BLIND SERBIAN RULERS AND FAMOUS PERSONS

Janicijevic Katarina,1

Kocic Sanja,1

Radovanovic Snezana,1

Sarenac Vulovic Tatjana,1, 2

Petrovic Nenad,1, 2

Todorovic Dusan1, 2

1Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Serbia

2Clinic of Ophthalmology, Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, Serbia

Primljen/Received 01. 09. 2016. god. Prihva}en/Accepted 05. 10. 2016. god.

Abstract: History and medicine were an integralpart of life-being of blind serbian acters. One of themain actors was half-blind serbian ruler, Stefan of De-cani and whose name was associated with first ophthal-mologic hospital and precursor of the eye’s injuries ca-re. After, national reputation as Stefan Blind Righteo-us, ruler of the Serbian despot between 1458. and 1459.(member of Brankovic’s dinasty), and he was blindedby eye injuries burns. The famous national was also Fi-lip Visnjic, as blind minstrel and authentic creator ofserbian folk traditions, with sequels as a child, by bilat-eral infective panuveitis.

Keywords: serbian’s history, blind personality, me-dicine, Stefan Decanski, Stefan Brankovic, Filip Vi-snjic.

INTRODUCTION

Authors looked through domestic historical refer-ences in proposed future research and challenges andthe connection between Serbian history and blindness(caused by personal injuries or diseases of the eye). Aut-hors have analyzed the aspects of war-interest known, ofblind Serbian rulers and historical figures, through theresults of their injuries or diseases of the eye.

Do you, for example, believe that Serbian historyhas properly recognized the importance of people (rul-ers, poets) who were deprived of sight? Or do you thinkthat blindness of certain people had an impact on deci-sion-making or events important for Serbian historyand medicine? These and similar questions are left toreaders that they themselves have to try to find possibleanswers.

The significance of this work certainly has a clearmeaning, given the historical and/or medical context.The most well-known facts, set of analysis and set goalof this paper is hopefully reached in part through theefforts of all authors.

The aim of this study was to draw attention to theproblem of blindness in important people throughoutour history and medicine. Original thought is that per-haps we are not always aware of how important peoplein our history and church were blind, but still perfor-med some of their life’s work at the nation’s best andnow deserves more attention.

STEFAN DECANSKI - SERBIAN

HISTORICAL RULER

The domestic history scene and the ophthalmicpathology were presented through the first of the threeepoch-making historical figures. St. King Stefan ofDecani was one of the best known Saints of the SerbianOrthodox Church. He was born as the oldest son of thesaintly King Stefan Uros II Milutin and his wife Eliza-beta, a Hungarian princess. Living at the court of hisparents, and as the heir-apparent, he received good ed-ucation, exercised studying of the languages and writ-ings of Serbian people, and so his heart strengthenedby study of the Holy Scripture, and the teachings of theOrthodox Faith. Since he was the half-blind, and thefirst ophthalmologic hospital for the eye injuries inSerbia, maybe took his name (it is assumed). SaintKing Stefan Uros III Decanski was born about 1276,and died in Zvecane 11

thof November 1331. He was

the King of Serbia from Nemanjic family (1331-1346),the son of King Milutin (1282-1321), and later throughthe history, his son Dusan, the Mighty became the king(Emperor from 1346-1355) (1).

Wearing the black blindfold after the burns of botheyes, he was faithfully learning about his own (eye in-juries, burns) and the other eye problems in Constanti-nople, and shared his knowledge, returning to Serbia.He continued expanding Serbia on account of theByzantine Empire and created from it, the most power-

DOI: 10.5937/sanamed1603249J

UDK: 321.17:929 Stefan De~anski, srpski kralj;

321.17:929 Stefan Brankovi}; 821.163.41:929 Vi{nji} F.

