Крст у сеоском атару: сакрална топографија и њена друштвена функција у парохији средњовековне Србије
Cross in the Village Area: Sacral Topography and Its Social Functions in Medieval Serbian Parishes

Summary/Abstract: Science is aware of numerous crosses listed in the system of village boundaries in many Medieval charters, and they are mostly seen in the context of marking the boundary. However, just like in the cases of churches, roads, vineyards, and other anthropo-geographical entities, their primary role was not in the function of boundary. It is obvious from the charters themselves that boundary stones were placed «in front» or «lower» of the already existing crosses. The purpose of this paper is to present the multiplicity of meanings of these crosses, perceived as objects of social and religious significance for a local community, presented in a village and in a parish. That is why information from the charters is compared to other sources, where free standing crosses are mentioned. One of the most important sources is the penitential text (dated in the 13th-14th centuries) that forbids liturgies near crosses erected by the roads, as dogs and pigs make it dirty. Their religious and social use is recognized in Domentian's Life of St. Sabbas of Serbia, where pastoral eagerness of St. Sabbas, early 13th century Archbishop of Serbia, is praised by mentioning that he erected churches and crosses all over the countryside. In similar context, erecting crosses by roads is mentioned in the 16th century Ottoman kanun-nama, Hans Dernschwam's travels, or in a mid-17th century marginalia mentioning renewal of a more than one hundred years old cross. In any case, the sources mentionedconfirm the one-sidedness of the information of the charter as a source for this topic, especially as they do not provide the micro-toponymy of the village area in general, but only on its borders.

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