Radič (veliki čelnik)

Radič also known as Radich Postupovich (Serbian Cyrillic: Радич[a]; fl. 1413–1441) was a Serbian nobleman that had the title of Grand Čelnik (count palatine), the highest dignitary after the Serbian monarch. He began his service under Prince, later Despot, Stefan Lazarević (r. 1389–1427) as čelnik, then was elevated to Grand Čelnik during the rule of Despot Đurađ Branković (r. 1427–1456). He was very wealthy, and held the silver mines in Novo Brdo of the Serbian Despotate.[1] Radič founded and renovated several churches and monasteries which still exist, including the notable Vraćevšnica and Kastamonitou. He took monastic vows and became a monk in Kastamonitou where he spent his last years.

Radič Postupović
Radič granting his endowment to Christ
Grand Čelnik of Serbia
Reignfl. 1428–1433
PredecessorHrebeljan
Successor?
Bornbefore 1389
Moravian Serbia
Diedbetween 1441 and 1456
Kastamonitou, Mount Athos
BuriedVraćevšnica monastery (his endowment)
SpouseAna
IssueMisailo
FatherMilutin
OccupationNobleman, Monk

He held the highest position, under Stefan Lazarević and Đurađ Branković,[2] and was the longest office-holder (čelnik), and the most powerful political figure besides the monarch in his time.[3]

Origin and early life
The bulk of both the Serbian and Ottoman army were destroyed in the Battle of Kosovo, including the Serbian Prince and Ottoman Sultan, and also Radič's father. Radič was the only one from his village who returned home alive.

Radič was born in ca. 1363[4] or 1372,[5] in the village of Kamenica, to a family of miners, who extracted lead, zinc and silver from the Rudnik mine.[4] Radič's father was vojvoda Milutin, a lord of Gruža.[4][6] He was brought up at the court of Prince Lazar of Serbia and was friends with the heir, Stefan.[6] At the age of 17,[5] he joined his father's contingent and fought at the Battle of Kosovo (1389) under the command of Prince Lazar against Ottoman Sultan Murad I; according to tradition he prayed to Saint George and promised that if he would survive, he would found the Vraćevšnica monastery as a sign of gratitude.[6] Some older soldiers made fun of his age, but he survived without a scratch, and became glorified as the strongest and most courageous fighter of the younger generation.[5] The bulk of both armies were wiped out in the battle, including Prince Lazar and Murad I; although the Ottomans annihilated the Serbian army, they also suffered high casualties which delayed their progress. Serbs were left with too few men to effectively defend their lands, while the Turks had many more troops in the east. Consequently, the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals, one after the other became so in the following decades.[7]

Service under Stefan Lazarević

Radič had the title of čelnik under Despot Stefan Lazarević.[8] Stefan Lazarević wrote two charters in 1405, which granted Radič possessions. In the same year Despot Stefan wrote a charter "from the glorious city of Borač", which was held by Radič.[9][10] Radič held a great estate in Upper Gruža, at the foot of the Rudnik, where he would later found Vraćevšnica.[9] He and Despot Stefan led the Serbian army that supported Mehmet I and defeated Musa Çelebi at the Battle of Çamurlu (Ottoman Interregnum) in 1413.[8] He held not only Rudnik and its surroundings; he received 70 villages in, among others, Braničevo and Kičevo by Despot Stefan.[8]

Service under Đurađ Branković

Radič was elevated to Grand Čelnik during the rule of Đurađ Branković, in the first half of 1429.[8] The Grand Čelnik was the highest court title of the Serbian Despotate, and the title-holders held great provinces, property, and honours, and Radič was one of the most powerful ones.[11]

"This Holy Temple of God [Vraćevšnica] was delineated, finished and ornamented by the Great Captain Radič in the name of Celebrated Great Martyr Saint George"

—Inscription in the south part of the Eastern wall of the vestibule of Vraćevšnica

View of Rudnik.