2016; 11(3): 249–254 ID: 227797772

ISSN-1452-662X Review paper

250 Janicijevic Katarina, Kocic Sanja, Radovanovic Snezana, Sarenac Vulovic Tatjana, Petrovic Nenad, Todorovic Dusan

ful force in Balkan. His military force won at Velbuzdin 1330th, so Serbian Orthodox Church canonized himas a holy king. Monestary Decani, under Prokletija wasthe Stefan’s foundation (Figure 1).

His father blinded him in 1310, because of his re-volting, and then sent him to the monastery of ChristPantocrator, which was also forerunner of the hospitalfor the treatment of blinds. He ruled from 1321-1331,when he was over from the throne in the civil war byhis son Dusan. Foreign sources said that he had beenstrangled by Dusan. He was executed in the tomb,which he raised on the south side of the nave in VisokiDecani of Kosovo. After the vision of a monk’s tombwas opened and found his body incorrupt and the relicsplaced in the casket and now it can be found in the mo-nastery. His cult, born during his life; it was followedby blind people in that time. His title “saint emperor”was found for the first time on the one cross in 1330,and it was kept in its endowment. Bulgarians duringthe First World War took his body, but after that, theyhad to return it (2).

Archbishop Danilo II, in literary work “Lives ofthe Serbian kings and archbishops” wrote, that Milu-tin’s son had offered to negotiate, and that Stefan mo-ved by this act, he went to his father and begged himfor his forgiveness. When Milutin put hands on Stefan,he had no mercy. Stefan was shackled and sent to Sko-pje where he was blinded, and later sent off to Constan-tinople. Stefan, in the fear of his father, wore the blackblindfold almost for the rest of his life. He was onlypartially blinded, with a hot iron. He removed it manyyears later in his reign.

In Istanbul, former ruler of that time the EmperorAndronicus had sympathy for the young and sacrificedprince, because of death of his own young son. So, hedidn’t want to make his miserable fate even worse (2).

The death of Stefan, half-blind Serbian giants waslinked to the legend of the curse of Dusan’s descen-dants and later the entire Serbian state. Stefan, whenthey came to kill him, cursed his son and his descen-dants. Although, the curse did not fur field on the son,it fell on his grandson Uros, who lost all military king-dom. This legend has lasted for many centuries, andthey all remembered the curse, when Emperor Lazarwith his warriors felt in Kosovo and Serbia felt underthe Turks (3).

Serbian medieval medicine had the characteristicsas western medicine of those times in terms of practicalmedical science, whereas the ancillary medical bran-ches were under Byzantine influence. Besides thecompositions of Christ’s miracles and paraboles wereunderlying part of the fresco-painting, the scenes ofChrist’s miraculous recoveries had an important placein the Christian iconography of the New Testamentevents. One of the most impressive cycles of Christ’smiracles in the Serbian and Byzantine medieval art waspainted in 1340, in the church dedicated to the Ascen-sion of Lord Christ at Decani Monastery (constructedbetween 1327 and 1335). A considerable number of 22frescoes of different artistic value and technique dis-played the miraculous recovery of patients afflicted byvarious chronic ailments: handicapped - as blind, lameand deaf, and paralytics, lepers, etc (4). The King Ste-fan Uros Decanski III founded the hospital in the Deca-ni Monastery, as a purely medical institution for provi-ding treatment. This hospital was organized and mode-led by the hospital in Pantocrator Monastery in Con-stantinople. His biographer Gregory Camblak descri-bed that this hospital took patients suffering from epi-lepsy and serious nervous disorders, lepers, cripples,paralytics and the eye diseases (the injuries) (4). Thiswas supported as the certain that masters painted evensome of patients from Monastery Hospital.

