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114-702: Marko Mrnjavčević ( Serbian Cyrillic : Марко Мрњавчевић , pronounced [mâːrko mr̩̂ɲaːʋt͡ʃeʋit͡ɕ] ; c.  1335  – 17 May 1395) was the de jure Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the de facto ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep . He is known as Prince Marko ( Macedonian : Kрaле Марко ; Serbian Cyrillic : Краљевић Марко , Kraljević Marko , IPA: [krǎːʎeʋit͡ɕ mâːrko] ) and King Marko ( Macedonian : Kрaл Марко ; Serbian Cyrillic : Краљ Марко ; Bulgarian : Крали Марко ) in South Slavic oral tradition , in which he has become

228-432: A Moor struck him with a mace, Marko said laughingly, "O valiant black Moor! Are you jesting or smiting in earnest?" Jevrosima once advised her son to cease his bloody adventures and plough the fields instead. He obeyed in a grimly humorous way, ploughing the sultan's highway instead of the fields. A group of Turkish Janissaries with three packs of gold shouted at him to stop ploughing the highway. He warned them to keep off

342-551: A vila ' s advice, captured a sick horse on a mountain and cured him. Crusted patches on the horse's skin grew white hairs, and he became a piebald. According to folk tradition Marko never died; he lives on in a cave , in a moss-covered den or in an unknown land. A Serbian legend recounts that Marko once fought a battle in which so many men were killed that the soldiers (and their horses) swam in blood. He lifted his hands towards heaven and said, "Oh God, what am I going to do now?" God took pity on Marko, transporting him and Šarac to

456-766: A 2014 survey, 47% of the Serbian population write in the Latin alphabet whereas 36% write in Cyrillic. The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, along with the equivalent forms in the Serbian Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) value for each letter. The letters do not have names, and consonants are normally pronounced as such when spelling

570-547: A Bulgarian freedom fighter against the Turks. He has a winged horse named Sharkolia ("dappled") and a stepsister, the samodiva Gyura. Bulgarian legends incorporate fragments of pagan mythology and beliefs, although the Marko epic was created as late as the 14–18th centuries. Among Bulgarian epic songs, songs about Krali Marko are common and pivotal. Bulgarian folklorists who collected stories about Marko included educator Trayko Kitanchev (in

684-403: A cave (where Marko stuck his sabre into a rock and fell asleep). There is moss in the cave; Šarac eats it bit by bit, while the sabre slowly emerges from the rock. When it falls on the ground and Šarac finishes the moss, Marko will awaken and reenter the world. Some allegedly saw him after descending into a deep pit, where he lived in a large house in front of which Šarac was seen. Others saw him in

798-528: A challenge in Unicode modeling, as the glyphs differ only in italic versions, and historically non-italic letters have been used in the same code positions. Serbian professional typography uses fonts specially crafted for the language to overcome the problem, but texts printed from common computers contain East Slavic rather than Serbian italic glyphs. Cyrillic fonts from Adobe, Microsoft (Windows Vista and later) and

912-488: A dungeon and helped animals in distress. Marko was a rescuer and benefactor of people, and a promoter of life; "Prince Marko is remembered like a fair day in the year". Characteristic of Marko was his reverence and love for his mother, Jevrosima; he often sought her advice, following it even when it contradicted his own desires. She lived with Marko at his mansion in Prilep, his lodestar guiding him away from evil and toward good on

1026-568: A faraway land, living in a cave. According to Macedonian tradition Marko drank "eagle's water", which made him immortal; he is with Elijah in heaven. During the 19th century, Marko was the subject of several dramatizations . In 1831 the Hungarian drama Prince Marko , possibly written by István Balog , was performed in Buda and in 1838, the Hungarian drama Prince Marko – Great Serbian Hero by Celesztin Pergő

1140-530: A fashion worthy of an Elizabethan playwright." Serbian epic poetry agrees that King Vukašin was Marko's father. His mother in the poems was Jevrosima, sister of voivode Momčilo, the lord of the Pirlitor Fortress (on Mount Durmitor in Old Herzegovina ). Momčilo is described as a man of immense size and strength with magical attributes: a winged horse and a sabre with eyes. Vukašin murdered him with

1254-457: A few other font houses include the Serbian variations (both regular and italic). If the underlying font and Web technology provides support, the proper glyphs can be obtained by marking the text with appropriate language codes. Thus, in non-italic mode: whereas: Since Unicode unifies different glyphs in same characters, font support must be present to display the correct variant. The standard Serbian keyboard layout for personal computers

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1368-613: A great Albanian religious man, who has spent his whole life as a churchgoer. Out of respect for his work, the church granted him a pension. Prilep was a major center of the Bulgarian national revival in Western Macedonia in the 19th century. Its bazaar began to develop in the 18th century. One of the largest annual fairs in Macedonia was held in Prilep in the middle of the 19th century. European consulate exhibitions of 1887 estimate

1482-403: A large boulder. An Istrian version has Marko making a shade for two snakes, instead of the children. In a Bulgarian version, each of the three draughts of milk he suckled from the vila ' s breast became a snake. Marko was associated with large, solitary boulders and indentations in rocks; the boulders were said to be thrown by him from a hill, and the indentations were his footprints (or

1596-434: A large, strong man, with a terrifying appearance, which was also somewhat comical. He wore a wolf-skin cap pulled low over his dark eyes, his black moustache was the size of a six-month-old lamb and his cloak was a shaggy wolf-pelt. A Damascus sabre swung at his waist, and a spear was slung across his back. Marko's pernach weighed 66  okas (85 kilograms (187 lb)) and hung on the left side of his saddle, balanced by

