Bulgars
Revolt of the Macedonian Slavs and
emancipation from the Bulgars Renewal of Byzantine domination in Macedonia
Revolt and emancipation from Byzantium
The Macedonian State Its rise Frontiers Name of the
Macedonian State
Macedonian
THE branch
we have
seen, are merely
Southern Slavs.
But while the
Slavs, as
of the
Southern Slav States of Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia
were being built up in the countries north of Macedonia,
and the Bulgarian State and nation resulted from the
amalgamation of the Southern Slavs between the Danube
and the Balkan Chain with their conquerors, the Macedonian Slavs still remained under the domination of the
Byzantine Empire, The Byzantine writers invariably
refer to
them
as " Slavs," or the "Slav
'^KXnldivdw t^vog)
They still
lived
nation"
{to tojv
mainly in villages they
;
were an agricultural people, and retained their primitive
tribal organization.
The Byzantine writers say that the
territories occupied by the individual tribes in Macedonia
were called " Slovenia" (SKAaj3tvtat), and that each tribe
had a semi-independent prince
of
these princes
was
hereditary,
{apxov).
The
dignity
and they were quite
independent as regards the internal management of the
THE MACEDONIAN STATE
tribe.
23
They acknowledged only the suzerainty
Greek Empire, and they paid a
Beside the above-mentioned
in Macedonia, the
name
fixed tribute.
common name
Serbs "
*'
is
Slavs of Macedonia
"
of " Slavs
mentioned at
also
Serbs are also mentioned
a very early date.
Rivers),
of
of the
among
the
(between the Struma and Vardar
the Byzantine
who were subdued by
Constantin III in 649 and sent to Asia Minor.
of Gordoserba, in Bithynia,
was named
after
Emperor
The town
them, and
it
used to be the seat of a Bishopric.'^ Some time about 950
the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus
wrote that the town of ra
SfjojSXta,
in
the district of
Salonica, at the foot of Olympus, derives its
the Serbs
who
name from
originally settled there.^
Towards the middle of the ninth century the
Bulgars began to attack Byzantium in the direction
About the year 861, under their Tsar
of Macedonia.
Boris
By
(852-888),
they conquered
part
of
Macedonia.
the wars waged by the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893-
927)
Byzantium,
against
the
succeeded
Bulgars
in
gaining possession of the whole of Macedonia.
Coming
in this
manner under the sway
the Macedonian Slavs maintained the
of the Bulgars,
same
relations
towards them which they had hitherto observed towards
The Slav
under the rule of their
native princes or chieftains, retained their independent
Byzantium.
tribes,
domestic organization, only their allegiance was transferred to their
did
not,
new
therefore,
masters.
interfere
The change
of allegiance
with the domestic
St. Stanojevic, " Vizantijai Srbi " ("
life
Byzantium and the Serbs
of
"),
N. Sad, 1896, pp. 41 and 215.
* Const. Porphyrogenitus, " De adniinistrando imperio," cap. 32,
p. 152, ed. Bonn.
t. ii.,
MACEDONIA
S4
the Macedonian Slavs.
Likewise it exercised no influence
on the ethnical evolution of the Macedonians either.
The Bulgars did not come as settlers, but as conquerors.
As only the towns
in
which the whole
came under
strength was concentrated
they never
Slavs
came
into
of their military
their direct rule,
with the
contact
Macedonian
because in the towns the population was preponderantly Greek and not Slav.
;
The lot of the Macedonian Slavs under the Bulgars
was not a pleasant one. The Bulgars and the Macedonian Slavs represented not
only two social
classes
one of which was the ruHng and the other the ruled,
but also two nations, two religions, and two civilizations.
It is true that the
themselves
Bulgars had already approximated
considerably
Bulgarian territory, but
to
to
conquered
the
intents
all
Slavs
in
and purposes
they were in the main Bulgars.
Although they were
nominally converted, they were far from being really
Christians.
Even
in 9G8
a Bulgarian envoy in
Con-
stantinople wore his hair cut in the Barbarian style like
an "Ungar";
he wore an iron chain, and he was a
catechumen not yet baptized.
influence of
ties,
still
Brought up under the
unsoftened barbarous Turanian quali-
the Bulgars were not popular masters with the
peaceable Slavs of the cultivated and prosperous Mace-
donian
provinces of Byzantium,
lectual
centres
other
very early
the
among
insurrections, one in 929
'
Prima,
intel-
and
cities.
Dissatisfaction with
itself
whose ancient
were Salonica, Justiniana
Bulgarian
and a second
manifested
rule
the Macedonian
Slavs.
Two
in 931, although
B. Prokic, "Postanals jedne slovenske carevine u Makedoniji"
(" Rise of a Slav
Empire
in
Macedonia
"),
pp. 287-288.
THE MACEDONIAN STATE
unsuccessful,
show
clearly
what were the
Macedonian Slavs towards
conquerors.
The
leaders
of
Slav
were four brothers, sons of a
This insurrection was finally
this insurrection
prince
feelings of the
the Bulgarian
third insurrection broke out in 969.
25
Macedonia.
in
and the Macedonian Slavs drove out the
Bulgars and established an independent State of their
own. In 973 the young Macedonian State fell once
successful,
more under the domination of Byzantium; but already
in 976 the same four brothers who freed Macedonia
Bulgars
from the
the Greeks.
succeeded
liberating
in
her
from
Macedonia once more became independent,
Samuel by name, proThus by the end
claimed
of the tenth century the Macedonian Slavs had like-
and one
of
the four brothers,
Tsar
himself
(976-1014).
wise established their State.
Young, fresh and full of energy, the new Southern
Slav State expanded rapidly. In 986 Tsar Samuel
successfully deprived Byzantium of Bulgaria, which
the Byzantine Emperor John Zimisces had added to
Hereafter Samuel conquered
empire in 971.
his
Albania, and then the Serbian States of Duklja, Zeta,
and eventually Travunia, Zahumlje, Neretva, Ras^ka, and
Bosnia. The frontiers of Samuel's State comprised
all the Serbian principalities and the whole of Bulgaria.
Over so vast an empire Samuel failed to maintain
his
Bulgaria
hold.
fourteen years
it
remained
ruler
(986-1000).
Serbian
deposed
giving
over
the
hands only
for
Then Byzantium wrested
from Samuel and reconquered
As
his
in
it.
greater part of- the
conquered
States Samuel appointed Jovan Vladimir, the
Serbian
him
his
Prince
of
Zeta
daughter to wife.
and Duklja, after
Samuel retained only
MACEDONIA
26
Macedonia and
the
countries
directly
adjoining
the
principaHty.
The
Bulgars, as
we have
masters of Macedonia
seen, were for a certain time
but on the strength of this rule
of theirs the Bulgars are scarcely entitled to lay claim to
Macedonia,
On
the contrary, the Macedonians always
looked upon the Bulgars as foreign conquerors;
rebelled against
them and drove them
they
The Mace-
out.
donian Empire which the Macedonians built up after
emancipating themselves from the Greeks by their
efforts
own
has no connection whatever with the Bulgars
except that Bulgaria also was subject to
After that Bulgaria
it
for a time.
came under Byzantium, and Mace-
donia remained a purely Southern Slav native State.
Between Bulgaria and this independent Macedonian
Empire there is no connection at all. They are
two distinct States as regards population and origin,
capital towns, and tendencies.
The population of Bulgaria
is
a mixture of Turanian Bulgars and Slavs, and
that of Macedonia
is as purely Southern Slav as that of
and the Slovene lands. The Bulgarian
State was founded by the Bulgarian conquerors, that of
Macedonia by the Slavs who desired to emancipate themselves from both Bulgaria and Byzantium.
Bulgaria
had her capitals in Pliskov and Preslava, north of the
Balkan Chain the capitals of the Macedonian Empire
were Ochrida and Prespa on the lakes of Prespa and
Serbia, Croatia,
Ochrida.
But the Macedonian Empire was
is
called Bulgaria.
necessary to explain this seeming paradox.
from a special cause and has
a legacy of the Bulgarian
It
was
Macedonia
its logical justification.
Empire name
in
It
arose
It
the legacy of a bygone mastery and an historic tradition.
THE MACEDONIAN STATE
27
In 971 the Byzantine Emperor John Zimisces subdued
the whole of Bulgaria, whose empire at that time included Macedonia.
immediately afterwards Mace-
When
donia, without Bulgaria, freed herself from Byzantium,
she assumed the name of Bulgaria, because she aspired
Before her
to take over the heritage of fallen Bulgaria.
downfall Bulgaria ranked as
an Empire
her rulers bore
and were the upholders of an imperial
This heritage was vacant. Macepolicy and tradition.
donia required immediate recognition and respect, and
so took over the Bulgarian name and claims; she
assumed even before conquering Bulgaria, and retained
the imperial
title,
them later on after having lost her.
Thus it came about that the Macedonian Empire
The name of the State is always
styled itself Bulgaria.
stronger than the name of the nation.^ In this case also
This is
it was transferred from the State to the nation.
refer
to
began
onward
time
that
why foreign writers from
to the Southern Slavs of
Instances of
young
Macedonia
as Bulgars also.
the
usurping
states
other, older states are not
heritage of
name and
infrequent in
At the very same time when the Macedonian
Empire was founded the German Emperors were
building up a German Empire in outlying provinces of
what had been the ancient Empire of Kome. They,
history.
too,
appropriated
They named
the attributes of a former
styled themselves "
Empire was
nevertheless,
"
Roman
State the
their
"Roman Empire"
down
Empire,"
to
the ancient
its
and
fall
its
it
and
The Byzantine
Roman Emperors."
only part of
empire.
Roman Empire
styled
emperors
itself
called
the
them-
'
" Starker alg der Volksname war und ist imraer der Name dea
Staatea " (C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Bulgaren," p. 1'38).
""
MACEDONIA
28
Koman Emperors." The Greek inhabitants
of this "Koman Empire" called themselves "Romans"
And just as the Roman name of the German
(Pofxaioi).
"
selves
and Greek Empires has no connection with the Romans,
so the Bulgarian name in Macedonia has nothing to do
names are only a memento
the empire whose heritage was assumed by those who
with the Balgars.
of
All these
bore them.
In the meantime a distinction has always been drawn
between the population of Bulgaria and that of MaceDukljanin, the priest
donia.
who wrote
his Chronicle
Bar (Antivari) in the eleventh century, calls the
Macedonians of Samuel's Empire " Bulgarini" ^ and
at
refers
to
the Bulgars by their proper name oi '' BulIn the German chronicles and elsewhere the
garia
Macedonians are often
2
called " Bulgarii " (Bulgariorum)
and the Bulgars " Bulgari " (Bulgarorum).3
Finally, the Macedonians never in olden times called
themselves Bulgars. Dr. V. Gjeric, Professor at the University of Belgrade, after an exhaustive study of all the
records referring to the Macedonian Slavs from the earliest
times, came to the conclusion that " from the oldest
times
there
down
is
to the beginning of the nineteenth century
not one reliable instance of the Macedonians
call-
ing themselves Bulgars or their language the Bulgarian.4
'
"Samuel Bulgarinorum Imperator"
I.
Crncid,
"Popa Dukljanina
Letopis " (" Pop Dukljanin's Chronicle "), Kraljevica, 1874, p. 41.
" Eo tempore (968) defunctus est Bulgarorum Imperator Petrua
-
nomine"
(Ibid., p. 38).
B. Prokic, " Postanak jedne slovenske carevine u Makedoniji
("Rise of a Slav Empire in Macedonia"), p. 320.
* Dr.
V. Gjeric, " O srpskom imenu u Staroj Srbiji i Makedoniji
3
("
p.
The term Serbian
'
4-2.
'
in Old Serbia
and Macedonia"), Belgrade, 1904,
IV
BULGARIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
Subjugation of the Macedonian State by Byzantium in 1018 Bulgars
shake off the Byzantine yoke in 1186 Second Bulgarian invasion of Macedonia Macedonia under the Latins and Epirotes
Fresh Bulgarian invasion of Macedonia Macedonia under the
Byzantines and Epirotes Bulgars possess Macedonia once more
for a brief period and then lose it for good in 1256
SAMUEL'S vast Macedonian
duration.
Empire was not
of long
Already under his immediate successors
began to decay, until finally in 1018 it fell completely
under the domination of Byzantium. Of all the extensive territories that had formed the Macedonian Empire
it
only the central Serbian tracts of Kaska on the Drina,
Lim and
Tara, and Zeta on the coast remained free.
These lands were destined
future liberation and unity
of the
to preserve the seed
of the
Southern Slavs.
The
abortive insurrections in 1040 in the county of Vardar
which aimed at liberation from Byzantium,
While the Serbian States were
proved unsuccessful.
laying up their strength for the great historic role of
the Serbian nation in the Balkan Peninsula, Macedonia
in Macedonia,
came
yet again for a short time under Bulgarian rule.
From
about
domination
until 1186.
the
of
a.d.
1000,
when she
fell
under
the
Byzantium, Bulgaria remained under
it
In that year the Bulgars revolted against
Byzantine
supremacy.
With
the
help
of
the
MACEDONIA
30
Kumans
(Kussian Polovci) from the steppes of Pontus,
they succeeded in freeing themselves and in once more
The capital of this new Bulwas Trnovo. As their power gradually
estabhshing their State.
garian
State
increased the Bulgars
for
upon
embarking
arrived
in
This
conquests.
In that year
1202.
Constantinople.
awaited a suitable opportunity
While the
opportunity
Latins
the
besieged
was proceeding the
siege
Bulgarian Tsar Kalojan " took advantage of the general
confusion and overran the western part of the Byzantine
Empire from
the
towns
Prizren."
Sofia to the frontiers of Thessaly, taking
of
Not
Skoplje,
and Bar,
Ochrida,
and
feeling secure in the territory they
conquered, the Bulgarians expelled
even
had
the Greek bishops
all
and replaced them by Bulgarian ecclesiastics. They likewise transported all Greek suspects to the Danubian
Serbia was at the time powerless to prevent
regions.
Bulgarian aggression and violence in Macedonia.
The
was fomented by Hungary,
absorbed all Serbia's strength and attention. This Bulgarian domination in Macedonia did not last long, only
struggle for the throne, which
until the death of Kalojan in 1207.
sensions broke out
among
Bulgaria was divided.
Then
internal dis-
the Bulgarian princes, and
Part of Macedonia came to be
ruled by a relative of Kalojan, Strez by name, but under
Serbian suzerainty.
Strez died in 1215
part of his lands
was taken by the Latins of Salonica, and part by the
Greeks of Epirus. Thus every trace of Bulgarian rule
in Macedonia was obliterated once more.
In 1223 Macedonia was ruled by Theodore Komnenus,
Despot
of
Emperor.
'
Epirus,
who
His lieutenants
presently
proclaimed himself
Greeks, Slavs, and Albanians
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben,"
i,
p. 288.
BULGARIAN RULE
administered
MACEDONIA
IN
31
the provinces of Macedonia and Albania
up to the Serbian frontier, which ran north of
Arban, Debar, and Skoplje.^ Towards the east, Theodore
Komnenus extended his power even over Thrace with
its capital of Adrianople.
Theodore ruled over Macedonia
for seven years in all. In 1230 he was suddenly attacked,
defeated, ,and made prisoner by the Bulgarian Tsar
Asen II, near the village of Klokotnica (now Semisdze),
on the road from Philippopolis to Adrianople.
The
Bulgars now without any difficulty occupied the
right
country
west
Adrianople,
of
Ochrida as far as Durazzo.^
beyond
It
iSkoplje
and
important to note
is
that Tsar Asen says that by this victory he conquered
Serbian lands.
In gratitude
Komnenus, Asen
II
built
for his success over
the Church
Martyrs in his capital of Trnovo.
of
Theodore
the Forty
In an inscription in
church he gives a brief account of his war with
this
There he describes how he captured Theodore
Theodore.
with
all
nobles
his
even
Adrianople
to
and
subdued
Durazzo
Albanian and the Serbian.^
all
the
the lands from
Greek,
then
the
This Bulgarian domination
in
Macedonia extended over a period of sixteen years
in
all.
In 1246, Michael, the son of Asen
'Jl,
ascended the
That same year the Greek Emperor
John Vatatzes succeeded in retaking from the Bulgars
all the Macedonian provinces from Adrianople to the
Michael II, Despot of Epirus, on his part
Vardar.
Bulgarian throne.
'
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben,"
'
Ibid., p. 303.
The former
"
Und
i.
p. 300.
translation of this passage from the inscription runs
Lander habe ich erobert von Odrin (Adrianopel) bis
nach Durazzo: das griechische, dann das albanische und serbische
thus
Land"
alle
(C. Jirecek, "
Geschichte der Bulgaren," pp. 148, 252).
MACEDONIA
32
occupied the Macedonian
districts
lying
west of the
Vardar, with the towns of Veles, Prilep, and Ochrida.
In 1252 John Yatatzes overcame Michael II, and all
Macedonia as far as the frontiers of the Serbian
contemporary State became a Greek province.
There was one more Bulgarian invasion of Eastern
Macedonia as far as the Vardar, which lasted from the
end of 1254 until 1256, and was also " carried out
but I hardly know whether it is
without difficulty "
;
worth mentioning.
Weak and insignificant as are these
of
Macedonia with
recur no more.
Bulgaria,
From
historic linkings
such as they are they
that time Bulgarian history has
no further connection with Macedonia. Soon afterwards began the henceforth uninterrupted historic
connection of Macedonia with Serbia. This connection
has bequeathed to Macedonia imperishable and ineradiIt has also brought the ethnic unity
cable memories.
of the
Macedonians and Serbs into better and clearer
relief.
It is interesting to note that the Bulgars never ran any risks for
the sake of Macedonia, nor did they ever conquer it heroically and at
the cost of great sacrifice. All their invasions of Macedonia occurred
either at a time of " general confusion,',' or were accompUshed
" without any difficulty " (C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben," i.
pp. 288, 303, 315).
V
SERBIAN BULE IN MACEDONIA
Systematic unification of Serbian territory under the Nemanjici
Part of Macedonia won by King Uros in 1258 Macedonia added
to Serbia under King Milutin and King Stephan Decanski
Bulgaria makes war upon Stephan Decanski in 1330^Macedonia's
fate permanently decided in favour of Serbia by the Serbian
Subsequent insignificance of Bulgaria
victory over the Bulgars
Serbian
magnanimity towards Bulgaria King (afterwards
Tsar) Dusan unites the whole of Macedonia with Serbia
Bulgars no longer interested in Macedonia Bulgars conscious
of having no claim on Macedonia Bulgars recognize the
legitimacy of the Serbian rule in Macedonia Macedonia
Macedonians never called
considered a Serbian country
anything but " Serbs " in historic records Dismemberment
Macedonian States always referred to
of the Serbian Empire
as " Serbian " Turks conquer Macedonia as a Serbian country
This fact recognized by all historic sources, including Bulgarian
Serbian influence in Macedonia under the Turkish rule
Serbian princes in Macedonia under Turkish suzerainty
Serbian Sultana Marija and her importance for the Mace-
donian Serbs
WHILE
Macedonia after losing her independence
in 1018 was first under Byzantium and then
for a short time under Bulgaria, two young and vigorous
Serbian States grew up and developed to the north of her
RaSka and Zeta. In the second half of the twelfth
century they were united to form the one State of Serbia,
which then entered upon the most brilliant epoch of the
Serbian past.
new
Slowly but surely, the native rulers of the
Serbian State emancipated the Serbian nation from
4
33
MACEDONIA
34
Byzantium and united the Serbian
Serbian ruler
who
set
lands.
The
first
about to Eiccomplish the systematic
lands into one polity was
Grand Zupan Stephan Nemanja (1169-1196). His
successor went far beyond him. The complete union
of the Serbian lands was especially apparent during the
reigns of King Milutin (1282-1321) and Tsar Dusan
During these reigns Macedonia was
(1331-1355).
union of
all
the
Serbian
the
also incorporated with Serbia.
We
have already said that under Strez (1207-1215)
Macedonia was for a short time under Serbian suzerainty.
In 1258 King Uro of Serbia took Skoplje, Prilep, and
Ki5evo from Byzantium, but lost them again shortly
afterwards in 1261.^
But this was only the prelude to
the complete union of Macedonia with Serbia. In 1282,
King Milutin, the son of Uros, took Skoplje from
Byzantium, together with the districts of Gornji and
Donji Polog, in the upper Vardar valley, and subsequently Ovce Polje, Zletovo and Pijanac, round about
the Bregalnica. No sooner had Milutin taken Skoplje
than it became the capital and chief city of all Serbia.
In 1283 King Milutin made further progress in liberating
Serbian lands from Byzantium.
territory as far as Ser
(the
He
(Krestopolje, or Kavala of to-day),
of
Mount
conquered the entire
Seres of to-day),
Morunac
and the neighbourhood
Athos, and afterwards added Porec, Kicevo,
and Debar
Macedonia to these conquests. Milutin's
son Stephan Decanski (1321-1331) took the town of
Prosek on the lower Vardar.
During the whole of this Serbian progress in Macedonia,
in
the Bulgars did not appear as Serbia's rivals nor did they
attempt to hinder the Serbian advance in Macedonia.
'
C. Jirecck, " Geschichte der Serben,"
i.
p. 317.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
They
35
waited, as before, for a convenient opportunity of
Such an opportunity was
given them when trouble arose between Stephan Decanski
and the Emperor Andronikos III of Byzantium. Thinksuccess without difficulty.
ing that this was a propitious
moment
for
an attack
upon Stephan, the Bulgarian Tsar Mihajlo Sisman, who
was married to Stephan's sister, put away his wife,
married the
Andronikos in her stead, concluded
sister of
an alliance with his new brother-in-law and attacked
Stephan.
Stephan begged Mihajlo to avoid war, but
Mihajlo was obdurate.
Trusting finally to defeat Stephan,
Mihajlo, in the words of a contemporary, boasted that " he
would
set
up his throne
pelled to go to war.
" in Serbia.
The Bulgars and
Stephan was comthe Byzantines ad-
vanced against him simultaneously, but their forces
Andronikos was
to establish a junction.
late,
failed
and the
Bulgars were defeated ere he could come to their rescue.
This war was of great importance, because
it
decided
not only the question of the supremacy of Serbia over
Bulgaria during the rest of the Middle Ages, but also
the fate of Macedonia.
attack from
to
The Serbs expected
the Bulgars
the east, but they turned southwards,
Where the frontier between Serbia
and Bulgaria follows the course of the river Struma,
north-east of Velbuzd (now called Oustendil), the
towards Macedonia.
Bulgarian forces crossed the frontier into Serbia and
went
as far as Velbuzd, "
1330,
evil
deeds in
Velbuzd took place on July
The Bulgarian army was completely over-
that district."^
28,
The
committing many
battle of
thrown and Tsar Mihajlo himself slain in the
Serbs were left victors and masters of the
battle.
The
situation.
St. Novakovic, " Zakonik Stefaua Dusana" ("Stephan Dusan's
Code"), Belgrade, 1898, p. 3,
'
MACEDONIA
36
After the victory Stephan intended to subdue Bulgaria,
but he was met on his
way by
the envoys of Belaur,
brother of the fallen Tsar, and the Bulgarian nobles
who
tendered him
their
How
submission.
important
was the Serbian victory and how great the Bulgarian
defeat can be seen from the humble demeanour of the
Bulgarian envoys towards
Empire
Bulgaria "
of
the
thus the
"and the
towns and
their wealth
to
the
as
Kingdom
one,
and
of Serbia
let
of
of
these events.^
it
you
Henceforth
let
Bulgaria be
These words were
recorded by the Serbian Archbishop Danilo,
contemporary
them be
slaves, hail
and the Empire
there be peace."
its state,
though
as
this
all
and mighty King.
of
glory, let
We, your
you by God.
as our overlord
whole
and their
to-day in your hand to dispose of
were given
envoys
Bulgarian
addressed King Stephan
its
" This
Serbian King.
who was
Thus was
solved the
problem of the relations between Serbs and Bulgars in
the Middle Ages.
Thus was the
fate
Macedonia
of
decided at that time.
King Stephan showed himself magnanimous towards
the Bulgars. Directly after the battle he caused the body
of the Bulgarian Tsar to be interred in the Monastery
of Nagoricino, near Kumanovo, " in our country," as his
son Tsar Dusan used to say in after-years. ^
interfere with the Bulgarian polity,
He
did not
which was reduced
to the frontiers of the Bulgarian people.
He
confirmed
the Bulgarian nobles in their former privileges, and on
the Bulgarian throne he placed his banished
Dj. Danicic, " Zivoti Kraljeva
'
St.
Code"),
Tsar
arhiepiskopa srpskih "
the Serbian Kings and Archbishops"),
Zagreb, 1866, pp. 193-195.
of
sister.
("Lives
by Archbishop Danilo,
Novakovid, " Zakonik Stefana Dusana " (" Stephan Dusan's
p. 3.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
Mihajlo's widow, with her son Jovan Stephan,
37
who was
not yet of age. On the spot where he had invoked the
help of God before the battle the pious Serbian King
erected a church to Our Blessed Saviour, which,
although in ruins to-day,
original beauty.
To
this
shows clear traces of its,
victory the King also dedicated
still
the Monastery of Decani, which was then being built,
the finest example of Serbian ecclesiastical architecture
the Middle Ages.
in
Stephan's son DuSan,
who soon
afterwards succeeded to the Serbian throne, continued
his father's policy towards
the Bulgars, and concluded
an alliance with thein which lasted until the fall of the
mediaeval Empires of both Serbia and Bulgaria.
Dusan's
reign
marks an
Macedonia, one more
brilliant
epoch
the
in
history
of
and prosperous than any
At the very outset of
his reign he took Ochrid, Strumica, Kostur, and many
other towns in Macedonia from Byzantium, right up to
In Salonica there was already a considerable
Salonica.
party prepared to open the gates and surrender the city
to him; but the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III
she had hitherto passed through.
arrived with a large army and prevented the Serbs
from entering Salonica. Later on, in 1342, DuSan took
Voden and Melnik in 1345 he took Ser (Seres), Drama,
;
(now called Orfauo). Thus the
Macedonia became a Serbian province. The
eastern frontiers of Dusan's empire extended from the
crest of Mount Rilo along the slopes of the Dospat
Hristopolje
Philippi,
whole
of
and the
left
basin of the River Mesta
down
to the sea.^
Novakovic, " Strum ska Oblaat u XIV veku" "The Province
(" Glas Srpske Kraljevske
in the Fourteenth Century "
" Srbi i Turci u
Akademije," vol. xxxiv). By the same author
Srednjem Veku " ("Serbs and Turks in the Middle Ages"), p. 129.
'
of
St.
Struma
MACEDONIA
38
During
whole
the
time
Duan's
of
Macedonia, the Bulgars showed no
progress
in
After
dissatisfaction.
the battle of Velbuzd, Bulgaria was to a certain extent
DuSan was constantly
dependent upon Serbia.^
first
at war,
Had
with Byzantium and then with Hungary.
the
Bulgars been conscious of a right to Macedonia, these
would have been suitable opportunities for allying themselves to either of these two Powers, and not only to rise
in defence of Macedonia, but also to emancipate themfrom the Serbian supremacy. In the meantime
they did neither, but remained on the best of terms with
selves
Dusan, even
at a
time when the throne of Bulgaria was
not occupied by Dusan's kinsman.
important with
reference
to
But what
Macedonia
is
is
that
most
the
by the Serbian conquest
Macedonia their rights were in no way encroached
Bulgars took
of
it
for granted that
upon, and that they plainly recognized Serbia's right
to that country.
When
1346 the Archbishop of Serbia
in
Macedonia raised to the rank of " Patriarch of the Serbs and Greeks" the expression used
the Bulgars
at that time to define the Serbian Empire
would certainly have protested had they looked upon the
was
precisely in
Macedonian population
as
fact they did nothing of
of the Archbishop
carried
As a matter
the
of
promotion
Serbia to the Patriarchate was
of
out " with the
Patriarch of Trnovo."
Bulgarian.
the kind, but
full
=
approval of the Bulgarian
When
subsequently on Easter
'
On October 15, 1345, Dusan, King of Serbia, addressed a letter to
Andrea Dandolo, Doge of Venice, beginning as follows " Stephanus,
Dei gratia Servise, Diocliae, Chilminise, Zentae, Albaniae et MaritimiE
regionis rex, nee non Bulgarice imperii partis non modice particeps
(" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog
et fere totius Romanise Dominus "
:
xi. pp. 262-263).
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben,"
Dnii^tva,"
^
i.
p. 887.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
Sunday
the same year the Serbian King solemnized
of
second
his
39
coronation
Serbian
as
Tsar,
Hkewise
in
Macedonia, there was even greater opportunity for a
Byzantium
Bulgarian protest.
establishment
the
and
canonical
of
protested.
Serbian
the
coronation
the
The Greek Patriarch
non- valid.
of
She declared
Patriarchate
Serbian
the
un-
Tsar
Kallistos anathematized
new " uncanonical" Patriarch and
Tsar. The Greeks would not hear of a
the
the "unlawful"
Serbian Empire
which was proclaimed on territory which they had once
owned and to which they still claimed to have rights.
The Emperor John Kantakuzenos, in his " History,"
never once refers to Duan as " Tsar," always as " King."
And
The
we
thus
find
it
also
other Byzantine sources.
in
Bulgars, however, did not consider that the Serbian
Patriarch and Tsar had usurped their rank, and they
took no steps against them
but Duan's coronation as
Tsar was solemnized in Macedonia on the strength of the
conquest of Macedonia, and moreover " with the blessing
and consent
hands) of the Bulgarian Patriarch and
(lit.
the consent (hands) of
Synod."
By
By
great.
claiming
all
the Bishops of the Bulgarian
the conquest of Macedonia, Serbia became
conquest she became worthy of
this
an
herself
pro-
The Bulgars not only
Empire-
acquiesced in this without taking offence, but they even
added their blessing.
Bulgaria did this consciously.
upon
as Serbian territory.
after the
Ever
Macedonia was looked
since the earliest times
Slav immigration into the Balkan Peninsula
Serbs have been mentioned as inhabiting Macedonia.
Novakovic,
St.
San's
Code
p. 387.
"),
p.
"
4.
Zakonik
C.
Stefana
Jirecek,
Dusana
"
" Geschichte
("
der
Stephan DuSerben,"
i.
MACEDONIA
40
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus
wrote some time about 950 that the town of
in the district
foot
"to. Se/o/iXta,"
of Salonica near the River Bistrieca, at the
Olympus, derives
of
originally
settled
its
frequently mentioned.
name from
the Serbs
Subsequently
there.
It
was
the
also
who
town
this
seat
is
the
of
Bishop; in an old Serbo-Slav translation of the Greek
Zonaras
writer Johannes
small
number
completely and
is
it
called
SrpSiSte.*
The
of Bulgarian conquerors had disappeared
no
left
Writing in the middle
Greek historian Nicephorus
trace.
of the fourteenth century, the
Emperor
the Byzantine
Gregorae says that
Basil
II
destroyed the Bulgars, at that time masters of Macedonia, in many battles, and that " he banished those
who remained
on
the
in
the Danube."
(Macedonia)
land
As we have
seen,
to
Moesija
the Bulgarian
Tsar Asen, after conquering Macedonia in 1230, expressly
states in an inscription in the church of the Forty
Martyrs in Trnovo that he had conquered "the Greek,
This was a
the Albanian, and the Serhian lands."
hundred years before the Serbian conquest of Macedonia.
The Serbs conquered Macedonia as a Serbian country.
Neither in connection with the conquest of Macedonia
nor later are the Bulgars mentioned
tants.
King Milutin
quests
in
Macedonia.
counties, and refers to
among
the inhabi-
times mentions his con-
several
He
mentions
them by
their
the
local
conquered
names
or
by the names of their towns but nowhere do we find
In Milutin's biography, which
a word about Bulgars.
;
'
Const. Porphyrogenitus, "
p. 152, ed.
^
*
De
administrando Imperio," chap, xxii
Bonn.
" Starine Jugoslovenske Akademije," Zagreb, vol. xiv. p. 163.
N. Gregorae, " Histor. Bizant.," ii. 2. p. 15a, ed. Bonn.
Serbian rule in Macedonia
was
Danilo,
all
enumerated
is
by
compiled
Archbishop
the
contemporary,
his
41
Milutin's Macedonian conquests are likewise
;
the counties are mentioned, and again there
no mention
of Bulgars.
Writing about the year 1318,
the Serbian Archbishop Nikodim chronicles all the deeds
of the Serbian King Milutin " in his own native country,
the
in
Serbian
land,"
Afterwards
he speaks of the
Serbian Council, in which the bishops and
Among
also included.
the Serbian bishops
monks were
is
mentioned
among the Serbian monks
monks of Tetovo, Gostivar, Nagori6ino,
MS. of the Monastery of Lesnovo, in
the Bishop of Skoplje, and
are mentioned the
and Skoplje.^
Macedonia, dating from 1330, says of Milutin's successor
Stephan De6anski that "he inherited the kingdom, i.e.
all
the Serbian maritime regions, those by the
and the
Bulgarian
Ovce Polje."^
attack upon
Eelating
the
Serbs
the
in
history
1330,
Danube
of
the
Stephan
De5anski, in a deed to the Monastery of Decani, says
that the Bulgarian Tsar went
to conquer " Serbian territory."
to
Macedonia
in
order
In the Appendix to his
Code, Tsar Du^an says that the Bulgarian Tsar went
against "
Our country, against the land
of our fathers."
Under DuSan's reign the Serbs conquered the whole of
Macedonia.
In a deed to the Monastery of Treskavac,
is styled " Stephan, King
near Prilep, in 1336, in which he
and the Maritime Regions," Dusan says
"
that
with the help of God Almighty, the Preserver and
of all Serbian
His immaculate Mother, and the prayers of his forbears
Simeon and Sava, he had taken many towns over which
'
Lj. Stojanovid, " Stari Srpski zapisi
natpisi "
("
Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes "), Nos. 301-304.
* " Glasnik Srpsrog Ucenog Dru^tva," vol. xvi.
pp. 34-35.
St. Novakovid, " Zakonik Stefana Duana "
(" Stephan DuSan'a
Code
"), p. 3.
MACEDONIA
42
But not a word about
MS. of the Four Gospels
the Greeks had formerly ruled."
In a note in a
the Bulgars.
written at Mount Athos, about 1347, we are told that
" by God's grace and the prayers of his ancestors, it was
Dusan
given to
whole of the Serbian
Morunac, which is called
to rule over the
land, as far as the
town
of
Kristopolje (the Kavala of to-day), and as far as Salonica,
and
over
Dioclitia
all
as
as
far
Drac."^
In a deed
presented by Tsar DuSan about 1350 to his Monastery
of the Blessed Archangels St.
at Prizren, the gifts
are enumerated.
Michael and
he bestowed upon
Among
other
gifts,
this
St.
Gabriel
monastery
he also endowed
with a church in Veles with " men, mills, and vine*'
men,
yards," and with a church in Strumica with
In assessing the rights and
lands, vineyards, and mills."
it
duties of these
men whom he
assigned to the monastery,
he refers to them as Serbs, Albanians, and Vallachians.
No Bulgars are mentioned.3 In the Code which he
compiled
for
the whole
of
his
empire at the State
Councils of Skoplje in 1349 and of Seres in 1354,
Duan
nowhere mentions Bulgars, although he omitted none
of the nationalities represented in his country, viz. Serbs,
Greeks, Albanians, and Germans.4
It is impossible that
the Serbian legislators of that time,
at
two Councils,
both held in Macedonia, should have remained ignorant
in
if it existed
of the existence of a Bulgarian element
Macedonia.
"
St.
If
even the small national populations in
Novakovic, " Balkanska Pitanja"
pp. 290-293.
"
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari srpski zapisi
("
The Balkan Question"),
natpisi " (" Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes "), No. 89.
3 " Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xv. pp. 264-310.
St. Novakovid, " Zakonik Stefana Dusana" {" Stephan Dusan'g
Code
"),
Arts. 32, 39, 77, 82. 173.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
43
Serbia are mentioned in the Code, as in the case of the
sroall
German mining
population, the
have been omitted.
certainly not
Bulgars would
In the decree issued
by Dusan at the Council of Skoplje in 1347, whereby he
made the Monastery of Lesnovo, in Macedonia, the seat
of the bishopric, he is styled " Stephan, the God-fearing
Lord and autocrat of the Serbs and
Greeks and the whole of the Western Regions." ^ This
decree concerns some of the most important institutions
in Macedonia.
It was approved by the first Serbian
Tsar
in Christ our
Council convoked after the proclamation of the Serbian
Empire, and
it
deals not only with the establishment of
the bishopric, but also with
the duties of the subject.
many
Here,
other matters, such as
also, there is
not a word
about Bulgars. DuSan's usual signatm*e as Tsar ran
" Tsar of the Serbs and Greeks," and when signing in
:
Latin he styled himself, "Imperator Rasciae
Neither of his
titles
makes mention
et
Romanise." ^
of Bulgars.
Nor are Bulgars mentioned in books written in
Macedonia during the Serbian rule nor are they menOn the contrary, it
tioned in any notes in these books.
is recorded in these books merely that they were written
at such and such a place, in such and such a country,
during the reign of such and such a Serbian sovereign.
;
The Serbian
sovereigns are praised in these books
the
monasteries they built in Macedonia, the gifts they be-
stowed upon these monasteries, their successes are extolled
victories commemorated.
Some of these books
commemorate the Serbian victories over the Bulgars.
and their
" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xxvii. pp. 288, etc.
Grigorovic, " Ocerk putesestvija po Evropciskoj Toirciji,"
C. Jirecek, " Geschichte der Serben," i. p. 386.
pp. 49-50.
3 Lj. Stojanovi6, " Stari
srpski zapisi i natpisi " (" Old Serbian
'
'
V.
Inacriptions and Notea
"),
Nos. 34, 43, 56, 75, 108, 4944.
MACEDONIA
44
Even
On
anywhere.
these
which have
no mention made
in those Serbian records
Macedonia there
in
books
is
the contrary,
that
it
their origin
of
Bulgars
clearly transpires
from
Macedonia
was
the population
of
Serbian.
Foreign records in this respect absolutely corroborate
the Serbian.
C. Jirecek says that according to the
historian N.
Gregoras,
who
lived during
Greek
DuSan's reign,
there were at the time of Dugan's conquests in South
Macedonia " Greek and Serbian parties in every town." ^
N. GregoraB relates how the Byzantine Empress Irene
kinsman Manuel Tarhaniot to seek the fugitive
Kantakuzen, and how starting from Dimotik he crossed
the Balkan mountains (the Hsemus) and entered the
Serbian land.^
John Kantakuzenos, who waged long
wars on Macedonian territory against John, the lawful
Emperor of Byzantium, against the Empress Anna and
the Serbian Tsar Duan, had every opportunity of
becoming well acquainted with Macedonia and of
sent her
thoroughly exploring
to Serbs in
Even
after
in his " History."
Du^an's reign there
Geschichte der Serben,"
'
C. Jirecek,
'
" Relicto igitur ob
'
There are frequent references
it.
Macedonia
metum
i.
is
no
mention
of
p. 382.
recto traraite, sinistrum versus per
ovia contendere arduisque ac difficultibus locis applicare se perrexit,
donee Htemo monte superato, in Tribalorum terrain, illa'sus furtiro
delapsus
est "
" Hist.
(Nicephori Gregorse,
Bizant.,"
xiii.
4,
8,
Bonn).
3 He mentions them as living near
Prosek (Prosaecum, a town on
the Vardar at the eastern opening of the Demir Kapija gorge now
p. 623, ed.
Interea pecuarius quidam Tribalus, iuxtra Prosacum in
vico Davidis nuncupato habitans Zimpanus (Zivan, a typical Serbian
in ruins)
*'
."
name), nomine auditis quae Cantacuseno
(Joannis Cantacuseni
Imperatoris Historiarum, iii. 394, vol. ii. p. 256)
near Philippi
(between Seres, Drama and Kavala, now in ruins) " Pauci enim
." (Ibid., iv. 45, vol. ii. 329;.
Tribali ex proximis vicis concurrentes
.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
Macedonia.
Bulgars in
45
Dusan was succeeded on the
throne of Serbia by his son Tsar Uros (1355-1371). His
" Stephan Uros, Tsar of the Serbs
official title was
^
In a document dating from 1365 the
Serbian Governor of the
Mladenovic,
Branko
sons of
county of Ochrid, call Tsar Uro "Autocrat of ail
Serbian, Greek, and the Maritime Regions." ^
Under the feeble reign of Tsar Uros, the division and
dismemberment of the Serbian Empire soon set in.
and Greeks."
Macedonia,
was divided
too,
into several parts, the
men
who had acted as governors under Dusan setting themselves up as independent princes in the districts over
which they
ruled.
This was an excellent opportunity
The
showing to whom Macedonia truly belonged.
new Macedonian sovereigns, who had broken away
from the Serbian Empire, were no longer in any way
They were independent and could style
bound to it.
for
themselves
as
they
pleased.
Had
their
Macedonian
subjects been Bulgars, there would have been no reason
why they should not have proclaimed themselves BulHereby they would not only have
garian sovereigns.
increased the loyalty of their subjects, but they would
have eliminated from Macedonia even the shadow of
the Serbian domination. But we find no trace of this.
All
parts of
and
their
Macedonia continued
sovereigns
continued
to
to
remain Serbian,
style
themselves
Serbian princes.
In Dusan's reign his half-brother (on his mother's
side) Simeun (Sinisa) was Governor in Epirus and part
Macedonia.
of
reign,
Simeun
in 1356
V. Grigorovie, " Ocerk putesestvija," p. 51. C. Jirecek, " Gesch.
Serben," i. p. 414.
' "Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol. iii. p. 31.
d.
During Uros's
MACEDONIA
46
an army composed
" Serbs,
Greeks, and
Albanians," and proclaimed himself independent " Tsar
gathered
Serbs and
of the Greeks,
signed his
name thus
all
of
Albania."^
In 1361 he
"
Simeun Palaeologos, god-fearChrist the Lord and Autocrat of the Greeks
ing Tsar in
On another occasion he styled himUros Palaeologos, god-fearing Tsar in
Christ the Lord and Autocrat of the Greeks and Serbs
and all Albania." 3
In Dusan's reign Vukasin Mrnjavic was Zupan in
and Serbs.
self
." ^
" Simeun
At the beginning
Prilep.
of his reign
Uros created him
a Despot, but Vukasin was not satisfied with this.
In
1366 he proclaimed himself an independent King and
ruled
over
the
territory
on either
side
of
Sar
the
Mountain with the chief towns of Prizren, Skoplje,
Prilep and Bitolj. In all these regions he was acknowledged by the inhabitants as King.
himself
"Lord
He
officially styled
of the Serbian land, of the Greeks,
the Western Regions."
In a
letter to the
and
Republic of
Ragusa on April 5, 1370, King VukaSin says of himself,
" and He (Christ) appointed me lord of all the land of
Serbia, of the Greeks and Western Regions." s
Vukasin's brother Ugljesa proclaimed himself inde-
pendent ruler of the neighbouring Macedonian counties
towards the
east.
In Serbian and Greek records he
spoken of as "Despot of Serbia."^
'
C. Jirecek, " Gesch. d. Serben,"
Fr. Miklosich
sBvi,"
iii.
and Jos.
i.
Miiller, "
is
Both Vukasin and
p. 415.
Acta
et
diplomata Grseca medii
p. 129.
"Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xviii. p. 201.
St. Novakovic, " Srbi i Turci " (" Serbs and Turks
C. Jirecek, "Gesch. d. Serben," i. pp. 423, 430, 433.
3
p.
"),
144.
Fr. Miklosich, " Monumenta Serbica," p. 180.
Fr. Miklosich et Jos. Miiller, " Acta et diplomata graeca medii sevi,"
St. Novakovic, " Srbi i Turci " (" Serbs sind
pp. 553, 558, 559, 571.
5
i.
Turks
"),
pp. 153, 155, 166.
C. Jirecek, " Gesch. d. Serben,"
i.
p. 431.
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
47
Ugljesa are referred to as "Serbian lords" also in a
contemporary Bulgarian chronicle
was penned
tongue, and from an
chronicle
view.''
in
altogether
in
the
Bulgarian
Bulgarian
point of
The author knew what he was writing
and his testimony
is
This
(1296-1413).
Bulgaria,
about,
perfectly reliable.
In the north-east of Macedonia, after having renounced their allegiance to him, two cousins of Uros,
the brothers Despot Jovan Dragas and Konstantin
Dejanovic ruled independently in the territory around
Istip,
Strumica, Kumanovo, Kratovo, and Velbuzd.
Oustendil.
in 1395 as
the
It
was renamed
Konstantin's daughter Helen speaks of him
"the most pious and the most illustrious of
was after this Konstantin
Serbian lords."
that Velbuzd
an
In 1401
envoy arrived in
Venice from "Konstantin (Dejanovic), lord of Serbia,
of that territory which surrounds our own territory of
Durazzo "
("
Constantini domini Serviae,
est circa territorium
Besides
the
nostrum Durachii
aforesaid
princes
territorii,
quod
").3
there
were also
in
Uros's time several lesser territorial lords in Macedonia,
such as Srbin Novak, the "Kesar" (treasurer) around
Lake Prespa, Branko Mladenovic of Ochrid, and Bogdan,
lord of the territory
between Salonica and Seres.4
Of
'
J. Bogdan, " Ein Beitrag zur bulgarischen und serbischen Geschichtschreibung " (" Archiv fiir slavische Philologic," iii. 1891,
The Chronicle is " ohne Zweifel in Bulgarien und von einem
p. 527).
Bulgaren geschrieben wurden, aussordem
ist
sie
in mittel-bulgar-
ist ganz vom
Standpunkte eines Bulgaren geschrieben " (p. 492).
"
Fr. Miklosich et Jos. Miiller, " Acta et dijilomata Grscca medii
sevi," ii. pp. 260, 201. St. Novakovic, " Srbi i Turci " (" Serbs and
Turks"), p. 190.
3 ' Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. iii. p. 198.
ischer Recension
<
erhalten "
(p. 490).
C. Jirecek, " Gesch. d. Serben,"
i.
"Die Chronic
pp. 415, 4o4.
MACEDONIA
48
none
of these
is
it
anywhere
said
that they were in
any way akin to Bulgars.
The Turks conquered Macedonia as a Serbian country.
Contemporaneously with the breaking-up of the Serbian
Empire after Dusan's death came the spreading of the
Turks in Europe. Already during Dusan's lifetime the
Turks took Gallipoli from the Greeks (1354) and thence
began to attack both Byzantine and Serbian territory.
During the
feeble reign of Tsar
Uros they had already
In 1365 Adrianople was
overrun a considerable part.
already the Turkish capital, and the whole territory
from the Sea of Marmora to the Balkan Mountains and
from the Black Sea to the Rhodope Mountains was in
the hands of the Turks.
The focus of the Turkish
power was consequently transferred from Asia to Europe.
In face of the Turkish peril the Serbian princes were
compelled to think of serious measures to defend themselves and their lands.
During the summer of 1371
Uglje^a Mrnjavic
from Thrace.
The advance
made
preparations to expel the Turks
He was
joined by his brother Vukasin.
against the Turks began in the
On September
that year.
autumn
26th a decisive encounter took
place between the Serbs and Turks on the left
the River Marica, to
Palanka
Cirmen).
of
to-day,
the
north
The Serbs
of
east
of
of
Cernomen (now
were defeated
VukaSin perished on the field.
Turks conquered Macedonia.
bank
of
the Mustafa-Pasha
After
called
and Ugljesa and
this
battle
the
Serbian and foreign historical sources agree in stating
was the Serbian army which was defeated on
the Marica, that Serbian princes perished, and that,
after the battle, Serbian lands were conquered.
Serbian historical sources look upon the disaster on
that
it
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
49
the Marica as an event of the Serbian past, and they
include
it
in
the category of Serbian historic events.^
contemporary
Monk
Serbian
the
of
who
Jsajija
on
battle
in
lived
the
Marica,
the
not
Seres,
far
from the spot where the bloody encounter took place
between
and
Serbs
the
Despot UgljeSa raised
Turks,
his
chiefs,
expel the Turks."
half
army
its
the
of
the
other
Vladislav Gramatik,
second
writer
beaten to
many
brother King VukaSin and
century, says that "the Serbian
Serbian
how
Serbian and Greek fighting
all
men and
to
"
relates
of
the
fifteenth
Macedonia was
which is called the
knees by the river
The Serbian Patriarch
of
writing in
Marica."
the
half of the seventeenth century, says that the
first
Turks
Pajsej,
after taking Adrianople " tried to enter
Serbian
and that they were opposed by Ugljea and
VukaSin with the Serbian forces.4
territory,"
The
Western Europe absolutely
historical sources of
agree with the
Serbian records as regards the battle
The news
not reach Pope Gregory XI
on the Marica.
May
of the
at
Serbian disaster did
Avignon
until the spring
King Loui3
Hungary, to inform him of the situation in the
Balkan Peninsula after the battle on the Marica, the
Pope says that in that battle several magnates of the
of 1372.
Writing
in
of
that year to
of
Kingdom
were defeated (" subactis quibusdam
magnatibus regnii Ptasciae"). That same year in the
of Serbia
autumn the Archbishop
"
of
Neopatra, in the duchy of
" Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol.
131, 139, 149, 151, 154.
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Natpisi " ("Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes "), No. 4944.
3 " Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol.
*
" Ibid.,
p. 222.
pp. 95, 126,
iii.
xxii, p.
287.
MACEDONIA
50
Athens, wrote to the Pope telhng him that " the Turks
had gained a
brilliant
victory over
sundry magnates
and the Kingdom of
of
Serbia," and that after subduing these lands the Turks
had advanced up to the frontiers of the duchy of Athens
Greece, Vallachia (Thessaly),
and the principality
The
of Achaia.^
records of the nearest neighbours of the Serbians,
the Roumanians, likewise speak of the disaster on the
Marica as
In a Eoumanian
of a Serbian defeat.
MS.
dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century,
Murat with the Turks
attacked UgljeSa and Vukain. They gathered together
a great Serbian army and accepted battle with the
the Turks were finally victorious, and
Turks
we
are told
that
in
1371
''
UgljeSa and Vukasin were slain in the valley of the
Marica in 1371." ^
And
opponents of the Serbs in
also the Turks, the
the battle of the Marica, and therefore intimately con-
Their annals,
nected with these events, wrote similarly.
which Zinkeisen drew upon
in
compiling his Turkish
History, say that " the Serbian infidels had gathered
together
Adrianople," but
attack
to
that
they
were
routed.3
Finally, the Bulgarian historical sources agree with the
rest.
The contemporary Bulgarian
referred
(1296-1413)
to
relates
chronicle
how
already
Vukain
and
Ugljesa "gathered a great Serbian army and went up
against the
to
'
"
oppose them,
of Serez,
how
how
there
the Turks
was a great
sallied forth
battle
and
C. Jirecek, " Gesch. d. Serben," vol. i. p. 440.
v. Grigorovic, " O Serbiji v ea otnoaeniah k sosednim derzavam,"
Kazan, 1859,
'i
town
J.
W.
Hamburg,
p. 17.
Zinkeisen,
1840,
i.
