18 results on '"POPOVIC M"'
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2. Neue Infektionskrankheiten und neue Aspekte bei Infektionskrankheiten : Erworbenes Immundefektsyndrom (AIDS)
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Stille, W., Helm, E. B., Vogt, M., Lüthy, R., Siegenthaler, W., Graevenitz, A., Schüpbach, J., Popovic, M., Sarngadharan, M. G., Salahuddin, S. Z., Markham, P. D., Gallo, R. C., Lindenmann, J., Oettgen, H., Krown, S. E., Miehlke, Klaus, editor, and Bergmann, J. F. more...
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- 1984
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3. On the relationship between titles and spaces: A case study on Macedonia under King and Emperor Stefan Dušan (1331–1355)
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Popović Mihailo St., Zervan Vratislav, and Filiposki Toni
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byzantine oecumene ,roman ,greek and byzantine literature ,serbian medieval history ,serbian medieval charters ,historical geography ,toponymy ,byzantine macedonia ,History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
The article focuses on historical-geographical aspects of the Serbian medieval Kingdom and Empire and its relation to Byzantium in Macedonia during the 14th century. It is structured in four parts: The first is an introduction to the subject, in which the possible existence of a medieval Serbian Oecumene in addition to the Byzantine Oecumene is addressed. After that this hypothesis is discussed in detail in the second part by introducing a rich variety of Greek, Roman and Byzantine texts, which are outlining the Roman/Byzantine perception of space and definition of the borders of the Roman/Byzantine Empire. In the third part of the article the titles and related geographical entities in the intitulations as well as signatures of the Serbian King and Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan (1331-1355) in Serbian charters are analysed in order to understand and reconstruct the perception of space in the expanding Serbian realm during the first half of the 14th century. Historical regions, which are mentioned in the charters, are put in relation to the expansion in Byzantine Macedonia. In the fourth and last part the source-based evidence is connected to the toponymy of Byzantine Macedonia. Toponyms, which are containing “Car” (i.e. “Emperor”), have been identified and localised in order to discern a pattern of imperial power and presence in the region. Although there are strong indications that some of them might refer to the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan, it cannot be excluded that many could be based on the presence of Byzantine Emperors and Bulgarian rulers in the region. Therefore, the fourth part is to be understood as a fresh and novel approach towards toponomastic aspects in the region, which shall stimulate further research in the near future. more...
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- 2020
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4. The Saxon church in Novo Brdo - Santa Maria in Novomonte
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Popović Marko
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novo brdo ,sasi ,catholics ,church architecture ,Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
The site with the remains of the Saxon church, that is, the former Catholic church of St Mary, lies on a mild slope that descends from the fort to the southeast, or the village of Bostane. Located at a distance of about 1,200 m from Novo Brdo’s Lower Town, it was outside this former urban area. It was intermittently investigated in the 1950s and ‚60s, but the complete results of these works have not been published. With this in mind, after almost six decades, an attempt was made, based on the remaining fieldwork documentation, to examine in more detail the complex of this important Novo Brdo edifice. The investigated remains of the church itself reveal three stages, or more precisely, construction phases, which reflect the emergence, renovation and extension of this temple over an extended period of time, from the first decades of the 14th to the end of the 17th century. The first and most important stage comprises the construction of the church itself, as well as the successive adding of masonry tombs and graves in the interior of the original temple. The following stage includes an extensive renovation and expansion of the church, while the third and final stage is distinguished by the construction of a porch in front of the western façade (Fig. 2). The Saxon church is a single-nave temple of a spacious rectangular base. On the eastern side, two massive pilasters separated the nave from a much narrower alter area that terminated in a semicircular apse. This space, that is, the presbytery, was divided by a pair of similar massive pilasters into two unequal parts - a shorter western one, which could be labelled as the choir, and a much larger eastern one, in the centre of which was a masonry altar mensa in the form of a massive column and two simultaneously built steps. In front of them, on the same western side, this construction also included the first, monolithic step, which on the sides had step-like profiled cubes, the upper surface of which contained regularly carved circular indentations for the placement of massive candles. Alongside all four corners of the masonry construction of the alter mensa, steplike profiled bases carved from breccia were discovered in situ, which most likely carried the construction of a wooden ciborium. On the southern side, in the corner between the altar area and the wider nave, a sacristy was located, which was connected by a door to the presbytery, that is, the choir. The interior of the Saxon church, which was completely explored, revealed the existence of several burial horizons, which can, chronologically and in terms of their general characteristics, be determined. The oldest burials, which were performed within the original church, somewhat differ from the later ones, from the time after the renovation of the temple, as well as the construction of the porch. Characteristic of the older period are masonry tombs, intended for a number of burials (Fig. 3). Generally observed, despite the noticeable construction technique typical of the local area, the Saxon church stylistically resembled a Gothic edifice. What particularly contributed to this are stylistically clearly recognisable tall and narrow windows with a broken arch. Such a stylistic preference, in all likelihood, was also influenced by a possible solution for the under- roof construction above the unvaulted nave. The Saxon church in Novo Brdo represents a peculiar phenomenon in the territory of Serbia. It is immediately apparent that the church’s spatial solution corresponded to the needs of Roman Catholic worship. However, by the form of its base it is distinguished from the usual types of Catholic temples in the coastal areas of medieval Serbia, from where the western cultural influences flowed. It was clearly noted that the base of the Novo Brdo church has no close parallels among churches