Mavriqi was an Albanian tribe ( fis ) that lived in the Middle Ages . They were the anas (older, indigenous) tribe of the Shala valley, being gradually expelled by the incoming Shala . The tribe gave its name to the modern village of Nënmavriq as well as to a number of micro-toponyms in the highlands of northern Albania (e.g., Vada e Mavriqit and Arat e Mavriqit in Curraj I Epërm, Nikaj-Mërtur ).
147-547: The Mavriqi are possibly recorded for the first time in a charter from the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan to the Hilandar Monastery in the year 1348 which mentions the village of Murik alongside that of Kalogeni , both in the župa of Pilot , as properties of the monastery. While an exact location cannot be conclusively determined, It has been suggested with much confidence that Kalogeni corresponds to
294-798: A bashkësi , an Albanian community sharing patrilineal kinship but no clear territorialisation. Later in the Ottoman defter of 1485 for the Sanjak of Scutari , the village of Mavriq appears adjacent to Shala in the nahiyah of Petrishpan-ili with a total of 20 households and could produce 1800 ducats per annum. The majority of household heads bore typical Albanian personal names such as Gjon (e.g., Gjon son of Pashko , Gjon son of Lumira ), however, anthroponyms of more general Christian or even Slavic origin are attested (e.g., Nikolla son of Bradimir , Andrija son of Zhupa ). A certain Gjon son of Koman
441-581: A caste and perform a range of roles, including as a historian or library, musician, poet, mediator of family and tribal disputes, spokesperson, and served in the king's court, not dissimilar from the European bard . They keep records of all births, death, and marriages through the generations of the village or family. When Sundiata Keita founded the Mali Empire , he was offered Balla Fasséké as his griot to advise him during his reign, giving rise to
588-542: A writing system , or in parallel to a writing system. It is the most widespread medium of human communication. They often remain in use in the modern era throughout for cultural preservation . Religions such as Buddhism , Hinduism , Catholicism , and Jainism have used oral tradition, in parallel to writing, to transmit their canonical scriptures , rituals , hymns and mythologies. African societies have broadly been labelled oral civilisations , contrasted with literate civilisations , due to their reverence for
735-572: A base at Mauricium/Mavriq in the Shala valley, i.e the fort of Dakaj. But the site itself likely predates the legend, and it may be vestiges of a Roman fort named Mauricium . Stefan Du%C5%A1an Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( Serbian Cyrillic : Стефан Урош IV Душан ), also known as Dušan the Mighty ( c. 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Emperor of
882-565: A beard and longer hair. Serbia made some raids into the Macedonia region in late 1331, but a planned major attack on Byzantium was delayed as Dušan had to suppress revolts in Zeta in 1332. Dušan's ingratitude toward those who had aided his rise – the Zetan nobility may have been neglected their promised reward and greater influence – may have been the cause of the rebellion, which was suppressed in
1029-406: A better understanding of Homeric epics. The long oral tradition that has sustained Albanian epic poetry reinforces the idea that pre-Homeric epic poetry was oral. The theory of oral-formulaic composition was developed also through the scholarly study of Albanian epic verse. The Albanian traditional singing of epic verse from memory is one of the last survivors of its kind in modern Europe , and
1176-615: A church and monastery in Jerusalem. At the time, there was one Serbian monastery in Jerusalem, dedicated to Archangel Michael (believed to be founded by King Milutin), and a number of Serbian monks at the Sinai Peninsula . His greatest endowment was the Saint Archangels Monastery , located near the town of Prizren , in which he was originally buried. Dušan gave many possessions to this monastery, including
1323-503: A collective or tribal memory extending beyond personal experience but nevertheless representing a shared reality. Native languages have in some cases up to twenty words to describe physical features like rain or snow and can describe the spectra of human emotion in very precise ways, allowing storytellers to offer their own personalized take on a story based on their own lived experiences. Fluidity in story deliverance allowed stories to be applied to different social circumstances according to
1470-694: A crusade against the Turks, he suddenly died on 20 December 1355. He was buried in his foundation , the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren . His empire slowly crumbled. His son and successor Stefan Uroš V could not keep the integrity of the Empire intact for long, as several feudal families immensely increased their power, though nominally acknowledging Uroš V as Emperor. Simeon Uroš , Dušan's half-brother, had proclaimed himself Emperor after
1617-405: A distant relative of Dušan, sparked a rebellion against the new ruler, but he was soon captured and died in prison. In 1350, Dušan attacked Bosnia, seeking to regain the previously lost land of Hum and stop raids on his tributaries at Konavle. Venice sought a settlement between the two, but failed. In October, he invaded Hum, with an army said to be of 80,000 men, and successfully occupied part of
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#17327757755071764-545: A heavily rhythmic speech filled with mnemonic devices enhances memory and recall. A few useful mnemonic devices include alliteration , repetition, assonance , and proverbial sayings. In addition, the verse is often metrically composed with an exact number of syllables or morae —such as with Greek and Latin prosody and in Chandas found in Hindu and Buddhist texts. The verses of the epic or text are typically designed wherein
1911-500: A light cavalry composed of 15,000 Albanians, armed with spears and swords. The Serbian expansion in the former territory of the Byzantine Empire proceeded without a single major battle, as it was based on besieging Greek fortifications. The army Dušan used to conquer northern Greece consisted primarily of Albanians; German mercenaries were also used. He was crowned Young King as heir apparent on 6 January 1322 but he
2058-539: A long legal tradition in Serbia. Dušan explained the purpose of his Code in one of his charters; he intimated that its aims were spiritual and that the code would help his people to save themselves for the afterlife. The Code was proclaimed on 21 May 1349 in Skopje , and contained 155 clauses, while 66 further clauses were added at Serres in 1353 or 1354. The authors of the code are not known, but they were probably members of
2205-405: A means of teaching. Plots often reflect real life situations and may be aimed at particular people known by the story's audience. In this way, social pressure could be exerted without directly causing embarrassment or social exclusion . For example, rather than yelling, Inuit parents might deter their children from wandering too close to the water's edge by telling a story about a sea monster with
2352-585: A military crusade against the Turks. Dušan's plans were welcomed, however such plans never materialized due to his death in 1355. With the raising of the Serbian Archbishopric to a Patriarchate, serious changes in the organization of the church followed. Joanikije II became Patriarch. Bishoprics (Eparchies) were raised to Metropolitanates, and new territories of the Ochrid Archbishopric and Ecumenical Constantinople were added to
2499-488: A phenomenon that is explained by the lack of state formation among Albanians and their ancestors – the Illyrians , being able to preserve their "tribally" organized society . This distinguished them from civilizations such as Ancient Egypt , Minoans and Mycenaeans , who underwent state formation and disrupted their traditional memory practices. Albanian epic poetry has been analysed by Homeric scholars to acquire
2646-629: A physical struggle between a Thunderbird and a Whale. One such story tells of the Thunderbird, which can create thunder by moving just a feather, piercing the Whale's flesh with its talons, causing the Whale to dive to the bottom of the ocean, bringing the Thunderbird with it. Another depicts the Thunderbird lifting the Whale from the Earth then dropping it back down. Regional similarities in themes and characters suggests that these stories mutually describe
