Marko Mrnjavčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Мрњавчевић, pronounced [mâːrko mr̩̂ɲaːʋt͡ʃeʋit͡ɕ] ; c. 1335 – 17 May 1395) was the de jure Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the de facto ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He is known as Prince Marko (Macedonian: Kрaле Марко; Serbian Cyrillic: Краљевић Марко, Kraljević Marko, IPA: [krǎːʎeʋit͡ɕ mâːrko]) and King Marko (Macedonian: Kрaл Марко; Serbian Cyrillic: Краљ Марко; Bulgarian: Крали Марко) in South Slavic oral tradition, in which he has become a major character during the period of Ottoman rule over the Balkans. Marko's father, King Vukašin, was co-ruler with Serbian Tsar Stefan Uroš V, whose reign was characterised by weakening central authority and the gradual disintegration of the Serbian Empire. Vukašin's holdings included lands in north-western Macedonia and Kosovo. In 1370 or 1371, he crowned Marko "young king"; this title included the possibility that Marko would succeed the childless Uroš on the Serbian throne.
On 26 September 1371, Vukašin was killed and his forces defeated in the Battle of Maritsa. About two months later, Tsar Uroš died. This formally made Marko the king of the Serbian land; however, Serbian noblemen, who had become effectively independent from the central authority, did not even consider to recognise him as their supreme ruler. Sometime after 1371, he became an Ottoman vassal; by 1377, significant portions of the territory he inherited from Vukašin were seized by other noblemen. King Marko, in reality, came to be a regional lord who ruled over a relatively small territory in western Macedonia. He funded the construction of the Monastery of Saint Demetrius near Skopje (better known as Marko's Monastery), which was completed in 1376. Later, Marko became an Ottoman vassal and died on 17 May 1395, fighting against the Wallachians in the Battle of Rovine.
Although a ruler of modest historical significance, Marko became a major character in South Slavic oral tradition. He is venerated as a national hero by the Serbs, Macedonians and Bulgarians, remembered in Balkan folklore as a fearless and powerful protector of the weak, who fought against injustice and confronted the Turks during the Ottoman occupation.
Contents
Life
Until 1371
Marko was born about 1335 as the first son of Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his wife Alena. The patronymic "Mrnjavčević" derives from Mrnjava, described by 17th-century Ragusan historian Mavro Orbin as a minor nobleman from Zachlumia (in present-day Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia). According to Orbin, Mrnjava's sons were born in Livno in western Bosnia, where he may have moved after Zachlumia was annexed from Serbia by Bosnia in 1326. The Mrnjavčević familyn.b.1 may have later supported Serbian Emperor (tsar) Stefan Dušan in his preparations to invade Bosnia as did other Zachlumian nobles, and, fearing punishment, emigrated to the Serbian Empire before the war started. These preparations possibly began two years ahead of the invasion, which took place in 1350. From that year comes the earliest written reference to Marko's father Vukašin, describing him as Dušan's appointed župan (district governor) of Prilep, which was acquired by Serbia from Byzantium in 1334 with other parts of Macedonia. In 1355, at about age 47, Stefan Dušan died suddenly of a stroke.
Dušan was succeeded by his 19-year-old son Uroš, who apparently regarded Marko Mrnjavčević as a man of trust. The new Emperor appointed him the head of the embassy he sent to Ragusa (now Dubrovnik, Croatia) at the end of July 1361 to negotiate peace between the empire and the Ragusan Republic after hostilities earlier that year. Although peace was not reached, Marko successfully negotiated the release of Serbian merchants from Prizren who were detained by the Ragusans and was permitted to withdraw silver deposited in the city by his family. The account of that embassy in a Ragusan document contains the earliest-known, undisputed reference to Marko Mrnjavčević. An inscription written in 1356 on a wall of a church in the Macedonian region of Tikveš, mentions a Nikola and a Marko as governors in that region, but the identity of this Marko is disputed.