of the Adriatic, which imposed the need for a more detailed consideration of its spatial solution. It’s base, with a rectangular nave, a narrower vaulted presbytery and a laterally positioned sacristy, is characteristic of sacral architecture in a wider area, from the Netherlands, Southern Germany and Saxony, all the way to Transylvania - Ardeal. The spread of this type of base from the areas of its origin, during the 12th and 13th centuries, can be associated with the Saxon diaspora, specifically the Sassi miners, progressing towards the east. This was particularly indicated by a considerable number of these temples in the mining areas of Ardeal, from where the Sassi migrations advanced further down to the south, namely, to the central regions of the Balkans. The thus perceived base of the Novo Brdo church, which, on the whole, follows the spatial solution of Saxon temples, represents the southernmost example of a sacral edifice of this type in Southeast Europe. The time of the construction of the Saxon church in Novo Brdo can be quite reliably determined despite the fragmentarily preserved documentation. The rapid development of the city was undoubtedly accompanied by religious organising, first of the Sassi miners, followed by numerous merchants from Adriatic towns, primarily those from the ”King’s City” of Kotor, and subsequently also from Dubrovnik. Based on all these findings it can be quite safely concluded that the first newly erected church in Novo Brdo was precisely the Saxon church, that is, Santa Maria in Novomonte. It was built, without any doubt, due to the efforts of the newly settled Sassi mining community. Such a conclusion can reliably be drawn on the basis of the spatial solution of the new temple rooted in traditions from the homeland, which were disseminated by this mining population in all areas of their diaspora. The very method of building and some construction solutions, which did not affect the basic concept, were left to local builders. This dating is further supported by coin finds, the oldest specimens of which originate from the last decade of the reign of King Stefan Uroš II (1282-1321). The Saxon church, outside the fortified Lower Town, shared the fate of Novo Brdo. Since it was located on the access route to the city, which was not especially defended, it could have been exposed to occasional Turkish attacks during the last decades of the 14th century. With significant destruction, as evidenced by the results of archaeological excavations, the earlier period of life of the Saxon church came to an end. It can be assumed that this took place at the time of the almost two-year long Turkish siege of Novo Brdo between 1439 and 1441. After the Turkish occupation of Novo Brdo in 1455, and upon restoring stability in the conquered city, conditions were created for the renovation of the Saxon church – Santa Maria in Novomonte. One letter from Rome, sent to the archbishop of the city of Bar in 1458, indicates that this was also advocated by Pope Pius II personally. Major works on that occasion, as shown by archaeological investigations, were conducted within the area of the nave, which was almost entirely in ruins. The undertaken renovation provided the opportunity to increase the size of the church, specifically to extend it westward by 2.70 m. New walls were built from the ground up on the northern and western side of the nave, while within the altar area, which was certainly much better preserved, no traces of any subsequent alterations were noted. Somewhat later, in front of the renovated church, a wooden porch was added. The Saxon church was also used for worship during the 16th and the first half of the 17th century. The archbishop of Bar, Marino Bizzi, during a canonical visitation in 1610, noted that the church at that time fulfilled all the requirements for worship. Three decades later, his successor, Archbishop Giorgio Bianchi, visited the Novo Brdo ”canonical church dedicated to St Mary”, which he says was in the hands of Christians and that inside ”are graves in which Catholics are buried…”. This is also the last known data regarding this prominent Novo Brdo temple, which was, without a doubt, finally destroyed during the Austro-Turkish war at the end of the 17th century. more...
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- 2019
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5. Byzantinistik, Historische Geographie und Ethnographie in dem konigreich Jugoslavien an dem beispiel des professors Milenko S. Filipović und der Philosophischen Fakultat in Skoplje (1925–1940)
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Popović Mihailo St. and Nikić Jelena
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Kingdom of Yugoslavia ,Faculty of Arts in Skoplje ,Byzantine Studies ,Historical Geography ,Ethnology and Ethnography ,Milenko S. Filipović ,History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
This article is based on unpublished archival material of the State Archives of the Republic of Macedonia in Skoplje from the years 1925 to 1940, which were analysed in terms of two aspects. On the one hand, it can be seen how the Faculty of Arts in Skoplje itself and its wide range of academic fields were established in the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. These included, amongst others, Byzantine Studies, Historical Geography and Ethnography. On the other hand, this article deals with an outstanding researcher of that time in the person of Milenko S. Filipović (1902-1969). He was a lecturer and later a professor of Ethnology and Ethnography, who regularly incorporated all three aforesaid academic fields into his publications. His personal as well as the institutional development of these academic fields were abruptly interrupted by the Second World War (1941), but were revived with new vigour in Belgrade after 1945. more...
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- 2018
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6. The bathing chamber in the castle of Novo Brdo
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Popović Marko
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bathing chamber ,shallow dome ,Castle ,Novo Brdo ,Amalfi ,Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
A recent archaeological excavation of the Castle of the town of Novo Brdo has discovered residential buildings from the second quarter of the 14th century as well as the remains of a subsequently built bath, dated to the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century. Built on a small area, the bath consisted of a single bathing chamber above a hypocaust, a water reservoir and a furnace. Since there were no natural springs or groundwater wells, it was supplied with water from cisterns. The bathing chamber, originally domed, was not furnished with a masonry water basin. It was heated by an under floor hypocaust system and by steam conveyed by pipes from are servoir of boiling water. The only known analogies for this small structure, presently the only such discovered in medieval Serbia and its neighborhood, are bathing chambers in residential complexes in the region of Amalfi, southern Italy. more...
