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94-457: In Serbian (and also English ) "Novo Brdo" is used, literally meaning "New Hill". The name was derived from the medieval Serbian mining town of Novo Brdo . In Albanian , "Novobërdë" or "Artanë" is used. Novo Brdo is an archaeological site. Novo Brdo was mentioned with its present name in historical documents as early as 1326. It served as the most important mining community in the Balkans during

188-660: A Syrian city, with soldiers climbing scale ladders supported by archers. Assyrian palace reliefs of the 9th to 7th centuries BC display sieges of several Near Eastern cities. Though a simple battering ram had come into use in the previous millennium, the Assyrians improved siege warfare and used huge wooden tower-shaped battering rams with archers positioned on top. In ancient China, sieges of city walls (along with naval battles) were portrayed on bronze 'hu' vessels , like those found in Chengdu , Sichuan in 1965, which have been dated to

282-607: A length of 1,400 m (1,530 yd). The cities of the Indus Valley Civilization showed less effort in constructing defences, as did the Minoan civilization on Crete . These civilizations probably relied more on the defence of their outer borders or sea shores. Unlike the ancient Minoan civilization, the Mycenaean Greeks emphasized the need for fortifications alongside natural defences of mountainous terrain, such as

376-419: A minor force could seldom be maintained. A besieging army, encamped in possibly squalid field conditions and dependent on the countryside and its own supply lines for food, could very well be threatened with the disease and starvation intended for the besieged. To end a siege more rapidly, various methods were developed in ancient and medieval times to counter fortifications, and a large variety of siege engines

470-405: A rebellious Anatolian vassal in the 14th century BC ended when the queen mother came out of the city and begged for mercy on behalf of her people. The Hittite campaign against the kingdom of Mitanni in the 14th century BC bypassed the fortified city of Carchemish . If the main objective of a campaign was not the conquest of a particular city, it could simply be passed by. When the main objective of

564-436: A siege progressed, the surrounding army would build earthworks (a line of circumvallation ) to completely encircle their target, preventing food, water, and other supplies from reaching the besieged city. If sufficiently desperate as the siege progressed, defenders and civilians might have been reduced to eating anything vaguely edible – horses, family pets, the leather from shoes, and even each other . The Hittite siege of

658-745: A static target. Modern sieges are more commonly the result of smaller hostage, militant, or extreme resisting arrest situations. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples, and defensive walls. Some settlements in the Indus Valley civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 BC, hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus River floodplain. Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dikes and defensive walls, for neighbouring communities quarrelled constantly about

752-454: A wheeled siege ramp with grappling hooks known as the Cloud Bridge (the protractible, folded ramp slinging forward by means of a counterweight with rope and pulley), and wheeled 'hook-carts' used to latch large iron hooks onto the tops of walls to pull them down. When enemies attempted to dig tunnels under walls for mining or entry into the city, the defenders used large bellows (the type

846-436: Is Torlakian in southeastern Serbia, which is transitional to Macedonian and Bulgarian . Serbian is practically the only European standard language whose speakers are fully functionally digraphic , using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić , who created it based on phonemic principles. The Latin alphabet used for Serbian ( latinica )

940-434: Is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy . A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a quick assault, and which refuses to surrender . Sieges involve surrounding

1034-514: Is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian (more specifically on the dialects of Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovina ), which is also the basis of standard Croatian , Bosnian , and Montenegrin varieties and therefore the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Montenegrins was issued in 2017. The other dialect spoken by Serbs

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1128-639: Is characteristically Albanian; distinctive Albanian names such as Gjon, Gjin, Tanush, Progon, Lek, Gjergj and Bibë are mentioned. Some families had a mixed Slav-Albanian anthroponomy - that is to say, a Slavic first name and an Albanian last name, or last names with Albanian patronyms and Slavic suffixes such as Gjonoviç, Gjinoviq, Progonoviq, Bushatoviq, Dodishiq, Kondiq, Lekiq and other such names. Many Albanian Catholic priests were registered as residing in Novo Brdo, as well as in towns like Janjevo , Trepça , Prizren and others. These Catholic Albanian priests served as

1222-580: Is closer to the Kajkavian and Chakavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian ). Speakers by country: Serbian was the official language of Montenegro until October 2007, when the new Constitution of Montenegro replaced the Constitution of 1992. Amid opposition from pro-Serbian parties, Montenegrin was made the sole official language of the country, and Serbian was given the status of a language in official use along with Bosnian , Albanian , and Croatian . In