" Geschichte
p. 224.
des
oamanischen
Reiches,"
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
bloodshed on the
how
Marica, and
the
51
Turks slew
Ugljesa and Vukasin while the Serbs were in flight." ^
The Turkish historical sources, from which Zinkeisen takes his description of the battle on the Marica,
those of Negri,
viz.
and the
Sead-Edin,
Irdis-Bitlisi,
Turkish chronicler of Leunklav only have
of this battle, and were compiled a hundred
traditional
knowledge
the
years after
them the
to
battle
site of
had
taken
According
place.
the battle was called at that time
Sirb Zandughi, which signifies the Serbian peril.
place was always referred to by that name.
this
It
The
is
to
day called /Sr6-Sindigi (Serbian downfall), Srh Sidi
(the Serbian feared), or Srh
Hududi (Serbian
As there were no Serbs engaged
frontier)
.^
the battle on the
in
Marica save those from Macedonia, this Serbian peril
can only refer to the Serbs of Macedonia.
on the Marica did not yet put an end to
King VukaSin who
rule in Macedonia.
perished on the Marica was succeeded by his son, King
Marko (1371-1394), and his brothers Dmitar and Andrija.
The
the
battle
Serbian
the
Turkish
death the
Serbian
While acknowledging the suzerainty
Sultan,
King
of
Marko remained
his
until
Macedonia with his
of
Like-
capital in Prilep.
wise as a Turkish vassal Jovan DragaS Dejanovid ruled,
for
some time
afterwards
'
as
Konstantin and
jointly with his brother
sole
J. Bogdan, " Archiv
ruler,
fiir
over
the
around
territory
slavische Philologie,"
xiii. p.
528.
See the following references for the foregoing J. W. Zinkeisen,
" Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches," i.
225 N. Jorga, " Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches," i. 1908, Gotha, p. 241 Le Vte
de la Jonquiere, "Histoire de I'Empire Ottoman," i. Paris, 1914,
" Srbi i Turci," pp. 176-177; J. Miskovid,
p. 70; St. Novakovi6,
" Jedan PriloScic Marickom Boju "
"A Contribution to the Battle
on the Marica" (" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Aiademije "), vol Iviii.
*
p. 111).
MACEDONIA
52
Kumanovo,
Strumica,
Istip,
and
Kratovo
Velbuzd.
Finally, south of that, in the district between Salonica,
and Lake Dojran, lay Bogdan's
Seres,
state.
These
Serbian princes paid tribute to the Sultan and had to
him with
furnish
auxiliary contingents
were quite inde-
to war, but in all other respects they
pendent.
They
carried
when he went
of the Serbian
on the traditions
and restored
churches and monasteries, endowed them handsomely
and protected the Serbian people. King Marko (Kraljevic Marko) is to this day the most popular hero of
kings
in
their
territories
they
the national ballad poetry in
built
Serbian lands.
all
Fight-
King Marko and Jovan
ing as Turkish vassals both
Draga perished in the Battle of Rovine in 1394 against
the
Rqumanian Duke Mirce.
Turks
definitely
subjugated
After their
their
lands.
the
The
last
who can be
Serbian ruler in Macedonia was Bogdan,
up to the year 1413.
But the Serbian influence
death
traced
then.
extended
It
far
Turkish domination in
Macedonia did not end
in
into
the
days
dark
The
Macedonia.
of
influence
the
of
Serbian ruling and noble families persisted for a long
time
in
Macedonia, and disappeared
only
with
the
death in 1487 of the Sultana Marija, the daughter of
the Serbian Despot Djuradj Brankovic.
This princess
When she
was married to the Sultan Murat
became a widow in 1451 she at first returned to what
was left of free Serbia in those days but in 1457 she
quitted Serbia and took up her residence in Macedonia
at Jezevo near Seres, where she lived until her death.
Her life and work may be looked upon as a continuaII.
tion
of
the
Macedonia.
Serbian
rule
and
Although the spouse
Serbian
of
influence
in
a Turkish sultan,
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
53
she supported the Christian Churches, priests and
monks, and bestowed her charity upon the world of
the Christians. In her widowhood, highly respected
and generously treated by the
Sultan
Mehmed
II,
she enjoyed an ample and quasi- royal maintenance in
But what matters
Macedonia.
that
in
this
connection
is
she occupied the position of a kind of Serbian
sovereign in Macedonia.
In her
letters she writes like
a reigning Tsaritsa, assuming the royal
titles of the
Serbian kings in the days of their independence, " Carica
Mary).
She
Serbian
nationality
"
(Empress and Autocrat Lady
even more distinctly on her
samodrzica Kira Marija
insists
when
in
her
she
letters
clearly
indicates her connection with her Serbian kin (" Sultana
Cara
Murata,
Carica
Tsaritsa Mara,
Mara, kci
Djurdja Despota"
spouse of the Sultan Tsar Murat and
On
daughter of the Despot Djuradj).
her letters she
always employed her father's seal with the inscription
" Gospodin Despot Djuradj" (Lord Despot Djuradj).
The Sultana Marija went even
in
the spirit of
She worked
further.
Serbian kings of old.
the
She,
like
them, endowed churches and monasteries, and protected
them. She not only compelled the Turks to fulfil their
towards
obligations
the
Serbian people,
real sovereign, entered into relations
The Eagusan
besides Turkey.
letters
but,
like
with other States
archives contain
many
from her addressed to the Republic of Ragusa.
In these letters she arranged that the tribute which
the Bagusans were compelled to pay to the
Church
in
Serbian
Jerusalem at the time of the Serbian kings
should henceforth be given to the Serbian Monasteries
of Hilendar
" which
were
and
St.
built
Paul
by
at
our
the
Mount
ancestors
of
St,
Athos,
Simeorj
MACEDONIA
54
Nemanja, the Archbishop St. Sava, and others who
have succeeded them unto this day." In her letters
she refers to the Serbian laws, " which were compiled
my
by
imperial
Tsar
forbears,
Dusan
and
Tsar
Uros."
The Serbian kings had always paid special respect
to the memory of those godly men who first preached
Slavs.
There were many
Macedonia during the tenth
century. Because of their godly work they were canonized and popular legends about them grew up among
the people. After conquering Macedonia the Serbian
kings and nobles abundantly honoured the memory of
these preachers of Christianity by erecting monasteries
the Gospel to the Balkan
such
missionaries
in
over their graves or in places connected with their work.
Thus were founded
Macedonia the monasteries of
which were built by
King Milutin and dedicated to St. Jo van Sarandaporski,
the Monastery of the Blessed Archangel in Lesnovo,
Sarandapor
and
which was
built in
in
Nagoricino,
honour
of St. Gabriel
Lesnovski by
the Serbian Despot Oliver, and the Monastery of Eilo
which was built by the noble Hrelja in honour of
The Sultana Marija followed in the
St. John Bilski.
footsteps
of
the
Serbian kings
with regard to these
She restored the Monastery of Rilo. The body
John of Bilo, which had been worshipped as a
holy relic in the Eilo Mountain near this monastery
had since then been moved from one place to another
until it reached the Bulgarian capital of Trnovo.
Not
saints.
of
St.
wishing
it
to
remain in a foreign land, the monks of Rilo
begged that the remains
of St.
John
transferred to the Monastery of Bilo.
efforts
of
might be
Thanks to the
Bilski
the Sultana Marija the wish of the
Serbian
SERBIAN RULE IN MACEDONIA
monks was
fulfilled
with great
pomp and amid
55
a great
Thus the Serbian
concomrse of Serbs from Macedonia.
people of Macedonia realized the presence of a Serbian
Empress among them even
in the midst of the
Turkish
rule.
Before the end of her
life
the Sultana Marija brought
her sister Kantakuzina to live with her, and both together
Serbian people and the Christian faith
protected the
in
The Sultana
Macedonia.
1487, and
near
was
Seres.
laid to rest
Her
sister
on September 14,
in the Monastery of Kosanica
died
was buried
at
Konca, above
Stnimica.
Because of her devotion to the Christian
to
the
Sultana
Serbian
Marija
people
faith
and
an abundant tradition of the
has survived.
strip
of
the
coast
between Salonica and the Peninsula of Kasandra has
been named Kalamarija after her Mary the Good.
Only with the death
did the influence
of
Macedonia
come
finally
in
1487 of the Sultana Marija
the tradition of Serbian rule
to an end.
in
VI
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULES IN MACEDONIA
Comparative duration of Bulgarian and Serbian rules in Macedonia-^
Bulgars and conquered Slavs in Macedonia two nations Bulgars
are masters, and Macedonians slaves Reasons why they never
mingled No traces left of Bulgarian rule in Macedonia, either
Misconceptions concerning
The
Slav apostles natives of Macedonia Bulgars also receive Christianity from Macedonia Language of earliest Slav books merely
called " Slav Second Bulgarian rule in Macedonia, short,
tyrannical, and obnoxious
Serbs and Macedonians are but one nation Serbian rulers
the liberators and unifiers of the Serbian nation into one
state entity Serbian rule in Macedonia represents the zenith
of Serbian civilization Building of monasteries and intellectual
progress in Macedonia Serbian literature in Macedonia
Dusan's Code originated in Macedonia Macedonia the heart
and focus of the Seicbian Empire Serbian capitals situated in
Macedonia State Councils, at which the fate of the nation was
ethnically or as regards civilization
Bulgaria's role in the creation of Slav letters and literature
Macedonians pioneers of Christianity among the Slavs The
first
"
decided, held in Macedonia
was elevated
It
to the rank of
to that of a Patriarchate
was in Macedonia that Serbia
an Empire and the Serbian Church
Byzantine influence reaches Serbia
through Macedonia
BULGAEIAN
seen,
A.D. 1204,
from
rule in
a.d.
and from
Macedonia
lasted, as
we have
861 to a.d. 969, from a.d. 1202 to
a.d.
1230 to
and twenty-nine years in
all.
a.d. 1246,
one hundred
The Serbian
rule,
not
counting the reign of the Sultana Marija, lasted from
56
'
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
57
1282 to A.D. 1413, or one hundred and thirty-one
A.D.
years in
As regards length, there
all.
practically
is
nothing to choose between the Bulgarian rule and the
Serbian
in
Macedonia,
except,
perhaps,
in
so
far
was interrupted, whereas the
Serbian was continuous.
There is, nevertheless, a
great and real difference between the Bulgarian rule
the
as
Bulgarian
rule
and the Serbian in Macedonia.
The Bulgars and
the conquered Macedonians were two
different nations as regards origin, race,
Special conditions were required
Such
fusion into one nation.
to
and
civilization.
bring about their
in
was out
Macedonia
represented an infinitesimal layer, which kept
itself aloof
from the nation
with
it.
fusion, however,
The Bulgarian conquerors
of the question.
at large
When
and refrained from intermingling
the Bulgars took Macedonia for the
first
time from Byzantium they established their garrisons in
the cities and thence ruled the nation at large as the
Greeks had previously done.
Under these conditions
Macedonian populace, which was mostly rural,
merely exchanged one master for another. The Macethe
donian clans continued to
live
under their
tribal chief-
tains under the Bulgarian rule as they
had formerly done
under the Greek, only instead of paying tribute to the
Greeks they now paid it to the Bulgars.
Keliable
Byzantine sources actually mention that such relations
did subsist between the Macedonians and the Bulgars.
Between the Bulgarian masters and the conquered Macedonians there was no intermingling. And in Macedonia
the Bulgars represented only a superficial layer which
never penetrated the depths of the nation at large.
Macedonia the Bulgarian
J.
rule
was the same
Cameniata, cd. Bonn, 496,
p. 6.
In
as later on
MACEDONIA
58
the Turkish, which in more than five hundred years
failed
produce
to
The
population.
on
influence
changes in the indigenous
ethnical
no ethnical
remained
Bulgars, too, exercised
body
the
people
the
of
it
entirely unchanged.
The
period of Bulgarian rule in Macedonia falls
first
when
into the time
The population
civilization
For
was
Macedonia
of
still
was impossible
it
barbarians.
then,
concerned, far ahead of
is
reason
this
the Bulgars were
its
as
as
far
conquerors.
the Bulgars to
for
leave traces of a Bulgarian civilization in Macedonia.
To
the
Macedonian
Slavs
falls
middle
the
ninth
towards the
of
Slav Christian books and
From
dialect.
the
honour
MSS. were
that,
the
centm-y,
first
written in their
has arisen a misapprehension, as
this
had been written in
the Bulgarian tongue and as though the Bulgars were
though the
earliest Slav writings
responsible
for
this
achievement.
The very
stage
at
which Bulgarian civilization was at that time gives the
Positive facts which we will
lie to such an assumption.
go into definitely exclude any theory in favour of the
Bulgars.
Immediately after the immigration
of the Slavs into
the Balkan Peninsula, Christianity began gradually to
spread
among them.
Greek and
to
Roman
accept
isolated
but
in
oflicials,
missionaries induced the pagan Slavs
Among
Christianity.
mountain
smoothly,
Assisted by the imperial
tribes
the
matters
more
the
less-frequented,
not always
did
accessible
parts
of
go
the
Macedonia and
far
more
satisfactorily.
At
they
progressed
Thessaly,
a very early date new bishoprics were created whence
country, where there were
Christianity
cities,
as in
was propagated among the
Slavs,
Presently
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
Slavs were even ordained to the priesthood.
59
It is true
that divine service continued to be celebrated in Greek,
but the priests had to preach and to impart instruction to
the people in the Slav tongue. By adapting the words
of
their
native
priests laid
tongue to Christian ideas these Slav
the
foundations of Slav Christianity.
first
Thus the definite conversion of the Slavs to the Christian
Macedonia is
faith was largely prepared in Macedonia.
the cradle of Slav Christianity. But all this movement
no way connected
took place generations before any
towards converting the Slavs
with the Bulgars.
Bulgar
This
It
set foot in
was only the prelude
conversion of the Macedonian Slavs
This, too,
the Bulgars.
was
conquered
Method, natives
and complete adoption
was quite unconnected with
of their final
of Christianity.
ever
in
Macedonia.
first, jfartial
It
is
fully prepared before the
The
Macedonia.
of Salonica,
among
Bulgars
brothers Cyril
and
were the true apostles of
Being highly accomplished, they were also well acquainted with the Macedonian dialect.
Method was for many years Greek
Governor of a Slav province in Macedonia, before^the
Christianity
the
Slavs.
beginning of the Bulgarian conquest.
In 862 the Moravian princes, Rastislav and Svetopluk,
sent envoys to the Byzantine
Emperor Michael
III,
asking for missionaries acquainted with the Slav tongue
and the Christian
faith,
who would
in the Slav language in Moravia.
Method were chosen
translated the
introduce Christianity
For
this task Cyril
and
they invented the Slav alphabet,
most needful
liturgic writings into the
of the
Holy Scriptures and
language of the Macedonians,
and undertook the charge entrusted to them in Moravia.
The mission
of the
Moravian princes
falls into
the year
MACEDONIA
60
862, and the Bulgars began their conquest of Macedonia
in 861.
Long
Method were
knew was
translating the Holy
before that date Cyril and
The
in Constantinople.
Slav language they
Their labours in
the Macedonian.
Scriptures are outside any connection with the Bulgars.
In
all
records, both contemporary
language
is
The
Bulgarian.^
the
their
great achievement of the foundation
of Slav letters is in
Likewise
and subsequent,
simply the Slav, and nowhere the
called
no way connected with the Bulgars.
systematic
spreading
of
Christianity
among the Balkan Slavs by the disciples of Cyril and
Method was also undertaken independently of the
Bulgars.
The time when
the Bulgars were establishing themMacedonia coincides with the beginning of the
persecution of the followers of Cyril and Method in
selves in
Some of them sought refuge in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Tsar Boris (852-888) received them well,
but did not keep them in Bulgaria, sending them on to
Moravia.
Macedonia
instead.
Bulgaria was not a suitable
field for
the Slav preachers of Christianity.
Towards the end
of the seventh century the
Bulgars had destroyed the
first
Turanian
harvest of the Gospel
which Christian missionaries had sown among the Slavs
before the arrival of the Bulgars in those countries which
they subdued.
'
all
long time elapsed before
we
find fresh
V. Djeric, Professor at the University of Belgrade, has studied
history sources from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, in which
the language of the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula of that period is
mentioned, and found nowhere that the language of the earliest Slav
books is called anything but Slav. There are no traces at all of the
Srpskom imenu u Staroj
Bulgarian designation (V. Djeric, "
Srbiji i Makedoniji" ("The term 'Serbian' in Old Serbia and
Macedonia"), Belgrade, 1904, pp. 32-38.
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
among
attempts to introduce Christianity
As with
all
barbarians, the
fraught with
Even
difficulty.
frequently reverted
work
to their
the Bulgars.
of converting
who were
those
old
faith.
61
them was
baptized
Neither were
who adopted ChrisTsar Boris, who became a
such of the Bulgarian sovereigns
tianity
reliable
converts.
Christian, abdicated about a.d. 888 in favour of his son
Vladimir, but soon found himself compelled to resume
the reins of government because the
new Tsar renounced
Christianity and reverted to paganism.
Boris defeated
him, blinded him for punishment, and placed his younger
son Simeon upon the throne.
time taken considerable root
Islam, too, had by this
among
the Bulgars.
Pope
Nicholas mentions in a letter that Saracen books were
found among the Bulgars.
cenis
vos
abstulisse
{Libri profani, quos a Sara-
apud
ac
vos
Neither did the Bulgarian people,
many Turanian
qualities
present a suitable
Finally,
field
in
their
who
still
preserved
pristine
savagery,
growth
for the
of Christianity.
Bulgaria had not
the Slav language in
assumed a
habere perhibetis.)
yet
definite form.
In Macedonia, the cradle of Slav Christianity, conditions
of
were altogether
Christianity
among
different.
the
Slavs
There the spreading
was not
in
any way
its progress was constantly maintained.
There no Bulgarian influence interfered with the lan-
impeded, but
The Holy Scriptures could be understood by
everybody.
The race was pure and of settled habits.
guage.
These were suitable conditions
for the lofty mission of
the persecuted Slav ministers of the Gospel from Moravia.
For
this reason
Tsar Boris directed them to Macedonia,
Macedonia that the new era of Slav Christianity
then began, with the Holy Scriptures no longer in
It is in
MACEDONIA
62
Greek, but in the Slav tongue, and with divine service
celebrated in Slav.
There were compiled fresh transand there were laid the
lations of the Christian writings,
first
foundations of Slav literature.
tianity
made
a vigorous
beams spread in
Bulgaria, and to Eussia.
radiant
This
is
all
This Slav Chris-
From Macedonia
start.
directions
to
Serbia,
its
to
the substratum of fact in the great legend of
the part played by Bulgaria in the
first
introduction
and letters among the Slavs.
As uncivilized foreigners and invaders, the Bulgars
could only be hated in Macedonia.
That is why the
Macedonian Slavs rebelled against them, drove them out,
freed themselves and established a state of their own.
Thus ended the first Bulgarian rule in Macedonia, nor
did there remain in Macedonia either ethnical traces of
of Christianity
it
or the legacy of a civilization.
The second Bulgarian rule
easily won success during an
was short
only twenty-one
in
Macedonia represents an
auspicious opportunity.
years in
all
It
far too short a
time to alter the ethnic character of a large country.
Moreover, this time also the Bulgars only garrisoned the
towns without having intercourse with the native popumingling with it. Lastly, the Bulgarian rule
lation or
was
so barbarous that
among
it
inspired nothing but loathing
The Bulgarian rulers were cruel and
tyrants.
They knew no moderation in deal-
the nation.
bloodthirsty
ing with a conquered populace.
Theii pri?icipes imperii
(Princes of the Empire) were mere savages.
Frankish
and Byzantine historians describe the disgusting cruelty
of the Bulgarian Tsar Kalojan (1197-1207).
Ivanko, the
nephew and assassin of Tsar Asen I, used to have Greek
prisoners executed during his banquets in order to add
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
and enjoyment.
zest to his revelry
who was governor
Strez,
a sample of
of part of
Macedonia during
a fair representative of Bulgarian
is
rule in Macedonia.
is
Bulgars brought to Macedonia.
the kind of rule the
the Bulgarian rule,
This
63
In his castle at Prosek, perched on
a rock high above the Vardar, he had a wooden platform
where it was his custom, when he was in his cups,
condemn men to death for the shghtest offence,
causing them to be cast from the platform into the
built,
to
torrent of the Vardar far
below.
" While the poor
wretches were being dashed to pieces on the rocks, he
used to shout in mockery
skin
!
'
'
:
There was no place
Mind you do not spoil your
for those cast down to fall,
man was
not rescued thence by
by godfearing men, or washed
ashore by the waves, he remained in the river, and was
devoured by the fish."
except the river.
some
If a
of his kinsfolk, or
Thus a contemporary, who was perhaps an eye-witness
Bulgarian rule in Macedonia.^
Such are the memories of the second Bulgarian
of these horrors, describes the
rule in Macedonia.
Serbian rule
character
it
in
is
Macedonia bears quite a
bound up with altogether
different
different
memories.
The Serbs and
the Macedonians are one and the
nation as regards origin, race, and
were
no
them that had to be
The Serbs were not conquerors
Macedonia, but liberators.
records refer to the
same
There
between
differences
adjusted or equalized.
or aggressors in
civilization.
Mediaeval
Serbian rulers as the "liberators"
"^ivot Svetoga Save" ("Life of
St.
ed. Dj. Danicid, Belgrade, 1860, p. 106.
Sava"), by Domentijan,
MACEDONIA
64
and "gatherers"
(osvoboditelji)
(savakupitelji) into
one
realm of the whole Serbian nation.
The Serbs in Macedonia did not represent a ruling
who had brought
but the sons of a brother nation,
class,
They
freedom.
Maceand prosperity.
Macedonia, Serbia had
did not seek riches and booty in
donia, but themselves imported wealth
At the time
of her acquisition of
attained a high level of material prosperity.
in minerals, agricultural
neighbours had so enhanced
even Bulgars
The
left their
effects of the
Her
Serbia's reputation
that
country and emigrated to Serbia.
wealth of King Milutin were
beyond the borders
trade
produce, and cattle with her
Serbia,
of
felt far
Constantinople, in
in
Salonica and Jerusalem, where he built churches and
hospitals for the poor.
In Duan's time Serbia was the
Balkan Peninsula.
DuSan
endowed monasteries " on a golden scale," and showrichest
ered
country
gifts
in
all
in
the
On
directions.^
their
entrance into
Macedonia the Serbs caused the Macedonians to share
in their freedom, prosperity, and wealth.
While the Bulgarian rule in Macedonia marked the
acme of barbarity, the Serbian rule brought a golden era
of Serbian civilization.
Upon their entrance into Macedonia the Serbs destroyed and abolished nothing.
was the opposite that was the
case.
It
During the short
time that he ruled in Skoplje, King Uro confirmed the
Church in all its old privileges which had been granted to
it by the Bulgarian Tsar Asen II.
Tsar DuSan overwhelmed the Monastery of St. Jovan PreteSa founded
by the Greek Emperor Andronikos and situated near
Serez
with
and
endowed
'
his
it
generosity,
by
granted
patents
it
specially
C. Jirecek, " Geseh. d. Serben,"
i.
certain
drawn
pp. 338, 391.
rights
up
in
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
All monasteries
Greek. I
respected by the Serbs.
which enjoyed
65
and holy places in Macedonia were
The Greek cities of Macedonia,
under the Greek
special privileges
rule,
were confirmed in these privileges by special decree.
By acquiring Macedonia the Serbs merely extended to
her the
field for
developing their civilization.
While
of
Bulgarian rule in Macedonia there remains not
one typical church, nor painting, nor literary record, the
the
mementoes
of the rule of the
Serbs in Macedonia are
cogent proof of their presence there.
The
list
Serbs have
endowed
By
'
in
of
churches
either
built
Macedonia,
is
and
or
monasteries which
or
restored,
the
handsomely
a long one.
the consensus of expert opinion
all
these churches
V. Grigorovic, " Ocerk putesestvija," p. 145,
C. Jirecek, " Gesch. d. Serben," i. p. 386.
We
cannot refrain from mentioning at least some of the principal
among those which the Serbian kings either built or
restored in Macedonia, viz. the Church of Our Blessed Bedeemer
near Custendil, which Stephan Decanski built to commemorate
his victory over the Bulgars and to which we have already
King Milutin built the Church of Our Blessed Lady
referred.
3
monasteries
Trojerucica (with the three hands) at Skoplje the Church of St.
the Church of St. John
George Nagoriiinski near Kumanovo
Sarandaporski in the same neighbourhood the Church of St. George
on the River Spreva in Skoplje St. Constantine's in Skoplje the
Church of St. Nikita Martyr near Skoplje. Dusan built the Chm-ch
the Monastery of Treskavac near
of Our Blessed Lady in Tetovo
the Monastery of Zr::e near Prilep the Church of St. John
Prilep
Preteca near Serez. Tsar Uros built the Church of Our Blessed Lady
;
King Vukasin and his sons built the Church of St.
Skoplje.
Demitrius (Marko's Monastery) near Skoplje. Tsar Simeon (Sinisa)
built the Churches of the Holy Archangel and St. Elias in Kostur and
the Church of Our Blessed Lady in Janjina. Uglesa built the Monastery of Samotrepa. Constantine Dejanovic built the Monastery of
Osogovo near Kriva Palanka. Despot Oliver built the Monastery
Hrelja built the Monastery of Eilo and the
of Lesnovo near Istip.
Chnrch of the Holy Archangel in Istip. Novak built the Church of
Our Blessed Lady on the Isle Mali Grad in Lake Prespa, and so oh,
in
MACEDONIA
66
are classified as examples of Serbian architecture, Just the
same
as the monasteries in other Serbian countries.
of these edifices are to-day in ruins
Many
but so far as they
have been preserved they bear witness to the high level
of Serbian architecture and artistic taste at the time.
them
The images
And they bear
in
sentations
Serbian
of
are
also
Serbian in character.
yet another Serbian sign, viz. the repre-
kings
and
w^orthies,
and
the
Serbian legends on those pictures.
When
building churches
and monasteries
in
Mace-
donia, the Serbian kings and princes liberally endowed
them with money and other property, such as villages
and tolls on produce, thus affording them facilities for
becoming centres of education and learning. They were
the seats of schools and literary studies.
Many
Serbian
books on various subjects were penned within their walls.
' The
Bulgarian agents have destroyed many of the paintings
representing Serbian kings and princes and the legends referring
Of those
to them in the churches and monasteries of Macedonia.
which have been preserved we
will mention the paintings representSerbian Archbishop of Serbia those of Tsar
Uros and King Marko in the Church of St. Demitrius neai* Skoplje
that of King Milutin in the Church of St. George Nagoricinski repre-
ing St. Sava, the
first
Queen Jelena, and the Kraljevic Uros in
the Monastery of St. Nicholas near Skoplje; paintings of Tsar Uros
and King Vukasin in the Church of St. Nicholas in Psaca (near
Kumanovo)
paintings representing Tsar Dusan, Tsaritsa Jelena,
Despot Oliver and his wife Marija in the Monastery of Lesnovo
those of Tsar Dusan, Tsaritsa Jelena, and their son Uros in the
Monastery of St. John Preteca near Serez
painting representing
King Vukaein in the Church of the Holy Archangel in Prilep, and
the picture of King Marko iu the church near Prilep. Paintings
representing Stephan Nemanja, St. Sava, Stephan Decanski, King
sentations of King Dusan,
MUutin, Tsar Uros, Milos Obilic, etc., have been preserved in the
churches and monasteries in Skopska Crna Gora (Montenegro).
" Everywhere these pictures were given the most prominent positions " (Srpska Kraljevska Aliademija, " Naselja Srpskih Zemalja ")
(" Settlement of the Serbian Lands"), vol. iii. pp. 500-507.
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
67
Besides those written in the Macedonian monasteries,
many contemporary Serbian books written elsewhere
have also been preserved.
In
of
all
these
it
is
men-
tioned that they were written during the reign of such
and such a Serbian ruler, or prince of the Church, and
on Serbian territory. Not one of them mentions Bulgars,
except in so far as some of these books commemorate
victories over the Bulgars.
Speaking of the Serbian
donia,
we must not
literary
forget
important among them,
Dusan's
Serbian
Code.
literature
This
and
mention
in
the
Macemost
perhaps the most important
of all the Serbian literary records
viz.
monuments
to
the Middle Ages,
of
celebrated
civilization
achievement
was
compiled
of
in
Macedonia, in Skoplje and Serez, at the State Counof 1349 and 1354.
Under the Bulgarian rule Macedonia was a mere
province of secondary importance, a march of the
Bulgarian Empire. Under the Serbian rule Macedonia
was the centre of the life of the Empire. As soon as
cils '(Sabor)
King Milutin had taken Skoplje he made it the capital
Dusan spent nearly the whole of his reign
of Serbia.
in Macedonia, where he had many royal residences.
In Prilep he built an Imperial palace for himself. The
winters of 1354 and 1355 he spent in his palace at
Serez was the residence of Tsaritsa Jelena,
Serez.
Dusan's wife. She continued to Uve there even after
she had taken the veil. Serez was subsequently the
Prilep was the permanent
capital of Jovan UgljeSa.
King Marko. Branko
and
King
Vukasin
capital of
Mladenovic made Ochrid his capital, and all the other
'
See Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
"), Nos. 34, 43, 56, 76, 102, 103, 4944.
Inscriptions and Notes
MACEDONIA
68
Serbian princes
who
ruled
in
Macedonia likewise had
their capitals there.
Most important events
took place
in
and the
life,
in
Serbia's
domestic history
Macedonia, the heart of Serbian State
fate
of
the Serbian nation was decided
In
within her borders.
Macedonia were held those
Serbian State Assemblies or Councils (Sabor= Assembly,
Council
Srpske
Sabor Srpski
Council
Serbian
of
Serbian Council
Land Council
the Fatherland,
actually called in old historic
Sabor otacastvija
as
Sabor Zemlje
these
assemblies
records)
at
are
which most
decisions were taken.
We have already
two of these Councils, those of Skoplje and
which Dusan's Code was compiled. At the
far-reaching
referred to
Serez, at
Council of Skoplje in 1346, Serbia was proclaimed an
Empire, and Dusan crowned the
first
Serbian Tsar.
At the same Council the Archbishopric of Serbia was
raised to the rank of a Patriarchate.
The Bishopric
of
Lesnovo was created at the Council of Skoplje in 1347.
At the Council of Serez in 1354 a new Patriarch was
appointed. A Council was held in Krupiste, south of
Kostur, in 1355.
In 1357 there was another Council
in Skoplje, and so forth.
It
her
was
full
in
Macedonia that Serbia not only achieved
strength and significance, but also her complete
development. It was there that on Easter
Sunday, April 17, 1346, Serbia proclaimed herself an
external
Empire
at the State Council in Skoplje.
The
greatest
day in Serbia's past was celebrated in Macedonia, when
Serbia became an Empire and the Serbian King and
Queen were proclaimed Tsar and Tsaritsa. There the
new Serbian Imperial Palace became the equal of that
in
Constantinople
attendant nobility.
in
splendour,
ceremonial,
and
its
SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN RULE
69
Such are the memories bequeathed to Macedonia by
the Serbian rule. While national tradition in Macedonia
does not
retain
Bulgarian
rule,
memento
even the slightest
it
the
of
cherishes naught but events from the
Serbian past, and none but heroes of ^Serbian history.
Such was the Serbian
rule in Macedonia.
*
Macedonia undoubtedly also influenced Serbia. But
even here we find no trace of anything Bulgarian. It
was purely a Greek influence. Macedonia is an old
Greek province. Although after the immigration of
the Slavs the population became Slav in the majority,
yet Greek civilization remained strong within her. Very
frequently in the cities the Greeks were in the majority.
They
already possessed Christianity
commerce, and administration were
All
of
During the Serbian
Macedonia.
For
this
in their hands.
all
subsequently passed over to the" Serbs in
this
memory
power,
learned professions,
higher civilization, the
literature,
ecclesiastical
rule in
Macedonia the
quite fresh.
Greek domination was
reason Macedonia is sometimes referred to
of the
still
as the " Greek country " in old
were the Greeks or Greek
Nor
Serbian records.
literature in
any way
sup-
pressed by the Serbian sovereigns. The latter styled
themselves rulers of the " Serbs and Greeks." The State
ceremonial,
official titles,
usage of that
age
the
life of
the Court and Serbian
many ways
in
betray the
Greek
This was Serbia's experience in conquering
influence.
Macedonia, an experience which continued to gain
strength in time,
in
spite of
her being already under
the influence of Byzantine culture.
Of the Bulgars and
Bulgarian influence in Macedonia, Serbia felt nothing,
nor could she have felt anything, for indeed there was
none
left in
Macedonia.
VII
TURKISH RULE IN MACEDONIA
Serbian
of the Bulgars under Turkish rule
not arrested by Turkish conquest Macedonians
remain Serbian under Turkish rule Significance of the independent Serbian Patriarchate for the Serbian nation during the
Turkish rule Macedonia an integral part of the Serbian
Complete disappearance
national
life
Patriarchate
WITH
Macedonia under the Turkish
domination, every connection between her and
Serbia was severed. Surely this was the moment for
the Macedonians to prove what they truly were. And
they proved it. During the whole time of the Turkish
rule in Macedonia, the Macedonians have remained Serbs.
Meantime there were no causes at work- which might have
the
fall
of
wrought changes to the advantage of the Bulgars. The
Bulgarian Empire was conquered by the Turkish during
the Turkish invasion of 1393, before the final
Macedonia.
Turkish
known
of
Bulgaria disappeared completely under the
rule,
as
fall
and
for centuries she
though she did not
exist.
was as utterly un" Under the Turks,
the Bulgars ceased to exist as a nation
they were only
a host of individuals, oppressed, vanquished,
to abject misery.
Even
the designation
'
and reduced
nation
'
(jazik)
had disappeared, and its place was taken by the word
khora, which means a multitude, a rabble of ignorant
Such
folk, condemned to labour and to forced labour."
70
TURKISH RULE IN MACEDONIA
71
the description of the Bulgars during the Turkish
IB
by the Bulgarian historian M. Drinov, a Bulgar
rule,
by nationality, Professor
and the
first
Harkow
at the University of
Minister of Public Instruction in resusci-
tated Bulgaria.^
How
could a Bulgaria in this condition
have had any power to Bulgarize the Serbian people of
Macedonia under the Turkish rule
'?
As regards the
was
Serbs, the case
Therefore
different.
the Serbian sentiment of the Macedonians never flagged.
The Serbian
the
fall of
Macedonia survived
principalities north of
Macedonia
for
many
3^ears (Serbia until 1459,
Bosnia until 1463, Hercegovina until 1482, Zeta until
So long as these States survived, Macedonia
1499).
looked upon them as a pledge of
hope for liberation
from the Turks and the return of the conditions which
prevailed before the Turkish conquest.
The story of the
fall of
the Serbian States teems with glorious examples
of heroic fighting
and
self-sacrifice,
which have enriched
the popular traditions of Macedonia even as they enriched
Nor
those of every other Serbian country.
disappear under the Turks.
Turkish Empire in the Balkan Peninsula
woven with
did the Serbs
Tlie entire history of the
Serbia's share, in
is
strongly inter-
which the Macedonians
always played a thoroughly Serbian part.
staunch guardians of
their
national
They were
Serbian
feeling,
and monasteries, Serbian culture
Finally, they were also warriors for the
their Serbian churches
and
history.
liberation of the Serbian people
from the Turkish yoke.
Under the Turkish rule it was an accepted fact
the nation which possessed an autonomous Church
retained
its
status and significance as a nation.
who had no autonomous Church were simply
'
" Periodiceskoe Spisanie,"
iv. p.
(in
that
also
Christians
so
Bulgarian).
many
MACEDONIA
72
Turkish subjects, without any nationahty or status of
The Bulgars had no autonomous church
own.
their
under the Turkish
When
rule.
the Turks conquered the
Bulgarian Empire they likewise abolished the Bulgarian
autonomous Patriarchate
in
Trnovo, and
affiliated it to
the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople.
of the chief reasons
fatherland
why
"had no
This
is
the Bulgars even in their
one
own
existence as a nation" under the
Turks, but only as a " host of individuals."
Even under
the Turkish rule the Serbs retained their autonomous
The Serbian autonomous
Church.
whose
spiritual
continued in
Patriarchate of Ipek,
powers extended over Macedonia
many
respects to
embody the
role
formerly by the Serbian State.
Herein
why
everywhere,
Serbian
the
nation
has
also,
played
the reason
lies
including
Macedonia, preserved the national Serbian consciousness.
The autonomous Churches
possessed a vast significance
They were,
under the Turkish regime.
so far as Turkish
abuses permitted, a kind of imperium in imperio.
They
were absolutely independent as regards the religious and
national affairs of their adherents. In all the autonomous
Christian Churches in Turkey the election of the Patri-
arch and
all
other dignitaries of the Church was free.
The Sultan was merely entitled to confirm them in their
The Patriarch was the highest spiritual
dignities.
authority,
and the supreme guardian
He was
interests of his people.
freedom to exercise his
protect
national
so long as
spiritual functions,
traditions,
these did
the Turkish State.
of
the national
not only allowed
full
but also to
customs, and institutions,
not clash with the interests of
The
ecclesiastical
entitled to administer justice.
Not only
and the clergy came under their
authorities were
religious matters
jurisdiction, but they
TURKISH RULE IN MACEDONIA
were the
arisinjr
temporal courts of justice in
real
from the
rites
and
73
matters
all
Church.
ordinances of the
All
questions pertaining to marriage and divorce were dealt
Even
with by the spiritual courts.
the question of the
dowry, the maintenance of a divorced wife, and the care
of the children of divorced parents were dealt with by
They were empowered
these courts.
also to administer
the laws dealing with wills and bequests, the question of
inheritance, the adoption of children, and everything else
in
The
any way connected with religious observance.
Church was
also the authority
in educational matters.
Schools, letters and literature were the exclusive province
of the clergy.
nation possessing no Church autonomy
under the Turks was also without the means of
guarding
its
everywhere
existed
The Church
civilization.
under
Turkish
the
parish,
rule,
safe-
which
was an
whose scope the nation was entitled
and national needs. Through
it the higher dignitaries of the Church were in touch
with the common people. From the patriarch on his
institution within
to minister to its spiritual
throne to the poorest of the poor
and
all
all
were in
direct touch,
were imbued with the same religious and national
spirit.
The Serbian
prelates
were
the
chiefest
and most
eloquent representatives of the unity and solidarity of
the nation.
its
natural envoys and
relations
with the Turkish
As such they were
representatives in
Government and
all
its
its officials.
On
behalf of their people
they concluded treaties with the Turks, protested against
acts of injustice, offered themselves as hostages for the
sake of the people, and exposed themselves to endless
dangers.
The
lesser clergy
and the people obeyed them
they submitted to the guidance of the princes of
the
1i
MACEDONIA
Church and every notable act was connected with them.
church were built, if a picture were painted in a
church, if a book were written, copied or transcribed, or
a well constructed, there was always inscribed upon them
that this was work done during the reign of such and
such a Patriarch or Bishop. The names of the Serbian
prelates, as inscribed in these legends, seem as though
they were the names of temporal sovereigns.
So great was the part played by the autonomous
Churches under the Turkish rule. Such a p^rt devolved
also upon the autonomous Church of Serbia, whose
domain at all times included Macedonia also.
If a
VII {Continued)
MACEDONIA FROM THE LOSS OF HER INDEPENDENCE TO THE SUPPRESSION OF THE
SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE (1413-1459)
The roh
of the Serbian State devolves
Character
among
Serbian
the
of
upon the Serbian Patriarchate
the Macedonian clergy
Serbian
Serbian sentiment
sentiment among the
Patriarchate
The Macedonians seek refuge only among
among kinsmen with the Serbs Part played
by Macedonians among the Serbs as a whole
Macedonian people
Serbs
They
feel
MACEDONIA'S
was not
about 1413.
from
the
independence,
totally
as
we have
seen,
Turks
until
destroyed by the
After the Turks had wrested Macedonia
Serbs,
the
of
role
the
Serbian
State
in
Macedonia was taken over by the autonomous Patri-
Not until
on the Morava and
archate of Serbia, whose seat was in Ipek.
the
fall
of
the
Danube
in
1459
Serbian
did
State
Turks
the
also
dissolve
the
Serbian Patriarchate.
During the time
of
the
Serbian Patriarchate, none
but Serbs occupied the Patriarchal throne.
All episcopal
thrones dependent upon the Patriarchate See, were
wise occupied by
like-
who were Serbs. All the
monks were Serbs. In all Serbian
bishops
parish priests and the
countries, as well as in Macedonia,
all
the churchmen
taught and upheld the religious, intellectual, and national
traditions of the old Serbian State
75
life.
With
the help
MACEDONIA
76
of the
populace they built
new churches and
and restored the old ones.^
monasteries,
Within these churches and
monasteries, divine service continued to be celebrated in
the same tongue as
age, carried
to
had been
it
The
Serbian Empire.
in
the days of the
clergy, the only scholars of that
on their Old Serbian
literary tradition,
adding
and transcribing the extensive material of Old Serbian
Serbian literary records of those days are to
literature.
be found in Skoplje, Mlado Nagoricino, and elsewhere.^
Hov/ strong was the Serbian sentiment of the Macedonian
scribes and chroniclers of those days may be shown by an
example. In 1434 a monk of Skoplje who lived in the
village of
made
Vitomirci, near Skoplje,
of the Gospels.
a copy of one
In dating his work he mentions that
"in the seventh year after the death of the
Honourable Despot Stephan (Stephan, son of Lazar,
Despot of Serbia, 1389-1427), in the Empire of the infidel
he wrote
it
What
Emperor Murat."3
after the fall of
caused this monk, so long
Macedonia, and so
far
from the
free
Serbian States, to remember the Serbian Prince, and to
mention the death
work?
of
Despot
Stephan in dating his
Does he not give expression
to
the general
popular feeling of the Macedonians towards the Serbian
princes ?
Side by side with the Serbian sympathies of the
Macedonian clergy we find records of similar feelings
among the mass of the people. The Serbian people did
not fare well in "the Empire of the mfidel Emperor
'
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Natpisi "
("
Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes "), i. Nos. 254, 273.
J. H. Vasiljevic,
" Pritep i nijegova Okolina " (" Prilep and its Environs "), p. 84.
^
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari
Inscriptions and Notes
3
Ibid.,
No. 261.
"),
i.
Srpski Zapisi
Nos. 261, 313,
Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
etc.
HER INDEPENDENCE
THGE LOSS OF
That
Murat."
emigration
of
why
is
so
Turkish conquest
Serbian
of
proceeded
afterwards
of Bulgaria
many
from
fled
began during the
in
in
is
and
1371,
Until
uninterruptedly.
Bulgaria
the
fall
the
deciding
Under
and Serbia.
such circumstances the chance of refuge
people
days of the
1393 there were two countries open to
the Macedonian refugees
own
The stream
it.
earliest
territory
77
among
There
factor.
emigrants from Macedonia to Bulgaria
one's
were
they
no
fled
all
One of the first notable refugees was the
Lady Jefimia, widow of the Serbian Despot Ugljesa
whose throne was in Serez, as we have said before.
Serbia.
to
Vuk
Brankovic, the son of Branko
Ochrida and
of
its
neighbourhood,
Mladenovic, lord
is
mentioned
sub-
sequently to 1371 as living in Serbia as lord of part of
Kosovo Polje and the surrounding
What
applies to
applies also to the nation at
likewise fled to Serbia, or in
After the battle on the Marica in 1371,
Serbs.
numbers
of
men from Macedonia
plain
and household
families
Some
of the refugees
negro,
and others
goods
and
of
its
were
with
took refuge in
great
their
Serbia.
from Macedonia went to Monte-
to other Serbian countries.
ever they went they were received
party
territory.^
we have mentioned,
large.
The common people
any case took refuge among
the refugees
Macedonians
as
"Wher-
true Serbs.
who emigrated from Kratovo
surroundings and fled to the Serbs in Bagusa,
once received as Ragusan citizens,3 and this was
a privilege never extended by the Ragusans to aliens.
at
"Vuk Brankovic," Belgrade, 1888, p. 15.
G. S. Rakovski, " Gorski Putnik " ("A Traveller through the
Mountains "), Novi Sad, 1857, pp. 267-268 (in Bulgarian).
'
Lj. Kovacevid,
St.
Novakovic,
pp. 184-185,
" Srbi
Turci "
("Serbs
and
Turks"),
MACEDONIA
78
The descendants
of
emigrants very
Macedonian
quently distinguished themselves and became
of the Serbian nation.
one
of
the greatest
fre-
the pride
ancestors of Dinko Zlataric,
The
of the
Serbian poets of Kagusa,
emigrated from Macedonia to Eagusa in those days.^
All this happened while the Bulgarian Empire still
existed.
It
due merely to chance that
emigration from Macedonia was in spite
surely not
is
the stream of
of the existence of a free Bulgaria
directed exclusively
towards Serbia and the rest of the Serbian countries.
This trend of the stream of emigrants from among
the Serbs of Macedonia towards Serbia and Serbian
countries,
which
was due
persisted equally after the
It
is
noteworthy
also a
to
the
fall of
or
the Bulgarian Empire.
Eoumania
Serbian countries,
to
kinship,
fact that after the fall of their
Empire the Bulgars themselves
Serbia
national
and, later on,
did not
emigrate
to
but went mostly to
from the eighteenth century
onward, to South Bussia.^
In their new home among the Serbs, the Macedonian
emigrants felt as though they were in their own country.
During the
Turkish
domination
Serbs of
the
other
Serbian countries, too, found themselves compelled to
emigrate elsewhere, especially to
Hungary.
Wherever
they went, the emigrants from Macedonia and those
from other Serbian lands felt as though they were
one nation. Possessing the same language, the same
customs, a
common
P. Budmani,
Dominic Zlataric
'
" Djela
past,
common
historic
Dominika Zlatarica
"
("
traditions
The Works
of
Zagreb, 1899, p. ix.
^
G. S. Rakovski, " Gorski Putnik " (" A Traveller through the
Mountains "), p. 271. A. N. Pipin and V. D. Spasovic, " Istorija
Slavjanskih Literatur" ("History of Slav Literature"), Petrograd,
"),
1879, p. 139 (in Russian).
THE LOSS OF HER INDEPENDENCE
and
their
common
common
79
aspirations touching the preservation of
nationality, they established their Serbian
parishes jointly
jointly
they built churches, opened
schools and jointly they faced every danger.
This fact
was noted long ago even by the Bulgars.^
Among the emigrant Serbs some of those who had
originally
emigrated
from Macedonia distinguished
themselves
considerably.
After
the
death
of
the
King Marko of Macedonia in 1394, his
Dmitar and Andrejas left Macedonia and
settled
among the Ragusan Serbs. The Ragusans
received them cordially and delivered to them a certain
treasure which their father, unknown to them, had
Serbian
brothers
in former years entrusted to the care of Eagusa.
From
Kagusa the Macedonian princes proceeded to Hungary,
where there were already large numbers of Serbian
emigrants from Macedonia and other Serbian territories.
Historic records of 1404 and 1407 mention Dimitrije
(Dmitar) as Grand Zupan of Zarand and Royal
Commandant of the city of Villagos, where there were
many
Serbian emigrants.^
G. S. Rakovski, one of the greatest Bulgarian chauvinists,
mentions that the Macedonian emigrants in Srem and South
Hungary called themselves Serbs and Greeks (G. S. Rakovski,
" Gorski Putnik," pp. 267-268).
' St, Novakovic, " Srbi i Turci " (" Serbs and Turks
"), p. 247.
'
VII {Continued)
MACEDONIA FROM THE SUPPRESSION OF THE
SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE TO ITS RESTORATION
(1459-1557)
Suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate and its supersession by the
Archiepiscopate of Ochrida Greek character of the Archiepiscopate Slav and Serbian clergy in it Detriment caused
to the Serbian nation by the suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Vitality of the Serbian nation The Archiepiscopate
Sad plight of the Serbian people in
of Ochrida "Serbicized"
Serbian literature barely kept alive in Macedonia
Serbian sentiment of the clergy in Macedonia Serbian historic
records and sources call the Macedonians " Serbs " Other
historic sources do the same
those days
the Turks suppressed the Serbian Patriarchate
IN and transferred
the administration of the Church to
14:59
the self-governing Archiepiscopal See of Ochrida.
The Archbishopric
of
Ochrida was founded by
St.
Clement {oh. 916), a disciple of SS. Cyril and Method,
who had come to Macedonia from Moravia. At the
time of
its
foundation the Archiepiscopal See received
the rank of a Patriarchate.
the
Bulgarian rule
in
Bulgarian Patriarchate.
As
it
was founded under
the
it was called
Macedonia,
The
official title of
the Arch-
bishop of
Ochrida was "Patriarch (afterwards
bishop) of
Justiniana Prima and
the Bulgarians
Ochrida
ruled
in
was the head
all
Bulgaria."
Arch-
While
Macedonia the Patriarch
of
the
Bulgarian
of
Church.
THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
When
Macedonians
the
expelled
the
81
from
Bulgars
Macedonia in 969, Ochrida remained the independent
Church of the Empire of Samuel and his successors.
When the Emperor of Byzantium in 1018 overthrew
Samuel's State, he respected the self-governing Patriarchate of Ochrida and maintained
rights
and
territories,
an archbishopric.
it
in its autocephalous
merely reducing
it
to the
rank of
The contemporary Patriarch John, a
Slav from Debar, from being a Patriarch was reduced
to being
Right up to his death in 1037
an Archbishop.
this autonomous Archbishopric
was maintained. After his death the See of Ochrida
assumed the character of a Greek Church. The Emperor
Michael IV Paphlagonian of Byzantium, even deprived
the Slav character of
the people and clergy of the diocese of Ochrida of the
right of electing their archbishop,
ment dependent upon the throne
From
century,
and made
of
his appoint-
Byzantium.
that time until the second half of the eighteenth
when
the Archbishopric
was
abolished,
all
its
archbishops were Greeks, with the exception of a few
who were
Serbs.
was Greek. I
The
From 1018
were under the See
retained
its
official
Greek
of
language of the prelacy
to 1219 all Serbian territories
Ochrida, but
character.
When
nevertheless
it
in
1219
the
independence of the Serbian Church was proclaimed,
the Archbishop of Ochrida protested, as head of
Greek Church.
The See
of Ochrida preserved
its
the
Greek
character also during the time of the Serbian rule in
Macedonia.
Moreover, the Serbian Tsar Dusan respected
B. Prokic, " Prvi ochridski arhiepiskop Jovan " " Jovan, first
Archbishop of Ochrida" (" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
vol. Ixxxviii. pp. 268, 284, 296).
P. Popovi6, "Serbian Macedonia," London, 1916, pp. 22, etc.
'
MACEDONIA
82
its
autonomy and
all
rights
its
and
Arch-
privileges.
bishop Nicholas of Ochrida assisted at Dusan's coronation
as Tsar,
and
also took part
the Serbian
in
State
Councils, like the other Serbian prelates, but his
continued
This
to
be
" Hierarch of
Greek character
Ochrida
was
the
of
maintained
Greek throne."
the
See
Archiepiscopal
also
title
during
of
Turkish
the
rule.
The Archiepiscopal See
of
Ochrida had no further
connection with the Bulgars after their expulsion from
Macedonia
in 969.
Archbishop's
title
attribute " Bulgarian "
The
a relic, preserved like
all
the
in
a faded tradition,
represented only
other similar relics in
titles,
epithet " Bul-
without significance or importance. ^
The
garian " was retained in the
the Archbishop of
title
of
Ochrida equally when Ochrida became a recognized Slav
See,
when
it
became Greek, and when
received a Greek character.
definitely
it
In 1186 the Bulgars received
an independent Patriarchate
of their
own
in
Trnovo
in
Bulgaria, but nevertheless the Archbishop of Ochrida
continued to style himself "Primate of
Thus he
all
Bulgaria."
styled himself during the Serbian rule, during
the Turkish rule,
at a
time
when
Serbian archbishops
were occupying the archiepiscopal throne
of
Ochrida,
and all the time until it was suppressed.
