Zakonopravilo

Zakonopravilo is famous for its advanced treatment of social justice. Saint Sava expanded the boundaries of social justice, confronting the norms of Byzantine civil law and slave society. He accentuated the Christian teaching of social justice, justifying it by saying that norms should serve a man and not the public interest.

One of the most significant social justice rules is introduced in the fourth introductory chapter. This chapter was taken from Saint John Chrysostom's interpretation of Our Father and it states: "Because he didn't say My father but Our father.... Nobody should worry only about themselves, but also about their neighbours, and nobody should have more than the other: neither the rich from the poor, neither the lord from the servant, neither a prince from those over which he rules, neither a tsar from the soldier, neither the wisest from the unlearned, because to all he gave one gratitude." This regulation proclaimed the equality of all people regardless of their financial or social status, it forbade allow oppression, and it strove for welfare. It was contrary to the principles of slave society at the time.

Shelter of the poor and the role of noble homes is mentioned in chapter 48, in the section "On court and justice", which was taken from Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Sava wanted to emphasize philanthropy, in particular that laws should be interpreted in a way that encourages philanthropy. Shelter and assistance for the most endangered (the poor) was defined as ethical and just, while glorifying the rich and powerful was unethical and unacceptable. The people and institutions that are most likely to be asked to provide care for the weak are bishops, deacons and presbyters (basically the church as an institution). Zakonopravilo contains two canons that speak on this:

59: the Apostles' canon imposes excommunication for bishops or presbyters who do not give a poor cleric what he is in need of, and takes away their rank if they remain merciless (because they are murderers of their own brother)

7: the canon from Synod of Sardica includes the poor and those who are unprotected from violence. They can seek help from a bishop, who is obliged to assist them as much as he can or they can go to the emperor personally and ask for help.

Bishops, busy with their church duties, were unable to protect the many powerless people from abusers and famine. The solution was to establish services that church representatives (ecdics) chosen by the emperor would carry out. Ecdics were executors of the church and a sort of judge, because they were expected to defend the interests of the church in the courtroom. However, some ecdics were responsible for more than church issues. This is known from some tsar's decrees, for instance: Emperor Theodosius I wrote to Constantinople's ecdic saying he should not let peasants and citizens be oppressed by taxes, that he should repress the arrogance of archonts and care for his people as he does his children. Because of the importance of this role, laws were created to regulate the elections of ecdics, with the participation of respectable citizens and led by bishop and clergy.

Another protection mechanism is mentioned in the second chapter of Zakonopravilo, taken from the Proheiron: "If the self-supporting man is involved in a lawsuit with his guardian, it is necessary he seeks help."

Proheiron defines who is considered poor: "the one who has less than 50 gold coins in his belongings is poor."

One of the most important ways of protecting the poor is the building of noble homes (churches, monasteries, hospices, public kitchens, residences of the impoverished, hospitals). Regulations referring to noble homes are mostly taken from John Scholasticus' Canon in 87 chapters or Justinian's Novellae. They include:

• If the testator informs in writing that he desires to found a noble home, a bishop or a head of that area is obliged to perform that duty within a five-year period and to do as the testator specifies in his will (for instance, selecting administrators he finds suitable).
• Possessions inherited by the church are used for feeding the poor.
• Those who ask to receive their possessions back after they have designated them for feeding the poor are never to be forgiven.

Noble homes could be leased but only under strict surveillance, so malpractice and damage infliction are avoided. A lease could be granted for an unlimited term. Ways of making a lease contract were specified, for example by having the administrative staff of the noble home swear an oath in front of a bishop promising no damage would be caused.