1316-517: Is shows that it was in accord with its time; for example, the Serbian Alexandride , a book about Alexander the Great , and a translation of Tristan and Iseult into Serbian. Although not belonging to the literature proper, the corpus of Serbian literacy in the 14th and 15th centuries contains numerous legal, commercial and administrative texts with marked presence of Serbian vernacular juxtaposed on

1410-620: Is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs . It is the official and national language of Serbia , one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kosovo . It is a recognized minority language in Croatia , North Macedonia , Romania , Hungary , Slovakia , and the Czech Republic . Standard Serbian

1504-435: Is the only general historical dictionary of Serbo-Croatian. Its first editor was Đuro Daničić , followed by Pero Budmani and the famous Vukovian Tomislav Maretić . The sources of this dictionary are, especially in the first volumes, mainly Štokavian . There are older, pre-standard dictionaries, such as the 1791 German–Serbian dictionary or 15th century Arabic-Persian-Greek-Serbian Conversation Textbook . The standard and

1598-457: The Huo Long Jing , this manuscript of Jiao Yu recorded an earlier Song-era cast-iron cannon known as the 'flying-cloud thunderclap eruptor' (fei yun pi-li pao). The manuscript stated that ( Wade–Giles spelling): The shells ( phao ) are made of cast iron, as large as a bowl and shaped like a ball. Inside they contain half a pound of 'magic' gunpowder ( shen huo ). They are sent flying towards

1692-817: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Cyrillic script : Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свешћу и треба једни према другима да поступају у духу братства. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Latin alphabet : Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i svešću i treba jedni prema drugima da postupaju u duhu bratstva. Article 1 of

1786-701: The Battle of Alesia , the Roman legions created two huge fortified walls around the city. The inner circumvallation, 16 km (10 mi), held in Vercingetorix 's forces, while the outer contravallation kept relief from reaching them. The Romans held the ground in between the two walls. The besieged Gauls, facing starvation, eventually surrendered after their relief force met defeat against Caesar's auxiliary cavalry. The Sicarii Zealots who defended Masada in AD 73 were defeated by

1880-518: The Ottoman Defter of 1591, the city of Novo Brdo itself was recorded within the Sanjak of Viçitrina - this defter included the household heads of the city. The city consisted of several Muslim neighbourhoods ( Mahalla/Mëhalla ); they were Xhamia Sherif (Sherif Mosque, 26 households), Kasap (11 households), Hamam (21 households), Darbbane (40 households) and Mehmed Çelebi (5 households). There

1974-637: The Piankhi stela , records how the Nubians laid siege to and conquered several Egyptian cities by using battering rams, archers, and slingers and building causeways across moats. During the Peloponnesian War , one hundred sieges were attempted and fifty-eight ended with the surrender of the besieged area. Alexander the Great 's army successfully besieged many powerful cities during his conquests. Two of his most impressive achievements in siegecraft took place in

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2068-619: The Proto-Slavic language . There are many loanwords from different languages, reflecting cultural interaction throughout history. Notable loanwords were borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, English, Russian, German, Czech and French. Serbian literature emerged in the Middle Ages , and included such works as Miroslavljevo jevanđelje ( Miroslav's Gospel ) in 1186 and Dušanov zakonik ( Dušan's Code ) in 1349. Little secular medieval literature has been preserved, but what there

2162-470: The Protodynastic Period of Egypt , c.  3000 BC . These show the symbolic destruction of city walls by divine animals using hoes. The first siege equipment is known from Egyptian tomb reliefs of the 24th century BC, showing Egyptian soldiers storming Canaanite town walls on wheeled siege ladders. Later Egyptian temple reliefs of the 13th century BC portray the violent Siege of Dapur ,

2256-520: The Siege of Tyre and the Siege of the Sogdian Rock . His engineers built a causeway that was originally 60 m (200 ft) wide and reached the range of his torsion-powered artillery, while his soldiers pushed siege towers housing stone throwers and light catapults to bombard the city walls. Most conquerors before him had found Tyre , a Phoenician island-city about 1 km (1,100 yd) from

2350-558: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Siege A siege ( Latin : sedere , lit.   'to sit') is a military blockade of a city, or fortress , with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecraft or poliorcetics )