In speaking of the Greek character of the See
Ochrida,
we
are
referring
archbishops and bishops.
'
i.
only
to
The minor
its
prelates
clergy,
of
its
who were
C. Jirecek, "
p. 53.
Staatund Gesellschaft im mittelalterlichen Serbien,"
B. Prokic, " Prvi ohridski arhiepiskop Jovan," p. 279.
- The Byzantine historian N. Gregoras says that after the Bulgars
were expelled from Macedonia the epithet " Bulgarian " was retained
in the title of the Archbishop of Ochrida merely as a relic
(N. Gregoras, ed. Bonn, p. 27).
THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
83
the people and attended
in direct contact with
to the
were not Greek,
formed the
immedialmost
Slav
compact population. They were
ately after the arrival of the Slavs in Macedonia even
religious ministrations in the parishes,
but
Slav,
in
all
parts where
Slavs
the
before the foundation of the Patriarchate of Ochrida.^
When
Christianity
Slavs and the Slav
.
Archbishopric
first
St.
spread
the Macedonian
among
Clement established the Slav
of Ochrida,
the majority of
the clergy
were Slavs. During the Greek rule in Macedonia, the
archbishops of Ochrida persecuted the Slav clergy and
letters,
but without success, because both were favoured
by the people. ^ During the Serbian rule in Macedonia
Under the
the minor clergy of Ochrida were Serbian.
as it had
just
remained
simply
Turkish rule all this
been under the Serbian rule. Many legends and infrom the immediate vicinity of the archiepiscopal diocese of Ochrida, dating from the time of
scriptions
the Turkish rule, are in Serbian.3
was an Archiepiscopal See of Ochrida with Greek
prelates and a Slav minor clergy to which the Turks
It
subjected the Serbian Patriarchate in 1459.
By
the loss of the Patriarchate the Serbian people
sustained a grievous blow.
The head
of
the
Serbian
Church, the guardian of the national conscience and
had ceased to exist. The Archiepiscopal
Ochrida was merely a religious institution, in-
civilization,
See of
dependent as regards administration, finance,
civilization of which was Greek.
'
'
It
etc.,
C. Jirecek, "GeBch. d. Serben," i. pp. 174-175.
B. Prokid, " Prvi ohridski arhiepiskop Jovan " ("Jovan,
Archbishop of Ochrida
"),
the
did not represent
first
p. 296.
3 Lj,
Stojanovic, " Stari srpski zapisi i natpisi "
Inscriptions and Notes"), Nos. 300, 4G1, 522, etc.
("Old Serbian
MACEDONIA
84
Greek national claims. Greek national interests were
represented by the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople, and between the two there was never-ending
The
friction.
Greek Patriarchate
Constantinople
in
was hostile to the See of Orchrida as well as to the
In
Patriarchate.
Serbian
intrigues
its
the
against
Archiepiscopal See of Ochrida the Greek Patriarchate
was finally successful in having it suppressed by the
Turks in 1767. Still, the Patriarchate of Ochrida had
much
been
not
aspirations.
with
it.
The
protector
of
Serbian
In 1531
were
bishop
Serbian
Serbian
of
people
national
not
satisfied
endeavoured
to
restore the Serbian Patriarchate.
After the Serbian Church was deprived of
pendence, the nation was
and only to
it
left
own moral
its
owe the preservation
of
adverse
Greek
The
times
its
character
of
the
consciousness.
national
so
impairing
in
Archiepiscopacy
had even
extended
Patriarchate,
Serbian.
The
its
over
the
territory
population
natural
result
of
By
been
having
the
of
the
Ochrida.
in former times
in the very heart of Serbian territory.
power
even in
that
great
succeeded
it
diocese of Ochrida
absolutely unprotected,
strength and vitality did
That strength, however, was
those
inde-
its
its
Serbian
became
overwhelmingly
this
was that even
of
around the archiepiscopal throne of Ochrida the breath
Already
of Serbian influence began to make itself felt.
in 1466, only seven
years after the dissolution of the
Serbian Patriarchate, Archbishop Marko of Ochrida
caused a Serbian translation to be made of the "Canon
of
far
the great
not
'
been
Archiepiscopal
transcribed
Church,"
into
which
had so
but
existed
Serbian,
" Glas Srpake Kraljevske Akademije," vol.
Iviii.
p.
282.
THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
Why
only in Greek. ^
require the
"Canon
85
should the Archbishop of Ochrida
of the
Great Church" in Serbian
in Greek?
when he already possessed
But this is not all. From this time forward we
it
Archbishop
find Serbia represented in the titles of the
Already in 1466 we
theus of Ochrida styled prince " of the Serbian land,"
and "Archbishop ... of the Serbs." ^ This style was
find
of Ochrida.
Archbishop Doro-
likewise adopted by succeeding archbishops of Ochrida.
Moreover, the Archbishops of Ochrida were perfectly
acquainted with the Serbian language. In 1548, as
Archbishop Prohor of Ochrida was staying in Janjevo
own hand,
in Kosovo, he with his
language of
literary
" Tetraevangel "
he
that
certain
the period,
was
(The
the
at
tailor,
presented this
Four
time
have
positive
more.
The
bishop
of
the
archate of
entry in a
the
to
Janjevo
but not
and
effect
that
records
one
Ochrida in
two.
of
is
He was
We
there
were
who became Arch-
after
having
The second was
previously
nephew
Serbian Patriarch of the restored
Serbia.
find
throne.
Perhaps
Simeon,
1550,
we
least,
upon the archiepiscopal
first
first
Gospels)
in
Last,
been Metropolitan of Eoska.
of
made an
Peter by name, had on that occasion
Evangel to the Church of the Blessed
Archangel in Janievo.4
Serbs installed
in the purest Serbian
Patri-
appointed Archbishop
of
Ochrida in 1574.S
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi " ("Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes"), No. 328.
' " Glasnik
Srpskog Ucenog DruStva," vol. vii. pp. 177, 178
vol. xlvii. p. 271.
3
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Inscriptions and Notes
*
Ibid.,
No. 547.
Natpisi" ("Old Serbian
Nos. 547, 552, etc.
P. Popovic, "Serbian Macedonia," pp. 27-28.
"),
MACEDONIA
86
Thus,
instead
of
protection from the
deriving
See
of Ochrida, the Serbian people created a protection for
itself
out of
its
own
was not interrupted
tradition
national
In this way the Serbian
strength.
Macedonia
in
even during the time while the Serbian Patriarchate
was suppressed. The churches built by the people
during
that
were
period
decorated with pictures
of
Simeon (Stephan Nemanja)
Sava (Stephan Nemanja's son, first archbishop
Serbian saints, especially St.
and
St.
Serbia).^
of
The Turks were at this time at the zenith of their
power. The Serbian people without leaders, without
Church or any other national
national
spiritual and
through a grievous time.
intellectual Hfe,
her
waste,
laid
overthrown
with
centre
of
without directive passed
Deserted
inhabitants
driven
weeds this
is
villages,
into
churches
exile,
the picture of
fields
Serbia
Learning and letters had practically
Only in the recesses of the mountains,
and in sequestered spots removed from the trail of the
Turks, do we still find a few feeble remnants of
during that age.
disappeared.
The
both.
during
this
the Macedonian
output of
literary
period
is
represented
insignificant transcriptions,
only
by
Serbs
a
few
mostly of sacred writings,
that the literary contact
and
From the year 1515
might not be lost altogether.
"
Troparnik " (collection of sacred songs)
we have a
" book
in
transcribed
Prayer,"
of
a
in iStip
these
made only
so
in
1526,
in
the
John
in
'
Monastery
Zlatousti
the
P.
Kratovo;
(St.
Monastery
" Mineos,"
transcribed in 1545,
and the Sermons of
Slepce
Chrysostom), transcribed in 1547
of
of
St.
John Preteca, and
Kondakov, " Makedonija," Petrograd,
p.
186
(in
Russian).
few
THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
more
similar works.
The
scribes
were
all
87
Macedo-
nians. *
much
This was as
wretched
sentiment.
of that
for
hand
it
sufficient
to
The scanty notes
in
reveal
their
Serbian
the books and
MSS.
time sorrowfully, as from a living grave, sigh
the glories
the
of
the
of
though laconically
spirit
if
state of
other
the
as the Serbian nation could achieve
was not enough to improve the
the Macedonian Serbs, it was on
But
in that age.
Serbian
past
in
Macedonia
brief they clearly reveal the Serbian
nation in
Macedonia.
"
O most
pious
Tsar Stephan, where art thou now ? " is the cry of a
short entry penned by a sixteenth-century monk of
the Monastery of Treskovac, near Prilep, on the margin
of
an original diploma from the hand of the Serbian
Tsar Dugan.3
Thus
Macedonians give expression to their
did the
Serbian sentiments in those dark days.
Serbian writers of that age, no matter whence they
hailed,
Macedonia
considered
Serbian
country.
Vladislav Gramatik, a Serbian writer of the second half
of the fifteenth century, looks
upon Macedonia
Kef erring
the Marica, he says that
to
the battle of
as Serbian.
"the Serbian army was beaten to its knees (lit. feet) on
the river which is called the Marica."4
In a short
history of the Serbian Tsars, dating from 1503, we find
"
Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
Nos. 425, 455, 532, 546, 573, 5611, etc.
- Some
of the scribes say that they are from Debar (Serb.,
" Rodom iz Debra ") some say they are from the region of Debar
(Serb., "iz debarskog predela") " Stari Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi,"
Nos. 546, 573; one says he is from IStip (Serb., "iz Stipa"), ibid,,
'
Lj. Stojanovi6,
Sfcari
Inscriptions and Notes
"),
No. 425.
3 I. H.
<
Vasiljevic, " PrUep," p. 89.
" Glasnik Srpskog Uccnog Drustva,"
vo^. xxii. p. 287.
MACEDONIA
88
"the Serbs
On February
Serez''^ mentioned.
of
11,
1515, a pious Serbian youth from Kratovo was burned
by the Turks, because he refused to renounce his
faith.
The Serbian Church canonized him under the
name of St. George Kratovac (St. George of Kratovo).
In vi^riting the life-story of this saint, his countryman
alive
the priest Peja says that he was a Serb (of " Serbian
stock
There was in those days a Serbian printingIn view of the decline of Serbian
").2
press in Venice.
and
letters
1546 by
in
literature,
Bosnia,
Serbia,
(starehiia) great
tongue"
Vuk
Bukovic, the owner, appealed
letter to all notable Serbs of
Srem, and other
writers
and
elders
this (the Serbian)
him "old Serbian books written
the Serbian lands so that he
Foreign
Princes
and small who write in
to send
" Macedonia,
of
note
may
in
reprint them."3
and others who were
ac-
quainted with Balkan conditions at the time likewise
considered
fifteenth
Macedonia
century
Komnenos and
two
Serbian
monks
of
country.
Greek
In
the
nationality,
Prokles, wrote a history of the princes
Incidentally they mention that Dusan's halfSimeon was overthrown by Nikephoros his
brother-in-law, and exiled to Kostur.
Simeon settled
there, conquered several towns and made himself strong.
" When he had been joined by many Greeks, Serbs, and
Albanians " he gathered an army of some four or five
of Epirus.
brother
P. I. Safarik, " Pamatky drevniho pismenictva Jihoslovanuv,"
Prague, 1873, p. 55 (in Czech).
^ "Glasnik Srpskog UcenogDrustva," vol. xxi.
p. 115. On February
11, 1915, in the midst of the miseries of the present war, the
martyrdom of St. George Kratovac was solemnly commemorated
by the Kratovo inhabitants.
'
'
Lj.
Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Inscriptions and Notes"), No. 534.
NatpiBi " ("Old Serbian
THE SERBIAN PATRIARCHATE
89
"proclaimed
In
thousand men, and
his
narrative of the
historian L.
himself
battle of the
Tsar.''^
Marica, the Greek
Chalcocondyla says of King Vukasin and
Ugljesa that they were "Serbian vojvodes."^ Speaking
of Macedonia; the Hungarian historian Ant. Bonfini,
writing towards the end of the fifteenth century, says
(" Macedoniam quam
that " it is now called Serbia "
Serbiam nunc appellant
After
the
Macedonia
dissolution
remained
")
-3
of
the
Serbian
Serbian Patriarchate,
country,
and
its
in-
habitants remained Serbs.
'
'
3
" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xiv. p. 238.
" L. Chalcocondylae Atheniensis Histor.," p. 30, ed. Bonn.
"Aut. Bonfini rcrum Hungaricarum," dec. i., lib. ix., Viennse,
1744, p. 248a.
VII {Continued)
MACEDONIA FROM THE BESTOBATION OF THE
SERBIAN PATBIABC HATE TO ITS SECOND
SUPPBESSION (1557-1766)
Restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate Jurisdiction of the
restored Serbian Patriarchate based on the principle of
the standard of
nationality Eeorganization of the Church
religion, literature, and national life raised within the jurisdiction
Patriarchate Increased importance of the
of the Serbian
Serbian Patriarchs Their relations with foreign PowersHard lot of the Serbs in Macedonia Macedonian missions
Russia for Serbian Churches These missions
The Serbian migrations Macecall themselves "Serbian"
donian emigrants everywhere call themselves " Serbian "
Relations between Macedonian emigrants and Macedonian
Serbs Migrations en masse from Macedonia to Austria under
soHcit help in
Arsenije III Serbian sentiment of Macedonian
emigrants in Austria Bole of Macedonians among the Serbs in
Austria Serbian historic records speak of Macedonians as
" Serbs " So do all non-Serbian historic records Suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Protest by the Metropolitan
of Montenegro against this crime against the Serbian nation as
a whole, of which the Macedonians also form part
Patriarch
FOEwere
nearly one hundred years the Serbian people
Towards
from
the middle of the
Hercegovina, who had been taken away by the Turks
in his childhood and brought up as a Moslem, attained
left
without
their
sixteenth
the highest dignity in the
Patriarchate.
century
Turkish
Serb
Empire, that
of
Grand Vizier. This was the great Mehmed Sokolovic.
At the request of his brother Makarije, a monk in the
90
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
Monastery
of
Milesevo
and moved
Hercegovina,
in
own
perhaps also by sentimental regard for his
Mehmed
seat in Ipek, as before.
its
Patriarch of the restored Patriarchate was the
first
Vizier's
origin,
Sokolovic in 1557 obtained the restoration of
the Serbian Patriarchate with
The
91
own
brother Makarije.
But whereas formerly the power
of
the
Serbian
Patriarchate extended only as far as the frontiers of
the old Serbian
Patriarchate em-
the restored
State,
In establishing the
jurisdiction of the restored Patriarchate, the Turks were
guided by the principle of nationality. In accordance
with this principle the new Patriarchate embraced not
braced the entire Serbian nation.
only contemporary Serbia but
other Serbian lands
all
within the Turkish Empire, viz. Bosnia, Hercegovina,
Dalmatia, Slavonia, and the rest of the Serbian territory
Macedonia, as an
to-day included in Austria-Hungary.
integral part of the old Serbian
State and also on the
strength of the principle of nationality,
was likewise
placed under the
The impres-
Serbian
Patriarchate.
sion which the Turks derived
period
was
that
it
between her and the
Macedonia
of
was impossible
cities,
of
Serbian
and
princes
that
discriminate
rest of the Serbian countries.
every step in Macedonia the Turks
the graves
to
at
came upon
nobles,
or
At
either
their
churches, monasteries, bridges, and other buildings
linked with their
names
or fields
where the Serbs had
which popular tradition
connected with them, such as DuSan's Bridge in Skoplje,
Marko's Cave in the Demir Kapija, Marko's Footstep,
etc.
In the monasteries of Macedonia the monks
copied old Serbian MSS. and taught the Serbian
waged
battles,
language.
or other
spots
The common people
in their traditions spoke
MACEDONIA
92
only of the Serbian past, and had never in their lives
followed other than Serbian customs.
fore,
To whom,
there-
could the Turks have assigned Macedonia, except
to the Serbian Patriarchate ?
Zletovo,
Only
southern
the
Monastir,
Tetovo, Skoplje, Kratovo,
and Badoviste
Istip,
Debar,
part
and
were placed under
Prilep
it.
of
Macedonia Ochrida,
remained under the
Archiepiscopate of Ochrida.^
With
the restoration of the Patriarchate the Serbian
nation renewed
its
strength and vitality.
The Serbian
Patriarchs strenuously set about the reorganization of
the Serbian Church, which had greatly fallen into decay,
and
that
This
is
of
the
already
exhausted
Serbian
people.
not a history of the Serbian Patriarchs, but of
the Serbian people as a whole, and therefore
into their magnificent
work
we cannot go
for the Serbian nation.
We
what concerns Macedonia.
had the new Patriarch taken over the
administration of the Serbian Patriarchate than he at
once reorganized the Churches in Macedonia. He
restored the old bishoprics and created new ones,
attended to the building and restoring of churches and
monasteries and the improvement of church literature.
His successors followed zealously in his footsteps.
will limit ourselves solely to
No
sooner
Patriarchs and bishops visited the eparchies and sent
their
exarchs to study the condition of the churches,
monasteries, priests, and people.
The catalogue
The Church expanded
in
Macedonia.
in
Macedonia assumed considerable dimensions.^
'
'
of
literary
productions
The
P. Popovic, " Serbian Macedonia," p. 16.
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
Inscriptions
and Notes"), Nos. 5611, 5614, 5618, 812, 900, 2234,
629, 752, 1001.
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
"
Patriarchs set the example in writing books.
93
With
" they presented
books to the Churches
their own hands
and Monasteries of Macedonia.^ The trade in books
Already in about 1570 Skoplje
began to flourish.
possessed a bookseller's store, the depot of the Serbian
books printed by the Serbian printing press in Venice.3
Serbian
produced
books
From
mentioned.4
Macedonia
in
likewise
are
the highest dignitary of the Serbian
Church to the lowest peasant, contact and unanimity were
The
established.
Serbian nation experienced a
entire
vigorous religious and national revival.
In the restored Patriarchate the rule of the Serbian
Patriarchs was greater and more important than
been before.
The Patriarchs
did not merely
themselves to fostering and cherishing
faith
and
farther.
They began
had
confine
the Christian
went much
name, but they
Serbian
the
it
to labour for the organization of
Not unlike the
became
a kind of
Prince-Bishops of Montenegro, they
Serbian temporal rulers within the Turkish Empire. At
national defence against
the
Turks.
their word, entire Serbian counties rebelled against the
Turks, and in peace negotiations they represented the
entire Serbian nation.
But the
activities of the
Serbian
Patriarchs were not confined to the boundaries of the
In
Turkish Empire.
beyond those
frontiers.
extended
far
The Patriarchs appealed
for
those
they
days
aid and support for the Serbian people to Russia, Spain,
Venice,
and
Austria,
and
became
thus
well-known
" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xxii. " Zivot Cara
Urosa od Patrijarha Pajseja" ("Life of Tsar Uros by Patriarch
'
Pajsej
-
").
Lj. Stojanovic, "
Stan Srpski Zapisi
")i No. 441.
Natpisi "
("
Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes
3
Ibid.,
No. 683.
"
Ibid.,
No. 1534.
MACEDONIA
94
figures in international politics.
Everywhere the Courts
and
States
Governments
of
foreign
the
recognized
Serbian Patriarchs as the heads of the Serbian people.
Russian Tsars corresponded with them
was
when Spain
was.
war with Turkey it
she had to apply when she desired help from
the Serbs; Austrian Emperors wrote to the Serbian
Patriarchs, negotiated with them, and granted them
at
to
the Serbian Patriarch
to
whom
privileges
the whole
for
the
of
activities
Serbian
Patriarchs
were inseparably united with the
But
is
it
in
In
Serbian nation.
connection
with
of
rest
the
all
these
the Macedonians
the Serbs.
dealings
of
the
Patriarchs with Eussia and Austria that the Serbian
character of Macedonia comes out most clearly.
The
lot of
always hard
tions
the Serbian people under the Turks was
in the extreme.
of property,
Exorbitant taxes, confisca-
the persecution and devastation of
were the order of the day. Distress and
poverty pressed hard upon the Serbs from all sides.
*'
O poor, poor are we because of the Turks in these
days," laments a Serbian monk of the Monastery of
entire counties
Macedonia in an annotation. ^ With great
difficulty the impoverished and reduced Serbian population succeeded in repairing its churches and monasteries
Lesnovo
in
and supplying them with the bare
necessities.
This
caused the Serbian Patriarchs to think of applying for
help to their Russian brothers
in
race
and
religion.
"With the blessing and recommendation of the Patriarch,
Serbian missions travelled to Orthodox Russia and
returned thence with abundant
too,
gifts.
Macedonia formed no exception.
Lj. Stojanovid, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Inscriptions
and Notes
"),
No. 2922.
In this matter,
From Macedonia,
Natpisi" ("Old Serbian
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
went
as from other Serbian lands, missions
to
95
Russia
to collect alms and donations for their churches and
monasteries.
In this contact with Russia, the Serbian character of
comes out quite
Macedonia
All
clearly.
Macedonian
missions to Russia describe themselves simply as Serbian.
The
first of
these missions from Macedonia travelled to
Russia in 1585.
Visarion,
Kratovo,
Monastery
The
of
of
object
accompanied
and
Osogovo
their
by a monk
monk
journey was to
for the restoration of the
MetropoHtan
the
consisted of
It
Monastery
of
in
of
of
the
holy orders.
solicit
donations
Osogovo, " which
by the great Serbian Vojvode
Constantine Dejanovic."i In 1641, the Metropolitan
Simeon of Skoplje travelled to Russia to collect donations, and there recorded his signature as " Simeon,
MetropoHtan, of the land of Serbia."^ In 1666, Ananiji,
had been
built aforetime
Metropolitan of Kratovo, addressed a petition to the
Russian Tsar to help the Monastery of Lesnovo, " which
and deceased Tsar Stephan,
In
had been
built
who was
formerly a Tsar in the land of Serbia. "3
by the
late
1687 a petition was presented to the Russian Tsars
Ivan and Peter Alexievitch by " Jeftimije, by the grace
God Orthodox Metropolitan
of
of the Serbian lands of
the Church of Skoplje," soliciting help for the Metro-
In 1688 there came to Russia
land of Serbia," who hailed
"from
the
certain monks
from the Monastery of St. John Prete6a near Skoplje.
politans
of
Skoplje. 4
" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol.
'*
Iviii.
Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
pp. 222-224.
vol. xxxviii. p.
" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol. Iviii. p. 228.
" Spomenik," vol. xxxviii.
3 " Glas," vol. Iviii. p. 261
;
'
"
"Glas,"
Spomenik,"
vol. xxxviii. p. 71.
vol. Ix. p. 156.
p. 66.
60
"
MACEDONIA
96
We
need not assume that these missions described
themselves as Serbian merely because they came from
under the Serbian Patriarchal See. On the
they did so because it was at that time
territories
contrary,
unquestionably received that Macedonia was a Serbian
country.
The mission which came from
territories
the Serbian Patriarchate,
from the
lying outside
territory
belonging
the Archbishopric of
to
described themselves similarly.
suffered
Eussia to ask
Greben
and
who were under
too, missions travelled
they,
too,
described
In 1625, Sergius, Metropolitan
themselves as Serbian.
of
Thence,
help,
for
Ochrida,
There, too, the Serbians
the same hardships as those
the Serbian Patriarchate.
to
e.g.
in the southernmost part of Macedonia,
went
There
to Russia for the purpose of collecting alms.
he stated that " he had been consecrated Metropolitan
Greben by Nektarije, Archbishop of Ochrida in the
land of Serbia"^ In 1628 Bishop Kalinik travelled to
Russia. He stated that he came "from the country of
Salonica, which is in Serbia.''^ In 1634, Archbishop
Avram of Ochrida went to Russia with his suite. On
of
being asked
of the
they were, they replied that " they were
who
Orthodox
faith,
the town of Ochrida."
from the Serbian country, from
In 1643 the Archimandrite of
the Monastery of Kremenec, German, during his stay in
Russia, described himself as being " from the Serbian
country, from the
'
" Snosenija Rosiji
town
s
of
Kostur."4
In 1648 we find
vostokom po djelam cerkovnim,"
ii.
Petro-
grad, 1860, p. 29.
^
Ibid., p. 62.
V. Djeric, "
Srpskom Imenu u Starvj Srbiji i Makedoniji
("The term Serbian in Old Serbia and Macedonia"), Belgi'ade, 1904,
3
'
'
p. 18.
*
" SnoSenja Rosiji s vostokom," p. 238,
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
97
the "Serb Dimitrije Nikolajev," from Kostur,' in Russia.
In 1704 "the Serb Bratan Jvanov "came to Russia"
from the land of Macedonia." ^ In 1706 a certain
Dimitrije Petrov went to Russia for the purpose of
Church
collecting contributions for the completion of the
he subscribed himself as "from the
St. Dimitrije;
of
country of Serbia, for the eparchy of Ochrida," of the
town of Krcava. A Russian document concerning this
Dimitrije states that upon his departure "for the land of
Serbia " the " Serb Dimitrije Petrov " was presented with
a
gift.
Owing
unhappy
their
to
lot
under the Turks, the
From Macedonia,
Serbian people continued to emigrate.
numerous Serbs fled to foreign parts. No matter
whither they went they invariably described them-
too,
selves as Serbs.
mony
And
this
is
valuable additional testi-
Serbian nationality of the Macedonians.
find in Krajova in Roumania, the " protopop
to the
In 1580 we
(Archpresbyter) John, a Serb of Kratovo," as he styles
himself
in
Turkish
an MS. from his hand.4
persecutions,
which had become
Simeon, Metropolitan of
1641
self,
to
settle
that he
town
of
is
Because
went
Skoplje,
He
there permanently.
of
the
intolerable,
to
Russia in
says
of
him-
"from the country of Serbia, from the
With him were a monk in holy
Skoplje."
In 1651, the Metropolitan
Michael of Kratovo, accompanied by the Archimandrite
Dionisij and the deacons Damaskin and Nikodim, fled
orders and three servants. s
V. Djeri6, "
Ibid., p. 27.
Ibid., p. 23.
Lj.
p. 27.
Stojanovid, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
and Notes
No. 752.
" Glas Srpske Kraljevake Akademije,"
Inscriptions
5
O Srpskom Imenu,"
Natpisi" ("Old Serbian
"),
vol. Iviii. p. 229.
MACEDONIA
98
In a
to Russia because of Turkish persecutions.
letter
the Russian Tsar the Metropolitan Michael states
to
that "his fathers and his forefathers were princes in
the la?id of Serbia, in the town of Kratovo."^ In 1687
" the Venerable Jeftimije, by the grace of God Orthodox
the Church of
Metropolitan of the Serbian lands of
Kratovo," came to Russia with the purpose of settling
was in a sad plight, and
had
become intolerable. He
Turks
the
there as his metropolitanate
the outrages of
was accompanied by Antinogen, a monk in holy orders,
the deacon Antonije, and an old man, Marko.^ In 1688
the
monk in
holy orders, Petronije, and the deacon Joseph
"from the land of Serbia," from the Monastery
John Prete5a near Skoplje, to Russia to settle
because their monastery had been destroyed by
travelled
of
St.
there,
the Turkish soldiery.
Although these Macedonian emigrants
their
native
Serbs,
land,
they
Everywhere
never forgot
they worked
benefit of their people, and their
lived far
zealously
Church
from
they were
that
in
for
the
Macedonia
and elsewhere. While living as an emigrant in Russia,
"Michael, Metropohtan of Banja, Kratovo, and IStip,"
in 1653 despatched thence copies of the sacred writings
to the Serbian Patriarchate at Ipek.
has been preserved,
the
Metropolitan
with his own hand that he
Patriarchate at Ipek, where
Fathers
Arsenij,
In a psalter which
Evstatij,
" sends
rest the
and
it
Michael wrote
to
the
Serbian
bones of the Holy
Nikodim,
aforetime
" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol. Iviii. p. 233. The
signature of this Metropolitan used to run " Metropolitan of Banja,
Kratovo, Istip and Radonir" (Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
'
Natpisi" (" Old Serbian Inscriptions and Notes"), Nos. 1494, 1547).
' " Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol. Ix. p. 155.
3
Ibid., p. 156.
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
Serbian Patriarchs."
99
In 1660 that same Metropolitan
Michael petitioned the Russian Tsar for aid for the
" Serbian Monastery of Lesnovo " in Macedonia, " which
was a foundation
of the
of the Serbian
Tsar Stephan."
Serbian population as remained in
country looked upon the
Such
their
own
Serbian emigrants as their
natural representatives and ambassadors
abroad.
The
former therefore appealed to the latter on every occasion
and intervention. In 1653 the monks of the
Serbian monastery of Hilendar on Mount Athos applied
to the Metropolitan Michael for his intervention so that
for help
monastery might receive subsidies.3
their
But apart from these
individual emigrants, the whole-
sale emigrations of
Macedonians equally bear a purely
Serbian character.
The main current
of the stream of
Serbian emigration en masse continued to set
north-
wards, as before, to the lands under Austria.
There
Serbian emigrants had lived in large numbers ever since
the
Turkish invasion.
grants from Macedonia.
en
masse
were
largely
There,
At
the emi-
with
the
political
Seeing that in obedience
Serbs had risen in
to the call of their Patriarchs the
revolt
find
epoch the emigrations
connected
activities of the Patriarchs.
we
too,
this
and joined a foreign nation in fighting against
the Turks, the Serbian people, thus compromised, dared
not remain any longer under the Turks, but were comfly.
In Budapest, in Komoran, and all other
Hungarian towns we now find emigrants from Macedonia.
In 1667 the Austrian Emperor Leopold I granted certain
pelled to
'
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Natpisi/' (" Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes "), No. 1500.
- " Spomenik Srpske Kraljevake Akadetuije," vol. xxxviii.
p. 64.
3
Ibid., p. 62.
MACEDONIA
100
and Greeks who
Upper
Macedonia
Hungary, and who were mostly natives of
(" prsesertim autem ex Macedonia advenientium ").i
privileges to the Serbs
The
greatest of these Serbian
took place in 1690.
migrations to Austria
It affords a specially striking proof
power and authority
the political
of
settled in
of
Serbian
the
Patriarchs.
Turks
After their failure before Vienna in 1683 the
In the
began to be thrust back towards the south.
hearts
of
the
Serbian
people the
Austrian
successes
aroused the hope of liberation from the Turks.
the Turkish defeat at
Mohacs
After
in 1687, the Serbs rebelled
At
that time the Patriarch Arsenije III Oarnojevic was
Wishing to take
head of the Serbian Church.
in earnest with
a view to regaining their liberty.
advantage of the dissatisfaction of the Serbs with their
Turkish masters, Austria negotiated with him, and
promised to help him in the liberation of the Serbian
people from the Turks.
At the
call of their
Patriarch
the people rose in arms against the Turks and helped
the Austrian forces to penetrate into the very heart of
The Turks, however, succeeded in
Austrians in 1690. The Patriarch, the
the Serbian lands.
beating back the
leading insurgents, and a multitude of the Serbian people
over 40,000 families dared not wait
Turks, but joined the Austrian army in
for the
advancing
its retreat.
The
Turks reconquered all Serbia as far as the Save and the
Danube, and the Serbian refugees were compelled to re-
main
in Austria.
By special charters,
Patriarch, the Austrian
political
and
issued to the Serbian
Emperor Lieopold
guaranteed
religious rights to these emigrant Serbs.
See docament in " Glagnik Srpskog Uceiiog Drutva,"
pp. 128, 131.
vol. Ixvii.
"
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
This " Great Migration," as
history,
people.
negro,
had a far-reaching
'
To
day popular tradition in
this
pitiful
time to be found emigrants from
at that
There were Cira Krajic
Macedonia.
Josipovic from Prilep
from Kratovo
Kuzman Dimic from
Danilo and
Bojkovic (native place unknown),
In Austria
same
felt
nation.
Stojan
monk
Dima
Aposto-
Salonica
Isak
etc.
these emigrants,
all
over
all
of Skoplje
Veljko Popovic and the
in holy orders, Grigorije,
they came,
depopulation of entire
In the town of Buda alone there
villages at that time.=
Serbian
the
provinces in Bosnia, Hercegovina, MonteSerbia, and Macedonia, " even to Salonica,"
were depopulated.
lovic
upon
effect
Whole
Macedonia remembers the
were
called in Serbian
is
it
101
no matter whence
themselves to be parts of one and the
The Macedonians were not kept
apart as
being different, but on the contrary often distinguished
themselves as
Serbs.
When
and representatives of
in October 1689 the Austrians, for
leaders
all
the
political
reasons, imprisoned George Brankovic, the leader of the
Serbian nation,
the Serbs in Austria elected
all
in
his
place as their lieutenant (" vice-ductor nationis Serbicae")
one Jovan Manastirlija, a Macedonian from
was confirmed
'
in his dignity
on April
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Inscriptions and Notes "), No. 2015.
" " Srpska
Kraljevska Akademija"
Bitolj.
11, 1691,4
He
by the
Natpisi" ("Old Serbian
" Naselja Srpskih Zemalja "
Settlements of Serbian Lands"), vol. iii. p. 453.
3 G.
Vitkovic, " Spomenici iz budimskog i pestanskog arhiva
(" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva"), series 2, vol. iii. pp. 228-255.
("
Lj, Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Bcriptiona and Notes "), No. 2296.
* " Nos electum a
mcntionata
Natpisi " (" Old Serbian In-
communitate Rasciana vice directorem Joannem Manastcrly ad deinissam einsdem gentis instantion
."
benigne confirmasse
(" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva,"
.
vol. Ixvii. p. 140).
MACEDONIA
102
Emperor Leopold
On
I.
being appointed head of the
Serbian nation, Jovan Manastirlija led the Serbs against
the Turks
and
he
the fate of the nation was in his hands,
left
memory behind him.
glorious
The
descendants of John Manastirlija played a distinguished
part
among
the
Serbs in
Several
Austria.
high
had
they
respect
during
enjoyed
them
of
were buried in Serbian monasteries, in token
the
of
their
hves.^
Other important positions among the Serbs in Austria
were also
at
one time and another held by Macedonians.
In 1696 Jefrem
Jankovic-Tetovac
was
Tetovo)
(of
of Mohacs.
Finally,
Macedonian emigrants
among the Serbs attained the highest distinction from
an intellectual point of view.
The ancestors of
Branko Radicevic, the founder of Serbian modern
poetry, came originally from the neighbourhood of
Serbian
some
bishop of the
eparchy
of the descendants of these
Skoplje.
Serbian
Macedonia
arch
during
writing
century,
Turks,
the
opposed
after
by
to
which
mentions
'
was ordained
life
Patriof
the
of
Vukasin
and
3
A MS.
the
to
this
dignity
i
with
the
has been pre-
dating
Metropolitan
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapiei
Inscriptions and Notes
half
first
of
(Macedonia)," and that "they
forces."
that
speak
Tsar Uros,
Adrianople, " tried to
us containing the entry
served
days
The Serbian
his
taking
Ugljesa
Serbian (Macedonia)
Greben
those
the
says in
enter the Serbian land
were
of
Serbian country.
as a
Pajsej,
seventeenth
that
records
literary
by
from 1625
Sergije
of
Nektarije,
Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
"), Nos. 2968, 3343, 5287.
D. Ruvarac, " Vladika Jegarski Jefrem Banjanin " (" Jefrem
Banjanin, Bishop of Jegar "), Sremski, Karlovici, 1904, p. 20.
3 " Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol. xxii. p. 222.
=
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
Archbishop
Ochrida in
of
land
the
1624 the Metropolitan Michael
from
Russia
Jerusalem.
to
103
In
Serbia^
of
of
Kratovo
He
relates
travelled
how
by
Roumania, and the Serbian land,
Likewise, he says, that
on his return he went by Mount Athos, through
"Serbian country,'' Roumania, and Poland, and thus
traversing Poland,
he
Mount Athos.
reached
Mount Athos
" Serbian land " lying close to
The
back to Russia.
could
be
only
From an
Macedonia.
entry in a book preserved in the Troicko-Sergievskaya
Lavra,
Moscow,
near
and
that in that year
Michael " of the Serbian
learn
from
dating
same
that
land,''
we
1659,
Metropolitan
the
of
town
of
Kratovo, performed the usual rites in connection with
the ordination of
residing for
Michael
many
and
certain priests
deacons.
years in Russia, this
finally declared
After
Metropolitan
that he desired to return "to
country,'" to his Monastery of Lesnovo.^
In 1682 the Serbian Patriarch Arsenije III Carnojevic
went to Jerusalem. On his way through Macedonia
his Serbian
Mlado Nagori6ino, Palanka, Dupnica, and
he was everywhere joyfully received by
bishops, priest, and people.
Many joined him
(Skoplje,
Samokov)
this
accompanied
and
specially
day's
walk
" Master
from
Raja,
house,
his
to
feasted them."
'
him.
mentions that
In
in
his
diary
the
the village of
Patriarch
Sestrima, a
Samokov towards Tatar-Pazardzik,
made a great banquet in
a Serbian,
which
he invited
all
the
Hadzis and
The only Bulgars mentioned by
" SnoSenija Bosiji s
vostokom po djelam cerkovnim,"
ii.
the
1680,
p. 29.
'
259.
"Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
Lj. Stojanovid, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
InBcriptioDB and Notes ")< Nos. 1563, 1568,
vol. Iviii. pp. 233, 254, 258,
i
Natpisi" (" Old Serbiewj
MACEDONIA
104
Patriarch
he was not
merchants vied with
Tatar-Pazardzik
those of
are
but the Bulgarian
guest,
their
who should sell him goods at the
An entry, dating from the end of
century, relates how in 1683 the
each other as to
highest
price. ^
seventeenth
Austrians took " the Serbian country as far as Skoplje
the
and Sofia " from the Turks, ^ A chronicle of 1712
enumerates the Orthodox Metropolitans in the " land
Among
of Serbia."
Monastery
the
of
them
Skoplje and
politans of
Skander Bey
of
(George
included
are
In
Kratovo.3
Hilendar
copied
monk
history
Skanderbeg)
Kastriot
Metro-
the
1778 a
of
from an
In this history Macedonian is in many
passages spoken of as the " Serbian country," and its
MS.
old
inhabitants as Serbs.
This history also contains the
statement that in the towns of Debar and Sveti Grad
" Serbs
live
Albanians
of
of
Orthodox
the
the
Catholic
faith,
faith."
and
Latins
An
and
eighteenth-
century chronicle says that in the fourteenth century
"there were three Serbian kings; to wit, in Prizren
there
was Lazar,
in
Bosnia there was Stephan Tortko,
and in Prilep there was Marko Vukasinov." s
Foreign records of those days likewise speak of
Macedonia as being a Serbian country. On the map
of the Italian Geographer Giac. Gastaldi, dating from
1566, Serbia includes Skoplje and the surrounding
country.
On many
'
" Glasnik Srpskog
'
Lj.
*
5
by
Ucenog Drustva,"
Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
Inscriptions and Notes
3
maps
"),
V.
Coronelli,
vol. xxxiii. pp.
i
official
187-188.
Natpisi " ("Old Serbian
No. 5304.
Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
vol. iii. p. 108.
" Glas Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," vol. xxii. pp. 15-18.
S. Ristic, " Decanski Spomenici " (" Decani Records"), Belgrade,
'
1864, p.
7.
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
geographer
Besides
Skoplje.
On many
Servia).
"the
by
Serbia "
of
and
dating
(Metropoli
della
maps drawn
is
shown as
seventeenth-century
Geographer"
Eoyal
Venice,
of
shown as extending even beyond
Skoplje we practically always find
is
" Capital
legend
the
Republic
the
to
from 1692, Serbia
105
Serbia
including even the whole of the country surrounding
These
Skoplje.
maps
Serbia on the
H.
are
also
the
Witt and
of F. de
many
Moll's atlas as well as on
in
well-known
the
Homann's, dating from the
and in
maps
of the
On numerous
century,
Thus
also
is
it
Joh.
Bapt.
half of the eighteenth
first
Serbia includes the regions of
and Custendil.
tovo,
by
atlases
to
of Blau,
other
second half of the seventeenth century.
maps
assigned
frontiers
Skoplje, Kra-
shown on many
other maps.^
More
than
clearly
from
these
maps the
Serbian
of Macedonia transpires from certain MSS.
and other books in foreign languages. A Roumanian
character
MS.
of
beginning
the
of
" Sultan
and
Ugljesa
great
army
battle.
Murat went
Vukasin,
Serbs
of
..." -
subsidies
to
The
the
and
(in
century,
Marica says incidentally
in describing the battle of the
that
seventeenth
the
Turks
with
the
that
they
Macedonia)
Russian
Tsars,
against
assembled
and
accepted
when
granting
Serbian churches and monasteries in
call them Serbian, and speak
Macedonia as the Serbian land. When on August
1st,
1641, the Russian Tsar, Michael Feodorovitch,
Macedonia, invariably
of
J. Cvijic, " Geografski Tolozaj Makedonije i Stare Srbije "
" Geographical Conditions of Macedonia and Old Serbia " (" Srpski
Knjizevin Glasnik
"
V. Grigorovic,
zavam,"
p. 17.
"), vol. xi.
"
1904, p. 209.
Serbiji
v jcja otnosciiijah k soscdnim der-
MACEDONIA
106
made
a donation
to the
Serbian Patriarchate through
the Metropolitan of Skoplje, he addressed
"the Serbian land
as Metropolitan of
Skoplje. "I
the
of the
It is recorded in the annals of the
latter
town
of
Kussian
Court that in the year 1652 the " Serbian Metropolitan
Michael,"
Kratovo,
of
In an Imperial
dated
October
twice
to
letter
1660,
31,
dined
with
the
Tsar.^
the Monastery of Lesnovo,
the
Eussian
Tsar
Aleksije
Mihailovic speaks of the Metropolitan of Kratovo as
" the Metropolitan Michael of the Serbian land." 3
The Russian
refers
Tsaritsa Elizabeth in her letters invariably
as a " Serbian countrtj."
In her
Macedonia
to
messages of 1744, 1754, 1758, and 1766 she addresses
herself
" noble and
the
to
Serbian
the
countries
gentlemen
honourable
Macedonia,
of
of
Skanderia
Montenegro, the Maritime Eegion. ... "4
(Albania),
Writing about Serbia in 1685, the Catholic bishop of
"
Skoplje speaks of Skoplje as " the Capital of Serbia
(" Scopia
proceeds
to
metropoli
de
mention
Catholic,
Orthodox households in that
city.
he
After this
Servia").
Mohammedan and
Among the Ortho-
dox he mentions only "Greek and Serbian households"
("case
greche
testimony of
native of
of
Sofia,
'
'
"
serviane").s
we have
Finally
the
the Bulgarian, Peter Bogdani-Baksic,
Cliprova
Bulgaria,
in
who wrote
to
the
Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
J. Sreznevski,
Catholic
some Cardinal
in
Bishop
1650 about
vol. xxxvii. p. 60.
" Filologiceskija nabljudenija A.
H. Vostokova,"
1865, p. 184.
3 " Spomenik," vol. xxxvii. p. 65.
S. Milutinovic, " Istorija Crne Gore " (" History of Montenegro"),
1835, pp. 76, 77, 83, 85.
5 A. Theiner,
"Vetera
1875, p. 220.
monumenta Slavorum Meridionalium," ii.
RESTORATION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
107
recommend him
for
his
cousin
He
Bagdani
Andreas
the appointment
to
Catholic Archbishop of
of
Ochrida.
says that his cousin " has been nominated for the
archiepiscopate of Ochrida up in
per
Serbia"
su
d'Ocrida
I'archivescovato
("
proposto
confini
in
della
").'
Servia
While the power
of the Serbian Patriarchate endured,
the Serbian character of Macedonia
was not
any way
in
overthrown or impaired.
In 1766 the Turks once more suppressed the Serbian
Patriarchate and
territories
its
were placed under the
administration of the Greek Patriarchate in Constanti-
The suppression
nople.
terrible
blow
to
bishops
were
stripped
of
the
Serbian
the
of
Patriarchate
The
nation.
their
was
left
protector,
was
their
in
they were
Greek bishops
The Serbian nation
places.
without a head, Serbian civilization
and
in the Christian
conducted
Greek.
in
that part of the
hved
the
outside
Turkish
lost
its
churches divine service
This misfortune
heavily upon
dignities,
expelled or went voluntarily into exile.
were appointed
was
Serbian
Serbian
Empire.
also
fell
nation which
Sava
Petrovic,
Metropolitan of Montenegro, as representative of the
free part of the Serbian nation, protested to Russia,
and
besought that this crime against the Serbs in Turkey
should find redress.
In a
letter
written on February
26th, 1767, to the Metropolitan Platon of Moscow, he
speaks " of the Serbian nation under the harsh and
intolerable yoke of Turkish slavery,"
and of the Serbian
bishops of " Samokov, Skoplje, Istip, Novi Pazar, Nis,
Uzice, Belgrade and Hercegovina,"
expelled and
'
all
of
whom
"are
deprived of their Sees, and are homeless
" Starine Jugoslovenske Akadeinije," vol. xxv. p. 172,
MACEDONIA
108
wanderers
while
others
are
exiled
to
strange
and not one eparchy has its native bishop, a
Serbian.
Greeks have been brought thither in their
parts,
stead.
Hereupon
."
Serbian bishops be
he
begs
reinstated,"
that
" the
deposed
and " the throne
of
the Serbian Patriarchate of Ipek freed from the Greeks,"
to " the joy of all Serbian Bishops and the whole Serbian
nation."
Even
in
this
epilogue to the history of the Serbian
Patriarchate, the Montenegrin
distinction
and
the
Metropolitan draws no
between the Serbian dioceses in Macedonia
rest
of
the
Serbian dioceses.
Serbian to him, and for
all
of
All are alike
them he begs
for " their
native Serbian Bishops."
'
" Glasnik Srpskop Ucenog Drustva,"
vol. xii. pp.
357-359.
VIII
MACEDONIA AND THE SERBIAN STBUGGLE
FOB LIBERATION
Serbian sentiment of the Macedonians after the suppression of the
Serbian Patriarchate Sad plight of Macedonia after the suppression of the Serbian Patriarchate Serbian sympathy for
Macedonia
Macedonian aspirations to emancipate Serbian
nation from the Turks Participation of Macedonians in AustroTurkish War (1788-1791) for liberation of the Serbs from the
Turks Participation of Macedonians in the Serbian insurrection vmder Karageorge and Milos Obrenovic at the beginning
Moral support for Serbia from
of the nineteenth century
Macedonia
Macedonian
national poetry celebrates the straggle
of the Serbian nation against the
THE
feeling of unity
the rest of
All
Serbs
between the Macedonians and
Serbian nation did not become
the
extinct even after the
Turks
fall
of
the Serbian Patriarchate.
Macedonia
outside
continued to
regard
Macedonia was then
in a wretched plight.
Left to the mercy of the Greek
The churches and
bishops, she had lost all her schools.
Macedonia
as belonging to
them.
monasteries were in Greek hands or else deserted.
Slav liturgy had practically become extinct.
monks
was
in those monasteries
less felt
regarded
such a time to do
it
all
The
The Serbian
where the Greek influence
as their duty to the nation at
they could to elevate Serbian
education and religion in Macedonia.
In 1780, the
monk
Teofil of the Monastery of De6ani, went to the Monastery
of the
Holy Archangel
in the
109
Skopska Crna Gora (Black
MACEDONIA
110
Mountain).
men
to read
There he opened a school, taught the young
and write, and prepared candidates for the
monk
In 1805, Teodosije, a
priesthood, I
Monastery
tery of Lesnovo
of the
in holy orders
Decani went to the deserted Monasin Macedonia; with the help of the
of
inhabitants of the neighbourhood he repaired
and
it,
reintroduced the forgotten Slav liturgy within its walls.
In the same year we find the " monk in holy orders
Mojseg Decanac
" in Tetovo.3
But the Serbian
difference either.
1789,
make any
Writing to the Emperor of Eussia in
governor Ivan Radonjic begins
the Montenegrin
his letter
negro,
..."
of
population did not
lay
as follows
Hercegovina
"
Now
we Serbs
all
Albania,
Monte-
of
Macedonia
beg
But more strongly than by any
fraternal
sympathy did
the Macedonians express their Serbian feeling in later
days; they expressed
most
it
positively
greatest sacrifices, and they did this
and by the
by the share they
bore in the struggle which the Serbian nation waged
for
liberation
from
struggle could not
the
The
Turks.
focus
of
that
Not on any
be in Macedonia.
of
her frontiers was Macedonia sufficiently near to a foreign
State whence she could be supplied with the necessaries
of war.
The Serbian
struggle for liberation began in
regions remote from her,
Europe was
accessible.
against
Turks
the
where the support
Yet from
was understood
the
as
first
of
free
the fight
the
common
S. Tomid, " Naselja Srpskih Zemalja" (" Settlement of the Serbian
Lands"), vol. iii. p. 509.
Lj. Stojanovid, " Stari Srpski Zapisi i Natpisi " (" Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes"), No. 3822.
'
3
*
Ibid., No. 3828.
" Glasnik Srpskog
Ucenog Drutva,"
vol. Ixxii. p. 297.
;:
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION
111
whole Serbian nation, as the germ of
Serbs from all the Serbian lands took
action of the
future freedom.
The Macedonians bore
part in the struggle.
with the
Already in those battles which, at the
Serbian Patriarch, the
the close
fighting
by the
Defeated together with the
numbers
of the
call
Serbian people fought
to Austria,
'
side
their
of
at
we have
the seventeenth century,
of
Macedonians
large
their share
rest.
the
seen
brothers.
other Serbs they fled in
and there, as we have seen,
strengthened the ranks of the Serbian emigrants.
In
the renewed struggle against the Turks the part played
by the Macedonians was even greater.
When in 1788 Austria went to war with Turkey, she
called also upon the Serbs for assistance.
As recompense for their help, Austria promised them liberation
from the Turks and a happier future. Desirous of
freedom, great hosts of Serbs enrolled themselves as
volunteers under the Austrian flag.
The more notable
of these volunteers
and
Austrians
The
volunteers.
were commissioned as
at the head of
list
by the
officers
placed
the
of these ofiicers, taken
Serbian
mainly from
the archives in Vienna, shows to what extent, in pro-
many
portion,
Serbian provinces were represented.
Of the Serbian leaders commissioned by Austria, 16
had come from Serbia, 2 from Bosnia, 9 from Croatia,
38 from Srem and Slavonia, 1 from the Backa, 1 from
the Banat,
Of these
Vlajko
last
from Old Serbia, and 9 from Macedonia.
there were commissioned as Captains
Stojanovic,
of
Leunovo
(district
Vode
Leunovo
of
Tetovo)
Deli Djordje Nikolajevic, of Bele
(Prilep district)
Petar Novakovid-Oardaklija, of
of
Mavrovo.
Commissioned
as
Kuzman
Lieutenants
Oiki6,
MiloS
MACEDONIA
112
Mavrovo Jovan Nikolajevic-Cardoklija, of
Commissioned as Sub-lieutenants
Trifun
Tenasevic, of Debar Vucko Cikic, of Mavrovo Trifun
Krajevic, of
Leunovo.
Trpkovic, of Debar,
These men who fought
for the
freedom of the Serbian
nation at the end of the eighteenth century are the best
proof of the Serbian sentiment in Macedonia at that
time.