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- 2018
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7. The Myhrr-exuding tomb of St Symeon of Serbia at Studenica: A fresh look
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Popović Danica and Popović Marko
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ruler cult ,cult of saints ,holy relics ,myrrh-exuding ,sarcophagus ,Studenica ,St Symeon of Serbia ,History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
The latest results of the investigation of the royal tombs at the monastery of Studenica, Serbia, have inspired a reconsideration of the place of burial of some members of the Nemanjić family. There is further evidence that the tomb and sarcophagus of the ktetor, Stefan Nemanja, formed part of the original design for the church. Based on their construction and comparative material, it is assumed that the relics of St Symeon, upon their translation to Studenica, were laid in the sarcophagus from which they exuded myrrh. The myrrh-exuding of St Symeon is looked at against the broader background of cult practice in the Byzantine world. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177003: Srednjovekovno nasleđe Balkana - institucije i kultura] more...
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- 2015
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8. Depiction of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius Theophorus in the prothesis of Novo Hopovo
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Popović Milica
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Saint Ignatius Theophorus ,martyrdom scenes ,iconography ,Byzantine art ,Novo Hopovo (monastery) ,History of the arts ,NX440-632 - Abstract
In the art of the Christian East, the depictions of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius Theophorus, bishop of Antioch, can usually be found among the illustrations of the Menologion. The scene from the monastery of Novo Hopovo, dated to the 1600s, is one of the rare independent depictions of Saint Ignatius’s martyrdom. The paper discusses the iconography of this scene and possible reasons for placing it in the prothesis of the katholikon of Novo Hopovo. The inclusion of a scene showing the martyrdom of the bishop of Antioch into the thematic repertoire of this compartment is a solitary example in Serbian medieval and Byzantine monumental painting. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036: Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost i njen evropski kontekst] more...
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- 2015
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9. The funerary church of the monastery of Žiča: A contribution to the study of medieval monastic burial in Byzantium and Serbia
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Popović Marko
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Funerary chapel ,ossuary ,monastic burial ,typikon ,Constantinople ,Bachkovo ossuary ,Žiča ,Studenica of Hvosno ,Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
The paper revisits the little-examined remains of the funerary church discovered in the vicinity of the monastery of Žiča in 1938. It takes a look at the analogous examples of this type of buildings, notably the remains discovered at the monastery of Studenica of Hvosno and the ossuary at the monastery of Bachkovo. It also looks at the rules for monastic burial laid down in the surviving typika of the eleventh/twelfth century, and at different monastic burial practices in the area of the autocephalous Serbian Church. It puts forward the assumption that the funerary chapel formed an integral part of the original complex of the monastery of Žiča, that it was built in the 1220s, and that it lost its original function sometime in the fourteenth century. more...
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- 2013
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10. A contribution to the topography of Byzantine Belgrade in the 11th and 12th centuries
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Popović Marko
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Byzantium ,Belgrade ,cathedral church ,chancel screen ,low-relief decoration ,History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
The focus of the paper is the stone fragment of a Byzantine architectural element discovered in Belgrade several decades ago. It has served as a basis for reconstructing the original appearance of the element which has been identified as the plinth of a chancel screen column. The plinth, which flanked the north side of the central templon door, is decorated in low relief on three sides, and has been dated by style to the 11th century. It presumably formed part of the templon of Belgrade’s cathedral church, of which no remains have survived. Based on analogies, the church might have been a three-aisled basilica, probably located in the urban zone of 11th- and 12th-century Byzantine Belgrade. Archaeological excavations indicate that this urban zone was situated within the walls of the former Roman castrum. more...
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- 2013
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11. Die siedlungsstruktur der region melnik in spatbyzantinischer und osmanischer zeit
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Popović Mihailo St.
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region of Melnik ,structure of settlements ,central place theory ,late Byzantine and Ottoman period ,History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
The Byzantine and Old Slavonic charters on the city of Melnik and its surrounding area for the period between 1216/1259 and 1395 have not been analysed so far according to the "Central Place Theory". On the one hand this analysis shows clearly the limits in the localization of toponyms mentioned in the charters. On the other hand it is possible to discern that the urban catchment of the city in the Late Byzantine period was not that spacious as postulated in the secondary literature, but has to be revised on the basis of the present findings in favor of a spatially limited catchment. more...
