The Charter of Despot Stefan to Mileševa Monastery

He fills with goodness, so that we may be not only receivers of this transient kingdom but also heirs of the eternal Kingdom, whence comes from here the good ordering of the supreme authority entrusted to us.

Therefore I too, with pious faith in Christ God Despot Stefan, and by the mercy of God lord of the Serbs, write this for the knowledge of all, how by the great mercy and ineffable grace of my holy lords and Serbian founders (ktitors): Saint Simeon, Serbian autocrat and myrrh-streamer, and Saint Sava, the great Serbian Archbishop, who for me, unworthy one, by their great mercy were intercessors before the Lord, and by their prayers I was often saved on sea and on land, in wars, and in various tribulations and onslaughts of enemies. Even my sinful soul they brought back from the gates of death, and by their prayers the Creator of all and Master granted me life a second time, until it shall (again) please, in time to come, the Lord of life and death, the Creator and my God.

For these great benefactions of my holy lords to my humility, I have offered a small gift. I have granted to the monastery of my lord Saint Sava, which is at Mileševa, five villages in Moravica. Their names are these: two Guglje, the third - Hrasno Polje, the fourth - Šemgonj, the fifth - Rupeljevo. And I have shown mercy to these villages: that for two years they be free of the unča, that for five years they be freed from great and small labors for me (the ruler), then from the military levy, from the building of fortresses and from all dues to me, except the unča; (and these villages) shall not give the soće to me either, but only to the Monastery of Mileševa.

And (for) this my small gift I entreat him whom God shall appoint to rule after me: whether (one) of our kinsmen, or any one of the pious, that this (which is written) remain unaltered and undestroyed, despite any curse of the envious devil, even as we have neither violated nor destroyed that which the holy lords who formerly governed the Serbian land had granted.

But should anyone dare to destroy or alter this, may the Lord God and the All-Pure Mother of God destroy such a one, both here, in his earthly life, and in his life after death, and instead of helping him, may Saint Simeon and Saint Sava be his adversaries.

By the grace of God lord of the Serbs Despot Stefan

Translated into modern Serbian after: Aleksandar Mladenović, The Charters and Letters of Despot Stefan: Text, Commentary, Facsimiles (Повеље и писма Деспота Стефана: текст, коментари, снимци), “Charters” Edition (Belgrade: Čigoja štampa, 2007), 365.