СРЕДЊОВЕКОВНА ВРБНИЦА И ВЕЛИКИ ЧЕЛНИК РАДИЧ ПОСТУПОВИЋ
THE MEDIEVAL VRBNICA AND THE GREAT ČELNIK RADIČ POSTUPOVIĆ

Summary/Abstract: At the end of 14th and the beginning of the 15th century the territory bordered by the West Morava river on the north, the base of Kopaonik mountain on the south, the Rasina river on the east and the slopes of Goč mountain on the west was divided on the noble and monasterial landholdings. Oftenest this landholdings compried the lesser river valleys with small number of villages (the monastery of Drenča: the Drenačka and the Tuleška river, and the short segment of the Rasina river; the monastery of Veluće: the Srebrnica river; the monastery of Rudenice: the Omašnička river and Golubovački creek; the monastery of St. Panteleimon of Athos: the Bučka river, and upper part of the Jasikovica river drainage basin). The only exception was the fragmentary landholding (baština) of the great čelnik (veliki čelnik) Radič Postupović constituted by number of the villages distant from each other: Vrbnica (today Laćisled) on the left bank of the Pepeljuša river, Sebečevac, situated on the ridge which divided the Pepeljuša and Rasina rivers drainage basins, Kožetin Donji on the upper part of Kožetin river, Milentija and Budilovina villages on the Rasina river and the valley of the small Grabovničica river, the right tributary of the Rasina river nearby the town of Brus. On the baština of the great čelnik Radič, in the village of Vrbnica (today Laćisled), on the archaeological site Crkvina, during the second or the third decade of the 15th century was build the three apse Morava style church. This church was not mentioned in the any surviving medieval Serbian written document. Nontheless, the characteristics of the church architecture indicating the great similarity with the remains of the recenty excavated church in the village of Kamenice, on the southeast base of Rudnik mountain. The village of Kamenica was also part of the great čelnik Radič landholdings. The presented data indirecty speaks about the great čelnik Radič as a possible ktetor of the boath churches. The territories around Kruševac and present-day Župa aleksandrovačka were conquered by the Ottoman Turks in AD 1427/28. In the Ottoman defters from the 16th century was mentioned the monastery of The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Ваведењe Пресвете Богородице) next to the village of Vrbnica (Laćisled). Certainly, on this place, the Ottoman census takers spoke about the great čelnik Radič endowment church situate on the right bank of Seliški creek, the left tributary of the Pepeljuša river, and nearby the center of the village of Laćisled. The battle of Vrbnica, fought between the armies of the Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević and the Ottoman sultan Musa in AD 1413, probably took place on the locality of Vojnež, not far away from the village of Laćisled (the medieval Vrbnica). In this battle the army of the despot Stefan was defeated. From the first decades of the 15th century the area of the Serbian Despotate was divided on the smaller territorial and administrative units by the name of vlasti, governed by the voivode, who was directly appointed by the ruler. During this period the region of present-day Župa aleksandrovačka likely was part of the Koznik (Rasina) vlast, with its center in the Koznik fortress, build on the high hill above the right bank of the Rasina river. The most eastern section of Župa, the area around the villages of Laćisled (Vrbnica), Mrmoš, Gornji and Donji Stupanj during the same time span was included in the Kruševačka vlast. The border between Kruševačka and Kozniča vlast was eployed during the Ottoman Turkish period as the boundary between the nahiyas of Kruševac (Alaca – Hisar) and Koznik, in the Kruševac sanjak. The informations collected during our fieldwork researches and through anew readings of the Serbian medieval written sources and the Ottoman defters provide us with lot of appreciably facts, relevant from the point of view of the historical gheography.

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