2444-520: The Vietnam War . Until the invention of gunpowder -based weapons (and the resulting higher-velocity projectiles), the balance of power and logistics definitely favored the defender. With the invention of gunpowder, cannon and mortars and howitzers (in modern times), the traditional methods of defense became less effective against a determined siege. Although there are numerous ancient accounts of cities being sacked, few contain any clues to how this

2538-518: The Warring States period (5th to 3rd centuries BC). An attacker's first act in a siege might be a surprise attack, attempting to overwhelm the defenders before they were ready or were even aware there was a threat. This was how William de Forz captured Fotheringhay Castle in 1221. The most common practice of siege warfare was to lay siege and just wait for the surrender of the enemies inside or, quite commonly, to coerce someone inside to betray

2632-537: The Yuan dynasty in 1271, was very effective, allowing the Mongols to sweep through large areas. Even if they could not enter some of the more well-fortified cities, they used innovative battle tactics to grab hold of the land and the people: By concentrating on the field armies, the strongholds had to wait. Of course, smaller fortresses, or ones easily surprised, were taken as they came along. This had two effects. First, it cut off

2726-676: The concentric castle from the period of the Crusades —and more dangerous to attackers—witness the increasing use of machicolations and murder-holes , as well the preparation of hot or incendiary substances . Arrowslits (also called arrow loops or loopholes), sally ports (airlock-like doors) for sallies and deep water wells were also integral means of resisting siege at this time. Particular attention would be paid to defending entrances, with gates protected by drawbridges , portcullises , and barbicans . Moats and other water defenses, whether natural or augmented, were also vital to defenders. In

2820-600: The defenders of city walls . Siege machinery was also a tradition of the ancient Greco-Roman world . During the Renaissance and the early modern period , siege warfare dominated the conduct of war in Europe. Leonardo da Vinci gained some of his renown from design of fortifications. Medieval campaigns were generally designed around a succession of sieges. In the Napoleonic era , increasing use of ever more powerful cannons reduced

2914-457: The official script of Serbia's administration by the 2006 Constitution . The Latin script continues to be used in official contexts, although the government has indicated its desire to phase out this practice due to national sentiment. The Ministry of Culture believes that Cyrillic is the "identity script" of the Serbian nation. However, the law does not regulate scripts in standard language , or standard language itself by any means, leaving

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3008-627: The 13th to 14th century to work in the local mines, thus reinforcing the Albanian population in Kosovo. Subsequent waves of Catholic Albanians kept arriving in Novo Brdo up until the 17th century. Ragusan documents attest to the presence of a significant number of Albanians living in Novo Brdo throughout the 14th and early 15th centuries, including members of the Catholic Albanian clergy with names such as Gjergjash and Gjinko , Gjini , son of Gjergji ,

3102-555: The 15th century. Previously it was known as Novus Mons or Novamonte in Latin and as Nyeuberghe in Saxon texts. The famous scribe Vladislav the Grammarian was born here. The arrival of Saxon miners resulted in the emergence of mining towns in the Balkans in the 13th and 14th century, among them Novo Brdo. Despite much of Novo Brdo's early history being a mystery, the development of the town

3196-488: The 2023 Montenegrin census, 43.18% declared Serbian to be their native language, while Montenegrin was declared by 34.52% of the population. Standard Serbian language uses both Cyrillic ( ћирилица , ćirilica ) and Latin script ( latinica , латиница ). Serbian is a rare example of synchronic digraphia , a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing systems available to them. Media and publishers typically select one alphabet or

3290-450: The Chinese commonly used in heating up a blast furnace for smelting cast iron ) to pump smoke into the tunnels in order to suffocate the intruders. Advances in the prosecution of sieges in ancient and medieval times naturally encouraged the development of a variety of defensive countermeasures. In particular, medieval fortifications became progressively stronger—for example, the advent of

3384-731: The European Middle Ages , virtually all large cities had city walls— Dubrovnik in Dalmatia is a well-preserved example—and more important cities had citadels , forts , or castles . Great effort was expended to ensure a good water supply inside the city in case of siege. In some cases, long tunnels were constructed to carry water into the city. Complex systems of tunnels were used for storage and communications in medieval cities like Tábor in Bohemia , similar to those used much later in Vietnam during