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- 2010
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12. The Church of St. Stephan on Šćepan polje near Soko-grad
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Popović Marko and Vukadinović Svetlana
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Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
The Church of St. Stephan, in this paper, belonged to a medieval residential complex above the confluence of the River Piva and the River Tara, in the extreme northeast of the present-day Republic of Montenegro. The central part of the complex consisted of Soko-grad, a castle with the court of the prominent, aristocratic, Kosača family, which, at the end of the 14th century, right until the Turkish conquests in the sixties and seventies of the 15th century, ruled the regions later known as Hercegovina. At the foot of the castle, on Šćepan polje, is the suburb with the Church of St. Stephan the endowment of the grand duke, Sandalj Hranić (+1345). At the foot of the northern slope, beneath the castle, in the area of Zagrađa, is another church erected by the grand duke's successor, Herzeg Stefan Vukćić Kosača (+1465). After the Turkish conquest, the complex of the Soko castle with its suburb was destroyed and the churches became deserted and were never renewed. The ruins of St. Stephan were discovered, investigated and then conserved from 1971-973, however, the results of this research have not been published until now. In reviewing the results obtained in the course of the archaeological excavations, it is possible, in a considerable measure, to comprehend the position and former appearance of the Church of St. Stephan and establish roughly, the time when it came into being. This was the largest church erected in the regions governed by the powerful, Kosača noble family, during the 15th century. The total length of the church exceeded 25 metres and its width was approximately ten metres. In the preserved body of the construction, of which the remaining walls rise to a height of four metres one may see three basic stages of building. A narthex was later erected beside the church, and subsequently a small parakklesion was added, on the northern side. The original church had a single nave, a cruciform base and a gently, horseshoe-shaped apsis, facing east, flanked by rectangular choirs. The interior of the church, with two pairs of small pilasters, was articulated in three bays of almost equal dimensions. The altar, encompassing the apsis and the eastern bay, was separated from the naos by a constructed altar partition-wall, the essential appearance of which can be assumed on the basis of whatever was found. The entire surface of the constructed iconostasis was covered with frescoes. The floor of the naos was a step lower than the floor of the altar. Flooring made of mortar, like in the altar area also existed in the choirs. As opposed to these spaces, in the central and western bays, the floor was made of large, hewn stone slabs. The finds discovered in the debris, offered an abundance of data about the upper, now collapsed, structures of the church, and about the stonemasonry that decorated this building. The church did not have a dome but all three bays were topped by a single vault of carved calcareous stone, reinforced by two arches, resting on the pilasters. We may assume that the roof structure was of the Gothic type, and ribbed at the base. Above the choirs were lower semi-spherical vaults, perpendicular in relation to the longitudinal axis of the church. They were covered by gabled roofs that ended in triangular frontons on the northern and southern façade, like the main vault on the eastern side above the altar apsis. The roof of the church was made of lead. A belfry, of unique construction, existed on the western side of the original church. It stood about one meter in front of the western wall and was linked by a vaulted passage to the main body of the building. All these parts were structurally inter-connected, indicating that they were built at the same time. The position and appearance of the original church windows can almost certainly be determined according to the preserved traces on the remaining sections of the walls, and the finds of the relevant stonemasonry. In the interior of the naos, along the southern wall of the western bay was the grave of the donor of the church of St. Stephan, Grand Duke Sandalj Hranić. This was the traditional position where the donor was buried, according to the custom or rather, the rule that had been practiced for centuries in the countries of the Byzantine Orthodox Christian world, and particularly in the Serbian lands. The duke's grave, marked by a stele in the form of a massive low coffin on a pedestal, was prepared while the church was being built given that it would have been impossible to install this large monolith that weighed approximately 2.5 tons in the church, later. Generally speaking, the donor's grave in the church of St. Stephan, is eloquent testimony of the donor's aspirations and beliefs. Besides the undoubtedly local feature of a funerary monument in the form of a stele, all its other characteristics emulate earlier models from the region of the Serbian lands. In front of the original church, at a later stage, which apparently followed soon after, a spacious narthex with a rectangular base was added on. Pylons of the belfry substructure were fitted into its eastern wall, which seems to have made that wall much thicker than the other walls of the narthex. This later erected narthex was not vaulted, which we concluded after analysing the preserved walls and the finds in the debris. Apparently, it had a flat ceiling construction, supported by massive beams that rested on consoles along the length of the northern and southern walls. The side entrances when the narthex was built were of the same dimensions as its western portal. However later, before installing the stone doorposts, both these entrances were narrowed down on their western, lateral sides, while the southern portal, in a later phase, was completely walled up. In the course of exploration, no reliable data was discovered regarding the position of the windows in the narthex. One can only assume that monophoric windows existed on the lateral walls, one or two on each side, similar to the monophores in the western bay. Apart from the narthex, another, later construction was observed next to the original church. On its northern side, along the western bay and the lateral side of the choir, a parakklesion, that is, a small funerary chapel was added on, in the middle of which a large stele once stood, of which now only fragments exist. The entire interior of the church of St. Stephan was deco-rated with frescoes. Rather small fragments of the wall painting were discovered in the debris, not only of the original church but also of the narthex, as well as of the northern funerary chapel. It was observed that they were all of the same quality, painted on mortar of a uniform texture which suggests that all the painting was done as soon as the additional buildings were finished. On the discovered fragments, one can recognise the dark blue back-ground of the former compositions, and the borders painted in cynober. On several fragments, there were preserved sections of or whole letters from Serbian Cyrillic texts. On several fragments that may have originated from the aureoles or parts of robes, traces of gold leaf were visible, which