@conference{
author = "Бубало, Ђорђе",
year = "2020",
abstract = "Based on arguments proposed by Ljubomir Kovačević as early as 1879,
the view that King Stefan the First-Crowned died in 1227 or 1228 has
become firmly established in historical scholarship. According to Kovačević’s
arguments, which still remain almost unanimously accepted, the date of
the death of Stefan the First-Crowned is determined by a combination
of chronological data contained in a charter issued by King Radoslav in
Dubrovnik on 4 February 1234, immediately after his deposition from the
throne, and the Vita of King Uroš included in the Anthology of Archbishop
Danilo II, which states that Radoslav’s reign lasted six years. Depending on
whether they believed that King Radoslav lost the throne in late 1233 or early
1234, scholars used the following calculation to determine the year of Stefan’s
death: 1233/34 – 6 = 1227/28. The view that Stefan died in 1227 and that his
son Radoslav became king in the same year has today become prevalent, and
this year is also used to determine the chronology of the first journey of St.
Sava to Jerusalem, an event usually dated to 1229.
The reason to re-examine the widely accepted chronology of Stefan’s death
was provided by the discovery that the chronology of Danilo’s Anthology
is unreliable, because the same Vita states that Radoslav’s successor King
Vladislav ruled for seven years, which is not consistent with the first and final
years of his reign (6742–6751, i.e. 1233/34–1242/43). Based on this, he seems
to have ruled for a minimum of nine years. Another reason for caution in using
chronological data contained in Danilo’s Anthology is the fact that the brief
notes on King Radoslav and King Vladislav at the beginning of the Vita of King
Uroš were penned by a reviser who worked at the start of the fifth decade of the
14 th century at the earliest. In addition, chronological data provided in Serbian
annals have been unduly ignored, and they state that Radoslav became king
in 6732 (according to the Byzantine era), which would, when combined with
the day of commemorating King Stefan the First-Crowned (24 September),
indicate the year 1223 (i.e. very early 6732) as the year of Stefan’s death.
The annals also state that Radoslav ruled for 11 years. If we include 6732
in these 11 years, since Stefan the First-Crowned died at the very beginning
of this year, then Radoslav’s reign would have ended in its 11 th year – 6742
(1233/34), precisely in the year when Radoslav was deposed from the throne
by his brother Vladislav. In other words, Radoslav’s reign lasted for ten years
and three months approximately.
Earlier efforts to determine the chronology of Sava’s first journey to
Palestine, which is known for certain to have occurred after Stefan’s death,
failed to take into account the information contained in the purchase deed for a
vineyard in Karyes (on Mount Athos), which was agreed between Archbishop
Sava and the Athonite protos after the former’s return from Palestine. Based
on the indiction stated in this document and other indicators of the relative
chronology of Sava’s journey to the East, this could have occurred upon his
return from the Holy Land, shortly before the Feast of the Dormition of the
Mother of God in 1228. This would mean that Sava visited the Holy Land in
the early summer of 1228 and not in 1229. This is also supported by the fact
that the peace treaty between Emperor Frederick II and Sultan al-Kamil of
February 1229, who returned Jerusalem to the Crusaders, which is taken as
one of the preconditions for Sava’s journey to the East, brought little change
for Orthodox Christians in regard to the possibilities and intensity of their
pilgrimage. The period between the year of Sava’s first pilgrimage and the year
of Stefan’s death as stated in the annals, i.e. between 1228 and 24 September
1223, leaves a much wider timeframe to accommodate all of the events that
followed Radoslav’s ascent to the throne in a period of time much better suited
to medieval circumstances. St. Sava’s biographer Domentijan writes that Sava
‘after some time’ [following King Stefan’s death] translated his brother’s relics
from Studenica to Žiča, and this could have occurred – in line with the Serbian
practice – after a minimum of two to three years; after this, in the spring of
1228, he could have undertaken his journey to Palestine, after having spent
with Radoslav as much time as ‘the Lord willed’, to quote Domentijan.
In spite of the frequent unreliability of chronological data provided in
annals for older periods, in deciding between the years 1223 and 1227 (and
consequently, for the dating of Sava’s first pilgrimage to 1228 or 1229), the
first option seems more likely. Although hypothetically 1224 and 1225, or even
1226 could be taken as the year of Stefan’s death, in my opinion there is no
sound argument to support the year 1227. Based on the reasons stated above, I
propose 24 September 1223 as the date of Stefan’s death and 1228 as the year
of Sava’s first pilgrimage., У раду се реинтерпретирају малобројни извори на основу којих
се настоји утврдити приближна година смрти краља Стефана Првовенчаног.
Општеприхваћено датирање почива на комбинацији хронолошких података
повеље коју је краљ Радослав издао Дубровнику непосредно након свргавања с
престола (1233/1234) и Житија краља Уроша у Даниловом зборнику, где стоји да
је Радослав владао шест година, што даје 1227. или 1228. годину. Хронологија
Даниловог зборника није поуздана, јер у истом житију стоји да је Владислав владао
седам година, што не одговара граничним годинама његове владавине (6742–
6751, тј. 1233/1234–1242/1243). У раду је реинтерпретирана и хронологија првог
Савиног ходочашћа у Свету земљу (1229), која не само да се одређивала у односу
на 1227/1278. већ, у повратном смеру, служи као потврда предложеној години
Стефанове смрти. Рехабилитовани су подаци српских летописа, према којима
је Стефан умро 6732 (1223/1224), а Радослав владао 11 година, као и датирање
уговора о куповини винограда у Кареји, који је архиепископ Сава склопио на
повратку из Палестине са светогорским протатом, према индикту, у 1228. годину.
Као датум Стефанове смрти предлаже се 24. септембар 1223. а као година Савиног
првог ходочашћа 1228. година.",
publisher = "Београд : Историјски институт",
journal = "Стефан Првовенчани и његово доба",
title = "Још једном о години смрти краља Стефана Првовенчаног, On the year of death of Stefan the First-Crowned : A reconsideration",
pages = "118-99",
volume = "42",
doi = "10.34298/9788677431396.05"
}