3478-820: The Latin alphabet whereas 36% favors the Cyrillic one. Latin script has become more and more popular in Serbia, as it is easier to input on phones and computers. The sort order of the ćirilica ( ћирилица ) alphabet: The sort order of the latinica ( латиница ) alphabet: Serbian is a highly inflected language , with grammatical morphology for nouns, pronouns and adjectives as well as verbs. Serbian nouns are classified into three declensional types, denoted largely by their nominative case endings as "-a" type, "-i" and "-e" type. Into each of these declensional types may fall nouns of any of three genders : masculine, feminine or neuter. Each noun may be inflected to represent

3572-410: The Latin script predominates, although both scripts are commonly seen. The Serbian government has encouraged increasing the use of Cyrillic in these contexts. Larger signs, especially those put up by the government, will often feature both alphabets; if the sign has English on it, then usually only Cyrillic is used for the Serbian text. A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of the Serbian population favors

3666-450: The Latin script tends to imply a cosmopolitan or neutral attitude, while Cyrillic appeals to a more traditional or vintage sensibility. In media, the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia , predominantly uses the Cyrillic script whereas the privately run broadcasters, like RTV Pink , predominantly use the Latin script. Newspapers can be found in both scripts. In the public sphere, with logos, outdoor signage and retail packaging,

3760-679: The Roman legions, who built a ramp 100 metres (330 ft) high up to the fortress's west wall. During the Roman–Persian Wars , siege warfare was extensively being used by both sides. In the Middle Ages, the Mongol Empire 's campaign against China (then comprising the Western Xia dynasty , Jin dynasty , and Southern Song dynasty ) by Genghis Khan until Kublai Khan , who eventually established

3854-754: The Southern Song Chinese held out against the enormous barrage of Mongol attacks. Much of this success in defense lay in the world's first use of gunpowder (i.e. with early flamethrowers , grenades , firearms , cannons, and land mines ) to fight back against the Khitans , the Tanguts , the Jurchens , and then the Mongols. The Chinese of the Song period also discovered the explosive potential of packing hollowed cannonball shells with gunpowder. Written later c.  1350 in

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3948-495: The agreement has been blocked. There are two lead and zinc mines operating on the territory of Novo Brdo: Kišnica and Novo Brdo . According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality has a population of 6,729 inhabitants. In 2020 estimate, the municipality had 7,121 inhabitants. Municipality of Novo Brdo consists of 26 settlements with following populations: Serbian language Serbian ( српски / srpski , pronounced [sr̩̂pskiː] )

4042-540: The area had a small military outpost occupied by US soldiers , as well as a station of International Police and Kosovo Police . According to the 2013 Brussels Agreement , the municipality was to become part of the Community of Serb Municipalities . Part of the agreement which pertained to the creation of the Association of Serbian municipalities was deemed unconstitutional by Kosovo’s Constitutional Court and since then

4136-422: The attacker or defender. This form of siege, though, can take many months or even years, depending upon the size of the stores of food the fortified position holds. The attacking force can circumvallate the besieged place, which is to build a line of earth-works, consisting of a rampart and trench, surrounding it. During the process of circumvallation, the attacking force can be set upon by another force, an ally of

4230-476: The beginning of the 13th century, the entire official correspondence of Dubrovnik with states in the hinterland was conducted in Serbian. In the mid-15th century, Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and for the next 400 years there was no opportunity for the creation of secular written literature. However, some of the greatest literary works in Serbian come from this time, in the form of oral literature,

4324-548: The besieged place, due to the lengthy amount of time required to force it to capitulate. A defensive ring of forts outside the ring of circumvallated forts, called contravallation, is also sometimes used to defend the attackers from outside. Ancient cities in the Middle East show archaeological evidence of fortified city walls . During the Warring States period of ancient China , there is both textual and archaeological evidence of prolonged sieges and siege machinery used against

4418-655: The booty of his conquest undamaged, and retain his men and equipment intact, for the price of a well-placed bribe to a disgruntled gatekeeper. The Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in the 8th century BC came to an end when the Israelites bought them off with gifts and tribute, according to the Assyrian account, or when the Assyrian camp was struck by mass death, according to the Biblical account. Due to logistics, long-lasting sieges involving