1710-520: A major character during the period of Ottoman rule over the Balkans . Marko's father, King Vukašin , was co-ruler with Serbian Tsar Stefan Uroš V , whose reign was characterised by weakening central authority and the gradual disintegration of the Serbian Empire . Vukašin's holdings included lands in north-western Macedonia and Kosovo . In 1370 or 1371, he crowned Marko "young king"; this title included

1824-493: A medieval community. Many early Roman funeral monuments, some with sculpted reliefs of the deceased or of the Thracian Rider and other inscribed monuments of an official nature, are in the courtyard of the church below the southern slope of Varoš . Some of the larger of those monuments were built into the walls of the church. The most important ancient monument is the old city of Styberra situated on Bedem hill near Čepigovo, in

1938-600: A part of until 1913, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia . During the Ottoman period, besides the ethnic Turks and the majority Slavic population, Prilep was also home to both a Sunni Muslim and Orthodox Christian Albanian community, which lived alongside . Serbian historiographer Jovan Hadži-Vasiljević writes that: ' Bulgarian researcher, Georgi Traichev, wrote that: The newspaper Прилепу преди 100 години ("Prilep 100 years ago". Sofia, 1938) puts forward data about

2052-512: A petty prince ruling a relatively small territory in western Macedonia, bordered in the north by the Šar mountains and Skopje; in the east by the Vardar and the Crna Reka rivers, and in the west by Ohrid. The southern limits of his territory are uncertain. Marko shared his rule with his younger brother, Andrijaš, who had his own land. Their mother, Queen Alena, became a nun after Vukašin's death, taking

2166-556: A saint and reminiscent of stećci reliefs. Vuk Karadžić wrote that during his late-18th-century childhood he saw a painting of Marko carrying an ox on his back. Nineteenth-century lithographs of Marko were made by Anastas Jovanović , Ferdo Kikerec and others. Artists who painted Marko during that century include Mina Karadžić , Novak Radonić and Đura Jakšić . Twentieth-century artists include Nadežda Petrović , Mirko Rački , Uroš Predić and Paja Jovanović . A sculpture of Marko on Šarac  [ es ] by Ivan Meštrović

2280-439: A vassal to Marko as he had been to Vukašin. Gropa's son-in-law was Marko's relative, Ostoja Rajaković of the clan of Ugarčić from Travunia. He was one of Serbian noblemen from Zachlumia and Travunia (adjacent principalities in present-day Herzegovina) who received lands in the newly conquered parts of Macedonia during Emperor Dušan's reign. The only sizable town kept by Marko was Prilep, from which his father rose. King Marko became

2394-559: A wall of a church in the Macedonian region of Tikveš , mentions a Nikola and a Marko as governors in that region, but the identity of this Marko is disputed. Dušan's death was followed by the stirring of separatist activity in the Serbian Empire. The south-western territories, including Epirus , Thessaly , and lands in southern Albania, seceded by 1357. However, the core of the state (the western lands, including Zeta and Travunia with

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2508-468: A well-filled wineskin on the saddle's right side. His grip was strong enough to squeeze drops of water from a piece of dry cornel wood. Marko defeated a succession of champions against overwhelming odds. The hero's inseparable companion was his powerful, talking piebald horse Šarac  [ es ] ; Marko always gave him an equal share of his wine. The horse could leap three spear-lengths high and four spear-lengths forward, enabling Marko to capture

2622-521: Is an austere-looking man in purple clothes, wearing a crown decorated with pearls. With his left hand he holds a scroll, whose text begins: "I, in the Christ God the pious King Marko, built and inscribed this divine temple ..." In his right hand, he holds a horn symbolizing the horn of oil with which the Old Testament kings were anointed at their coronation (as described in 1 Samuel 16:13 ). Marko

2736-572: Is as follows: Prilep Prilep ( Macedonian : Прилеп [ˈpriːlɛp] ) is the sixth-largest city in North Macedonia . According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. The name of Prilep appeared first as Πρίλαπος' in Greek ( Prilapos ) in 1014, and was mentioned by John Skylitzes as the place where Samuel of Bulgaria had died after the Battle of Kleidion . The town

2850-436: Is considered to have given the most inspiration to visual artists ; a monograph on the subject lists 87 authors. His oldest known depictions are 14th-century frescoes from Marko's Monastery and Prilep . An 18th-century drawing of Marko is found in the Čajniče Gospels , a medieval parchment manuscript belonging to a Serbian Orthodox church in Čajniče in eastern Bosnia . The drawing is simple, unique in depicting Marko as

2964-615: Is necessary (or followed by a short schwa , e.g. /fə/).: Summary tables According to tradition, Glagolitic was invented by the Byzantine Christian missionaries and brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 860s, amid the Christianization of the Slavs . Glagolitic alphabet appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. The Glagolitic alphabet

3078-442: Is one of Prilep's traditional cash crops and prospers in the Macedonian climate. Many of the world's largest cigarette makers, such as Marlboro , West and Camel use Prilep's tobacco in their cigarettes after it is processed in local factories such as Tutunski kombinat Prilep . A Tobacco Institute is established in the city in order to produce new types of tobacco and it was the first example of applying genetics to agriculture in

3192-630: Is represented as a loyal vassal of the Ottoman sultan, fighting to protect the potentate and his empire from outlaws. When summoned by the sultan, he participated in Turkish military campaigns. Even in this relationship, however, Marko's personality and sense of dignity were apparent. He occasionally made the sultan uneasy, and meetings between them usually ended like this: Цар с' одмиче, а Марко примиче, Док доћера цара до дувара; Цар се маши у џепове руком, Те извади стотину дуката, Па их даје Краљевићу Марку: "Иди, Марко, напиј ми се вина." Marko's fealty

