Rufim Boljević ( sr-cyr, Руфим Бољевић; 1662 – d. January 1685) was the

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

Metropolitan (''vladika'') of Cetinje from 1662 until his death in January 1685. He succeeded Mardarije Kornečanin (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1640–59), and was succeeded by Vasilije Veljekrajski.

Life

Boljević was from

Crmnica Crmnica ( Montenegrin Cyrillic and sr-Cyrl, Црмница, ) is one of the local communities (''mjesne zajednice'') of the municipality of Bar and a historical region in southern Montenegro. It was one of the four sub-regions of Old Montenegro ...

, and belonged to the Plamenac brotherhood, and is scarcely mentioned as Rufim Plamenac (Руфим Пламенац). It is generally believed he succeeded Mardarije Kornečanin, mentioned between 1640 and 1659. The Cetinje see seems to have been unseated from 1660 until early 1662, when an unnamed Metropolitan of Cetinje is mentioned in a source from the

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...

. Boljević is mentioned in sources from 1673, 1675, 1682 and 1685. He funded the construction of water reservoir in Hilandar before being ortinated as Vladika. It has been theorized that it was Boljević who was mentioned in 1662 (by I. Stjepčević and P. Kovijančić). If he indeed had taken the seat in 1662, it means that he (as the Metropolitan) was one of two arbiters in the feud between ''harambaša'' Lazarić and Karučan from Crmnica, mentioned on November 2, 1662; as Boljević was from Crmnica, this has been taken as proof. It would also mean that he was active during the Cretan War (1645–69), in which many

hajduks A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

(brigands) from the region of Montenegro participated in, in the service of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. A notable leader was Bajo Pivljanin. After the Cretan War, he was an active protester against Catholic propaganda, famous for his conversion of Kuči Vojvode

Lale Drekalov }; ) was a vojvoda of the Kuči tribe in eastern Montenegro in the first half of the 17th century. Life His father was Drekale and his mother was the daughter of a vojvoda of Old Kuči. He had a brother, Nikola who died with his father in a ra ...

from Catholicism to orthodoxy. He had notable influence on the Montenegrin tribes, meeting with common folk and stopped blood revenge, and cursing evil-doers. He had been a staunch supporter of the

, and upon his death in January 1685, the Venetian Senate sent a letter to the Venetian governor of Kotor, expressing their "sorrow for the Metropolitan of Cetinje, who always showed interest in our service". He was the most loyal friend of Venice of his time. He was buried in Gornje Brčele monastery. He was succeeded by Vasilije Veljekrajski, who is only mentioned by Nićifor Dučić, without a lifespan or service period. A descendant of his,

Arsenije Plamenac Arsenije Plamenac ( sr-cyr, Арсеније Пламенац; 1766 – 1784) was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1781 and 1784, earlier the co-adjutor to Metropolitan Sava Petrović during the reign of Šćepan Mali (1767–73). Plamenac ( ...

, also served as Metropolitan (1781–1784).

Annotations

*Name: His name is mostly spelled ''Rufim Boljević'' (Руфим Бољевић), while his given name can be spelled as ''Ruvim'' (Рувим) as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boljevic, Ruvim 17th-century Serbian people 17th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Bishops of Montenegro and the Littoral People from Bar, Montenegro 1685 deaths Date of birth unknown

Life

See also

Annotations

References