would indicate the splendour and representativeness of the frescoes that decorated the endowment of the grand duke, Sandalj Hranić. With the shape of the foundation of a single-nave church, divided into three bays and with rectangular choir spaces, the church of St. Stephan continued the tradition of the early Rascia school of Serbian architecture (13th beginning of 14th century), which represented a significant novelty at the time when it appeared. In Serbia, in the last decades of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, the predominant plan of the churches, the triconche, was based on the Holy Mount models. The decision by the donor, the grand duke Sandalj, to give his endowment the features of the earlier, Rascia heritage, in the times when the Serbian territories had been broken up and were exposed to pressure from external enemies, undoubtedly had a deeper significance. By relying on the earlier tradition, which is also reflected in the dedication of the church to St. Stephan, the patron saint of the state and of the Nemanjić dynasty, the donor expressed the aspiration to consolidate his authority more firmly in the regions that had previously formed part of the Serbian state. By erecting an endowment, and a funerary church that he wished to be his eternal resting-place, Sandalj was also demonstrating that he ranked among his predecessors, the Serbian rulers and nobility. One can see this from the choice of the traditional burial position, along the southern wall of the western bay, as well as from the tomb he had prepared for himself during his lifetime. Apart from the basic idea and plan of the church based on the Rascia tradition, the features of its architecture also exhibit other influences. Of crucial importance here was the choice of builders, who undoubtedly came from the coastal area, which is reflected both in the structural solutions, as well as in the decorative stonework. However, local master-craftsman undoubtedly took part in this achievement. One can see this particularly when observing the stonework which, besides some admittedly rather rare, better-carved pieces, consists of a great deal of carving by less experienced artisans. The assumptions about the origin of the architecture and the builders are substantiated by observing the preserved traces of the frescoes, which show that the decoration of St. Stephan's and the adjacent narthex was also entrusted to one of the coastal painters. Perhaps it was the well-known Dubrovnik painter Dživan Ugrinović, who is known to have been commissioned by the grand duke Sandalj in 1429. There is no direct or reliable record of the date when the endowment of the grand duke Sandalj Hranić or its later annexes were built. The stylistic analysis of the stonework makes it possible only roughly to attribute it to the first half of the 15th century. The year 1435 provides a slightly narrower span of time, which is the time of Sandalj's funeral, when it would appear that the church of St. Stephan was already finished. The data mentioned earlier regarding the engagement of builders from Dubrovnik and the possible later decoration, enables us to date it more exactly. Therefore, we may assume that the church itself was erected before the end of the second decade of the 15Lj century. The additional construction of the narthex may have followed soon after the completion of the church itself, as indicated by the stylistically uniform stonework. If we accept the possibility that the church was decorated at the end of the third decade of the 15Š century, and that this was finished both in the church and the narthex at the same time the year 1429 would be the terminus ante quem for the completion of the additional construction. The Kosača endowment, erected beside the Soko castle, offers new evidence about this prominent, noble or ruling family, and particularly about their religious affiliation. Historians, almost as a rule consider the Kosača family to have been Bogumils, or people whose religious convictions were not particularly firm. Such views were based on the fact that Sandalj Hranić, the grand duke of Rusaga Bosanskog (of the Bosnian kingdom) and his successor, the duke and subsequently the herzeg, Stefan Vukćić, were tolerant towards the Bogumils and were often surrounded by people who upheld such religious beliefs, which was the political reality of the times in which they lived and functioned. On the other hand, the enemies of the Kosača family made use of this to depict them to the Western and Eastern Christians as heretics, which was not without consequences. The distorted view of their religious conviction not only accompanied them during their lifetime but persists even today, not only in historiography but in present-day politics, as well, particularly after the recent wars in ex-Yugoslavia. The origin of the Kosača family is connected with the region of the Upper Drina, that is to say, the region that had always been a part of the Nemanjić state, where there were no Bogumils, nor could there be. As owners of part of what had always been the Serbian lands, which went to Bosnia after the tragic division between Ban Tvrtko and Prince Lazar, the consequences of which are still felt today, the Kosača very soon became independent rulers of this territory, forming a specific territory that later came to be known as Herzegovina. Another element that also bears weight in this respect is the fact that, in contrast to central Bosnia where the Bogumil heresy was influential, the population in the Kosača lands was Orthodox Christian, with a certain number of Catholics in the western parts. The fact that the regions they ruled were nominally within the Bosnian kingdom, where the ruling class were predominantly Bogumils for a long time did not have any fundamental bearing on their religious affiliation. Significant records have been preserved of their unconcealed Orthodox Christian orientation. Without going into the details of this complex circle of problems, which requires a separate study, especially after the more recent discoveries and facts that have come to light, we shall dwell only on some facts. During the rule of Grand Duke Sandalj and his successor, Herzeg Stefan, which lasted almost seventy years, a whole series of Orthodox Christian churches were erected. During the first half of the 15th century, a kind of renaissance of the Rascia school of architecture came about in this area. In the words of V.J. Đurić, the endowments of the Kosača family 'are different from the average buildings of their time by virtue of their size sometimes the unusual solutions, and the great beauty of form and proportions'. The wealth of the family and the continual relations with aitists from the southern Adriatic coastal cities imbued their architecture with buoyancy and significance. The western stylistic features of the churches of the Kosača, and the Gothic language of the stonemasons, reveal the centres where these master craftsmen had learned their trade. With the erection of the endowment in the 'ruling seat' beneath Mt. Soko and the churches intended as their final resting-places, the Kosača distinguished themselves as the last continuers of the Nemanjić tradition of earlier centuries, in the time that preceded the final Turkish conquest of the Serbian lands. The memory of their work is preserved in the church of St. Stephan and the nearby church at Zagrađa, as well as in the rains of the Soko castle, which still lies waiting to be researched. more...