Dušan's death was followed by the stirring of separatist activity in the Serbian Empire. The south-western territories, including Epirus, Thessaly, and lands in southern Albania, seceded by 1357. However, the core of the state (the western lands, including Zeta and Travunia with the upper Drina Valley; the central Serbian lands; and Macedonia), remained loyal to Emperor Uroš. Nevertheless, local noblemen asserted more and more independence from Uroš' authority even in the part of the state that remained Serbian. Uroš was weak and unable to counteract these separatist tendencies, becoming an inferior power in his own domain. Serbian lords also fought each other for territory and influence.
After 1371
When his father died, "young king" Marko became king and co-ruler with Emperor Uroš. The Nemanjić dynasty ended soon afterwards, when Uroš died on 2 (or 4) December 1371 and Marko became the formal sovereign of Serbia. Serbian lords, however, did not recognise him, and divisions within the state increased. After the two brothers' deaths and the destruction of their armies, the Mrnjavčević family was left powerless. Lords around Marko exploited the opportunity to seize significant parts of his patrimony. By 1372, Đurađ I Balšić took Prizren and Peć, and Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović took Pristina. By 1377, Vuk Branković acquired Skopje, and Albanian magnate Andrea Gropa became virtually independent in Ohrid; however, he may have remained a vassal to Marko as he had been to Vukašin. Gropa's son-in-law was Marko's relative, Ostoja Rajaković of the clan of Ugarčić from Travunia. He was one of Serbian noblemen from Zachlumia and Travunia (adjacent principalities in present-day Herzegovina) who received lands in the newly conquered parts of Macedonia during Emperor Dušan's reign.
The only sizable town kept by Marko was Prilep, from which his father rose. King Marko became a petty prince ruling a relatively small territory in western Macedonia, bordered in the north by the Šar mountains and Skopje; in the east by the Vardar and the Crna Reka rivers, and in the west by Ohrid. The southern limits of his territory are uncertain. Marko shared his rule with his younger brother, Andrijaš, who had his own land. Their mother, Queen Alena, became a nun after Vukašin's death, taking the monastic name Jelisaveta, but was co-ruler with Andrijaš for some time after 1371. The youngest brother, Dmitar, lived on land controlled by Andrijaš. There was another brother, Ivaniš, about whom little is known. When Marko became an Ottoman vassal is uncertain, but it was probably not immediately after the Battle of Maritsa.
At some point, Marko separated from Jelena and lived with Todora, the wife of a man named Grgur, and Jelena returned to her father in Veria. Marko later sought to reconcile with Jelena but he had to send Todora to his father-in-law. Since Marko's land was bordered on the south by Hlapen's, the reconciliation may have been political. Scribe Dobre, a subject of Marko's, transcribed a liturgical book for the church in the village of Kaluđerec,n.b.2 and when he finished, he composed an inscription which begins as follows:
Marko's fortress was on a hill north of present-day Prilep; its partially preserved remains are known as Markovi Kuli ("Marko's towers"). Beneath the fortress is the village of Varoš, site of the medieval Prilep. The village contains the Monastery of Archangel Michael, renovated by Marko and Vukašin, whose portraits are on the walls of the monastery's church. Marko was ktetor of the Church of Saint Sunday in Prizren, which was finished in 1371, shortly before the Battle of Maritsa. In the inscription above the church's entrance, he is called "young king".
In folk poetry
Serbian epic poetry
Marko Mrnjavčević is the most popular hero of Serbian epic poetry, in which he is called "Kraljević Marko" (with the word kraljević meaning "prince" or "king's son"). This informal title was attached to King Vukašin's sons in contemporary sources as a surname (Marko Kraljević),n.b.3 and it was adopted by the Serbian oral tradition as part of Marko's name.
Poems about Kraljević Marko do not follow a storyline; what binds them into a poetic cycle is the hero himself, with his adventures illuminating his character and personality. The epic Marko had a 300-year lifespan; 14th- to 16th-century heroes appearing as his companions include Miloš Obilić, Relja Krilatica, Vuk the Fiery Dragon and Sibinjanin Janko and his nephew, Banović Sekula. Very few historical facts about Marko can be found in the poems, but they reflect his connection with the disintegration of the Serbian Empire and his vassalage to the Ottomans. They were composed by anonymous Serbian poets during the Ottoman occupation of their land. According to American Slavicist George Rapall Noyes, they "combine tragic pathos with almost ribald comedy in a fashion worthy of an Elizabethan playwright."