The Serbian sentiment of the Macedonians is likewise
clearly shown by their taking part in the fights against
the Turks which broke out in Serbian territory at the
The two Serbian
beginning of the nineteenth century.
insurrections against the Turks at the beginning of the
nineteenth century were decisive events in the history
of the Serbian nation.
The Serbs regarded them
resurrection, as the opening-up of a
period of
part of
all
place
to
Serbian
the
its
histor3^
Therefore,
at
there
the Serbian
From
the last and
herd-boy to the most distinguished
Serbian insurgents.
men
Here,
was no
the disposal of
poets, philosophers of the nation
ing
as a
free, national
Serbian lands which did not hasten
services
insurgents and resuscitated Serbia.
least
new,
Some
they
the
writers,
stood by the
all
joined the ranks of the fight-
others gave their moral support.
also,
with
all
have
set their
we
find
their might.
Macedonians.
Many
mark upon the
insurrection against the Turks.
the most important
They,
heroes from
too,
history of the
We
will
helped
Macedonia
Serbian
mention only
among them.
Drag. M. Pavlovic " Srbija za vreme poslednjeg austro-turskog
rata" ("Serbia during the last Auatro-Turkish War, 1788-1791"),
p. 143, Belgrade, 1910. Lazar Arsenijevic-Batalaka, "Istorija srpskog
ustanka " (" History of the Serbian Insurrection"), i. p. 141, Belgrade,
'
1899.
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION
Vucko ^ikic,
Mavrovo.
of
officer
was under Turkish
Srem, where he was in receipt
country, which
but settled in
the
in
After the war, he would not return
Austro-Turkish War.
to his native
Served as
113
When
pension from Austria.
rule,
of
the Serbian insurrection
broke out in 1804, he at once sacrificed his pension
and comfortable existence, went
the ranks of the combatants.
an army which was
Serbia and joined
to
While
command
in
resisting the Turkish pressure
of
from
the south, he constructed the well-known Serbian fortress
While
Dehgrad.
of
defending
gloriously on April 3rd, in 1808.
old Serbian
Kusman
Monastery
him
Roman, near Deligrad.^
Vucko Cikic, also of Mav-
command
in the
also fought heroically for Serbia's
He
of Deligrad.
was an Austrian volunteer officer. He also
Srem and enjoyed an Austrian pension. He
up everything and accompanied his brother
He
died
Cikic
buried in the
of St.
Cikic, brother of
rovo, succeeded
Dehgrad
He was
in
settled
also
gave
Serbia.
to
independence from
the Turks.2
Janko Popovic,
agitated against
He went
of Ochrid.
the insurrection.
enemy
bitter
them even
to Serbia before
of
he
Turks,
the
No
before the insurrection.
sooner had the insurrection broken out, than he joined
the ranks of the combatants.
Owing
to
which he distinguished himself
way
became a leader {vojvoda) and is one
in
notable figures in the Serbian insurrection.
and
("
ability
M. Dj.
gallant
battle,
of
the
he
most
His courage
were specially in evidence in the battles of
Mili6evi<5, "
Pomenik znamenitih
Reminiscenced of Famous
-
the
in
Men
Ijudi
L. Arsenijevic-Batalaka, " Istorija Srpskog
of the Serbian Insurrection "),
i.
u srpskom narodu "
of the Serbian Nation"), p. 168.
Ustanka" ("History
pp. 4, 5, 59, 141.
MACEDONIA
114
He
MiSar, Belgrade, and Bijeljina.
was buried
at Eavanica,
died
1833, and
in
one of the most important of
the Serbian monasteries of the Middle Ages.'
Marko
Krstic,
the
before
He
Belica.
of
went
also
As soon
insurrection.
as the
to
Serbia
insurrection
broke out he joined the ranks of the combatants.
command
He
Kara George. As he
distinguished himself in every battle, Kara George took
note of him, and he soon became an independent
vojvoda (leader). He was one of the most important
army leaders in the second insurrection under Milos
Obrenovic, in 1815. Through exposing himself, he was
He died
severely wounded in the second insurrection.
was under the
direct
of
Sabac in 1822.2
at
He went
Djordje Zagla, of Blace.
Serbia with
to
three of his brothers after the outbreak of the insurrec-
and
tion,
immediately
soon became the chief military
under the
command
of
fighting-men.
the
joined
leader
He
Smederevo
in
Vujica Vulicevic, was distin-
guished for his gallantry and an enthusiastic fighter.
He was wounded frequently,
He died in Belgrade in 1847.3
several
times
seriously.
Vreta Kolarac, of Macedonia (his native place
he became an army leader
teer,
He
insurrection.
Ma6va
is
not
Conspicuous for his bravery as a volun-
exactly known).
distinguished
in
the Kara George
himself
especially
at
in 1806.4
Mica Brka,
of
Mavrovo,
son
of
Milos
Krajevic.
Lieutenant of Volunteers in the Austro-Turkish war.
He
fought bravely in every battle in the Kara George
insurrection,
and
Dj. Milicevic, "
'
M.
'
Ibid., pp.
796-799.
finally
Pomenik
3
found a hero's death on the
"
("Reminiscences
ibid,, pp.
169-170.
"),
pp. 196-197.
Ibid., pp. 60-61.
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION
battlefield
in
1813,
greatest hero of
together with
New
145
Hajduk-Veljko, the
Serbian history.'
Besides those distinguished Macedonians who, as leaders
up an epoch of liberty
there was also a host of heroes
of the Serbian insurgents, opened
modern Serbian
in
rank and
of the
history,
file
from Macedonia, who with their
blood and self-sacrifice helped to create a free Serbia.
But
in
donians
numerous
liberation
too,
we
joining the
offered
not
Serbian insurrection, the Maceonly
Macedonians
their
who
helped
were
There
blood.
morally
and the strengthening of Serbia, and
mention the most distinguished.
in
the
of these,
will
Petar Icko, born in Katranica. Upon the outbreak
of the insurrection under Kora George, he proceeded
Being an able and intelligent man, he was
employed on various missions. He was also entrusted
with the negotiations with the Turks. The peace which
to Serbia.
the
Serbian insurgents concluded with
the
Turks
in
1806 was concluded through his mediation, and to this
day
it
is
called
Ickov Mir
(Ichko's Peace).
He was
buried in the Monastery of Rakovica, near Belgrade.^
Petar Novakovic-Cardaklija, born in Leunovo.
He
held a captain's commission in the Austro-Turkish war.
After the war he enjoyed a pension from Austria.
When
the tidings of the insurrection reached him, he at once
sacrificed
his
experience, he
pension.
Being a
man
of
ability
and
was entrusted with various missions on
behalf of the Serbian insurgents
the
first
time in Petro-
grad in 1804 and subsequently in Constantinople in 1805
When the
also to the Russian General Staff in 1807.
;
'
L. Arsenijevic-Batalaka, " Istorija srpskoga
of the Serbian Insurrection "),
^
M.
Dj. Milicevic, "
i.
ustanka" ("History
p. 59.
Pomenik"
("
KeminiBcences
"),
pp. 186-189,
MACEDONIA
116
" Praviteljstvujusci Sovjet Srbski " (the
first
Government
Free Serbia) was established in 1805, he was one
of
the members.
He
of
died in 1810.^
Jovan Novakovic-Cardaklija,
the
brother
of
Petar
He
Navakovic-Cardaklija, also born in Leunovo.
held
commission in the Austro- Turkish war,
subsequently enjoyed an x4.ustrian pension. He
a lieutenant's
and
with
also sacrificed his Austrian pension and, together
He
his brother, crossed the Serbian frontier.
entrusted with various services which
also
was
the insurgents
required from this able and distinguished patriot.
Dimitrije
not
is
Djordjevic,
He
known.
exactly
Macedonia
of
served
his
birthplace
under
Milan
Obrenovic in the insurrection led by Kara George.
the
under
insurrection
Milos
Obrenovic
he
In
fulfilled
various duties as interpreter, clerk, treasurer, Governor
of
Jagodina District, and envoy in diplomatic missions
to
Constantinople.
From
every point of view he was
an upright man and a great patriot. For the services
he had rendered to renewed Serbia, Prince Milos decreed
that the names of Dimitrije Djordjevic and his wife
were to be mentioned in divine service in church
in the same way as those of Prince Milos and his
brothers.
He
died in Jagodin in 183G.
on his tomb says that
"He
The
inscription
was a man who deserved
greatly of his Serbian fatherland.
Dositije Novakovic, born in the village of Dabica, near
Prilep.
He was
Turkish horrors, he
monk.
fled to
As he could not endure
the.
newly liberated Serbia under
Milos Obrenovic and laboured actively for her extension towards the east.
Serbia was enlarged, he
L. Arsenijevic-Batalaka, " Istorija srpskog ustanka " (" History
the Serbian Insurrection "), i. pp. 141, 147, 161, 183, 242, etc.
' Ibid.
3 M. Dj. Milicevic, " Eeminiscences," pp. 151-153.
'
of
When
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION
117
became the first bishop in the new territories in 1834.
His kindness, generosity, and wise instruction to his
people endeared his
His
memory
He
to them.
died in 1854.
wish was that he might not be buried in the
last
church, as is usual for a bishop, but in the cemetery.
" I have lived with my people, and it is with them that
wish
to
was
in this
churchyard
the
in
my
grave."
the wish of
fulfilled
It
be
grow on
grass
the
let
young
grateful Serbian nation
patriotic bishop.^
its
manner
The
that the Macedonians expressed
their Serbian sentiments during the Serbian insurrection
for liberation at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
But
with
this
not
is
The whole
all.
While the men
liberation.
of
Macedonia has
taken part in the Serbian struggle for
soul
its
of
Macedonia, shoulder to
shoulder with the other Serbs were shedding their blood
for Serbia,
whom
to
they looked for the liberation of
Macedonia also, the progress of the Serbian insurrection
was followed with most ardent sympathy in every home
in Macedonia inhabited by the plain people of the land.
Everybody in Macedonia anxiously awaited the news
from the battlefields
they took the keenest interest
in every success, and composed ballads to celebrate
;
the
heroes
Many
the Liberation
of
of
the Serbian people.
songs have been composed in Macedonia in honour
of the Serbian insurgents.
celebrated in
The deeds
Macedonian ballads
of
just
ballads from other Serbian countries. =
child
in
Macedonia
who
ballads of " Ilija Delija."3
'
llija
know
Delija
is
the popular
a well-known
Dj. Milicevid, " Reminiscences," pp. 446448.
P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-slavjanski Sbornik " ("
M.
Slav Collection"),
'
does not
Kara George are
the same as in
There is not a
Ibid.,
i.,
St. i'etersburg,
Nos. 101, 102, 103, 104.
Macedonian
No. 96 (Song from Prilep).
MACEDONIA
118
hero of the Serbian insurrection.
Ilija Strelja.
He was
his
real
name was
born in GradiSte, near Leskovac.
After gathering together a large
from
His
number
of volunteers
He
neighbourhood, he proceeded to Serbia.
distinguished himself specially at Deligrad in 1806.
1809 he succeeded in invading his native
In
whence
district,
he was intended to organize incursions and to raise
Macedonia against the Turks.
all
Ilija Delija's
ardent
wish to free Macedonia from the Turks made him a
Macedonian national poetry. Hajduk
Veljko, the greatest hero of the insurrection under Kara
George, even during his lifetime became a legendary
hero and was celebrated in song and also in Macedonia
we find many songs in which Hajduk Veljko is honoured
and celebrated, just as there are songs about him in other
favourite subject of
In a popular ballad from Macedonia
Serbia. I
parts of
celebrating the insurrection under Milo Obrenovic, the
Macedonians sing thus
"
of the share they bore in
Enough have we gone, enough have we walked,
Enough have we walked on the plain of Sumadja
it
(Serbia)
'r-
:[;
J;
'V-
^'
To destroy the great army,
To free our poor children."*
In order to deprecate criticism, we beg to state that
we have quoted all Macedonian songs of the Serbian
Insurrection against the Turks solely from the collections
of
Macedonian
national
songs
and ballads made by
Bulgarian collectors.
Braca Miladinovci, " Bugarske Narodne Pesme " (" Bulgarian
National Songs"), Nos. 215, 216, 217 (Songs from the Neighbourhood
of Ochrid).
P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-slavjanski Sbornik," i.,
No. 73 (Song from tlie Neighbourhood of Debra), No. 74 (Song from
the Neighbourhood of Kostur), No. 75 (Song from Tetovo).
'
St.
I.
Verkovic,
"Narodne
pesme
Makedonskih
(^"National Songs of the Macedonian Bulgars"),
i.,
Bugara"
1860, No. 353.
IX
BULGARIAN PBOPAGANDA IN MACEDONIA
BULGARIAN RESURRECTION
Bulgara completely forgotten in Europe after the fall of the
Bulgarian Empire in the Middle Ages Bulgars in Bulgaria
without national consciousness Attempts at national awakeningThe Ruthenian G. Venelin forms an idealistic picture
of the Bulgars and rouses them
Bulgars, inspired by Venelin's
fables, begin to dream of
Great Bulgaria The romantic
enthusiast George S. Rakovski fosters Bulgarian megalomania
Stephan Verkovic and his forged Bulgarian antiquities All
Bulgars united in the conception of their unlimited greatness
Education of the rising generation in this spirit Bulgarian
ideas take hold in Russia Conmiittees for the propaganda of
the Bulgarian idea in Russia Russian scholars, infected by
Bulgarian!, become its pioneers
Sympathy for the Bulgars
spreads from Russia to the rest of Europe
in the nineteenth century, the
Bulgars arose from
which they were thrust by the
Turks ever since the end of the fourteenth century, they
IF,
the grave into
are indebted
for
this entirely to the sentimental devo-
tion of Slavophil Russia.
Without
ignorant to this day of their
If
own
this they
would be
existence as a nation.
during the course of the second half of the nineteenth
century they
attained
they owe
Russian blood and the humane sentiment
of
it
to
Europe.
of the
Turk
emancipation from the Turks,
Without these they would have been slaves
to this day.
But although they were re-
suscitated through the efforts of others, although their
MACEDONIA
120
emancipation was bought with the blood of others, the
Bulgars were
not
content
to
let
matters rest there.
The psychology of a nation is not changed so easily.
The old Bulgarian blood and the old insatiable and
truculent Bulgarian spirit came out from the very first
day of the renascence of the Bulgarian nation. The
first
New
over
all
Bulgar dreamed already of becoming master
his
neighbours and
much more
By
besides.
cunning and duplicity in their dealings with
those who were stronger than themselves and able
servility,
to help
them; by a
who have anything
ganda
for
cleverly organized appeal
to
those
by an indefatigable propaimaginary rights, the Bulgars have
their
to give
succeeded in creating the fable of a greatness of the
Bulgarian nation,
and
Macedonia
rights
the explanation
nation,
culture,
beyond Bulgarian
interests
as a
past and
its
Bulgarian country.
why
of
Bulgarian
frontiers,
and
Herein alone
of
lies
the Bulgars, a completely defunct
succeeded not only in obtaining their freedom
and independence but also in finding advocates
for their
insatiable demands.
" After the
fall of
the Bulgarian Empire at the end
of the fourteenth century, the Bulgars
forgotten in Europe.
nothing about them.
an extent, that
were completely
Even kindred Eussia knew next to
They were forgotten to such
.
the end of the eighteenth century
at
and in the beginning
of the nineteenth
even the most
well-informed and conscientious scholars had no clear
knowledge
of
them.
Thus, in 1771, Schlotzer hazarded
the opinion that a study of the neo-Bulgarian language
might throw
light
upon the nature
of the
Old Bulgars.
Dobrovski, the patriarch of modern Slavistic, believed the^
Bulgarian language, of which he was entirely ignorant,|^
"=
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
be
to
dialect
of
Serbian.
Kopitar in 1815 was
that
placed after the noun.
that
All
was known
in Bulgarian
The
earliest
Vuk.
skim
Karadzic in 1822 in his
S.
Uporednim
Recnicima
'
Petrograd Parallel Dictionaries')-
('
to
the article
data
Bulgarian language were furnished
the
121
is
concerning
by the
Serb
Dodatak PetrogradSupplement to the
'
AH
that Safarik
knew
was that the Bulgars live between the Danube
and the Balkan Mountains and that there are 600,000
of them ".
In these very words two distinguished
Russian scholars express their total knowledge of the
in 1826
Bulgars at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Even the Bulgars themselves knew nothing about
themselves.
As the Bulgarian
they had ceased to
exist.
historian
Drinov says,
Their one-time culture had not
only disappeared, but was forgotten even by themselves.
Educated Bulgarians
fingers
of
one's
who could be counted on
could not write their
hands
the
own
The most notable Bulgarians were merchants,
many of them were in business relations with Germany,
Russia, and Africa but not one of them knew a single
letter of Bulgarian.
They not only " carried on their
correspondence
in
neo-Greek or
the
Roumanian
language.
languages,
but they spoke only Greek and were proud
The man who occasionally for his
own convenience desired to make a note in Bulgarian
of their Hellenism.
as well,
would write Bulgarian with Greek characters.
Even towards 1830 the
'
"intellectual " class contained
A. N. Pipin and V. D. Spasovic, " Istorija Slavjanskih Literatur,
(" History of Slav Literature "), p. 104 (in Eussian).
1879 "
I. Veneliu, " Zaradi Voarazdenije Novobolgarskoj Slovesnosti
("Concerning the Renascence of Neo-Lulgarian Slavdom"), prevel
(edited by) M. Kifilov, Bucharest, 1842, pp. 11, 34, 35, .50 (in Bul-
garian)
S. Milarov, V. E. Aprilov, Odessa, 1885, p. 5 (in Bulgarian).
MACEDONIA
122
"not a
single
one
Biilgar, or
service in the
of
Bulgar who would confess to being a
who spoke Bulgarian or attended divine
Slav language. And after the fashion
renegades they hated and despised
all
all
Bulgarian more than did the real Greeks."
emerge from
All Bulgarian attempts to
The
condition proved unavailing.
ious
monk
Bulgarian
Pajsije,
who
was
that
this ignomin-
the
of
efforts
in 1762 tried to vindicate
nation by his "History of the Bulgarian Nation,"
his
among
remained unnoticed
His passionate reproaches
read and write in Greek
nationality
the
Bulgars
themselves.
to the Bulgars, because they
;
because they forgot
because they yielded to Greek
because they insulted their native tongue
their
customs
because they
were ashamed of calling themselves Bulgars, clearly
show how low the Bulgars had sunk. All attempts
made at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the
Bulgarian emigrants in Russia likewise remained unsuccessful.
Russia,
There were many Bulgarian emigrants
in
Many
of
especially
in
the
southern
towns.
these were merchants of considerable wealth.
Although
every one of them had received a Greek education, yet
there
were some
resurrection
vain.
of
among them who contemplated
defunct
their
The Bulgars were not
nationality.
But
all
a
in
able to raise themselves
from their grave.
The Bulgarian renascence came from abroad. It was
reserved for the youth Gjorgje Venelin, a Ruthenian,
(1802-1839),
Bulgarian
'
native
nation.
of
After
Lemberg,
studying
to
re-create
Slavistic
at
the
the
E. Golubinski, " Kratki Ocerk Istoriji Pravoslavnih Cerkvej "
Outline of Orthodox Church History "), Moscow, 1871,
(" Short
pp. 176-177
(in
Russian).
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
University of Lemberg,
KiSinjev he
fired
came
across
123
he proceeded to Kussia. At
some Bulgarian emigrants who
him with enthusiasm
for
the Bulgarian
cause,
and in 1829 he wrote a book in Kussian entitled " Old
and New Bulgars." Containing as it did something
so
far
unknown,
reception,
ardour
the
book
met
with
favourable
and Venelin devoted himself with increased
the cause of the Bulgars.
In 1830 the
Russian Academy commissioned him to explore Bulgaria.
Thus he was afforded the opportunity of seeing the
to
nation to which he had so lovingly devoted himself.
Although he had considerable trouble with the objects
who threatened and blackmailed him he
was even robbed by a Bulgar of the " Carostavnik," a
MS. of the Serbian Kings and Cars and placed the
most vexatious obstacles in his way, Venelin succeeded
of his affection,
several old MSS., national ballads, and a
amount of philological material. All this
material was utilized by Venelin in his subsequent works
in collecting
certain
on the Bulgars (description of his
ballads,
Bulgarian
day the
scientific
travels, the national
and language).
Although Venelin in his books furnished many details
and created many assumptions regarding the Bulgars,
his work does not possess great scientific value.
Venelin
was a great idealist, with a lively imagination. In his
literature,
history
material available on the subject of
the Bulgars was both poor and scanty,
material failed
and where
his
him he
supplied the deficiency from his
exuberant imagination, " which in a few lines created
so that he mistook for scientific results the
ardent wish of his soul and the dream of his spirit."
He himself admits that when he found his material
pictures,
deficient
he supplemented
it
out of his
own
head.
For
MACEDONIA
124
this reason "his
books are
soon became
scientific value,
cance
the
for
But
obsolete."
his vi^orks
if
Bulgarian
"
nation.
birth
they very
are
of
the
no
of
signifi-
His great merit
by himself created and
completely
re-
w&s responsible
suscitated the Bulgarian nation, that he
the
''
they are nevertheless of immense
consists in the fact that he
for
sometimes
of mistakes,
full
grave mistakes," and for this reason also
defunct
Bulgarian
nationality."
The romantically
Venelin appealed to the
fantastic
immature imagination of the Young Bulgars. He was
hailed with love and enthusiasm, as a Messiah come
rescue a lost nation.
to
praises,
his
all
All
his
observations,
were accepted
suggestions
all
like
his
com-
mands from heaven. He urged the wealthy Bulgars
of Russia and Eoumania to subscribe donations for
the support of the Bulgarian cause,
for
the opening
Bulgarian schools, for the printing of school books.
of
Two
Bulgarian merchants of Odessa, V. E. Aprilov
and N. Palauzov, who had been completely Hellenized
their
in
and
youth,^ by reading Venelin
the
first
the
apostles of
became
Bulgarian
Bulgars
awakening.
Aprilov began to write books in Bulgarian, in which
he
speaks
of
his
with
nation
fantastic
enthusiasm.
Palauzov conducted his propaganda by word of mouth
and collected contributions.
Both gave money
opening of the school in Gabrovac,
other Bulgars.
The sum
for the
1835, the
first
This work also influenced
the Bulgarian schools.
of
in
of donations contributed
not
only by pjulgars, but also by Russians and Roumanians
'
Pipin and Spasovic, p. 112.
Vasil Aprilov was treasurer
mittee in 1821.
of
the
Greel;
Insurgents'
Com-
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
Schools were
constantly assumed greater proportions.
opened, books published, young
European
schools
augurated
the
and
men
to study in
sent
Thus
universities.
appearance of
first
125
the
was
in-
Bulgars as a
nation and the foundation of the idea of their deliver-
ance from the Turks.
The whole
of
movement took
this
had not even begun
very
popular,
place within the
Macedonia the Bulgars
The movement was
to dream.
limits of Bulgarian territory
especially
of
Kussia,
in
who
considered
herself
the protectress of the conquered Slavs, and in
Serbia,
who
regarded the Bulgars as the broken nation
of a brother-country.
tent
with
In
this.
But the Bulgars were not conVenelin's
books
they found
the
stimulus towards a state of things which they had so
far not
even contemplated.
found
be
wrote
Venelin
Peninsula,
only
not
in
Before visiting the Balkan
that
the
Bulgaria,
were to
Bulgars
but
Rumelia,
in
Macedonia, Albania, Thessaly, South Morea, and Asia
Minor as well ^ that the Russians received Christianity
that it was the Bulgars who
from the Bulgars
that up to
of the alphabet
them
the
use
brought
the time of Lomonosov, divine service had been celebrated in Russia in Bulgarian, which had also been
the literary language, and that in ancient times not
one of the other Slav nations had been so rich in
;
MSS: and
so
forth. ^
even
the
The Bulgars were not slow
most
in
preposterous
of
Venelin's
statements and magnifying them out of
all
sense and
adopting
" Drevinje
Moscow, 1829,
"
Ninjesnije Bolgare "
vol.
i.
(in
("Old and
New
Bulgars"),
Russian).
" Zaradi Vozrazdenije " ("Concerning the Renascence
17 (in Bulgarian).
"),
pp. 5,
MACEDONIA
126
For whereas Venelin
proportion.
with the soul of a poet, an
him
the Bulgars carried
for
himself often admitted
idealist
the
was a good man
whose infatuation
to absurd
lengths
as
he
Bulgars grew restive under
criticism and went recklessly far beyond the limits
which Venelin in his infatuation had assigned to the
all
Bulgarian nation.
One
of Venelin's first
man who
followers, the
laid
the foundation of the Bulgarian idea of expansion and
the role of the Bulgarian nation in the world, was
of
Bulgar
the
Gjorgje
Venelin's fantastic
tion
of
Rakovski
S.
ideas
In
(1818-1868).
Rakovski found the inspira-
evolving a practical propaganda for the idea
for
the prehistoric claims of the Bulgars not only in
the Balkan Peninsula,
but far beyond
it.
Poet, his-
torian, ethnographer, archaeologist, publicist, social
and
much on
the
ecclesiastical
subject
extinguished
raise
own
Rakovski
But
every glimmer
nation.
his
of
faculty
critical
suffice
agitator,
violent
common
of
writings.
his
in
wrote
his
show what Rakovski is.
the Bulgarian nation, "high
sons,
and afterwards in those
the
way
in
of
Greek
of the
differ
the
'
which
is
its
he
not
denies the ancient
advent
of
Christianity
read
and
write
and
possessed a
Bulgaria was
" at
one
Bulgars
literature
the
the world,"
sources, and places the Bulgars as precursors
European nations the Bulgarian language does not
from the Sanscrit Bulgarian national mythology
Indian,^ even
is
the eyes of
tales,
He
of intelligent persons.
and
sense
few samples will
In his efforts to
to
has recourse to the realm of fairy
patriotism
Slav
before
could
nations,
Sofia paper Mir,
the
the mightiest
February
3,
1917.
time the chief
and
"
of
most extensive
Pipin and Spasovic.
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
Empire
Europe
in
olden
in
127
"moral
times;"
truth
"^
among
appeared
the Bulgars
first
of
the
all
Slavs,
"the most ancient relics of the old Slav customs
and language have been preserved in various parts
Bulgaria and among the Bulgars of to-day."
of
The Bulgars lived in the Balkan Peninsula before
Demosthenes was a Bulgar
the Greek immigration
so was Marko Botsaris, a hero of the Greek insurrecall
European languages and all European
tion I
;
culture
originated
Peons and
the
with
the
Bulgars.
Kelto-Kimbers were
The
ancient
Bulgars
Clovis
Christian
and Merovaeus were Bulgars; the first
Church in Europe was founded among the Bulgars
they helped to establish the other churches, and they
were the founders of Christian missionary activity the
Bulgars received Christianity earlier than the Greeks,
" because they believed in one God, in the immortality
;
of the soul,
were
and in recompense
converted
later,
because
Even the Olympic Zeus
Bulgars.
He was
after death "
they were
the Greeks
polytheists.
could not exist without
nursed
and reared
by
the
the
Bul-
garian Mountain Villa (fay) Neda.^
should specially be pointed out that Kakovski is
not a " vulgar Bulgarian enthusiast." He is one of the
most distinguished Bulgars of the nineteenth century.
It
No one
else looms so large in neo-Bulgarian political
The Sofia paper Mir of
and literary history.
February 3, 1917, while calling upon the Bulgars to
G. S. Rakovski, " Gorski Putnik" ("A Traveller through the
Mountains"), Novi Sad, 1857, pp. 164, 166, 175, 201, 231 (in
'
Bulgarian).
=
G. S. Rakovski, " Kljuc Bolgarskoga Jazika " ("Key to the
Bulgarian Language"), Odessa, 1880, pp. 109, 142-143, 94, etc.
(in Bulgarian).
MACEDONIA
128
celebrate
says that
the fiftieth anniversary of Rakovski's death,
" the first half of the modern period of
Bulgarian history
Rakovski's epoch," and proceeds to
is
add that the question
the celebration "has already
of
been taken up by the Bulgarian Academy of Science."
But Rakovski
could quote.
by no means the only example we
is
Bulgarian patriots of the nineteenth
All
century resembled him.
we must mention,
that
with Macedonia.
It
is
There
a
is
name
that of
one name, however,
connected
especially
Stephan
I.
Verkovic
As a schoolmaster in Macedonia, he
the most responsible, especially in Russia,
(1827-1893).
is
for
one of
having paved the way for the mistaken idea that
Macedonia is a Bulgarian country. He collected in
Macedonia the local "Bulgarian" national ballads and
wrote monographs upon them. Verkovic, too, can best
be judged by quoting his work. Among other amazing
troves he
ska,"
i.e.
collected
discovered in Macedonia the
national
hymns
poems
to
the
He
of pre-historic antiquity!
Macedonia
ballads of Alexander the Great
Slavs in
Sloven-
Orpheus, the Thracian singer, and
to the ancient Slav gods in
the
"Veda
Balkan
He
discovered
and the settlement
Peninsula
He
of
discovered
what other less privileged mortals had overlooked, viz.
that the "Bulgars " of Macedonia have preserved certain national songs or
development
of the
poems "referring
human
to the primitive
race," and the "
mythology
expressed in these traditions has a remarkable affinity
with the Rig Veda," so that
it
occurred to
him
that
"these poems must be, not only twin-sisters which
grew from the same spring and source, but what is
more that these poems of ours, judging by their simplicity and extreme antiquity, must be the model of
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
Big Veda, having
the
since
the
independently
developed
one direction and the other in another."
Before printing these
them
samples
like
to
hymns
ever
developing in
one version
separation,
first
129
or songs, Verkovic sent
quarters.
different
To
the
Ethnographical Exhibition in Moscow
an "Ancient Bulgarian Orphic Hymn" of which he
in 1867 he sent
down from an old man
The hymn, of course, sounded
declared that he had taken
one hundred and
of
merely
"a
like
but this did
ing
it
five.
it
fairy tale," as
Verkovic himself admits,
not prevent him from
printing and publish-
together with others, or even from maintaining
"that the contents of these songs are
based on historic truth and on facts which have really
taken place," and to point out "that there is more
truth in them than in any other similar products
in the preface
the
of
though
past,
whether European
or
Asiatic."
Verkovic's forgeries were exposed at once
all
and without
did not
difficulty, this
in
him from pubHshing the second volume
seven /years
Verkovic
Even
the least deter
of his "
Veda
"3
later.
is
not really remarkable in himself.
But
he,
an important figure in Bulgarian history. He was
time the chief and only authority in Russia on
matters Macedonian. In fact, one of his works is an
too, is
for a long
" Ethnography of Macedonia " written in Russian.
To-
day the Bulgars refer copiously to him over the Macedonian question to his songs, his treatises, and reports.
For them he
'
is
" well-known in the Slav world as an
" Veda Slovena, narodni pesni
doba, otkril
v.
Trakija
ofc
Makedonia
p. X.
Ibid., p. xii.
Petrograd, 1881.
10
predhistoricno
izdal Stefan
I.
predhristjansko
Verkovic," 1874,
MACEDONIA
130
and
ethnographer
archaeologist
he
especially
is
esteeraed for his perfect knowledge of Macedonia."
These ideas were held by all Bulgars of the nineteenth
They were shared also by the Bulgarian
century.
historian Gavril Krstovic, one of the chief agitators in
the Bulgarian Church Question. His " History of the
Bulgarian Nation"
tions
is
fables
full of
concerning the Bulgars and
and wild exaggeratheir
Even
past.
Mr. Drinov, the best of the Bulgarian historians,
from these
entirely free
By
ideas.
such ideas was the Bulgarian awakening accom-
panied.
all
not
is
They permeated
new
its
history,
the
whole
the
of
science, its policy,
its
and
nation,
all
its
programme, the rising generation of
all school and
Bulgaria is brought up on these ideas
instruction are imbued with them.^
Armed with ideas of this kind, then, the Bulgars began
Macedonia and their
their propagandist activity in
social
and
political
'
A. Ischirkov, " Les confins occidentaux des Terres Bulgares,"
Mr. lechirkov is Professor of Geography at
p. 231.
Lausanne, 1915,
Member
the University of Sofia and
of the Bulgarian
Academy
of
Science.
' In Bulgarian school-books we find it is stated that Alexander the
Great was a Bulgar, because he was born in Macedonia, and that
It is true that he wrote
Aristotle was a Bulgar for the same reason.
in Greek, but he did so only in order to educate the southern bar'
barians. He Wrote also in Bulgarian, but the Greeks destroyed'
the MSS. (see Morning Fast of Febrnary 8, 1916). AcccJrding to
Bulgarian school-books Cdnstantine the Great Was also a Bulgar, as
he was bom in Nil, which is according to them a Bulgarian town.
According to the same authority Cyril and Method are Bulgars,
Aleksa Nenadovic and Hajduk
because they were born in Salonica
;
Veljko, those heroes of the Serbian liberation, are likewise Bulgars,
and also the heroes of the Greek insurrection Botsaris, Karaiskis,
Kanaris,
kog
Miaulis,
Poluostrva,"
pp. 100-101.)
and others.
translated
{Cf.
from
" Dr^ave
the
narodi
Balkans-
Bussian, Belgrade,
1891,
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
131
Un-
opposition to the Serbian claims to that country.
By
Bulgars.
not remain confined to the
did
fortunately these ideas
and ubiquitous repetition
dint of constant
they had the good fortune to be heard of and taken
into
The first and most strongly to be
by them was Russia, who regarded the Slavs
consideration.
influenced
of Turkey as her oppressed brothers in blood and religion.
In Russia there were always Bulgarian refugees. For
whereas the refugees from Serbian countries under
Turkey always
the
to
fled
Serbs, the
Bulgars
the Russians heard of
Bulgaria.
sionate
It
was
misery that
to
these
prevailed
in
Russian that Venelin with pas-
in
devotion and fanciful idealism introduced the
Bulgarian nation and
and
the
fled
From
Wallachia, Moldavia, and South Russia.^
fictitious
its
Slavdom
value for
In their war with Turkey towards
for the world.
the end of the thirties of the nineteenth century, the
Russians had
at
the
last
opportunity
of
personally
observing the miseries of the nation of which Venelin
was just at that time writing with so much sympathy
and enthusiasm. Added to this came the agitation of
the " awakened " Bulgarian patriots in Russia and
Roumania. "Bulgarian Committees for the aid of the
Danubian Bulgars " were established in Odessa and
Bucharest, with the object of making propaganda in
Russia and elsewhere for the benefit of the Bulgarian
cause.
To Bulgaria
these Committees sent school and
liturgical books, crucifixes, vestments, chalices,
ecclesiastical
furniture.
Russia was the
a lively interest in the Bulgars.
and subscriptions
Pipha and Spaso\
("A
for the
ic,
p.
139
and other
first
to
take
She, too, sent books
Bulgarian schools and ecclesi;
G. S. Rakovaki,
Traveller through the Mountains
'),
p. 271.
^'
Gorski Putuik"
MACEDONIA
132
the Bulgarian churches. She was
to educate the Bulgarian younger
and
the
generation, which produced some of the most ardent
astical furniture for
first
to attract
who then either laboured in Russia
in the Balkan Peninsula.
propaganda
or else made
Finally, little by little, Bulgaromania became general in
Eussia. Even sober men of science were bitten with
Bulgarian patriots
the Bulgarian
craze
and
prepared
pronounce the
to
whole of the Balkans to be Bulgarian. The learned
V. Grigorovic, travelling in the Balkans in 1844, saw
only Bulgars wherever he went. Although he noticed
a prevailing difference between the speech of the Macedonians and that of the Bulgars, he could not get rid
of his
Bulgarophihsm, and so pronounced
to be Bulgars.'
He
also noticed
all
Macedonians
other differences, but
being completely fascinated by the Bulgars, he did not
think of discriminating between them and the MaceGrigorovid's
donians.2
unquestioned
authority
only
served to strengthen the Russian love for the Bulgars.
They were the favourite children of the Great Slav
The Russian
Mother.
voritelnoe
Obscestvo,"
Society,
" Slavyanskoe Blagot-
established
in
1858,
laboured
untiringly at the propagation of the Bulgarian cause.
The ethnographic maps
published by- the Society were
in complete accord with the most ambitious of Bulgarian
ideals.
In
1870 Russia created
nomous Church.
Finally,
when
the
in
Bulgarian
1878
it
auto-
became
necessary to estabHsh the Bulgarian State, all Russia
was carried away with excitement. Public opinion was
stronger than the Government.
V. Grigorovic, " Ocerk putesestvija po evropejskoj Turcii," 1848,
pp. 194, 195, 196 (in Russian).
^
Thus was created the
Ibid.
BULGARIAN PROPAGANDA
Great Bulgaria of San Stefano, on March
133
3,
1878
Bulgaria within whose frame, beside the real Bulgaria,
were included Macedonia and a great part of Old Serbia.
According to popular opinion
Russia at the time
in
Bulgaria was entitled to an area of 164,000
with a population of 4,500,000.
And
if
sq.
km.
there had been
which reduced Bulgaria to
her proper ethnical boundaries, the Bnlgars would long
ago have been masters of the Balkan Peninsula. But
although the Bulgaria of San Stefano was not realized,
no Congress
it
left
remained
goal.
It
of Berlin, 1878,
strong impression
for
them
has been
among
the
Bulgars.
It
a recognized and merely unrealized
the dream of
the whole
of
the
Bulgarian nation ever since.
From
Russia this sympathy for Bulgaria spread
over the world.
It
was
in
all
Russia that the fables of
the Bulgars were given wings.
Russia was the chief
authority on Bulgaria and her chief advocate.
the sympathy and help extended by
all
Thence
the world to
the unjust aspirations of Bulgaria, to the huge detri-
ment
of
the just interests of the Serbian nation.
IX {Continued)
BULGABTAN ACTION IN MACEDONIA
The Greek Church abuses its power over the Slavs in the Turkish
Empire Slav dissatisfaction Inability of the Serbs to fight
the Greek Church The Bulgars, assisted by Russia, open their
campaign The Uniate Church (Greek Catholicism) among the
Bulgars The Russians, alarmed at the progress of the Uniate
The Greek
Church, increase their help to the Bulgars
Patriarch, alarmed at the growth of the Uniate Church, yields to
The Porte, taking the part of the Bulgars, intervenes with the Greek Patriarch, and the Sultan declares the
independence of the Bulgarian Church in Turkey Significance
of the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Detriment caused
to the Serbs in Turkey by the creation of the Bulgarian
Exarchate Attitude of the Greek Church towards the Macedonian Serbs Macedonians begin to turn Uniate Ptussia
advises them to join the Bulgars in their struggle against the
Greek Church Macedonians help Bulgars, but only to free
themselves from the Greek clergy The Macedo-Eoumanians do
the same The Bulgarian Exarchate and Macedonia Turks
New Bulgarian bishoprics in
side with Bulgars in Macedonia
the Bulgars
Macedonia
of
Forcible Bulgarization of the Macedonians Creation
Propaganda in Macedonia from Bul-
independent Bulgaria
Many Macedonian Serbs refuse to join the Bulgars
Bulgarian terror among Serbian population of MacedoniaBulgarian comitadjis in Macedonia Destruction of Serbian
garia
records and
DESPITE
monuments
in
Bnlgarian
sympathies
of
Macedonia
have prevailed in Macedonia
in
pressing
the
national interests.
Church
When
and in
zeal,
Europe,
the
of
the
Bulgars would
not
spite
had they not succeeded
into
the
service
of
their
speaking of the part played
134
BULGARIAN ACTION
by the
is
Serbian Patriarchate
IN
MACEDONIA
we
explained
how
135
great
the importance of an autonomous Church in Turkey.
The Bulgars
contrived to have Macedonia placed under
own autonomous Church, and then
drew every advantage from this circumstance that could
possibly be drawn from it, to the utmost limit.
Right up to the latter half of the eighteenth century
the greater part of Macedonia was from an ecclesiastical
the power of their
point of view under the
Serbian
the smaller part was under the
In
Ochrida.
Patriarchate,
archiepiscopal
1766 the Turks suppressed the
and
Patriarchate,
while
see of
Serbian
1767 they suppressed the archi-
in
All the powers and rights of
two independent Churches were henceforth transferred to the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople.
In
this way not only the vast territories which had already
been under the Greek Patriarchate before, but also all
those regions in the Turkish Empire in which the Church
service was conducted in the Slav tongue, were placed
under the Greek Patriarchate.
The Greek Patriarchate is above all things a Greek
Church.
It was never friendly to the Slavs of the
Balkan Peninsula. While the Southern Slavs had their
Ochrida.
episcopate of
these
independent
States
in
the Middle
Ages, their
auto-
cephalous Churches were rivals of the Greek Patriarchate.
Under the Turkish
rule the independent Serbian
guarded the Serbian nation and
from the influence
of
the
guarded them
from that
Greek Patriarchate found
of being the chief
Turkey,
it
and
sole
looked upon
it
its
Greek Church,
of
itself
Church
national civilization
just
When
the Turks.
in the
as
it
the
proud position
Orthodox Church
in
European
as its duty to suppress every
non-Greek national feeling and to foster and strengthen
MACEDONIA
136
only Greek sentiment.
Only Greek
Greek civilization enjoyed its favour
was persecuted and crushed.
occupy high positions
in
the
nationality
;
and
everything else
None but Greeks
could
From
these
Church.
they everywhere- protected the Greeks alone,
positions
they introduced
an exclusively Greek intellectual life,
and they invested everything with an exclusively Greek
The
character.
no matter what their
Slavs,
ability,
were
never permitted. to rise beyond the dignity of a parish
and that they could attain only by heavy pay-
priest,
ments.
The Slav
office
was persecuted,
old Slav
MSB.
were destroyed, the legends in the churches coated over
with plaster and replaced by Greek inscriptions. Besides
all this the Greek Church was morally in a most corrupt
Robbery and venality prevailed
state.
in high places.
Preferment was given only to sycophants and to those
who were able to pay well. A bishopric cost about
T1,000 in
For
gold.
gold, ex-cooks
and innkeepers were
And
permitted to attain the dignity of a bishop.
of
the
Greek Church.
things, truckling to
other
were prevalent in the hierarchy
Standing by the Turks in all
vices of the vilest sort
them and bribing them with money,
the Greek Church with the help of the Turks exploited
the nation and treated
This state of
tion with the
this reason, in
itself
free
made
it
it
affairs
even as the Turks were doing.
produced a profound dissatisfac-
Greek Church among the
Serbia
Milos
one of his
as
Slavs.
For
soon as the country had set
Obrenovic, her prince at that time,
first
cares to separate
Church from the Greek Patriarchate and
the Serbian
to
render
it
independent.
Throughout Turkey, this dissatisfaction with the
Greek Church increased from day to day.
Nothing
BULGARIAN ACTION
was
lacking
open
an
were
far
suitable
against
more numerous
at
in
it.
opportunity
Although
to
the
137
begin
Serbs
Turkey than the Bulgars,
from rebel-
nevertheless practically debarred
against
Serbia
struggle
they were
ling
but
MACEDONIA
IN
the
Greek
Church.
the expense of Turkey
The
made
liberation
the
of
Serbian
people an object of- mingled hate and fear on the part of
the Turks. Any movement on the part of the Serbs in
Turkey was supposed to be instigated from Serbia. Every
Serb in Turkey was considered a rebel. The detachment
of the Serbian Church from the Greek Patriarchate
increased the hostility of the Greeks towards the Serbs,
The
Greek intrigue against them.
Turkish Empire and the Greek Patriarchate became
The Bulgars were (at
natural allies against the Serbs.
and
stimulated
that time) in a far better position to fight against the
abuses of the Greek Church.
They were
of Turkey, without political aspirations.
docile subjects
The Bulgarian
State did not as yet exist, and the Turks could not lay
it
to their charge, as they did to that of the
Serbs, that
they were agitating abroad tor the formation of a free
State.
had good reason to be discontented
For many years, ever
with the Greek Patriarchate.
since the Bulgarian Patriarchate in Trnovo was suppressed in 1393, the Greeks had cruelly oppressed the
Bulgars. They denationalized them and destroyed all
Very early in the day there
their native civilization.
The Bulgars,
too,
were voices raised among the Bulgars against the Greeks.
Already in the middle of the eighteenth century the
Bulgarian historian Pajsije complained bitterly of the
Greeks.
Venelin relates how, some time about 1794,
the Greeks burnt a
number
of old
Bulgarian
MSS.
at
"
MACEDONIA
138
how the Bulgarian
how the Bulgars write
Trnovo;
alphabet .had ceased to
exist
the words of their
own
language in Greek characters or carry on their corre-
how the Christian faith
among the Bulgars, how priests are scarce,
and one may find unbaptized young men of between
seventeen and twenty years of age.^ When, in 1823, the
spondence entirely in Greek
has declined
Metropolitan
of Sofia
discovered the presence of Bul-
garian books and antiquities in the village of Cerovina,
near Sofia,
he
the former
ordered
replaced by Greek books. ^
to
be burnt and
In 1825 the Metropolitan of
Trnovo ordered the burning
of the old
library of
the
Bulgarian Patriarchate during the Trnovo period, which
had been accidentally re-discovered shortly before. 3
provided sufficient
this
cause
for
the Bulgars
to
All
be
thoroughly dissatisfied with the Greek Patriarchate.
The
denationalized Bulgars, however, did
to consider
from
all
these matters
till
not begin
Venelin roused them
It was precisely through his influence
more notable Bulgars that the idea of
their torpor.
among
the
emancipation from the Greeks began
to
appear.
In
1840 the Bulgars begged the Greek Patriarchate that in
the Bulgarian counties the Greek
language might be
Bulgarian in the Church services.
was unsuccessful, the Bulgars in 1853
appealed to the Bussian Ambassador (in Constantinople),
Prince Menshikov, for intervention on their behalf in
this matter.
But even then they failed to succeed.
replaced
As
by the
this petition
J. Venelin, " Zaradi vozbuzdenie novobolgarskoj slovesnosti
Concerning the Renascence of Neo-Bulgarian Slavdom"), Bucharest,
1842, pp. 11, 27, 34-36 (in Bulgarian).
= G. Bousquet, " Histoire du Peuple Bulgare," Paris, 1909, p. 133.
3 J.
Eakovski, "Gorski Putnik" ("A Traveller through the
Mountains "), pp. 208, etc.
'
("
BULGARIAN ACTION
After
the
Crimean
IN
MACEDONIA
War, the Porte
by a
139
decree on
February 16, 1856, promised her Christian subjects that
their rights should be respected and their rehgion protected.
On
the strength of this the Bulgars
demanded
bishops and
that in the Bulgarian eparchies Bulgarian
priests should be appointed, and that in the churches the
Bulgarian language should be introduced in place of the
Although the Kussian Ambassador supported
Greek.
their petition in Constantinople, the Bulgars were again
unsuccessful.
In the meantime the Bulgarian agitation
from day to day, and the interest in the
emancipation of the Church was growing even among
the mass of the people. In December 1858, the Bulgars
increased
again presented a
demanding
to
the
Greek
Patriarch,
who were not acquainted with
Bulgarian language. The Holy Synod of the Greek
Bulgarian
the
petition
that no bishops should be appointed in the
eparchies
demand, but promised
Although four
that it would consider the matter.
members of the Holy Synod were actually Bulgars (from
Philippopolis, Vidin, Sofia, and Trnovo) the Bulgarian
request was in the end definitely refused in February
Patriarchate refused even
this
By
This was the signal for fresh agitations.
newspapers.
and
books
possessed
this time the Bulgars
1860.
Four Bulgarian printing presses (in Constantinople,
Trnovo, Sumen, and Philippopolis) were busily turning
out inflammatory books and newspapers.
The
nation
was aroused. In many places the populace, with newfound fanaticism, expelled the Greek priests from the
churches and refused the bishops their stipends. But
the whole of this Bulgarian Church movement has no
connection with Macedonia.
only,
It
concerned the Bulgars
and not the Serbs in Macedonia.
MACEDONIA
140
One contemporary circumstance
factor
favour
in
Bulgars
the
of
provecl
decisive
by winning them
and the Bulgars took every
In consequence of the dissensions between the Bulgars and the Greek Patriarchate,
Kussia's unlimited help,
possible advantage of
it.
a Uniate propaganda began to
make headway in
Bulgaria.
This propaganda offered the Bulgars what the Patriarchate had refused even to think of giving them.''
offered
them,
if
they went over to the Uniate
It
faith,
emancipation from the Greeks, divine service in the
Bulgarian language, bishops whom they need not pay,
help for intellectual requirements,
books,
and
everything
Bulgarian nationality.
Church does not
else
In
differ in
Moreover, the advantages
of the Bulgars.
sympathetically.
became frequent.
its
and church
school
needed
to
elevate
the least from the Orthodox.
it
offered
suited the needs
The common people took
Conversions
In
the
outer form the Uniate
order
to
to
the
to
it
dismay
very
Church
Uniate
Kussia,
the
Bulgarian leaders showed themselves especially enthusiastic supporters of the
make
many
One
of
them became converts to the Uniate Church.
was Cankov, a popular leader
time and subsequently one of the most prominent
of free Bulgaria.^
The news
the Bulgars
blue.
In order to
of the first converts
at that
men
Uniate movement.
the danger appear more pressing to the Russians,
of the spread of the Uniate faith
came
to the Russians like a bolt
Bigoted Orthodox Russia did not lose a
among
from the
moment
Uniates being inembers of any Eastern Christian Church acknowledging the Papal supremacy but retaining their own liturgy.
"
That this movement was really only intended to force Russia's
hand is proved by the fact that Cankov and the rest of the Bulgarian
leaders eventually all reverted to the Orthodox faith.
-
BULGARIAN ACTION
IN
MACEDONIA Ul
the Uniate movement.
Every Bulgarian wish received attention. From this
time forth Bulgarian demands, however extravagant,
and Russian support went hand in hand the Bulgars
proposed and the Russians disposed.
This spread of Uniacy was to the detriment of Orthodoxy in general.
The Greek Patriarch, too, became
in doing all she could to check
alarmed, and announced that he was prepared to meet
the Bulgars as far as possible, so that they would remain
in the
their
Orthodox
the Bulgarian
The Bulgars
fold.
and
demands,
Church.
only by
Bulgars
the
be in Constantinople
once increased
of
In other words, the Bulgars
demanded an independent head
elected
at
upon the autonomy
insisted
Church, to be
of their
and whose seat would
furthermore, that
bishops should be elected
all
Bulgarian
only by Bulgarian priests,
and that they must be confirmed in their dignity by
the
head of
administration
the
of
Bulgarian
the
Church
and that the
Church should be
;
Bulgarian
entrusted exclusively to the Bulgars.
was willing
to yield to
The Patriarch
the Bulgars, but only as regards
the truly Bulgarian counties, between the
the Balkan chain.
He
Danube and
therefore requested the Bulgars
to define the scope of their future
Church.