The scenes of Christ’s miraculous recovery in theDecani Monastery were undoubtedly significant forboth: the military history and the Serbian medieval me-dicine. This considerable cycle of the monumental pa-inting and frescoes with medical matter, constituted thebasis for research of the Serbian medicine of the Mid-dle-Ages. Today, as the Serbian people suffer throughanother turbulent chapter in their history, they woulddo well to have on mind such exemplary character oftheir Martyred King Stefan Uros III (Decanski) (4, 5).He was crowned 6 January 1322 by the Archbishop ofSerbia as Stefan Uros III Decanski, King of Serbia. In1323, he defeated and killed his half-brother Konstan-

Figure 1. St. King Stefan of Decani;

Original source: The fresco in Decani Monastery,

Stefan with church model, in 14th

century

tin, retaking of Zeta (5). Having in the true Christianmanner endured the grievous trials and afflictionswhich he met through the years, the King deserved tolive out the rest of his life in peace. But, it was only fit-ting that he who suffered as martyr in life should begranted an opportunity to receive in death a martyr’scrown. Dusan’s successes on the field of battle had gi-ven him the appetite for power and glory, and encoura-ged by his entourage of nobles, so he decided to hastenhis father’s death. St. Stefan was taken to prison to afortress in the town of Zvecan and cruelly murdered(by some data he was hung, according to another hewas strangled) (6, 7, 8).

Dusan earnestly and tearfully repented of his tre-achery, and the next year, on the feast of the Holy Apo-stles, Petar and Pavle, he had his father’s remains trans-ferred from Zvecan to Decani, where they were placedin the marble tomb. In 1339 the tomb was opened, andhis body was found to be incorrupt. On that day peoplesaw many miracles of the healing: especially that theholy king proved to heal diseases and injuries of theeye, and at his relics blind people received their sight(9, 10, 11). The medical analysis of illnesses and cau-ses of death of Serbian rulers in the Middle-Ages wasdifficult. King Stefan Uros II Milutin (1282-1321) diedas a seventy years old man. His biographer, Archbishopof Pec, Danilo II wrote about a sudden onset of the dise-ase. King Milutin was paralyzed and aphasic. In the ter-minal stage, he was unconscious and insensible (12).

The first written Serbian medical records could befound in the Middle Ages (XIII century) when the Ser-bian state was very well organized. St. Save was theson of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (1171-1196), fo-under of the Serbian independent state and of the pow-erful dynasty that ruled Serbia for two centuries. Atthat time, the first hospital service was established, aswell as the social program which regulated the relati-onship between marriage and family, and the kind oftherapy, under the church and state control (13). Thefamous Hylandar place was perhaps the first of Medi-cal Codex as the most famous reminder of Serbian me-dical sciences (14). The enviable level of health cultureand social care of the ill and debilitated people of theSerbian medieval state was far advanced for that time(15, 16, 17). Favorable conditions for the developmentof medieval medicine was linked with the arrival of theNemanjic’s dynasty to the throne of the Serbian medie-val state, i.e. Stefan Nemanja, and later with the lifeand work of his son Prince Rastko Nemanjic - Saint Sa-va (18, 19). The wide field of activity of the GrandPrince Stefan Nemanja included the creation of stableand independent state with the significant and shrewdpolitical activity, building of churches, defender of theOrthodox Christianity, foundation of the first Serbian

hospital outside of borders of Serbian, state in Hylan-dar monastery (20, 21).

ST. STEFAN BRANKOVIC- SERBIAN DESPOT

St. Stefan Brankovi} was righteous descendant ofthe glorious Serbian Prince Lazar, of the Great Kosovo.Lazar and Milica had the oldest daughter Mara, whomarried for Serbian nobles, Vuk Brankovic. Vuk andMara had three sons: Grgur, Djuradj and Lazar. Afterthe death of Lazar and Milica, their son Stefan High(from 1389 until 1427) married the Greek princess Iri-na (Jelena) Paleologovom of Thessaloniki. Djuradjand Jelena had many children and among them wasborn the Blessed Stefan (about 1417 years). In hischildhood, Stefan was blessed in every good manne-red: he gained a great intellect and piety, obedience toparents, so that faith, wisdom and courage of manyovercame, and its natural physical beauty. But the mostimportant features Blessed Stefan lied in his commit-ment to the will of God, pure life and fidelity to theChurch and the Orthodox faith. When the Turks attac-ked the capital of Smederevo, Grgur was captured andtaken to Adrianople, where they were, on the orders ofthe Sultan Murat, and without knowledge of sister Sul-tana Mara, cruel both blinded by the Turks, on EasterSunday in 1441. The one of the main reasons for thisblindness of Serbian nobles was turkey envy, for theirbeauty and chivalry and fear that they did not become

