BALKAN SAINTS - Mirjana Detelić

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Kosovo) complete with court and palaces (cf. Ivanovic 1987, 453). At Gornja Nerodimlja
near Urońevac there was a fourteenth-century monastery of St Michael; it was in its
churchyard that King Milutin died in 1321 (Ivanovic 1987, 423-424). Another St
Michael‟s monastery was in the village of Binaĉ south of Vitina; assumptions that it was
erected in place of a Byzantine bishopric from the time of the Emperor Basil II have not
been supported by archaeological evidence (Ivanovic 1987, 399). Remains of ruined
churches dedicated in honour of Michael are also sited in the villages of Lokvice (near
Prizren, fourteenth century), Ljevońa near Peć (Ivanovic 1987, 473, 476), and Muńutińte
near Suva Reka.
King Milutin‟s grandson, Emperor Duńan, built a monumental establishment in
honour of the Holy Archangels near Prizren, announcing his intention in the charter he
issued to the Monastery of St Peter of Korińa in 1343. A document from the Venetian
Archives dating from 1340 informs us that King Duńan took gravely ill that year. As his
physicians were unable to help, Duńan vowed to build a church of the Archangels in
Jerusalem should he recover. He later changed his mind, promising his sepulchral church
to them while making generous donations to the Jerusalem monastery. The edition of the
Charter is J. Ńafarik: „Хрисовуља цара Стефана Душана којом основа манастир
Светих Арханђела Михаила и Гаврила у Призрену г. 1348‟, Гласник ДСС XV
(1862). its translation by D. Bogdanović in Задужбине Косова, 345-6. This gesture of
Duńan‟s lays emphasis on Michael‟s healing powers, as may be seen clearly from the
surviving part of the preamble to the Charter to the Holy Archangels, where we read the
words of gratitude for the miraculous healing: „What could I give you, O my Lord and
lover of mankind, for all that you gave me? for you raised me up when I fell and revived
me when I died?” Speaking about the dedication of this imperial foundation, it may be
interesting to draw attention to a paper that at first sight belongs to the domain of art
history, dealing with the sculptural decoration of the main church. Proceeding from the
surviving fragments, the author attempts a reconstruction of the contents of the lunette
above the portal between the narthex and the nave. From her reconstruction it follows
that, rather than offering a model of the church to the patron (as was usual for ktetors‟
compositions), the sovereign, on bended knees, is stretching out his empty hands, which
may be interpreted as an offering of faith and hope – instead of giving, the ktetor feels the
need to be given. „In that sense, the empty hands embody a particular form of illuminated
piety – it is a void tending to be filled with God‟s grace.‟ For more details on the subject,
with earlier bibliography, see Danica Popovic 1994, p. 34.
A little digression will be made here in order to emphasise the necessity to examine
the influence of liturgical literature on preambles to charters. This unquestionable but as
yet unexamined relationship may be illustrated by this example – the preamble to
Duńan‟s charter contains the following description of an archangel: „Bright is your fiery
face, and miraculous (your) kindness.‟ The second stihira at Vespers of the Service of
September 6 („On the Lord I call‟) (Bratkov minej) reads literally: „Your face is fiery and
your kindness beautiful, O Michael, leader of angels.‟ Doubtless the quotation from the
preamble is a paraphrase of the Service of the Archangel. In this particular case all the
four services paying homage to the archangels ought to be taken into consideration.
Another interesting detail should not be overlooked either – both in the September and
November services there figures another archangel, Gabriel. His perceived role in the life
of man is equally important, announcing the forthcoming birth of the Saviour. Also, a