2793-540: A position of particular importance, as it was believed to be a more reliable medium for information transmission than prose. This belief stemmed from observations that highly structured language, with its rhythmic and phonetic patterns, tended to undergo fewer alterations during oral transmission. Each genre of rhymed poetry served distinct social and cultural functions. These range from spontaneous compositions at celebrations to carefully crafted historical accounts, political commentaries, and entertainment pieces. Among these,
2940-664: A pouch for children within its reach. One single story could provide dozens of lessons. Stories were also used as a means to assess whether traditional cultural ideas and practices are effective in tackling contemporary circumstances or if they should be revised. Native American storytelling is a collaborative experience between storyteller and listeners. Native American tribes generally have not had professional tribal storytellers marked by social status. Stories could and can be told by anyone, with each storyteller using their own vocal inflections, word choice, content, or form. Storytellers not only draw upon their own memories, but also upon
3087-818: A reason behind indoctrination . Writing systems are not known to exist among Native North Americans before contact with Europeans except among some Mesoamerican cultures, and possibly the South American quipu and North American wampum , although those two are debatable. Oral storytelling traditions flourished in a context without the use of writing to record and preserve history, scientific knowledge, and social practices. While some stories were told for amusement and leisure, most functioned as practical lessons from tribal experience applied to immediate moral, social, psychological, and environmental issues. Stories fuse fictional, supernatural, or otherwise exaggerated characters and circumstances with real emotions and morals as
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#17327757755073234-535: A result, the Hungarians lost Mačva and Belgrade in 1335. Dušan then focused his attention on the internal affairs of his country, writing, in 1349, the first statute book of the Serbs. Dušan exploited the civil war in the Byzantine Empire between the regent of the minor Emperor John V Palaiologos , Anna of Savoy , and his father's general John Kantakouzenos . Dušan and Ivan Alexander picked opposite sides in
3381-619: A small army and took the Chalcidic peninsula , then Veria and Voden . Veria was the richest town in the Bottiaea region. Dušan had earlier replaced many Greeks with Serbs, including a Serb garrison. However, the remaining locals were able to open the gates for Kantakouzenos in 1350. Voden resisted Kantakouzenos but was taken by assault. Kantakouzenos then marched toward Thessaly, but was stopped at Servia by Caesar Preljub and his army of 500 men. The Byzantine force retired to Veria, and
3528-427: A society, with the latter much more likely to use oral tradition and oral literature even when a writing system has been developed or when having access to one. The Akan proverbs translated as "Ancient things in the ear" and "Ancient things are today" refer to present-day delivery and the past content, and as such oral traditions are both simultaneously expressions of the past and the present. Vansina says that to ignore
3675-452: A soldier and a conqueror, Dušan also proved to be very able but nonetheless feared ruler. His empire however, slowly crumbled at the hands of his son, as regional aristocrats distanced from the central rule. Oral tradition Oral tradition , or oral lore , is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission
3822-605: A study published in February 2020, new evidence showed that both Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes erupted between 34,000 and 40,000 years ago. Significantly, this is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria ", and also could be interpreted as evidence for the oral histories of the Gunditjmara people, an Aboriginal Australian people of south-western Victoria, which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of
3969-399: A viable source of evidence for establishing the affiliation between cultural objects and Native Nations. Oral traditions face the challenge of accurate transmission and verifiability of the accurate version, particularly when the culture lacks written language or has limited access to writing tools. Oral cultures have employed various strategies that achieve this without writing. For example,
4116-528: A whole, or grant charters and privileges to monasteries, noblemen, or merchant and miner communities. Dušan eventually decided to introduce a more general code, culminating in the introduction of Dušan Code in 1349. For the purposes of Dušan Code, a wealth of charters were published, and some great foreign works of law were translated to Serbian; however, the third section of the Code was new and distinctively Serbian, albeit with Byzantine influence and attention to
4263-583: A written intermediate, and they can also be applied to oral governance. Rudyard Kipling 's The Jungle Book provides an excellent demonstration of oral governance in the Law of the Jungle . Not only does grounding rules in oral proverbs allow for simple transmission and understanding, but it also legitimizes new rulings by allowing extrapolation. These stories, traditions, and proverbs are not static, but are often altered upon each transmission, barring any change to
4410-457: Is also a key socio-cultural component in the practice of their traditional spiritualities , as well as mainstream Abrahamic religions . The prioritisation of the spoken word is evidenced by African societies having chosen to record history orally whilst some had developed or had access to a writing script . Jan Vansina differentiates between oral and literate civilisations, stating: "The attitude of members of an oral society toward speech
4557-493: Is distinct from oral history , which is the recording of personal testimony of those who experienced historical eras or events. Oral tradition is also distinct from the study of orality , defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (writing and print) are unfamiliar. Folklore is one albeit not the only type of oral tradition. According to John Foley, oral tradition has been an ancient human tradition found in "all corners of
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4704-499: Is largely excluded, since it was covered in earlier documents, namely Saint Sava 's Nomokamon and in Corpus Juris Civilis . The Code originally dealt with criminal law, with heavy emphasis on the concept of lawfulness, which was mostly taken directly from Byzantine law. The original manuscript of the Code has not survived. The Code remained a de facto constitution under the rule of Dušan's son, Stefan Uroš V, and after
4851-513: Is performed. Furthermore, the climate in which traditions are told influences its content. In Burundi , traditions were short because most of them were told at informal gatherings and everyone had to have his say during the evening; in neighbouring Rwanda , many narratives were spun-out because a one-man professional had to entertain his patron for a whole evening, with every production checked by fellow specialists and errors punishable. Frequently, glosses or commentaries were presented parallel to
4998-641: Is recorded in the settlement, his patronym being the legacy of minor Cuman cultural influence in the medieval Albanian population. In the same register Gjergj and Premt Mavriqi are recorded in Bukmira , while Pulaha argues that Margjin Muriqi from Kuruemira was also a Mavriq. Unlike the Bobi who befriended the expanding Shala, the Mavriq were eventually outnumbered by them and were pushed to
5145-693: Is regarded with the same reverence as the Bulgarians feel for Tsar Simeon I , the Poles for Sigismund I the Old , and the Czechs for Charles IV . According to Steven Runciman, he was "perhaps the most powerful ruler in Europe" during the 14th century. His state was a rival to the regional powers of Byzantium and Hungary, and it encompassed a large territory, which would also be his empire's greatest weakness. By nature
5292-483: Is similar to the reverence members of a literate society attach to the written word . If it is hallowed by authority or antiquity, the word will be treasured." For centuries in Europe, all data felt to be important were written down, with the most important texts prioritised, such as Bible , and only trivia, such as song, legend, anecdote, and proverbs remained unrecorded. In Africa, all the principal political, legal, social, and religious texts were transmitted orally. When