BLIND SERBIAN RULERS AND FAMOUS PERSONS 251

Figure 2. Righteous Blind Stefan, St. Serbian Despot

Brankovi}; Original source: The fresco of the young

Stefan Esfigmenske Charter, in 1429

heirs and Serbian rulers of the country. A few years af-ter the suffering of the innocent, blissful and much suf-fering Stefan sighted and blinded his brother Gregory.

Sultan Murat returned to Serbia and lived surren-der father despot Giurgiu. Turks were forced to makepeace and to return to live despot Giurgiu’s sons, andthe entire city of Smederevo and despotism. Sadly wasthe scene when they met the blind father and his chil-dren: children went into the arms of his father, but theold despot roared like a wounded lion and tumbled tothe ground unconscious. The old father died on Christ-mas Eve, 24

thDecember 1456, in ninety years of life,

and soon after his death, and the death of his wife Jeri-na, Stefan’s mother (3sr May 1457), and soon after heryoung despot Lazar (20

thJanuary 1458). Then, if desi-

red Serbian people and the nobles, and the blessing ofSerbian Patriarch, blessed Blind Stefan enthroned inSmederevo for the new Serbian Despot (Figure 2).

As the ruler he was awarded the wisdom and cou-rage, because it was very difficult time and occasionsmanaged to preserve the Serbian country and peopleand not to hand over the city of Smederevo (not theTurks, nor the Hungarians). Innocent righteous BlindStefan, the last legitimate Serbian ruler would then beexpelled from the homeland, and he would have thebig troubles. However, in his unjust exile from the ho-meland, Smederevo immediately fell of the Turks(20

thJune 1458), and so the punishment of God came

upon Serbian’s land (22). Righteous Stefan and hiswife Angelina stayed with their children and lived apeaceful life devoted to the Orthodox Church, altho-ugh it was not easy in that time and in the middle ofthe Latin and Papal countries. Stephan with his familylived in Serbia in the humility and privation, someti-mes receiving alms from many sides. He died on 9

th

October 1476, and his holy body was buried in Bel-grade, on Furlandi. In 1688, the relics of St. Stefan(with relics of other Brankovic) had put away for so-me time in St. Andrew, but soon returned to Krusedol,when rested peacefully until Turks put into pieces,and together with the church burned of Krusedol in1716. From that fire, stated only some and smallerparts, including the right foot, as holy and righteousBlind Stefan as martyrs and victims of many Serbi-ans. Grgur and Stefan were blinded (the burns) by theSultan Murat II, of 1441 in Tokat fortress by the seaand near to Istanbul, in an old mansion called “BedeviCardak”. They were blinded with hot iron over theeyes (burns). Stefan’s brother, Blind Gregory, afterthe conquering the city of Smederevo by Turks (20

th

June 1459) retreated to monastery Hylandar, where hepassed away as a German monk (in late 1459). The re-lics of Stefan Blind based at the monastery of Kruse-dol, which was endowed by his son, Maxim. Stefan

Blind, as New Brankovic and despot ruled only a yearin the mid of XV century. His body wasn’t fallingapart, after which he transferred the relics to the mon-astery, probably 1515. Stefan Brankovic (born - 1417,died - 9

thOctober 1476 in Belgrade, it was a fortress in

present-day - Italy), also known in historiography asStefan Blind was briefly the despot (ruler) of the Ser-bian Despotate, between 1458 and 1459 as a memberof the Brankovic dynasty. On 11

