СРПСКИ КАЛЕНДАР ВЕРСКИХ ПРАЗНИКА И ТЕРЕЗИЈАНСКА РЕФОРМА
SERBIAN CALENDAR OF RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS AND THE THERESIAN REFORM

Summary/Abstract: During the fi rst half of the 18th century, both Roman Catholics and the Orthodox believers in the Habsburg Monarchy had celebrated numerous holidays as nonworking. The attitude of the state towards the holidays had started to change when Maria Theresa came to thrown (1740–1780). The problem was not a holiday itself as a sign of religious devotion and faith, but the fact that there were too many of them celebrated as non-working days. The state authorities’ stand point was that the decrease in the number of holidays would increase a number of working days in the state, thus increasing the productivity of the subjects and consequently, the income of the state. At the same time, the vice resulting from leisure would also be banished, such as laziness and alcohol con sumption. As of the middle of the 18th century, the activities to repeal Roman Catholic holidays had begun whereas the reform of the calendar had not been carried out until 1771. In the Roman Catholic calendar, there were only 18 signifi cant holidays left that would be celebrated as non-working days. Moreover, all the Sundays were non-working as well. At the time of the reform in the Metropolitanate of Sremski Karlovci, during the 1770s, the Serbian religious calendar was reformed as well. The annulment of the jussive holidays, that were celebrated as non-working, was done in three steps via Holy Synod of Bishops which was put under a heavy pressure by the ruler. Based on the saved sources, it can be concluded that before the reform Serbs had celebrated 111 movable and immovable holidays, as well as Sundays, as non-working. At the session of the Holy Synod of Bishops in 1769, ten new jussive holidays dedicated to Serbs saints had been established in the fi rst place and the reform began with the calendar that had had 121 holiday. After 1769, the new Serbian calendar comprised 76 jussive, non-working holidays. The second reduction was effectuated in 1774. After a long and hard discussion, the Synod repealed 32 holidays, among them those dedicated to Serbs saints. In the calendar there was only one Serbian holiday dedicated to Saint Sava, who was proclaimed the national defender. Simultaneously, the holiday dedicated to Saint Constantine and Helen was proclaimed a national holiday of the Greeks in the Habsburg Monarchy and it ceased to be jussive for the Serbs. The annulment of the Serbian holidays caused furious reactions among people. However, rebellions and protests were not strong enough to question the fate of the reform. Moreover, in 1779, without the acknowledgement and accordance of the Synod and Metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, the state authorities had repealed another 3 Serbian festive days: the third day of Christmas, Easter and Withsun. The number of Serbian jussive holidays was then reduced to 40 and the process continued during the independent reign of Joseph II (1780–1790). At the Synod’s session in 1786, the third reduction of Serbian holidays was made and, as a consequence, there were 29 of them left. During the Theresian reform of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Habsburg Monarchy, there were 92 holidays repealed within three reductions. Among these holi days, the most numerous were the ones dedicated to foreign saints, mostly Russians. They were relatively new holidays in the Serbian calendar, introduced in the 17th or at the beginning of the 18th century. Such holidays had been repealed in 1769 and the rest in 1774. The second reduction was the beginning of the annulment of those jussive holidays that were minor in importance, such as the ones dedicated to the Conception of Saint John the Baptist or Saint Anne as well as those celebrated in honour of the apostles and the martyrs. This process was fi nished with the third reduction when the holidays dedicated to the evangelists were repealed as well. After the three reductions, there was only one holiday dedicated to apostles in the calendar – (June 29) July 12 – The Apostles Peter and Paul (Saint Peter’s Day) and two dedicated to martyrs and great martyrs: (April 23) May 6 – The Holy Great Martyr George (Saint George’s Day) and (October 26) November 8 – The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius (Saint Demetrius’ Day). The largest number of holidays repealed during the 18th century were celebrated at the time of the year when people were supposed to work most. Field work was often interrupted between spring and autumn by the jussive holidays. The three-month extension of the working year certainly represents a positive legacy of Theresian reform and justifi es the economic motives accompanying the reform from its start. However, as of 1774, with the abolishment of the holidays dedicated to Serbian saints, the reform had become religiously and politically labelled. The fear of getting unifi ed with the Catholic Church, of abandoning Orthodox religion and tradition, of forgetting the past times and the ancestors, all of these were the greatest instigators of the people’s opossition towards the reform. The encouragement to the opposition came from the above - from the episcopacy that had demurred the annulment of the holidays since it had been initiated. Despite this fact, the reform of the calendar went through. Undoubtedly, it would have been better accepted if the Serbian saints had been kept in the calendar

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