3306-457: Is said to be shown here as the king chosen by God to lead his people through the crisis following the Battle of Maritsa. Marko minted his own money, in common with his father and other Serbian nobles of the time. His silver coins weighed 1.11 grams, and were produced in three types. In two of them, the obverse contained a five-line text: ВЬХА/БАБЛГОВ/ѢРНИКР/АЛЬМА/РКО ("In the Christ God,

3420-596: Is seen as being more traditional, and has the official status (designated in the constitution as the " official script ", compared to Latin's status of "script in official use" designated by a lower-level act, for national minorities). It is also an official script in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro , along with Gaj's Latin alphabet . Serbian Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia , Montenegro , and Bosnia and Herzegovina . Although Bosnia "officially accept[s] both alphabets",

3534-477: Is the only one in official use. The ligatures : were developed specially for the Serbian alphabet. Serbian Cyrillic does not use several letters encountered in other Slavic Cyrillic alphabets. It does not use hard sign ( ъ ) and soft sign ( ь ), particularly due to a lack of distinction between iotated consonants and non-iotated consonants, but the aforementioned soft-sign ligatures instead. It does not have Russian/Belarusian Э , Ukrainian/Belarusian І ,

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3648-431: The Balkans . . A Gentherm production plant is located in Prilep. The overwhelming majority of the city population is Macedonian ; the Macedonian population at the last census counted 64,527. There is also a Romani minority, counting some 4,420 inhabitants, most of them living in the neighbourhood of Trizla , also Serbs (310) and Turks (260). In antiquity, the region of Prilep was part of ancient Pelagonia that

3762-524: The Battle of Kleidion . Byzantium lost it to the Second Bulgarian Empire , but later retook it. Prilep was acquired in 1334 by Serbian King Dušan and after 1365 the town belonged to King Vukašin , co-ruler of Dušan's son, Tzar Stefan Uroš V . After the death of Vukašin in 1371, Prilep was ruled by his son Marko . In 1395 it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire , of which it remained

3876-532: The Latin alphabet instead, and adding several consonant letters for sounds specific to Serbian phonology . During the same period, linguists led by Ljudevit Gaj adapted the Latin alphabet, in use in western South Slavic areas, using the same principles. As a result of this joint effort, Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj's Latin alphabets have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters. The updated Serbian Cyrillic alphabet

3990-552: The Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia banned the use of Cyrillic, having regulated it on 25 April 1941, and in June 1941 began eliminating " Eastern " (Serbian) words from Croatian, and shut down Serbian schools. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet with the work of Krste Misirkov and Venko Markovski . The Serbian Cyrillic script was one of

4104-467: The Resen region of western Macedonia) and Marko Cepenkov of Prilep (throughout the region). South Slavic legends about Kraljević Marko or Krali Marko are primarily based on myths much older than the historical Marko Mrnjavčević. He differs in legend from the folk poems; in some areas he was imagined as a giant who walked stepping on hilltops, his head touching the clouds. He was said to have helped God shape

4218-493: The Rhodope Mountains ). At Marko's birth three narecnitsi (fairy sorceresses) appeared, predicting that he would be a hero and replace his father (King Vukašin). When the king heard this, he threw his son into the river in a basket to get rid of him. A samodiva named Vila found Marko and brought him up, becoming his foster mother. Because Marko drank the samodiva ' s milk, he acquired supernatural powers and became

4332-604: The Standard Macedonian . When the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was formed as part of Yugoslavia at the end of the WWII, the Macedonian language was recognized as distinct one. Then the dialects of Prilep, Veles , Bitola and Ohrid were chosen as the basis for the new official language, because of their central position in the region of Macedonia . The main square in Prilep is called "Alexandria", in honor of Alexander

4446-622: The Wallachians in the Battle of Rovine . Although a ruler of modest historical significance, Marko became a major character in South Slavic oral tradition. He is venerated as a national hero by the Serbs , Macedonians and Bulgarians , remembered in Balkan folklore as a fearless and powerful protector of the weak, who fought against injustice and confronted the Turks during the Ottoman occupation. Marko

4560-487: The djerv (Ꙉꙉ) for the Serbian reflexes of Pre-Slavic *tj and *dj (* t͡ɕ , * d͡ʑ , * d͡ʒ , and * tɕ ), later the letter evolved to dje (Ђђ) and tshe (Ћћ) letters . Vuk Stefanović Karadžić fled Serbia during the Serbian Revolution in 1813, to Vienna. There he met Jernej Kopitar , a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj helped Vuk to reform Serbian and its orthography. He finalized

4674-469: The money supply in the territory ruled by the Mrnjavčević brothers primarily consisted of coins struck by King Vukašin and Tsar Uroš. About 150 of Marko's coins survive in numismatic collections. By 1379, Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović , the ruler of Moravian Serbia , emerged as the most-powerful Serbian nobleman. Although he called himself Autokrator of all the Serbs ( самодрьжць вьсѣмь Србьлѥмь ), he

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4788-498: The vila ' s words. He killed Šarac so the Turks would not use him for menial labor, and gave his beloved companion an elaborate burial. Marko broke his sword and spear, throwing his mace far out to sea before lying down to die. His body was found seven days later by Abbot Vaso and his deacon, Isaija. Vaso took Marko to Mount Athos and buried him at the Hilandar Monastery in an unmarked grave. "Krali Marko" has been one of

4902-497: The 3 and 13 October 1914 banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia , limiting it for use in religious instruction. A decree was passed on January 3, 1915, that banned Serbian Cyrillic completely from public use. An imperial order on October 25, 1915, banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina , except "within the scope of Serbian Orthodox Church authorities". In 1941,

5016-555: The Christians and for me to be among the first to die in this war." The chronicle goes on to state that Marko and Dragaš were killed in the battle. Another medieval source that mentions Marko's death at the Battle of Rovine is the Dečani Chronicle . Marko Mrnjavčević is the most popular hero of Serbian epic poetry , in which he is called "Kraljević Marko" (with the word kraljević meaning "prince" or "king's son"). This informal title

