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 One
of the major, long-standing questions confusing the historical record has been
the question of state legality and legitimacy of the kings of Prilep. The
contemporary Serbian historiography proved that the long-time governing notion
regarding Volkashin's (and Uglesha's) act of "usurping" and
"tyrannical" act of assuming the king's (and tyrant's) crown was
untenable. Although data on the origin of the King Volkashin and his son Marko
are extremely insufficient and unsure, it is indisputable that they have arisen
from the hierarchy of the Serbian feudal state. However, it is indisputable that
there were state formations which were opposed to the north Serbian states, and
were not even close to the eastern Bulgarian kingdoms in Macedonia in the XIVth
century.
On April 15, 1345, when the Serbian king Dushan was
crowned as Tzar in
Skopje,
almost the entire territory of Macedonia was within the scope of his large
state, and individual parts were governed by feudal vassals of high rank. Ten
years later, after the death of Tzar Dushan (1355), his kingdom began to fall
apart - due to, among other causes, intensified strivings of the feudal lords
for greater independence. It is believed that the process of the establishment
of independent states and feuds between them in Macedonia began during this
period. The most respected among the numerous Serbian feudal lords of that time
were the brothers Volkashin and Uglesha Mrnjavchevich.
Volkashin - King Marko's father - occupied various
positions in Dushan's state: he was a head of a tribal state in
Prilep,
and late became a high courtier and a despot. In about 1365, he proclaimed
himself a Tzar and thus became a co-ruler with the Tzar Urosh. His brother, the
despot Uglesha ruled over the Struma region. Both brothers were killed in 1371
at Chernomen (Thrace), during the Marica battle against the Turks, in an
unsuccessful attempt to prevent further penetration by the Turks into the Balkan
Peninsula and forestall the direct danger of Turkish occupation of their
territories. This defeat began the lose of independence held by the feudal
rulers of Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia. By the end of the 14th century, the
Turks had subjected Macedonia to their direct authority. It was the beginning of
five centuries of slavery for the Macedonians under the Turks.
After the death of Volkashin, his eldest son Marko
inherited the throne and title of his father. He was, however, forced to
recognize Turkish authority, as supreme, to take an obligation before the Sultan
to pay tribute (jizia and poll-tax) and to provide military assistance whenever
so requested by the Sultan. The other Turkish vassals, like Konstantin Dragash
or the Serbian despot Stefan Lazarevich (after the battle at Kosovo), had
similar obligations.
 The
territory of Marko's state stretched on the right bank of the River Vardar: from
the mountain of Shar and Albanian mountains in the northeast, to Kostur
(Kastoria) in the southwest, with its capital in Prilep. Skopje and Ohrid did
not belong to Marko, except perhaps temporally. As a king, Marko minted coins
with the inscription: "King Marko faithful to Lord Jesus Christ." A
similar inscription is found on the frescoes depicting his figure in the
monastery of St. Dimitar in Varos, Prilep. In the Prizren (Serbia) church of the
Introduction of the Holy Virgin, an inscription is found where Marko is named as
"a young king. " Fulfilling his vassal obligation for military
assistance to Sultan Bayazit, King Marko was killed on May 17,1395 in Craiova
(Romania) during the battle against the Vlach military leader Mircho. Other
vassals of Sultan Bayazit also took part in the battle: the despot Stefan
Lazarevich and Konstantin Dragash, who was also killed at the battlefield.
The preserved frescoes in St. Dimitriya church, Marko's
Monastery, Skopje, Macedonia, also speak about the in dependence of the brothers
Volkashin and Uglesha. In Marko's monastery near Skopje, "King Marko"
is presented in king's clothes in all his dignity, and also with the curved
metallic horn decorated with ornaments and pearls which advanced the new
dynasty. The intention was to emphasize not only the independence, but also the
differences from the Nemagnich dynasty. It was shown not only by the absence of
the saints from the Nemagnich circle who had incarnated the Serbian church and
historical tradition (St. Simeon, Nemagna and St. Sava) but also by the presence
of St. Clement of Ohrid among the holy fathers. By that, a clear distinction was
made between the Serbian Patriarchate of Pec (which supported the duke Lazar)
and the Archbishopric of Ohrid (which stood behind King Marko and his state.)
In connection with this is also the creation of the new
dynasty. The proclamation of King Marko as a young king in a situation when the
Czar Urosh (like the tyrant Uglesha) had no legal successor, has already
predetermined the king's crown to Marko and the legitimacy or the separate
dynasty - especially when Volkashin ended the co-ruler status and proclaimed
himself to be independent and the sole sovereign of his state.
