Serbian Community Centre Western Australia VIDOVDAN Play 2005
In the 15th century the Turkish Empire began their invasion of Europe by invading the neighbouring Christian territories. Turkish invasion means a fatal turning point in Serbian history in the second half of the 15th century.
As known from history, the advance of the Turks towards Europe was a rather slow process. Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic and Serbian nobility in the famous battle of Kosovo on St. Vid’s Day (Vidovdan), 28 June 1389, did everything humanly possible to stop the Turkish invasion towards South-Eastern Europe.
It was not only a clash of two armies led by their rulers Serbian prince Lazar and Turkish sultan Murat (who both perished in the battle of Kosovo), but also a clash of two civilisations, one Christian and European and other Islamic and Asiatic.
Later on, in Serbian national conscience the battle of Kosovo has acquired mythical dimension of a crucial historical event, greatly affecting the consequence destiny of the whole Serbian nation. The Serbian epic poetry is very rich and the cycle of poems devoted to Kosovo are a pearl of that treasure and moral and psychological support to Serbian people during the centuries of horrendous slavery under the Turks ‘till the 19th century.
“Vidovdan” (“St Vid’s Day”) is based on the great Kosovo cycle of epic poetry. On the eve of the decisive battle, the poem describes The Prince’s Supper, which Lazar held with his commanders. In the epic cycle, the Supper is followed by the Prince’s agony. In the poem “The Fall of the Serbian Empire”, Lazar is confronted with a choice between a heavenly and an earthly kingdom.
If he wants an earthly kingdom, he will be victorious, but if he chooses a heavenly kingdom, then let him build a church, let his army receive communion, and let them be ready for suffering, “and you, Prince, will die with them”. Lazar accepts God’s will: “not what I will, but what thou wilt”, and prepares himself and his people for their Golgotha. Lazar’s choice led to his martyrdom, and the other Kosovo warriors followed his example.
The Kosovo cycle ends with two poems recording events after the battle; “The Maid of Kosovo” and “Death of the Mother of Jugovici”. Like the women in the Gospel, who, on “the first day of the week” at early dawn went to see the sepulchre where Jesus had been buried, so the maid of Kosovo arose early on Sunday to walk through the battlefield.
The poem expresses the tragedy of defeat, the destruction of hopes and dreams of the young people of Serbia. In “Death of the Mother of Jugovici”, the most moving poem of the Kosovo cycle, the magnitude of the tragedy is revealed. News of the death of all her family stunned her into immobility. All about her, widows and children were wailing and sobbing, the animals were neighing, squealing, howling. Fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, as well as the head of the nation had all perished. But the mother did not cry. She was not beyond pain, but enveloped by it. It was too overwhelming to react to it. When in the morning two black ravens brought her the hand of her son Damian, a sign to her that the Kosovo heroes do not have even a grave, that their graves would not be known, the mother’s heart burst for her nine sons and her old Jug Bogdan.
The Kosovo heroes were not only admirable for proficiency and valour; they are also martyrs, worthy of imitation.They are portrayed as people of high moral and spiritual qualities, who experienced Kosovo as their personal Golgotha. The bard presents the battle of 1389 as a voluntary sacrifice, as the victory of faith over death.
Thus the honour and holiness of that day, as well as its sorrow, was handed on to future generations. This poetry enshrines the Serbian historical memory, interprets what happened on Kosovo in the spirit of the Gospel account of the death are resurrection of Christ, and reveals an ultimate truth of human existence.