5439-493: Is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Ṛgveda ( c. 1500 BCE ). Research by Milman Parry and Albert Lord indicates that the verse of the Greek poet Homer has been passed down not by rote memorization but by " oral-formulaic composition ". In this process, extempore composition is aided by use of stock phrases or "formulas" (expressions that are used regularly "under
5586-492: Is the first recorded code of Serbian public law, and Dušan hoped that its introduction would bring uniformity in Serbian territories, which were the only portions of his empire where the code actually applied. Dušan appointed Serbs to the highest military and civil positions within the empire for a number of reasons; not only did it allow him to maintain order by having loyal subjects hold positions of power, but it also appeased
5733-399: Is through speech or song and may include folktales , ballads , chants , prose or poetry . The information is mentally recorded by oral repositories , sometimes termed "walking libraries", who are usually also performers. Oral tradition is a medium of communication for a society to transmit oral history , oral literature , oral law and other knowledge across generations without
5880-515: The 17th century , being treated as foreigners. There is also some speculation that the Mavriqi were originally non-Albanian speakers, and that they were under the command or rule of a Roman leader named Mauritius , later changed to Mauric and then into Mavriq . However, this has no evidential basis and may be explained by Justinian 's efforts to reoccupy and refortify the wider region, which might have given rise to this legend. The depiction of
6027-528: The Bamums in Cameroon invented a script , the first to be written down was the royal chronicle and the code of customary law . Most African courts had archivists who learnt by heart the royal genealogy and history of the state, and served as its unwritten constitution . The performance of a tradition is accentuated and rendered alive by various gesture, social conventions and the unique occasion in which it
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6174-603: The Bojana river . A brief period of anarchy took place in parts of Serbia before father and son concluded peace in April 1331. Three months later, Dečanski ordered Dušan to meet him. Dušan feared for his life and his advisors persuaded him to resist, so Dušan marched from Skadar to Nerodimlje , where he besieged his father. Dečanski fled, and Dušan captured the treasury and family. He then pursued his father, catching up with him at Petrich . On 21 August 1331 Dečanski surrendered, and on
6321-773: The Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon, and various religious leaders of Mount Athos . The assembly and clerics agreed upon, and then ceremonially performed, the raising of the autocephalous Serbian Archbishopric to the status of Serbian Patriarchate . The Archbishop from then on was titled Serbian Patriarch , although some documents called him Patriarch of Serbs and Romans , with the seat at the Monastery of Peć . The first Serbian Patriarch Joanikije II solemnly crowned Dušan as " Emperor and autocrat of Serbs and Romans " ( Greek Bασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτoκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Pωμανίας ). Dušan had his son Uroš crowned King of Serbs and Greeks , giving him nominal rule over
6468-702: The Danube in the north to the Gulf of Corinth in the south, with its capital in Skopje . He enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire , known as Dušan Code , perhaps the most important literary work of medieval Serbia . Dušan promoted the Serbian Church from an archbishopric to a patriarchate , finished the construction of the Visoki Dečani Monastery (now a UNESCO site ), and founded
6615-756: The Kouyate line of griots . Griots often accompany their telling of oral tradition with a musical instrument, as the Epic of Sundiata is accompanied by the balafon , or as the kora accompanies other traditions. In modern times, some griots and descendants of griots have dropped their historian role and focus on music, with many finding success, however many still maintain their traditional roles. Albanian traditions have been handed down orally across generations. They have been preserved through traditional memory systems that have survived intact into modern times in Albania ,
6762-519: The Ottoman Turks , whom they brought into Europe for the first time. In 1343, Dušan added "of Romans (Greeks)" to his self-styled title "King of Serbia, Albania and the coast". In another instance, in a charter issued to the fortified city of Krujë , Dušan referred to himself as "King of the Bulgarians". In 1345 he began calling himself tsar , equivalent of Emperor, as attested in charters to two athonite monasteries, one from November 1345 and
6909-644: The Serbian lands , and although Dušan was governing the whole state, he had special responsibility for the Eastern Roman lands. A further increase in the Byzantinization of the Serbian court followed, particularly in court ceremonial and titles. As Emperor, Dušan could grant titles only possible as an Emperor. In the years that followed, Dušan's half-brother Symeon Uroš and brother-in-law Jovan Asen became despotes . Jovan Oliver already had
7056-510: The attributes of Allah —all-mighty, all-wise, all-knowing, all-high, etc.—often found as doublets at the end of a verse. Among the other repeated phrases are "Allah created the heavens and the earth" (found 19 times in the Quran). As much as one third of the Quran is made up of "oral formulas", according to Dundes' estimates. Bannister, using a computer database of (the original Arabic) words of
7203-638: The fall of the Serbian Empire in 1371, it was used in all the successor provinces. It was officially used in the successor state, Serbian Despotate , until its annexation by the Ottoman Empire in 1459. It was used as a reference for Serbian communities under Turkish rule, which exercised considerable legal autonomy in civil cases. It was also used in the Serbian autonomical areas under the Republic of Venice, like Grbalj and Paštrovići . It
7350-486: The monastery of the Holy Archangels , among others. Under his rule, Serbia reached its territorial, political, economic, and cultural peak. After Dušan's sudden death in 1355, the empire began to weaken. With the death of Dušan's successor, emperor Stefan Uroš V , the Serbian Empire was definitively divided into a large number of independent Serbian states, among which the Serbian Despotate will stand out as
7497-643: The oral word and widespread use of oral tradition. Oral tradition is memories, knowledge, and expression held in common by a group over many generations: it is the long preservation of immediate or contemporaneous testimony . It may be defined as the recall and transmission of specific, preserved textual and cultural knowledge through vocal utterance. Oral tradition is usually popular, and can be exoteric or esoteric . It speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their aptitudes. As an academic discipline , oral tradition refers both to objects and methods of study. It
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#17327757755077644-695: The Byzantine Empire in 1333. In late 1333, a leading Byzantine general Syrgiannes revolted against Andronikos III and sought Dušan's help. In spring of 1334, the Serbs launched an attack on Byzantine Macedonia, benefiting greatly due to Syrgiannes' strategic abilities, knowledge of Byzantine position and his allies that surrendered fortresses to the Serbs. Peace with the Byzantines was concluded on 26 August 1334, with Byzantines recognizing Serbian gains in Ohrid , Prilep , Strumitsa , Siderokastron, Chermen and Prosek. The Hungarians, knowing of Dušan's involvement in
7791-532: The East precluded this. In 1335, Pope Clement VI demanded that Dušan stop the persecution of Catholics and return monasteries, churches, islands and villages taken by his predecessors to the bishop of Kotor , responsible for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trebinje . In 1354, Dušan was attacked by the Hungarians. They occupied part of northern Serbia. At this point, Dušan began corresponding with