The reaction on the Nemagnich dynasty to the crowning of
Volkashin and his declared independence is understandable and logical. That's
why in that tradition King Volkashin, although a victim of the fight against the
Turk, remained a damned usurper . All of this was also the result of intention
which is not mentioned very often
In 1369, the decisive Kosovo battle took place between
the two dynasties: Lazar I Irebeglanovic, Nikola Altomanovich and the Czar
Urosh. That is, the Nemagnich dynasty on one side and the brothers King
Volkashin (probably together with the young successor Marko) and Tyrant Uglesha
- the new "Mrgnavchevich" dynasty -on the other . The southern rulers
won the battle and as cited they even took Czar Urosh prisoner. Details are
missing, and the sources are greatly lacking, but the event has historical
importance. Although according to the Serbian tradition Czar Urosh was
considered to have been killed by King Volkashin, recent data points to the fact
that he lived longer than Volkashin. However, as R. Mirkhaljchich says, Czar
Urosh become "a Czar without empire, a sovereign without sovereignty,"
without the support of the Romeyes and without the legitimacy of the
Patriarchate of Pec, already in schism at that time. The brothers Volkashin and
Uglesha, thanks to the size of the territories they governed and the supplied
legitimacy of the Archbishopric of Ohrid (with the support of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate) became the strongest power. They were the only power which could
oppose the invasion of the Turks.
Such relations were the logic by which the Serbian north
did not take place in the Marica battle against the Turks (1371) and King Marko
did not take place in the Kosovo battle in 1389. It was a state and church
antagonism between two dynasties which perhaps had no expressive national
character but in which basis - as Misirkov also thinks - probably was the
cultural and historical difference between the north and the south. It is not
exactly known when and where Marko was crowned, but it was probably immediately
after the Marica battle and his father's death. Literally and legally, Marko
might be considered as a co-ruler of the still living Czar Urosh. Taking into
consideration the ending of the Nemagnich dynasty, Marko should be considered to
be the sole legitimate king of Serbia. But the real situation was probably
different. In fact, King Marko was sovereign of the new Mrgnavchevich dynasty,
if this name can also be confirmed by more trustworthy sources - because, as we
are now informed, nowhere in the contemporary sources is the surname of
Mrgnavchevich fixed. By the way, the name of the founder of this dynasty in
Macedonia in the previous sources is found in Slovenian in the form of King
Volkashin (without the suffix Stephen), while in the Dubrovnik documents in
Latin he is recorded as Regis Volcassini, dominus rex Volkasinus.
 Until
now no official document, no charter, nor any royal gold seal has been found
-herein Marko is titled as Prince Marko -- only as Young King or King Marko. The
folk tradition in Macedonia has been responsible.
King Marko was born about 1335. The first time he is
mentioned in a document is when he visited Dubrovnik as a delegate of Volkashin.
His name is also mentioned in some notes and chronicles of his time as a son of
Volkashin or, later, as a king. Thus, in a document dated 1370, Volkashin
mentioned his sons Marko and Andrea and his wife Elena, about whom there is no
other data available in the history.
From the more recent documentation, the structure of the
Volkashin family appears. King Volkashin and Queen Elena (in the monasticism she
is called Elisaveta, and in the folk tradition she is mostly known as Efrosima)
had four sons (Marko, Andrea, Ivanish and Dimitrya-Mitrush) and an unknown
number of daughters, of which only the name of Olivera is mentioned, married to
Gjurgje Balshish. King Marko married the daughter of Radoslav Hlapen, and left
her before the Marica battle. Later he probably married Teodora and after 1377,
he gave her to his father-in-law Radoslav and brought back Radoslav's daughter,
"Marko's first wife, Jelena. " It is not known if Marko had a child
and a successor. All this concerning the marriage relations of King Marko gave a
base for folk tradition.
In general, these facts are the basic historical data
about King Marko. There are some other opinions about Marko to be mentioned,
found in the chronicles and histories. The Dubrovnik chroniclers (Orbinin,
Lukarevich and others) had mentioned Marko as a successor of Volkashin and had
recorded his death at Rovine as a Turkish vassal. The Serbian Patriarch Paisie,
a 17th century biographer, in his work The Life of Czar Urosh, does not mention
Marko at all, which is strange when one considers the fact that the work was
mainly based on folk tradition. Likewise, other 18th century chroniclers and
historians did not attribute serious significance to Marko. On the contrary,
some accused him of serving the Sultan and the Turks. Thus, in the Thronous
geneaology ( 1791), he is even accused of bringing the Turks to the Balkan
Peninsula. Jovan Rajich, in his History of the South Slavs (1794), criticized
the folk cult of Marko. The opinion of the Bulgarian historian Paisie of
Chilandar about King Marko is in no milder.