The responsibilities of parents and children comprise another important section. The author strove to highlight the importance of families, in which life evolves and social awareness awakens. He believed that respecting one's parents is one of the greatest family values. Those who disrespected and abused their mothers or fathers were punished severely – with the death penalty. The Proheiron prescribes a milder punishment – those who are guilty shall be disinherited. In case of sickness, children have obligations to their parents. If parents are mentally or physically ill and their children refuse to look after them, then they, as legal heirs, could be disinherited. Children have one more obligation concerning inheritance law. They should not disinherit their parents or take property that could be bequeathed – it is strictly forbidden in all but the following situations: when parents give up their children for execution, when parents practice witchcraft to harm their children, when a father seduces his son's wife or concubine or when parents endanger each other. Children who abandon their parents and excuse themselves with piety while showing no respect will be doomed, and vice versa (for parents who abandon their children before adulthood). Certain civil regulations were influenced by these norms. Parents are not allowed to disinherit their children nor children to disinherit their parents when leaving for the monastery, if the motive for disinheriting appeared before the monastic life. Zakonopravilo regulates the way the property of those adopting the monastic life should be divided. If a monk has children, he can bequeath his property to his children. If he dies before making a will, his children take what is legally theirs, while the rest of the property is given to the monastery. Zakonopravilo lays down the rules of inheritance for children whose (non-monsastic) father died and who now live with a poor mother or mother-in-law. In this case, if de cuius has three children or less, the wife gets a quarter of the property, whether the children are hers or from a previous marriage. If he has more than three children, then the wife gets just as much as one child gets for use (owners of that property are their own children).

Since ageing usually comes with disease and weakness, the author's aim was to provide respect and legal protection for this category of people. That is why in chapter 48 under the "about respecting the graybeards" heading is a regulation from the books of Moses: "Before the face of the gray-haired stand up and respect the face of the old."

Saint Sava wrote an interpretation of the whole canon, including Aristinos' comments, regarding this topic. He also added, "If any clergyman imitates or ridicules the blind, the deaf or the lame, or those crippled in any other way – he shall be deposed because he is an offense to God who created him."

Another way to protect these people was to give them the opportunity for inheritance. Besides this, the only way for their relatives to include them as heirs was to manage their property during their lifetimes. The law dictated that the blind can name their own heir verbally, by having seven or five witnesses present.

The position of women is one of the most important indicators of social awareness in society. Roman marriage law enabled a relatively easy divorce by written statement (labellum repudii) or by agreement (divortum ex consensu). Byzantine marriage law had difficulty in freeing itself from its Roman heritage, until Emperor Justinian made important limitations to the novellae in 542, which were later transferred to the Nomocanon in 14 titles (47th chapter). With this law the marital security of women was strengthened in families of priests and secular families. When it comes to families of priests, Zakonopavilo dictates that if a presbyter or a deacon banishes his wife (for example by excusing himself with piety) and decides not to take her back, his title will be taken away. The rule in secular families is that if a man leaves his wife for any reason other than those regulated by law and weds another, he will be denied holy communion, while a woman who leaves her husband will be cursed. The only legitimate reason for a divorce, according to canonical teaching, is adultery.

Saint Sava could not stay within the boundaries of church teaching when it came to divorce. He prescribes part of a novella written by Emperor Leo VI the Wise which states that if a man has an insane wife who does not recover within three years, he has the right to divorce her. After that, chapter 11 of Proheiron lists reasons for which a woman can request a divorce: if the husband is working against the state or knows anyone that is without revealing it, if he does anything to harm the wife in any way, or if he forces her to be unfaithful. For a divorce to happen, in the case of the wife committing adultery, proof is needed. If it is determined that the wife was in fact unfaithful, the husband gets the premarital gift and the dowry, but if its proven otherwise the woman can get a divorce and take her dowry and premarital gift back. If they had no children, the woman has the right to her husband's possessions worth up to a third of the premarital gift. In the case of an unfaithful husband, the woman can choose not to leave if he stops after she requests it. If a slave was involved in the adultery, the punishments are more rigorous:

When the husband commits adultery with a slave the act is revealed to the public, the husband is punished by beating and the slave is sold to another region. When a married woman commits adultery with her slave, she is punished by beating, cutting her hair, cutting off her nose, banishing and confiscating her belongings, while the slave is punished by the sword.

Situations in which they are punished equally include when one puts the other's life at risk, in which case the crime is revealed to the public and immediate retaliation is requested.