Radič's lands were the mines[1] in Novo Brdo and Rudnik, and the city of Koznik. Radič held the Rudnik area (ou Roudnikou metochou), which had the villages of Beluća, Prodanovci, Kamenica, Šumeni and Vlasi Vojkovci;[12][13] He founded the Vraćevšnica Monastery in 1428–1429, which lied below the Rudnik,[14] in Vraćevštica, which was composed out of five villages: Gornja and Donja (Upper and Lower) Vraćevštica (Vraćevšnica), Grahovac, Konjuša and Brezova.[12][13] According to tradition, Radič lived in Beluća, which later was called and still today bears the name "Crnuća" (Gornja and Donja), after all of its male adults fell at the Battle of Kosovo, besides Radič (belo – "white", crno – "black").[8][15] Radič also received possessions in Banatska Crna Gora.[16]

Radič also founded the monastery of the Great Annunciation (Veliko Blagoveštenje) in the village of Grabovica, near Gornji Milanovac, sometime before 1429–30.[13] The church dedicated to St. Archangel Gabriel in Borač, in Knić, has an inscription dated to 1553 which name him as the founder. The Milentija monastery, in Milentija, which is mentioned in one of Radič charters dated 1430, was possibly founded by him.[17]

In a 1433 charter issued to Vatopedi by Radič, confirmed by Despot Đurađ, Radič held the village of Halae, while Stevan Ratković held Cerovac, in the province of Nekudim.[18] Radič did not stop at founding and renovating churches in his home region, as soon as he had gained wealth and status, he started reaching out to far away churches, as an example of the past noblemen and dynastic members.[19] hegoumenos Neophytos persuaded Radič to contribute to the restoration of Kastamonitou Monastery on Mount Athos.[1] He became the second ktitor,[19] and then took monastic vows and received the name Roman (after 1433). His spiritual bishop at that time was Marko, the Bishop of Arilje.[20] Radič spent his last years in Kastamonitou as a monk, the monastery then became Serbian.[1]

He was alive in 1441, and is believed to have died before 1456, when Despot Đurađ and his son Lazar Branković (1456–1458) gifted Radič's Church of St. George in Vraćevšnica to Metropolitan Venedikt. Radič was buried in his endowment of Vraćevšnica.

  • Inscription in Vraćevšnica
    Inscription in Vraćevšnica[21]
  • Đurađ Branković's 1430 charter confirming Radič's gifts to the Monastery of St. Paul.
    Đurađ Branković's 1430 charter confirming Radič's gifts to the Monastery of St. Paul.
  • View of Koznik, the estate of Radič.
    View of Koznik, the estate of Radič.
  • Coat of arms of the Oblačić family according to the Korenić-Neorić Armorial (1595).
    Coat of arms of the Oblačić family according to the Korenić-Neorić Armorial (1595).

Family

He married Ana, and had a son, Mihailo.

Legacy

He is the mythological progenitor of the Radič-Postupović family (Радич-Поступовић), which produced several Orthodox clerics. In Serbian epic poetry, Radič is called Rade Oblačić (Раде Облачић) or Oblak Radosav (Облак Радосав), and also Rajko od Rasine ("Rajko from Rasina").

See also
  • Hrebeljan (fl. 1404–1423), Grand Čelnik
  • Vuk, Grand Čelnik

Annotations
  1. ^
    Name: His name was Radič (Cyrillic: Радичь), often written with his titles čelnik, and veliki čelnik. In the Vraćevšnica inscription, only "...pović" is left of his surname. In folk tradition, his surname was Postupović, hence he is also widely known as Radič Postupović (Радич Поступовић).