- Published
- 2007
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13. The castle in late medieval Serbian lands
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Popović Marko
- Subjects
History (General) and history of Europe - Abstract
nema
- Published
- 2006
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14. Problems in the study of the medieval heritage in the Lim valley
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Popović Marko
- Subjects
Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
Discussing the results of archaeological investigation at two important medieval sites - remains of the monastery of St George at Mažići near Priboj and of the church at Drenova near Prijepolje - the author puts forward his critical observations that make significant revisions to the conclusions suggested by excavators. The remains of a monastery at Mažići have long ago been identified with the monastery of St George in the župa (district) of Dabar known from early 13th-century records. In the 1310s a monastery of St George is referred to in association with the toponym of Orahovica. After a long gap, the monastery is referred to again several times in the 1600s until its final destruction in 1743, as St George’s at Orahovica or simply Mažić(i). The report following systematic archaeological excavations suggests the unacceptable and unfounded conclusion, with dating and interpretation that the monastery church was built in the 13th century, received additions in the 14th, and was renovated in the 16th-17th centuries when there was a hospital attached to it. Careful analysis of the structural remains and the site’s stratigraphy clearly shows that the monastery was built on the site of a medieval cemetery of a 14th-15th-century date, which means that the church and its buildings cannot be older than the 16th century. The author also argues against the assumed presence of a monastic hospital, the assumption being based upon metal artifacts misinterpreted as "medical instruments" (parchment edge trimmer, compasses, fork!!!). The author’s inference is that the ruins at Mažići are not the remains of the monastery of St George, which should be searched for elsewhere, but possibly the legacy of a 14th-century monastic establishment which was moved there from an as yet unknown location most likely about the middle of the 16th century. The site at Drenova, with remains of a church destroyed by land slide, has been known since the late 19th century when a stone block was found there bearing the opening part of an inscription: "+ Te Criste auctore pontifex...", long believed to date from the 9th-10th century. Following the excavations, but based on this dating the church remains were interpreted as pre- Romanesque, and the interpretation entailed some major historical conclusions. From a more recent and careful analysis, the inscription has been correctly dated to the 6th century. With this dating as his starting-point, the author examines the fieldwork results and suggests that the block is an early-Byzantine spolium probably from the late-antique site of Kolovrat near Prijepolje, reused in the medieval period as a tombstone in the churchyard, where such examples are not lonely. It follows that the inscribed block is not directly relatable to the church remains and that it cannot be used as dating evidence. On the other hand, the church remains show features of the Romanesque-Gothic style of architecture typical of the Pomorje, the Serbian Adriatic coast. According to close analogies found for some elements of its stone decoration, the date of the church could not precede the middle of the 13th century. The question remains open as to who had the church built and what its original function was, that is whether a monastic community center round it. Its founder may be sought for among members of the ruling Nemanjić house, but a church dignitary cannot be ruled out. Anumber of complex issues raised by this site are yet to be resolved, but the study should be relieved of earlier misconceptions. Fresh information about this ruined medieval church should be provided by revision excavations in the future. more...
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
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15. Medieval Dobrun
- Author
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Popović Marko Đ.
- Subjects
Archaeology ,CC1-960 - Abstract
An interesting and highly structured medieval complex, Dobrun has been attracting attention of scholars for a long time. Unlike the ruins of medieval fortifications, the remains of wall-painting in the former monastery church received most of the attention. A series of problems have, however remained open. Some of them have escaped observation, and there are hypotheses that ought to be reassessed. The Dobrun complex is not a matter of local or regional significance. It is a surviving testimony to the events and processes that marked the century preceding the final Ottoman occupation of Serbia and Bosnia. After outlining the research work done to date and analyzing the original historical documents and physical remains, this paper brings the author's views of the issue and some reflections aimed at suggesting directions of further research. The Dobrun complex is situated on the fringe of a hospitable landscape in the lower Rzav valley, not far from Višegrad. It is a region of present-day Republika Srpska on the border with Serbia. The medieval fortifications high up on cliffs above either side of the river controlled the entrance to the gorge, a natural border between western Serbia and Podrinje (the Drina river basin). About a kilometer downstream, on a plot of flat land above the right riverbank, surrounded by rocky hillsides and opening onto a gully cut by a mountain stream, sits the monastic complex of Dobrun with the Church of the Annunciation. The discussion of the structural remains of the complex (Fig. 2) proceed from the multipart whole, which consists of fortifications on the rocks above either bank of the Rzav, built in such a way as to take full advantage of the terrain for defence purposes. The steep slopes and inaccessible rocks complete with walls and towers form a fortress considered at the time of building to be virtually unassailable. Fortification elements were laid out on the western edge of the gorge, which was and still is an important communication route leading from the west towards the interior of Serbia – the illustrious "Bosnian route". Blocking the entrance to the gorge, the Dobrun fortifications were of strategic importance for the defense of the eastern territories against attack from the west. The central and undoubtedly the oldest part of the fortified complex are the remains on the cliffs overlooking the right bank of the Rzav – a castle of an elongated plan closely following the natural features of the terrain (Fig. 3). With most of the walls built on the cliffs somewhat easier access was only possible from the southwest. The interior of the castle was divided into three independently defendable wards. In the absence of archaeological investigation, only chance finds are available. The only surviving remains of its intramural structures are those of a sunken stone-built room left of the gate, presumably a cistern. The walls were built of rough-hewn stone bound with relatively poor lime mortar (Figs 4 and 5). Laid down on the