Having gained Russia's help and the acquiescence of
the Greek Church, the Bulgars now showed themselves
" Let us get what we can, no
in their true colours
matter if it belongs to others." The dream of a great
Bulgaria and of a hegemony over the nations of the
Near East began to appear as a realizable goal. The
:
Bulgars rejected the
proposal of the Patriarch, and
began with fresh agitations and threats. The Patriarch
endeavoured to allay the Bulgarian tempest by a letter
MACEDONIA
142
promising to accede to
all
all
the Bulgarian
eparchies that were truly Bulgarian.
were not
satisfied
with this either, but applied to the
Porte and began to negotiate with her
the Porte was
demands in
The Bulgars
While
direct.
considering the Bulgarian Church
still
question, the Bulgars presented their ultimatum
a free
Church or rebellion
Partly the Bulgarian unrest, but
vastly more the influence of the Russian x4.mbassador
prevailed with the Porte to submit a scheme for the
solution of the Grseco-Bulgarian imbroglio to the Greek
Patriarch in October 1868. In an accompanying letter
!
to the Patriarch the
Porte declared that this question
could no longer be permitted to remain open, and that
was a State necessity to satisfy the Bulgars. In this
scheme the Porte demanded that wherever the Bulgars
constituted the majority, it was they who should elect
the priests that their bishops should be Bulgars, and
that the head of the Bulgarian Church should reside
in Constantinople, whence he would w^ith his Synod
it
minister to the ecclesiastical needs of the Bulgars.
The
Greek Patriarchate had not yet fully considered this
scheme when the Bulgars announced it in all their
This was a decisive step
eparchies as a fait accompli.
in
the
detachment
Patriarchate.
of
the
them
question.
from the Greek
The Patriarch considered
quite illegal, and appealed to
inviting
Bulgars
all
their
attitude
the Orthodox Churches,
CEcumenical Council to deal with the
This Council never met. The Porte, thanks
to a
to Russia's endeavours, settled the matter herself instead.
Without paying any attention
to the
Greek Patriarchate,
the Porte in 1869 arranged, and on February 28, 1870,
by a firman from the Sultan announced the establishment
of an independent Bulgarian Church under the name of
BULGARIAN ACTION
Exarchate,
Bulgarian
the
IN
whose
MACEDONIA
was
See
to
143
b in
Constantinople.
The creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate gave a
new direction to the development of conditions in
the Christian territories of the Turkish Empire. The
establishment was a great blow to the Greeks. The
new Bulgarian Exarchate
not only deprived the Greek
Patriarchate of a great part of
its territory,
but became
from the Greek PatriSlavs
who were left under
archate even the remaining
As for the Serbs, they found a new enemy in the
it.
Bulgarian Exarchate, an enemy who was under Russia's
a danger, threatening to wrest
protection and enjoyed
and
solicitude
their
the favour of
the Porte.
By
the
creation of
the
success
in
Bulgarian Exarchate the Eussians established a great
prestige for themselves among the Slavs of the Turkish
Empire
as the all-pov/erful protectors of Slav Orthodoxy,
while in that same Exarchate they found a channel for
their
own
political activities in
The Turks
Turkey.
also
considered that by the creation of the Exarchate they
had scored a great
political success.
They imagined
that
of the Exarchate they had killed the
Greek Patriarchate, which had served as
the policy of Greece, that by it a focus was
by the establishment
prestige of the
a screen for
created
of
Serbs,
so
-in
Constantinople, towards which
Empire would
the Turkish
all
the Slavs
gravitate, including the
whose gravitation towards Serbia was considered
dangerous.
their Exarchate.
The Bulgars made the fullest use of
They not only received an autonomous
Church, but the incidental conditions established by
were also
Greek
all
to
their
Patriarchate
advantage.
and
the
The
weakening
it
defeat of the
of
the
ties
Jbetween Serbia aod the >Slavs under the Turks, Russia's
MACEDONIA
144
increased prestige and her policy in the Balkans, and
Slavs in Turkey tov^ards Con-
the gravitation of the
stantinople
this
all
was
greatly
in
favour
of
the
Bulgars.
These were the conditions under which the Bulgarian
The Bulgarian Exarch
its activities.
Exarchate began
was not only head
of the
Bulgarian Church and protector
of the Slav liturgy, but also the representative of
the
Bulgarian people with the Sultan and his ministers, the
protector of Bulgarian interests, and the inaugurator of
the improvement and revival of Bulgarian culture and
which the eparchies
readily contributed, were employed without delay in
Schools were opened
improving Bulgarian education.
throughout the extent of the Exarchate. Large numbers
Abundant
nationality.
funds,
students were sent to
of
Russia.
high
schools,
All Bulgaria pulsated with
new
life.
especially
The
to
people,
wearied of their ill-treatment by the Greeks and anxious
language in the Church
for the introduction of the Slav
around their leaders.
service, rallied enthusiastically
Already at the outset the Bulgarian Exarchate inflicted
a grave injury upon the
limit
itself
to
the
Serbian nation.
Bulgarian
counties.
It
did not
Besides
the
Bulgarian, several purely Serbian eparchies were included
in
its
jurisdiction,
(Sustendil,
the
viz.
Samokov and
the .Serbian
Eparchies of Nis, Pirot,
Veles,
Patriarchate until
which had been under
the latter half of the
Although in Macedonia only the
eparchy of Veles was assigned to the Exarchate, yet
eighteenth century.
this
*****
was the beginning
of Bulgaria's full-blown activity
in Macedonia.
The Serbs
in
Macedonia were
also greatly tyrannized
BULGARIAN ACTION
the Serbian Patriarchate
content in Macedonia with
Metropohtan
Serbian
given
hear of
to
heads of
the
He was
of Skoplje.
monk
of
Antim:
"A
of purely
the Monastery of
description
following
the
us
politan
we begin
dis-
Greek
the
In 1791 a priest named Antim was appointed
Church.
Urt
Immediately after the suppression
over by the Greeks.
of
MACEDONIA
IN
great
Greek origin.
Lesnovo has
of
Metro-
the
who
lover of lucre,
cares
canon because of his covetousness. The
monasteries are rank with simony, he cares neither for
the Church, nor the poor, nor the widows. He bestows
naught
for the
Elseno alms and exacts taxes from the monasteries."
"
Throughout Macewhere the position was no better
donia from Salonica to Ochrida, and from the frontiers
of Thessaly up to Skoplje and Melnik, not only in the
places where the Metropolitans have their residence,
^
but even in the village churches, divine service
celebrated
in
the Greek tongue."
is
being
The few Serbian
schools that remained were unable to counteract the
Plenty of people were in the habit of
Greek influence.
using the Greek alphabet even
in Serbian.
The
when they had
to write
national customs, to which the Serbian
The Greek
people are deeply attached, were persecuted.
priests particularly strove to eradicate the " Slava,"
universal
Serbian custom which
kept
it
perated the Serbian population of Macedonia.
Lj.
Stojanovic,
as a sign of
by Greek customs.
the Greek priests exas-
Serbian nationality, and to replace
This conduct on the part of
is
" Stari Srpski Zapisi Natpisi "
Inscriptions and Notes "), No. 3759.
"
V. Grigorovic, " 06erk putesestvija
("
Upon
the
Old Serbian
po Evropejskoj
Turcii,"
p. 136.
3
Iv. S. Jaatrebov, " Obifiai
pjesni tureckih Serbov," Petrograd,
1886, p. 3 (in Russian).
11
MACEDONIA
146
appearance of the Uniate propaganda, the Macedonians,
began to be converted by it. The centre of this
too,
propaganda was
at
Kuku
in Southern Macedonia,
the Uniates estabhshed a church in 1857.
where
The Bulgars
were not slow to turn this popular discontent and the
spread of the Uniate faith in Macedonia to their
own
In the dissatisfaction of the Macedonian
Serbs with the Greek rule the Bulgars found corroboration of what they themselves always alleged against the
advantage.
Greeks, and on the other hand
provided them with
it
While the Bulgars
a further field for their activities.
Russians to the
drawing the
activity of the Uniates in Macedonia, they were themselves doing their best to win over the Macedonians to
attention of the
were
join
the
Bulgarian
movement
against
the
Greeks.
Orthodox Russia likewise considered the presence of the
Uniate communities in Macedonia a danger to Slav
Orthodoxy, and so began to send her agents to dissuade
the populace from joining the former and to promise
that the Serbian question in Macedonia should be
solved together with the
Looking
upon
Bulgarian Church question.
Russia as
Orthodoxy, the Macedonians
protectress
the
of
Slav
listened to these counsels
and helped to further the Bulgarian cause, upon the
success of which their own cause was likewise to
depend. The Uniate movement weakened, and support
Thus began
for the Bulgarian movement increased.
the
rapprochement
Macedonian
the
between
Serbs
and the Bulgars.
When
the agitation against the Greeks and the con-
versions to the Uniate faith
nobody thought
of
first
of the Bulgars.
began in Macedonia
It
was only a question
emancipation from the Greek Patriarchate and the
BULGARIAN ACTION
IN
MACEDONIA
restoration of the national tongue in the
When
1857,
our
the Uniate Church in
than anything
faith.
to us."
else, this inscription reveals
Better
the motives
Macedonia when they went over
of the Serbs in
Uniate
mother tongue was restored
lost
When
against the Uniate
the
offices.
KukuS was consecrated in
" On March 1st, 1857,
received the inscription
it
Church
14*?
Russians
entered
movement the Serbs were
to the
the
lists
left
but
one way of attaining emancipation from the Greeks, and
This step
that was to join the Bulgarian movement.
Bulgarization, but only a joint struggle
did not imply
against the Greeks for the use of the Slav tongue in
the Church.
which the Macedonians had from
waged against the Greeks, did not bear
a Bulgarian character, nor prove that the Macedonians
wished to become Bulgars, is best shown by the
adherence of the Eoumanians of Macedonia to the
The Roumanians in Macedonia
Bulgarian cause.
suffered the same wrongs at the hands of the Greek
So the Roumanians,
priests as did the Slav Christians.
That the
the very
too,
struggle,
first
began
to
Like the Serbs, they too joined
rebel.
the Bulgars and
waged a
struggle
for
a native clergy
and use of the national tongue in the Church.
localities
Bulgars.
many
they for a long time acted jointly with the
When
they recognized
eighty
In
the Bulgarian Exarchate was created,
it
Roumanian
as
their
families
Exarchate until the nineties
own.
In
Ochrida,
about
were under the Bulgarian
But no
of last century. ^
'
Iv. Ivani6, " Iz crkvene istorije Srba u Turskoj " (" Church
History of the Serbs in Turkey in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries "), p. 41.
P.
Balkanski, " Kroz Qroblje " ("Through the Graveyard"),
Belgrade, 1894, pp. 55-62.
MACEDONIA
148
one could say of these Roumanians,
who from
practical
movement, that
would be equally
considerations had joined the Bulgarian
they had done so as Bulgars, and
it
false to say so of the Serbs.
The
true epoch of Bulgarian influence
in
Macedonia
only dates from the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate.
In the second clause of Art. 10
of the Imperial firman,
whereby the Bulgarian Exarchate was
occurs the following passage
established, there
" If the inhabitants of
any other places besides those enumerated above, and
professing the Orthodox faith, should wish unanimously,
or
if
them should wish
at least two-thirds of
to the Bulgarian Exarchate,
and
tion should prove this to be
be gratified."
The Bulgars
if
to be subject
subsequent investiga-
so, their
desire
did not lose a
ought to
moment
in
doing their very best to turn this clause to good account.
The new Bulgarian bishops
of these eparchies, one of
which was actually in Macedonia, while others were
in close proximity to
it,
inaugurated a spirited propa-
win the Serbian inhabitants to the
Bulgarian Exarchate. No one interfered with this agitation.
The bishops as well as their agents were Turkish
subjects.
Turkey not only trusted them, but she helped
them. It was to her interest to attach the Serbs to the
ganda in order
to
Bulgarian Exarchate in Constantinople, and to diminish
their inclination
Greek
priests
to
were
gravitate
still
towards Serbia.
As the
masters in Macedonia, and the
use of the Slav language in the Church was persecuted,
and Serbian schools and Serbian
intellectual
life
were
at the last gasp, the Bulgarian agents found no difficulty
in carrying on their propaganda.
Greek Patriarchate they
In place of the hated
offered the people the protection
of the Slav Bulgarian Exarchate, the
creation of
Slav
BULGARIAN ACTION
IN
MACEDONIA
149
Eussia; in place of the Greek language in the Church
they offered them the Slav language, the common
hieratic tongue of the Serbs, Eussians,
and Bulgars;
in
place of the Greek schools, they gave them to understand
Exasperthat there was a prospect of national schools.
ated
by
the
Greeks
and
cut
off
from Serbia, the
a dilemma. The
Macedonians were on the horns of
choice lay between three evils, viz. either to continue
under the Greeks or to abandon their faith and become
come under the Bulgarian Exarchate.
The decision was difficult. How difficult it was is best
shown by the fact that the nation was by no means
Uniates,
or to
unanimous
in
its
decision.
part remained true to
the Greeks, part clung to the Uniate faith, and a third
new Bulgarian movement.
The adherents of the Bulgarian movement
part joined the
sent in
estabHshment of Bulgarian bishoprics
A Turkish commission was
in Skoplje and Ochrida.
sent down from Constantinople, before which the
a petition for the
inhabitants had to declare whether they acknowledged
This commission, too, did much
the Exarchate or not.
to
further the Bulgarian cause in Macedonia.'
It
used
considerable pressure in order to induce the inhabitants
to declare themselves for the
of
It
Macedonians who should
be denounced as agents
would
join the F^ulgars
openly threatened that
refuse to
Bulgarian Exarchate.
Greece and Serbia.
all
By
these
means the necessary
and in 1872 Bulgarian bishops
were duly installed in the dioceses of Ochrida and Skoplje.
The two new bishops were great Bulgarian agitators.
majority was obtained,
and chiefest care was the obliteration of all
Serbian memories in Macedonia. A whole army of
priests and teachers was sent from Bulgaria to MaceTheir
first
MACEDONIA
150
emanating from the Church
and the denominational school communities became BulAll written matter
donia.
The
garian.
by the
birth, marriage,
priests to the people
garian.
All
and death
certificates issued
began to be written in Bul-
documents bore Bulgarian superscriptions and
who could not write were entered in the
Persons
seals.
osmanlie (papers giving a person's name, surname, religion
and occupation, and with which every Turkish
must be provided) as Bulgars by the Bulgarian
priests and schoolmasters.
On the strength of these
papers the Macedonians were then entered in the official
registers as Bulgars.
Thus Macedonia began gradually
nationality,
subject
outwardly Bulgarized.
to be
When
in
1876 war broke out between
Turkey, the Bulgars,
made
too,
from the Turks.
selves
move
Serbia and
to liberate
them-
Incensed at this conduct on
down the BulThe Bulgarian pro-
the part of the Bulgars, the Porte put
garian bishoprics in Macedonia.
Macedonia was not greatly impaired by
this step.
On the one hand the oppressions of the
Greek priests were still too fresh in men's memories, and
on the other hand the propagandist machinery set up by
paganda
in
the Bulgars in Macedonia continued to operate there.
The Kusso-Turkish war
stroke
that
of
1877-1878 was the greatest
luck ever vouchsafed to the
of
Bulgars.
By
war Russia presented Bulgaria with freedom and
State.
Beside
their
sympathies for
the oppressed
Slavs in general, the Russians had a special interest in
They believe^ that " gratitude would bind the
Bulgaria.
Bulgars to Russia for ever, and that
unite
them
in
find a devoted
Max
if
Russia were to
an independent State, the Russians would
and
Choublier,
faithful instrument in that State."
"La
question d'Orient," Paris, 1897,
p. 85.
BULGARIAN ACTION
It
was
quite natural to
IN
MACEDONIA
assume that Bulgaria's
151
grati-
tude would be in proportion to the size of the State
question and also that the greater this State, the
in
would
stronger
in
be
Russia's
support
in
the
Balkan
These were the reasons that moved Russia
Peninsula.
1878 to create the great Bulgaria of San Stefano, in
the frame of which were included not only Macedonia,
but
Serbian
other
provinces
as
well.
Although the
Congress of Berlin reduced the frontiers of the Bulgarian
State to the limits of the Bulgarian nation, yet a deep
impression was
upon the Bulgarian mind by the
left
The Bulgars felt as if the
Berlin had robbed them of something that
Bulgaria of San Stefano.
Congress of
belonged
Stefano
to
them.
has
been
Since then
their
ideal.
the Bulgaria of San
Many
Macedonians,
having been for months under the impression that
if
Russia had had her way they would have belonged to
Bulgaria, and that
it
was by the Congress
of Berlin
and
against Russia's wish, that they were being redelivered
into Turkish slavery, regretted the freedom they
recently enjoyed.
into
had so
Serbia was not only not even taken
consideration as a possible owner of Macedonia,
but she was actually expelled from those countries which
she had
won with her
blood.
The impression gained by
the Macedonians at the time was that they had nothing
to
hope from Serbia-
thing
else,
This impression, more than any-
caused the Macedonians to waver in their
Serbian feeling.
Meantime the Bulgarian propaganda in Macedonia
was pursued with relentless energy from the Bulgarian
State.
Those Bulgars who had been educated abroad
by the Russian Committees and had lived as emigrants
in Europe now returned to Bulgaria, fanatically devoted
MACEDONIA
152
Great Bulgarian ideas.
to
these
men was
to
One
of the
cares of
chief
reopen that agitation for a Great
Bulgaria which had been so successfully started before
and had received definite expression in the Treaty of
San Stefano. The Exarchate continued to remain in
Constantinople, but was now in closest touch with the
With money provided by
Bulgarian Government.
the
Bulgarian State budget, the Exarchate created a special
department called the " Skolsko Popeciteljstvo " (School
Department), which maintained a whole army of agents
The denominational
Macedonia.
in
donia became so
many
Mace-
schools in
branches of the School Depart-
ment of the Bulgarian Exarchate.
the war was over the Bulgars began
directly
Finally,
to
work not only
the return of the forfeited Bulgarian dioceses in
for
Macedonia, but also for the creation of new ones.
Thus were
established conditions under which the Ser-
bian population had to submit to the Exarchate
to
remain Slav and
know
if it
wished
All Macedonians
to live in peace.
many
unknown
that their ancestors were Serbs, and a good
remember
that in their youth the Bulgars were
in their country (see
Supplements Nos.
I,
II,
and
III).
show how
successful was the Bulgarian propaganda in Macedonia
In the days before the Bulgarian Exarchate there came
The
following example alone will suffice to
to Veles
as
Serbian schoolmaster George Miletic, the
brother of Svetosar Miletic, the Serbian national leader
in
Hungary.
He was
in
Macedonia
at the time of the
struggle for emancipation from the Greeks.
As
a good
Serb he also supported the struggle, but threw in his
lot
with those who, taking Eussia's advice, joined the Bulgarian movement, and he became a Bulgarian leader in
Macedonia.
To-day his son Ljubimir
Miletic
(whose
BULGARIAN ACTION
are both
name and surname
the
University
MACEDONIA
Serbian)
and
Sofia,
of
IN
one
is
professor at
the
of
153
bitterest
Serbophobes.
in spite of all hatred of the Greeks, in spite of
But
the
inducement
the
of
Slav
Bulgarian Church, and in
liturgy
spite
of
offered
by
the
the Bulgarian pro-
paganda, the Bulgarian success in Macedonia vv^as never
complete. A great part of the nation continued to
remain Serbian in
feelings.
Bulgarization,
fearing
habitants,
its
One-third of
actually
the in-
preferred
to
remain under the hated Greek Patriarchate rather than
go over to the Bulgarian Exarchate. Many of those
who
joined the Exarchate out of hatred for the Greeks
remained Serbs in their feeling. The best proof
of this is to be found in the pro- Serbian insurrection
against the Turks, in the appeals to the Congress of
still
Berlin not to hand
ment No.
them over
to Bulgaria (see Supple-
IV), and in the secret agitations in favour of
Serbia.
This positively expressed Serbian feeling on the part
Macedonians the Bulgars endeavoured to stifle
by espionage and denunciation to the Turkish
Nowhere and never have
authorities or by direct terror.
there been such espionage and denunciation as the Bul-
of the
either
The Bulgarian bishops,
and agents knew no bounds in
the Serbs. They falsely accused
gars practised in Macedonia.
priests, schoolmasters,
their
campaign against
the Serbs of high treason, conspiracy, and of the vilest
crimes.
Turkish justice was very summary, and
sentences
were
instance.
On
seventy-two
of
We
inhuman.
April
his
10,
1881,
friends
then^selves to be Serbs.
will
Spira
declared
the
but
one
Crncevic
and
quote
that
they
The Bulgars denounced
felt
theni
MACEDONIA
154
as traitors and handed Spira over to the Turks.
Turks put
death and exposed
to
Kumanovo
public at
number
Spira
warning
as a
The
head in
his
to others.
vast
Serbs paid with their heads or with incar-
of
Asia Minor, and
Salonica,
ceration in
the islands of
the Archipelago for their Serbian feeling.
The Bulgarian
attempt
to
opening
Serbian feeling in Macedonia.
The
Serbian
every
of
demonstrations
hostile
On
their
shrink
stifle
The
was even more appalling.
from any baseness in
terror
not
Bulgars did
school
attacks
or
was attended by
from the Bulgars.
these occasions there were bloodshed and murder.
The Turkish
authorities were
the Bulgars.
The Bulgars
assaulting
Serbian female
In 1899 they assaulted two
soon
Krstic
fell
In
afterwards.
Olga Vukojevic
Krusevo,
teachers in
and Zlata Krstic.
died
the side of
even shrink from
Serbian female teachers and inno-
helpless
Serbian schoolboys.
cent
always on
did not
(Monastir)
ill
from the shock and
raid
the
upon the
Serbian
Bulgarian pro-
local
school
in Bitolj
fessor
wounded George Vojvodic, a lad attending the
An incomplete
(or Boys' High School).
such assaults upon Serbian schools, churches,
Serbian Lycee
list
of
and teachers appears in the Supplement
this volume (see Supplement No. V).
The worst
donia set in
express
its
schools
and
the end of
at
period of the Bulgarian terror in Mace-
when
Serbian
Serbian
the
Serbian population
feeling
and
priests.
to
From
the systematic assassination of Serbs.
began to
demand Serbian
that
time
dates
Already in 1884,
Cvetko Popovid, schoolmaster in Lukovo, was murdered
by the Bulgars. After that, these murders became
more
frequent.
In
1885
the
Bulgars
founded com-
"
BULGARIAN ACTION
mittees in Eoumelia for
IN
MACEDONIA
making propaganda
in
155
Mace-
In 1886, inspired by these committees, began
secret ruffianly attacks upon everybody and everything
that hindered the Bulgars in Macedonia. Whole bands
donia.
were
despatched
by
suppress Serbian feeling.
At a general meeting
Bulgarian Committees in Sofia
the
called
" Spoljna
Government
Bulgarian
the
Organizacija "
in
1894,
of
to
all
the so-
organization)
(foreign
was formed for the purpose of bringing about the
autonomy of the Bulgarian regions in Turkey. In 1896
the Bulgars founded
(internal
organization),
mittee in Macedonia.
Macedonians
money and
Its
the
" Unutrasnja
which was an organizing comThis body even included several
who had been bought
but
both
purpose was to put an end to the Serbs.
will the Serbian population forget the
name
all
of " Bulgarian Comitadji "
world.
the
the guiding spirit proceeded from Bulgaria.
organization which ramified
the
Organizacija
branches of this
over Macedonia.
is
Never
The
notorious throughout
Threats, blackmail, incendiarism, murder,
the expulsion of whole village communities
these were
the
by
Bulgars.
the exploits perpetrated
Led by John Varnelija (from Varna) and Pan Arnaut,
a band of comitadjis from Bulgaria attacked the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Veles, with intent
who refused to declare themselves
to murder all
By 1900 the
Bulgars. The terror was appalling.
obstinately Serbian village of Orahovac was completely
depopulated and destroyed. There were many similar
Even an incomplete list of the murders
instances.
committed upon notable Serbs in Macedonia by ,the
Bulgars up to 1907 is appalling (see Supplement
wholesale
No.
VI).
In the
neighbourhood of
Kumanovo and
MACEDONIA
156
Kriva Palanka, the Bulgars in 1905, within
five
months,
murdered fifty-nine highly
than
less
respected
Serbian priests, schoolmasters, and citizens.^
But even this terror sometimes failed to achieve its
object.
The innate Serbian feehng of the Macedonians
be
not
could
completely
eradicated.
From
showed 'in unmistakable clearness.
manifestation was met by the Bulgars
time
it
ferocious
spirit.
We
of
duped and
their
the village of
Strumica
terrorized,
to
in
truly
In
Kabrovo in the
they had been
will quote a single instance.
1899 the peasants of
county
time
Any such
declared
*
that
by the Bulgars into signifying
adherence to the Exarchate, but that they
felt
that they were Serbs, that they could no longer hide
J. H. Vasiljevic, " Ustanak Srba u Kumanovskoji Palanackoj
Kazi u 1878" ("Insurrection of the Serbs in the Kumanovo and
Palanca Districts"), Belgrade. 1906, pp. l-lo. Some very characteristic
examples of the abominable action of the Bulgarian
Comitadjis in Macedonia may be gleaned from a report submitted
to the Bulgarian Government by a Bulgarian consular representative (" Le Brigandage en Macedoine, un rapport contidentiel au
gouvernement bulgare," Berlin, 1008). As a matter of fact, the
Bulgars themselves made no secret of the terror in Macedonia
In repelling the
and the slaughter of the Serb inhabitants.
attacks of the Serbian press on account of the Macedonian
murders, the Bulgarian paper Blgarija (1898, Nos. 103 and
104) openly commends the action of the assassins of the Serbs
'"
The Serbian press, by publishing news of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Committee in Macedoni?; and its purpose to overthrow
the Turkish rule, is playing the part of a spy. Eevolutionists,
wherever they are, punish spies by putting them to death. The
Macedonian secret revolutionary Committees are not more lenient
Had
than others to those who spy upon them in Macedonia.
the Serbs made this clear to their own agitators, it is possible
that the murders in Ochrida, Gevgeli, and Bitolj would not have
occurred. ..." The paper Rcforma (1899, No. 6), praising the
assassin of the Serbian priest Todor Pop-Antic in Prilep, says
that " with exceptional devotion and exemplary courage he carried
'
out a patriotic deed.
..."
BULGARIAN ACTION
theiu
feelings,
and that they wished
The
the Exarchate.
was
MACEDONIA
IN
to
and
his house,
Aleksa.
They
Under these appalling
of
two
children.
conditions, under the protection
Empire, the helpless Serbian inhabitant
Macedonia was compelled
comitadji,
set
first
then cut to pieces his wife, his
brother, his daughter-in-law, and
of the Turkish
Serbs
For this the Bulgars
took a horrible vengeance upon him.
fire to
secede from
leader of these victimized
their parish priest
157
bishop,
priest,
to yield
to the Bulgarian
and
schoolmaster,
agent
to
attend the Bulgarian church, send his children to the
Bulgarian school, and to obey orders from Sofia.
While the Bulgars were thus killing Serbian nationahty in Macedonia, they took care to destroy everything
else that could recall the Serbs.
The Serbian
relics in
Macedonia were a great stumbling-block to the Bulgars.
Every memento of the Serbs was to disappear, and they
spared nothing in their fanaticism.
The
MSS., the
old
pictures of Serbian kings and saints, the legends and
all were destroyed.
inscriptions in books and churches
We have not at this moment a list available of all
that the Bulgars have destroyed in Macedonia, but we
will
quote a few examples, which will amply serve as
illustrations.
Near Skoplje,
in the
Suhore^ka Zupa, stands to this
day the old Serbian monastery of
St.
Demitrius, built
by the Serbian king VukaSin (13G6-1371) and his sons
In this monas-
Marko, Andreas, IvaniS, and Dmitar.^
tery
many
old Serbian writings, both books
had been preserved.
was decorated with
and kings of the day
The whole
and MSS.,
monastery
interior of the
frescoes representing Serbian saints
of the Nemanji6i.
At the beginning
" Spomenik Srpske Kraljevake Akademije,"
vol.
iii.
p. 157.
MACEDONIA
158
of the Bulgarian propaganda in Serbia two strangers
from Bulgaria cajoled the local inhabitants into letting
them become custodians
monastery.
They then
employed a certain Bulgarian monk, named
Dionisiji, to
of this
destroy the Serbian relics in the monastery and appointed
him head
isiji
of the
had burned them
For a whole month Dion-
monastery.
used the Serbian
all.
MSS.
to light fires with until
But he
he
Being
did not stop there.
a painter of sorts, he plastered over the pictures of the
Serbian kings and the legends attached to them, and
on
the
coating of
plaster he
painted
fantastic
meaningless pictures of birds and snakes.
peasants found out what the
too late.
They were
monk was
When
doing
it
and
the
was
barely in time to save the picture
of King Marko, and to clean the pictures of
Nemanjic and Tsar Uro, which were not yet
St.
Sava
dry.
Be-
cause of this conduct the peasants procured the dismissal
of the
monk, but
gone past
recall.
did, Dionisiji
books and
for
all
MSS. were
the damage he
bequeathed to posterity his own portrait
on the outer wall
isiji,
of course the
To make up
Zoograf,
of the church, with the legend " Dion-
B'lgarin "
(Dionysius, painter,
Bulgar).
This outrage by the Bulgarian agitators was reported
by an eye-witness, P. Sreckovic,^ professor
the University of Belgrade.
of history at
The Russian academician
N. P. Kondakov, who traversed Macedonia in 1900 for
the purpose of studying old Macedonian art, speaks with
deep regret of this act of abominable vandalism in the
monastery
of
St.
Dmitar
"
which was perpetrated by
the hatred of the Bulgarian clergy upon the relics of
The frescoes representing
the founder of this monastery were destroyed " because
the old Serbian civilization."
'
" Glasnik
Srpskog Ucenog Drustva,"
vol. xlvi. p. 221.
BULGARIAN ACTION
MACEDONIA
IN
159
they constituted a record of the Serbian domination in
'
these parts, and out of Bulgarian patriotism."
In the Monastery of Mlado NagoriSino the Bulgars
destroyed an inscription dated from 1330, which referred
to the victory of the Serbs over the Bulgars in that year;^
On an
icon in the Monastery of St. Clement's in Ochrida
there were inscriptions and
recalling the Serbian
emblems
State in Macedonia. .The Bulgars destroyed them all.3
Two hours' walk from Zletovo, in the cliffs above
the Eiver Zletovo, is the old Serbian Monastery of
Uspenje
Svete
In
Bogorodice.
is
it
the
preserved
The legend
name and recaUing
picture of one of the old kings of Serbia.
attached to the picture, giving his
the days of the Serbian rule in Macedonia,
was
effaced
from Zletovo.4
and Prince
Alexander Karagjorgjvic (1842-1859), the father of King
Peter, each presented the monastery of St. John Bigorski
by the Bulgarian
Prince
Milo
priest Teodosije
Obrenovic
near Debar with a large
(1815-1839)
bell.
an inscription saying that this
Eound each
bell
runs
was presented by
gift
the Serbian prince in question to the Serbian monastery.
The Bulgars tried to obliterate these legends by hammering them. But the metal was too hard, and although
the letters are damaged they are still perfectly legible.
Such were the trials through which the Serbian nation
and its civilization in Macedonia were called upon to
pass.
If they have so far survived, it is only a proof
of the vitality of the Serbian people and its national
conscience in Macedonia.
N.
P.
Kondakov, " Makedonija," Petrograd, 1909,
p.
184
Bussian).
=
Ibid., p. 195.
Iv.
Ivanic,
Serbian).
" Macedonia and
Ibid., p. 262.
Macedonians,"
i,
pp.
87-88
(in
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
Serbia the refuge for the Macedonians Macedonians accepted as
Serbs in Serbia Macedonians always considered foreigners in
Bulgaria Serbian public opinion looks upon Macedonians as
forming part of the Serbian nation So do Serbia's statesmen
So does Serbian science Non-Serbian science takes the same
view Serbia welcomes Bulgarian immigrants and assists the
Bulgarian Church movement so long as Bulgai-ia does not lay
claim to Macedonia also Serbia's inability to check Bulgarian
encroachment in Macedonia Serbian interest in Macedonia
Serbian schools opened Assistance of the Serbian Church
movement in Macedonia Macedonians as
guardians of
Serbian nationality Serbian schools in Macedonia Mace-
donians petition for a restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate
Failing in this request, they ask for Serbian bishops Insurrection in Macedonia in favour of annexation to Serbia
Macedonians appeal to Prince Milan of Serbia and to the
Congress of Berlin to be permitted to belong to Serbia, and not
Bulgarian
to
Bulgaria Macedonians' brave fight against
comitadjis In spite of all Bulgarian propaganda the better
part of Macedonia remains Serbian The rest ostensibly sides
with the Bulgars
FREE Serbia was created by the united
whole Serbian nation from
this patriotic rally, as
we have
played a very prominent part.
creation Serbia not only
knew
all
efforts of
Serbian lands.
the
In
seen, the Macedonians
From
the day of her
herself to be the
common
heritage of the Serbian people, but realized that she had
been called into being to be the centre whence the
sufferings of the Serbian nation were to be allayed and
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
the liberation of
Serbs
all
161
remaining in foreign
still
bondage was to be prepared. By taking this view of
Serbia looked with equal and impartial
her position,
upon
interest
Macedonia was not
foreign yoke.
From
in the cold.
tion, the
parts of the Serbian nation under the
all
most
the very
first
cordial relations
in the least left out
day of Serbia's
libera-
were established between
her and Macedonia.
Macedonians who helped
All
remained in the country
them
in the creation of Serbia
to enjoy its freedom.
rose to high positions in Serbia
of her destinies and, in short, reaped the full
of
reward of
and devotion.
their labour
From the first, free Serbia was the refuge
who languished in foreign slavery. These
either
Many
they had charge
they were flying
because
of all Serbs
Serbs, too,
from persecution or
because they desired freedom, found a true motherland
We
in Serbia,
are not at present in possession of all
the particulars regarding the Macedonians
in Serbia after her liberation.
ticular
which
detail
indicates the
clearly
We
proportion of this immigration.
list
of the
members
dating from
alone
settled
par-
considerable
have before us a
of the Tailors' Guild in Belgrade,
the time
the reign
of
From
Obrenovic (1815-1839).'
there were
who
But we know one
Prince Milos
of
this list
we
learn
that
at that time in the tailoring trade in Belgrade
besides
Serbs from Serbia and from other unli-
berated regions
no fewer than twenty-five Macedonians,
as from Tetovo, Debar, Prilep, Bitolj, Kruevo, Ochrida,
Klisura, Blace, Kostur,
easy to guess
how
and
great
Seres,
From
this list
it
is
must have been the number
of
"We copied this list already in 1910 from the original in the
archives of the Tailors' Union (Terzijski Esnaf) in Belgrade.
12
MACEDONIA
162
Macedonians engaged
in various professions throughout
the whole of Serbia.
These Serbs from Macedonia not only found a home
in Serbia, but from the first day of their sojourn there,
they were regarded as
full
other Serbs, so that they
their
own
country.
felt
citizens
equally
all
themselves to be indeed in
Their ranks included labourers,
merchants, clerks, public men, and pohticians.
were not mere
with
settlers.
They contributed
But they
their quota
to the intellectual progress of Serbia from every point of
Together with the Serbs of Serbia we find them
view.
the founders of
public
institutions,
the improvers of
commerce and industry and patrons of letters and
Merejy among the subscribers for certain
literature.
books which were published during the reign of Prince
Milos Obrenovic, we have found hundreds of names of
Macedonian Serbs from
Skoplje, Veles, Kratovo,
novo, liazlog, Serez, Salonica,
Ochrida,
Bitolj,
kopolje,
places
Selce,
Prilep,
Kuma-
Krusevo,
Mecovo, Kostur, Blace, Klisura, Mos-
These people lived scattered in various
over Serbia, and followed widely different
etc.
all
professions.
Descendants of these Macedonians and fresh immigrants from Macedonia have arisen to positions of the
They have become
Serbia.
highest importance in
Ministers
They
of
State,
councillors,
politicians,
generals.
often held the fate not only of Serbia, but of the
entire Serbian nation in their hands.
All of
them were
pure Serbs and ardent patriots.'
We
will
in Serbia
name
only a few of the most distiaguished Macedonians
Nikola P. Pasic, the present Serbian Premier, and leader of the
His family originally came from Tetovo Br.
Badical Party.
Vladan Gjorgjevitch, at one time Serbian Premier, member of the
;
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
163
which might be answered by the statement
Macedonians have also migrated to liberated
All of
that
Bulgaria.
This
true
is
but there
between Macedonian emigration
donian emigration to
went
donians
as
to
MaceBulgaria.
To Serbia the Macetheir own country, for whose
Serbia and
They went
had fought.
liberation they
a great difference
is
to
there for the
advancement of Serbia, in
whose progress they saw their own advancement as
well.
To Bulgaria they went only after a great propaganda had exerted its influence after it had been
suggested to them they went as graduates of the Bul-
love of her, to labour at the
garian schools, to
Bulgaria,
agitators.
or
as
occupy
recipients
well-paid
of
appointments in
allowances, or
In Serbia
no difference
Macedonians both are
is
as paid
made between
Serbs and
but one nation.
In Bulgaria the difference between Bulgars and Macedonians persists for a long time because, in the words of
;
a Bulgarian professor, " the Macedonians find a difticulty
in acquiring the
we
modern Bulgarian idiom." ^ In Bulgaria
nickname " Makedonstvu-
find the special derogatory
Academy
and a well-known man of letters, a native of the
Dr. Lazar Patchou, at one time Minister of
Finance, likewise from the district of Bitolj Nikola Stefanovic,
a former Minister of Police, from Mavrovo, Gostivar district Kosta
Stojanovic, a former Minister of Commerce, and member of the
Skupstina, from Maloviste, near Bitolj
General Dindtrije CincarMarkovic, at one time Minister of War, from Ochrida Mihajlo G.
Bistic, Serbian Minister in Rome, from Prilep
General Lazar,
Lazarevic, from Moskopolje, near Bitolj
General Lazar Petrovic,
first aide-de-camp to the late King Alexander Obrenovic, from Basino
Selo, near Veles
Svetolik Popovic, ex-Under-Secretary of State for
Public Works, from Ljubinac, Skoplje district Branislav Dj. Nuaic,
Serbian poet and well-known author, from Bitolj, etc.
P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-Slavjanski Sbornik" ("Macedonian
district
of Science,
of
Bitolj
'
Slav Collection"),
i.,
Petrograd, 1894, p.
iv.
MACEDONIA
164
juSci,'"
which denotes a
and which
special party,
is
met
with constantly as a colloquial and journalistic expression.
In Serbia the Macedonians are loved as brothers, as
part of the Serbian people. In Bulgaria the Macedonians are disliked and only tolerated from consideraMr. Stambulov, one of Bulgaria's
tions of pohcy.
greatest
statesmen
and
patriots,
was
typical
of
the
ordinary feeling of the Bulgars towards the Macedonians
in his cordial dislike of the latter.^
Public opinion of the nation at large in Serbia has
always looked upon Macedonia as a Serbian country.
The
national
ballads
collected
among non-Macedonian
Serbs at the beginning of the nineteenth century sing
of Macedonia as a Serbian country and of the historic
sites
and personages
of
Macedonia
as
"Serbian"
sites
and personages. Every child knows
The
Salonica, Kostur and other places in Macedonia.
national
Serbian
of
whole
the
in
most popular hero
So
poetry, Kraljevic Marko, hailed from Macedonia.
of Prilep, Ochrida,
King Vukasin, Despot Ugljesa, Constantine-Bey,
and many others. But we will speak of Macedonia from
did
the point of view of national tradition in another chapter.
The men at the head of affairs in Serbia during the
nineteenth century have taken a keen interest so far
in the non-Hberated
as circumstances would allow
parts of
the Serbian
nation.
Macedonia was looked
upon as being the same as any other Serbian country
Serbian princes, Ministers of
under the foreign yoke.
men in general sent help
leading
and
councillors
State,
from Serbia to Macedonia for the building and repairing
" He also grew to dislike the Macedonians on account of their
"
treachery and want of a real sense of patriotism and honour
("
M. Stambulov," by A. Hulme Beaman, London,
1895, p. 40).
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
churches and
of
schools,
they subsidized
school-
tlie
masters, contributed school and church books, and so
forth.
Directly after the liberation
Prince
Serbia,
of
Milos Obrenovic presented the Monastery of Lesnovo
near Istip with a bell, and bestowed another upon the
His
Monastery of St. John Bigorski near Debar.
Monasthe
to
one
presented
Obrenovic
Jevrem
brother
tery of Treskavac near Prilep, Prince Alexander Karagjorgjevic bestowed a similar gift upon the Monastery of
John Bigorski near Debar, etc.
All Serbian Governments considered
St.
duty
to
Serbian children
admit
Serbian schools, and
the State.
to educate
their patriotic
it
from Macedonia to
them
Young men who wished
at the
expense of
to study for
the
profession were especially
priesthood or the scholastic
welcomed.
between Mace-
Serbian science never discriminated
donia and the rest of the Serbian lands.
J. Rajic,
Serbian historian (1726-1801), and P.
first
the
Solaric, the
Serbian geographer, used broadly to include Serbia
The map of Sava Tekelija, of the
with Macedonia.
first
year 1805, gives the frontiers
of Serbia in great detail.
Kosovo Plain, Skoplje, Kratovo, and
Rotkirch's " Geography of Serbia,"
In
Baron
Oustendil.
which was translated into Serbian and the map copied
by Stephan Milosevic in 18:22, we also find Macedonia
They
include, besides
included in the Serbian frontiers.'
In his " Serbian Dictionary " of 1852, which from an
ethnographic point of view
Encyclopaedia of
that
father of Serbian
modern
Macedonia
in
'
J. C\iji<5,
as
may
period,
Serbian.
be considered a veritable
Vuk
St.
Karadzic, the
literature, speaks of
There we
" Srpski^Knjiievni Glasnik,"
xi.
localities
find the
Vardar
(1904), pp. 209-210.
MACEDONIA
166
and the Crni Drim and Beli Drim figuring as rivers of
Old Serbia, the counties of Gornji Polog and Donji
Polog referred to as counties of Old Serbia and Kratovo,
Kumanovo and
Prilep,
Concerning some
towns
as
etc.,
Karadzic
localities
of
Old Serbia.
more
is
explicit.
Thus, for instance, he mentions under Tetovo that
a
town
speak
in Old Serbia, that the "
Turkish
and
Serbian," and that
(Kicevo)
Skoplje
Tetovo
about
we
speak
but
faith,
read that
it
is
that one-third of
whereas the
Serbian.
Christians
the
there
are
inhabitants of which are of the Turkish
villages the
(Moslem)
and
Albanian,
" round
it is
Turks (Moslems) there
rest are
Serbian."
" a
its
town
Under KrMva
in the pashalik of
inhabitants are Christians,
Turks (Moslems), but that
..." Under Gostivar we
find that "
all
speak
it lies
in the
and that " the Turks (Moslems) there
speak Turkish and Albanian, and the Christians Serbian."
Under Debar we find mentioned that in 1836 he
met two men from Debar in Cetinje who spoke Serbian,
and that " there are many villages there (in Debar)
where the inhabitants speak as they do, and that
they are called Serbs even as they themselves were
district of Tetovo,"
said to be."
Leading foreign scholars
teenth
part of
Serbian territory.
Nuremberg
of
of the first half of the nine-
century also considered Macedonia as forming
by "
Homann
In the maps published in
Nachfolger " at the beginning
century (1802,
the nineteenth
1805,
etc.),
Serbia
not only includes the regions of Kosovo and Novi Pazar,
but also Skoplje and Kratovo.
already referred
map by
Fried,
to,
we
On
find the
the
map by
same
iiotkirch,
thing.
On
the
published in Vienna, the frontiers of
Serbia are drawn
eiist
of Custendil.
It is the
same
in
^;
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
167
the better geographical handbooks in which Serbia,
all
from the Turks, is
Such examples and evidence might be
tripled.^
Dr. Joseph Miiller, who was for many years
a surgeon in the Turkish army and knew Serbian,
mentions at length where Serbs are to be met with in
Macedonia. He mentions them as being found in the
although not yet fully liberated
represented.
counties
of
Debar, Struga,
Kesan,
Ochrida,
Prespa,
and throughout the whole of Macedonia generally.
Where was the need for Serbia under these circum-
Bitolj
stances to set on foot a propaganda to bring about the
" Serbicization " of Macedonia? What was there that
coald possibly be Serbicized
In Macedonia, as in
all
other liberated Serbian countries, the Serbian national
consciousness was thoroughly awake.
There, too, even
as in other Serbian lands, the Serbian tongue was spoken,
the Serbian customs were upheld, the Serbian tradition
was handed down, and in both church and school the
knowledge of Serbian letters as steadfastly guarded.
Serbia, small, poor, and still under Turkish suzerainty
Serbia, who had just joined the ranks of European
states,
left
matters
the
in
non-liberated
develop naturally and normally.
her attention upon her
own
that
regions
to
She concentrated
all
intellectual,
economic, and
she might be ready for the
political
progress, so
moment
that would bring the great achievement of the
unification of the whole
Serbian race.
Towards the Bulgars and
teenth
century,
Serbia
herself
'
Serbia's
had but
their revival in the nine-
attitude
lately
was
most
friendlj'.
been a slave under the
J. Cvijic, " Srpski Knjizevni Glasnik," xi. (1904), pp. 208-212.
Dr. Joseph Miiller, " Albaaien Rurnelien, und die Oesterreich-
Moutenegrinische Grenze," Prague. 1844.
MACEDONIA
168
Turks and a martyr under the Greek clergy. Her kinsmeUj too, were still slaves and martyrs in Turkey.
Serbia fully understood the position of the Bulgars, and
tried to meet them and to help them to the best of
her
In the State Archives in Belgrade are the
ability.
records proving that Prince Milos Obrenovic cordially
agreed to Panta Had^i
Stoilov's proposal that
30,000
Bulgars from the interior of Bulgaria should emigrate
The Serbian Government assisted the Bulgars
The first Bulgarian books were printed
in every way.
The leading
gratis in the Serbian State printing works.
to Serbia.
young
men
of
reawakened
Bulgaria
expense of the Serbian Government.
patriots as Rakovski, Karavelov,
studied
at
the
To such Bulgarian
and many others Serbia
them in
with the Greeks, furnished them with
not only showed hospitality, but she helped
their
struggle
means
the
of subsistence
and intervened on their behalf
in the matter of amnesties.
one
Serbia never dreamt that
day Bulgaria's demands would become grasping,
extravagant, and hostile to herself.
When
the Bulgars began to push their propaganda
beyond the limits of their own territory, Serbia woke
up and immediately stood upon the defence of Serbian
rights.
She fully realized her duty towards the Serbs in
Turkey, but its fulfilment was fraught with the greatest
difficulties.
way.
Great indeed were the
They were
difficulties in Serbia's
decisive factors in Bulgaria's
success
in Macedonia.
and emancipation
represented the first, and a very shrewd blow at the
Turkish Empire in the nineteenth century. For this
1.
Serbia
by
her
insurrection
alone she was already hated in Turkey.
had become a centre
Moreover, Serbia
of attraction for the non-liberated
Serbia and Macedonia
i69
This further increased the feeling of hostihty
Serbs.
towards
conscious-
the sturdy national
Finally,
her.
suspicion of
ness of the Macedonian Serbs roused the
the Porte and led to the persecution of the Serbs within
her
prohibited.
Serb
might
Macedonia
in
" rayah "
himself as a
describe
" Serbian "
The very designation
borders.
(Christian
was
officially
subject),
Christian, a Greek, or even as a Bulgar, only not as a
Under these conditions every attempt to help
the Serbs in Turkey from Serbia was foredoomed to
Serb.
failure.
2.
proclaiming the independence of the Church
By
Serbia,
of free
Serbia had offended the Greek Patri-
Constantinople.
The
now viewed
archate
in
Serbia,
and
fore
was not favourably inclined towards them and
their
it
all
latter
where-
Serbs generally, with mistrust;
demands, but intrigued against them
all
the time.
from the sympathy with which the Bul3.
garians inspired the Eussians, there were also Russia's
Apart
political
Russian
calculations
diplomats
to
be
taken into account.
Petrograd
in
and
The
Constantinople
looked upon Bulgaria as within the sphere of Russian
political
To
interests.
put
it
mildly,
quite
they
reckoned that in free and great Bulgaria they would
have
tool
Balkans.
The
for
carrying
greater
this
out
their
policy
Bulgaria,
the
in
the
stronger
Wherefore ofticial Russia too
assisted the aspirations and propaganda of the Bulgarian
she furnished them
patriots with might and main
with means and advice and pledged herself to a great
would be their support.
Bulgaria.
4.
Serbia and Serbian territory were always assumed
by Russia
although
Serbia
herself
had
never given
MACEDONIA
170
any
cause
for
assumption
this
sphere
Austrian
the
Eussians
by
strove
the
much
sphere was to be restricted as
so
to
in
interest
of
helping
belong
as
the
to
This
Balkans.
and
possible,
the
Bulgars
to
reduce Serbia and to weaken her.
5.
Poor
by
hated
Serbia,
little
Turkey,
having
neither the sympathies of the Greek Patriarchate nor
Russia's protection, menaced by Austria as her constant
at her command to
among her kinsmen in Turkey.
enemy, had no material resources
further any propaganda
All this notwithstanding, Serbia did her best.
the
in
reign
Prince
of
Mihajlo,
through Russia and through her
Serbia
own
Already
endeavoured
representatives in
Constantinople to counteract the Bulgarian influence in
Macedonia. In view of the fact that the Bulgars were
emancipating themselves from the
Greek Patriarchate, and that they were already openly
likely to succeed in
agitating for the inclusion of
sphere,
Macedonia within
their
the Serbian Government took the position very
seriously..
On March
Foreign
diplomatic
is
1868, the then
11,
wrote
Affairs
representative
the duty of the
that
the
ancient
in
Serbian Minister for
letter
in
to
the
Constantinople
Serbian
that
"
Serbian Government to see to
ecclesiastical
prerogatives
of
it
it
that
whose head is the Serbian principality, are not
infringed by the emancipation of the Bulgarian Church.
This duty, which we have never lost sight of, has now
])een acutely abcentuated by the circulars of the Bulgarian leaders, which have been sent also- to purely
nation,
Serbian eparchies.
that the desire of
the
ritrhts of
You,
Sir, will readily
the Serbian Government
understand
to recognize
the Bulgars cannot go so far as to abandon
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
own
onr
national rights.
four Patriarchates in
... At one time
171
there were
Balkan Peninsula,
the
the
viz.
Patriarchate of Constantinople for the Greeks, that of
Ipek for the Serbs, that of Trnovo for the Bulgars,
and that
of
sometimes
Ochrida which by right of conquest was
under the Bulgars and sometimes under
the Serbs, but finally and this fact deserves special
attention fell under the Ottoman Empire as a Serbian
The Patriarchates of Ipek and Ochrida
possession.
.
century, but
last
are
to
this
the
in
abrogated
were not completely
latter
half
of
day referred to in the
Constantinople records as being merely annexed to the
Patriarchate of Constantinople, which now pays the
annual
tribute
behalf.
... As
these
the
to
it
is
Patriarchates,
Patriarchate
Imperial
now proposed
called
the
to
their
detach one of
Bulgarian,
Constantinople, nothing
of
on
Treasury
from
else
the
can
be
meant save what can be honestly imphed, namely, the
Patriarchate of Trnovo. By the cession of any other
Patriarchate to the Bulgarian Church, the question
would arise whether an old Serbian possession would
not thereby be transferred to such as have no claim
to
it
according to church history, nor yet because of
the vested rights of the Serbian nation in
Peninsula."
The Serbian Government took up
line.
Prom
the Balkan
exactly the
same
a letter written by the Serbian diplomatic
representative in
Constantinople
on
April
29,
1869,
it may be gathered that his work in Constantinople
consisted in endeavouring to obtain that, " by the
J. Ristic,
vol.
iii.