4512-468: The campaign had been fulfilled, the Hittite army returned to Carchemish and the city fell after an eight-day siege. Disease was another effective siege weapon, although the attackers were often as vulnerable as the defenders. In some instances, catapults or similar weapons were used to fling diseased animals over city walls in an early example of biological warfare . If all else failed, a besieger could claim

4606-660: The capital of Smederevo fell and Serbia resisted until finally Novo Brdo fell in 1441. Novo Brdo was by treaty restored to the Serbs in 1443. The fortress (named in Turkish Nobırda ) came under siege for forty days by the Ottomans , before capitulating and becoming occupied by the Ottomans on 1 June 1455. This event is described by Konstantin Mihailović from Ostrovica near Novo Brdo, who

4700-439: The choice of script as a matter of personal preference and to the free will in all aspects of life (publishing, media, trade and commerce, etc.), except in government paperwork production and in official written communication with state officials, which have to be in Cyrillic. Traffic signs and directional signs, and place names, on main or international roads are to be written with both Cyrillic and Latin script To most Serbians,

4794-428: The control of prime agricultural land. Mundigak (c. 2500 BC) in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun-dried bricks . City walls and fortifications were essential for the defence of the first cities in the ancient Near East . The walls were built of mudbricks, stone, wood, or a combination of these materials, depending on local availability. They may also have served

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4888-657: The demands on stored food and water. During the Warring States period in China (481–221 BC), warfare lost its honorable, gentlemen's duty that was found in the previous era of the Spring and Autumn period , and became more practical, competitive, cut-throat, and efficient for gaining victory. The Chinese invention of the hand-held, trigger-mechanism crossbow during this period revolutionized warfare, giving greater emphasis to infantry and cavalry and less to traditional chariot warfare. The philosophically pacifist Mohists (followers of

4982-573: The dual purpose of showing potential enemies the might of the kingdom. The great walls surrounding the Sumerian city of Uruk gained a widespread reputation. The walls were 9.5 km (5.9 mi) in length, and up to 12 m (39 ft) in height. Later, the walls of Babylon , reinforced by towers, moats, and ditches, gained a similar reputation. In Anatolia , the Hittites built massive stone walls around their cities atop hillsides, taking advantage of

5076-568: The early 19th century, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić promoted the spoken language of the people as a literary norm. The dialects of Serbo-Croatian , regarded Serbian (traditionally spoken in Serbia), include: Vuk Karadžić 's Srpski rječnik , first published in 1818, is the earliest dictionary of modern literary Serbian. The Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (I–XXIII), published by the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1880 to 1976,

5170-454: The enemy camp from an eruptor ( mu phao ); and when they get there a sound like a thunder-clap is heard, and flashes of light appear. If ten of these shells are fired successfully into the enemy camp, the whole place will be set ablaze... During the Ming dynasty (AD 1368–1644), the Chinese were very concerned with city planning in regards to gunpowder warfare. The site for constructing the walls and

5264-541: The field, he was unable to capture Rome itself. The legionary armies of the Roman Republic and Empire are noted as being particularly skilled and determined in siege warfare. An astonishing number and variety of sieges, for example, formed the core of Julius Caesar 's mid-1st-century BC conquest of Gaul (modern France). In his Commentarii de Bello Gallico ( Commentaries on the Gallic War ), Caesar describes how, at

5358-418: The first half of 15th century, Serbian Orthodox bishops of Lipjan resided in Novo Brdo. There were mines and smelting furnaces for iron, lead, gold and silver ores. Novo Brdo silver is known by its glam silver  [ sr ] ( Latin : argentum de glama ; an alloy of silver with 1/6-1/3 gold). In 1450 the mines of Novo Brdo were producing about 6,000 kg of silver per year. The medieval settlement

5452-490: The first night while laying siege to a city, the leader of the Mongol forces would lead from a white tent : if the city surrendered, all would be spared. On the second day, he would use a red tent: if the city surrendered, the men would all be killed, but the rest would be spared. On the third day, he would use a black tent: no quarter would be given. However, the Chinese were not completely defenseless, and from AD 1234 until 1279,

5546-529: The following neighbourhoods: Protopop (9 households), Izllatar (9 households), Pop Grobani (Grubani) (5 households), Pop Bozha (4 households) and Kuriçka (13 households). By the early 20th century, Novo Brdo's population dwindled, with most inhabitants moving to the more easily accessible area of Gjilan . In 1999, with the entry into Kosovo of KFOR and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo ( UNMIK ),