After the death of King Marko, his state was incorporated
by the Turks within their contemtories, perhaps because he had no direct heir.
Dimitar and Andrea were forced to leave the country. Dimitar went to Dubrovnik
(about 1400) and from here he left for Hungary, where he entered the service of
the King Sigmund; he died sometime after 1407.
The destiny of the queen - the mother Elena -and of
Marko's brothers gives a possibility for concluding some situations and
relations of the states of both Volkashin and Uglesha. It is known that Queen
Elena / Elisaveta, Marko and Andrea all minted their own coins. This suggests
that they had separate finances, and separate state borders. In 1374 Queen
Elena/Elisaveta sent her logothete Dabizhiv to Dubrovnik in connection with the
silver deposits of Volkashin. Until 1377, she was still alive, and she was
mentioned in an official document with a gold seal of her son Andrea in St.
Andrea church near Matka. It is not known when and were they entered the
monastic order, but her name is mentioned in a later document of St. Jovan
Pretecha monastery.
Especially unclear are the relations of Marko toward his
brothers that in 1385 Ivanish left Macedonia and joined the Zeta and Albanian
powers in the battle against the Turks where he died. Other data indicates that
Andrea, as "a prince" in the time of the Kosovo battle in 1389, built
the St. Andrea church. However, more trustworthy sources are missing, preventing
us from establishing who was the Andreas de Macedonia who on April 14, 1389
enrolled in Vienna University. We are sure that in the middle of 1394 the
brothers Andrea and Dimitrya had already left Macedonia and reached Dubrovnik in
order to take their share of their father's deposit. On August 10, they took the
money and left for Hungary, where they served the greatest enemy of the Turks,
the Hungarian king Sigmund.
What later happened to Andrea is not known, but it is
clear that in 1399 he was no longer alive as his brother Dimitrya came alone to
Dubrovnik in order to take over the part of the deposits left to the already
slain Marko.
Dimitrya (Mitrush) served King Sigmund until the
beginning of the century as a castellan of the town of Vilagosh and as head of
the Zarand tribal state. The task of researching Hungarian archives and
finishing the discovery of the descendants of King Volkashin remains. It is
known that from the four brothers (there is no data about the sisters) only
Andrea left successors, and his son was father of the wife of the Bosnian feudal
lord Stepan Kosach.
In any case, one of the most important questions is that
about the vassalage of Marko. Although immediately after the Marica battle many
territories from Volkashin's and Uglesha's states were occupied by neighboring
Christian rulers, the kingdom of Marko had an independent status for a quarter
of a century. Its borders were often disturbed by the Turks, sieges were laid
even in Prilep and Bitola, slaves were taken and later sold on Crete; however,
the people had a relatively peaceful life. This was reflected in the folk memory
and expressed through folk creativity. It is written that after 1377 Marko
became a vassal of Bayazit I, but without trustworthy proofs. It is known that
Marko's brothers, who were anti-Turkish, left Macedonia toward the middle of
1394 and joined the king of Hungary (Ivanish had been slain in the battle
against the Turks nine years before). What was Marko's status at that time and
what was the reason for the split between the brothers ? It seems that the
crucial events place in the winter of 1393 - 94 when Bayazit I decided to
liquidate his Balkan vassals and to include their territories into the borders
of the Ottoman Empire. He invited them one-by- one to a conference in Seres,
intending to execute them there. But Bayazit I changed his mind; he allowed a
part of them to go back, and with the others he went to Thessaly. In some
sources it is cited that the vassals gave their word they would not stand for
remaining vassals any longer and later that they divided themselves into two
groups: one group accepted the vassal destiny. Yet the names of Marko and his,
brothers are not mentioned. Was this political schism the period of the split
between the brothers?
It is a historical fact that King Marko as a vassal went
with Bayazit's army to battle against the Vlach duke Mirche and was killed along
with Konstantin Dragash at Rovine on May 17, 1395. Obviously the people could
not accept such a destiny for their king. According to folk tradition,
immediately before the battle Marko comprehended his dishonest position and
said, "I am saying and begging God to help the Christians, even if I am
among the first to die in this".
