Manasija Monastery: A History

Hidden by the darkness of the centuries that passed under Ottoman bondage, the history of the monastery of Resava in the era of Turkish rule remains unknown. There are few sources in which the Resava monastery is mentioned. From the brief historical notes that survive, only an occasional detail flashes forth, contributing little of significance to unraveling the history of Manasija Monastery. Thus the Roman Catholic bishop of Ulcinj, Martin Segon († c. 1485), in his report to the Roman Pope Sixtus IV (1414–1484), written in 1481, mentions the glorious church of Resava as the tomb of kings and illustrious princes [MS II, 1 (87) (221– 222, 243)].¹³ Konstantin Mihailović of Ostrovica (c. 1435–1501), in his memoirs written around 1498, states that Despot Stefan rests in the monastery of Resava [KM XX].¹⁴ The same is confirmed by the Genealogy of the Branković Family of Srem from the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century [RSB 163], and by the Russian Chronograph of 1512 [RH 204 (427, 429) (262–263, 268– 269)]. From other sources we learn that below the Resava fortress, beside the Resava River, the sanjakbey Ali Bey Mihaloğlu (1425–1500/1507) built a hammam at the end of the 15th century, at the latest somewhere around 1500.¹⁵ Felix Petančić (c. 1455–1517), in his description of the Serbian lands under Turkish rule from 1501, drawing on Segon's report, mentions the glorious church of Resava as the burial place of Despot Stefan [FP 6].¹⁶ On the other hand, neither the summary defter of the Sanjak of Smederevo from 1498 nor the Turkish census of 1516 mentions the Resava monks.¹⁷ According to the summary defter of the Sanjak of Kruševac from 1516,¹⁸ the garrison of the fortress of Resava, commanded by the dizdar Jusuf, consisted of 54 Muslims (among whom were the imam and khatib Hajrudin, and with him the muezzin Mahmud), and one Christian, named Bogdan [SDKS 302– 307; 564–570].¹⁹ The mention of an imam and a khatib in the Turkish censuses suggests that there was a mosque in the Resava fortress or near it, but it is not known whether at some point the monastery church was converted into a Muslim house of worship. There was also an Islamic endowment in the fortress: according to the summary census of the Sanjak of Smederevo from 1530, Ali Bey Mihaloğlu established his waqf in the fortress itself, which is still mentioned three decades after his death.²⁰ Yet, on the other hand, in Serbian consciousness and culture the monastery of Resava, and especially the monastery's Church of the Holy Trinity as the burial place of the glorious Resava founder, continuously held an important place.

Thus, among the Serbian documents produced during the 16th century and later, the magnificent and renowned church of the monastery of Resava is mentioned by the Dorpat, Vrhobreznica and Ostojić Chronicles [SSH 126, 151, 156], the Verković and Dečani Chronicles [SRL 74: 28–31; SSRL 594б, 594д], and also the Branković Chronicle [SLDĐ 18; SSRL 1102, 1109, 1125;