5130-611: The Fiery Dragon and Sibinjanin Janko and his nephew, Banović Sekula. Very few historical facts about Marko can be found in the poems, but they reflect his connection with the disintegration of the Serbian Empire and his vassalage to the Ottomans. They were composed by anonymous Serbian poets during the Ottoman occupation of their land. According to American Slavicist George Rapall Noyes, they "combine tragic pathos with almost ribald comedy in

5244-542: The Great. The reconstruction of the square began in 2005 and it was completed in 2006. The reconstruction cost 700.000 Euros and its investor was the city of Prilep. During the reconstruction the monument of Alexander the Great was erected, among the other things. Several ancient sites grace Prilep including one at Markovi Kuli , St. Nicola's church from the 13th century, St. Uspenie church in Bogorodica, St. Preobrazenie church and

5358-626: The Latin script is almost always used in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , whereas Cyrillic is in everyday use in Republika Srpska . The Serbian language in Croatia is officially recognized as a minority language; however, the use of Cyrillic in bilingual signs has sparked protests and vandalism . Serbian Cyrillic is an important symbol of Serbian identity. In Serbia, official documents are printed in Cyrillic only even though, according to

5472-567: The Mrnjavčević forces were quickly directed eastward. Having sought allies in vain, the two brothers and their troops entered Ottoman-controlled territory. At the Battle of Maritsa on 26 September 1371, the Turks annihilated the Serbian army; the bodies of Vukašin and Jovan Uglješa were never found. The battle site, near the village of Ormenio in present-day eastern Greece, has ever since been called as Sırp Sındığı ("Serbian rout") in Turkish . The Battle of Maritsa had far-reaching consequences for

5586-485: The Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad I at the Battle of Kosovo , the best-known battle in medieval Serbian history. With the bulk of both armies wiped out and Lazar and Murad killed, the outcome of the battle was inconclusive. In its aftermath the Serbs had insufficient manpower to defend their lands, while the Ottomans had many more troops in the east. Serbian principalities which were not already Ottoman vassals became such over

5700-528: The Serb and Greek Lands, and of the Western Provinces" ( господинь зємли срьбьскои и грькѡмь и западнимь странамь ). In late 1370 or early 1371, Vukašin crowned Marko "Young King", a title given to heirs presumptive of Serbian kings to secure their position as successors to the throne. Since Uroš was childless, Marko could thus become his successor, beginning a new—Vukašin—dynasty of Serbian sovereigns, and ending

5814-616: The Tomb of the Unconquered, and a memorial in honour of the victims of fascism located in Prilep's central park. A large Roman necropolis is known there and parts of numerous walls have been found; the settlement was probably the ancient Ceramiae mentioned in the Peutinger Table . Roman remains can also be found near the Varoš monastery, built on the steep slopes of the hill, which was later inhabited by

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5928-558: The alphabet in 1818 with the Serbian Dictionary . Karadžić reformed standard Serbian and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet by following strict phonemic principles on the Johann Christoph Adelung ' model and Jan Hus ' Czech alphabet . Karadžić's reforms of standard Serbian modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic , instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to

6042-514: The ban, of the impending "offence to the Christian faith", and the marriage did not occur. Marko subsequently married Jelena (daughter of Radoslav Hlapen , the lord of Veria and Edessa and the major Serbian nobleman in southern Macedonia). During the spring of 1371, Marko participated in the preparations for a campaign against Nikola Altomanović , the major lord in the west of the Empire. The campaign

6156-524: The central region of Pelagonia. As early as the time of the Roman–Macedonian wars, this city was known as a base from which the Macedonian king Perseus of Macedon set out to conquer the Penestian cities. An important site in the area is Bela Crkva , 6 km (4 mi) west of Styberra, where the town of Alkomenai was probably located. It was a stronghold of the Macedonian kings after it was rebuilt in

6270-571: The city. Of the Orthodox Albanians, a part has been Bulgarianized , while others have been Hellenised . In the newspaper there is also a report about the Orthodox Albanian entitled Ico Kishari , whose family, along with the Tilevci, Georgimajkovci and Ladcovci , were Orthodox Albanian refugees from Moscopole who had settled in the beginning of the 19th century. The newspaper also describes

6384-403: The dangerous, elusive vila Ravijojla . She became his blood sister , promising to help him in dire straits. When Ravijojla helped him kill the monstrous, three-hearted Musa Kesedžija (who almost defeated him), Marko grieved because he had slain a better man than himself. Marko is portrayed as a protector of the weak and helpless, a fighter against Turkish bullies and injustice in general. He

6498-454: The destruction of their armies, the Mrnjavčević family was left powerless. Lords around Marko exploited the opportunity to seize significant parts of his patrimony. By 1372, Đurađ I Balšić took Prizren and Peć, and Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović took Pristina. By 1377, Vuk Branković acquired Skopje, and Albanian magnate Andrea Gropa became virtually independent in Ohrid; however, he may have remained

6612-545: The dialect of Eastern Herzegovina which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić , the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850 which, encouraged by Austrian authorities, laid the foundation for Serbian, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia , Montenegro , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament into Serbian, which

6726-609: The early Roman period and was at the Pelagonian entrance to a pass leading to Illyria . Part of the city wall, a gate, and a few buildings of the Roman period were uncovered here in excavations. All recent finds from these sites are in the Museum of the City of Prilep. The Treskavec monastery , built in the 12th century in the mountains about 10 km (6 mi) north of Prilep under Zlatovrv peak, at