very rock, they show a varying thickness of 1.10 to almost 2 meters. Also fortified, the zone on the eastern slope below the castle was for the most part defended by steep slopes. Apparently of a somewhat later date its walls were built more solidly than the castle (Figs 6 and 7). There are traces of a path, with occasional rock-cut steps, climbing from the gate to the castle. In this ward, functioning primarily as the front line of defense of the castle, traces of houses are observable. The eastern part of the fortification above the left riverbank consisted of protruding towers on the summit of a rocky hill surrounded on three sides by the bending river (Fig 8). Surviving are the ruins of two towers and traces of a third. They stood in alignment and, not being interlinked by a rampart, were conceived as free-standing structures. Between Towers 2 and 3 passed the old road leading from the Rzav bridge towards the east. The outlying settlement grew by the river below the castle. Its central part seems to have occupied a piece of flat land at the hill foot on the right bank, where in the mid-nineteenth century streets and traces of houses were still discernible. According to research by Đ. Mazalić, part of the settlement was on the left bank as well in the area known as Podrogovi and stretching from the former mosque towards the Budimlija creek. Unlike the walls and towers of Dobrun, occasionally quite well preserved, of the nearby monastic complex only the vestiges of the church narthex have survived till this day. The church kept its original appearance until the end of the nineteenth century, when it was thoroughly altered. Eventually, its main part was blown up by German mines in early 1945 (Fig. 9).From earlier documentation and the surviving physical remains it is obvious that the building of the monastery church at Dobrun went through several phases (Fig. 10). The original church, erected in 1343 as an endowment of župan Pribil, as inferable from the now gone ktetor's inscription, was a one-nave edifice with a semicircular apse. It was barrel-vaulted and had no dome, while its walls were of limestone blocks Besides the foundations, considerable and well-preserved areas of the original floor have survived. In the middle of the central bay the ambo rosette still stands (Fig. 11). Especially interesting are the stone slabs next to the south church wall. The one in the west bay apparently covers the ktetor's grave. Two similar slabs in the central bay may also be interpreted as grave markers. In a later phase, presumably not long after the building of Pribil's endowment, the church received a narthex. A peculiarity of its architecture is a shallow arched porch on the west front, an unusual element in Serbian medieval architecture. Subsequently added to the narthex, an open exonarthex was torn down during the late-nineteenth-century rebuilding. A northern annexe, divided into two smaller rooms and connected with the apse by a door, may also be considered an addition. The purpose of the two rooms the position of which corresponds to that of the prothesis, is not clear. Of the wall-paintings only those in the narthex have partially survived (Figs 12–14). Despite damage, especially that inflicted in 1945, from the surviving fragments, old photographs and descriptions the original arrangement of scenes can be largely reconstructed, as well as the features of this, as it seems, valuable work of Serbian painting from the first half of the fourteenth century. Especially important is the ktetor's composition discussed on several occasions, showing župan Pribil with his sons Petar and Stefan, and protovestiar Stan. The impressive traces of dormitory cells and other buildings, indicative of a larger monastic community, are observable around the church. The churchyard included a cemetery with numerous gravestones, especially of the stećak type (Fig. 15), of which almost none have survived. Depictions in relief or carved on the rock some hundred meters to the northeast of the church are a curious discovery (Figs 16–17). In their immediate vicinity are vestiges of ascetic cave cells, registered also in the wider surroundings of Dobrun Castle. Approaches to the Dobrun complex have mostly been partial, their focus, understandably enough, being on the church with its remains of wall-paintings. Any solution to a series of problems that arise here would, by contrast, require an integrated approach to the complex given that it constituted a whole, initially at least. Regrettably, the research results achieved so far cannot lead to final conclusions, but rather to working hypotheses expected to inspire further research. Of particular significance as the starting-point for such exploration is Dobrun Castle – the walled core of the later fortress with the outlying settlement. In a region that was the westernmost zone of the state of the Nemanjić, župan Pribil with his sons seems to have controlled the lower Rzav valley, his hereditary domain. If that was the case, the castle on a rocky hill at the exit from the gorge that was an east-bound route may be regarded as Pribil s fortified residence. The same function must have been fulfilled by the frontier castle of Višegrad, the remains of which are still awaiting researchers. The role of Stan – titled a protovestiar in the Dobrun portrait – as its possible owner is yet to be examined. Responsibilities of the holder of this title, high-ranking at the court of Stefan Dušan, included that of customs supervisor. Officials holding this title had been known in the Serbian administration even before that date. It is perhaps with this duty that Stan's presence on the western state border, in an area crossed by an important trade route, may be related. It would help clarify his relationship with Pribil, a local hereditary lord, who seems to have been his son-in-law. If we accept that Dobrun Castle was the fortified residence of a provincial lord, it remains to examine the circumstances leading to the building of Pribil's endowment, i.e. to the foundation of the monastery. The interrelationship in the Serbian lands of the castles of local lords and the churches they founded is one of the issues that are yet to be studied. This practice, traced back to the fourteenth century, is characteristic of the period preceding the Ottoman conquest. Yet another interesting phenomenon is involved here – the development of anchoretic monasticism at the side of fortified sites, whether fortresses or castles of sovereigns and lords. Some well-known examples occur in the territory of Bulgaria, while in our parts the phenomenon is evidenced by a cave laura below the walls of the Fortress of Ras, the Monastery of the Archangel Michael, as well as by some other sites that are yet to be explored. The function of ascetic cells clinging to fortresses and castles, like that of warrior-saints portrayed on the walls of the Morava churches, was spiritual militancy and they were considered as part of the general system of defence from the enemy of a different faith. The case of Dobrun raises a query that is yet to be resolved – whether the hermitages surrounding the castle preceded the building of the monastery or developed according to the brotherhood's needs. The distribution of these hermitages as well as the traditional pattern of evolution of anchoretic monasticism from lauras to cenobitic communities tends to favor the