" Spoljni odnosaji Srbje " (" Serbian Foreign Relations"),
" Kako Je postala Bugarska Egzarhija
(" How
pp. 296-302
'
the Bulgarian Exarchate Arose
"),
Belgrade. 197, pp. '24-27.
MACEDONIA
172
restoration of the Bulgarian Church, the rights of the
Serbian Church should not be violated," "that the Serbian
eparchies should continue to remain in touch with the
CEcumenical (Greek) Patriarchate," and " that the Patri-
archate should appoint Serbian priests for the people."
But
weak
counteract the greatly
Constantinople.
fluence in
finally
Serbian Government were too
efforts of the
all
to
established
in
territory
also.
Serbian
'
superior
Russian
in-
The Bulgarian Exarchate,
1870,
The
deeply
cut
protests
of
Government received no attention.
The independent Church of Serbia was
purely
into
the
Serbian
likewise
ill-
pleased with the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate,
When
in
reverse
1870 the (Ecumenical Patriarch, anxious to
the
Bulgarian Ex-
the
establishing
decision
archate, convoked an CEcumenical Council, so that the
question might be solved by the assembled Metropolitans
Orthodox
the
of
Serbia replied
to
Church,
Metropolitan
the
the Patriarch's invitation that
of
the
Porte could only be entitled to approve or confirm the
resolution
solve
the
of
Church
the Church.
Church,
but
could
by herself
not
with
" Consequently her decision possessed no
questions
except
consultation
in
By
canonical authority with the Church.
the decision of
the Porte the Church was greatly exposed to arbitrary
action,
and her continued existence would be rendered
impossible in a country where thoughts, actions, and
respect
are
subject
to
change, and
where
foundations of security are undermined."
'
"
Kako
je postala
Exarchate Ax'ose
' Jovan Ristic,
iii.
pp. 294-295.
"),
Bugarska Egzarhija
"
("
the
very
How
the Bulgarian
p, 30,
" Spoljni odnosaji" (" Serbian
Foreign Relations"),
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
When
were
the Serbian
useless,
could
Serbian
the
that
from
population
To
Bulgarian influence.
croachments of
protests
its
the task of doing what
itself
set
it
save
to
Government saw
173
committee was formed in Belgrade
it
the en-
end
this
look after the
to
education and intellectual progress of the Serbs in
Turkey and to " lay before the Government a proposal
to open schools, and to send teachers, books, and
Within rather less than five
other requirements."
years Serbia succeeded, not without great difficulty, in
opening schools in sixty-one
and above
localities, .over
kept up
which were already founded and
the schools
by the local population. The principal townships in
Macedonia suppHed with schools at that time were
Kicevo (girls' and boys'), Gostivar, Sveti Jovan Debarski,
Banajni (Skoplje district), Basino Selo, Beloviste, Bogumili
(district
of Veles),
Borovac
(district
Vencani (Ochrida), Veles (girls'
and boys'), Egri Palanka,
(girls'
Kocani
(girls'
and
(girls'
Lesani
and
Organci
(girls'
Books
(Skoplje).
existing
already
churches.
'Bells,
were sent
to
(Kicevo),
boys'),
moreover,
were,
Serbian
icons,
many
of
Precista
schools,
and
Debar
KHsura,
Zletovo,
boys'), Kuceviste (Skoplje),
and
Ochrida),
of
boys'),
boys'), Kratovo, Krusevo,
(Ochrida),
Tetovo
and
Kumanovo
Lesak (Tetovo),
Porec,
(Skoplje),
Cucer
(Kicevo),
supplied
to
congregations,
other
church
the
and
furniture
the Macedonian churches and
monasteries.'
Besides
what
it
these
efforts,
the
Serbian Government did
could in Constantinople.
The Serbian
matic representative in Constantinople
'
J.
Ristic,
tions"),
iii.
let
diplo-
no opportunity
"Spoljni odnosaji Srbije" ("Serbian Foreign Rela-
pp. 281-283, 284, 290.
MACEDONIA
174
"obtaining confirmations of appointments in Old
slip for
who would
Serbia and Macedonia, of Serbian bishops
be able to resist the Bulgarian tide and to counteract
the influence which the Bulgars hoped to exercise in
European Turkey."
Serbia's war with Turkey in 1876 was fraught with
^
disastrous consequences for the Serbian schools in Turkey.
The Serbian name,
already sufficiently feared in Turkey
since the creation of free Serbia,
Serbian teachers expelled,
All this the
was now loathed worse
were
All the Serbian churches
than before.
closed, the
and the Serbian books burnt.
Bulgars contrived to turn to good account.
Serbia was, of course, unable to resume her work in
Macedonia
the expense of Turkish
at
Enlarged by the war
directly after the war.
territory,
raised
from
the
position of a Turkish vassal to that of an independent
principality
and subsequently
kingdom,
to that of a
it
was natural that she should become, more than ever,
Turkey's hete noire. Moreover, Serbia was too exhausted
by two costly wars to provide further resources for
the moment. Not until 1885 did conditions somewhat
improve.
In this year the Bulgars, in defiance of the
treaty of
Berlin,
annexed Koumelia.
It
was already
moreover, to the whole world that the Bulgars
clear,
would not stop
alarmed
lest
there.
they,
The people
too,
should
Macedonia became
become the prey of
of
Bulgaria, and began to petition the Turkish authorities
for as
many more
ask Serbia
now
'
for
Serbian schools as possible, and to
stronger
support.
Turkey,
see through Bulgaria's intentions,
could
Letter from the Serbian diplomatic representative in ConstanDecember 6, 1872 (" Kako je postala Bugarska Egzarhija ")
tinople,
("
too,
and so became
How
the Bulgarian Exarchate Arose," p. 68).
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
somewhat more
liberally disposed
175
towards the Serbs in
By
private initiative the Society of St. Sava
was founded in
Belgrade in 1886 with the object of
Macedonia.
helping to preserve and educate the Serbian people in
Turkish
The funds
territory.
owing
rapidly, chiefly
to
to
permit
Serbian Consulates in
way
Serbs in
In 1887 Serbia prevailed
the non-liberated countries.
upon the Porte
of the Society multiplied
contributions from
the estabhshment
her
and Skoplje.
Salonica
In
the opening of national schools was greatly
tated for the Serbian inhabitants.
number
of Serbian schools in
From
of
this
facili-
that time the
Turkey began
to increase.
In 1891 there were 117 Serbian schools with an aggregate staff of 140 teachers open in the vilayets of Kosovo,
and Salonica; in 1896 there were 159 schools writh
an aggregate of 240 teachers in 1901 there were 226
elementary schools, four lycees (boys' high schools), one
Bitolj,
theological
college,
Subsequently
to
and
1900
three
there
high schools for
were
over
300
girls.
Serbian
schools in Turkish territor5\
In this way the preservation of the Serbian nationality
in
Turkey
which was
the Serbian
permit.
begun
Government
earlier
was
supported by
as Far as circumstances
would
Moreover, the Government assisted as far as
possible the
educational and intellectual labours of the
Serbs in Turkey by defraying the printing expenses of
Serbian books in Constantinople (which had been done
and by the publication of the " Carigradski
Glasnik " (since 1893) and the " Vardar " (in Skoplje,
since 1886)
1908).
The Serbian Church question in Turkey could not
be mooted for a long time. The Greek Patriarchate
was
ill
disposed towards the Serbs
Kussia was helping
MACEDONIA
176
Bulgaria to the prejudice of Serbia
Serbian
Finally,
people.
Macedonian Serbs
for
when
Turkey feared the
the demands
Serbian bishops and
the
of
priests could
no longer be refused, the Serbian Government acted as
In
mediator through its diplomatic representatives.
later
and
Skoplje
1896 a Serb was appointed Bishop of
on, again thanks to Serbia's mediation, a Serb was
appointed Bishop of Veles-Debar.
Serbia has never ceased to do what she could for
her land of
Macedonia.
she did not succeed
If
in
finally breaking up the Bulgarian propaganda, it was
because the circumstances responsible for her failure
were
all
the time too strong for her.
Serbia did for Macedonia the
Finally,
utmost that
She wrested Macedonia from
could be required of her.
Turkey at the cost of torrents of blood; she defended
her against Bulgaria, and to-day Serbia
is
sacrificing
the best of her sons for the liberation of Macedonia.
No;
*****
Serbia has indeed and to the very end
fulfilled
her duty towards Macedonia.
The Macedonians on
being good
their part
Serbs and
have never ceased from
from working
for
union
with
Serbia.
We
have said already that when the Macedonians
fought for the creation of free Serbia they did so in
the hope that freedom would
her.
they laboured
Therefore
either as good
citizens of
her enlargement.
feeling in
come
for
to
also
from
establishment
Serbia or as champions of
They gave expression
Macedonia as
them
her
to their Serbian
well.
Before the advent of the nineteenth-century schools
were scarce under the Turkish
rule.
Such schools as
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
existed were mostly in monasteries,
men
and
them young
in
were trained for the priesthood or the
177
cloister.
We
have already mentioned a school of this type as existing
There was a Serbian monastic
in 1780.
Monastery
of Treskavac in existence until
school in the
1780.^
There were similar schools in Lesnovo, Slepce,
and other Macedonian monasteries. These schools were
the last relics of Old Serbian civilization and letters,
Macedonia
in
and they were maintained by the people without help
from abroad. The first urban schools in Macedonia
were founded in the nineteenth century.
these were opened
as early as 1813
Prilep
in
in
first
of
and Kuceviste (Skoplje)
in Varos, near Prilep, in 1820,
and in
After that date the Serbian
Skoplje in 1830 and 1835.
schools
The
Macedonia increased
in
number.
Towards
the middle of the nineteenth century there were already
But this number was still insufficient, and the
thirty.
The
people urgently demanded more.
latter half of the
nineteenth century brought the Bulgarian propaganda in
Macedonia and the opening
of
Bulgarian schools.
But
this did not stop the progress of the Serbian schools.
They were opened
all
over the country
in
Kostur,
Fiorina, Sveti Jovan Melnicki, Petric, Kazlog, Banjska,
Bitolj,
Resan,
by the Serbs
of
Smiljevo,
Struga,
Debar,
Galicnik,
were opened
Macedonia on their own initiative and
Eadoviste, Ochrida, etc.
maintained at their
All these schools
own expense
or with the revenues
The curriculum and the books
of church endowments.
used in these schools were Serbian. They were never
'
J.
H.
Vasiljevic,
"Prilep
njegova okolina " ("Prilep and
its
Environs"), p. 109.
that in
= The Bulgarian achool in Skoplje was opened in
1863
Veles in 1872, that in Tetovo in 1876, and that in Kicevo in 1877.
;
i-ij
MACEDONIA
178
called anything
and
their
but
Serbian or Slavo-Serbian schools,
Some
Serbian teachers.
teachers,
of these
schoolmasters, although not great scholars, distinguished
One
efforts.
and
by their zeal
themselves
of the
most
even
by their
distinguished
was Jordan Hadzi Konstantinovic, a native
was accused of rebellion and banished to
literary
among them
of Veles, who
Asia, simply
because he openly resisted the abuses practised by the
Greek
in
He
priests.
He
Serbia.
wrote school books and printed them
used to collect old Serbian books and
He also tried his hand at
to Serbia.
The journal of the Serbian Scientific
the Serbian Academy of those days, published
MSS. and send them
scientific research.
Society,
contributions
several
from his pen on the history of
Macedonia.^
In 1876 the
Turks closed
Macedonia, and expelled
in
Serbian
the
all
the
all
schools
Serbian teachers,
But
because of the war between Serbia and Turkey.
soon
as
as
improved,
conditions
Macedonians
greater freedom
the
appealed to the Turkish Government for
from the Bulgars and for as many Serbian schools as
As, owing to the Bulgarian intrigues with
possible.
the Turkish authorities,
it
was
difficult
to obtain
per-
mission for the opening of Serbian schools, and as the
latter
were exposed to
as soon
as they
Bulgarian
were open,
opening and maintaining
raids
and attacks
took
the people also
schools
to
without the special
permission of the Turkish authorities or the knowledge
of the Bulgarian propagandists.
In this way
many
called "secret Serbian schools " -were opened
all
so-
over
the country.
"Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva,"
vol. viii. pp.
130-150.
vol. vii. pp.
170-177, and
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
when Serbian education had
Finally,
179
taken
fairly
hold in Macedonia, the Macedonians began to publish
the newspapers already referred
(1893) and one in
to,
Skoplje (1908).
one in Constantinople
The
editor of the
former came from Ochrida, and the editor of the latter
was a native of Skoplje. The Serbian calendar '* Golub "
was published annually in Constantinople and enjoyed
a wide circulation.
So
far
the
as
Turkish
censorship would
allow
it,
Serbian books were sold in the bookshops of Salonica,
Voden,
Skoplje, Bitolj, Ochrida, Prilep, Seres, Kostur,
Gevgelija, Veles,
and other Macedonian towns.
All the
booksellers were Serbs of the country.
In short
in
spite of the
Bulgarian propaganda, and
in spite of Turkish intimidation
the Macedonian Serbs
zealously guarded their national education.
was impossible, as we have seen, to broach the
Serbian Church question. Until the creation of the
Bulgarian Exarchate, the Macedonians followed Russia's
It
advice in supporting the Bulgars, hoping that with the
Bulgarian Church question their
solution of the
question would be solved also.
established Exarchate opened its
propaganda
whither
in
all
own
But when the newly
campaign of Bulgarian
Macedonia, the Macedonians soon reahzed
this
was
leading.
In
1872
the
Bulgars
received the two bishops already referred to, in Skoplje
and Ochrida, who inaugurated a vast propaganda and
fanatical
persecutions of the Serbian element, schools,
and education.
retahate
and
The people were roused and began
defend
themselves.
Finally,
in
to
1874,
the Serbian population throughout Macedonia, in the
eparchies of Samokov, Custendil, Veles, Debar, Melnik,
Ochrida,
and Seres, addressed a petition to the Sultan
MACEDONIA
180
and the Greek Patriarchate to restore the suppressed
Patriarchate of Ipek and to include them within its
jurisdiction.
"We are Serbs, and not Bulgars," ran
" the Exarchate would Bulgarize us,
these petitions
and this we do not desire, and therefore appeal to you
;
to save us from this calamity and to restore to us our
independent
Nobody knows what
Serbian Church."
the Sultan and the Patriarch did with these petitions.
In 1876 war broke out between Serbia and Turkey, and
nothing came of the wish of the Macedonian Serbs.
Handicapped by Greek intrigue, and by the reinforced
Bulgarian propaganda after the creation of the Bulgarian State, the Serbian Church question in Macedonia
could not be reopened for a
forwarded
petitions
and
long time.
sent
The people
delegates to appeal to
and the Patriarch for the restoration of
Church, but always without success.
Finally the Serbian Government intervened through
Ministers in Constantinople in this matter also.
its
the
Sultan
the
Serbian
The Patriarchs had promised, one
they
would
improve
the
after
position
of
another, that
the
Serbian
Church in Turkey, but the promise was never kept.
Nor was the other positive undertaking fulfilled that
upon the death of the Greek Metropolitan Metodije,
The
a Serb was to be appointed Bishop of Skoplje.
populace became uneasy and sent a deputation to
Constantinople. At last, after great efforts on behalf
of the national cause, the Holy Synod of the Greek
Patriarchate
appointed
in
the
Constantinople
Serb
on
Firmihjan
August
Drazic
30,
1897,
ecclesiastical
Although
Skoplje.
was but a very small success, the people saw that
they had gained something by it. Firmilijan was
administrator of the Bishopric of
this
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
enthusiastically
welcomed by the populace
181
of
Skoplje
and the surrounding country. Upon repeated petitions
from the Macedonians, Firmilijan was in 1899 appointed
Metropolitan of the Eparchy of Skoplje, but his ordination was delayed by Bulgarian intrigue and did not take
Day
place until St. Vitus'
(June 15/28), 1902.
After surmounting similar difficulties the Macedonian
Serbs finally procured the appointment of a Serb as
Metropolitan of the Eparchy of Veles-Debar.
But the Serbian
feeling of
the Macedonians in the
nineteenth century did not confine
itself
to efforts
to
maintain and strengthen the Serbian Church and schools
comes out even more strongly in the
the Macedonians for the sake of
Serbia.
When Serbia was at war with
in Macedonia.
union with
Turkey
numbers
its
It
made by
sacrifices
in
Serbian
the
1876,
army
included
large
of volunteers
from Macedonia who had joined
ranks in order to
help Serbia in her purpose of
freeing
Nor was
Macedonia.
this
all.
No
sooner had
the Serbian army begun to advance towards Macedonia
in 1877
and 1878, than a vigorous answering movement
in favour of Serbia
made
itself felt
among
the populace.
In the regions where the arrival of the Serbian army
was imminently expected, real risings took place in the
Serbian cause. The most serious of these was the
rising in the counties of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka,
and Kratovo. It was headed by the chief men of the
district.
Leading
citizens of
Kumanovo swore
upon the Gospel that they would
the cause of Serbia.
strive to
in
church
the end in
In the appeals addressed by the
insurgents to the then
Prince of Serbia, Milan Obre-
novic, they protested their devotion and loyalty to him,
inqploring
him
to espouse the cause of the insurgeqts
MACEDONIA
182
strive with all his
might
their country with Serbia.
The
and to
to obtain the
command
to the generals then in
union of
insurgents also applied
of the Serbian
army,
begging them to supply them secretly with arms and
ammunition.
This Macedonian movement on behalf of Serbia the
Turks suppressed with
fire
and sword.
Several of
insurgent leaders succeeded in escaping to Serbia.
in the depopulated
settled
Toplica
and
districts of
Vranja, where
the counties of
numbers
large
refugees live even to this day.
the
They
terrible
of
these
vengeance
descended upon the heads of the captured leaders and
For a long
the populace which had remained behind.
time the appellation "Serbian" was prohibited. But
the memories of the Serbo-Turkish war of 1876-1878,
and of the Macedonian rising
for
union with Serbia,
on in the hearts of the nation. To this day the
war and the insurrection are commemorated by the
lived
Macedonians
in their poetry.^
Not even these
disasters
Macedonians
In
deterred the
from thoughts of liberation and union with Serbia.
1880 sixty-five of the most notable men of the districts
of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka, Kocane, Istip, Veles,
Prilep, Bitolj,
an
appeal to M.S.
of the
Kicevo,
Ochrida,
and Skoplje addressed
Milojevic, the Serbian
Macedonian volunteers
in the
war
of
commander
1876-1878
The ballad of the Serbian Prince ^lilan Obrenovic and Sulejman
Pasha, which was composed by the native poets of Kumanovo, was
subsequently published by the Bulgarian professor P. Draganov in
1894 (P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-slavjanski sbornik " [" SlavoMacedonian Collection"], i., Petrograd, 1894, No. 172), and the
ballad on the Macedonian insurrection was published by J. H.
Vasiljevic in 1906 (J. H. Vasiljevic, " Ustanak Srba u Kumanovskoj
Palanackoj Kazi u 1878 " [" Insurrection of Serbs in the Kumanovo
'
and Palanka
Districts, 1878 "]
Belgrade, 1906, pp. 57-58).
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
183
him to contrive somehow to
smuggle arms through to them and to lead them, and
they would rise in insurrection. That same year saw
against Turkey, begging
the outbreak of the so-called " Brsjacka buna " (revolt
Oi
the Brsjaci
lation
The
Prilep.
an ancient tribal name)
the counties
of
of
among
the popu-
Kicevo, Force, Bitolj,
revolt extended over six
and
months, and ended
in failure.
All these revolts serve to illustrate the Serbian feeling
Macedonian population.
These revolts were
planned in the Serbian cause, and they bore a Serbian
character.
Unfortunately they have not only been
unsuccessful, but their results were disastrous to the
the
of
Macedonians.
In
consequence
of
these
revolts
the
Serbian element was increasingly persecuted, and the
Bulgarian increasingly favoured.
Nor was
this
all.
When
Stefano was announced,
it
all
the Great Bulgaria of San
Macedonia was in
should be placed under Bulgaria.
tion
of the
Kratovo,
counties of
Custendil,
Kumanovo,
Kocani,
The
terror lest
entire popula-
Skoplje,
Strumica,
Palanka,
Istip,
Veles,
Debar, Kicevo, and Prilep sent deputations and appeals
to Milan, the then Prince of Serbia, imploring him
not
to
abandon
intervene
Serbia.
so
Macedonia to the Bulgars but
that Macedonia might be assigned
When
the Congress
of
Berlin met, petitions
with numerous
signatures appended
from
of
all
parts
to
to
to
them
Macedonia, reinforcing
arrived
by cogent
argument the statement that the population of Macedonia is Serbian, and that it does not wish to belonsr
to any country but Serbia.
"As Serbs of true and
pure stock, of the purest and most intrinsically Serbian
country" so these
petitions are
worded
"we
for the
MACEDONIA
184
last time implore on our knees
that we may in
some manner and by some means be freed from the
.
slavery of five centuries, and united with our country,
the principality of Serbia, and that the tears of blood of
the Serbian martyrs
may become
may
be stanched so that they,
members
too,
European community
of nations and of the Christian world;" we do not
desire " to exchange the harsh Turkish slavery for the
vastly harsher and blacker Bulgarian slavery, which
will be worse and more intolerable than that of the
Turks which we are at present enduring, and will
compel us in the end either to slay all our own people,
or to abandon our country, to abandon our holy places,
and graves, and all that we hold dear. ..." (see
Supplement No. IV).
In the end the Macedonians took up arms to defend
useful
of the
themselves against the Bulgars.
When
in the eighties
of last century the Bulgars realized that with all
their
propaganda they would never succeed in eradicating the
Serbian feeling of the Macedonians, they resorted to
violence of the most
outrageous kind. This was the
campaign in Macedonia, to which we
have already alluded. Faced by this bloody terror of
the Bulgars, the people took up arms in self-defence.
Although they had neither arms nor ammunition, they
formed bands to resist the intruders. The leading men
of Macedonia placed themselves at the head of the
terrible comitadji
Men
Jovan Dovezenski from the Dovezence Zeglihovo district (Kumanovo), George Skopljance
populace.
like
of Skoplje, Grigor Sokolovic of Nebregovo (Prilep), Jovan
Babunski of Babuna (Babuna district), and many others
were celebrated and commemorated in song as the
leaders
and heroes
of
the national defence against the
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
185
Under the most desperate con-
Bulgars in Macedonia.
persecuted alike by Bulgarian bands and the
ditions,
Turkish
authorities,
these
defenders
Serbian
the
of
by
Macedonia kept up
their own love and sympathy for the conscious national
The
attitude of the Serbian population of Macedonia.
name
their
in
labours of these
helped
to
men were
preserve
They
not without success.
least
at
only
courage
that
part
third
of
the
Macedonia which had refused to join the
people
Bulgarian Exarchate, and which has remained Serbian
Had they had more resources at their
to this day.
they might perhaps have cleared Macedisposal,
of
donia of the intruders'.
confidential
report
Bulgarian Government by a Bulgarian consular
states that the Serbs
to
the
official
had no more than " sixteen bands
of one hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy
men," working against the Bulgars, but that nevertheless "the successes of the Serbian element in the
and that " in
vilayet of Bitolj are considerable,"
*****
Salonica their position
From what we have
did
all
is
fairly
said
it is
good."
'
surely clear that Serbia
she could to the limit of her strength to save
Macedonia from Bulgarian intrusion and Bulgarization.
It is also likewise clear the Macedonian people made
every effort to preserve its Serbian character and to
become united with Serbia. Unfortunately adverse circumstance was too strong for both Serbia and the Serbs
of Macedonia.
Serbia was not strong enough to fight
Turkey and the abuses of the Greek Church, to oppose
the will of Kussia and to repel the Bulgarian propaganda
" Le Brigandage en Macedoine, un rapport
gouvernement bulgare," Berlin, 1908, p. 41.
'
confidentiel
av,
MACEDONIA
186
This, and this
and the armed terror of the comitadji.
only,
is
why
the reason
a large part of the population
an heroic struggle, great trials, and enormous sacrifices, was nevertheless compelled actually to
finally, after
Bulgarian.
call itself
The Bulgarian
success
v/hence
protection
of
Exarchate.^
to
the
villages
Bulgarian
towns
appeal.
did
not
relative.
in Macedonia,
under
agitation
diplomacy,
Eussian
The
however, only
Bulgarian
the
started
is,
of the larger
Only the population
adhered
all
According
the
the
to
respond equally
to
the
figures
compiled after several years of investigation by KosEussian Consul, in Botolj, there were in the
tovski,
vilayet of Bitolj 186,656 Serbs
Exarchate, and 93,694
Patriarchate.
did
who
joined the Bulgarian
who remained
faithful
to
the
One-half of the Christians in their region
not join the Bulgars.
In the Eparchy of Skoplje
20,000 families belonged to the Exarchate, and 10,000
belonged to the Patriarchate. Here, too, the numerical
Besides this there were some
is the same.
Macedonia where the Exarchate had no success
The whole of Skoplje Crna Gora, with only a
at all.
few exceptions, and many villages north of it remained
proportion
parts of
faithful
to
the
Patriarchate.
between Tetovo and
outside the Bulgarian influence.
large
proportion
of
The
villages
in
Porec
Bitolj kept themselves completely
the
Moreover, there
is
Serbian population through-
Eound
Macedonia which has remained Serbian.
Strumica, Drama, and Serez in Southern Macedonia
there are many Serbs who, unable to call themselves
out
Turks, and not desirous of calling themselves Bulgars,
'
St.
Novakovic, " Balkanska Pitanja" (" The Balkan Questions"),
1906, p. 118.
SERBIA AND MACEDONIA
although
Greek,
themselves
call
they
187
speak
only
Serbian.
An example
show how strong the Serbian
will
Macedonia despite the
is
in
it
has passed.
fierce trials
feeling
through which
Already in the early days of the open
the Greeks, the Serbian priest Jovan
struggle against
Burkovic in Skoplje distinguished himself especially in
For this the Greek Metropohtan
his opposition to them.
excommunicated him and caused
his books to be
thrown
In spite of this ill-usage neither
out of the church.
he nor his flock ever joined the Bulgarian movement.
Neither Bulgarian intimidation and blackmail nor Greek
him away from the
persecution could drive
He
hated
and
call
Patriarchate.
but he could not deny his Serbian feeling
himself a Bulgar. To the day of his death
it,
he and his parishioners adhered to the hated Patriarchate and remained Serbs. In his old age, and when
was already failing, Jovan Burkovic prayed
to live to
that God might grant him but one wish
his health
conduct
the
service
the
at
opening of
the
Lycee, which was at that time being founded
He was
spared to see the fulfilment of his wish.^
Macedonia
survived
Serbian
in Skoplje.
all
is
full
crises
of
and
there are yet more
who have
and remained Serbs. And
Serbian individuals
trials
who
are prepared
to
cry out
as
soon as they are delivered from the Bulgarian danger
"
We
'
St.
were, and
we
will be Serbs."
Novakovic, " Balkanska Pitanja "
pp. 89-90.
("
The Balkan Questions
"),
XI
MACEDONIAN DIALECTS OF THE SEBBIAN
LANGUAGE
Language of the Macedonian Slavs originally merely called " Slav "
No mention of Bulgarian language in Macedonia up to the beginning of the nineteenth century Language of literary records in
Macedonia Serbian throughout the Middle Ages Serbian also in
the nineteenth century until the advent of the Bulgarian propaganda Difference between Macedonian and Bulgarian languages
noticed at a very early date Macedonian idiom not identical
Insufficiency of linguistic material for thorough
study of Macedonian idiom All Macedonian dialects belong
to one type Macedonian dialects are Serbian Morphology
appears in Macedonian dialects
Etymology The article as
in all districts
it
is
not a Bulgarian characteristic
WE
have already mentioned in another connection
that Professor Djeric, after a thorough study of
all
records referring to Macedonia, established the fact
that the language of the Macedonian Slavs
simply called Slav, even as the people
language were called Slavs.
This term
was
who
is
originally
spoke that
also applied
Macedonian tongue into which Cyril and Method
and their disciples translated the Holy Scriptures in
the first centuries of Christendom among the Balkan
to the
Slavs.
all
Professor Djeri6, moreover, carefully investigated
historic sources in
which the language
donian Slav of the period
is
of the
Mace-
mentioned, right up to the
twelfth century, and nowhere did he find the language
""
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
than
otherwise
called
the
Of
Slav.'
189
Bulgarian
the
language in Macedonia there is at that time no trace,
although it was the time of the longest period of the
Finally, Professor Djeric
Bulgarian rule in Macedonia.
studied
records which refer to Macedonia, and upon
all
this evidence has established that
"from the
earliest
times right up to the beginning of the nineteenth century
there is not one reHable instance to prove that the
Macedonians ever
called
themselves Bulgars or their
language the " Bulgarian."
All literary records produced in
Middle Ages are composed
Macedonia during the
solely in
Already
Serbian.
in 1844, V. GrigoroviC, in his travels through Macedonia,
took note of a host of Serbian literary records.
MSS.
The
Catalogue of the National Library in Sofia (1910)
contains twenty-five
MSS. from Macedonia.
Twenty-
two out of the twenty-five are Serbian (from
Veles, Itip, Strumica, Debar, Prilep, Ochrida),
Skoplje,
as
the
author of the catalogue, the Bulgarian Professor Coneff
and only three are non-Serbian. Of
these three, two are Serbo-Bulgarian, and only one is
himself
admits,
last-named could only be the work
This
Bulgarian.3
Bulgar who had come by chance to Macedonia.
All marginal notes, legends attached to pictures and
a
of
inscriptions found
in churches, etc., in
many
Macedonia are
them the language is
In 1466, Archbishop Marko of
referred to as Serbian.
Ochrida ordered the " Canon of the Great Church
purely
Serbian.
In
of
(Zakonik Velike Crkve) in Ochrida to be translated into
'
("
V.
Djeric,
The term
'
"
srpskora imenu u Staroj Srbiji i Makedoniji
Old Serbia and Macedonia"), Belgrade, 1904,
Serbiaaa' in
pp. 32-38.
3
p. 42.
P. Popovid, " Serbian Macedonia,"
Ibid.,
London, 1916,
p. 4.
MACEDONIA
190
In
Serbian.^
sermons
the
containing
happens that a word
meaning
its
Serbian
(i.e.
MS.
seventeenth-century Macedonian
we
clear,
is
of
Damaskin
defined,
are told
and
what
Studita
make
in order to
"in the
signifies
it
Macedonian) language."
so
it
In the nineteenth century and up to the advent of the
Bulgarian propaganda the language spoken in Macedonia
called " Serbian."
is
dictionary)
Vuk
S.
In his " Srpski Rjecnik
" (Serbian
Karadzic speaks of the language of
As we have already
the Macedonians as ''Serbian.''
" that
in Tetovo the
Turks speak Turkish and Albanian, and the Christians
that "around Tetovo there are villages
Serbian''';
whose inhabitants profess the Turkish faith, but speak
he mentions
elsewhere,
stated
Serbian; that in Kicevo (Krcava) "about one-third of
the
inhabitants
Christians,
are
the Turkish faith, but that
all
of
and
the
profess
rest
them speak Serbian
"
;
that in Gostivar " the Turks speak Turkish and Albanian,
and the Christians Serbian
men from Debar
in
"
Cetinje
that in 1836 he
who
met two
spoke Serbiayi, and
that " in that locality (around Debar) there are
villages
as
many
where the inhabitants have the same speech
two men, and that they call themselves
these
Serbs."
The
difference
has
languages
between the Macedonian and Bulgarian
noticed long ago by scholars.
been
Already in 1844 V. Grigorovic drew attention to the
striking difference between the Macedonian and Bulgarian
'
languages, 3
and
was only prevented
Lj. Stojanovic, " Stari Srpski Zapisi
by
his
Natpisi " ("Old Serbian
Inscriptions and Notes"), No. 328.
V. Djeric, "O srpskom imenu u Staroj Srbiji i Makedoniji
The term Serbian in Old Serbia and Macedonia "), p. 27.
'
("
'
'
V. Grigorovic, " Ocerk puteSestvija," p. 194.
"
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
"Serbian"
from
Bulgars
the
partiality^ for
to the language
applying
191
term
the
spoken in Macedonia.
In
1872 a Bulgar, Prvanov by name, published ''Alphabet
Books" (Bukvars)
Macedonia, and
for use in the
object in so doing was, that
may
Bulgarian schools in
specially stated in these books that his
"our Macedonian brothers
lose the habit of the Serbian pronunciation of the
Bulgarian speech."
'
Djordje
M.
Puljevski, a native of
Galicnik in Macedonia, wrote in 1875 that the inhabitants of
those parts did
not
understand
Bulgarian.
P. Draganov, Bulgarian Professor in Salonica, mentioned
in 1894 that the
Macedonians experienced great
in learning the
modern Bulgarian idiom. 3
various Macedonian dialects
great
language and
the difference between the Bulgarian
is
difficulty
How
seen by the
Macedonian children are unable to study at
the Bulgarian Lycee without having previously learnt
Bulgarian. The Bulgarian Lycee in Skoplje had a
preparatory class attached, where Macedonian children,
the
best
is
fact that
after
still
having attended the Bulgarian elementary schools,
had
to study Bulgarian for at least six
months
enable them to follow the lessons at the Lyc6e.4
preliminary
study of
Serbian was
not
to
necessary for
students at the Serbian Lycee in Skoplje.
The language spoken
the same, but
lish correctly
is
in
Macedonia
is
not everywhere
divided into several dialects.
To
estab-
the areas over which these dialects are
P. Draganov, " Izvestija S.P. Slavjanskago Blagotvoritelnago
Obstestva," 1888, quoted in " Macedonia " by St. Protic, p. 13.
^ Djordje M. Puljevski, " Recnik od tri Jezika," Belgrade, 1875,
p. 1.
3 P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-slavjanski sbornik,"
Petrograd,
i.,
'
1894, p.
iv.
Srpska Kralje vska Akademija, " Naselja srpskik zemalja
ments of tbe Serbian Lands "), vol. iii. p. 508.
*
" ("
Settle-
MACEDONIA
192
spoken, and to give a detailed definition of their distinguishing features
is
quite impossible at the
present
moment.
The greatest difficulty lies in the fact that
not enough reliable linguistic material has been collected
so far.
There are districts in Macedonia concerning
which there is no philological material of any kind.
The bulk
of the
linguistic material is to be
collected
found in the traditional lore of the Macedonians, especithe national ballads.
ally in
On
the other hand, this
material has not always been compiled by reliable col-
Most
lectors.
have been collected by Bulgars
collected
do not
There
idiom.
from Macedonia
of the national ballads
;
but
correctly represent
are
many
reasons
the ballads so
the
for
Macedonian
For one
this.
thing, these collectors were unlettered Bulgarian priests,
teachers,
and agents, unacquainted with the Macedonian
dialects,
and too
characteristics.
ignorant to establish
For another,
it
their
was necessary
various
for the
Bulgars to publish the Macedonian ballads as quickly
and to proclaim them to be Bulgarian, and
so the collections were made too hurriedly and without
as possible
sufficient
Thirdly,
attention to
all
Bulgarian
linguistic refinement
ballad-collectors
of
were
detail.
merely
agents for Great Bulgarian aspirations whose chief aim
it
was
to exhibit as
many Bulgarian
characteristics as
Macedonian language, and so they introthey were obviously
Finally, the speech of the Macequite out of place.
donians has been sadly corrupted by Bulgarian propaganda and Bulgarian schools. The purest idiom in
Macedonia is spoken by the Serbs of Mahommedan faith,
whom for religious reasons the Bulgarian propaganda
could not influence.
In the meantime, however, no
possible in the
duced these even in cases where
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
193
drawn to their language. It
follows therefore from what we have said, that all that
has been written by philologists especially Bulgarian
on the language of the Macedonians, and
philologists
special
attention
was
based upon the philological and linguistic material collected by the Bulgars, cannot be either correct or reliable.
Mace-
of the
investigation of the language
Scientific
donians based on other material has been very limited
in extent and embraces only an insignificantly small
For these reasons,
part of Macedonia.
too,
we
find it
difficult to give a detailed philological study of the Serbian
dialects in
Macedonia, and we must confine ourselves to
pointing out their principal features.
They
plainly exhibit
only Serbian, and not Bulgarian characteristics as well.
All Macedonian dialects, no matter how great the
difference between them, belong to one type, and all of
them by
their characteristics are branches of the Serbian
language.
The main
Macedonian
which on the one hand
features
dialects
with
the Serbian
link the
language, and
on the other hand distinguish them from the Bulgarian,
are {a) the permutation of Old Slav individual sounds
(Morphology) and
(6)
the rules governing the inflection
words (Etymology).
of
1.
Morphology.
The Old
Slav vowel Tk (jus) pronounced like the nasal
Bulgarian
been replaced by the mute t C'dark,"
has
in
on,
In Serbian it has been replaced by the clear w,
jer).
,
and in the Macedonian dialects likewise by the clear
sounds u, a, o^ The tendency of Bulgarian is to darken
'
Examples: Old Slav pTfxti,, rjfifta := Bulgarian piit, r-^kazsf
Macedonian put, pat, pot, ruka, raka, roka.
Serbian put, ruka
14
MACEDONIA
194
the vowels, that of the Serbian and Macedonian dialects
pronounce them
to
Whether the
clearly.
clear vowels,
which moreover include u, of the Macedonian dialects
approach more nearly to the Serbian clear m, or to
the Bulgarian dark vowel
-l,
is
surely not difficult to
The Old Slav sound group
Z'B
has in Bulgarian been
decide.
replaced by tZ, and in Serbian and Macedonian by u.^
The Old Slav sound group chr
placed by
cer,
in Bulgarian
re-
and in Serbian and Macedonian by
cr.'^
In the opinion
permutation
of
of philologists
Old
group.
to
the
is
posite sounds zd and
according
the most important
Slav sounds in
Bulgarian languages
so far as to classify
is
Some
st.
all
comhave gone
of the
philologists
the Slav languages into groups
the permutation of this
According to
the Serbian and
permutation
this
Old Slav sound
classification
the
Serbian
language and the Macedonian dialects would unquestionably belong to
the same
group, because in Bulgarian
have remained the same as in Old Slav,
Macedonian and Serbian they appear permuted into dj and c. Already in 1835 the first Bulgarian
grammarian, Neofit Rilski, observed that the appearance
of the dj and c in the Macedonian dialects was a
the zd and
st
whereas in
Examples : The Old Slav words vl'bTc'h, plTtnTi, BlTigarinlt
Bulgarian vhlk-b, pTtlnly, BTslgariwh
Serbian and MatJedonian i)uk
pun, Btigarin. Owing to the permutation of the vowels Vh the
Macedonians, when they happen to call themselves Bulgars, always
employ the Serbian word Bugari, and never the Bulgarian word
BT^lgari.
This peculiarity was observed in 1844 by the Eussian
scientist V. Grigorovic (" Ocerk putesestvija," p. 196). Since thea
this observation has been repeated by many authors, among them
'
several Bulgars.
Examples: The Old Slav words
lern, Herven
= Serbian
ci.rn'b,
^brveni?
and Macedonian crn, erven.
= Bulgarian
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
There
Serbian feature.^
are
many examples
195
the
of
In
c in the Macedonian dialects.
book " Ogledalo " ("The Mirror") which appeared
occurrence of dj and
his
in 1816,
dialect,
and
is
written throughout in the Macedonian
Tetovo,
Pejcinovic of
Cyril
monk
of
the
Serbian Monastery of St. Dimitrius near Skoplje, true
to the usage of his day, invariably for both groups uses
the Serbian c and never the Bulgarian
Vuk
Karadzic brought
Macedonia
correctly
1822,
in
their
in
zcl
When
and U.
out the national ballads from
he employed the dj and
proper
In
places.
quite
1875
Dj.
M.
Galicnik in
Puljevski of
Macedonia compiled his
" Recnik od tri jezika " (Dictionary of three languages,
Macedonian,
viz.
countrymen.
Turkish)
for
his
a great scholar,
and
uses
Draganov, who
P.
not
was guided by feeling alone. But he, too,
the dj and 6 sounds.
The Bulgarian
in writing
regularly
and
Albanian,
Puljevski was
held
post
as
professor
at
the
Bulgarian Lycee in Salonica, asserts that the dj and
sounds are an intrinsic feature of the Macedonian
dialects.
In view of
the
Old
bearing
Slav
upon
dialects, St.
the
importance
composite
the
of
sounds
question
of
the
zd
permutation of
and
the
st
in
its
Macedonian
Novakovic, President of the Royal Serbian
Academy, wrote an extensive monograph on the
subject. 2
For his linguistic material he drew upon
the earlier writers who wrote in Macedonian dialects
upon the collections of national ballads compiled in
" Bolgarska Gramatoka," Kragujevac, 1835, pp. 180-181.
" Dj and 6 in the Macedonian National Dialects " (" Glas Srpske
Kraljevske Akademije," xii., Belgrade, 1889); " Ein Beitrag zur
Kunde der Macedonischen Dialekte " (" Archiv fiir Slavische Philo'
'
logie,
Ixii.,
1890, p. 78).
MACEDONIA
196
Macedonia by the Bulgars and their friends ' the
collection by I. S. Jastrebov,^ and finally upon the folktales related to him in the Macedonian dialect of the
country around Prilep by P. Kondovic, a pupil at
the Bulgarian Lycee who had at that time not yet
studied the Serbian literary language. In all this
linguistic material from Macedonia, Novakovic invari;
ably found the Serbian dj and c wherever they ought
to occur according to rule.
Etymology.
2.
In Bulgarian the nouns and adjectives are not inflected
at
all
The
they always retain the same form.
cases
are expressed by prepositions placed before the nominIn the Macedonian dialects, as in Serbian, both
ative.
nouns and adjectives have seven cases, which are formed
by added terminations.^
Verkovic, " Narodne Pesme Makedonskih Bugara, 1860 "
Dimitrije and Konstantin Miladinovci, " Bugarske
narodne pesme," 1861 ; " Periodiceskoe Spisanie " of the Bulgarian
'
St. I.
The Brothers
Literary Society.
I. S. Jastrebov, " Obicaj
=>
pjesni Tureckih Serbov," Petrograd, 1886.
Examples: Bulgarian words vezda, cuzd= Serbian and MaceSerbian and
donian vedja, tudj Bulgarian svesta, sresta, klista
3
Macedonian sveca, sreca, huca.
* Examples taken
from a Macedonian MS. Collection of the
eighteenth century (" Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije," xxxi.
p. 12):Genitive
ot vraga, radi hoUsti, Gaipoda, hriscanske vere, pre*tola Bozija.
Dative : vragu, Bogu, prarohu^ duhovniJcu.
Accusative : veru hristijamsku, Jcraaotu, prevarw, Bega.
Vocative : vraze luhavi, prelastena ieno.
Ablative : Svetim hrstenjem, s djavolom, s velikitn kemtmom,
dusom
Locative
telom.
na strainom sudu, prema miloati, prema velikom
veiru, na smrti.
'
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
There
no
is
197
infinitive of the verb in Bulgarian, but
both in Serbian and in the Macedonian dialects.
There is no present participle of the verb in Bulgarian,
there
is
whereas
it
and
exists both in Serbian
in the
Macedonian
dialects.2
Examples taken from Macedonian national poetry
Bulgars
Oenitive
Telal vice ot utra do
Do
Dative
Accusative
Vocative
Ablative
Locative
'
collected
tri
mraka,
furni vru6a leba.
Turcin Kalinki dumaSe
Devojka se Bogu pomolila
Svekru bela kosulja.
MozeS li konja da igras
Tebe stara ce zagubat.
Imala majka, imala
Jedjioga sina Stojana.
Stojane, sinko rodjene.
Tatko 6e recem, cerko nc
velit.
Braca de recem, sestro ne velet.
Naverzi mi, Bado, kiten bel testemel.
Udari ga cizma i mamuzom.
Pod Beligradom.
Djul, devojko, pod djulom zaspalo.
Na kuci slava, vo kuci
Da se sutra na divanii
slava.
nadje.
Examples from the eighteenth-century Macedonian MSS.
lection
by
Col-
liti,
gledati,izgovoriti, krstiti
pokajati, umoriti,
govoriti, etc. ("
sc, osinti,
iczeti, ciidti,
oprostiti, pricestiti,
postignuti, osuditi, lagati,
Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
xxxi. p. 13).
Examples from Macedonian national poetry
Navest" cu ti, Pejo, kako ces go *^nosi"
:
'*
^'
Osvojit" cu ravnu Arbaniju.
Examples from the eighteenth-century Macedonian MSS. Col-
lection
cinecci, gledccci, znceci, etc.
Examples from Macedonian National poetry
Mene
Ili
bolan, sestro, gledceci,
dvorje, sestro, vieteeci,
U6te taka zborueci,
Kuse kose
pleteedi.
MACEDONIA
198
Some
of the tenses (present, imperfect, aorist, future)
of the verbs are not
formed in the same way in Bulgarian
as in Serbian and the.
Macedonian dialects.
same in Serbian
the Macedonian dialects, whereas in Bulgarian
The
accent
practically the
is
as
it
in
is
quite different.
The vocabulary
Macedonian
vocabulary
of
dialects
is
same,
the
is
the
Bulgarian
the
quite different.
we must mention one
Finally
and
language
Serbian
the
linguistic feature
which
outward appearance, common to the Bulgarian
language and to the Macedonian dialects and which
to all
is,
does not exist in
This
Serbian.
is
the article, which
placed after the noun both in Bulgarian and in the
is
Macedonian
It
is
dialects (suffix, post-position of the article).
interesting
European
from
the
view
point of
among
philology, that
Indo-
of
the Balkan languages
the article exists only in the Albanian, Bulgarian, and
Boumanian languages.
Among
the
Serbian
dialects
For these reasons
the Bulgars maintain that the suffix was developed
the Macedonian alone possess
it.
" independently of the internal organism of the Bulgarian
language "
Macedonian article
is a Bulgarian feature, and the Macedonian dialects are
branches of the Bulgarian. In the meantime, the most
that consequently the
distinguished
Slav philologists are not of the opinion
suffix
developed " independently of
the internal organism of
the Bulgarian language," or
that the Bulgarian
that
it is
a Bulgarian speciality, but hold
the old Thraco-Illyrian languages
of
it
to be a rehc
which
is
to
be
found throughout the whole of the Albanian zone, in
'
Lj. Milietic, "
Bulgarian Language
clanu u bagarskom jeziku " (" The Article in the
"), Zagreb, 1886, p. 2.
DIALECTS OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE
Macedonia,
and
Bulgaria
only in Bulgarian, but
also
Eoumania;
199
not
therefore
the Albanian, Serbian,
in
and Roumanian languages, which have no connection
with the evolution of the Bulgarian language.^
The Bulgarian and Macedonian
In Bulgarian the
suffix is invariably ^i> (masculine),
which
ta,
ta
In Macedonian we find, besides
also n'h, na, no, and v'h, va, vo,
(feminine), to (neuter).
the suffixes fh,
suffixes differ in kind.
to,
are non-existent in Bulgarian.
Finally,
according
to
the article
rule,
iJiust
variably employed in Bulgarian, whereas in the
donian dialects
it
occurs but rarely.
MSS.
be in-
Mace-
In the eighteenth-
the article is
Macedonian
used but seldom. In the first 105 pages of the collection it is employed only 37 times, and that very
Masculine nouns never appear with the
arbitrarily.
Feminine and neuter nouns frequently appear
article.
with the articles va and vo instead of ta and to.^ In 27
poems from Macedonia published in 1822 by Vuk
Karadzic, the article occurs only 25 times in the whole
340 verses, and then not always after the noun, but more
century
Collection
often after the possessive pronoun and the conjunction
kao
(as).
In 121 poems from Debar the
article
ti,,
ta,
to
and Vh,
occurs only 47 times
In about 150 ballads from Macedonia,
va, vo 22 times.
;
containing in
times
all
told
all
;
nt, na, no occurs 12 times,
2,600 verses,
and
this
we
number
find
the article 106
includes 34 cases which
do not belong to the Macedo-Bulgarian variety but to
the purely Macedonian form of the article.
'
Fr. Miklosich,
im Rumanisohen,"
'
"
" Syntaxis," p. 127.
" Die Slavischen Elemente
p. 7.
Spomenik Srpske Kraljevske Akademije,"
vol. xxxi. p. 12,
XII
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
Old Slav
system completely broken up by Old Bulgarian
tribal
Tribal system preserved in Macedonia and other
Serbian lands Hence the identity of social conditions and
customs Typically Serbian
customs in
Macedonia The
State system
" Slava " Bulgarian campaign against '* Slava " in Macedonia
" Preslava " Village " Slava " Custom of Pilgrimage to Serbian
monasteries
WHEN
Pilgi-images to the Monastery of Decani
speaking
of
the
difference
between
the
Bulgars and the Macedonians, we pointed out
that
the Bulgars with their State system, which they
brought with them and transplanted among the conquered Slavs in Bulgaria, crushed for ever every trace
of
the
old
Slav tribal organization there.
could never again be revived
it
even during the period when
state
The Slav
system and the customs which are connected with
social
was
The
lost
all
among
the Bulgars, not
trace of an independent
among them.^
tribal social
system survived for a very long time
Macedonia and in other Serbian lands. The nation,
which is identical in Macedonia and in other Serbian
lands, and has lived under identical social conditions,
in
has also preserved identical customs.
Already
before
two Macedonians, the brothers Miladinovci,
1861,
described some of the Macedonian customs.^ All their
'
See pp. 19-20.
The brothers Miladinovci, "Bugarske Narodne Pesme " ("Bulgarian National Ballads"), Agram, 1861, pp. 515-524.
*
200
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
throughout with the descriptions of
other Serbian countries. In 1886 the
descriptions
tally
customs
in
Russian
savant
Iv.
published an
New
Christmas,
volume on
with
Epiphany,
Year,
Sunday,
Great
Lazar,
Macedonia,
Macedonia.
connected
customs
their
in
extensive
authority
great
national customs of
the
of
and
Jastrebov,!
S.
201
His description
observance of
the
the
carnival,
St.
George's Day, the popular
St.
prayers for rain ("dodole"), their marriage, birth, and
funeral customs, the " Slava," etc., tally absolutely with
among
Academy
the descriptions of the same customs as practised
other
In
Serbs.
published
1907
the
Royal
customs
of
collectanea
great
Serbian
from
the
neighbourhood of Skoplje, compiled by At. Petrovic,^
which the foregoing remarks likewise apply. The
"
author is himself the editor of a series in the " Zbornik
(" Collectanea ") of Serbian national customs, which is
to
published by the Royal Serbian
MSS. he had
One
of the
the
war was
a lengthy
Academy
in Belgrade.
prepared for publication before
monograph on the customs
of
the neighbourhood of Gevgeli, compiled prior to 1912
by the schoolmaster Mr.
St.
Tanovic, a native of Gevgeli.
Here we have descriptions
throughout the year
birth,
marriage,
fishing,
cattle
of
customs
day by day
then the customs connected with
and
rearing,
funerals,
trade,
agriculture,
etc.
All,
hunting,
absolutely
these customs of the neighbourhood of Gevgeli, as
whole and in
detail, are neither
more nor
less
all,
than the
customs found also among other parts of the Serbian
Iv. S. Jastrebov, " Obicaj
pjesni Tnreckih Serbov " (' Customs
Turkish Serbs "), Petrograd, 1886 (in Russian).
* " Srpski Etnografski Zbornik"
("Serbian Ethnographic Collectanea "), vol. vii. pp. 333-528.