6840-545: The earth, and created the river gorge in Demir Kapija ("Iron Gate") with a stroke of his sabre. This drained the sea covering the regions of Bitola , Mariovo and Tikveš in Macedonia, making them habitable. After the earth was shaped, Marko arrogantly showed off his strength. God took it away by leaving a bag as heavy as the earth on a road; when Marko tried to lift it, he lost his strength and became an ordinary man. Legend also has it that Marko acquired his strength after he

6954-493: The edge of a small upland plain 1100 meters above sea level . Prilep has frescoes from the 14th and 15th centuries and is probably the site of the early Roman town of Kolobaise. The name of the early town is recorded on a long inscription on stone which deals with a local cult of Ephesian Artemis. The inscription was reused as a base for a cross on top of one of the church domes. Other inscriptions at Treskavec include several 1st century Roman dedications to Apollo . The old fortress

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7068-557: The empire and the Ragusan Republic after hostilities earlier that year. Although peace was not reached, Marko successfully negotiated the release of Serbian merchants from Prizren who were detained by the Ragusans and was permitted to withdraw silver deposited in the city by his family. The account of that embassy in a Ragusan document contains the earliest-known, undisputed reference to Marko Mrnjavčević. An inscription written in 1356 on

7182-427: The furrows, but quickly wearied of arguing: Диже Марко рало и волове, Те он поби Турке јањичаре, Пак узима три товара блага, Однесе их својој старој мајци: "То сам тебе данас изорао." Marko, age 300, rode the 160-year-old Šarac by the seashore towards Mount Urvina when a vila told him that he was going to die. Marko then leaned over a well and saw no reflection of his face on the water; hydromancy confirmed

7296-545: The help of the voivode's young wife, Vidosava, despite Jevrosima's self-sacrificing attempt to save her brother. Instead of marrying Vidosava (the original plan), Vukašin killed the treacherous woman. He took Jevrosima from Pirlitor to his capital city, Skadar , and married her according to the advice of the dying Momčilo. They had two sons, Marko and Andrijaš, and the poem recounting these events says that Marko took after his uncle Momčilo. This epic character corresponds historically with Bulgarian brigand and mercenary Momchil , who

7410-489: The hoofprints of his horse). He was also connected with geographic features such as hills, glens, cliffs, caves, rivers, brooks and groves, which he created or at which he did something memorable. They were often named after him , and there are many toponyms —from Istria in the west to Bulgaria in the east—derived from his name. In Bulgarian and Macedonian stories, Marko had an equally strong sister who competed with him in throwing boulders. In some legends, Marko's wonder horse

7524-574: The late 19th and early 20th century, Prilep was part of the Manastir Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. It was occupied by Bulgaria between 17 November 1915 and 25 September 1918 during World War I . In 1918 Prilep became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , and from 1929 to 1941 it was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . On 8 April 1941, just two days after

7638-404: The monastic name Jelisaveta, but was co-ruler with Andrijaš for some time after 1371. The youngest brother, Dmitar , lived on land controlled by Andrijaš. There was another brother, Ivaniš, about whom little is known. When Marko became an Ottoman vassal is uncertain, but it was probably not immediately after the Battle of Maritsa. At some point, Marko separated from Jelena and lived with Todora,

7752-405: The most popular characters in Bulgarian (more generally Eastern South Slavic ) folklore for centuries. These epic tales of Marko seem to originate from the present-day North Macedonia , therefore also being an important part of the ethnic heritage of Macedonians . According to local legend Marko's mother was Evrosiya (Евросия), sister of the Bulgarian voivoda Momchil (who ruled territory in

7866-410: The movement of the German troops. Afterwards the German Army retook the town. Prilep was definitively taken by communist partisans on 3 November 1944. From 1944 to 1991 the town belonged to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , as part of its constituent Socialist Republic of Macedonia . Since 1991 the town has been part of the Republic of Macedonia. The dialect of Prilep, forms the basis for

7980-446: The name "Mrnjavčević" is Ruvarčev rodoslov "The Genealogy of Ruvarac", written between 1563 and 1584. It is unknown whether it was introduced into the Genealogy from some older source, or from the folk poetry and tradition. ^n.b.2 This liturgical book, acquired in the 19th century by Russian collector Aleksey Khludov , is kept today in the State Historical Museum of Russia. ^n.b.3 The name Despotović (" despot 's son")

8094-445: The next few years. In 1394, a group of Ottoman vassals in the Balkans renounced their vassalage. Although Marko was not among them, his younger brothers Andrijaš and Dmitar refused to remain under Ottoman dominance. They emigrated to the Kingdom of Hungary , entering the service of King Sigismund . They travelled via Ragusa, where they withdrew two-thirds of their late father's store of 96.73 kilograms (213.3 lb) of silver, leaving

8208-431: The path of moral improvement and Christian virtues. Marko's honesty and moral courage are noteworthy in a poem in which he was the only person who knew the will of the late Tsar Dušan regarding his heir. Marko refused to lie in favour of the pretenders—his father and uncles. He said truthfully that Dušan appointed his son, Uroš, heir to the Serbian throne. This almost cost him his life, since Vukašin tried to kill him. Marko

8322-509: The pious King Marko"). In the first type, the reverse depicted Christ seated on a throne; in the second, Christ was seated on a mandorla . In the third type, the reverse depicted Christ on a mandorla; the obverse contained the four-line text БЛГО/ВѢРНИ/КРАЛЬ/МАРКО ("Pious King Marko"), which Marko also used in the church inscription. He omitted a territorial designation from his title, probably in tacit acknowledgement of his limited power. Although his brother Andrijaš also minted his own coins,

8436-570: The population of Prilep to approximately 6.500 individuals, of which 4.000 were Bulgarians , 2.000 were Turks and the rest were Serbs with Greeks and Aromanians . During the Great Eastern Crisis , the local Bulgarian movement of the day was defeated when armed Bulgarian groups were repelled by the League of Prizren , an Albanian organisation opposing Bulgarian geopolitical aims in areas like Prilep that contained an Albanian population. In