thSeptember 1429,

Djuradj made donation to Esphigmenou Monastery atMount Athos. The charter for the document named byhis wife Eirene and five children. The Ma\pard -sa-relli manuscript also named by the same five childrenof Djuradj and Eirene. Other genealogies mentioned asixth child - Todor Brankovic. The 1429 documentmentioned him with the title of Despot. Grgur was ap-pointed governor of territories of southern Serbia as-sociated to House of Brankovic. He was reportedlyappointed by Murat II of the Ottoman Empire in 1439.In April 1441, Grgur was accused of plotting againstMurat and his governorship terminated. He was im-prisoned in Amasya and blinded on 8

thMay 1441. The

Massarelli manuscript mentioned Grgur as unwed.Later genealogies name his wife as “Jelisaveta”. VukGrgurevic, a son of Grgur, was later a titular Serbiandespot (1471–1485). Both blind brothers seem to beomitted from considerations as possible heirs to theirfather. They could only claim the throne in 1458, sin-ce the death of Lazar leaving them the only male rep-resentatives of the Brankovic. When Serbian Despo-tate had been lost to Ottomans, Stefan’s son Jovan ofSerbian refugees to Kingdom of Hungary. There Jo-van was finally recognized as Serbian Despot, with aprincipality called Raitzen (23). He was venerated asSaint Stefan Blind by the Serbian Orthodox Church.He long after that his body would be published as in-corrupt, and so what is the tomb began to appear amarvelous heavenly light. The brightness of the firstsaw some guys were thieves who came to rob his gra-ve. When they turned then to open his tomb, his bodywas found incorrupt and even, together with decom-posed his suit. From its many holy relics then got hea-ling, and many blind received their sight (24). SerbianOrthodox Church today celebrates St. Stefan’s(1425-1476), despot of Serbian who did not want atany price and became Turkish vassal renounced Ser-bianism, who died in Udine (Italy) in the greatest mis-ery (25). Turks to Stefan blinded, thinking that thiswould weaken the Serbian government, and that theSerbs would have to respecting to the leader who hada disability. However, Stefan Blind was shown as “to-ugh nut” that was willing to cooperate and only theHungarians resisted the Turks. Stefan immediately af-ter the entry into throne managed to preserve Smede-

252 Janicijevic Katarina, Kocic Sanja, Radovanovic Snezana, Sarenac Vulovic Tatjana, Petrovic Nenad, Todorovic Dusan

revo from Turks led by Mehmed II Conqueror. Afterthe successful defense of Smederevo, many foreignpowers have intervened, but not for the sake of defen-ding the interests of Serbia, but for fear of OttomanTurks coming to their doorstep (26).

“Opinions about the rule of despot Stefan blind to-day are divided. Some believe that he never should ta-ke charge, while others think it was the last ruler whothen sincerely defended Serbia from the Turks. SerbianChurch has never forgotten the role of the ruler whowas given the title of saint. Stefan Blind was remembe-red as the person, who strongly believed that Ortho-doxy was the only thing that could have saved Serbi-ans, throughout the Turkish invasion” (27).

FILIP VISNJIC - SERBIAN

HISTORICAL MINSTREL

Another historical and national character, FilipVisnjic (1767-1834), was one of the most famous Ser-bian minstrels and authentic creator of Serbian folksongs and traditions. He was born in Majevica, at villa-ge of Gornja Trnova in Ugljevik. As he turned blind af-ter being sick from smallpox and the sequels as a childby panuveitis (complicata), he had become a professio-nal Serbian singer with old fiddle in hand he traveledthroughout the Bosnian pashadom. At the monasterycouncils he sang for Serbs, and passing through thetowns narrated in the courts of the Turkish rulers. Twoaudiences were looking for different poems, so Visnjichad two different repertoires, one for the Christian andthe other for the Muslim audience (28). His poems abo-ut Saint Sava were characteristic of the monastery, ha-giographic repertory of total blind singer. Filip Visnjicwas the creator of new poems. Thirteen poems “Kara-djordje’s time” along with several other less importantpoems of other poets make the last and insurrectionarycycle of Serbian folk epics. The most important mo-ment in the life of Filip Visnjic was his move to Serbiain 1809. Direct contact with the insurrectionist eventswas the moment of his birth as the famous Serbian andmilitary poet. After the collapse of the First SerbianUprising, Visnjic has moved to Srem and settled in thevillage Grk, now Visnjicevo. Main place occupied theSerbian rebel poems, which he sang by himself (28). Inmonastery Sisatovac in 1815, he met Vuk Karadzic,who had written seventeen of his songs, four old andthirteen new poems. In Sisatovac, Filip Visnjic had of-ten been the guest at then leading Serbian poet and fa-mous person to Lucian Musicki. To these meetings of“Serbian Homer” and “Serbian Horace” authors owedinformation about Visnjic’s life and work. Musickitold how he had created the songs: he asked the warri-ors when they returned from battlefield which was in

