Култ светог и манастирска економија: прослављање Стефана Штиљановића у Шишатовцу под османском влашћу

Abstract

У раду се испитује однос прослављања светог и економије храма, односно манастира, који чува њене/његове мошти, на примеру Стефана Штиљановића у Шишатовцу под османском влашћу. Упоређени су развој штовања, време измена и прилагођавања светачког лика, као и назнаке о ширењу култа изван манастира с подацима о положају Шишатовца, ширењу манастирских поседа и односу с локалним властима. Налази су показали да је подстицање прослављања Стефана Штиљановића било у вези с економским напредовањем, односно да му је у више случајева претходило и да га је следило. Тиме се прослављање светих показује као неодвојиви део не само духовног већ и економског живота заједнице која чува њихове мошти.

The paper explores the link between the cult of a saint and the economy of the church safekeeping their relics by analysing the veneration of Stefan Štiljanović and the economy of the Šišatovac monastery. The chosen timeframe is the period of Ottoman rule in Srem because the monastery had to adapt to a very different social and economic system. In the matter of cult, we focused on its evolution, the shaping of the saint’s image, its modifications, alterations and transmission beyond the Šišatovac monastery. We used notes in liturgical books, inscriptions on liturgical and other objects, cultic texts, the manuscript tradition, archaeographic analysis of manuscripts, and visual representations. Our research of the monastic economy took into account the legal status of the Šišatovac monastery and its monks in the Ottoman Empire; the ways of disposing of monastic estates, their expansion and taxes paid on them; and particularly the relationship of the fraternity with the local authorities. The extensive Ottoman documentation preserved in the monastery’s archive – different court decisions, receipts, orders, complaints, and excerpts from revenue surveys – has provided insight into these issues. Our research has uncovered a very active and enterprising climate in the monastery’s life in the period under discussion. Stefan Štiljanović was included among the saints in the mid-16th century, and already in the following decades, the monastery’s tax duties and land estates increased. After the problems caused by the “sale of monasteries” (seventh decade of the 17th century), his proper cult was created between the last decades of the 16th and the first quarter of the 17th century. At the beginning of the fourth decade of the 17th century, the cult came under the care of Metropolitan of Belgrade and Srem Avesalom and Patriarch of Peć Pajsej, in whose time the remembrance of St. Stefan became polyphonic. Besides the writing of cultic texts, several buildings inside the monastery were restored (fifth decade of the 17th century), and Šišatovac further increased its estates and intensified relations with the local authorities. In the sixth decade of the 17th century, the cult reached the Hopovo monastery, and soon Patriarch Maksim and Metropolitan of Belgrade Pajsej visited the Šišatovac monastery (1666 and 1680). In the second half of the 17th century, the cult was further consolidated at Šišatovac based on the existing celebratory texts, while the relations with the local authorities reveal a good understanding of the legal system and a remarkably resourceful approach to managing the monastic economy. All of this shows that the cult served an important function beyond the spiritual sphere and that the peculiarities of cultural and social life within the framework determined by the Ottoman state influenced its evolution. More specifically, the veneration of St. Stefan Štiljanović seems to have been linked to the survival of the Šišatovac monastery because it attracted pilgrims. Thus, on several occasions, the fostering of the cult preceded the monastery’s economic rise; there is no evidence of working on the cult during the economic crisis, but every subsequent encouragement of veneration was accompanied with an economic upturn, which, in turn, strengthened the cult. It seems that, in the period of Ottoman rule, the veneration of this saint remained confined to Fruška Gora. That was the fate of many cults in Orthodox churches, which seldom spread beyond their immediate surroundings.