It is very normal that certain entity, in accordance with
its views on past and visions of present and future, have profiled and built the
personality of King Marko in the national mind. Poor written documents have even
more given way to fantasy and encouraged hopes of long occupied Orthodox Balkan
Slavs. That is how it came to creating a myth of his character, who absorbed a
great deal of characteristics of mythological and legendary characters of the
Balkan and non-Balkan provenance. On the other hand, his circumstances of the
centuries long position of the Macedonian people. Slavery and freedom, justice
and force, antipodes of the cross and the crescent were also in question.
XIVth century represents a turning point in the history
of the south Slavic and Balkan nations. It, in fact, was the end of one
civilization period and beginning of another completely different period, which
significantly changed the ethno-cultural map of the Balkan Peninsula, and to a
large extent, Europe's map. It was a historical moment of factual dissolution of
a few powerful Christian kingdoms domination Balkan people were dominated by an
ethnic and religiously different occupier. The fact itself, creates important
presumptions for modulating the ideas pertaining to the King Marko among the
south Slavic people, as their last legitimate Christian and Slavic sovereign and
protector
Folklore tradition has been trying for two centuries now,
to reveal the reasons taking into consideration that in the last years of his
ruling, King Marko was an Ottoman vassal. Even Krste Misirkov, in his graduate
study at Petersburg University in 1902, entitled as Approaching the Issue of the
Nationality and Reasons for Popularity of the Macedonian King Marko, represents
an interesting attempt for answering this question. However, final answer to
this question has not been yet found Neither has science given the answer of a
number of other issues concerning the multidimensional personality of Marko in
the south Slavic, and, generally, Balkan folklore.
The character of King Marko is surely the most realistic
among the people in Macedonia. It should not be forgotten that Prilep was his
seat. The memory of him can be seen in the ma out Macedonia: Marko's Towers in
Prilep, where he was born, churches and monasteries with frescoes with his
picture. His suggestive look on the frescoes had encouraged the Impressions on
the last prominent Christian King in the country.
If we take in consideration all the presentations of the
poetic figure of King Marko in Macedonian creative folk works -- to be found in
the poems, the legends and the oral traditions -- then we see a figure of a hero
who is not "without faults and fears," as in fact every idealized
"hero above heroes" should look. But he is a hero who is, first and
foremost, a human being, like any other human being, having both positive and
negative characteristics. Who has. almost equally, as many faults as he has
virtues. It is obvious that the poetic figure of King Marko, in his centuries of
development in the environment of the Macedonian people and in those of the
other South Slavic peoples, was gradually changing shape in accordance with the
living circumstances of the everyday people. In fact, it may be said that the
most important good and bad sides of mankind have been incorporated in Marko's
personality. That is the reason why King Marko is such a controversial figure in
our folk creative works and, at the same time, he is yet so close and
understandable, even when some of his actions and deeds are normally
unacceptable.
No matter that data concerning King Volkashin and King
Marko are extremely uncertain and insufficient, it is undeniable that they
emerge from the hierarchy of the Serbian feudal state, and in one period even,
they used to be co-rulers of the Serbian throne. I'm not planning to elaborate
the question of the ethnic character of the middle century states, including
feudal Serbia, it is a historical fact that there were state formations in
Macedonia in the second half of the XIV century, which were in many respects
opposed to the north Serbian states, and were not close even with the Eastern
Bulgarian kingdoms. There were separate regional interests which dictated this
relation. It, however, was dictated by the former ethno-cultural development of
the people who lived in this area. We are not talking about state formations
which had the current ethno-name - Macedonian. It does not mean taking over
someone else's history Is not the parallel with the Ukrainians, Slovenians and
Slovaks an indicating factor's. In the historical sources often find ethno-names
concerning Macedonians which identify us with the Romeis. Bulgarians, Serbs, and
rarely. mainly in the last two countries we are represented as Macedonians.
THREEFOLD TYRANNY
In 1914 Dimitriya Chupovski, in his poem "King
Marko", call on Marko to awake and dash forward with his people against the
"triple tyranny" by dividers and conquerors of his homeland Macedonia.
Pointing out the strife and culture of the Macedonian people in a Memorandum
sent to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Macedonian
colonies in Petersburg and Odessa, Chupovski, together with Krste Misirkov,
inter alia emphasized: "We have an old and high local Macedonian culture,
dating back from the times of the founders of Macedonian Slav education St.
Clement, Naum and Gorazd, as well as from the period of the first Slav state -
Tzar Samuil's one, the second Dobromir Strezo's state; and the third one - Kings
Volkashin and Marko's, and through the 19th century, particularly in its second
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