head, where they were beaten, who died, against whomthey were going. Songs from the first group were moreartistically built, mainly “Start uprising against Dahi-as” and the first part of the song “The Battle of Misar”,while in the second group the songs of value and im-portance of Ivo Knezevic. With his liberation enthusi-asm Visnjic was most similar to Petar Petrovic Njegos(II), with whom he was bound trough the number ofcommon features (29). Although he worked in the tra-ditional framework of national epics served by stan-dard formulas and cliches, he had largely outgrown theboxes and in the best moments of the epics made a newtype of rebellion, liberation, revolutionary songs, withthe strong individual and blind Serbian feature (30).With completely blind Serbian minstrel and poet, thegreat Serbian folk words trough heroic poems have re-corded epochal Serbian history, art, culture and medi-cine traditions (Figure 3).

CONCLUSION

It should be noted that the Serbian historical andmedical scenes from the perspective of the eye injuriesand the eye diseases of the blindness, has not been fullyunderstood by now. However, with the attitude towardsthe critical ophthalmic thinking, we are on the rightpath in shedding the light on the new discoveries.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of in-terest.

BLIND SERBIAN RULERS AND FAMOUS PERSONS 253

Figure 3. Filip Visnjic as blind serbian minstrel

end historical poet; Original source: The grafic

portrait of Josip Danilovac of Eminent Serbs in XIX

century of Zagreb, in 1901.

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254 Janicijevic Katarina, Kocic Sanja, Radovanovic Snezana, Sarenac Vulovic Tatjana, Petrovic Nenad, Todorovic Dusan

Sa`etak

SLEPI SRPSKI VLADARI I ^UVENE LI^NOSTI

Janicijevic Katarina,1

Kocic Sanja,1

Radovanovic Snezana,1

Sarenac Vulovic Tatjana,1, 2

Petrovic Nenad,1, 2

Todorovic Dusan1, 2

1Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Serbia

2Clinic of Ophthalmology, Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, Serbia

Istorija i medicina predstavljaju sastavni deo biv-stvovanja slepih srpskih aktera. Jedan od glavnih akte-ra je poluslepi srpski vladar, Stefan De~anski, ~ije jeime povezano sa mo`da, prvom o~nom bolnicom, kaoprete~om za zbrinjavanje povreda oka, opekotina. Ponacionalnom ~uvenju, Stefan Slepi Pravedni, bio jevladar Srpske despotovine izme|u 1458. i 1459. (~lan

Brankovi}eve dinastije), a tako|e oslepljen usled ope-kotina oba oka. ^uvena nacionalna i istorijska li~nostje bio Filip Vi{nji}, slepi guslar i autenti~an tvorac srp-skih, narodnih tradicija, sa sekvelama obostranog in-fektivnog panuvetisa jo{ kao dete.

Klju~ne re~i: srpska istorija, slepe li~nosti, medi-cina, Stefan De~anski, Stefan Brankovi}, Filip Vi{nji}.

Correspondence to / Autor za korespondencijuKatarina M. JanicijevicFaculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, SerbiaSvetozar Markovic 69, 34000 Kragujevac, SerbiaTel: +38134/369828Mob: +381642183797E-mail: kaja.andrejaªyahoo.com