8550-516: The possibility that Marko would succeed the childless Uroš on the Serbian throne. On 26 September 1371, Vukašin was killed and his forces defeated in the Battle of Maritsa . About two months later, Tsar Uroš died. This formally made Marko the king of the Serbian land; however, Serbian noblemen , who had become effectively independent from the central authority, did not even consider to recognise him as their supreme ruler. Sometime after 1371, he became an Ottoman vassal ; by 1377, significant portions of

8664-484: The presence of Orthodox Albanians in Prilep. There it is emphasized that after their arrival in the city around the 18th-19th century, the Christian Vlach and Albanian elements have assimilated under the influence of Bulgarian population, and that there are no longer any traces of them. Information is also given for Albanians of both denominations. It is emphasized that in total there are 2412 Muslim Albanian residents in

8778-405: The region, since it opened the Balkans to the Turks. When his father died, "young king" Marko became king and co-ruler with Emperor Uroš. The Nemanjić dynasty ended soon afterwards, when Uroš died on 2 (or 4) December 1371 and Marko became the formal sovereign of Serbia. Serbian lords, however, did not recognise him, and divisions within the state increased. After the two brothers' deaths and

8892-555: The remaining third for Marko. Although Andrijaš and Dmitar were the first Serbian nobles to emigrate to Hungary, the Serbian northward migration would continue throughout the Ottoman occupation. In 1395, the Ottomans attacked Wallachia to punish its ruler, Mircea I , for his incursions into their territory. Three Serbian vassals fought on the Ottoman side: King Marko, Lord Konstantin Dragaš, and Despot Stefan Lazarević (son and heir of Prince Lazar). The Battle of Rovine , on 17 May 1395,

9006-403: The roads, the fight between Marko and Musa and Marko's death. Also, several artists have tried to produce a realistic portrait of Marko based on his frescoes. In 1924 Prilep Brewery introduced a light beer, Krali Marko . ^n.b.1 The family name "Mrnjavčević" was not mentioned in contemporary sources, nor was any other surname associated with this family. The oldest known source mentioning

9120-610: The ruins of the ancient Macedonian city of Styberra ( Ancient Greek : Στύβερρα ), first a town in Macedonia and later incorporated into the Roman Empire . Styberra, though razed by the Goths in 268, remained partly inhabited. > in 1014, as the place where Bulgarian Tsar Samuil allegedly had a heart attack upon seeing thousands of his soldiers had been blinded by the Byzantines after

9234-768: The semi-vowels Й or Ў , nor the iotated letters Я (Russian/Bulgarian ya ), Є (Ukrainian ye ), Ї ( yi ), Ё (Russian yo ) or Ю ( yu ), which are instead written as two separate letters: Ја, Је, Ји, Јо, Ју . Ј can also be used as a semi-vowel, in place of й . The letter Щ is not used. When necessary, it is transliterated as either ШЧ , ШЋ or ШТ . Serbian italic and cursive forms of lowercase letters б , г , д , п , and т (Russian Cyrillic alphabet) differ from those used in other Cyrillic alphabets: б , г , д , п , and т (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet). The regular (upright) shapes are generally standardized among languages and there are no officially recognized variations. That presents

9348-692: The start of the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia , Prilep was occupied by the German Army , and on 26 April 1941 by the Bulgarian Army . Together with most of Vardar Macedonia , Prilep was annexed by the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1941 to 1944. After 9 September coup d'etat the commander of the Bulgarian garrison, refused to withdraw and remained in the city with the Yugoslav guerrillas, managing to hold it for 10 days, blocking

9462-464: The territory he inherited from Vukašin were seized by other noblemen. King Marko, in reality, came to be a regional lord who ruled over a relatively small territory in western Macedonia. He funded the construction of the Monastery of Saint Demetrius near Skopje (better known as Marko's Monastery ), which was completed in 1376. Later, Marko became an Ottoman vassal and died on 17 May 1395, fighting against

9576-582: The two official scripts used to write Serbo-Croatian in Yugoslavia since its establishment in 1918, the other being Gaj's Latin alphabet ( latinica ). Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbian Cyrillic is no longer used in Croatia on national level, while in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro it remained an official script. Under the Constitution of Serbia of 2006, Cyrillic script

9690-507: The two-century Nemanjić dynasty . Most Serbian lords were unhappy with the situation, which strengthened their desire for independence from the central authority. Vukašin sought a well-connected spouse for Marko. A princess from the Croatian House of Šubić of Dalmatia was sent by her father, Grgur, to the court of their relative Tvrtko I , the ban of Bosnia. She was supposed to be raised and married by Tvrtko's mother Jelena . Jelena

9804-441: The upper Drina Valley ; the central Serbian lands; and Macedonia), remained loyal to Emperor Uroš. Nevertheless, local noblemen asserted more and more independence from Uroš' authority even in the part of the state that remained Serbian. Uroš was weak and unable to counteract these separatist tendencies, becoming an inferior power in his own domain. Serbian lords also fought each other for territory and influence. Vukašin Mrnjavčević

9918-761: The wife of a man named Grgur, and Jelena returned to her father in Veria. Marko later sought to reconcile with Jelena but he had to send Todora to his father-in-law. Since Marko's land was bordered on the south by Hlapen's, the reconciliation may have been political. Scribe Dobre, a subject of Marko's, transcribed a liturgical book for the church in the village of Kaluđerec, and when he finished, he composed an inscription which begins as follows: Слава сьвршитєлю богѹ вь вѣкы, аминь, а҃мнь, а҃м. Пыса сє сиꙗ книга ѹ Порѣчи, ѹ сєлѣ зовомь Калѹгєрєць, вь дьны благовѣрнаго кралꙗ Марка, ѥгда ѿдадє Ѳодору Грьгѹровѹ жєнѹ Хлапєнѹ, а ѹзє жєнѹ свою прьвовѣнчанѹ Ѥлєнѹ, Хлапєновѹ дьщєрє. Marko's fortress

