Jovan Monasterlija

Jovan Petrović
Nickname Jovan Monasterlija
Born 1660s
Komárom, Hungary
Died 1706
Nagyvárad
Allegiance Holy Roman Empire (Leopold I)
Years of service fl. 1683-1706
Rank Vice-voivode
General
Unit Serbian Militia (Monasterlija's Serbs)

Jovan Monasterlija (Serbian: Јован Монастерлија[A]) was a 17th-century Serbian vice-voivode[1] (podvojvoda) and Austrian (Holy Roman Empire) imperial officer that led a Serb army against the Ottoman Empire and other enemies of the Austrian Emperor. He was titled "Chief of the Serbian Nation"[2] by Leopold I.

Contents

Life

Monasterlija was born to father Petar in Komárom County, where his ancestors had settled in 1606 from Srpski Kovin, possibly originally from Bitola (Monastir), hence his epithet "Monasterlija" (Turkish: Monastirli, of Monastir), migrated during the Great Serb Migrations (when Serb noblemen actively joined Western European armies to counter the Ottoman Empire). His family was of noble status, his father had been granted noble status in 1655.

Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria led the capture of Belgrade in 1688 from the Turks, with the full support of Serbian insurgents under the command of Monasterlija. Between 1689 and 1692, Central Serbia was a province under the Habsburg crown. In 1689 he was sent to defend Golubac. In April 11, 1691, he is appointed the military commander of the Serb Army (called Monasterlijini Raci - Monasterlija's Serbs), after Serbs demanded their own leaders while going to battle. His command was of more than 10,000 volunteer Serb soldiers, and was to be under the direct supervision of the Aulic War Council,[3] the soldiers were highly regarded by Leopold.

He took part in the Battle of Slankamen and Battle of Senta. After the wars he gains overlordship of the Petrovaradin fortress, and is appointed to overlook the building of a pantoon bridge over the Danube. After the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, he retires and is given land by Leopold. He however, in 1703, is sent to fight off the Uprising of Francis II Rákóczi against the Habsburgs. He succeeds and is given the title of general. Leopold, just before his death, gives Jovan the task of integrating the Serb units into the regular Austrian army. He dies from wounds sustained during the siege of Oradea.

He was married to Ana Rašković, a sister of Knez Jovan Rašković, of the Rašković noble family.

Jovan contributed to the Fruška Gora monasteries.[4] He died in 1706 and was buried in Šišatovac,[5] where his tomb lays, with the coat of arms of the family.[6]

See also

Military offices
Preceded by
First		 Vice-Voivode of the Serb Army
of Leopold I (HRE)
1683-1706		 Succeeded by
Dimitrijević

References

  1. ^ His Serbian name is Jovan Monasterlija, other variations are Manastirlija, while in German; Johann Monasterli. His father was Petar, hence, according to the contemporary naming culture, his name was Jovan Petrović.
  1. ^ The Serbs, page 144
  2. ^ Yugoslavia, Lovett Fielding Edwards, 1971
  3. ^ Austrian history yearbook, Volumes 12-13, page 118
  4. ^ The monasteries of the Fruška Gora, Branka Kulić, Nedeljka Srećkov, 1994
  5. ^ http://www.pravoslavlje.nl/foto_manastiri_crkve/manastir_sisatovac.htm
  6. ^ "Grb Monasterlija sa razbijene nadgrobne ploče vojvode Jovana Monasterlije u manastiru Šišatovac" Dragomir Acović, Srbi i heraldika, Beograd 2008, pages 382-383.

Sources