According to the church, widows and poor women were the most socially endangered group and accordingly were given the most protection. An article carried over from the Book of Exodus to Zakonopravilo stated: "You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless". The first way of protecting a widow is her inheritance (if her deceased husband has up to three children), which is one fourth of the husband's assets, which can not be over 100 liters of gold. The second way is that the church is obliged to feed and take care of the widow if she requested it.

Poor women were also protected. According to the Book of Tsar,[5] a person that defamed a virgin has their nose cut off and is obliged to give a third of their assets to the woman. The Proheiron states that if a person has a relationship with a girl younger than 13, that person has their nose cut off, and is obliged to give half of all their assets to the girl. If a person abducted an engaged woman, they were obliged to return her to her fiancée, and if they abducted a woman who was not engaged, they would be obliged to return her to her family, which would later decide if she was to marry her abductor. This regulation was adopted at the Synod of Ancyra. Saint Basil later significantly changed this regulation with the 22nd canon. However, the Book of Tsar[6] and Proheiron were not in agreement on the idea of a woman marrying her captor, they strictly forbade it (according to Proheiron, a parent that wishes his daughter to marry her captor was imprisoned). Civil legislation in the Proheiron states the following in the case of a person defiling a woman with her consent, but without the consent of her parents: If the woman was not engaged, the man who defiled her could choose to marry her, with the consent of her parents. If the parents did not consent, and the man was wealthy, he was obliged to give the woman a liter of gold. If the man was poor, he was obliged to give the woman half of his property. If the man was disabled, he was to be beaten and banished. For an engaged woman if the woman consented, the man was punished by getting his nose cut off. If the woman did not consent, the man was obliged to also give her a third of his property.

In the case of poor women, Zakonopravilo protects them with the following articles:marriage between a guardian (and his closest relatives) and a poor woman was forbidden, to protect her from abuse by her carers.

If moribund parents appoint a guardian for their daughter, he can not marry her off or abrogate a previous marriage without her consent.

Prisoners were considered the most socially endangered of all because in exchange for their freedom even censers were allowed for sale. The importance of freeing prisoners is represented in one specific regulation that says that monks who, when leaving the monastery, ask to have their possessions back even though they were used to release prisoners, will never be forgiven. Anyone could bequeath their property to prisoners for the sake of their release. Prisoners' heirs (especially children) are bound by the law to use the heritage in order to help the prisoner make free. If not, the church shall take away the property and use it with that purpose. If children are to neglect their imprisoned parents, and they manage to free themselves, they have the right to choose whether children will become a part of their will or not. If they fail to free themselves or die while in captivity because of their children's neglect, the children shall be disinherited and the property will be given to the church with the aim of paying ransom for others. The same is the case with relatives who are named as heirs. When a child is taken to captivity, the parents' obligations are not much different. Parents are disinherited if their child dies in captivity because of their neglect. In the aim of releasing captives it was allowed for anyone (older than 18) to take gold as a loan and pawn his own or prisoner's belongings. A male minor is not obliged to have a custodian if his father is held captive, but he needs to have a property guardian. After the father is released the son is back in his power. A woman could also be held in custody and if someone were to pay her ransom she would become his wife and their children would be legitimate. A dying soldier is also considered socially endangered. If a soldier realizes his end is near he can bequeath his property in front of two witnesses and his will be accepted as valid. Exiles and captives were also considered socially endangered. A woman could also sell her dowry in order to feed her exiled father, brother or husband. Those who were captivated temporarily did not lose their inheritance rights.

Many regulations present a contrast between the slave society and Christian teaching. Christian teaching proclaims the freedom and equality of all, including both slaves and masters. However, slavery was so deeply rooted that it took centuries for people to start perceiving slaves as more than things (res). Chapter 55 of Zakonopravilo (Prohiron)[7] states that slavery is in opposition to nature, which made everyone free, but the need for war created slavery since the law of war states that victors rule losers. Also, a person is either born a slave or becomes a slave (in captivity) and all slaves are equal – nobody is more or less of a slave. Slaves could be tortured by masters but the greatest punishment would ensue for a slave who endangers his master's life. A master could be punished if he tortures his slave before killing him, but if he kills him without torture, no punishment is meted out. Two rules were taken from Moses' legislation:

• A master who kills a slave by his own hand is to be punished
• A slave has monetary value

Because of the second rule, it is worse to hit a slave than to hit a freeman. Both master and slave benefit from this – the master makes a profit and the slave is protected from injuries that would cause his value to drop.