10032-481: Was a gift from a vila . A Serbian story says that he was looking for a horse who could bear him. To test a steed, he would grab him by the tail and sling him over his shoulder. Seeing a diseased piebald foal owned by some carters, Marko grabbed him by the tail but could not move him. He bought (and cured) the foal, naming him Šarac  [ es ] . He became an enormously powerful horse and Marko's inseparable companion. Macedonian legend has it that Marko, following

10146-515: Was a skilful politician, and gradually assumed the main role in the empire. In August or September 1365 Uroš crowned him king, making him his co-ruler. By 1370, Marko's potential patrimony increased as Vukašin expanded his personal holdings from Prilep further into Macedonia, Kosovo and Metohija , acquiring Prizren, Pristina , Novo Brdo , Skopje and Ohrid . In a charter he issued on 5 April 1370, Vukašin mentioned his wife (Queen Alena) and sons (Marko and Andrijaš), signing himself as "Lord of

10260-414: Was acquired by Serbia from Byzantium in 1334 with other parts of Macedonia . In 1355, at about age 47, Stefan Dušan died suddenly of a stroke . Dušan was succeeded by his 19-year-old son Uroš , who apparently regarded Marko Mrnjavčević as a man of trust. The new Emperor appointed him the head of the embassy he sent to Ragusa (now Dubrovnik , Croatia ) at the end of July 1361 to negotiate peace between

10374-461: Was an idealised keeper of patriarchal and natural norms: in a Turkish military camp , he beheaded the Turk who dishonourably killed his father. He abolished the marriage tax by killing the tyrant who imposed it on the people of Kosovo. He saved the sultan's daughter from an unwanted marriage after she entreated him, as her blood brother, to help her. He rescued three Serbian voivodes (his blood brothers) from

10488-539: Was annexed from Serbia by Bosnia in 1326. The Mrnjavčević family may have later supported Serbian Emperor ( tsar ) Stefan Dušan in his preparations to invade Bosnia as did other Zachlumian nobles, and, fearing punishment, emigrated to the Serbian Empire before the war started. These preparations possibly began two years ahead of the invasion, which took place in 1350. From that year comes the earliest written reference to Marko's father Vukašin, describing him as Dušan's appointed župan (district governor) of Prilep , which

10602-489: Was applied in a similar way to Uglješa, the son of Despot Jovan Uglješa , King Vukašin's younger brother. Videos of Serbian epic poems sung to the accompaniment of the gusle: Serbian Cyrillic alphabet Reformed Serbian based its alphabet on the previous 18th century Slavonic-Serbian script, following the principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written", removing obsolete letters and letters representing iotated vowels , introducing ⟨J⟩ from

10716-405: Was attached literally to the rocky hilltop above, and its name derives from Old Slavic , and means “stuck on the rock”. In other languages it is: Prilep is a centre for high-quality tobacco and cigarettes , as well as metal processing, electronics , timber , textiles , and food industries. The city also produces a large quantity of Macedonian Bianco Sivec (pure white marble ). Tobacco

10830-488: Was attached to King Vukašin's sons in contemporary sources as a surname (Marko Kraljević), and it was adopted by the Serbian oral tradition as part of Marko's name. Poems about Kraljević Marko do not follow a storyline; what binds them into a poetic cycle is the hero himself, with his adventures illuminating his character and personality. The epic Marko had a 300-year lifespan; 14th- to 16th-century heroes appearing as his companions include Miloš Obilić , Relja Krilatica , Vuk

10944-608: Was based on the Slavic dialect of Thessaloniki . Part of the Serbian literary heritage of the Middle Ages are works such as Miroslav Gospel , Vukan Gospels , St. Sava's Nomocanon , Dušan's Code , Munich Serbian Psalter , and others. The first printed book in Serbian was the Cetinje Octoechos (1494). It's notable extensive use of diacritical signs by the Resava dialect and use of

11058-453: Was born about 1335 as the first son of Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his wife Alena . The patronymic "Mrnjavčević" derives from Mrnjava, described by 17th-century Ragusan historian Mavro Orbin as a minor nobleman from Zachlumia (in present-day Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia ). According to Orbin, Mrnjava's sons were born in Livno in western Bosnia , where he may have moved after Zachlumia

11172-497: Was combined with the notion that the servant was greater than his lord, as Serbian poets turned the tables on their conquerors. This dual aspect of Marko may explain his heroic status; for the Serbs he was "the proud symbol expressive of the unbroken spirit that lived on in spite of disaster and defeat," according to translator of Serbian epic poems David Halyburton Low. In battle, Marko used not only his strength and prowess but cunning and trickery. Despite his extraordinary qualities he

11286-419: Was finished in 1371, shortly before the Battle of Maritsa. In the inscription above the church's entrance, he is called "young king". The Monastery of St. Demetrius, popularly known as Marko's Monastery , is in the village of Markova Sušica (near Skopje) and was built from c. 1345 to 1376 (or 1377). Kings Marko and Vukašin, its ktetors , are depicted over the south entrance of the monastery church. Marko

11400-563: Was gradually superseded in later centuries by the Cyrillic script, developed around by Cyril's disciples, perhaps at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th century. The earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav , based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction between capital and lowercase letters. The standard language

11514-478: Was in the service of Serbian Tsar Dušan; he later became a despot and died in the 1345 Battle of Peritheorion . According to another account, Marko and Andrijaš were mothered by a vila (Slavic mountain nymph ) married by Vukašin after he caught her near a lake and removed her wings so she could not escape. As Marko matured, he became headstrong; Vukašin once said that he had no control over his son, who went wherever he wanted, drank and brawled. Marko grew up into