7938-935: The Greek eparchies under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , while the Archbishopric of Ohrid remained autocephalous. For those acts he was excommunicated by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1350. In 1347, Dušan conquered Epirus , Aetolia and Acarnania , appointing his half-brother, despot Simeon Uroš as governor of those provinces. In 1348, Dušan also conquered Thessaly , appointing Preljub as governor. In eastern regions of Macedonia , he appointed Vojihna as governor of Drama . Once Dušan conquered Byzantine possessions in western regions, he sought to obtain Constantinople. To acquire
8085-454: The Greeks to retain much of the landed property they held under the existing laws prior to Dušan's conquest, Dušan was able to maintain order in the Greek territories and gain the loyalty of its inhabitants. In conquered Greek towns, local Greeks were given official administrative positions to better manage the settlement without upsetting the local populace, but a Serb governor would preside over
8232-540: The Imperial red ink. He was the first to publish prostagma , a kind of Byzantine document, characteristic for Byzantine rulers. In his royal title, Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks , his claim as Eastern Roman (Byzantine) successor is clear. He also gave Byzantine court titles to his nobility, something that would continue into the 16th century. Dušan's empire was multinational, with the three most important groups being Serbs, Greeks and Albanians. Different laws applied in
8379-411: The Mavriqi ( Maurichi in the register) appear split between two settlements: Mes , located near the later-built Mesi Bridge , and Turk , possibly near modern Ganjollë . Sokjo , Lazër , and Gjergj Mavriqi are attested in the former settlement while Petro and Lazër Mavriqi in the latter. Given the seeming lack of territorialisation required of a true fis , it can be assumed that the Mavriqi were
8526-408: The Mavriqi as foreign in the oral traditions of the Shala bears no ethnic connotation, rather it reflects tribal perceptions of communities outside of the tribe as outsiders and thus foreign. Russian scholar J. V. Ivanova (1922–2006) conducted research in northern Albania in 1956–58 and recorded from the locals that when the Shala had settled the Shala valley, they encountered the native "Mavriqi", from
8673-495: The Mavriqi emigrated to Gusinje , although some of them remained and were consequently assimilated. They are associated, in particular, with the settlement of Kapit. Historically, the Mavriqi first appear in the territory of Nikaj-Mërturi in the Ottoman defter of 1582 and were based near the village of Kuq with 30 households. Of the Mavriqi that emigrate to Sandžak via Gusinje, a number settled in villages such as Batrage in
8820-612: The Puka mountains in the 15th or 17th century, ultimately originating from the Pashtrik mountain near Prizren (in Kosovo ) at the end of the 14th century . In oral tradition , the Nikaj are said to have displaced the Mavriqi. They were said to have stemmed from Vajush near Shkodër and settled in the mountains of Nikaj between the years 1416-1500. With the spread of the Nikaj, most of
8967-573: The Qur'anic text was generated." Dundes argues oral-formulaic composition is consistent with "the cultural context of Arabic oral tradition", quoting researchers who have found poetry reciters in the Najd (the region next to where the Quran was revealed) using "a common store of themes, motives, stock images, phraseology and prosodical options", and "a discursive and loosely structured" style "with no fixed beginning or end" and "no established sequence in which
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#17327757755079114-490: The Quran and of their "grammatical role, root, number, person, gender and so forth", estimates that depending on the length of the phrase searched, somewhere between 52% (three word phrases) and 23% (five word phrases) are oral formulas. Dundes reckons his estimates confirm "that the Quran was orally transmitted from its very beginnings". Bannister believes his estimates "provide strong corroborative evidence that oral composition should be seriously considered as we reflect upon how
9261-573: The Quran from memory, not reading, the predominant mode of teaching it to others. To this day the Quran is memorized by millions and its recitation can be heard throughout the Muslim world from recordings and mosque loudspeakers (during Ramadan ). Muslims state that some who teach memorization/recitation of the Quran constitute the end of an "un-broken chain" whose original teacher was Muhammad himself. It has been argued that "the Qur'an's rhythmic style and eloquent expression make it easy to memorize," and
9408-644: The Serb nobility, which demanded rewards such as land and positions of authority. This extended to the Church, in which Serbs were appointed to the highest episcopal positions, thereby replacing the Greeks. Serbian tactics favored wedge shaped heavy cavalry attacks with horse archers on the flanks. Many foreign mercenaries were in the Serbian army in the 14th century, mostly German knights and Catalan halberdiers. Dušan had his personal mercenary guard on his disposal, consisting of German knights led by Palman , commander of
9555-543: The Serbian " Alemannic Guard ", who upon crossing Serbia to Jerusalem in 1331, became the leader of all mercenaries in the Serbian army. The main strength of the Serbian army were their heavy cavalry, feared for their ferocious charge and staying power. The imperial army of Stefan Dušan was built on existing military administration of Byzantium. Although the Vlach cavalry of Thessaly was disbanded, his army included Serbian feudal forces, Albanians and Greeks . Dušan recruited
9702-529: The Serbian and Greek territories under Dušan's control, but the Albanians were largely left to manage their lands under the leadership of their chiefs. His policies soon changed, and the laws against the Albanians became harsher with Albanian Catholics being forcibly converted into Orthodoxy and their churches were converted as well, while some of them migrated towards Greece , leaving empty villages behind, which were then taken by Slavic settlers. By allowing
9849-408: The Serbian church, founded by Saint Sava , Dušan's ancestor) came at the front of the ecclesiastical community. In his codex, Dušan accentuates his role as a protector of Christianity and points out the independence of the church. From the codex we can also see care that the parishes are equally arranged both in cities and villages. He also took care of the few churches and monasteries from Bari in
9996-478: The Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians from 16 April 1346 until his death in 1355. Dušan is considered one of the greatest medieval Balkan conquerors. Dušan conquered a large part of southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs of the era. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the most powerful state in Southeast Europe and one of the most powerful European states. It was an Eastern Orthodox , multi-ethnic, and multilingual empire that stretched from
10143-405: The Vedangas. Each text was recited in a number of ways, to ensure that the different methods of recitation acted as a cross check on the other. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat summarizes this as: These extraordinary retention techniques guaranteed an accurate Śruti, fixed across the generations, not just in terms of unaltered word order but also in terms of sound. That these methods have been effective,
10290-410: The Venetians would have gained privileges. But Venice chose to avoid a military alliance. While Dušan sought Venetian aid against Byzantium, the Venetians sought Serbian support in the struggle against the Hungarians over Dalmatia. Sensing that Serbian aid would result in a Venetian obligation to Serbia, Venice politely turned down Dušan's offers of help. While Dušan launched the Bosnian campaign (with
10437-447: The administration and command over a Serb garrison to ensure that the locals could not resist Dušan's orders. As such, existing Byzantine laws continued to exist in the Greek territories, supplemented by specific edicts or charters issued by Dušan himself. Similarly, Dušan did not transform the Serbian and Albanian territories under his control by introducing a Byzantine administrative system. In Serbia itself, Dušan had initially retained
10584-466: The advice or insistence of Dušan's advisors, he was imprisoned. Dušan was crowned King of All Serbian and Maritime lands in the first week of September. Contemporary writers described Dušan as unusually tall and strong, "the tallest man of his time", very handsome, and a rare leader full of dynamism, quick intelligence, and strength, bearing "a kingly presence". According to contemporary depictions, he had dark hair and brown eyes; in adult age he grew
