ХАРИСТИКИЈЕ У СРЕДЊОВЕКОВНОЈ СРБИЈИ
CHARISTIKE IN MEDIEVAL SERBIA

Summary/Abstract: The term charistikе, or charistikion, refers a system of giving monasteries, or monastic properties, to private persons for use. Essentially, charistike represented the transfer of the founder’s rights. In medieval Serbia, this phenomenon was not common and it did not have the negative context which it had in Byzantium during the 11th and 12th century. One of the most prominent examples of charistike in medieval Serbia was giving the monastery of Saint Nicholas to monk Jovan, who was the econom of metochion Hocha and a notable member of the Chilandari fraternity. In 1342 King Dušan passed a special charter according to which this monk was rewarded for his faithful service by being granted the right to use and manage the old monastery of Saint Nicholas and all its properties. Giving this right was temporary, for as long as monk Jovan lived, and after that the estate was given its previous status. A relatively similar example was the act by which king Dušan gave the church of Saint Peter in Koriša to monk Grigorije for use. Monk Grigorije had already managed the metochion of Chilandari in Koriša as an econom, so that he was given additional privileges over this property by the decision of king Dusan. Monk Grigorije’s merit is the fact that this monk gave the church which he had founded to the monastery of Saint Archangels near Prizren, which was a new imperial endowment. These Chilandar’s monks were primarily given honor and they were holders of additional privileges rather than users of the material assets of the mentioned properties. Several examples were noted that Serbian metropolitan bishops were provided with means of livelihood by being given monastic estates for use. Metropolitan bishop Jakov of Serres was given the church of Saint Nicholas in Pcinja. The founder’s rights over this church belonged to empress Jelena, but thanks to the will of the empress and mercy of emperor Dusan, the church with all its estates was given for lifetime use to Jakov. Towards the very end of the activity of the Serbian medieval state, another case was recorded when Benedikt, a metropolitan bishop from Gračanica, got his charistikion. Despot Djuradj gave the church of Saint George in Vracevstica with its estates for lifelong use to this notable monk when he lost his Metropolitan ate, since it fell under Turkish rule. Based on these few examples, it is possible to draw a conclusion that charistike were always given for temporary use, with the obligation to give them back to a monastery. Giving monastic properties stems from the founder’s rights, but Serbian sources show that legal documents related to this legal act were issued by a ruler. All known examples show that the users were ecclesiastical dignitaries or prominent monks and that their merits regarding religious service were notable. By using this type of charistike, there was no harm for the monastery from which the property was taken, apart from the fact that it was deprived of the income from that property temporarily. Although it was not a very common phenomenon, charistike was important in medieval Serbia, not only for providing an insight into the ways in which monasteries operated, but also for understanding and interpreting certain legal actions in the Middle Ages.

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