5640-403: The fortification's walls, could allow the attackers to fire down upon the defenders and also advance troops to the wall with less danger than using ladders. In addition to launching projectiles at the fortifications or defenders, it was also quite common to attempt to undermine the fortifications, causing them to collapse. This could be accomplished by digging a tunnel beneath the foundations of

5734-498: The fortification. During the medieval period, negotiations would frequently take place during the early part of the siege. An attacker – aware of a prolonged siege's great cost in time, money, and lives – might offer generous terms to a defender who surrendered quickly. The defending troops would be allowed to march away unharmed, often retaining their weapons. However, a garrison commander who was thought to have surrendered too quickly might face execution by his own side for treason. As

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5828-443: The improbably high numbers which he used for both the Mongols and the defenders do give one a sense of the large numbers of machines used at a single siege. Another Mongol tactic was to use catapults to launch corpses of plague victims into besieged cities. The disease-carrying fleas from the bodies would then infest the city, and the plague would spread, allowing the city to be easily captured, although this transmission mechanism

5922-529: The mainland, impregnable. The Macedonians built a mole , a raised spit of earth across the water, by piling stones up on a natural land bridge that extended underwater to the island, and although the Tyrians rallied by sending a fire ship to destroy the towers, and captured the mole in a swarming frenzy, the city eventually fell to the Macedonians after a seven-month siege. In complete contrast to Tyre, Sogdian Rock

6016-552: The major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system." It has lower intelligibility with the Eastern South Slavic languages Bulgarian and Macedonian , than with Slovene (Slovene is part of the Western South Slavic subgroup, but there are still significant differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation to the standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian, although it

6110-441: The massive Cyclopean walls built at Mycenae and other adjacent Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1100 BC) centers of central and southern Greece. Although there are depictions of sieges from the ancient Near East in historical sources and in art, there are very few examples of siege systems that have been found archaeologically. Of the few examples, several are noteworthy: The earliest representations of siege warfare have been dated to

6204-431: The matrix of Serbian Church Slavonic . By the beginning of the 14th century the Serbo-Croatian language, which was so rigorously proscribed by earlier local laws, becomes the dominant language of the Republic of Ragusa . However, despite her wealthy citizens speaking the Serbo-Croatian dialect of Dubrovnik in their family circles, they sent their children to Florentine schools to become perfectly fluent in Italian. Since

6298-407: The most notable form being epic poetry . The epic poems were mainly written down in the 19th century, and preserved in oral tradition up to the 1950s, a few centuries or even a millennium longer than by most other "epic folks". Goethe and Jacob Grimm learned Serbian in order to read Serbian epic poetry in the original. By the end of the 18th century, the written literature had become estranged from

6392-415: The noun they modify, but must agree in number, gender and case with the modified noun. Serbian verbs are conjugated in four past forms— perfect , aorist , imperfect , and pluperfect —of which the last two have a very limited use (imperfect is still used in some dialects, but the majority of native Serbian speakers consider it archaic), one future tense (also known as the first future tense, as opposed to

6486-517: The noun's grammatical case , of which Serbian has seven: Nouns are further inflected to represent the noun's number , singular or plural. Pronouns, when used, are inflected along the same case and number morphology as nouns. Serbian is a pro-drop language , meaning that pronouns may be omitted from a sentence when their meaning is easily inferred from the text. In cases where pronouns may be dropped, they may also be used to add emphasis. For example: Adjectives in Serbian may be placed before or after

6580-626: The only completed etymological dictionary of Serbian is the " Skok ", written by the Croatian linguist Petar Skok : Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika ("Etymological Dictionary of Croatian or Serbian"). I-IV. Zagreb 1971–1974. There is also a new monumental Etimološki rečnik srpskog jezika (Etymological Dictionary of Serbian). So far, two volumes have been published: I (with words on A-), and II (Ba-Bd). There are specialized etymological dictionaries for German, Italian, Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, English and other loanwords (cf. chapter word origin ). Article 1 of

6674-400: The other. In general, the alphabets are used interchangeably; except in the legal sphere, where Cyrillic is required, there is no context where one alphabet or another predominates. Although Serbian language authorities have recognized the official status of both scripts in contemporary Standard Serbian for more than half of a century now, due to historical reasons, the Cyrillic script was made

