Vukdrag
čelnik [of the Serbian kingdom]
Vukdrag founded the Church of St. John the Baptist in Dići, where he was buried in 1327.
BornKingdom of Serbia
Died(1327-05-08)8 May 1327
BuriedChurch of St. John the Baptist in Dići (near Ljig, central Serbia)
SpouseVladislava (nun Ana)
Occupationmagnate

Vukdrag (Serbian Cyrillic: Вукдраг;[a] d. 1327) was a Serbian nobleman who served King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–31) as čelnik.[1] He was a magnate in the Rudnik mountain area, who founded (as the ktetor) the Raška style[2] church in Dići (near Ljig, central Serbia), below the Rudnik, before 1327, most likely as a family temple.[3] He must have had one of the important gubernatorial functions in the Rudnik oblast (province) during the reigns of kings Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321) and Stefan Dečanski.[2] Unknown in historical sources,[4] he was buried in his church, where his gravestone inscription tells that he died on 8 May 1327,[5] on the Feast of the Ascension (Spasovdan),[6] and that he had taken monastic vows as Nikola (Никола) and [once] held the title of čelnik.[7] It is unclear if there was one or several individuals with that title at the court at that time; Đuraš Ilijić (fl. 1326–62) was mentioned with the title in 1326, and Gradislav Vojšić (fl. 1284–1327), for the second time, in 1327.[1] He was buried in a special tomb inside the church,[8] and his gravestone was set by his wife Vladislava (nun Ana).[9] The unearthing of the gravestone gave new facts in the understanding of the territorial contours of the Serbian state north of Rudnik at the end of the 13th- and beginning of 14th century.[10] The largest medieval necropolis in Serbia was unearthed around the church, with flat gravestones (more than 180 slabs) belonging to the oldest phase of the Stećak culture.[11]


Annotations

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  1. ^
    Archaically rendered Vlgdrag (Влгдраг),[12] Vlkdrag (Влкдраг);[6] modern forms Vukdrag (Вукдраг) and Vukodrag (Вукодраг). It is an old Serbian name, found in medieval epigraphy. It is an apotropaic name, derived from vuk ("wolf") and drag ("dear").

References

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Sources

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  • Anthropologischer Anzeiger (2001). Anthropologischer Anzeiger. Vol. 59. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (E. Nägele). p. 114.
  • Blagojević, Miloš (2001). Državna uprava u srpskim srednjovekovnim zemljama. Službeni list SRJ. ISBN 9788635504971.
  • Đorđević, Ivan M.; Vojvodić, Dragan; Marković, Miodrag (2008). Studije srpske srednjovekovne umetnosti. Zavod za Udžbenike. p. 481. ISBN 9788617147400.
  • Erdeljan, Jelena (1996). Medieval funerary monuments in the region of Ras. Arheološki institut, Beograd. ISBN 978-86-80093-10-9.
  • Janićijević, Jovan (1998). The cultural treasury of Serbia. IDEA. p. 339. ISBN 9788675470397.
  • Kalezić, Dimitrije M. (2002). Enciklopedija pravoslavlja. Savremena administracija. ISBN 9788638706716.
  • Novak, Viktor (2009). Revue historique. Vol. 58. Istorijski institut u Beogradu. p. 95.
  • Stamenković, Srboljub Đ. (2002). Geografska enciklopedija: naselja Srbije. Geografski fakultet. p. 499. ISBN 9788682657149.
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  • Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Valjevo. "Dići" (in Serbian). Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Valjevo.