Stavilac (Serbian Cyrillic: ставилац, literally meaning "placer") was a court title in Medieval Bosnia and Medieval Serbia in the Middle Ages.[1][2] It was similar to the Byzantine court offices of domestikos and cup-bearer (pinkernes, known in Serbian as peharnik).[2] It had a role in the ceremony at the royal table, though the holder could be entrusted with jobs that had nothing to do with court ritual.[3] According to studies of Rade Mihaljčić, the holder was in charge of acquiring, preparing and serving food at the royal table.[4] It was a confidant duty, given to the highest and most notable nobility, in which the ruler relied on in all occasions.[4]

History of usage edit

Its oldest mention is from the Serbian court of King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321), when Đuraš Vrančić had the title.[4] The title of stavilac ranked as the last in the hierarchy of the Serbian court, behind čelnik, kaznac, tepčija and vojvoda, the supreme title.[5] It was, nevertheless, quite prestigious as it enabled its holder to be very close to the ruler.[3] In the Dečani chrysobulls, King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–1331) mentioned that the court dignitaries present at the Dečani assembly were the kaznac, tepčija, vojvoda, sluga and stavilac.[6] There is not much information on the title-holders at the court of King Stefan Dečanski; there is however much information on those at the court of King and Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–1355).[7]

In Bosnia, this court title appears for the first time with a coronation of the first Bosnian king, Tvrtko I Kotromanić. As soon as he ascended to a Bosnian throne as a king in 1377, Tvrtko reorganized his court reflecting some of the Serbian court-office titles, ceremonials and traditions.[1]

List of Bosnian stavilac edit

  • Tvrtko Vlađević (1378), served King Tvrtko I
  • Ivan Radivojević (1392) served King Dabiša

List of Serbian stavilac edit

 
Lazar Hrebeljanović (ca. 1329–1389), who began as stavilac at the court of Emperor Stefan Dušan, later became the most powerful nobles during the Fall of the Serbian Empire.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Pejo Ćošković (2009). "Tvrtko I - Kotromanići". hbl.lzmk.hr (in Croatian). Hrvatski biografski leksikon. Retrieved 1 April 2021. Reorganizirao je dvor preuzevši neka zvanja, službe i ceremonijal srpskoga (dijaka je zamijenio logotet, kaznaca protovestijar, naslovu stavilac odgovarala bi bizantska dvorska titula domestika i domestika stolnika).
  2. ^ a b Andrija Veselinović; Radoš Ljušić (2008). Srpske dinastije. Službene glasink. p. 240. ISBN 978-86-7549-921-3.
  3. ^ a b Mihaljčić 2001, pp. 15–28.
  4. ^ a b c d Blagojević 2001, p. 34.
  5. ^ Blagojević 2001, p. 211.
  6. ^ Srđan Šarkić (1996). Srednjovekovno srpsko pravo. Matica srpska. p. 66. ISBN 9788636303696.
  7. ^ a b Blagojević 2001, p. 35.
  8. ^ Božidar Zarković; Dušan Radunović; Vesna Sekulić; Vukosava Stevović (2002). Hotačka metohija: prvi hilandaroski posed u Srbiji. Institut za srpsku kulturu. p. 144. ISBN 9788682797265.

Sources edit