6768-417: The philosopher Mozi ) of the 5th century BC believed in aiding the defensive warfare of smaller Chinese states against the hostile offensive warfare of larger domineering states. The Mohists were renowned in the smaller states (and the enemies of the larger states) for the inventions of siege machinery to scale or destroy walls. These included traction trebuchet catapults , 8-foot (2.4 m) high ballistas ,

6862-429: The presbyter (1382); the reverend Gjergj Gega , Nikollë Tanushi , Gjergj Andrea Pellini and Nikolla Progonovic . In the book of debtors belonging to Ragusan merchant Mihail Lukarevic, who resided in Novo Brdo during the 1430s, 150 Albanian household heads were mentioned as living in Novo Brdo with their families. They worked as miners, artisans and specialists in the mines of Novo Brdo. The anthroponomy of these figures

6956-422: The primary Catholic priests for the town of Novo Brdo. It is estimated that during the 15th century, Novo Brdo had a population of 4 to 5 thousand people within the fortified city. Beyond the city walls, a network of satellite settlements housed a further 8 to 10 thousand people. Such a large settlement was unusual in Europe where 90 to 95% of all medieval European cities had populations of less than 2 thousand. At

7050-428: The principal city from communicating with other cities where they might expect aid. Secondly, refugees from these smaller cities would flee to the last stronghold. The reports from these cities and the streaming hordes of refugees not only reduced the morale of the inhabitants and garrison of the principal city, it also strained their resources. Food and water reserves were taxed by the sudden influx of refugees. Soon, what

7144-413: The second conditional (without use in the spoken language—it should be used for impossible conditional clauses). Serbian has active and passive voice . As for the non-finite verb forms, Serbian has one infinitive , two adjectival participles (the active and the passive), and two adverbial participles (the present and the past). Most Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to

7238-433: The second future tense or the future exact, which is considered a tense of the conditional mood by some contemporary linguists), and one present tense . These are the tenses of the indicative mood. Apart from the indicative mood, there is also the imperative mood . The conditional mood has two more tenses: the first conditional (commonly used in conditional clauses, both for possible and impossible conditional clauses) and

7332-434: The siege was of a location on a coastline, from ships launched from the harbor of the location. The universal method for defending against siege is the use of fortifications, principally walls and ditches , to supplement natural features. A sufficient supply of food and water was also important to defeat the simplest method of siege warfare: starvation . On occasion, the defenders would drive 'surplus' civilians out to reduce

7426-466: The spoken language. In the second half of the 18th century, the new language appeared, called Slavonic-Serbian . This artificial idiom superseded the works of poets and historians like Gavrilo Stefanović Venclović , who wrote in essentially modern Serbian in the 1720s. These vernacular compositions have remained cloistered from the general public and received due attention only with the advent of modern literary historians and writers like Milorad Pavić . In

7520-448: The target to block provision of supplies and reinforcement or escape of troops (a tactic known as " investment "). This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines , artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be decided by starvation, thirst, or disease, which can afflict either

7614-530: The terrain. In Shang dynasty China, at the site of Ao, large walls were erected in the 15th century BC that had dimensions of 20 m (66 ft) in width at the base and enclosed an area of some 1,900 m (2,100 yd) squared. The ancient Chinese capital for the State of Zhao , Handan , founded in 386 BC, also had walls that were 20 m (66 ft) wide at the base; they were 15 m (49 ft) tall, with two separate sides of its rectangular enclosure at

7708-615: The thickness of the walls in Beijing's Forbidden City were favoured by the Chinese Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) because they were in pristine position to resist cannon volley and were built thick enough to withstand attacks from cannon fire. For more, see Technology of the Song dynasty . The introduction of gunpowder and the use of cannons brought about a new age in siege warfare. Cannons were first used in Song dynasty China during

7802-409: The value of fortifications. In the 20th century, the significance of the classical siege declined. With the advent of mobile warfare , a single fortified stronghold is no longer as decisive as it once was. While traditional sieges do still occur, they are not as common as they once were due to changes in modes of battle, principally the ease by which huge volumes of destructive power can be directed onto