References
  1. Rosenqvist, Jan Olof (2004), Interaction and isolation in late Byzantine culture, p. 64, ISBN 9781850439448
  2. Dimitrije Bogdanović, Vojislav Đurić (1978), Hilandar, Vojislav J. Đurić, p. 128
    Челник Радич Поступовић, човек највишег положаја у држави деспота Стефана Лазаревића и деспота Ђурђа Бранковића, градитељ манастира Враћевшнице у Србији
  3. Miloš Blagojević (2001). Državna uprava u srpskim srednjovekovnim zemljama. Službeni list SRJ. pp. 241–242.
    Велики челник Вук се није дуго поносио својим достојанством, као ни велики челник Хребељан. Најдуже је ову службу вршио добро познати челник Радич. Челник или велики челник Радич представља најкрупнију поли- тичку фигуру свог времена.123 Он се први пут помиње у служби деспота Стефана 1413. године и то са необично важним и одговорним овлашћењима.124 Управо тад га је деспот Стефан поставио ...
  4. Radoslav Pajković (1999), Krug vere: knj. Stvaranje propast (2 v.), Narodna knjiga
    Радич Поступовић је рођен у оближњем селу Каменици, око 1363. године, и потиче из породице рудара, који су на Руднику, некада, вадили олово, цинк, сребро. Као син гружанског војводе Милутина, Радич је одрастао у граду ...
  5. Vukašin Stanisavljević (1994), Despot Stefan Lazarević, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, p. 63
    Испод сталаћког града чекао их је сталаћки војвода, први деспотов челник Радич Поступовић, који је у косовски бој пошао са само седамнаест година и са чијим годинама су се искусни Лазареви ратници мало и шалили, а из боја дошао без ...
  6. Miloš Milišić (4 June 2007). "Манастир Враћевшница – "Дом безимених монахиња"". Glas javnosti.
  7. Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, pp. 409–11, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5
  8. Srpska kraljevska akademija 1960, p. 96
    Био је то Радич Поступовић, најпре челник, а доцније (од 1428) велики челник, тј. највећи достојанственик на двору, који се помиње у времену од 1413 – 1435 и који је имао велика имања не само у Руднику и околини [...] Забележено је предање да је Радич Поступовић живео у Белућој, а да се село прозвало Црнућа пошто су сви изгинули у косовској бици.
  9. Srpski dijalektološki zbornik. Akademija. 1968. p. 430.
    Деспот Стеван 1405. године пише повељу Дубровчанима „у славноме граду Борчу"23, у коме је био његов велики челник Радич Поступовић. Челник Радич је имао велику баштину и у горњој Гружи у рудничкој подгорини, где је подигао Враћевшницу ...
  10. Istorijski glasnik: organ Društva istoričara SR Srbije. Naučna knjiga. 1985. p. 21.
    Према казивању П . Ж . Петровића, Радич Поступовић, челник деспота Стефана, живео је у граду Борчу где је имао своју баштину; “ овај податак објављен је, међутим, без цитирања изворне грађе и као такав не може се ...
  11. Српска књижевна задруга (1979), Đorđe Trifunović (ed.), Књижевни радови, vol. 477, Култура, p. 61
    Међу њима је највиши углед уживао велики челник (Xребељан, Радич Поступовић и др.). Неки од њих су временом стекли велике области, имања и почасти. Занимљив је и жив пример челника Радича
  12. Dinić 1978, p. 62
  13. Srpska akademija nauka. Istoriski institut (1973). Historical review. Vol. 20. pp. 130–134.
  14. Korać, Vojislav, Архитектура у средњовековној Србији, Rastko
  15. Mirko Milojković (1985). Legende iz naših krajeva. Srpska književna zadruga. p. 208.
    Сви одрасли људи из села Белућа на обронку Рудника изгину на Косову, и оно се прекрсти у Црнуће. Једино се врати Радич Поступовић, потоњи велики челник деспота Стевана,
  16. Ljubivoje Cerović (1997). "Srpsko plemstvo u Banatu i Krišani". Srbi u Rumuniji od ranog srednjeg veka do današnjeg vremena.
  17. Jovan Janićijević (1996). Kulturna riznica Srbije. Izd. Zadruga Idea. p. 436.
  18. Dinić 1978, p. 60
    Некудим ]е био сре- диште зедне „власти"; челник Радич имао ]е „оу Некоудимскои Власти оу Церовцоу село Халае
  19. Srpska kraljevska akademija 1960, p. 97
  20. Сима Ћирковић, Раде Михальчић (1999), Лексикон српског средњег века, Knowledge, p. 173
    Велики челник Радич Поступовић имао је 1433. године за свог духовника ариљског епископа Марка
  21. Glasnik Srbskog učenog društva. u Državnoj štampariji. 1867. p. 31.

Sources

Further reading
  • Novaković, Stojan (1982). Sima Ćirković (ed.). Велики Челник Радић или Облачић Раде 1413–1435. Belgrade: „Историја и традиција“. pp. 79–111.
  • Božanić, S. (2008). "Villages in Ravanica region and the villages of the high official Radič Postupović in Mačva". Spomenica Istorijskog Arhiva Srem, No. 7: 34–45.
  • Spremić, Momčilo (1999). Деспот Ђурађ Бранковић и његово доба (2nd ed.). Belgrade, Banja Luka.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Matica srpska (1976). Proceedings in history. Odeljenje za društvene nauke, Matica srpska. pp. 7–20.
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