'
and Songs
of the
MACEDONIA
202
But not even a superficial view of the
Macedonian customs reveals any such similarity when
comparing them with Bulgarian customs.
nation.
It is not
an unimportant fact that the customs of the
Macedonians and the
rest of the Serbs should differ
are peculiar to the
from
There are many customs which
those of the Bulgars.
Macedonian and other Serbs, and the
And
Bulgars have nothing to resemble them.
precisely
because these customs have been observed by the Serbs
from ancient times, and other nations do not possess
them, the Serbs have come to consider some of them
The
as distinctive Serbian characteristics.
of this
best example
provided by the custom of the " Slava " (the
is
meaning of this word is " celebration," but it
has the meaning of "renown" and "glory"), or
literal
also
" krsno
" sveti
(the
ime"
dan "
day of
called
name), "sveti" (saint, holy),
"
day or holy day), or " dan svetoga
(Christian
(saint
the saint),
by the Serbs.
ancestor
worship,
as
This
which
this
is
with
Christian faith was transformed
some Christian
" slava "
is
variously
transition to
the
into
George,
St.
day dedicated to that saint
The
the
St.
the
worship of
Demetrius, or
Every Serb has a family patron
John).
is
saint (most frequently St. Nicholas, St.
Michael the Archangel,
St.
custom
a relic of the old pagan
attended by
are identical with
all
is
the
many minor
Serbs.
saint.
Serbian
The
"slava."
customs, which
According to the unani-
mous opinion of all scientific authorities, both Serbian and
foreign, who have studied the customs of the " slava,"
The Serbs have
it is an exclusively Serbian custom.^
a proverb " Gde je slava, tu je Srbin " (" Where there
:
'
The
' slava "
is
Bulgars (C. Jirecek.
unknown among the neighbouring Croats and
'
Geschichte der Serben,"
i.
p. 181).
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
is
there
'slava,'
is
" slava "
The
the Serb").
203
looked
is
handed down from father
and disappears only with
inheritance,
precious
as
a
to son
upon
as a sacred
custom
it is
the disappearance of the family
same
worship the
"slava"
a Serbian
the Catholic Serbs observe
who have ceased to
reasons, still know their "
Serbs,
akin.
who
The
custom that
even
All Serbs
itself.
considered
are
distinctly
so
is
saint
it.
Even the Mohammedan
observe " slava " for religious
slava " and bestow gifts
upon
Therefore it may be
with good reason assumed that the observance of " slava"
Christian Churches on that day.
marks the frontiers of the Serbian nation.
The Bulgars do
All Macedonians keep " slava."
not.
In describing the national customs in Macedonia, Iv. S.
Jastrebov, for many years Russian Consul in Macedonia,
says
"
'
Slava
'
is
observed by the Serbs not only in
Hungary, Bosnia, Hercegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Morava and the Prizren district, but
Serbia, Austria,
in the
also
and Ochrida
Skoplje, Veles,
counties of
in exactly the
same way
as
Prilep,
it is
Bitolj,
celebrated
Moreover, the
in the counties of Debar and Tetovo. "^
" slava " is designated by the same names in Macedonia
as in other
Serbian countries
"sveti," *'sveti dan,"
too,
it
is
'
Iv.
S.
"
Many
detailed
There,
descrip-
"slava" in Macedonia have appeared on
various occasions.3
and Songs
" krsno ime,"
"dan svetoga," "sluzba").^
kept by everybody.
tions of the
("slava,"
All the details attending the
Jastrebov, "Obicaj
of the
pjesni Tureckih Serbov"
Turkish Serbs"),
"slava"
("Customs
p. 2.
Ibid., p. 1.
Tomic, ' Naselja Srpskih Zemalja " (" SettleLands"), vol. iii. pp. 467-469. At. Petrovic,
" Srpski Etnografski Zbornik " (" Serbian Ethnographic Collectanea "J,
3
Ibid., pp. 1-22.
ments
S.
of the Serbian
vol. vii. pp. 436-438.
J.
H.
Vasiljevie, " Prilep," pp. 160-167.
MACEDONIA
204
Macedonia are the same as the details attending it
In Macedonia, too, it is
countries.
a sacred custom, which is not dropped under any
circumstances. The inhabitants of Skoplje Crna Gora
in
in other Serbian
"whoever
believe that
will
not
to
live
fails
next
see
keep 'slava' one year,
to
year's."
There, too,
the
" slava " is
handed down as a sacred heritage from father
to son until the family becomes extinct.
But as a
matter of fact the celebration of "slava" outlasts
even the family. A man who has no descendants will
see
to
it
with his death.
does not become extinct
"slava"
that his
wealthy but
childless
peasant of
the village of Cucar in the Skoplje Crna Gora
property
his
would keep
celebrate
it
on
neighbour
to
condition
every
Another important
year.^
the Churches, the
all
Macedonians,
he
fact
is
common
like the
Serbs
preference to Serbs
of other countries, frequently give
who have been
all
"slava" as well as his own, and would
his
that instead of worshipping the Christian saints
to
left
that
canonized, such as St. Simeon Miroto5ivi
(Stephan Nemanja, Grand Zupan of Serbia, February
13th), St.
first
Sava (Sava Nemanjic, son
of
Stephan Nemanja,
St. Stephan
Sometimes an entire
Archbishop of Serbia, January 14th),
Decanski (November 11th),
village
will
celebrate
For the sake
of
etc.
the same
example we
patron saint.
Serbian
merely
will
case of the village of Radibuz, between
Palanka, where everybody celebrates
quote
the
Kumanovo and
St. Sava's Day.'
Finally, I will mention that the earliest record of the
Serbian
"slava"
historian
Skylitzes has
"slava"
of
'
S.
the
is
from
Serbian
Tomi6, " Naaelja,
The
Macedonia.
Greek
given us a description of the
vojvode
etc.," vol.
iii.
by the Lake
Ivac
p. 469.
Ibid., p. 469.
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
Ochrida,
of
The
1018.
as
early
as
205
Mary on August
worshipped the virgin
Ivac
vojvode
15th.
It
is
interesting to note that the description of the "Slava,"
and observed by Skyhtzes,
features which still distinguish the
as kept by the vojvode Ivac
shows the same
customs incidental to the "slava."'
Of all Serbian customs in Macedonia we have
^
special stress
upon the "slava," because
it is
laid
a typically
Serbian custom. Moreover, the Bulgars have attached
No sooner had
special significance to the " slava."
they begun their agitation in Macedonia than they considered it their first duty to stamp out this Serbian
To
custom.
At
expedients.
masters told
pagan
they had
end
this
their
first
the populace
that
custom,
Church, and that
it
recourse
various
to
agents, priests, and school-
that
was a
sanctioned by the
the
was not
" slava "
ought therefore to be discontinued.^
it
Later on they resorted to threats, and the malediction
the Church
of
the
*'
slava."
recalcitrants
fined,
and
upon those who refused
Finally,
were
finally
Serbian Ministry
when
at
first
give up
warning, then
given strict
put to death.
of
to
the comitadji action began,
The
archives of the
the Interior contain
official
proofs
every case of persecution in connection with the
keeping of " slava " in Macedonia.
in
But
this
all
proverb:
was
of
no
(''Better the ruin of the
customs").
'
avail.
The Serbs have the
" Bolje da selo propadne, nego
The people
village,
selu obicaj,"
than of the village
faithfully continued to celebrate
B. Proki6: "Vojvoda Ivac, najstariji istorijski
spomen
o slavi u
Makedoniji" ("Vojvoda Ivac, Earliest Historical Record of the Slava
in Macedonia"), " Brastvo," vols, ix.-x., Belgrade, 1902, pp. 5, etc.
" Izvjestija Slavjanskog
' Iv.
S. Jastrebov, "Obicaj, etc.," p. 3.
Blagotvoritelnog Obstetva," 1887, Nos. 11-12, p. 566.
MACEDONIA
206
their " slava " in Macedonia,
and preserved
jealously
it
as a precious inheritance.
Another typically Serbian custom
" Preslava."
is
the keeping of
of the " preslava " are the
The customs
same
number
Every Serb keeps "preslava "as
as those of the " slava," only they are fewer in
and
complicated.
"
well as
slava."
In Macedonia, too, "preslava"
less
by whole towns and
remotely like
In the
kept
it.
last
place
when the entire
common god and
must
This
(seoska) "slava."
mention the village
from the times
also
festival is a relic
settlement of kinsfolk worshipped the
eventually the patron saint.
meeting in prayer
in the
is
The Bulgars have nothing
villages.^
of the
whole
It consists
village, a
common
banquet, festivity, and dance at a special, spot in the
This custom
village.
by no means to be confused
is
with the village gatherings at church festivals and the
processions
slava "
is
Serbs
all
common
The "village
Europe.
and consequently also
It is really the
village. 2
over
all
an exclusively Serbian custom, common
" slava,"
to
to
the Macedonians.
only extended to the entire
The Bulgars do
not
possess
this
custom
either.
We
could quote
this
onght to
other
several
Macedonians share with
all
other
customs
Serbs,
which the
but I think
In the meantime I will quote one
suffice.
mote custom, because
it
affords convincing proof of the
national identity of the Macedonian Serbs with those of
other countries.
pay great respect
All
no matter where they live,
monasteries, more especially
Serbs,
to their
'
Iv. S. Jastrebov, " Obicaj," pp. 22-23.
S.
Tomi6, " Naselja,
" Prilep,"
p. 167.
etc.,"
vol,
iii.
p.
467.
J.
H.
Vasiljevie,
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
207
which played a prominent
where
part in the culture and
lie buried the great and worthy men who have since been
canonized by the Serbian Church. To these monasteries
the Serbian people repair even from very great distances.
to those Serbian monasteries
politics of Serbia's past, or
Sometimes
it
In
a pilgrimage of ten days' journey.
is
olden times these pilgrimages to the Serbian monasteries
Every one who
duty to visit them at
respect and to present
took place more frequently than now.
was
able considered
once in his
least
them with
to go
Thus Serbs from
gifts.
on pilgrimage
Mount
a patriotic
it
to express his
life,
to
the
Serbian lands used
all
Monastery
on
of Hilendar
Athos, the oldest of the Serbian monasteries and
the earliest centre of Serbian literature and civilization.
Another
spot, visited particularly
by Serbs from Serbia,
Bosnia, Hercegovina, Vidin, and the
Sofia counties
the Monastery of Studenica, where
Stephan Nemanja
St.
is
Stephan Prvovencani He buried. The monasteries
in Srem, where rest the bones of Tsar Uros, Prince Lazar,
and
St.
Stephan
Stiljanovic,
and other Serbian
places of pilgrimage for the Serbs of
under Austria.
saints, are favourite
all
the Serbian lands
In the same manner the Serbian people
used to go on pilgrimage to the Monastery of
where the body
of
the
Serbs,
earliest
of
St.
John
preachers
and to the Monastery
that of Stephan Decatiski.
also in
of
Macedonia.
Eilski
is
preserved,
Christianity
of
Bilo,
one
among the
Decani, where rests
This pious custom prevails
The Macedonians,
too,
repair to
the monasteries to worship the relics there, and that
same monasteries as other Serbs. And because
they were the nearest at hand, the Macedonians most
frequently went to the Monasteries of De6ani, Hilendar,
Bilo, and the Patriarchal Monastery of Ipek.
in the
MACEDONIA
208
The
departure for the monasteries was a very solemn
custom in Macedonia. Every year, on appointed days,
from fifty to a hundred men from certain villages would
repair to one or other of the Serbian monasteries.
Besides their
own
they carried also the
gifts,
their kinsfolk, neighbours, fellow
On
the appointed day the
gifts
townsmen, and
pilgrims,
of
guild.
arrayed in their
went to the church to pray. After
accompanied by the priests in full
canonicals, bearing crosses and icons, and by the populace.
At the gates or confines of the town they took leave and
went on their way. Their reception at the monastery
Sunday
clothes, first
prayer they set forth,
was an equally solemn
The monks
affair.
in canonicals,
with crosses and icons, came out to meet them. At the
place of meeting a short prayer was said, and then,
singing hymns, the procession went on to the monastery.
On
the following day a solemn service
which the pilgrims would
kings and saints preserved
their gifts.
was
held, after
kiss the relics of the
in the
The departure from
monastery and present
the monastery and the
reception of the pilgrims on their return
likewise solemn occasions.
Serbian
The Bulgars,
home were
too,
have their
holy places and their relics, but the Macedonians
know
nothing about them.
Of
all
monasteries the Macedonians went most
quently to Decani,
where
is
the
tomb
of the Serbian
fre-
king
Stephan Decanski (1321-1331). This is the very king of
Serbia who defeated the Bulgars at Velbuzd in 1330
Macedonia in favour of Serbia
Stephan Decanski is
the Middle Ages.
and so decided the
for the rest of
fate of
the most popular saint in Macedonia.
anything else there but the
Bulgarian propaganda made
"Holy
its
He
is
King.''
never called
Before the
appearance in Macedonia,
NATIONAL CUSTOMS
209
every well-to-do Macedonian used to consider
a reli-
it
gious and patriotic duty to go at least once in his
life
to
worship at the tomb of the Holy King and to bear
gifts to his
monastery.
And
in every
house in Macedonia
could be seen the icon of the Holy King, beside that of
the patron saint of the house.
This
custom
of
going
on
monasteries shows the purely
Macedonians.
who
in
invasion,
The
pilgrimage
to
Serbian
Serbian feeling of
special respect for
the
Stephan Decanski,
Macedonia from a Bulgarian
shows how strong that feeling is.
1330
defended
15
XIII
POPULAR TRADITION
Beauty and wealth of Serbian popular tradition Ethnographic
element and historic memories enshrined in it Macedonia
considered a Serbian country by non-Macedonian Serbian
popular tradition National tradition of Macedonia shows
a purely Serbian character Example from beginning of
eighteenth century Examples from the nineteenth century
Serbian Bulgarian
purely
Folk poetry in Macedonia
of
Macedonian national poetry reveal purely
collections
and editing
touching
spite
of
Serbian characters in
Reference to none but Serbian historic events, places, and
No reference to Bulgarian historic events, places,
Serbian monasteries famous in Macedonian
folk poetry Serbian names in Macedonian poetry Language
in Macedonian poetry pure Serbian According to national
characters
and characters
tradition the liberation
and unification
of
Serbia
all
bound
is
up with Macedonia
has
IT that
long been
Serbian
matter
and
popular
exceptionally rich and beautiful.
recognized that
Vuk
St.
national
It
is
tradition
also
This
first
was honest and
what earned
is
is
generally
Karadzic (1787-1864), the
collector of Serbian national traditions,
expert in his work.
knowledge
general
of
for
Serbian
popular tradition such great EuropeJin renown at the
beginning
its
of
collector
men
as
the
the respect and
have
century,
and
friendship of
won
for
such great
Nodier,
Prosper
Bowring, Walter Scott,
right to be proud of their
"The
Goethe,
M^rimee, John
Serbs
nineteenth
Grimm,
Charles
etc.
910
nationa
POPULAR TRADITION
211
poems, but they ought to be even more proud of their
Vuk
Karadzid,"
St.
Bulgarian savant,
the
says
Dr.
SiSmanov.^
Iv.
What
known
less
is
national
tradition
is
teems
popular and
Serbian
that
with
Serbian
elements and Serbian historic memories.
ethnographic
mine
It is a
on the subject of Serbian national customs,
it is also full of
and national self-revelation
of information
culture,
references to historic events in Serbia's past, her historic
spots and personages.
If
any one
w^ere to conceive the
delimiting the frontiers of the Serbian nation
idea of
on the basis of the area over which Serbian popular
and national tradition extends, he would be well on the
side of truth.
Serbian national ballads from the Serbian lands outside
Macedonia always
land.
Vuk
a Serbian
refer to the latter as
from Srem, taken down
national ballad
by
Karadzic at the beginning of the nineteenth
St.
century, sings of the cities, princes, and vojvodes of the
Middle Ages.
Apart from
its
exceptional
distinguishing feature of this ballad
is
beauty,
that in
it
from Srem, giving voice to the general conviction
the Serbian nation as to
within
the
Serbian
mentions the following
Macedonia
thus
its
extent, includes
national
cities,
frontiers.
princes,
the
a Serb
of
Macedonia
The
ballad
and vojvodes in
In Eratovo the white-walled city
Had
his dwelling Kratovac Badonja
In the shining town of Kuinanovo
Had
*
of
his dwelling
Kostadin the Bey;
" Sbomik za narodni umotvorenia nauka
Folk-lore, Science
Bnlgarian).
and Literature"),
i.,
kniznina
" (" Collection
Sofia, 1889,
p.
15 (in
'
MACEDONIA
212
And
Had
in
But
in Prilep the white-walled city
Solun (Salonica) the white-walled
Dojcin
his dwelling the vojvode
city
There had Marho Kraljevic his dwelling.
*
=,-,
:;:
:i:
Hearken thou, sister Marghita, our vojvodos were they;
All of them were among us, and all have passed away.
Some died in their beds, sister, and some in battle were
To-day doth Rajko alone of them in Srijem remain
Like a dry tree in the mountain grove.
.
slain
Various other national ballads collected outside Macedonia
mention
importance
connected
as
with
every
well
Macedonian
as
the
city
and
historic
of
site
personages
They are, in fact, full
Kratovo, Kumanovo, Ochrida,
Macedonia.
references to Skoplje,
of
all
Kostur, Bitolj, Salonica, Serez, the Kivers Vardar and
Marica, and to Tsar Stephan (Duan), King VukaSin,
Ugljega, King Marko and his brothers, Mina of Kostur,
Bogdan, the Dejanovici, Mom6ilo, etc. Nay, more than
this, these are the most important spots and the most
favourite characters in Serbian national poetry.
Serbian national ballads glory in the Serbian
Macedonia and
in
in all
In a ballad published
S. Karadzic,^
known
we
the Serbian memories
for the first
are told
'
time in 1826 by
how one day two
past
there.
Vuk
of the best-
Marko Kraljevic and
Mount Miroc. Then
him and MiloS granted
heroes in Serbian romance,
Milo Obili6, were out riding on
Marko asked Milo to sing to
The national ballads lavish special
his request.
upon the singing of Milo and upon his beautiful
praise
voice.
So that the matter of the song might be worthy
of
the singing, the ballad-maker could think of no better
'
Vuk St. Karadzid, " Srpske narodne pesme " (" Serbian National
Ballads"), vol. iii., Belgrade, 1894, pp. 54-55.
" Danica " for 1826, Vienna, 1826. pp. 207-212.
'^
POPULAR TRADITION
than
subject
calls it
following
the
" beautiful
213
song,"
as
he
Of our elders and our betters
That held the kingdom long,
In famous Macedonia,
And
built the sacred shrines.
ballads strictly differentiate between the
The Serbian
people of Serbia and Macedonia
the people of Bulgaria
who
who
are not.
are
Serbs
Speaking
and
of the
Decani Church in the ballad of the building of
Monastery
of
Decani we
find the following verse
the
In it shall the liturgy be chanted,
There the Serbian nation will be gathered.
From all Serbia arid Macedonia,
And the sister nation from Bulgaria.'
Serbian national poetry shows
us
the Macedonian
heroes with the same customs as those observed
other
We
distinctive
have
already said that
Serbian custom is the " slava."
Serbs.
by
the most
Even
as,
tell us that Tsar Dusan and Prince Lazar
kept their " slavas," so we are told that
the ballads
Slava keepeth Kraljevic Marko,
his slava on St. George's Day
Many strangers came to feast with Marko,
Priests two hundred, holy monks three hundred,
And beside them ttoelve Serbian bishops." ^
Kept
Constantine Dejanovic,3 too,
" slava,"
is
shown
celebrating his
and so are other Macedonian heroes
of
the
national ballads.
'
S. Ristid, "
Decanski spomenici" ("Decani Kecords
1864, p. 71.
* V.
S. Karadzic,
Ballads"), vol.
3
ii.,
Ibid., p. 3u5.
"),
Belgrade,
" Srpske narodne pesme " ("Serbian National
Vienna, p. 215.
MACEDONIA
3U
But more than
acter
of
that of other Serbian lands, popular
Macedonia
tradition in
Macedonia.
in fact, has never
itself
reveals the Serbian char-
Popular tradition in Macedonia,
known her
to
be anything else but
Serbian,
In 1704, Jerotije Racanin, a monk
Belgrade, travelled to Jerusalem.
Eakovica near
of
On
his
way through
Macedonia he made notes of what he learnt about local
tradition from the inhabitants.
All he noted down goes
to show that at that time only Serbian memories survived
among the natives. A day's walk south of Vranja the
peasants showed him the site where "in the days of the
Serbian rule there was a big town " with forty churches,
so that the Turks still call it Krk-klisa (forty churches).
Not far from there is another spot called Satorista
(the place of the sa^or = tents), where Marko Kraljevic,
MiloS Obilic, Relja Omu5evic, and Novak Debelic pitched
All
their tents.
Serbian
these heroes are
From
there Eacanin
Polje,
where he spent the night.
went
to
characters.
Gorobinci in the Ov6e
The peasants
there
showed him the ruins of old cities and churches " which
once upon a time the Serbs had built, but which are
now
all
Serbs
deserted."
first
settled
They
in
the Ovce Polje and
him
also told
there built
copper, because they did not
when the
came first to
that
these lands " they
threshing-floor
know how
of
to thresh on
the ground." Of the Demir Kapija on the Vardar,
Eacanin says that the people called it " Kraljevc Marko's
Demir Kapija."
Popular traditions collected in Macedonia during the
nineteenth century reveal the Serbian character of the
country
f
still
more
clearly.
Macedonia
" Glasnik Srpskog Ucenog Drustva," vol.
is
xxii.
special!}^ rich
pp. 228-230.
POPULAR TRADITION
traditions
in
of
215
those Serbian historic characters
who
at one time lived in Macedonia, such as King Milutin,
Stephan DecanSki, Tsar DuSan, KraUevic Marko,^ etc.
But there
are also
many
persons in Serbian history
who
never had any connection at all with Macedonia and
whose memory nevertheless lives on in Macedonian
tradition, such as St. Stephan Nemanja and St. Sava.
Travelling through Macedonia about Easter-time, 1914,
by the natives that the village of Nemanjica,
Connear IStip, was called after Stephan Nemanja.
cerning the villages of Bresko and Bojilovce in the
was
told
ilegligovo district, I
made
a note of the local tradition
that St. Sava had stayed there once and. that he cursed
the former and blessed the
Better
character of the country
Macedonia.
of
later.
than in the prose tradition
still
shown
Already in 1822
is
the Serbian
in the poetic tradition
Vuk
S.
Karadzic said of
down from two merchants
they were Serbian poetry. The Russian
the ballads which he took
Razlog that
of
scholar
V.
Grigorovic also collected
national
ballads
Macedonia in 1844. Although an
enthusiastic Bulgarophile, and accompanied at the time
by Bulgars, he could say nothing more of the national
during his travels in
Macedonia that could be turned to Bulgaria's
advantage but that they were translations or imitations
When the Bulgar P. Draganov,
of Serbian ballads. ^
ballads of
professor at
the Bulgarian Lycee in Salonica, collected
national ballads in Macedonia, he
was charmed by
their
Brothers Miladinovci, "Bugarske Narodne Pesme," pp. 527-528.
Tomic, " Naselja," vol. iii. pp. 430-468, Iv. Ivanid, " Macedonija i
Macedonci," vol. ii. pp. 166-170. F. H. Vasiljevic, " Prilep," p. 61. Si.
Novakovi6, " Balkanska Pitanja " (" The Balkan Question "), p. 224.
* V. Jagic, " Enciklopsedija Slavjanskoj filologiji " (' P2ncyclopiBdia
of Slav Philology "), i., Petrograd, 1910, p. 533 (in RuBsiau).
'
S.
MACEDONIA
216
Serbian character and could not refrain from pointing
out that one cannot
of
many
Macedonia.^
ballads
fail
Any
reveals
collection
that
poetry
and
spots
historic
mentioned
never
are
by the presence
in
poems of
Macedonian national
of
glance
at
Macedonian national
Serbian
to be struck
Serbian elements in the national
the
the
are
subjects
Serbian
of
past,
The Bulgars
Whoever knows the
characters.
it.
Serbian national ballads will have noticed that there
no difference at all between the Macedonian ballads
and those collected in other Serbian countries.
is
Although the Serbian collectors of national ballads
were both accurate and honest in their work, we shall
purposely abstain from making use of their collection
in proving our contention that
Macedonia
is
the national poetry of
We
simply Serbian.
shall also refrain
from
using the excellent collection of national ballads from
Macedonia compiled by that great authority on Macedonia, Iv. S. Jastrebov, who was for many years Consul
there and is a scholar of recognized standing.
The
Bulgars have cast doubts upon the correctness and
authentic value of
made by one
not
base
my
all
of themselves.
firstly,
ballads
evidence
sufficient
collectors.
culled
to
Macedonian
'
Nevertheless, I shall
My
as
have been compiled
reasons
for
doing
so
that I wish to disarm criticism, even
come from Bulgarian
to
Macedonian ballads
proof solely upon such collections of Mace-
donian songs and
Bulgarian
collections of
the
are,
if it
were
quarters, and, secondly,
that
from Bulgarian collections
prove
by
purely
Serbian
is
already
character
of
folk-poetry.
P. Draganov, " Makecjousko-Slavjanski Sbornik" (" Macedonian:
Slav Collection"),
i.,
Petrograd, 1894, p.
viii (in
Russian),
POPULAR TRADITION
Speaking of
Bulgarian
the
ballads from Macedonia,
it
is
collections
necessary to
In the
important preliminary remarks.
popular
of
collections
tradition
217
of
national
make
first
a few
place, the
Macedonia
in
was
entrusted to half-educated Bulgarian teachers, priests,
and agents.
hurry to
Moreover, the Bulgars were in a desperate
lay before
many Macedonian
world as
the
ballads as possible under the
name
of Bulgarian ballads,
and the work done was hurried and unequal.
It
has
already been pointed out long ago that the Bulgars in
Macedonia actually collected more ballads
Macedonia than from the whole of Bulgaria and
their zeal for
frorn
all
the Bulgarian countries put together.^
scale the Bulgars
have been working ever
they deemed
necessary
it
to
And on
this
since.
Finally
press even the
national
Macedonia into the service of their political
aspirations and just as they ruthlessly persecuted the
Serbian element and destroyed all Serbian records in
tradition of
Macedonia, so they endeavoured to purge her tradition
of
all
that could recall the Serbs.
But
as without this
element there simply would have been no tradition, they
found
or
tradition
to
Veda
folk-lore
it
new
We have already had occasion to
what lengths Stephan Verkovic went in his
Slovenska," in faking popular tradition and
in Macedonia.^
In his review of Pipin and
Spasovic's " Bulgarian Literature,"
St. Protic, "
Makedoniji "
1886, p. 86.
'
to
Dr. V. Jagic, Pro-
fessor of Slavistic at the University of
'
invent
Serbian origin.
mention
"
either
up and edit that one already in
should no longer too obviously betray
touch
existence until
its
compelled
themselves
See pp. 128-129.
("
Vienna and the
Concerning Macedonia "), Belgrade,
MACEDONIA
218
greatest
the following criticism of
living Slavist, gives
collectors of popular
the work done by the Bulgarian
tradition
"
record of the
much
literature is not so
real
of
in a position to reveal products
sundry patriotic and
as
literature
new and newest Bulgarian
intellectual
achievements (establishment of schools, publication of
school books) and battles for the emancipation of the
Bulgarian Church from the Greek influence.
labour devoted
to
the
in
collection
field
The
national
of
most nearly to the standard of
Unfortunately precisely this branch of
includes a curious fraud ("ein merk-
ballad poetry approaches
real literature.
literary activity
wiirdiger Schwindel"),
whereby
fantastic speculations are
bolstered up with undeniable national treasures.
comment passed by
The
the authors (Pipin and Spasovic)
upon the conduct of Eakovski and Verkovic is fully
May their example not only find no imitation,
deserved.
but speedy correction in accordance with truth on the
part of
the Bulgars themselves."
collection
valuelessness
the
of
Even among
the
were some sober-minded scholars who
Bulgars there
recognized
popular
of
tradition.
such
work
in
Vuk
Praising
the
S.
Karadzic, the collector of the Serbian ballads, Professor
" Our
Iv. Sismanov of the University of Sofia says
:
collectors are far
from being
Vuk
Karadzic."
But no warning availed to prevent the Bulgars from
pressing Macedonian popular tradition into the service
How skilfully they went
of their political aspirations.
work
to
'
in this
v. Jagic,
may
"Archiv
be seen from the following example.
fiir
Slavische
Philologie,"
vol,
iv.,
1880,
pp. 471-472.
'
Dr. Iv. D. Si&manov, "Znacenije izadacananaaataetnografia"
"Importance and Task of our Ethnographic" (" Sbomik za narodni
axnotvorenia,"
i.,
1889, p. 15).
POPULAR TRADITION
In 1889 the Bulgarian Ministry
publication
umotvorenia"
much
*'
first
the editors,
allowed some
yet
which
clearly
features
betrayed
its
national
from
ballads
was published
a large
in Petrograd.^
number
of
ters not specifically
mostly
ballads of
although very
Macedonian
of
Serbian origin to
Macedonia,
at the Bulgaria
Draganov, Professor
narodni
za
This "Sbor-
In 1894 a collection
be included in the "-Sbornik,"^
of
Education began the
Sbornik
of the national tradition,
At
from Macedonia.
tradition
of
the
(" Collection of Folk-lore").
nik " gave very
cautiously,
of
Sofia
in
219
made
Lycee
by
P.
in Salonica,
This collection included
Serbian historic charac-
K. Sapkarov wrote a
Macedonian.
scathing review of this collection, and attacked Draganov
with the whole fury of an outraged Bulgarian patriot
for publishing ballads of characters
from Serbian history
he also endeavoured to prove that Macedonia possesses
no
traditions
of
Serbian past.3
the
From
that
time
the "Sbornik" ceased to contain Macedonian traditions
concerning
only
those
Serbian
and
characters
characters
who had
Macedonia and such events
as
events,
spent
their
excepting
lives
in
had taken place on her
soil
In spite of
all
precautions, however,
even in these
Macedonian ballads have
remained Serbian. We shall use them simply to show
the identity of popular tradition in Macedonia with that
Bulgarian
collections
of other Serbian lands.
the
We
have before us three
indis-
'
One of the first volumes of the '* Sbornik " even included the
Serbian ballad of the " Battle of Kosovo," which was taken down in
Macedonia (" Sbornik," iii. pp. 85-9-4).
' P. Draganov, " Makedonako-Slavjanki Sbornik " ("MacedonianSlav Collection "), Petrograd, 1894,
3 " Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia,'' vol. xii. pp. 51-53.
MACEDONIA
220
putably Bulgarian collections of national ballads from
Macedonia
Brothers Dimitrije and Constantine Mila(1) The
dinovci, "Bulgarian National Ballads," Zagreb, 1861.
The brothers Miladinovci were Serbs from Struga on
:
Lake Ochrida, but at an early date they joined the
anti-Greek movement in Macedonia, eventually joining
the Bulgarian party and remaining faithful to
contained
collection
Macedonia.
It
is
from
songs
various
it.
Their
parts
of
compiled in an amateurish manner,
but with a considerable bias in favour of the Bulgars.
Thence the title " Bulgarian National Ballads."
" Macedonian-Slav Collection," i.,
(2) P. Draganov,
Petrograd, 1894. Draganov is a genuine Bulgar, by
He was professor at the
birth a native of Bessarabia.
Bulgarian Lycee (College) in Salonica. Being an ardent
at the Bulgarization of the
Bulgar he worked zealously
Supplement No.
II).
Through
ballads and songs from
(3)
the Bulgarian Lycee
attending
Serbian students
all
his pupils
(see
he collected
parts of Macedonia.
Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia, nauka a kniznina
of
(Collection
folk-lore,
science,
publication of this collection
and
literature).
The
was begun by the Ministry
Education in 1889, and it is really an official publicaEighteen bulky
tion by the Bulgarian Government.
of
volumes
matter
of
it
it
also
have already
contains
appeared.
many
Among
other
national ballads, mostly
from Macedonia.
compare
If we
Macedonian ballads, which
these
were collected by Bulgarians, with the national ballads
of other Serbian countries,
we
observe the following
There is not
(1) The motives of both are identical.
one Macedonian song or ballad, except those which bear
POPULAR TRADITION
a purely local
221
character, variants of which
cannot
be
found among the ballads of other Serbian regions.
(2) The events commemorated in both are absolutely
most noticeable in ballads which
These events are taken only
events.
This, fact
identical.
sing of historic
is
from Serbian history
Battle of
(the
the city of Stalac, the
of
combats
of DeCani, the single
of the
fights
Kosovo, the
of Kraljevic
against
Serbian people
fall
the Monastery
building of
the
Marko, the
Turks, the
P. Draganov was amazed
liberation of Serbia, etc.).
by this phenomenon in Macedonian folk-poetry, and
felt constrained to remark upon it as follows in the
" In the
first place,
one
is
introduction to his collection
struck by the fact that of
the Tsars, Kings, Vojvodas,
all
heroes, and other characters of these
ballads,
leading
parts are assigned only to favourite characters and
famous events of Serbian mediceval, modern, and recent
history.''
(3)
The
localities
mentioned in both are absolutely
Whoever knows Serbian folk-poetry even
from translation knows that the Serbian countries most
identical.
frequently mentioned in
it
are Serbia, Bosnia, Herce-
and the towns
govina, Montenegro, Srem, Macedonia
of Kruevac, Stalac, Belgrade, Prizren,
Novi Pazar, NiS,
Vranje
(in
Serbia)
Bosnia-Hercegovina)
amen,
Varadin
inhabited by
Sarajevo,
Trebinje
(in
Janok, Temisvar, Slank-
Buda,
the
(in
Serbs)
Mostar,
regions
Prilep,
of
Bitolj,
Austria-Hungary
Skoplje,
Ochrida,
and the Kivers Danube,
Sava, Morava, Vardar, Sitnica. Other famous spots in
Serbian history are Kosovo, the Sar Mountain, Kacanik,
Kostur, Kratovo (Macedonia)
P. Draganov, " Makedonsko-Slavjanski Sbornik " ("Macedonian-
Slav-Collection "), p.
viii.
MACEDONIA
222
and the Monasteries of Hilendar, Decani,
etc.
These identical places are
also those most frequently mentioned in Macedonian
The place-names we have enumerated here
folk-poetry.
we have taken from collections of Macedonian national
Dukadjin
Kavanica, Gracauica,
ballads,
The heroes
(4)
the
compiled by Bulgarian collectors.
characters
celebrated in both are identical.
which
ballads
sing of
historic
personages,
In
the
belong to Serbian history, as Tsar Simeon
all
(Stephan Nemanja, 1169-1196), his son
Stephan
St. Sava,
De6anski (Serbian king, 1321-1331), Tsar Stephan Dugan
(1331-1355), Tsar Lazar
his wife Milica
(d.
(of
Kosovo fame,
1389) and
d.
1395), their son Lazarevic (1389-1426),
Milos Obilic, Toplica Milan, Kosancic Ivan, Jug Bogdan,
the nine
Jugovici,
Vuk Brankovic
Kraljevic
Marko
(1371-1394), Dete
Krilatica,
Todor
of
(Kosovo
Vojvode
Stalac,
heroes)
DukadjinCe,
Eelja
MomCilo, Bolani
Dojcin, Starina Novak, Gruja Novakovic, Deli Tatomir,
Pavle
Pletikosa,
the
Senkovici,
Montenegro), Krcmarica
(1804-1813),
(hostess)
Hajduk Veljko
(d.
Ivan
Crnojevic
(of
Mara, Kara-George
1813), Dija Strelja (Ilija
Dehja), Prince Milo Obrenovic (1815-1839 and 1859-
Milan Obrenovic (1868-1888).
1860), Prince
also
we have
Macedonia,
taken from collections
which
were
This Hst
from
of ballads
compiled by Bulgarian
col-
lectors.
(5)
Macedonian folk-poetry
is
quite ignorant of Bul-
garian historic sites and Bulgarian historical character.
Some
to
slight reference to Bulgars, such as the allusions
King Sisman and the Plain
insignificant
even
if
of
Sofia,
quite
are
are
not
deliberate
possess
the
word
they
inter-
polations.
The Bulgars do not
kralj
for
POPULAR TRADITION
" king."
The
It IS
a term that
223
only a Serb
Sofijsko Polje (Sofia Plain)
is
t^rould
tise.
not a Bulgarian, but
Serbian folk-poetry makes frequent
a Serbian county.^
mention of foreign lands such as
Hungary, Venice,
Italy,
Albania, Koumania, Russia, Turkey, and Bulgaria and
It is a very significant fact that Bulgaria
their heroes.
and the Bulgars are mentioned less in Macedonia folkpoetry than in ballads of other Serbian lands. Bulgarian
history, too, had its great events, its famous sites and
characters
but the Macedonians know nothing about
;
What
them.
(6)
The
know
they
purely Serbian.
is
old Serbian monasteries play a great part in
Special
Serbian folk-poetry.
fame in song
centre of Serbian intellectual
The Bulgars,
Middle Ages.
life
too,
is
Mount Athos,
to the Monastery of Hilendar on
had
Mount Athos, the Zoograf, which
is
accorded
the
first
the
and
letters in
their
monastery on
older than Hilendar,
and a very important focus of Bulgarian civilization in
the Middle Ages. Wherever Macedonian poetry mentions the monasteries of
Other
Macedonian
It
is
is
it
speaks only of
not even men-
famous in
but not one Bulgarian monastery
especially important that DeSani
Serbian
ballads,
mentioned.
is
Athos,
The Zoograf monastery
Hilendar.
tioned.
Mount
monasteries
should provide a favourite theme.
are
There
is
even a
ballad specially devoted to the building of the Monastery
'
The word
" kralj "
is
unknown
to the
Bulgars.
That
is
the
reason why the present King of Bulgaria is never called " King " in
The words "kralj" and "kraljica" (king
Bulgaria but "Tsar."
and queen) are as familiar in Macedonia as in other Serbian countries.
Both in poetry and in ordinary conversation Kraljevic Marko is
referred to as " Kralj Marko."
Serbian folk-poetry never looks upon Sofia and
anything but Serbian.
at!
its
surroundings
MACEDONIA
224
Decani was built by Stephan Decanski and
of Decani.
God
dedicated to
in gratitude for the victory over the
Bulgars in 1330.
(7)
The
grin,"
poetry.
is
terms
" Croat,"
**
Serb,"
" Bosnian,"
" Montene-
occur frequently in Macedonian
4 etc.,
The term "Bulgar"
occurs so rarely that
it
practically non-existent.
(8)
Finally the language of the Macedonian ballad
Serbian and not
the sounds
Serbian,
of
The
the
Macedonian
dialects
of
Macedonian
collectors,
and he has
collections
that
conclusively
is
" in the
by Bulgarian
ballads compiled
Macedonia
c}'
Novakovi6 drew upon the philological
St.
material contained in
proved
In writing his book on
Bulgarian.
dj" and "
''
is
language
the
spoken
in
Serbian.
favourite hero of
in general, of
all
Serbian
national tradition
Serbian folk-poetry in particular,
is
the
Macedonian king of old, Marko Kraljevic (1371-1394).
" There is no Serb who does not know the name of
Kraljevic Marko," said the greatest authority on the
Serbian nation,
the
of
Vuk
nineteenth
Karadzic in the earlier half
St.
Marko
century.
Kraljevic
is
the
most popular hero of Macedonia national tradition. He
famous in song and story everywhere among the
Serbian people. There is no end to the songs and
is
legends about his childhood, his heroism, his marriage,
his love of justice, his combats,
appearance
tradition,
'
from
Marko
world.
and
finally of his dis-
According
to
popular
did not die, but withdrew into a cave
P. Draganov, pp. 60, 155, 156,
Brothers Miladinovci, p. 355.
' Sbornik," iv. p. 69
xiv. pp. 92, etc.
P. Draganov, p. 200.
157, 158.
-
this
Ibid., p. 141.
Ibid., pp. 91, 141.
"Sbornik,"
xi.
pp. 35, etc.
POPULAR TRADITION
with
together
a
laid
little
cleaving
lay
it
his horse
225
Before the horse he
Sarac.
moss, he smote the rock with his sword,
and leaving the sword
down and
in the
and then
cliff,
Since that time
asleep.
fell
Marko has
His horse is slowly eating the
sword is gradually working its way out of
When the moss is all eaten, and the sword
continuously.
slept
moss, his
the rock.
comes out of the rock, then Marko will awake and come
forth from his cave, and deliver and unite all the
Serbian people.^
The cave where Marko sleeps, and
whence the Serbian people according to the popular
belief awaits its deliverance and unity, is in the Demir
Kapija on the Vardar in Macedonia.^ Already in 1704
monk
Jervotije RaSanin made a note of the fact
Demir Kapija on the Vardar is by the people
called " Marko Kraljevic's Demir Kapija." 3
The tradition that Marko will awake, free and unite
the
that the
the Serbian nation
When
its
is
familiar to every Serbian child.
army
in 1912 the Serbian
campaign
of liberation to
Turkish slavery,
it
flew as on wings on
Macedonia from
deliver
appeared to the
soldiers,
under the
suggestion of the national tradition they had
known
from childhood, as
though they verily saw Kraljevic
Marko riding in front of them.
Serbian national tradition
the expression of Serbian
is
national opinion.
The thought
Serbian nation
the thought of liberation and unity.
This
is
that
is
dearest
to the
dearest thought
is by the Serbian nation bound up
with the tradition of Kraljevic Marko and with Macedonia.
'
its
Vuk
see under
S. Karadzic,
Marko
" Srpski Rjecnik "
Kraljevic.
J.
H.
(" Serbian Dictionary "),
Vasiljevid, "Prilep," p. 78.
This
legend has been frequently published elsewhere as well.
'
Iv. Ivanic,
Macedonians
^
"),
" Macedonija
i.,
Macedonci
1906, pp. 230, 231
ii.,
"
" Qlasnik Srpkog Ucenog Drustva." vol.
16
("
Macedonia and the
1908, p. 168.
xxii. p. 230.
XIV
CONCLUSION
THEKE
remains but one question to be solved
the subject-matter of this book
clear,
their
agitation
in
made
quite
conscious
that
be
is to
v/hether the Bulgars were
viz.
if
Macedonia was a violation
of
the
rights of others ?
The answer to this question
Whoever has during this war
of
is
not
difficult
to j&nd.
followed the attempts
the Bulgars to convince the world of their rights
and frontiers has the reply ready to hand. No sooner
had the Bulgarian army entered Eastern Serbia than
announced, not the conquest of
the Bulgarian papers
Serbia,
but
the
" liberation "
of
Bulgarian
lands.
other Bulgarian savants
professors and
no time in writing bulky tomes in Bulgarian and
other languages explaining that all the land held by the
University
lost
Bulgarian army was Bulgarian, and that the Bulgarian
national frontier passes through the middle of Serbia.
men
In these assertions the
Bulgaria's
not one
there
is
that
Serbia
is
man
to
so
many
in Bulgaria
truly Bulgarian
the Bulgarian
the very same
respect
and
of the press,
leading personalities, were followed by the
Bulgarian masses like
Serbia
of science
and
who would
land.
to-day
not assert
After entering
army entered Koumania.
assertions
Eoumania.
apostles,
Now
are being put forward with
The Bulgarian
326
papers
have
"
CONCLUSION
227
immediately announced the "liberation" of Bulgarian
Boumanian
lands from
servitude,
and Bulgarian scien-
tists have immediately begun to " restore " the Bulgarian
place-names which the Koumanians had " corrupted,"
and
on the " Bulgarian past
to write
Djurdjevo,
Kalafat,
Braila,
in the villages
Galatz,
Ploesti,
round
Crajova,
Alexandria, Bucharest, and other places in Roumania."
No
matter
how young, how
the Bulgars are,
it
is
and uncivilized
uncritical,
obvious that they cannot
make
these assertions from conviction, but that they are consciously inculcating the robbery and violation of foreign
territory.
As they behaved to Serbia and to Roumania in this
war under our eyes, so they behaved formerly to
Macedonia.
to
In that case also there
show that the Bulgars,
full
consciousness, did
all
is
positive proof
and with
Macedonia
in the face of facts
they could to
filch
from the Serbs.
One
and staunchest friends
over the Macedonian Question was Stefan
of
the
first
of Bulgaria
I.
Verkovi6.
Already in 1860 he declared that the Macedonians are
"without any national''
(he
meant "Bulgarian,"
of
course) " conscience.'' " That these Macedonian Bulgars,"
he says, " were formerly called Slavs, is clearly proved
by the writings of the Holy Slav Apostles Cyril and
Method and their disciples, who all say that they
translated the Holy Scriptures into the Slav language.
It was only at a later date that thej^ received the name
This name is therefore
name than a national designa-
of their conquerors, the Bulgars.
rather a political and State
tion,"
'
St.
His better knowledge, however, did not deter
'
I.
Verkovic,
" Narodne
(" National Ballads of the
pesme Makedonskih Bngara
Macedonian Bulgars "), 1860, pp. 6 and 13
"
MACEDONIA
228
Verkovic from proclaiming
Turkey
to be Bulgarian,
the regions of European
all
and from becoming the leading
Bulgarian champion in Kussia.
by name, who had
been educated in Belgrade, although well aware of the
difference between the Serbian and Bulgarian languages,
and realizing that the language spoken in Macedonia is
Bulgarian
patriot,
Prvanov
Serbian, nevertheless did not scruple to bring out in 1872
his " Alphabets " for the Bulgarian schools in
Macedonia,
and to point out in their pages that his object in doing so
" that
was
our Macedonian brothers
may
discard the
Serbian pronunciation of the Bulgarian idiom." ^
As early as in 1888 the greatest of the Bulgarian
chauvinists, Ofeikoff (the
to
the Bulgarian
pseudonym
Exarch, and
of Sopov, Secretary
afterwards
Bulgarian
Consul in Salonica), wrote a book in French endeavouring
His
to demonstrate the Bulgarian claim to Macedonia.
book
is
is
thoroughly tendencious
nevertheless the author
compelled to confess that before the establishment of
the Exarchate the Macedonians " were devoid of national
(read " Bulgarian ") " consciousness " (" etaient prives de
conscience nationale").^
The well-known Bulgarian leader and statesman,
Stambulov, " did not like the Macedonians on account
of their treachery
and on account of
their lack of all real
sense of patriotism" (Bulgarian patriotism, of course).3
Of such instances showing that the Bulgars knew
that the Macedonians are not Bulgars we could quote
'
From P. Draganov's " Izvestija S.P. Slavjanskago Blagotvoritelnago ObScestva," 1888. Quoted in " Macedonia " by St. Protid, p. 13.
' Ofeikoff, " La Mac^doine," Philipopoli, 1888, p. 45.
a " He [Stambuloflf]
also grew to dislike the Macedonians on
account of their treachery and want of real sense of patriotism ..."
" M. Stambuloflf," by A. Hulme Beaman, London, 1895, p. 40.
CONCLUSION
many
more, but
we
will
229
confine ourselves to just one
more quotation from a Bulgarian book,
in
which the
Bulgarian point of view regarding Macedonia and the
Bulgarian programme there are expounded on the basis
of the
impression gained during a long time by the
The book in question appeared
Bulgars in Macedonia.
on the occasion of the thousand years' anniversary of
SS. Cyril and Method, and is entitled " Macedonia on
the Thousandth Anniversary of SS. Cyril and Method
or, The Present Condition of Bulgarism in Macedonia."
It is true that in this book, as everywhere else, we find
;
asserted that
it
it is
Macedonia
is
a Bulgarian country
but
very clearly pointed out that the inhabitants are not
" If
Bulgarian.
Macedonia
is
not to be Bulgarian,"
says this book, " then the Bulgarian State will not be
This must be borne in mind and never
But " we must aUo adynit a sad and
lost sight of."
The greatest part of Macedonia is
disgraceful thing.
established.
without that national conscience, which
a nation
if
it
is
categorically
to
is
necessary for
demand
its
rights.
Should Europe to-day ask the people of Macedonia to
they belong, I am afraid
declare to which nationality
that the greater part loould declare themselves against
In the meantime, " ten or even five years well
us."
employed would be
sufficient
tu
make
it
impossible for
any power to prevent the Bulgaria of San Stefan^
from becoming a reality."
Finally I would also mention an occurrence which
shows most clearly of all that the Bulgars fully realized
Aware of the
that Macedonia contains no Bulgars.
^
We
were unable to obtain this book in the original, but have
book " Le r61e et les aspirations de la
Grece dans la question d'Orient," by D. Bikelas, Paris, 1885, pp. 46-47.
'
utilized the quotations in the
MACEDONIA
230
Serbian national sentiment of the Macedonians and of
Turks and in favour of
their insurrection against the
Serbia, the Bulgars tried immediately
unification with
to promote a rising in
Macedonia which they could claim before Europe as
after the creation of Bulgaria
an insurrection in favour
Eventually the
of Bulgaria.
inducing the Macedonians
difficulty of
proved as great as Bulgaria's
to rise in Bulgaria's interest
This need was imperative, however,
and the Bulgars had recourse to stratagem. In 1879
they issued a proclamation to the people of Macedonia,
calhng upon them to rise for liberation from the Turks,
need of the
rising.
but in this proclamation
tions
and
omitted,
(see
all
allusions to Bulgarian aspira-
Macedonia were carefully
Bulgarian rights to
nor did the name of Bulgaria appear in it
This flagrant fact cannot be
Supplement No. VIII).
explained away.
It clearly
proves
how
conscious the
Bulgars were of the strength of the Serbian sentiment
of the Macedonians.
From
Nations, like individuals, have their qualities.
Bulgaria's whole history, past and present, one quahty,
I think, emerges
most
clearly,
and that
is
rapacity re-
garding foreign property. Only on the basis of this is
it possible to explain how the Bulgars, though fully
conscious that they have no right to Macedonia, nevertheless
made
their State a comitadji
of
they overran Macedonia to take
owners.
And
whilst
from
it
this
camp whence
away from
camp the
its
true
bishops,
by Cross,
book, money, and force of arms, duped, bought, and
terrorized the Serbian people of Macedonia, Bulgarian
priests, teachers,
journaHsts,
agents, and banditti have,
scientists,
and
poHticians,
on
the
other
hand, explained and protested to the world that the
CONCLUSION
231
Macedonians are Bulgars and dying
Bulgaria
To
to
add yet another
this comitadji-nature the Bulgars
quality,
and that
with
the world.
all
be united to
their positively indecent intrusiveness
is
This
trait is
very well
known
to all
who have come in contact with Bulgars. To demonstrate
this quality, we will borrow an illustration from Aleko
Konstadinov, the best Bulgarian writer of short
stories,
has sketched this failing of his countrymen in his
"tale of the contemporary Bulgar " called "Baya Gagno,"
who
In this story the typical Bulgar
shown up from every point of view
after its principal hero.^
of the present
day
is
as a family man, as a merchant, as a tourist in Bulgaria,
and as a representative of his nation abroad as a
;
politician and, of course, as a patriot
who on
way
his
through Serbia does not miss the opportunity of saying
to every porter and servant in Nis and Belgrade
are
all
of
you Bulgars, only you
One passage
Sofia
to
Prague
Baya Gagno
You
yourselves Serbs."
call
showing how great
Travelling from
intruding.
to
some
festival
or
other,
esconced with several travelling
in a second-class
ticket, of
"
in the tale is devoted to
the Bulgarian genius for
is
we
find
companions
compartment (without a second-class
After having eaten and drunk all
the company in the compartment and
course).
the provisions of
repaid them " with most fervent patriotism," he begins
to insinuate himself into a first-class compartment with
" At first he came under various
four other occupants.
pretexts,
mouthful
such as to borrow matches, or to beg for a
of
brandy because
presently he became
'
Al.
