ПРЕНОС ПРИВАТНИХ И ЦРКВЕНИХ АРХИВА НА СВЕТУ ГОРУ – СВЕДОЧЕЊА СРПСКИХ ПОВЕЉА
TRANSFER OF PERSONAL AND CHURCH ARCHIVES TO MOUNT ATHOS – TESTIMONIES OF SERBIAN CHARTERS

Summary/Abstract: In the archives of the Athonite monasteries, there are 36 Serbian charters without being directly connected to the monasteries where they are kept: 24 in Hilandar, 5 in Saint Pantaleon, 3 in Saint Paul, 2 in Kastamonitou, and one in Megiste Lavra and Vatopedi monasteries. There are a few ways in which the Serbian charters, originally issued to benefi ciaries outside Mount Athos, found their way to Mount Athos, as well as several reasons for their preservation. These charters can be divided into six groups: 1. Charters which serve as evidence of the ownership rights of the church or monastery subordinated to one of the Athonite monasteries. The archives of the subordinate ecclesiastical establishment were either included into the archives of its superior monastery or the superior monastery received copies while the originals stayed in their original location. 2. Charters brought to Mount Athos by private persons, as part of their personal records. Most examples date back to the 15th century, when Athos became a refuge from the hardship and uncertainty which the Turkish destruction and conquest left in their wake. The newcomers brought written proof of their possessions and rights, either to bequeath them to the monastery where they had found refuge or hoping that the Turkish troubles would prove only temporary. 3. Charters which found their way to Mount Athos as stand-alone pieces of proof about an endower’s ownership rights to the estate he bestowed on the Athonite monastery in question. When Despot Toma Preljubović donated the village of Sušica to the Megiste Lavra Monastery in 1375, his endowment charter expressly stated that he held hereditary rights to the village, as evidenced by chrysobulls issued by Emperor Dušan and his son Uroš, and presented and submitted to the Megiste Lavra monks on that occasion. 4. Charters for which it is unknown how and when they ended up in the archives of the Athonite monasteries. A typical example is the abridged Typikon of the Drenča Monastery written by monk Dorotej in 1382 and kept in the archives of the Saint Pantaleon Monastery. The document expressly forbids the subordination of the monastery to Mount Athos. 5. Charters issued to a certain Athonite monastery and kept in another Athonite monastery. Transfers of Serbian charters within Mount Athos cannot be consistently reconstructed on the basis of available sources. 6. Charters issued to beneficiaries outside Mount Athos, but very probably written by Athonite monks.

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