Metropolitanate of Karlovci

The Metropolitanate of Karlovci (Serbian: Карловачка митрополија or Karlovačka mitropolija) was a metropolitanate of the Serbian Orthodox Church that existed between 1708 and 1848 (1920).^[1] Between 1708 and 1713 it was known as the Metropolitanate of Krušedol, and between 1713 and 1848 as the Metropolitanate of Karlovci. In 1848, it was transformed into the Patriarchate of Karlovci, which existed until 1920, when it was merged with Metropolitanate of Belgrade and other Serbian church provinces to form the united Serbian Orthodox Church.

History

During 16th an 17th-century, all of the southern and central parts of the former medieval Kingdom of Hungary were under Turkish rule and organized as Ottoman Hungary. Since 1557, Serbian Orthodox Church in those regions was under jurisdiction of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć. During the Austro-Turkish war (1683–1699), much of the central and southern Hungary was liberated and Serbian eparchies in those regions fell under the Habsburg rule. In 1689, Serbian Patriarch Arsenije III sided with Austrians and moved from Peć to Belgrade in 1690, leading the Great Migrations of the Serbs. In that time, large number of Serbs (cca 200 000) migrated to southern and central parts of Hungary.^[2][3]

Important privileges were given to them by Emperor Leopold I in three imperial chapters (Diploma Leopoldinum) the first issued on 21 August 1690, the second a year later, on 20 August 1691, and the third on 4 March 1695.^[4] Privileges allowed Serbs to keep their Eastern Orthodox faith and church organization headed by archbishop and bishops. In next two centuries of its autonomous existence, autonomous Serbian Church in Habsburg Monarchy was organized on the basis of privileges originally received from the emperor.^[5]

Until death in 1706, head of the church was Patriarch Arsenije III who reorganized eparchies and appointed new bishops. He held the Patriarch title until the end of his life. Emperor Joseph I, following the advice of cardinal Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch abolished this title and substituted it for much lower and far less distinguished title of metropolitan. In his decree, Emperor Joseph I stated, "we must make sure that they never elect another Patriarch since it is against the Catholic Church and the doctrine of the Fathers of the Church". All spiritual leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church will be named after as both metropolitan and archbishop. The only exception from the Imperial decree was the case of later Patriarch Arsenije IV Jovanović Šakabenta who brought his title directly from the historic see of Peć (1737).^[6]

After the death of Patriarch Arsenije III (1706), the Serbian Church Council was held in the Monastery of Krušedol in 1708 and proclaimed Krušedol to be the official cathedral seat of the newly elected Metropolitan Isaija Đaković, while all administrative activities were moved to the nearby city of Sremski Karlovci. The monastery of Krušedol was bequest of the Serbian ducal family of Branković in the beginning of the 16th century, which was the main historical and national reasons for the Serbs to have this town as their Church capital.

Between 1708 and 1713, the seat of the Metropolitanate was in the monastery of Krušedol, and in 1713 it was moved to Karlovci (today Sremski Karlovci, Serbia). The new archbishop Vićentije Popović moved all administration from Krušedol to Karlovci in 1713. So, the new capital of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Habsburg Monarchy became Sremski Karlovci which was confirmed by the seal of Imperial approval in the charter of Emperor Charles VI issued in October the same year.

During the next Austro-Turkish War (1716-1718), regions of Lower Syrmia, Banat, central Serbia with Belgrade, and Oltenia were liberated from Ottoman rule, and under the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) became part of Habsburg Monarchy.^[7] Political change was followed by ecclesiastical reorganization. Eparchies in newly liberated regions were not subjected to the Metropolitan of Karlovci, mainly because Habsburg authorities did not want to allow the creation of unified and centralized administrative structure of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Monarchy. Instead of that, they supported the creation of a separate metropolitanate for Eastern Orthodox Serbs and Romanians in liberated regions, centered in Belgrade. The newly created Metropolitanate of Belgrade was headed by metropolitan Mojsije Petrović. New autonomous Metropolitanate of Belgrade had jurisdiction over Kingdom of Serbia and Banat, and also over Oltenia. The creation of new metropolitan province was approved by Serbian Patriarch Mojsije I Rajović, who also recommended future unification. Shortly after, two metropolitanates did merge, in 1726, and by the imperial decree of Charles VI, the administrative capital of Serbian Orthodox Church was moved from Sremski Karlovci to Belgrade in 1731. It lasted only eight years until Belgrade fell again to Ottomans in the autumn on 1739.^[6]

By the abolishment of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in 1766 the Metropolitanate of Karlovci became the fully independent center of Eastern Orthodoxy in the Habsburg Monarchy, with seven suffragan bishops (Bačka, Vršac, Temišvar, Arad, Buda, Pakrac and Upper Karlovac).^[8]

The position of Serbs and their Church in Austria and Hungary was regulated in reforms brought about first by empress Maria Theresa and later by emperor Joseph II. The Serbian Church-Public Council of 1769 regulated its status in a special paper named "Regulament" and, later, in Deklaratorija published in 1779.^[5]

Serbian metropolitans of Sremski Karlovci promoted the Enlightenment by introducing western education in the schools established in Sremski Karlovci (1733) then in Novi Sad (1737). In order to counter the Roman Catholic influence, the school curricula was exposed to Russian Church and culture. As early as in 1724 the Holy Synod of Russian Orthodox Church sent M. Svivorov to open a school in Sremski Karlovci, which graduates were thereof passed on to Kievan seminary, and the more gifted to the Academy in Kiev.^[9] The Church liturgical language became Russian Slavonic, called Church Slavonic. On another hand, baroque influence became visible in the church architecture, iconography, literature and theology.^[10]

During the eighteenth century the Metropolitanate maintained close connections with Kiev and the Russian Orthodox Church. Many Serbian theological students were educated in Kiev. A Seminary was open in 1794 which educated Orthodox priests during the nineteenth century for the needs of the Karlovci Metropolitanate and beyond.^[5]

In the second half of the 18th century, the Metropolitanate of Karlovci included a large territory that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to Bukovina and from Danube and Sava to Upper Hungary.

