who was also a niece of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos [ŽDS 42]. Internal struggles, however, were tearing the Serbian lands apart. Vuk, Stefan's brother, tried to seize power. The conflict with the Brankovićes did not abate. On top of all this, Stefan was involved in the struggles for power in the Ottoman Empire [ŽDS 53–59]. And yet, despite the challenges he faced, Despot Stefan succeeded in maintaining the stability of the state, building its strength through political alliances, economic progress and cultural flourishing. In particular - through the cultivation of a Christian, Eastern Orthodox culture. This can be seen especially in the fact that precisely in such a troubled time, a time of insecurity, in the apocalyptic days of the decline and subjugation of the Christian peoples, Despot Stefan began the building of Manasija Monastery in 1406 or 1407.
No charter on the founding of Manasija Monastery, the Despot's endowment, has been preserved that would testify precisely to the time when its construction began and ended. A relevant source, however, is the testimony of his contemporary and biographer, Constantine the Philosopher, who in the Life of Despot Stefan records information on the building of the monastery. According to his words, the construction of the monastery was begun in 1406/7 (according to the dating of Đorđe Trifunović, Aleksandar Mladenović and other researchers), and the monastery was consecrated at Pentecost in 1418 [ŽDS 52]. The circumstances in which Manasija Monastery was built were by no means simple - the monastery was founded and built in an epoch of general insecurity.
But it was not an epoch that meant decline and ruin for the Serbian people: on the contrary, it was an epoch of the flowering of high culture, an epoch of renewal, an epoch of building. Paradoxically, in circumstances of general ruin, the Serbian Despotate, headed by its pious ruler, flourished. Despot Stefan made Belgrade his new capital; thus this city became an important cultural, political and military center of the Serbian state. The centralization of power that Stefan carried out entailed the confiscation of the lands
of disobedient nobles and the limitation of the powers of the assemblies of the nobility. The rule of Despot Stefan extended not only over the regions of present-day central Serbia, but also over areas that today belong to neighboring states. And not only there - Despot Stefan Lazarević possessed the town of Munkács, that is, Mukachevo, in the west of present-day Ukraine: as governor of Mukachevo the Despot appointed Nikola Rac.
The Despot encouraged the development of trade and crafts, while imposing restrictions on foreign merchants, especially those of Dubrovnik. In 1412 he issued the Law on Mines, by which he regulated the exploitation of mineral wealth. This law contains provisions that regulated in detail life and work in the mines, with particular emphasis on Novo Brdo, which at that time was one of the largest mines on the European continent. By advancing mining, which was the principal branch of the economy, Despot Stefan secured the economic progress of the Serbian state. During his reign the Serbian Despotate became one of the major producers of gold and silver in Europe [ŽDS 1], which significantly contributed to strengthening its economic and political standing.
Yet economics and the economy were not the sole focus of Despot Stefan's activity. He was an exceptional patron of art and culture, offering support and refuge to learned men from the Serbian lands, as well as to refugees from the countries the Ottomans had conquered. This approach of his contributed to the preservation and development of Serbian culture in the complex political circumstances of his time. His contribution and the rise of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Despot Stefan are presented in a faithful and scholarly manner in the compilation of sources and commentaries edited by Negoslav Jovančević.
Despot Stefan and His Reign
A great number of treatises and studies have been published in the Serbian language, as well as several monographs on Despot Stefan Lazarević as ruler, military commander, diplomat, statesman and knight - from the pens of Matija Stanojlović and Miloje J. Gajić, Milenko M. Vukićević (1867–1935), Miodrag Al. Purković (1907–1976), Nadežda D. Pavlović (1927–2003), Vukašin Stanisavljević, Željko Fajfrić, Vladimir Dobrosavljević and other authors. Certain authors have also investigated other aspects of his reign and his legacy - for example, the Despot's cultural contribution, which was of great significance in the history of the Serbian people and the Serbian Church, as well as his written works, his church policy, and so on.
As a patron of culture, art and learning, Despot Stefan Lazarević was an unusual figure not only among Serbian rulers, but among rulers in general. To this his
contemporaries also bear witness, praising his virtues and his care for the common good, comparing him with biblical figures and other great men of the past [ŽDS .н., .аi.,
.вi.]. But he was not only a protector of culture - he was also an inspired creator. Besides being a patron of culture, Despot Stefan was himself a man of letters and an active writer. His celebrated work in acrostic, known by the title the Homily on Love, represents a unique achievement in the Serbian literature of that age, distinguished by Renaissance features and profound emotional and spiritual power. In this work, Stefan expressed in an extraordinary way his exalted love for his neighbors and his Christian piety, making the Homily on Love one of the most beautiful examples of medieval literature. It is held that Stefan dedicated this work to his brother Vuk; certain scholars, such as Miodrag Al. Purković (1907–1976), hold that the Despot dedicated this work to his sister Olivera, and there are other interpretations as well - that the Despot dedicated this work to his wife Jelena, or to his nephew Đurađ Branković, or to the Serbian magnates, and so on.