10731-556: The aiding Turk contingent went off plundering, reaching Skopje. Once the news of the Byzantine campaign reached Dušan in Hum, he quickly reassembled his forces from Bosnia and Hum and marched for Thessaly. When Stefan Dušan reached Macedonia, the Byzantine forces withdrew to Thrace. Dušan retook Voden after a short siege, soon retaking Veria and other territories that Kantakouzenos had taken. Dušan evidently wanted to expand his rule over
10878-419: The alienation of many nobles, who sought to expand to the south. By January or February 1331, Dušan was quarreling with his father, perhaps pressured by the nobility. According to contemporary pro-Dušan sources, advisors turned Dečanski against his son, and he decided to seize and exclude Dušan from his inheritance. Dečanski sent an army into Zeta against his son; the army ravaged Skadar , but Dušan had crossed
11025-480: The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were an exclusive product of an oral tradition. An Irish seanchaí (plural: seanchaithe ), meaning bearer of "old lore" , was a traditional Irish language storyteller (the Scottish Gaelic equivalent being the seanchaidh, anglicised as shanachie). The job of a seanchaí was to serve the head of a lineage by passing information orally from one generation to
11172-541: The brink of extinction. Descendants of them have been attested in Shala, Theth , and Curraj i Epërm (Upper Curraj). In Shala, they are believed to have been warriors based at Dakaj below a slope, which gave the name to the fortress there, Nën Mavriq (“below Mavriq”). One theory suggest they were expelled by the Shala, and thereafter moved to Maja e Zezë (Black Top), settling in Curraj i Epërm (Upper Curraj), but were expelled afterwards from there too with Ottoman assistance in
11319-587: The city, he needed a fleet. Knowing that fleets of southern Serbian Dalmatian towns were not strong enough to overcome Constantinople, he opened negotiations with Venice, with which he maintained fairly good relations. Venice feared a reduction of privileges in the Empire if Serbs became the masters of Constantinople over the weakened Byzantines. But had the Venetians allied with Serbia, Dušan would have examined existing privileges. Once he became master of all Byzantine lands (especially Thessalonika and Constantinople)
11466-487: The conflict but remained at peace with each other, taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war to secure gains for themselves. Dušan's systematic offensive began in 1342, and in the end he conquered all Byzantine territories in the western Balkans as far as Kavala , except for the Peloponnesus and Thessaloniki , which he could not besiege due to his small fleet. There has been speculation that Dušan's ultimate goal
11613-603: The correspondence with the pope. Peace with Lois I of Hungary was concluded in May of 1355. Dušan had grand intentions to capture Constantinople, and to place himself at the head of a grand crusading army to drive the Muslim Turks from Europe. His premature death created a large power vacuum in the Balkans, that ultimately enabled Turkish invasion and their dominance over the Balkans until the early 20th century . While mounting
11760-464: The corrupt and uncorrupted hadith, this other source of revelation is not nearly so free of corruption because of the hadith's great political and theological influence.) At least two non-Muslim scholars ( Alan Dundes and Andrew G. Bannister) have examined the possibility that the Quran was not just "recited orally, but actually composed orally". Bannister postulates that some parts of the Quran—such as
11907-503: The countryside. With one army they reached Duvno and Cetina ; a second army reached Krka , on which lay Knin (modern Croatia ); and a third army took Imotski and Novi , where they left garrisons and entered Hum. From this position of strength, Dušan tried to negotiate peace with the Ban, sealing it by the marriage of Dušan's son Uroš with Stephen's daughter Elizabeth , who would receive Hum as her dowry – restoring it to Serbia. The Ban
12054-651: The course of the same year. The struggle between Dušan and Stefan Dečanski prevented Serbian intervention in Bulgaria on behalf of Anna and Ivan Stephen and they were overthrown by Ivan Alexander in March 1331, however Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria was aware of future danger from Serbia and immediately sought peace with Dušan. The two rulers concluded peace and formed an alliance, sealed with Dušan's marriage to Ivan Alexander's sister Helen of Bulgaria . Good relations with Bulgaria continued during Dušan's reign and though Bulgaria
12201-475: The court who specialised in law. The Code proclaims on subjects both secular and ecclesiastic, the more so because Serbia had recently achieved full ecclesiastic autonomy as an independent Orthodox Church under a Patriarchate. The first 38 clauses relate to the church and they deal with issues that the Medieval Serbian Church faced, while the next 25 clauses relate to the nobility. Civil law
12348-573: The death of Dušan, ruling a large area of Thessaly and Epirus, which he had received from Dušan. Today Dušan's remains are located in the Church of Saint Mark in Belgrade. Dušan is the only monarch of the Nemanjić dynasty who has not been canonised as a saint . Much like his ancestors, Dušan was very active in renovating churches and monasteries, and also in founding new ones. First, he cared for
12495-596: The despot title, granted to him by Andronikos III. His brother-in-law Dejan Dragaš and Branko Mladenović were granted the title of sebastocrator . The military commanders ( voivodes ) Preljub and Vojihna received the title of caesar . The raising of the Serbian Patriarch resulted in the same spirit as bishoprics became metropolitans, as for example the Metropolitanate of Skopje . The Serbian Patriarchate took over sovereignty on Mt. Athos and
12642-631: The disputed territory. According to Orbini , Dušan had secretly been in contact with various Bosnian nobles, offering them bribes for support. Many nobles, chiefly of Hum, were ready to betray the Ban, such as the Nikolić family , which was kin to the Nemanjić dynasty . The Ban avoided any major confrontation and did not meet Dušan in battle; he instead retired to the mountains and made small hit-and-run actions. Most of Bosnia's fortresses held out, but some nobles submitted to Dušan. The Serbs ravaged much of
12789-444: The episodes must follow".{{ref|group=Note|Scholar Saad Sowayan referring to the genre of "Saudi Arabian historical oral narrative genre called suwalif ". The Catholic Church upholds that its teaching contained in its deposit of faith is transmitted not only through scripture , but as well as through sacred tradition . The Second Vatican Council affirmed in Dei verbum that
12936-408: The existing tax system and legal structure. Prior to Dušan's reign, the Serbian state had functioned under its customary law. This customary law was supplemented by Saint Sava in the early 13th century, in which he added a Church canon law code that covered many matters of civil and family law. Aside from these standard laws, Serbian rulers could also issue edicts for a specific region or the nation as
13083-489: The first Franciscan missionaries that lived in the area, arriving from Mirdita along with priest D. Gjon Gallata as an interpreter, towards the end of January 1636. The 1689 Cantelli map illustrates Mavriq as being associated with the fort and church at Dakaj. The fort of Dakaj, which is referred to by locals as “Qyteza a Dakajve” is registered in historical sources as Mavriq . There is a tradition that after Skanderbegs death, Lekë Dukagjini along with his brother established
13230-778: The first by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down. In the Middle East, Arabic oral tradition has significantly influenced literary and cultural practices. Arabic oral tradition encompassed various forms of expression, including metrical poetry , unrhymed prose , rhymed prose ( saj' ), and prosimetrum —a combination of prose and poetry often employed in historical narratives. Poetry held
13377-630: The folk epics known as siyar (singular: sīra) were considered the most intricate. These prosimetric narratives, combining prose and verse, emerged in the early Middle Ages. While many such epics circulated historically, only one has survived as a sung oral poetic tradition: Sīrat Banī Hilāl . This epic recounts the westward migration and conquests of the Banu Hilal Bedouin tribe from the 10th to 12th centuries, culminating in their rule over parts of North Africa before their eventual defeat. The historical roots of Sīrat Banī Hilāl are evident in