"Baya Gagno,
more
he
was
familiar,
feeling
ill
made himself
the Tale of a Coatemporary
Konstadinov, Sofia, 1895, pp. 25-28.
but
at
Bulgar," by
MACEDONIA
232
home, and did not leave our compartment any more.
He had forgotten all about his former travelling companions.
Of what further use were they to him
They had nothing left all their food and drink were
consumed, and we had plenty. Baya Gagno, as if out
of curiosity, missed no chance of sampling all the
provisions we had laid in at the stations."
'?
"What's that?
quite good
G-rapes?
Capital!
Give us a berry to
look, please!
Capital
Let's
H'm
taste.
have
They're
"
!
His ostensible curiosity urged him
to a closer acquaint-
ance with our food, our brandy, and our tobacco pouches.
"Is that case of Caucasian silver?" Baya Gagno's
awoke as soon as he saw one of us about
to smoke a cigarette.
" No, it was made in Vienna," replied the owner.
"Is that so? Let's have a look! Oh, oh, oh. Do
let's have a look, please
Why, there's tobacco in it.
interest
Is
it
Bulgarian
I have
a cigarette.
Capital
Wait till I roll
some cigarette-papers if you want
tobacco ?
them, here I am."
That he was indeed
of
by the smell
of
boots,
his perspiring body, and
occupy the whole of one
end
and
of the seat
finally
we were
there,
his
by
by the
distinctly
specific
his gradual
seat.
At
first
aware
odour of
manoeuvres to
he sat at one
then he began to seek greater comfort,
he obliged us to
sit
three on one side of
the compartment, and the fourth to squeeze into one
corner,
so
horizontally.
because
Baya Gagno might
that
We
we were
all
himself
him go on,
know how far Baya Gagno's
And indeed he amply satisfied
secretly agreed to let
curious to
requirements would go.
our curiosity.
stretch
!:
CONCLUSION
"
Move
Capital
H'm
other leg also.
E-e-eh
Grand.
into your
farther
little
my
can put up
Long may
333
corner, so that I
That's better
mother be spared
his
Listen to the engine thumping, toopa, toopa,
toopa, toopa
I do like to stretch myself like this.
the other compartment the seat was too narrow.
my companions
were rather a
can eat a pear lying down ?
"We
Also
What's
Let me see
Thanks
"Where
!
them?"
did you get
*'
sort.
Pears, did you say?
that you're eating'?
whether
common
In
bought them."
Splendid
Baya Gagno with
" said
mouth
his
full.
" I like pears."
Hypnotized by the monotonous thumping of the locofell asleep.
I began to wonder how
motive Baya Gagno
we
could possibly get rid of him.
with an idea.
"Let's make
my
gave
coffee,
Finally I was struck
companions a wink and said
gentlemen!
Give
me
spirit
and
matches."
" Coffee, did you say ? " cried Baya Gagno, and jumped
from the seat as if scalded. " I'm with you there."
"How
one of
shall
we make
without water?" asked
coffee
us.
Baya Gagno, " I'm the man to fetch
moment," and he dashed out of the com-
" Water," cried
it.
Wait
partment.
We were
back.
Baya Gagno came
us how much work and trouble
In his hand he carried
for us.
simply dying of laughter.
He had
to tell
he had been put
to
a jug.
"Here you are.
compartment for it.
bagged
it
at
once.
found
At
it.
last I
hunted through every
caught sight of a jug and
A woman
shouted
'
Oi
Leave
MACEDONIA
234
that alone, that
my
water for
is
child.'
considered
what story I should tell her, and then I had an idea, and
I said
Excuse me, madam, but somebody is feeling
'
over
faint
take
it
woman
we
only
shall
mind you
Bah
have
Violently
'Indeed?'
there.'
to
me
give
am
seize
back the
perspiration.
"
all
first-rate cofifee
'All
'Yes.'
right,
jug.'
Silly
And now
what belongs
to
others
there
To force oneself upon others and
In the
to " sponge " upon them that is Baya Gagno.
comitadji and in Baya Gagno all Bulgarian aims and
Bulgaria's programme are summed up. These aims and
the
this programme have made of Serbian Macedonia
spoke the comitadji.
Macedonian Question
SUPPLEMENTS
THE PROGRESS OF THE BULGARIAN
CHURCH MOVEMENT, TOLD BY T. HADZI MISEV,
STORY
OF
OF VELES.'
"
The
an interest in the Church
even then they might not
citizens of Veles did not begin to take
struggle until 1860.
It is possible that
have joined in the Church struggle but for the fact that at that
time the Suffragan-Bishop of Veles was a Greek, Antim by name,
known to be an overbearing man and obsequious to the Turks,
who during his residence in Nis and Ruscuk had sent many persons
into slavery and to the gallows, Antim the Greek made himself
so unpopular in Veles and in the eparchy of Veles-Debar, that the
agents of the Bulgarian propaganda won over the whole of Veles
to the Church struggle for the Bulgarian Exarchate. At that time
twopence) from
Antim annually received 300,000 gro (1 gros
the eparchy. The citizens of Veles offered him 50,000 gros per
annum purposely to get rid of him. This the Bishop did not agree
to, but consulted a certain Ismail-Effendi, a wealthy and well-educated Turk who possessed great influence not only in Veles but
Ismail-EfTendi
also in the most important circles in Constantinople.
was the good friend of the old Hadzi-Misevic, Djordje Hadzi
Drndarevic, and Janko Hadzi Kusevic, the wealthiest merchants of
Veles, who had up to that time provided the funds for the Serbian
school in Veles. But as the authorities began to look upon the
Serbian school with suspicion and the Bulgarian agitators were
working to close it in doing which they moreover succeeded the
three aforesaid leading citizens of Veles, believing the lies and
Todor Hadzi MiSev, born in Veles, was in his youth a very
and a benefactor of the Serbian schools in his birthplace.
He only became pro-Bulgarian after the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate. He eventually became a naturalized Russian,
and lived as a highly respected and wealthy merchant in Salonica,
where he died in 1911.
'
loyal Serb
935
MACEDONIA
236
promises of the Bulgarian propagandists, joined the ranks of the
Bulgarian party and hoisted the flag of Bulgarism in Veles and
in the whole eparchy of Veles-Debav.
" Therefore, when the Greek Bishop Antim came to Ismail to
lodge a complaint against the Bulgarian party of Veles, asserting
that they would start a rising in Veles, Ismail knew that it was
simply a case of denunciation, and therefore did not take up the
complaint of the Bishop. In the meantime the greater number of
the inhabitants of Veles had signified to the authorities that they
refused in future to recognize Antim as their Bishop. Ismail
summoned Antim and
advised
him
to subscribe dgTlOO (2,000 francs)
Greek school in Veles, which was attended by Tsintsar
(Macedo-Rumanian) children there are no true Greeks in Veles
and a similar sum to the new Bulgarian school, which was attended
by the Serbian chUdren of the Bulgarian party parents. He, moreover, advised Antim to leave Veles and to go to Constantinople.
Antim took his advice, and repaired to Constantinople, but the
Patriarch sent him back to Veles. In the meantime a telegram
from the Bulgarian representatives Comakov and Tapsilestov arrived
from Constantinople saying that the Bulgarian Church had been
separated from the Greek Patriarchate.
The population definitely
declared before the authorities that it would no longer recognize
to the
Antim
as Bishop.
had taken place
Antim telegraphed
to Constantinople that
'
a rising
had been shed,' etc. In Constantinople this telegram was believed, and Ahmed Pasha, Governor of
Bitolj (Veles was at that time under the government of Bitolj), was
in Veles, blood
ordered to proceed to Veles with his army to 'settle the rebels.'
This happened in January, during the coldest part of the year.
Ismail Effendi soon learnt of the impending arrival of the army, and
dispatched a bey as far as six hours' walk from Veles towards PrUep
to meet Ahmed Pasha.
The bey made as though he did not know
the reason of the Pasha's coming, and when the Pasha inquired
of him about the rising the bey replied that there was no rising,
and presently convinced the Pasha that the Bulgarian party of
Veles were in the right and that all the Turkish citizens there were
living on friendly terms with them.
" On the eve of Epiphany (January 5, 1870) Ahmed Pasha
arrived in Veles. He immediately sent for the most prominent
Turkish citizens, who declared that they could vouch for the leaders
of the Bulgarian party as being honest and loyal men who were
justified in their requests and that the real rebels were the Serbs
and Tsintsars (Macedo-Roumanians) of Veles, who were siding with
the Greek Bishop Antim. Such recommendation on the part of
the Turks ensured the victory in the struggle to the Bulgarian party
SUPPLEMENT
237
in Veles, who on the very same day declared to Ahmed Pasha that
they did not want Antim as their Bishop and that they did not
recognize the Greek Patriarchate, but recognized the Bulgarian
Exarchate instead, etc. The Pasha telegraphed to Constantinople
that all was quiet in Veles and that the Bulgarian party was justified
in its requests.
"
Next morning, on
St.
John's
Day (January
7th),
the Pasha
received a telegram from Constantinople to the effect that the Porte
had recognized the Bulgarian Exarchate, and there was no end to
the enthusiasm when the Pasha announced this intelligence to the
national leaders. The Pasha then sent for Antim and reprimanded
him for having sent a mendacious telegram to Constantinople.
Antim was so alarmed that he signed his resignation without further
ado and left at once for Constantinople.
."The Pasha was accompanied by his Mauvim (Sub-Pasha), the
Serbian Djordje Berovic of Skadar (the last of the Berovic Pashas,
Prince of Samos and Governor of Crete). Djordje Berovic was a man
upon the Bulgarian leaders and encouraged them
Greek Hierarchy.
" The Pasha was given an enthusiastic send-off from Veles. The
crowd accompanied him on foot for a considerable distance beyond
the town. At parting, a speech was addressed to him by the lady
teacher of Veles, a Serbian born in Austria and brought to Veles as a
Serbian lady teacher from Prizren by Janko M. Kusevic. The Pasha
replied to the teacher by exliorting her to continue to instruct the
children in learning and loyalty. The action of the lady teacher
of tact,
who
called
in their fight with the
all the inhabitants of Veles, but this did not
prevent them from very soon dismissing this Serbian teacher from
Veles and replacing her by a Bulgarian lady teacher. This was
"'
demanded by the interests of the Bulgarian propaganda.
greatly impressed
Iv. Ivanic, " Iz crkvene istorije Srba u Turskoj u XVIII i XIX
veku" ("Church History of the Serbs in Turkey in the Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Centuries"), Belgrade, 1902, pp. 90-93 (in Serbian).
'
'
II
THE STORY OF JOVAN VELJIC, OF DEBAR, TELLING
HOW THE BULGARIAN TEACHERS MADE HIM A
BULGAR BY FORCE
"
When
1886 I had passed the third class of the Bulgarian
Solun and went home for a rest during the school
holidays, I was taught and prompted by my professors of the
Bulgarian language and of chemistry, Messrs. Popov and Kulev,
and also by the Archimandrite Kozma Pricestanski to show and
demonstrate to my people and others that they ought not to go
on pronouncing dj and c, but ought to pronounce sd and st
instead, and that instead of saying Kuca, vedja, sveca, Djurdjevdan, gradjanin, etc., they ought to say K'sta, vezda, sveSta,
Oeorgiev-dan, grazdanin, etc. And when, in obedience to a
request from Mr. Draganov, another of my professors, I collected
and brought to him forty national ballads from the neighbourhood of Debar, he told me that these were Serbian ballads, and,
in front of me? he began to correct and to alter them according
to the Bulgarian pronunciation.
" I was really grieved at the time to hear from him that the
ballads from my home were Serbian, and that their language was
Serbian, because at the time I was already mad with Bulgarism
and with the continual impressing of Bulgarism upon me on the
part of Bulgarian teachers. I was even ashamed to speak as
Lycee
'
in
in
Mr. Jovan
Veljic,
bom
in Debar.
His family has been Serbian
As there was no lyc^e (secondary school) in Debar,
his parents sent him to study at the Bulgarian Lycee in Salonica,
where students from Macedonia were boarded and educated free
for generations.
When his parents realized that their son would
charge.
become a Bulgar in the Bulgarian school, thy removed him from
the latter and sent him to a Serbian school instead. He graduated
When the Serbian
at the Universities of Belgrade and Geneva.
Lycee in Salonica was opened, he was appointed one of the
At present he resides in Salonica as a retired Serbian
professors.
professor, and he is always mindful of his Serbian nationality.
of
338
"
SUPPLEMENT
239
II
they speak at home, and instead of saying ja and ce, I always
used the Bulgarian az and ste. Thus I was taught and persuaded
by my Bulgarian teachers, and I hated my sweet mother-tongue and
native speech. Now I can feel the purity and sweetness of my
Serbian mother-tongue. When I go home I will beg my mother
and father to forgive me if I have grieved them by my attempts
to induce
them
true teaching,
to study Bulgarian.
I can
their eyes because
induce them to lose
see
why they
had
it
too.
lost
.
my
."
Now, under the
looked at
native
me
speech
influence of
with tears in
and
tried
to
'
M. V. Veselinovic, " Srbi u Makedonji 1 u Juznoj Staroj Srbiji
("The Serbs in Macedonia and in Southern Old Serbia"), Belgrade,
1888, pp. 7-8 (in Serbian). A similar account is given by Mr.
Rista Ognjanovid, of Galicnik, Professor at the Serbian Lycee in
'
Skoplje,
who
also
began his studies at a Bulgarian school.
Ill
STORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BULGARIAN
PROPAGANDA IN MACEDONIA, TOLD BY A CITIZEN
OF BITOLJ
"It
only thirty years ago since the Bulgarian propaganda first
Formerly there were none but Serb and Greek schools
Old Serbia and in Macedonia. We were \inder the Greek
is
began.
in
Patriarchate, and
Bulgars
we
much under
suffered
the Greek clergy.
speculated upon this discontent
The
with the Greek clergy
when, in commencing their struggle for the Exarchate, they endeavoured to stir up the Serbian inhabitants of our Province also.
The Bulgarian agents and apostles came to us with honey on
their lips and money in their pockets.
They fell on our necka
as
brothers
although we understood our
brother
but imperfectly and promised us an end to our troubles if we would
join them in their struggle for the Exarchate.
" That we listened to the siren voices of the Bulgars must not
be laid to our charge
all the world had forsaken us, and the
hand of the Bulgars was the first to be stretched out to help us.
Our kinsmen in Belgrade did not trouble themselves about us at
all
our Serbian schools had been for the most part founded by
ourselves, and only a few patriotic Serbs were prepared to act as
teachers for us. Not until later, after the establishment of the
Exarchate, was a school for Old-Serbian students founded in Serbia
but it was closed again after a few years.
" But there was another circumstance which greatly assisted the
Bulgars in their propaganda. You know that we have become
used to calling ourselves
Bugari.'
Now this is something
different from Bolgari, but as the name signifies the same thing
as
Bulgars,' it was easy for the Bulgarian agents to persuade
us that we had been Bulgars of old. It is true that otir language,
our folk-songs, and history are directly opposed to this assumption
but necessity knows no law, and so we threw ourselves
into the arms of the Bulgars because nobody took our part, and
because they promised us deliverance from the Greek Church and
tventually even from the Turkish domvnation.
'
'
'
'
'
340
'
SUPPLEMENT
"At
III
241
the Bulgarian propaganda operated within modest limits,
naturally did not dispose of the means at its disposal
to-day.
Besides this, the Greek and Serbian schools hampered
its progress no less than the Greek clergy.
The latter ceased to
first
because
it
be an obstacle after the establishment of the Exarchate in 1870.
The Greek priests were replaced by Bulgarian, who immediately
inaugurated a brisk agitation. This naturally brought the Bulgarians a great step forward.
" In the 3'ear 1876 they made similar progress, and this likewise through the complaisance of the Turkish Government, as
immediately upon the Serbian declaration of war.
Serbian schools and expelled all the Serbian
teachers. Obviously the Bulgars at once made the most of their
opportunity and replaced the Serbian schools and teachers by
the
latter,
suspended
all
Bulgarian.
help, but in
The
fugitive Serbian teachers applied to Belgrade for
Otherwise the Serbian Government would at
have gained this advantage, that the teachers (who were
all well known and popular with us, and whom we should have
welcomed back with open arms) would have returned after the
war, and continued their labours, or at least would have kept
alive our sympathies for Serbia.
" Also after 1878 and until now the Serbs did not trouble about
us, and left us entirely to the Bulgars, who, less indolent than
the Serbs, lost no time in establishing themselves here and in
vain.
least
Bulgarizing the people.
" At the head of the whole propaganda stands the Bulgarian
Exarch in Constantinople, assisted by his Secretary, Sopov
(Ofeikoff).
He devotes T30,500 {nearly 700,000 francs) annually
solely
to
propaganda purposes.
Besides this, the Bulgarian
Sobranje decided, immediately upon the foundation of the Bulgarian Principality, to provide in their Budget 400,000 francs
annually for the erection and maintenance of Bulgarian schools
our countries, and Eastern Roumelia decided to devote 60,000
annually to the same object.
To-day united Bulgaria
spends fully 600,000 francs annually upon the Bulgarian schools
in Macedonia and Old Serbia.
In addition to this the Bulgarian
Government annually assigns ouer 2,000,000 francs from the
Treasury for propaganda work.
If this appears incredible to
in
francs
you, consult the Bulgarian Budget. There you will find that the
Foreign Ministry annually receives 2,800,000 francs, although it
has neither Embassies nor Consulates to maintain. The Serbian
Foreign
Ministry
only
receives
800,000
francs
per
annum
(of
which 100,000 are Treasury funds), out of which it has to maintain
ten Legations and four Consulates-General. Consequently the
17
MACEDONIA
242
Bulgarian Foreign Minister has at least 2,400,000 francs at his
disposal with which to carry on the agitation here, and to bribe
the European Press as well as individual authors. At first Russia
also provided
annual
assistance
believe
that
since 1885 this
no longer paid, but I may be wrong. Suffice it to say that
the Bulgarian Government and the Exarchate in all expend
3,700,000 francs on propaganda work each year.
is
*
t*
*
*
" I have mentioned above that the Bulgarian Church is the mainspring of the propaganda, and its focus. For a better understanding
I must add that it is the Porte ii-se?/ unintentionally, of course
that drove and still compels the Exarchate to propaganda.
"When the Exarchate was instituted it embraced, inter alia,
:.:
Jive Bishoprics in the
and eight in
Vraca, Vidin, Nis, Pirot,
Danubian Bulgarian region
Of these eight,
Old Serbia!
viz.
Sofija,
Custendil, Samokov, and Veles, the five last mentioned had previously belonged to the Serbian Patriarchate of Pec it therefore
points to a boundless stupidity on the part of the Porte, or to
gross venality on the part of the then Grand- Vizier, that at the
;
very outset Serbian territory was to be handed over to the Bulgars.
" But this was not enough
Article 10 of the firman in question
distinctly declares that those eparchies whose inhabitants unanimously, or even by a two-thirds majority, demanded it, should be
incorporated with the Exarchate.
"Hereby the Porte itself naturally opened bolt and bars to the
All of us Slavs were discontented with the Greek
Exarchate.
I
clergy
the prospect of hearing divine service in hierarchic Slav
and so the Bulgarian apostles had an easy task when
did the rest
they came to our village and collected signatures.
" Scarcely was the Exarchate established than the agitation was
begun in Ochrida and Skoplje. The Turkish Commission, which
was to ascertain the wish of the people, everywhere found a desire
in short,
for the Exarchate, a suitable baksheesh did the rest
already in 1872 Bulgarian bishops were appointed for Ochrida and
Skoplje
" At that time the Porte lived in constant fear of the plots and
intrigues of Serbia and Greece, while the Bulgarians appeared
This explains the benevolence
to them as harmless raja (slaves).
with which the Porte regarded Bulgarian intrigues. The poor dear
dreamt in its simplicity that the Bulgars would one day
little
!
become far more dangerous foes than Serbs and Greeks put together.
(And even to-day, after so many experiences, the Turks underrate
the political intrigue of the Bulgars, and fear Serbia,
rendered quite harmless.)
who has been
SUPPLEMENT
243
III
" The shameless Bulgarian agitation tempted not the Serbs, as
might have been assumed, but the Greeks to a counter-stroke. The
Greek Patriarch convened an Assembly of the Church, which proThe
claimed the Bulgarian clergy and their adherents 'heretics.'
Bulgars of course lodged a protest against this finding, and the
dispute is not settled to this day.
" The events of 1876 caused the Porte to cancel Article 10 and
Since then the
to depose the Bishops of Skoplje and Ochrida.
Bu'gars have
left
no stone unturned
to prevail
upon the Porte
to restore Article 10 and to re-appoint the Bishops of Skoplje and
Ochrida. But it seems that even the Sublime Porte has at last
begun to smell a rat, because the berats (appointments) of the
Bishops have not yet been drawn up.
" The Exarchate revenged itself in 1880 by declaring the Parish
School Boards in Macedonia and Old Serbia its representatives,
(sJcolsko popeciand establishing a special School Department
It is this School Department which
teljstvo) in the Exarchate.
maintains and governs the Bulgarian schools in our country, and
if you bear in mind the incredible activity of the Bulgars and their
unanimity when it is a question of the idea of a Great Bulgaria,
you can imagine how firmly rooted the propaganda is to-day.
" Side by side with the lawful Greek Bishops the Bulgars have set
up their own ecolesiastic authorities which counteract the activity
In Ochrida, Skoplje, Debar,
of the former and render it illusory.
Veles, Bitolj, and Salonica the Bulgarians have appointed rural
Every dean has his
(protojereji) with excellent salaries.
deans
Council, which attends to Church and school matters, and thus
these deems perform all the functions of bishops without assummg
the title. The Greek Bishops, whom they simply override, are
powerless against them. Fmrthermore, the deans have all the
'
'
'
ecclesiastic and disciplinary power over the clergy in their hands.
In Salonika^ for instance, this ofiice had been entrusted to the
Archimandrite Kozeljev.
"Each dean is also provided with a deputy {nixmestnih) who may
,
be a layman (lit. a member of the bourgeoisie). He is a
member of the Church School Council and assistant of the dean,
especially in his correspondence with the parishes concerned.
The deputies are paid by the Church School Council of the locality
in which the dean resides.
" Where there are intermediary schools, their director and the
governors also belong to the Church School Council.
*'
Only a few of the adherents of Greece and Serbia oiler any
also
'
Lit. archpresbyter.
MACEDONIA
244
the Bulgarian propagandists. The former consist
such as know that we are not Bulgars but Serbs,
and who are swayed by their national sentiment; and secondly,
of such who feel spiritually bound to Serbia by our folk-songs, or
in whom the memory of the former Serbian rule here has been
resiBtance to
first
of all of
kept alive by tradition, and finally by such as have been to Serbia,
or go there year by year to work.
" The adherents of Greece consist of Greek or Hellenized persons
or enemies of Bulgarism. As a rule they go hand in hand with
the adherents of Serbia."
'
S.
Gopcevi6,
pp. 307-311.
'
"Makedonien
imd Alt-Serbien,"
Wien,
1889,
IV
PETITIONS ADDRESSED BY MACEDONIANS TO MILAN
PRINCE OF SERBIA AND TO THE CONGRESS OF
BERLIN, PRAYING TO BE UNITED WITH SERBIA
From
of
the districts of Kicevo, Prilep, and Veles, with the signatures
170 mayors, priests, archimandrites, etc., appended and
bearing the seals of 44 communes.
petition is headed
The
The following was resolved upon at the meeting on Mount
Babuna, May 10, 1878, " and addressed to Prince Milan. It
"
is
worded as follows
A short time ago the Corbadzi (notables) of our city, who,
together with the Turks, have fleeced us ever since Kosovo, informed
us that we are to fall under the domination of a Bulgarian realm,
as if we were not true and pure Serbs, but some kind of BulgarsX
" All of us. Illustrious Prince, in the nahijas (districts) of Skoplje,
"
Tetovo, Debar, Kicevo, Veles, Prilep, Bitolj, Kostur, Gorica,
Solun, Seres, TikveS, Itip, Radoviste, Nevrokop, Melnik, Kocani,
Kratovo, Kumanovo, Banjska, Radomir, Sofija, Kriva Palanka,
Samokov, Dupnica, etc, are true Serbs of true Serb stocJc. This is
proved by the innumerable exclusively purely Serbian remains to be
found in
all
the said nahijas (districts).
"We
have but to look around to see in the said districts our
the Church of the
Metropolitan Church of St. Sava in Debar
Blessed Mother of God and the Holy Archangel (Sv. Bogorodica, Sv.
Arangjel) in Prilep, both founded by Kings Milutin and Marko
St. Jovan Slepcevacki and St. Nikolas in Prilep, also the Sv. Bogorodica (Blessed Mother of God) and St. Nikolas in Prilep, all founded
St. Jovan, St. Naum, and Cista Precista in
by King Decanski
Ochrida, founded by the Kings Vojislav and Vladimir; St. Nikola
St. Dimitrije in
Toplicki in Bitolj, founded by Milan Toplica
SS. Andrija and Vasilije,
Skoplje, founded by King Vukasin
St. Jovan's in Palanka (containing
founded by King AndrejaS
the grave of Despot George of Smederevo), founded by KingDragutin
St. Nikola's and the Archangel, Sv. Bogorodica and Spaa in litip,
;
S4&
MACEDONIA
ut
founded by King Decanski the tomb of the Blessed NemanjiJi in
Kratovo
that of Belja Krilatica in Rilo
Nemanica, the home
of the Nemanjici
St. Dimitrije in Veles, founded by Zupan Stracirrvir, brother of Nemanja
St. Pantelija's in Kocani, founded by
St. Simeon Nemanja
St. Antana's in Tetovo, founded by Car
Lazar
SS. Jovan and Gjorgje in Debrica, founded by Kings
Radoslav and Milutin
Sv. Cista Precista and Presveta Bogorodica
in Kicevo, founded by Kings Milutin and Dragutin
Sv. Presveta
Bogorodica Devica (Most Holy Virgin Mother of God), fotmded by
King XJros the Great, besides many others not mentioned in each
nahija, as well as the ruins of hundreds of monasteries and churches
built by Serbian Kings and Tsars.
Our assertion is further proved
by the relics of our sainted kings and tsars and other Serbian saints
such as King Milutin in Sofija; King Vladimir in Elbasan St.
Naum in Ochrida St. Prohor in Kumanovo, St. Jakim in Palanka,
St. Gavril in Kratovo, the Holy King in Gjakovica
(follows a
;
further list of saints).
"
therefore send to you, in the
We
names of the entire districts of
Kicevo, Veles, and Prilep, our accredited agents Hadzi Trajkovid
Mincik, Gj
N
and A
D
and on our knees implore
Your Serene Highness, Our August King, that you will unite us
together with our native land with Holy Mother Serbia, so that we
,
may
emerge from our bondage and become men and a useful
Europe but not to let us exchange the
harsh Turldsh yoke for the still harsher and blacker Bulgarian
servitude, which will be harder, more oppressive, and more unendurable
to us than the Turkish which we have endured hitherto, and would
leave us no way of avenging ourselves for this wrong, save either
to slay our whole households or to forsake our sacred soil, our
churches and graves, and all that we hold dear, the which will profit
neither Europe nor our own nation."
at last
member
of the people of
B
by 520 Parish Councils,
from the districts of Kumanovo, Kratovo, Palanka, Istip,
Petric, Strumica, and Kocani, with the seals of 220 communes
affixed, drawn up on Jvme 2nd, 1878, at Kozjak
Petition addressed to Prince Milan, signed
etc.,
" Having heard that we, after having so lavishly shed our blood
in concert with our brothers of Serbia in the struggle against our
hereditary enemy the Turk, are yet to remain under Turkish rule,
unless we subscribe to a Russo-Bulgaria, we on our knees implore
Your Highness, our only lawful. Gracious Sovereign, that you will
unite us with our
mother country.
For we are Serbs
in the districts
SUPPLEMENT
Kumanovo,
of
IV
247
Skoplje, Banjska, Radoinir, Melnik, Nevrokop, Kra-
tovo, Itip, Kocani, Strutnica, Velee, etc.,
and our country
and that
of the purest
and
purely Serbian,
even the very heart of Serbia, from which have sprung not only our
sauited Nemanjici, biit also our State and our literature, renown,
power, and greatness, and all that was and still is Serbian.
" This is proved to this day by hundreds of complete and thousands of ruined churches and monasteries, more especially by the
following ancient buildings In Matejce, the Church of the Blessed
Mother (Sv. Bogorodica), where King Milutin was crowned St.
Gjuragj Nagoricki, the foundation of King Milutin, built in gratitude
for the salvation of Serbia and Europe from the Tartar invasion
Sv. Bogorodica Zabelska, founded by Stephan Nemanja Sv. Bogorodica Korminska, founded by Kings Radoslav and Dragutin Sv. Otac
Prohor Pcinjski (Blessed Father Prohor of Pcinja), founded by Car
Lazar St. Jacim Osogovski, founded by King Dragutin Sv. Bogorodica Rilska (Our Lady of Kilo), founded by King Decanski;
St. Gavril Lesnovski, founded by the Despot Jovan Oliver, etc.'
"It is further proved by the many episcopal sees and Metropolitanates founded by St. Sava, such as those in Moravica, Custendil,
Samokov, Bregalnica, Morozvizd, and many other, of which the
best Old Serbian stock,
is the viost
records are
still
extant.
"Lastly, it is proved by our Old Serbian speech, preserved in all
its purity, the tongue in which the kings and tsars of Serbia conversed
it is proved by our ancient Serbian customs, dress, etc., and by much
we are Serbs, and naught else.
We, the undersigned, being pure Serbs of true Serbian
else as well, that
"
stock of
the most ancient and purest of Serbian territories, yet once more
implore Tour Highness on our knees by any means to deliver us from
our bondage of five centuries, and to incorporate us with your
principality of Serbia.
Otherwise the inhabitants of Kumanovo,
Palanka, and Kratovo, having fought shoulder to shoulder with their
brothers of Serbia against their mortal foe the Turk, may not dare
to thrust tlieir heads again beneath the yoke, but would rather slay
themselves with all their households.
" In the names of all the undersigned, we authorize
merchant V
P
C
peasant; V
C
P
and Petar Mitrovic." *
;
B
D
P
P
The foundations mentioned in the previous petition have been
omitted here.
' The
names of living persons, especially those of any of the
signatories, are obviously withheld, for fear of exposing their owners
to the vengeance of the Turks and Bulgars.
'
MACEDONIA
248
C
Petition addressed to the British Consul at Vranje, as Envoy of the
Berlin Congress, signed in Vranje, on June 11, 1878, by twenty
natives of Gilane (from the towns and villages of Gilane, Pasijan,
Petrovac, Ranilug, Ropotovo, Domorovac, Kufedze, Koretiste,
Budrig,
StaniSor,
Businac)
Partes,
Grizimi,
Mocar,
Miganovac,
and
"The compassionate and humane
disposition of Tour Majesty gives
your obedient servants, the undersigned, courage on our knees
to implore you and your Government to take pity upon us and to
rescue us from the horrible position in which we are placed, and
at the same time to unite us ivith our brothers in the Principality
of Serbia, from whom we have been separated for five hundred
years." (Here follow complaints that sympathy is extended to
the grievances of the Bulgars and other peoples enslaved by the
Turks, while the iinhappy Serbs of Old Serbia are ignored in spite
of their great sufferings.
Moreover a list is given of all murders
and other outrages, excesses lately committed by the Turks.)
The petition concludes
"We therefore most humbly pray your Government to free us
from our fetters and bonds and to unite us with our Serbian brothers,
the end that the sun of Justice and Freedom may arise for us also,
wherefore we should be eternally grateful to you. In this joyful
us,
hope we sign for the inhabitants
of
Gilane."
(Here follow the signatures.)
D
500 distinguished citizens, archimandrites, priests,
Petition
teachers, mayors, etc., of the districts of Kicevo, Ochrida,
Debar, and Elbasan, with the seals of 308 communes aflBxed,
dated from the Monastery of Cista Precista in Skrzava at
the Sabor (meeting) of June 15, 1878, and addressed to the
of
" King " of Serbia
"We
is
have heard
become subject
to
San Stefano we are
and that our native land
that by the treaty of
to a Bulgarian realm
This petition is in so far interesting as the population of Gilane
to be of Serbian Catholic origin.
known
SUPPLEMENT
IV
249
of Old Serbia is henceforth to be called 'Bulgtiria.'
Since we
neither arc Bulgars, nor ever were Bulgars, and not a single
Bulgar is resident among us with the exception of the Bulgarian
bishops and teachers who have been forced upon us by the
Turkish Government we as Serbs appeal to you our only Sovereign
and Lord, and beg you save us from this calamity and, as purest
Serbs of the truest and best Serbian stock, to imite us with your
principality of Serbia, our only mother and solace.
" That we of the districts of Kicevo, Debar. Ochrida, Elbasan,
etc., are purest Serbs of truest Serbian stock is proved not only
by our purely Serbian speech, but by those whom you and we
.' (Here again
worship, even our Saints and holy relics, such as
follows a list of the relics of the Serbian Kings Vladimir and
Petroslav, as also of those of the Serbian SS. Clement, Naum,
and Ilarion, who are buried in those parts of Old Serbia.)
" It is further proved by the former capitals of our sainted
kings, viz. Prespa, the capital of our holy King Petroslav
Ochrida,
Beograd and Cemernik, where King Vladimir had his residence
Papradnica (now Kodzadzik), the capital of King Vojislav
the
ruins of the residence of King Gjuragj on the Gjuragj Planina Hills
the archiepiscopal sees of our Serbian rulers before St. Nemanja in
BiskupStica below the Gjuragj Planina the ruins of the cathedrals
of Debrca and Budim (in Kostur), founded by St. Sava
the
foundations of King Milutin, viz. St. Gjuragj Orasacki and St.
George's (above Kicevo).
" It is further proved by the monasteries which have been
preserved complete, such as St. Jovan Slepcev (Bitolj), founded
by King Decanski Sv. Bogorodica in Porec and on the Babuna,
founded by King Uros the Great
Sv. Bogorodica Zlatovrh
Treskavacka and Sv. Arangjel (the Blessed Mother of God and
the Archangel) in Bucim, founded by King Milutin Sv. Bogorodica
near Bitolj, St. Ilija near Hlerin, and St. Gjuragj near Gjavat,
founded by our Nemanja Tsars
Sv. Bogorodica above Kostur,
founded by St. Sava St. Ilija above Kostur, and twenty-four monasteries at Meteora, founded by the sainted Nemanjici
St. Peter's
above Beograd, founded by King Petroslav the Holy Archangel's in
Prilep, founded by King Marko
Sv. Bogorodica of Zrze, founded
by King Vukasin the two monasteries of Cista Precista (above
Struga and above Kicevo) and Sv. Bogorodica (above Ochrida),
all three founded by King Vladimir, etc., etc.
" Hence we pay our respects to you in the name of all our
sainted Kings and Tsars, and of the whole Serbian population of
to-day in the regions aforesaid, begging you to liberate us and
take us under the wing of your protection and %niite us with your
.
MACEDONIA
250
principality of Serbia failing which we will all perish, for we
never have lived with the Btdgars, and cannot so live. In
that case we ivould rather continue to remain under the four
centuries' long domination of the Turhs, under whom we shall
at least be able to preserve our nationality, our language, and
our faith."
E
Petition addressed
to
the British Consul (Envoy of
the Berlin
Congress), dated Gilane, June 18, 1878, and signed by 375
distinguished inhabitants from the districts of Gilane, Skoplje,
and Tetovo. A footnote accounts for the absence of parish seals
by explaining that plundering Circassians and Albanians had
taken them away.
The
petition runs as follows
" Several weeks ago we presented a petition to His Highness
the Prince of Serbia, showing that we have been Serbs of old
and alivays shall be Serbs; that this is proved by our customs,
folk-songs, habits, dress, speech, and the numerous monasteries
and churches founded by Serbian rulers and to be met with at
every step in our country.
" Therefore we raised our voices in protest against those who
mould persuade us that we are Bulgars, falsely declaring that
our land was once Bulgarian, and we begged His Highness that
we being true Serbs of his, he would deliver us from servitude
and take us under the protection of the beneficent Serbian laws
We also
of our free brothers.
demonstrated that the Serbian element in the districts of Gilane,
PriStina, Skoplje, and Tetovo far outnumbers that of the renegade
Albanians, and we have enumerated the most recent outrages
and receive us into the bosom
>
committed by the Turks."
(Here the native hope is expressed that Europe, having inscribed
the device "Freedom and Progress" upon her banner, will take
pity also upon the Christians who are being oppressed by the Turks,
and create decent conditions, and worthy of humanity, which would
guarantee the peace of Europe. Thence it was expected of the
Congress of Berlin that it would give the Serbian army the
mandate as soon as possible to occupy Gilane, Skoplje, Tetovo, and
Pristina, whereby the atrocities of the Turks would be brought
to an end.
long
list of
by the request
these outrages follows.
to
The conclusion
submit the petition to the Congress.)
is
formed
SUPPLEMENT
IV
351
F
"King" of Serbia, dated Skoplje, June 20, 1878,
the seak of more than 50 communes affixed. Nobody
had dared to sign, as of the signatories to the Bozince
petition 250 had been arrested in Skoplje alone, of whom
only 50 had come out of prison alive. In the face of such
intimidation it is truly amazing that the mayors of 50 communes yet had courage to affix their seals. The petition runs
Petition to the
with
come
Having heard that under the terras of peace we
under a Bulgarian State, as if we were hulgars and not pure Serbs
of true Serbian stock, we on our knees implore you not to consent
We
to let us pure and true Serbs fall into Bulgarian bondage.
were never under Bulgarian rule; we never toere nor ever can
be Bulgars.
We citizens of Skoplje are of the purest and best
Serbian stock, as also are the inhabitants of the districts of
Tetovo, Debar, Kicevo, Prilep, Istip, Veles, Kratovo, Kocani,
Kumanovo, Palanka, Banjska, etc. Our pure Old Serbian speech,
the speech of our Kings and Tsars, our customs, usages, dress,
songs, etc., bear this out. Equally it is borne out by the ancient
Serbian buildings in our country, viz. the Holy Archangel and
Ilija's
on the Karadag, founded by Stephan Nemanja; the
Holy Archangel and Blessed Mother of God (Sv. Arangjel and
"
are to
Bogorodica), founded by Uros the Infant; St. Nikita's in Cucar,
founded by King Mulutin Sv. Bogorodica (Blessed Mother of God)
in Ljubinac, founded by the sister of Tsar Du&an, St. Dimitrije
in Susica, where the Kings Vukasin and Marko are buried
St. Vasilje, founded by King Andrejai^, and containing his tomb
St. Pantelija's in Porec, founded by Nemanja; St. Andrija's, founded
by and containing the tomb of Queen Simonida St. Athanasije in
LeSav, founded by Tsar Lazar.
" It is further proved by our city of Skoplje, once the capital
of Serbia; by the ruins of Kacauik, the stronghold of Starina
Novak." (Here follows a list of numerous ruined castles famous
connection with Serbian heroes and of sundry Metropolitan
in
;
sees, etc.)
" It is further borne out by many documentary monuments of
our past and literary history, all penned in this heart, centre, navel,
and storehouse of true and pure Serbia,
"We therefore beseech you on our knees to save us from other,
harsher and more, cruel oppressors and assassins, who are worse
than the Turks, and have already under the Turkish rule oppressed
MACEDONIA
252
UB through their bishops and teachers, have threatened and destroyed our language, our Slava, our nationality, and Serbian
antiquities.
Unite us as soon as possible with your principality
of Serbia, otherwise we shall be left no choice but to emigrate or
to perish in the conflict with the Bulgars.^^
G
Petition to the Berlin Congress dated "
On the Gjerman Planina,
1878," bearing 800 signatures and the seals of 196
communes and monasteries from the districts of Kumanovo,
July
1,
Kratovo, Kocani, and Falanka. (An almost identical but far
more explicit petition, bearing 350 signatures and 145 seals,
was presented to the Prince of Serbia.)
" Several
weeks ago we,
in concert with the inhabitants of the
H.H. Our Gracious Lord and King Milan
Obrenovic IV that, we being pure Serbs of true Serb stock, he would
tahe us under his protection and unite our true Serbian land, in
which the Serbian Kings have lived and laboured and made their
graves, with his Principality, and not permit us to be transferred
For
to the Bulgars, whose language and customs are alien to us.
neither ivill we live together with the Bulgars nor have our fathers
tip district, petitioned
We
could never form one people with the Bulgars, for
In our petition we
old, and naught else.
."
proved that we are truly pure and genuine Serbs, seeing that
(Here all the ecclesiastic foundations, ancient buildings, etc., are
"Our contention is
all enumerated as^in the previous petition.)
done
80.
we are pure Serbs of
also borne out by our speech, habits, and customs, which differ
greatly from those of the Bulgars, and furthermore by our ancient
mints where Serbian money was minted, especially that in the
village of Perperi,
history.
" But
"
we
and by our mines which are so famous
in Serbian
received no answer to our petition
it is not possible for us under any circum!
The best proof that
stances to live under either the Bulgars or the Turks
in the fact that the inhabitants
who
fled
from forty
is
to be found
villages in the
Palanka do not dare to return to their homes because
army these have been occupied
by the Turks and Bulgars."
(Here follows the definition of the conditions under which Mihail
district of
since the retirement of the Serbian
Abogovic, the last Despot of this region, surrendered in 1459 to the
Turks, who, however, disregarded the terms of the treaty.) After
SUPPLEMENT
further complaints
concerning
fche
IV
253
grievous plight of the people,
the petition proceeds
" If help is not soon forthcoming, no trace will be left of us ere
long." (Here follow renewed requests for incorporation with Serbia,
with urgent representations to Bismarck personally and an appeal
for a European Commission to investigate the true state of affairs
:
and the
" This
atrocities committed by the Turks.)
Commission will convince itself of the truth
of our statements, for we do not dare to lie like our step-brothers the Biilgars,
who have deceived our Russian and Serbian brothers, maintaining
that the Sandzaks of Vidin, Sofija, and Custendil are inhabited b}'
Bulgars."
(Then follows a long catalogue of all recent excesses, outrages
murders, etc., committed by the Turkish troops. The names of
several hundred Serbs who had been ill-used or murdered by the
Turks are given, with the names of the villages concerned and
occasionally those of the guilty Turkish officers and men. The
names
of
several hundred violated girls,
also published, together with the
names
women and children are
of many Turks who were
It is a heart-rendering and revolting
guilty of these outrages.
account, which, needless to say, made no impression upon the driedup diplomats of the Berlin Congress.)
INCOMPLETE LIST OF BULGARIAN ATTACKS UPON
SERBIAN SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS IN MACEDONIA
1.
On
of
Bitolj)
the opening day of the Serbian school in Dobnisevo (county
the Bulgars of Bitolj assaulted the peasants who had
assembled at the school
was twice
On
that occasion the teacher, Andjelko
with a rifle.
In Kicavo they likewise attacked the school and assaulted the
Serbian citizens.
3. In Ochrida they beat the Serbian teacher Djordje Tasic, and
L. Stavric, a Serbian bookseller.
4. In Kumanovo the Serbian church and school were attacked
times without number. There were frequent instances of bloodshed.
In one assault upon the Serbian school five Serbs were wounded.
attacked the
Serbian church one
5. In Gostivar the Bulgars
Christmas Day with the intention of seizing it from the Serbs.
The Bulgars discharged their revolvers inside the church and beat
Trajkovic,
fired at
2.
the Serbs.
6. On the occasion of the opening of the Serbian school in Velea,
the Bulgars assaulted the Serbs and beat them in the streets.
7. In Kukus they wrecked and looted the Serbian school, and
beat the teacher Jovan Jovicevic so severely that he all but
died.
8. In Zubovac they attacked the Serbian school and wounded
the teacher, Josip Bradic.
9. In Gornje Todoracevo (district of Kukus) they attacked and
looted the Serbian church.
10. In Prilep the Bulgars planned a great attack upon the Serbs
en masse, but it was discovered and frustrated by the police.
11. On the occasion of the opening of the Serbian school in
1897 the Bulgars attacked the school. The police with
succeeded in dispersing the aggressors and in arresting
some of them. But the attacks were repeated, and in one of them
a Bulgarian professor wounded Gjura Vojvedic, student at the
Bitolj
in
difficulty
Serbian Lycee,
3U
SUPPLEMENT V
12.
In KruSevo the Bulgars assaulted two Serbian female teachers
1899, Olga Vukojevic and
in
256
from shock and
Zlata Krsticka.
The
latter
fell
ill
but died.
13. In Skoplje the Serbian schools, teachers, and students were
attacked countless times. On Christmas Day, 1899, and in April
and in December 1900 the Bulgars assaulted the teachers and pupils
of the Girls' High School,
They beat them, pulled out their hair,
and otherwise ill-used them.
14. In Tetovo the Bulgars attacked the Serbian school and citizens
on the Feast of St. Sava, the Serbian patron saint, January 14,
all
1900.
15.
In Celopek they set
fire
to the Serbian school in
1901.'
Iv. Ivanic, " Iz Crkvene Istorije Srba u Turskoj " (" Church
History of the Serbs in Turkey in the f^ighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries"), Belgrade, 1902, pp. 90-93. Iv. Ivanic, "Makedonija"
(" Macedonia "), Novi Sad, 1908, pp. 470-474.
'
MACEDONIA
256
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SUPPLEMENT
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257
MACEDONIA
258
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VII
Incomplete list of attempted murders perpetrated BY BULGARS ON SERBS BETWEEN 1897
AND
1901
The number
of
attempted
Macedonian Serbs
is
murders perpetrated by Bulgara on
than that of successful murders.
far greater
Unfortimately we have no statistics available. We give instead only
a few cases which occurred between 1897 and 1901, and this Ust,
though incomplete, throws some light upon the terror practised
by the Bulgars among the Serbian population of Macedonia.
According to the information at our disposal the Bulgars attempted
to murder the following persons
:
1.
Petar
Dimitrijevi(5,
head master
of
the
Serbian school in
Prilep.'
2.
Jovanka Hrnjicek, teacher
at
the Serbian
Lyc^e
for Girls
iu Skoplje.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Jevdja Frtunic, schoolmaster in Skoplje.
Spirkovic, Serbian booksellor in Prilep.
Veljan, the most prominent peasant and Serbian headman
in Krivogastane (district of Prilep).
Dr. Ceda Djurdjevi6, Serbian physician in Skoplje.
Mihalilo Hadzi Popovic, president of the Serbian congregation in Bitolj, who was wounded in both hands with a
knife by the Bulgars.
The servant of Dr. Ceda Djurdjevic, Serbian physician in
Skoplje, also wounded with a knife.
Djordje Dimitrijevic, member of the Serbian congregation,
received severe knife and bullet wounds.
In Veles, after murdering the Serbian headman Petar Tasevid
and several other Serbs from the neighbourhood, the Bulgars assaulted numerous other Serbs with knives and
Ilija
firearms.
'
in
Petar Dimitrijevid's daughter was murdered
September 1897.
by
the Bulgars
SUPPLEMENT
11. Xlija Vucetic,
VII
283
Serbian professor in Skoplje, severely wounded
18.
on January 18, 1899.
Jovan Jovicevid, head master of the Serbian school in Kuku
shot by Bulgarian comitadjis on May 12, 1899.
Vanca Ili(S, Serbian bookseller in Bitolj, shot and severely
14.
Dimko
12.
wounded
in July 1899.
Petrusevic,
of the school in Orahovac
a bullet wound on September
was eventually murdered.
proprietor
(district of Veles), received
19, 1899.
He
15.
Dinko Pandovid,
16.
Naum
Nikolic,
wounded in September 1899.
was taken to the mountains
murder him, but was ransomed by
of Veles,
of
Tajmiste,
with the intention to
the village on September 21, 1899.
17. Dimo Dapcevid, Dan Burcevid and Damcevic received knife
18.
19.
wounds on September 28, 1899,
Jovan Milenkovid, a prominent Serb
a knife on September 28, 1899.
of Veles,
wounded with
Velimir Janidijevid, member of the Serbian school parish
and his mother, assaulted by the Bulgarian teachers in
October 1899.
proprietor of the Serbian school in Seres,
attacked one night in October 1899.
Stavrid, Serbian teacher in Jablanica (district of
21. Marko
Debar), wounded by a revolver shot on October 27, 1899.
22. Jovan Popovid, of Bela (near Kodani), assaulted by the
20. Govedarovid,
Bulgars on Christmas Day, 1899.
23. Teofil Djordjevid,
24. Stojan
of Veles),
25.
of
Gostivar,
wounded
in
December
Nastovid and two other Serbs from Orahovac
who were
in
wounded on January
Novo Selo (district of
in
May
severely
Laza Hid, Serbian teacher
wounded with a knife
1899.
(district
4,
1900.
Skoplje),
1900.
Anastas Milenkovid, priest, of Tehovo (district of Veles),
four times shot at with a rifle, finally with a revolver on
December 30, 1900, and eventually murdered.
27. Todo GaSevid, merchant, of Tetovo, wounded on Novem26.
ber
28.
1,
1901.
Samuilo Stojkovid,
in
December
of
1901,
Bresna (district of Tetovo), wounded
and robbed of 1,000 dinars.
founder of the Serbian school in Zrze
twice shot at with a ride, and
eventually 'murdered in 1901.'
29. Petar Konstantinovid,
(district
of
Prilep),
Iv. Ivanid, " Madedonija i Madedonci " (" Macedonia and the
Macedonians"), Novi Sad. 1909, pp. 471-475.
'
VIII
BULGARIAN PROCLAMATION IN 1879, CALLING UPON
THE INHABITANTS OF MACEDONIA TO RISE AGAINST
THE TURKS
Up, brothers (lit. to your feet, brothers I) The hour of deliverance
has struck.
Now the chains must and will be broken wherewith
cold diplomatic calculation would bind you.
The sun of liberty,
which is already shedding its warmth upon part of our nation, will
arise also upon the remainder, which is still torpid in slavery, and
awaken it to new Ufe. We have provided arms take them and join
the fighting lines. There is no other choice open to you. If you let
!
moment, you will for ever remain in
Already preparations are being made to deprive
you of your faith, together with your nationality. If you desire to
remain Orthodox as your fathers have been, you must no longer put
off the great and holy war.
You will be led by experienced soldiers,
sincere patriots, heroic men, and our cause will be victorious.
Our
oppressor is nearing his death. His seeming display of strength is
only the last spasm of a dying man, and we have no other enemies to
fear. Any foreign intervention in favour of our oppressor will provoke
an intervention likewise on our behalf. The moment is propitious,
as you see. Long live the War of Liberty
Let us fight until we
have won the frontiers which the Almighty has assigned to our
people.
Up To battle Our reward will be the freedom of ua all,
the heroic death of individuals our pride.'
slip
the present propitious
foreign bondage.
'
J.
H.
Vasiljevic, " Pokret
tion of the Serbs
and Bulgars
Srba i Bugara u Turskoj" (" InsurrecTurkey "), Belgrade, 1908, pp. 13-14.
in
Printed in Great Britain by
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In this book Mr. M. Philips Price, who went to the Xear East in 1915 as
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Three Aspects of the Russian
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Translated bv
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^^
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Dying Empire
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BOGUMIL VOSNIAK
a Preface by T.
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Times.
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'
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