Eparchies under direct or spiritual jurisdiction of Karlovci

It included following eparchies:

Heads of Serbian Orthodox Church in Habsburg Monarchy, 1690–1848

No.	Primate	Portrait	Personal name	Reign	Title	Notes
1	Arsenije III Арсеније III Arsenius III		Arsenije Čarnojević Арсеније Чарнојевић	1690–1706	Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch	Leader of the First Serbian Migration
2	Isaija I Исаија I Isaias I		Isaija Đaković Исаија Ђаковић	1708	Metropolitan of Krušedol
3	Sofronije Софроније Sophronius		Sofronije Podgoričanin Софроније Подгоричанин	1710–1711	Metropolitan of Krušedol
4	Vikentije I Викентије I Vicentius I		Vikentije Popović-Hadžilavić Викентије Поповић-Хаџилавић	1713–1725	Metropolitan of Karlovci
5	Mojsije I Мојсије I Moses I		Mojsije Petrović Мојсије Петровић	1726–1730	Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci
6	Vikentije II Викентије II Vicentius II		Vikentije Jovanović Викентије Јовановић	1731–1737	Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci
7	Arsenije IV Арсеније IV Arsenius IV		Arsenije Jovanović Šakabenta Арсеније Јовановић Шакабента	1737–1748	Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch	Leader of the Second Serbian Migration
8	Isaija II Исаија II Isaias II		Jovan Antonović Јован Антоновић	1748–1749	Metropolitan of Karlovci
9	Pavle Павле Paul		Pavle Nenadović Павле Ненадовић	1749–1768	Metropolitan of Karlovci
10	Jovan Јован John		Jovan Đorđević Јован Ђорђевић	1768–1773	Metropolitan of Karlovci
11	Vićentije III Вићентије III Vicentius III		Vićentije Jovanović Vidak Вићентије Јовановић Видак	1774–1780	Metropolitan of Karlovci
12	Mojsije II Мојсије II Moses II		Mojsije Putnik Мојсије Путник	1781–1790	Metropolitan of Karlovci
13	Stefan I Стефан I Stephen I		Stefan Stratimirović Стефан Стратимировић	1790–1836	Metropolitan of Karlovci
14	Stefan II Стефан II Stephen II		Stefan Stanković Стефан Станковић	1836–1841	Metropolitan of Karlovci
15	Josif Јосиф Joseph		Ilija Rajačić Илија Рајачић	1842–1848	Metropolitan of Karlovci	Elevated to Patriarch

See also

• Patriarchate of Karlovci
• Serbian Orthodox Church
• List of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church
• Religion in Serbia
• Religion in Vojvodina

References

Sources

• Вуковић, Сава (1996). Српски јерарси од деветог до двадесетог века (Serbian Hierarchs from the 9th to the 20th Century). Евро, Унирекс, Каленић. 
• Točanac Radović, Isidora B. (2014). "Реформа Српске православне цркве у Хабзбуршкој монархији за време владавине Марије Терезије и Јосифа II : (1740-1790)". University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy. 
• Radović, Isidora Točanac. "Београдска и Карловачка митрополија. Процес уједињења (1722-1731)." Историјски часопис 55 (2007): 201-217.
• Vasić, Katarina. "Портрет српских архијереја у Карловачкој митрополији:(1690-1790)." (2013).
• Раичевић, Горана С., and Радослав Љ. Ераковић. "ПОРТРЕТИ КАРЛОВАЧКИХ МИТРОПОЛИТА У ДЕЛИМА СРПСКИХ ПИСАЦА." ГОДИШЊАК ФИЛОЗОФСКОГ ФАКУЛТЕТА У НОВОМ САДУ 37.2 (2012): 101-112.
• Нинковић, Ненад. "АДМИНИСТРИРАЊЕ КАРЛОВАЧКОМ МИТРОПОЛИЈОМ ЕПИСКОПА МОЈСИЈА ПУТНИКА." ИСТРАЖИВАЊА, часопис за историју 25 (2016): 187-201.
• Radašin, Vladimir. Srpska autonomna školska uprava u Karlovačkoj mitropoliji: 1867-1912. Matica srpska, 1987.
• Davidov, Dinko, ed. Znamenja Karlovačke mitropolije. Galerija Srpske Akademije Nauka i Umetnosti, 2007.
• Vojnović, Žarko 2014, "Počeci beleženja manastirskih biblioteka Karlovačke mitropolije", Čitalište, vol. 13, no. 24, pp. 38-45.
• Živko M. Marinković - Jevrem Igumanović, Istorija opštehrišćanske i Srpske pravoslavne crkve sa hronologijom, Banja Luka - Beograd, 2002.
• Vojislav Stoja, Istorija Srpske pravoslavne crkve - kratak pregled, Novi Sad, 2000.
• Dr Dušan Popov, Karlovačka mitropolija, Enciklopedija Novog Sada, sveska 10, Novi Sad, 1998.
• Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. 
• Ingrao, Charles; Samardžić, Nikola; Pešalj, Jovan, eds. (2011). The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. 

External links

• About Metropolitanate of Karlovci (Serbian)