Preuzela je kormilo države u najtežim vremenima, nakon smrti cara Lazara i Kosovskog boja. Ostala je u Kruševcu, tadašnjoj srpskoj prestonici, da se bori za Srbiju, a u toj borbi platila je najveću cenu – svoju je najmlađu ćerku Oliveru poslala je u harem sultana Bajazita
She took the helm of the state at the toughest of times, following the loss of the Battle of Kosovo and the death of Emperor Lazar. She remained in Kruševac, which was then the Serbian capital, to fight for Serbia, and in that fight she paid the highest price – she sent her youngest daughter, Olivera, to the harem of Sultan Bayezid I
K ada bi želeli da istaknu vr- line značajnih žena, vla- darki iz drevnih vremena, biografi bi ih nazivali mu- žeumnim, kako su opisivali i najvo- ljeniju srpsku caricu, kneginju Mi- licu Hrebeljanović, poteklu iz loze Nemanjića. – Karakterisali su je kao muže- umnu jer je u vođenju države pokazala ne samo ravne već i veće diplomatske i upravljačke sposobnosti od onih ko- je su pripisivane umnim muškim dr- žavnicima njenog doba – objašnjava Nikola Moravčević, istoričar književ- nosti i autor istorijske studije Srpske vlastelinke (izdanje Arhipelag ). Cari- com su je zvali zbog težnje naroda da
W hen they wanted to point out the virtues of impor- tant women, rulers of old- en times, biographers would usetheterm“mužeumna”,meaningtheyhad minds of men, and they used this adjective to describe the most beloved Serbian em- press - Princess Milica Hrebeljanović of the Nemanjić Dynasty. - She was characterised as ’man-mind- ed’because in leading the state she showed diplomatic and managerial skills that were not only equal to, but greater than those attributed to the mindful male statesmen of her time - explains Nikola Moravčević, a literary historian and author of the histori- cal study Serbian Noblewomen (published by Arhipelag). She was called ’Tsaritsa’ be-
Tekst / Words: Dragana Nikoletić Fotografije / Photography: Profimedia.rs, iStock, Narodni muzej u Kikindi
bar u pesmama izjednači titule svojih vladara sa turskim sulta- nima, laički zvanim „carevima“. Bila je i ostala najvoljenija jer je narodni interes stavljala ispred sopstvenog, čak i ispred majčin- ske ljubavi. Rođena je 1335. i kao kći kne- za Vratka, potomka Stefana Ne- manje, često je boravila na car- skom dvoru. Tamo je i upoznala budućeg supruga, Lazara Hre- beljanovića, docnije opevanog kao velikog junaka Kosovske bit- ke (1389). U toj borbi, pogubnoj po Srbe i sa dalekosežnim posle- dicama, poginuo je i sam Lazar, ostavljajući udovicu da se sta- ra o sedmoro dece. Najstarijem Stefanu, prestolonasledniku, ni- je bilo ni 15 godina. Tada je kneginja podnela prvu žrtvu: prihvatila se ruko- vođenja gotovo raspalom drža- vom, umesto da se sa svojom ne- jači nastani u Dubrovniku. Ali to bi značilo izgnanstvo bez ikak- vih prihoda, i to u pretežno ka- toličkoj sredini, u Dubrovačkoj Republici, gde je domorodačko
cause of the nation’s aspiration to at the very least equalise in song the ti- tles of its rulers with the Turkish sul- tans referred to by the laymen as“em- perors”. She was and has remained the most beloved, because she put the in- terest of the nation ahead of her own, even ahead of her love as a mother. Born in 1335 as the daughter of Prince Vratko, a descendant of Stefan Nemanja, she often resided in the im- perial court. There she met her future husband, Lazar Hrebljanović, who was later sang of as a great hero of the Bat- tle of Kosovo (1389). In this battle that proved devastating for the Serbs, with far-reaching consequences, Lazar him- self died, leaving her a widow with sev- en children to care for. The eldest, Ste- fan, the Crown Prince, was not yet 15 years old at the time. It was then that the princess made her first sacrifice: she accepted the leadership of the almost demol- ished state, instead of settling with her young ones in Dubrovnik. But that would have meant exile without any in- come, and in a predominantly Catholic environment, in the Dubrovnik Repub- lic, where the local coastal population
Although she could have requested anything she wanted from Bayezid, Milica asked for the relics of Saint Petka from Vidin for Kruševac, because that was a pledge to save the spirit of the Serbian nation duhovnog spasa srpskog naroda Iako je od Bajazita mogla da traži šta god je htela, Milica je zamolila da mošti Svete Petke iz Vidina prebaci u Kruševac jer je to bio zalog
primorsko stanovništvo imalo mno- go veća prava od pridošlica pravosla- vaca. Udovica je odlučila da ostane u Kruševcu, tadašnjoj srpskoj prestoni- ci, i uhvati se ukoštac s nečim što bi-
had many more rights than the Orthodox newcomers. This widow decided to stay in Kruševac, the Serbian capital at the time, and to get to grips with something we would to- day call politics.
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