11628-519: Was inhabited by the Pelagones , an ancient Greek tribe of Upper Macedonia , who according to Strabo, were Epirote Molossians . The region was annexed to the Macedonian kingdom during the 4th century BC. In September 2007 archeological excavations in Bonče , revealed a tomb of what is believed to be the burial site of a Macedonian ruler dating 4th century BC. Near Prilep, close to the village of Čepigovo , are

11742-410: Was not depicted as a superhero or a god, but as a mortal man. There were opponents who surpassed him in courage and strength. He was occasionally capricious, short-tempered or cruel, but his predominant traits were honesty, loyalty and fundamental goodness. With his comic appearance and behaviour, and his remarks at his opponents' expense, Marko is the most humorous character in Serbian epic poetry. When

11856-620: Was not strong enough to unite all Serbian lands under his authority. The Balšić and Mrnjavčević families, Konstantin Dragaš (maternally a Nemanjić), Vuk Branković and Radoslav Hlapen continued ruling their respective regions. In addition to Marko, Tvrtko I was crowned King of the Serbs and of Bosnia in 1377. Maternally related to the Nemanjić dynasty, Tvrtko had seized western portions of the former Serbian Empire in 1373. On 15 June 1389, Serbian forces led by Prince Lazar, Vuk Branković, and Tvrtko's nobleman Vlatko Vuković of Zachlumia, confronted

11970-579: Was officially adopted in the Principality of Serbia in 1868, and was in exclusive use in the country up to the interwar period . Both alphabets were official in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Due to the shared cultural area, Gaj's Latin alphabet saw a gradual adoption in the Socialist Republic of Serbia since, and both scripts are used to write modern standard Serbian. In Serbia , Cyrillic

12084-514: Was on a hill north of present-day Prilep; its partially preserved remains are known as Markovi Kuli ("Marko's towers"). Beneath the fortress is the village of Varoš, site of the medieval Prilep. The village contains the Monastery of Archangel Michael, renovated by Marko and Vukašin, whose portraits are on the walls of the monastery's church. Marko was ktetor of the Church of Saint Sunday in Prizren, which

12198-581: Was planned jointly by King Vukašin and Đurađ I Balšić , lord of Zeta (who was married to Olivera, the king's daughter). In July of that year Vukašin and Marko camped with their army outside Scutari , on Balšić's territory, ready to make an incursion towards Onogošt in Altomanović's land. The attack never took place, since the Ottomans threatened the land of Despot Jovan Uglješa (lord of Serres and Vukašin's younger brother, who ruled in eastern Macedonia) and

12312-576: Was published in 1868. He wrote several books; Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815 to 1818 he used: Ю, Я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he dropped the Ѣ. The alphabet was officially adopted in 1868, four years after his death. From the Old Slavic script Vuk retained these 24 letters: He added one Latin letter: And 5 new ones: He removed: Orders issued on

12426-517: Was reproduced on a Yugoslavian banknote and stamp. Modern illustrators with Marko as their subject include Alexander Key , Aleksandar Klas , Zuko Džumhur , Vasa Pomorišac and Bane Kerac . Princ Marko, and his Sabre was also inspiration for Current Serbian National Anthem "Boze Pravde". The song was taken from a theatre piece Markova Sablja, very popular among Serbs in 1872. Motifs in multiple works are Marko and Ravijojla, Marko and his mother, Marko and Šarac, Marko shooting an arrow, Marko plowing

12540-634: Was staged in Arad . In 1848 Jovan Sterija Popović wrote the tragedy The Dream of Prince Marko , in which the legend of sleeping Marko is its central motif . Petar Preradović wrote the drama Kraljević Marko , which glorifies southern Slav strength. In 1863 Francesco Dall'Ongaro presented his Italian drama, The Resurrection of Prince Marko . In her collection of short stories from 1978, Nouvelles Orientales, Marguerite Yourcenar imagined an alternative, inexplicable end to Marko's life (La Fin de Marko kraliévitch). Of all Serbian epic or historical figures, Marko

12654-411: Was suckled by a vila . King Vukašin threw him into a river because he did not resemble him, but the boy was saved by a cowherd (who adopted him, and a vila suckled him). In other accounts, Marko was a shepherd (or cowherd) who found a vila ' s children lost in a mountain and shaded them against the sun (or gave them water). As a reward the vila suckled him three times, and he could lift and throw

12768-669: Was the daughter of George II Šubić , whose maternal grandfather was Serbian King Dragutin Nemanjić . The ban and his mother approved of Vukašin's idea to join the Šubić princess and Marko, and the wedding was imminent. However, in April 1370 Pope Urban V sent Tvrtko a letter forbidding him to give the Catholic lady in marriage to the "son of His Magnificence, the King of Serbia, a schismatic " ( filio magnifici viri Regis Rascie scismatico ). The pope also notified King Louis I of Hungary , nominal overlord of

12882-453: Was used by the Romans, and later the Byzantines. After all, even Tsar Samuil came here after the defeat at Belasica in 1014. During the Middle Ages, after 1371, Prince Marko rebuilt the citadel extensively, making it an important military stronghold. Prilep covers 1,675 km (647 sq mi) and is located in the northern Pelagonia plain, in the southern part of North Macedonia. Prilep

12996-610: Was won by the Wallachians; Marko and Dragaš were killed. After their deaths the Ottomans annexed their lands, combining them into an Ottoman province centred in Kyustendil . Thirty-six years after the Battle of Rovine, Konstantin the Philosopher wrote the Biography of Despot Stefan Lazarević and recorded what Marko said to Dragaš on the eve of the battle: "I say and pray to the lord to help

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