13524-502: The forest of Prizren which was supposed to be a special property of the monastery where all precious goods and relics were to be stored. His son, Stefan Uroš V, did not make peace with the Constantinopolitan Patriarch. The first initiative was made by despot Uglješa Mrnjavčević in 1368, which resulted in the areas under his rule being restored to Constantinople. The final initiative for reconciliation between
13671-584: The generations. Many forms of recitation or pathas were designed to aid accuracy in recitation and the transmission of the Vedas and other knowledge texts from one generation to the next. All hymns in each Veda were recited in this way; for example, all 1,028 hymns with 10,600 verses of the Rigveda was preserved in this way; as were all other Vedas including the Principal Upanishads , as well as
13818-505: The goal of Emperor Dušan was to establish a new, Serbian-Greek Empire, replacing the Byzantine Empire. Ćirković considered his initial ideology as that of the previous Bulgarian emperors , who had envisioned co-rulership. However, starting in 1347, relations with John VI Kantakouzenos worsened, Dušan allied himself with rival John V Palaiologos . Dušan was the first Serbian monarch who wrote most of his letters in Greek , also signing with
13965-868: The help of elaborate mnemonic techniques : According to Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a "parallel products of a literate society". Mostly recently, research shows that oral performance of (written) texts could be a philosophical activity in early China . It is a common knowledge in India that the primary Hindu books called Vedas are great example of Oral tradition. Pundits who memorized three Vedas were called Trivedis. Pundits who memorized four vedas were called Chaturvedis. By transferring knowledge from generation to generation Hindus protected their ancient Mantras in Vedas, which are basically Prose. The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with
14112-535: The human intellect, and the memory to retain information and sharpen imagination. Perhaps the most famous repository of oral tradition is the west African griot (named differently in different languages). The griot is a hereditary position and exists in Dyula , Soninke , Fula , Hausa , Songhai , Wolof , Serer , and Mossi societies among many others, although more famously in Mandinka society . They constitute
14259-467: The importance of storytelling in preserving Roman history . Valerius Maximus also references oral tradition in Memorable Doings and Sayings (2.1.10). Wiseman argues that celebratory performances served as a vital medium for transmitting Roman history and that such traditions evolved into written forms by the third century CE. He asserts that the history of figures like the house of Tarquin
14406-677: The influence of the church. Dušan rejected Constantinople's claims to authority over the Serbian Orthodox Church and contemplated a religious union with the Latin Church . In 1354, Dušan reached out to the Papal States , offering to recognise Pope Innocent VI as the "father of all Christians" and to solidify a union between the Catholic and Serbian Orthodox Church, in exchange for supporting Dušan in his plans for
14553-479: The introduction of text , oral tradition remained the only means of communication in order to establish societies as well as its institutions. Despite widespread comprehension of literacy in the recent century, oral tradition remains the dominant communicative means within the world. All indigenous African societies use oral tradition to learn their origin and history , civic and religious duties, crafts and skills, as well as traditional myths and legends . It
14700-489: The jurisdiction of the Serbian church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople had Dušan excommunicated in 1350, although this did not affect the religious organization. Under Serbian jurisdiction came one of the foremost centers of spirituality – Mount Athos . As of November 1345, Athonite monks accepted his supreme rule, and Dušan guaranteed autonomy, also giving a row of economic privileges, with tremendous gifts and endowments. The monks of Chilandar (the cradle of
14847-455: The last survivor of the Balkan traditions. "All ancient Greek literature", states Steve Reece, "was to some degree oral in nature, and the earliest literature was completely so". Homer 's epic poetry, states Michael Gagarin, "was largely composed, performed and transmitted orally". As folklores and legends were performed in front of distant audiences, the singers would substitute the names in
14994-671: The lived experience of earthquakes and floods within tribal memory. According to one story from the Suquamish Tribe , Agate Pass was created when an earthquake expanded the channel as a result of an underwater battle between a serpent and bird. Other stories in the region depict the formation of glacial valleys and moraines and the occurrence of landslides, with stories being used in at least one case to identify and date earthquakes that occurred in 900 CE and 1700. Further examples include Arikara origin stories of emergence from an "underworld" of persistent darkness, which may represent
15141-492: The long and short syllables are repeated by certain rules, so that if an error or inadvertent change is made, an internal examination of the verse reveals the problem. Oral traditions can be passed on through plays and acting, as shown in modern-day Cameroon by the Graffis or Grasslanders who perform and deliver speeches to teach their history through oral tradition. Such strategies facilitate transmission of information without
15288-418: The millennium have taught us anything, it must be that oral tradition never was the other we accused it of being; it never was the primitive, preliminary technology of communication we thought it to be. Rather, if the whole truth is told, oral tradition stands out as the single most dominant communicative technology of our species as both a historical fact and, in many areas still, a contemporary reality. Before
15435-584: The modern settlement of Kllogjen located in the highlands of Dukagjini, thus making a correlation between Murik and the Mavriqi likely considering the geographic location and range of the latter community. While their attestation in the fourteenth century is likely but open to contestation, the Mavriqi undoubtedly appear as a community in the historical records of the fifteenth century. In the Venetian cadastre of 1416-17 conducted in Scutari and its environs,
15582-489: The monasteries in which his parents were buried. Both the Banjska monastery , built by King Milutin, where his mother was buried, and the monastery of Visoki Dečani , an endowment of his father, were generously looked after. The monastery was built for eight years and it is certain that Dušan's role in the building process was huge. Between 1337 and 1339, Dušan became ill, and he gave his word that if he survived, he would build
15729-457: The most prominent under the rule of Lazarević dynasty . In 1314, Serbian King Stefan Milutin quarreled with his son, Stefan Uroš III . Milutin sent Dečanski to Constantinople to have him blinded, though he was never totally blinded. Dečanski wrote to Danilo, the bishop of Hum, asking him to intervene with his father. Danilo wrote to Archbishop Nicodemus of Serbia , who spoke with Milutin and persuaded him to recall his son. In 1320 Dečanski
15876-536: The municipality of Tutin , Serbia . According to Ejup Mušović, the Mavriqi of Batrage had arrived from Radavc , Kosovo , although they had originally migrated to the latter village from around Kukës , north-eastern Albania. The first recorded mass to the Catholic Albanian tribes was held in Mavriq by the Franciscans at Easter in 1636 by Father Benedetto da Soligo. He and Gregoria da Novara were
16023-494: The narrative, sometimes answering questions from the audience to ensure understanding, although often someone would learn a tradition without asking their master questions and not really understand the meaning of its content, leading them to speculate in the commentary. Oral traditions only exist when they are told, except for in people's minds, and so the frequency of telling a tradition aids its preservation. These African ethnic groups also utilize oral tradition to develop and train
