Дубраве у средњовековној Србији

Abstract

Рад се бави дубравама као посебном врстом шумског прекривача састављеног од разних врста жирородног дрвећа. Пре свега, реч је о разним врстама храста, за који се у средњем веку углавном користио старословенски назив – дуб. На велику распростра њеност ових шума упућу је топонимија, као и три жупе Дубраве (Дубравнице). Дубрaве су нерадо крчене јер су корићене за прехрану свиња, а господар дубраве је за то узимао жировнину, која представља десетак од свиња.

Th e acorn oak woods were largely spread in the early Middle Ages, which has been proved by toponyms registered in our medieval charters, as well as by the presence of župas bearing this name in Hum, Toplica and Pomoravlje regions. Th e term was mainly used to notify the various types of the oak woods, which were called, in the Middle Ages, in some Slavonic languages, dub. During the late Middle Ages, the people tried to avoid to cut the oak woods, because they had its economic value in the cattle breeding and were the source of the fi scal income for their owners. In dubravas the pigs, as well as the other domestic animals, were fed with the acorn. Th e majority of dubravas became, in due time, the property of the ruler or the feudal lords, who imposed the tax called “žirovina”, or the tenth of the pig production (also as a tax), for usage of the acorn in their woods. Th is tax had been preserved during the Ottoman rule and presented the relevant income for the ruler or the feudal lord.