7896-534: The walls, and then deliberately collapsing or exploding the tunnel. This process is known as mining . The defenders could dig counter-tunnels to cut into the attackers' works and collapse them prematurely. Fire was often used as a weapon when dealing with wooden fortifications. The Roman Empire used Greek fire , which contained additives that made it hard to extinguish. Combined with a primitive flamethrower , it proved an effective offensive and defensive weapon. A sallying out might also occur with such weapons, or if

7990-634: Was achieved. Some popular tales existed on how the cunning heroes succeeded in their sieges. The best-known is the Trojan Horse of the Trojan War , and a similar story tells how the Canaanite city of Joppa was conquered by the Egyptians in the 15th century BC. The Biblical Book of Joshua contains the story of the miraculous Battle of Jericho . A more detailed historical account from the 8th century BC, called

8084-825: Was also 6 Jewish households, including 1 that hailed from Catalonia and 1 that hailed from Castille . Of the Christian neighbourhoods ( Mahalla/Mëhalla ), the following had inhabitants of mixed Albanian - Slavic / Orthodox anthroponomy: Sokraja (15 households), Pop Simoni (12 households), Çarshi (13) and Himandin (9). Slavic/Orthodox anthroponomy predominated in the following neighbourhoods: Sveti Petra (19 households), Sveti Nika (9 households), Marko Kërsti (26 households), Filip (9 households), Pop Krilovina (10 households), Kallogjer Gligorija (6 households), Kovaç Radosavi (16 households), Shagliçiq (8 households), Shuster (14 households) and Vuka Mrkshiq (8 households). Characteristic Albanian anthroponomy predominated in

8178-505: Was an important producer of Serbian pottery and other goods. Despite a Serbian population within the city, merchants from the Republic of Ragusa managed international precious metal trade within Novo Brdo. Prior to the Ottoman conquest of the city, Novo Brdo was a Catholic stronghold within the region. Novo Brdo was the last Serbian town to remain standing during the first Ottoman invasion. In 1439

8272-404: Was captured by stealthy attack. Alexander used commando-like tactics to scale the cliffs and capture the high ground, and the demoralized defenders surrendered. The importance of siege warfare in the ancient period should not be underestimated. One of the contributing causes of Hannibal 's inability to defeat Rome was his lack of siege engines , thus, while he was able to defeat Roman armies in

8366-612: Was designed by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in the 1830s based on the Czech system with a one-to-one grapheme-phoneme correlation between the Cyrillic and Latin orthographies, resulting in a parallel system. Serbian is a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian , a Slavic language ( Indo-European ), of the South Slavic subgroup. Other standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian are Bosnian , Croatian , and Montenegrin . "An examination of all

8460-434: Was developed for use by besieging armies. Ladders could be used to escalade over the defenses. Battering rams and siege hooks could also be used to force through gates or walls, while catapults , ballistae , trebuchets , mangonels , and onagers could be used to launch projectiles to break down a city's fortifications and kill its defenders. A siege tower , a substantial structure built to equal or greater height than

8554-568: Was heavily influenced by Saxon migrants, with mining operations first starting under the reign of the Serbian King Stefan Milutin . After 50 years, the Novo Brdo mine became the most prosperous in Medieval Serbia and housed a state mint that produced the most silver in the country. Saxon miners introduced efficient mining techniques and implemented a legal system that granted them greater autonomy. Albanians settled Novo Brdo during

8648-570: Was not known at the time. In 1346, the bodies of Mongol warriors of the Golden Horde who had died of plague were thrown over the walls of the Crimean city of Kaffa (now Feodosiya ) during the Siege of Caffa . It has been speculated that this operation may have been responsible for the advent of the Black Death in Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30%–60% of Europe's population. On

8742-507: Was once a formidable undertaking became easy. The Mongols were then free to lay siege without interference of the field army, as it had been destroyed. At the siege of Aleppo , Hulagu used twenty catapults against the Bab al-Iraq ( Gate of Iraq ) alone. In Jûzjânî, there are several episodes in which the Mongols constructed hundreds of siege machines in order to surpass the number which the defending city possessed. While Jûzjânî surely exaggerated,

8836-490: Was taken by the Ottomans along with some 300 other boys to be trained as Janissaries . All of the higher ranking Serbian officials were executed after the castle fell, with the younger men and boys being taken captive to serve in the Ottoman Army, and some 700 young Serbian women and girls being taken to be wives to Ottoman commanders. When the city fell to the Ottomans, it had an estimated population of about 40,000 people. In

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