Serbian epic poetry agrees that King Vukašin was Marko's father. His mother in the poems was Jevrosima, sister of voivode Momčilo, the lord of the Pirlitor Fortress (on Mount Durmitor in Old Herzegovina). Momčilo is described as a man of immense size and strength with magical attributes: a winged horse and a sabre with eyes. Vukašin murdered him with the help of the voivode's young wife, Vidosava, despite Jevrosima's self-sacrificing attempt to save her brother. Instead of marrying Vidosava (the original plan), Vukašin killed the treacherous woman. He took Jevrosima from Pirlitor to his capital city, Skadar, and married her according to the advice of the dying Momčilo. They had two sons, Marko and Andrijaš, and the poem recounting these events says that Marko took after his uncle Momčilo. This epic character corresponds historically with Bulgarian brigand and mercenary Momchil, who was in the service of Serbian Tsar Dušan; he later became a despot and died in the 1345 Battle of Peritheorion. According to another account, Marko and Andrijaš were mothered by a vila (Slavic mountain nymph) married by Vukašin after he caught her near a lake and removed her wings so she could not escape.
As Marko matured, he became headstrong; Vukašin once said that he had no control over his son, who went wherever he wanted, drank and brawled. Marko grew up into a large, strong man, with a terrifying appearance, which was also somewhat comical. He wore a wolf-skin cap pulled low over his dark eyes, his black moustache was the size of a six-month-old lamb and his cloak was a shaggy wolf-pelt. A Damascus sabre swung at his waist, and a spear was slung across his back. Marko's pernach weighed 66 okas (85 kilograms (187 lb)) and hung on the left side of his saddle, balanced by a well-filled wineskin on the saddle's right side. His grip was strong enough to squeeze drops of water from a piece of dry cornel wood. Marko defeated a succession of champions against overwhelming odds.
Epic poetry of Bulgaria and North Macedonia
"Krali Marko" has been one of the most popular characters in Bulgarian (more generally Eastern South Slavic) folklore for centuries. These epic tales of Marko seem to originate from the present-day North Macedonia, therefore also being an important part of the ethnic heritage of Macedonians.
According to local legend Marko's mother was Evrosiya (Евросия), sister of the Bulgarian voivoda Momchil (who ruled territory in the Rhodope Mountains). At Marko's birth three narecnitsi (fairy sorceresses) appeared, predicting that he would be a hero and replace his father (King Vukašin). When the king heard this, he threw his son into the river in a basket to get rid of him. A samodiva named Vila found Marko and brought him up, becoming his foster mother. Because Marko drank the samodiva's milk, he acquired supernatural powers and became a Bulgarian freedom fighter against the Turks. He has a winged horse named Sharkolia ("dappled") and a stepsister, the samodiva Gyura. Bulgarian legends incorporate fragments of pagan mythology and beliefs, although the Marko epic was created as late as the 14–18th centuries. Among Bulgarian epic songs, songs about Krali Marko are common and pivotal.
Bulgarian folklorists who collected stories about Marko included educator Trayko Kitanchev (in the Resen region of western Macedonia) and Marko Cepenkov of Prilep (throughout the region).
In legend
South Slavic legends about Kraljević Marko or Krali Marko are primarily based on myths much older than the historical Marko Mrnjavčević. He differs in legend from the folk poems; in some areas he was imagined as a giant who walked stepping on hilltops, his head touching the clouds. He was said to have helped God shape the earth, and created the river gorge in Demir Kapija ("Iron Gate") with a stroke of his sabre. This drained the sea covering the regions of Bitola, Mariovo and Tikveš in Macedonia, making them habitable. After the earth was shaped, Marko arrogantly showed off his strength. God took it away by leaving a bag as heavy as the earth on a road; when Marko tried to lift it, he lost his strength and became an ordinary man.
