Role of clergy in the creation and function of the Serbian state from the time of First Serbian Uprising

Abstract

The Priesthood fulfills their mission for Serb people, and therefore shares the fate of people. It recognizes and shares needs, problems and aspirations of Serb nation. So that was the case in the First Serbian Uprising, hence the same needs and aspirations of the Serbian People and Serbian Clergy to get rid of the Ottoman occupation and have their own state in which they would live by their own laws. This paper attempts to show which way the Clergy was engaged to lead to the establishment of Serbian authority, on the ruins of the Ottoman feudal order on the territory of Belgrade Province, and which way was it included in their work. The intention was the attempt to show what was directly done to lead to the establishment of the Serbian State in the making, but also indirectly through mission of priests within the clergy in order to reach this goal. Specifically, the endeavor was to show how the Karlovac Metropolitanate Stevan Stratimirovic, the largest and undisputed spiritual authority among the insurgents of Serb Uprising, with his frequent invitations, (including the addressing to individual insurgent commanders in order to respect the law and order) contributed to creating an environment for the development and operation of the authority of a new Serb State. It seems that, in literature about history and law, and in historiography in general, such activities that indirectly favored the creation of the state of First Serbian Uprising were not sufficiently addressed. But here, such issues were at least partially indicated.