Епископ у Душановом законику у старијој и новијој историографији
Bishop in Dušan’s Code in old and modern historiography

Summary/Abstract: The paper discussed the title of bishop in Dušan’s Code, which is mentioned in this legal monument in Articles 6, 13, 28, 33 and 65. Given that the Code uses the terms bishop, hierarch and saint equally, the paper also discussed two other terms, of which the term hierarch is mentioned in Articles 2, 11, 45, 65 and 95, while the term saint is mentioned in Articles 5, 11, 13, 45, 95 and 196. These data lead us to the conclusion that in Articles 11, 13, 45, 65 and 95 we “encounter” both the term hierarch and the term saint, depending on the transcription of Dušan’s Code. We also discussed Articles 24 and 194, noting that the aforementioned terms are not explicitly mentioned in these two articles. The “function” of a bishop, by the way, represents, the highest hierarchical level and refers to a person who governed a church area, with precisely defined boundaries and a seat at the cathedral church of the diocese. Bishops were generally elected by prominent monks from the diocese itself, and rarely could persons from the ranks of the secular clergy be appointed to the aforementioned “function”. The bishop’s duty, among other things, was to take care of the estate of the diocese, and the maintenance and renovation of its cathedral churches. By interpreting each of the aforementioned articles, we have indicated the position and rights and obligations of these church figures in medieval Serbia, during the reign of Emperor Stefan Dušan. In addition, we also looked at the potential penalties that the legislator envisaged for bishops, in the event that they did not adhere to what was prescribed for them by the Code. Bearing in mind the title of the paper, within the framework of the analysis of the aforementioned articles of Dušan’s Code, we also provided an overview of previous historical-legal research on this issue, where, on the one hand, we highlighted conclusions that have “withstood the test of time”, while, on the other hand, we presented some new and different opinions on this topic, but also those positions that have been overcome or erroneous and, as such, rejected.

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