first explanation, but it is quite certain that they were in use even later. What can be deduced from the frescoes at Dobrun indicates that the central role in the entire process of building Pribil's endowment was played by a respected and learned monk, undoubtedly the subsequent hegumen Jefrosin. Whether he lived his ascetic life in one of the nearby cells and thus won great respect remains open to conjecture. What seems incontestable is his influence of a spiritual guide on the župan's family. It does not seem erroneous to presume that he was the architect of Pribil's undertaking. Obviously, the relatively modest monastery church, also intended as the ktetor's sepulchral church, was built first. A cenobitic community was probably soon founded next to it, with Jerfrosin as its head, the first hegumen. Pribil's endeavor was continued by his younger son Petar, undoubtedly during his father's lifetime. The church does not seem to have received its wall-paintings before the addition of the narthex, as evidenced by the scene on the narthex wall that shows Pribil holding the model of the original church. The fresco programme was apparently devised by Jefrosin, who is likely to have passed away before the works were completed. The place of his posthumous portrait (Fig. 13), next to his patron saint, was even more distinguished than the ktetor's. We are inclined to believe that it also marks his grave. At any rate, Jefrosin was paid especial respect. With the painters still at work, Petar, the ktetor of the narthex became a monk, as shown by the now destroyed inscription above the portal. Jefrosin's personality, ideas and messages are clearly reflected in the surviving wall-paintings. On the one hand, prominence is given to ascetics, to the most consistent followers of earliest Christian anchoretic practice. Among them, and that is remarkably important, is figured for the first time in our wall-painting a Serbian protagonist of this orientation – St Peter of Koriša. On the other hand, the ecumenical councils are also given a prominent place and, enclosed in medallions next to them, as many as seven bishops that took part in them, as well as the established advocates of the true faith: Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, an adversary of Monothelitism, and Peter, bishop of Damascus, a fighter against Manichean heresy. Someone in the milieu of Dobrun, on the delicate western frontier with Bosnian heretics – the learned hegumen in our opinion – obviously found such a painted programme important for the defence of Orthodoxy. The means of conveying the message was well-known – an emphasis on unswerving faith and ascetic deeds. This goal, firmly rooted in earlier periods, was certainly accomplished at Dobrun. There are no reliable data about the destiny of Dobrun in the second half of the fourteenth century. Along with the surrounding areas it belonged to Nikola Altomanović for a while. After this noble s fall in the autumn of 1373 and the unfortunate partitioning of Serbian lands, the consequences of which can still be felt, Dobrun s position is unclear. Together with Polimlje (the Lim Valley), it might have passed into the hands of the Bosnian ban. To judge by its geo-strategic position, however, it would be reasonable to assume that the Serbian sovereign kept it. This falls among the issues that require separate discussion. Of relevance to our subject is a usually neglected piece of information from the Pomenik (Memorial Book) of Kruševo that despot Stefan with his mother was the ktetor of the monastery. This contemporary information would lead to the conclusion that the early fifteenth century still saw the monastery within the Serbian state borders Whether it remained so till the end of despot Stefan s rule is yet to be established. In 1433 Dobrun already was the domain of vojvoda Radoslav Pavlović. Perhaps it was briefly held by despot Đurađ, contemporaneously with nearby Višegrad (1448), but at the time of the Ottoman conquest it was a fortress on the lands of the Pavlović. Leaving aside the as yet undecided issue of borders, we should touch upon the subsequent structural development of Dobrun. To begin with, there is the query about what despot Stefan's contribution to the growth of the monastic complex was. The Serbian sovereign must have made donations to the monastery, but for the time being only guesswork is possible as to whether he had any structures built. The open exonarthex, which earlier researchers dated by the surviving fragments of wall-paintings in the porch to the end of the sixteenth century, should not be ruled out in this regard. Renovations of and donations to the monastery would have been consistent with despot Stefan's efforts to bolster up Orthodoxy in the border zone of his state. It was under his rule that in the regions bordering on heretical Bosnia, where an increasing influence of the Roman Church had support of its Catholic rulers, the old Serbian dioceses were restored and some new established, especially important being the Metropolitan of Srebrenica. The growth of Dobrun from a castle into a fortress may have taken place in the turbulent last decades of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Considerably enlarged by the addition of ramparts the defended zone could now accommodate a much larger garrison. The same period saw the growth, under protection of the fortress, of a commercial urban settlement, an important station on the road connecting Bosnia and Serbia. The fortress of Dobrun reached the peak of its prosperity in the fifteenth century. As one of the main strongholds in the domain of the Pavlović, the fortress received further additions. From that period, in our opinion, date the defences above the left bank of the Rzav, i.e. the protruding circular towers similar to developments in military architecture in the Kingdom of Bosnia. Dobrun retained its importance under Turkish rule as a checkpoint on the so-called "Bosnian road". The question as to how long a Turkish garrison stood guard over the walls of Dobrun cannot be reliably answered; perhaps until the momentous events in the last decade of the seventeenth century, when the settlement by the Rzav and the nearby monastery had to be abandoned. more...
- Published
- 2002
- Full Text
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16. FUNKTIONELLES GREIFEN MIT OBERFLÄCHENELEKTROSTIMULATION IM KLINISCHEN EINSATZ.
- Author
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Keller, T., Popovic, M. R., Link, C., Curt, A., Morari, M., and Dietz, V.
- Published
- 2000
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. [Quality assurance in the clinic from the viewpoint of a physician administrative group].
- Author
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Popovic M
- Subjects
- Forecasting, Germany, Humans, Hospital Administration trends, Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care, Physician Executives organization & administration, Quality Assurance, Health Care trends
- Published
- 1996
18. [ON GLYCEROL ETHERS IN THE HUMAN MYOCARDIUM].
- Author
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POPOVIC M
- Subjects
- Anesthetics, General, Chemical Phenomena, Chemistry, Chromatography, Ethers, Glycerophosphates, Glyceryl Ethers, Myocardium
- Published
- 1965
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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