16170-416: The next about Irish folklore and history, particularly in medieval times. The potential for oral transmission of history in ancient Rome is evidenced primarily by Cicero , who discusses the significance of oral tradition in works such as Brutus , Tusculan Disputations , and On The Orator . While Cicero ’s reliance on Cato’s Origines may limit the breadth of his argument, he nonetheless highlights
16317-468: The oldest oral traditions in existence. A basalt stone axe found underneath volcanic ash in 1947 had already proven that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill. Native American society was always reliant upon oral tradition, if not storytelling , in order to convey knowledge, morals and traditions amongst others, a trait Western settlers deemed as representing an inferior race without neither culture nor history, often cited as
16464-405: The oral passing of what had been revealed through Christ through their preaching as teachers. Jan Vansina , who specialised in the history of Central Africa , pioneered the study of oral tradition in his book Oral tradition as history (1985). Vansina differentiates between oral and literate civilisations, depending on whether emphasis is placed on the sanctity of the written or oral word in
16611-609: The other from January 1346, and around Christmas 1345 at a council meeting in Serres , which had been conquered on 25 September 1345, he proclaimed himself "Tsar of the Serbs and Romans" ( Romans is equivalent to Greeks in Serbian documents). On 16 April 1346 (Easter), Dušan convoked a huge assembly at Skopje , attended by the Serbian Archbishop Joanikije II , the Archbishop of Ochrid Nikolas I ,
16758-534: The overall meaning. In this way, the rules that govern the people are modified by the whole and not authored by a single entity. Ancient texts of Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism were preserved and transmitted by an oral tradition. For example, the śrutis of Hinduism called the Vedas , the oldest of which trace back to the second millennium BCE. Michael Witzel explains this oral tradition as follows: The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without
16905-502: The pope, stating that he was ready to recognize papal supremacy. Since there is no other evidence that Dušan was seriously attracted to Catholicism, this was most likely a diplomatic action to improve relations with papacy while Serbia was endangered by Hungary. Dušan successfully repelled the Hungarian invasion, preserving or even extending his original borders in the north. When the Hungarians retreated from Serbia, he did not continue
17052-419: The present-day distribution of groups claiming descent from the tribe across North Africa and parts of the Middle East. The epic's development into a cohesive narrative was first documented by the historian Ibn Khaldūn in the 14th century. In his writings, Ibn Khaldūn describes collecting stories and poems from nomadic Arabs, using these oral sources to discuss the merits of colloquial versus classical poetry and
17199-466: The provinces that had earlier been in the hands of Serbia, such as Hum , which was annexed by Bosnian Ban Stephen II Kotromanić in 1326. In 1329, the Ban launched an attack on Lord Vitomir, who held Travunia and Konavle . The Bosnian army was defeated at Pribojska Banja by Dušan, still Young King . The Ban soon took over Nevesinje and the rest of Bosnia. Petar Toljenović, the Lord of "seaside Hum" and
17346-662: The remembrance of life in the Arctic Circle during the last ice age, and stories involving a "deep crevice", which may refer to the Grand Canyon. Despite such examples of agreement between geological and archeological records on one hand and Native oral records on the other, some scholars have cautioned against the historical validity of oral traditions because of their susceptibility to detail alteration over time and lack of precise dates. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act considers oral traditions as
17493-586: The same metrical conditions, to express a particular essential idea"). In the case of the work of Homer, formulas included eos rhododaktylos ("rosy fingered dawn") and oinops pontos ("winedark sea") which fit in a modular fashion into the poetic form (in this case six-colon Greek hexameter). Since the development of this theory, of oral-formulaic composition has been "found in many different time periods and many different cultures", and according to another source (John Miles Foley) "touch[ed] on" over 100 "ancient, medieval and modern traditions." The most recent of
17640-508: The seven re-tellings of the story of the Iblis and Adam , and the repeated phrases "which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?" in sura 55—make more sense addressed to listeners than readers. Banister, Dundes and other scholars (Shabbir Akhtar, Angelika Neuwirth, Islam Dayeh) have also noted the large amount of "formulaic" phraseology in the Quran consistent with " oral-formulaic composition " mentioned above. The most common formulas are
17787-402: The south, were mobilizing to attack Serbia from the north. Not expecting any serious Serbian resistance, they penetrated deep into Serbia, reaching neighborhood of Žiča monastery. They had received military support from Stephen II of Bosnia . When Dušan marched north to face them, the Hungarians quickly withdrew their armies to avoid his army. Charles I was wounded by an arrow but survived. As
17934-408: The stories with local characters or rulers to give the stories a local flavor and thus connect with the audience, but making the historicity embedded in the oral tradition unreliable. The lack of surviving texts about the Greek and Roman religious traditions have led scholars to presume that these were ritualistic and transmitted as oral traditions, but some scholars disagree that the complex rituals in
18081-419: The storyteller's objective at the time. One's rendition of a story was often considered a response to another's rendition, with plot alterations suggesting alternative ways of applying traditional ideas to present conditions. Listeners might have heard the story told many times, or even may have told the same story themselves. This does not take away from a story's meaning, as curiosity about what happens next
18228-481: The teachings of Jesus Christ were initially passed on to early Christians by "the Apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observance handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did". The Catholic Church asserts that this mode of transmission of the faith persists through current-day bishops , who by right of apostolic succession , have continued
18375-728: The troops previously based in Macedonia and Thessaly), Kantakouzenos tried to regain lands Byzantium had lost. In his support, the Constantinopolitan patriarch Kallistos excommunicated Dušan to discourage the Greek population in Dušan's Greek provinces from supporting the Serbian administration and thereby assist the Kantakouzenos campaign. The excommunication did not stop Dušan's relations with Mount Athos, which still addressed him as Emperor, though rather as Emperor of Serbs than Emperor of Serbs and Greeks . Kantakouzenos raised
18522-473: The two churches came from Prince Lazar in 1375. There is no evidence of an existing cult of Emperor Dušan in the decades after his death. His charter to Ragusa (Dubrovnik) served as a statute in the future trade between Serbia and Ragusa, and its regulations were deemed inviolable. His legacy was esteemed in Ragusa. Later folk tradition in Serbia included various attitudes toward Dušan, mostly negative, made under
18669-655: The use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording ... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. Ancient Indians developed techniques for listening, memorization and recitation of their knowledge, in schools called Gurukul , while maintaining exceptional accuracy of their knowledge across
18816-674: The value of oral histories in written historical works. The Torah and other ancient Jewish literature, the Judeo-Christian Bible and texts of early centuries of Christianity are rooted in an oral tradition, and the term "People of the Book" is a medieval construct. This is evidenced, for example, by the multiple scriptural statements by Paul admitting "previously remembered tradition which he received" orally. Australian Aboriginal culture has thrived on oral traditions and oral histories passed down through thousands of years. In
