The Mileševa printing house ( sr, Милешевска штампарија) was a printing house established in 1544 in the

Mileševa monastery The Mileševa Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Милешева, Manastir Mileševa, or ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Prijepolje, in southwest Serbia. It was founded by King Stefan Vladislav I, in the years between 1234 and ...

near

Prijepolje Prijepolje ( sr-cyr, Пријепоље, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. As of 2011 census, the town has 13,330 inhabitants, while the municipality has 37,059 inhabitants. Etymology One possib ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(modern day

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

). Three srbulje books were printed in this printing house. Two in 1544 and 1545 and one in 1557.

Background

Activities connected with printing in Mileševa began when in 1518 or at the beginning of 1519 when Teodor Ljubavić, who was a

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and ...

of Mileševa, travelled to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

to learn printing skills. Ljubavić worked at

Goražde printing house The Goražde printing house ( sr, Горажданска штампарија or ) was one of the earliest printing houses among the Serbs,Biggins & Crayne 2000, pp. 85–86 and the first in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina (then ...

between 1521 and 1523. Between 1533 and 1535

Božidar Vuković Božidar Vuković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар Вуковић, it, Dionisio della Vecchia, lat, Dionisius a Vetula; c. 1460 — c. 1539) was one of the first printers and editors of Serbian books in Montenegro. He founded the famous Vuković print ...

visited Mileševa and concluded an agreement with Mileševa to distribute his books.

Establishing

In 1543 Todor Ljubojević, a monk in Mileševa and son of Božidar, was sent to Venice to join his brother Đurađ and to buy a printing press for the monastery. He was accompanied by Mileševa monk Sava and by Mardarije who was a

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

of the

Banja Monastery The Banja Monastery ( sr, Манастир Бања, Manastir Banja) is a Serbian Orthodox Monastery located near Priboj, Serbia. Monastery Banja presents Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance in Serbia. History Time of founding of th ...

near

Priboj Priboj ( sr-Cyrl, Прибој, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The population of the town is 14,920, while the population of the municipality is 27,133. Geography The municipality of Priboj ...

. At that time Banja Monastery was a seat of the

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

while Mileševa was the richest monastery of Dabar eparchy. That is why those two monasteries were given the task to finance and organize establishing of the printing house in Mileševa and why Mardarije travelled to Venice together with monks from Mileševa.

Printing

Mileševa printing house was operational in period 1544—1557. Three books were printed in it,

Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

(Псалтир, 1544),

Breviary A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such a ...

(Требник, 1545) and another Psalter (1557). Psalter of 1544 was edited and prepared by Mardarije and Teodor Ljubavić, based on 1519-20 Psalter of

. Psalter was edited and prepared by Mardarije and Teodor Ljubavić, based on 1519-20 Psalter of

. Trebnik was printed by Deak Damjan and Milan from Obna (region around river Kolubara). The third book was printed after a pause of twelve years. Because it was printed with different types, some sources say that two printing houses existed in Mileševa, both of them founded by the order of hegumen of Mileševa, Danilo.

Background

Establishing

Printing

See also

References

Sources

Further reading