More favorable are church regulations. Masters are mentioned in a mindful way so their anger towards the slaves would be reduced, while slaves are not encouraged to rebel. Instead they are asked to be loyal and serve their masters in order to make them more willing to grant freedom. Slaves could be named as priests only with their master's consent and if given they would be set free. If not, and if the slave decided to leave the church and start living a worldly life, a master was allowed to regain power over him for a one-year period. The master's consent was necessary for a slave to become a monk. Those who encouraged slaves to leave their masters, excusing themselves with piety, would be convicted and the slaves who did so would be executed. This regulation shows how slave society released slaves, but also how it protected the piety. For a long time, freeing slaves was possible only in the emperor's chambers until the Synod of Carthage where "the fathers of the synod" asked the emperor to allow slaves to be freed in churches.

Another regulation states that when a master frees his slave before two witnesses, the slave can not be enslaved by anyone. Chapter 40 is named "Chapters of the great church, Hagia Sophia, sealed up with Justinian's golden stamp, about slaves who resort to church" and it contains six rules of which five regard slaves.

• If a freeman is enslaved and turns to church, his master is invited. If he does not come then the slave is freed.
• If a master or someone else tortures a slave with hunger or nudity, and the master does nothing to stop it, the slave must be sold so he does not die from hunger.
• If a slave resorts to church for no reason, he is punished and returned to his master.
• If a slave asks for the master to come and take him home himself, and the master sends a representative instead, the church is obliged to hand over the slave nevertheless.
• The masters of slaves who escape to church should always be notified to come and take them since running away is offensive and requires punishment.

One of the most important strides in establishing a more humane relationship towards slaves was to give them the possibility to become heirs. An heir could be their own slave, but they could also be someone else's. The social status of slaves improved when it came to family law. A child conceived between a free mother and a slave father is free because his mother was free while giving birth, even if she was a slave when the child was conceived. If the mother was a free woman when the child was conceived, but a slave while giving birth, the child would still be free. In Alexius I Comnenus's novella (Chapter 46) in the year 1095, slaves were no longer defined as things and their marriage was declared equal to the marriage of free people. Until then, slaves would marry without a church ceremony, because their owners were afraid the church would free their slaves. The emperor declared that the church ceremony should be the same for everyone, and that without it, the marriage would be considered an obscenity. Alexius explained his decision by stating: "There is one Lord for everyone, one faith, one baptism for both slave and master, but what is the difference in faith – we do not know; therefore, all of us are slaves as well to the one that got us out of our slavery".

Multiple transcriptions were preserved:

• The Serbian transcript of Ilovica dates to 1262. It was written in the Monastery of Saint Archangel Michael (today the Monastery of Saint Archangels next to Tivat) where the headquarters of the Ze bishopric were located. It consists of 398 parchment pages and resides in the library of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
• The Serbian transcript of Raška dates to 1305 in Peter's church in Ras. It is written on parchment and it contains 427 pages. It resides in the Moscow State Historical Museum.
• The Serbian transcript of Dečani was written on parchment in 1340. It has 284 pages and resides in the library of Dečani Monastery.
• The Serbian transcript of Pčinj dates to 1370. It was written on paper. It has leather binding and consists of 305 pages. It resides in the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts.
• The Serbian transcript of Morač is from around 1615. It consists of 347 paper pages. It resides in the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
• The Serbian transcripts of Sarajevo and Hilandar are from the 14th century.
• The Serbian transcript of Belgrade is from the 15th century.
• The Serbian transcripts of Peć and Savina are from the 16th century.
• The Serbian Canon of John Zlokruhović is from the 17th century.
• The Serbian Nomocanon of Szentendre is from the 17th century.