18963-553: The west to Jerusalem in the east. Besides Orthodox Christians, there were many Catholics in the Empire, mostly in the coastal cities of Cattaro , Alessio (modern Lezhë) etc. Catholics were also present on his court (servants from Cattaro and Ragusa , mercenaries, guests etc.). In the central parts, Saxons were present in areas active in mining and trading. Serbia under Dušan claimed its identity through Orthodoxy and opposition to Catholicism. Catholics were persecuted, especially Catholic Albanians. Some historians consider that
19110-440: The world". Modern archaeology has been unveiling evidence of the human efforts to preserve and transmit arts and knowledge that depended completely or partially on an oral tradition, across various cultures: The Judeo-Christian Bible reveals its oral traditional roots; medieval European manuscripts are penned by performing scribes; geometric vases from archaic Greece mirror Homer's oral style. (...) Indeed, if these final decades of
19257-457: The world's major religions, Islam claims two major sources of divine revelation—the Quran and hadith —compiled in written form relatively shortly after being revealed: The oral milieu in which the sources were revealed, and their oral form in general are important. The Arab poetry that preceded the Quran and the hadith were orally transmitted. Few Arabs were literate at the time and paper
19404-421: Was 14 years old probably in March, or April 1326, and that he was born in 1312, not around 1308. In the meantime, Vladislav II mobilized local support from Rudnik , the former appanage of his father, Stefan Dragutin . Vladislav proclaimed himself king, and he was supported by the Hungarians, consolidating control over his lands and preparing for battle with Dečanski. As was the case with their fathers, Serbia
19551-655: Was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks . This title was soon enlarged into " Emperor and Autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks, the Bulgarians and Albanians ". His epithet Silni (Силни) is translated into the Mighty , but also the Great , the Powerful or the Strong . Stefan Dušan was the most powerful Serbian ruler in the Middle Ages and remains a folk hero to Serbs. Dušan, a contemporary of England's Edward III,
19698-404: Was crowned king on 6 January 1322 by Nicodemus, and his son, Stefan Dušan, was crowned "young king". Dečanski later granted Zeta to Dušan, indicating him as the intended heir. Since April 1326 Dušan appears in written sources as the "young king" and ruler in Zeta and Zahumlje . From that fact and the "Old Serbian genealogies and annals" , in recent works, some Serbian historians write that Dušan
19845-427: Was divided by the two independent rulers; in 1322 and 1323 Ragusan merchants freely visited both lands. In 1323, war broke out between Dečanski and Vladislav. Rudnik had fallen to Dečanski by the end of 1323, and Vladislav appeared to have fled north. Vladislav was defeated in battle in late 1324 and fled to Hungary, leaving the Serbian throne to Dečanski as undisputed "king of All Serbian and Maritime lands". Dušan
19992-616: Was interested in the arts of war; in his youth he fought exceptionally in two battles, defeating Bosnian forces in 1329 during the War of Hum , and the Bulgarian emperor Michael III Shishman in the 1330 Battle of Velbužd . Dečanski appointed his nephew Ivan Stephen (through Anna Neda ) to the throne of Bulgaria in August 1330. Dečanski's decision not to attack the Byzantines after the victory at Velbazhd, when he had an opportunity, resulted in
20139-480: Was known for his justification of the oral tradition and criticism of the written word. Stories are used to preserve and transmit both tribal history and environmental history, which are often closely linked. Native oral traditions in the Pacific Northwest, for example, describe natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. Various cultures from Vancouver Island and Washington have stories describing
20286-434: Was less of a priority than hearing fresh perspectives on well-known themes and plots. Elder storytellers generally were not concerned with discrepancies between their version of historical events and neighboring tribes' version of similar events, such as in origin stories. Tribal stories are considered valid within the tribe's own frame of reference and tribal experience. The 19th century Oglala Lakota tribal member Four Guns
20433-451: Was likely passed down through oral storytelling for centuries before being recorded in literature. Although Flower critiques the lack of ancient evidence supporting Wiseman's broader claims, Wiseman maintains that dramatic narratives fundamentally shaped historiography. In Asia, the transmission of folklore, mythologies as well as scriptures in ancient India, in different Indian religions, was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with
20580-475: Was made so to facilitate the "preservation and remembrance" of the work. Islamic doctrine holds that from the time it was revealed to the present day, the Quran has not been altered, its continuity from divine revelation to its current written form insured by the large numbers of Muhammad's supporters who had reverently memorized the work, a careful compiling process and divine intervention. (Muslim scholars agree that although scholars have worked hard to separate
20727-410: Was no less than to conquer Constantinople and replace the declining Byzantine Empire with a united Orthodox Greco-Serbian Empire under his control. In May 1344, his commander Preljub was stopped at Stephaniana by a Turkic force of 3,100. The Turks won the battle, but the victory was not enough to thwart the Serbian conquest of Macedonia. Faced with Dušan's aggression, the Byzantines sought allies in
20874-487: Was not available in the Middle East. The written Quran is said to have been created in part through memorization by Muhammad's companions , and the decision to create a standard written work is said to have come after the death in battle ( Yamama ) of a large number of Muslims who had memorized the work. For centuries, copies of the Qurans were transcribed by hand, not printed, and their scarcity and expense made reciting
21021-580: Was not willing to consider this proposal. Dušan may have also launched the campaign to aid his sister, Jelena, who married Mladen III Šubić of Klis , Omiš and Skradin , in 1347. Mladen died from Black Death (bubonic plague) in 1348, and Jelena sought to maintain the rule of the cities for herself and her son. She was challenged by Hungary and Venice, so the dispatch of Serbian troops to western Hum and Croatia may have been for her aid, as operations in this region were unlikely to help Dušan conquer Hum. If Dušan had intended to aid Jelena, rising trouble in
21168-466: Was permitted to return to Serbia and was given the appanage of 'Budimlje' (modern Berane ), while his half-brother, Stefan Konstantin , held the province of Zeta . Milutin became ill and died on 29 October 1321, and Konstantin was crowned king. Civil war erupted immediately, as Dečanski and his cousin, Stefan Vladislav II , claimed the throne. Konstantin refused to submit to Dečanski, who then invaded Zeta, defeating and killing Konstantin. Dečanski
21315-543: Was the eldest son of King Stefan Dečanski and Theodora Smilets , the daughter of emperor Smilets of Bulgaria . He was born c. 1308 , or in 1312, in Serbia. In 1314 Dušan's father was exiled, and the family lived in Constantinople until his recall in 1320. Dušan became acquainted with the Byzantine Empire during his stay in its capital, learning cultural customs and the Greek language . He
21462-490: Was too young to really rule with his father 1322. and later in April 1326 Dušan appears as the co-ruler in Zeta and Zahumlje. He was entitled the rule of Zeta ; thus he ruled as "King of Zeta". In 1331 he succeeded his father as "King of all Serbian and Maritime Lands". In 1343 his title was "King of Serbia, Greeks, Albania and the coast". In 1345 he began calling himself tsar , Emperor, and in 1345 he proclaimed himself "Emperor of Serbs and Eastern Romans". On 16 April 1346 he
21609-509: Was weaker then Serbia, it did not suffer any legal dependence. In 1333 after negotiations with Ragusa , Dušan sold Ston and its envisions, including the Pelješac peninsula and the coastland between Ston and Dubrovnik for eight thousand perpers and an annual tribute of five hundred perpers, the so-called tribute of Ston . Ragusa also had to guarantee freedom of worship for Orthodox believers in this territory. Dušan began campaigning against
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