Legend also has it that Marko acquired his strength after he was suckled by a vila. King Vukašin threw him into a river because he did not resemble him, but the boy was saved by a cowherd (who adopted him, and a vila suckled him). In other accounts, Marko was a shepherd (or cowherd) who found a vila's children lost in a mountain and shaded them against the sun (or gave them water). As a reward the vila suckled him three times, and he could lift and throw a large boulder. An Istrian version has Marko making a shade for two snakes, instead of the children. In a Bulgarian version, each of the three draughts of milk he suckled from the vila's breast became a snake.
Marko was associated with large, solitary boulders and indentations in rocks; the boulders were said to be thrown by him from a hill, and the indentations were his footprints (or the hoofprints of his horse). He was also connected with geographic features such as hills, glens, cliffs, caves, rivers, brooks and groves, which he created or at which he did something memorable. They were often named after him, and there are many toponyms—from Istria in the west to Bulgaria in the east—derived from his name. In Bulgarian and Macedonian stories, Marko had an equally strong sister who competed with him in throwing boulders.
In some legends, Marko's wonder horse was a gift from a vila. A Serbian story says that he was looking for a horse who could bear him. To test a steed, he would grab him by the tail and sling him over his shoulder. Seeing a diseased piebald foal owned by some carters, Marko grabbed him by the tail but could not move him. He bought (and cured) the foal, naming him Šarac. He became an enormously powerful horse and Marko's inseparable companion. Macedonian legend has it that Marko, following a vila's advice, captured a sick horse on a mountain and cured him. Crusted patches on the horse's skin grew white hairs, and he became a piebald.
In modern culture
During the 19th century, Marko was the subject of several dramatizations. In 1831 the Hungarian drama Prince Marko, possibly written by István Balog, was performed in Buda and in 1838, the Hungarian drama Prince Marko – Great Serbian Hero by Celesztin Pergő was staged in Arad. In 1848 Jovan Sterija Popović wrote the tragedy The Dream of Prince Marko, in which the legend of sleeping Marko is its central motif. Petar Preradović wrote the drama Kraljević Marko, which glorifies southern Slav strength. In 1863 Francesco Dall'Ongaro presented his Italian drama, The Resurrection of Prince Marko. In her collection of short stories from 1978, Nouvelles Orientales, Marguerite Yourcenar imagined an alternative, inexplicable end to Marko's life (La Fin de Marko kraliévitch).
Of all Serbian epic or historical figures, Marko is considered to have given the most inspiration to visual artists; a monograph on the subject lists 87 authors. His oldest known depictions are 14th-century frescoes from Marko's Monastery and Prilep. An 18th-century drawing of Marko is found in the Čajniče Gospels, a medieval parchment manuscript belonging to a Serbian Orthodox church in Čajniče in eastern Bosnia. The drawing is simple, unique in depicting Marko as a saint and reminiscent of stećci reliefs. Vuk Karadžić wrote that during his late-18th-century childhood he saw a painting of Marko carrying an ox on his back.
Nineteenth-century lithographs of Marko were made by Anastas Jovanović, Ferdo Kikerec and others. Artists who painted Marko during that century include Mina Karadžić, Novak Radonić and Đura Jakšić. Twentieth-century artists include Nadežda Petrović, Mirko Rački, Uroš Predić and Paja Jovanović. A sculpture of Marko on Šarac by Ivan Meštrović was reproduced on a Yugoslavian banknote and stamp. Modern illustrators with Marko as their subject include Alexander Key, Aleksandar Klas, Zuko Džumhur, Vasa Pomorišac and Bane Kerac.
Princ Marko, and his Sabre was also inspiration for Current Serbian National Anthem "Boze Pravde". The song was taken from a theatre piece Markova Sablja, very popular among Serbs in 1872.
Motifs in multiple works are Marko and Ravijojla, Marko and his mother, Marko and Šarac, Marko shooting an arrow, Marko plowing the roads, the fight between Marko and Musa and Marko's death. Also, several artists have tried to produce a realistic portrait of Marko based on his frescoes. In 1924 Prilep Brewery introduced a light beer, Krali Marko.