From Saint Angelina to a lost knowledge Part 4: The Serbian connection

 

Why is there a statue of St Angelina in Coral? Why was it, so the local residents tell us, removed from the church of Prats-de-Mollo and placed in Coral? Saint Angelina is not a Catholic, but an Orthodox Saint – and a very popular one at that. But what was an Orthodox Saint doing in Prats-de-Mollo? Was her orthodox origin the reason why she was removed from Prats-de-Mollo?
Still, why would anyone at any point in time request the creation of a statue of St Angelina for the church of Prats-de-Mollo? And seeing this was an Orthodox Saint, would the order not have been a custom order… like some of the orders Saunière placed for his church with Giscard in Toulouse? Unfortunately, the statue of St Angelina in Coral (or others) shows no signature of its maker, so that avenue remains closed for the moment.

An Angelic expedition

As if by coincidence, the Société Perillos was contacted by Aleksandar Jovanovic just before a series of articles on St Angelina appeared online. Over the following months, we co-operated on numerous levels, one of which was St Angelina. During the summer, he made a reconnaissance mission to Krusedol, a monastery which she had founded and where he mortal remains rest, as well as other sanctuaries nearby. In mid November, it allowed the Société Perillos to go to Serbia, for a short, but intense session, which included visiting Krusedol ourselves.

Krusedol

The Monastery of Krusedol, near the town of Irig, was founded by Duradj Brankovic (the monk Maxim) and his mother Angelina, wife of the blind Stefan Brankovic. The building of the monastery is believed to have started in 1509. It was partially built in 1513, with financial help of the Russian Duke Vasilij Jovanovich and the Vlach Duke Jovan Njagoja Basaraba. When Maxim Brankovic died on January 18, 1516, the monastery wasn’t finished yet.
Krusedol was to become the family crypt of the Brankovic family, and it already contained the remains of his father, the blind Stefan and the Despot Jovan Brankovic, his brother. Following the death of Maxim, Angelina entered in the Monastery and her body too was later buried in the mausoleum.

The monastery was only completed in 1546, with the columns that carry the central cupola painted in 1543. Most of the frescos are from the mid 18th century, although some of the 16th century remain. In 1716, the Turks attacked and tore many relics and during the Second World War, all monasteries in the area were attacked by the Croatian Ustasi regime (Catholic in nature) with German forces. Many monasteries have never been rebuilt, though Krusedol remained largely intact, as it was used as a prison. The Croats packed up most of the library, archives and treasure, said to have been twenty boxes full of material, removing it to Zagreb, where it remains to this day – though it is said that a further twenty boxes were hidden. The fame of the monastery is best illustrated by noting its appearance on the 5 Dinar coin.

Fruska Gora

Krusedol is a one hour drive north of the Serbian capital Belgrade. It sits within “Fruska Gora”, known locally for its vineyards and wines, but specifically its high concentration of monasteries.
Fruska Gora is sometimes translated as “Holy Hills”, though a more accurate translation is “Frank Hills” – though some prefer “French hills”. “Frank Hills” is indeed a reference to the Franks and some have highlighted the notion that the Merovingians were Franks too.

The land between Belgrade and Novi Sad is flat and though the Fruska Gora is “hills”, these are in truth more gentle slopes; the highest point in the region is just over 500 metres high. The range is 80 kilometres long and the monasteries are situated mostly on the southern side of the range.
Between the 16th and 17th centuries, 35 monasteries were built, but only 17 remain. Why this area received such a dense concentration of monasteries is not known, though what is known, is that at the time, the area was not known as “Fruska Gora”, but Montsalvache – the Mount of Salvation! Though officially not older than the 16th century, it is said that most of the monasteries were built long before they become Orthodox. They identify the Cistercians of St. Bernard of Clairvaux as the true origin of the sacredness of the region.

Today, they remain a popular place of pilgrimage, specifically Krusedol, which is seen as a unifier of Serbian identity and is filled with relics and sacred art. Because of its symbol if Serbian identity, many have desired to be buried here, including, in 1901, the Serbian King Milan Obrenovic.

A Serbian Mount Athos

Fruska Gora is considered to be the Serbian equivalent of Mount Athos, though some sources consider the Serbian mountain range to be more sacred that Mount Athos.
An ancient story claims the Blessed Virgin Mary was sailing accompanied by St John the Evangelist on her way from Joppa to Cyprus to visit Lazarus. When the ship was blown off course to then pagan Athos, it was forced to drop anchor near the port of Klement, close to the present monastery of Iviron. The Virgin walked ashore and, overwhelmed by the wonderful and wild natural beauty of the mountain, she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden. A voice was heard: "let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved". Since that moment, the mountain was consecrated as the garden of the Mother of God and has been out of bounds to all other women.

The remains of Saint Angelina in Krusedol

Mount Athos as a monastic community was formally founded in 963 AD, when the monk Athanasios established the monastery of Great Lavra, still the largest and most prominent of the twenty monasteries. It enjoyed the protection of the emperors of the Byzantine Empire during the following centuries and its wealth and possessions grew considerably. The Fourth Crusade in the 13th century brought new Roman Catholic overlords which forced the monks to seek protection from Pope Innocent III, until the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.

Kovilj Monastery

Krusedol may be the most famous, but it is not the oldest monastery in the region; that honour goes to Kovilj. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit Kovilj, but from his July visits, Aleksandar Jovanovic was able to provide us with a report.
The site is remarkable for behind the altar there is a copy of the Last Supper as painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. For people unfamiliar with the Orthodox cult, we should point out that such imagery has nothing to do with this cult and hence why someone decided to introduce the Last Supper in this Orthodox environment is a major enigma… as big as the enigma as to why someone decided to introduce a statue of St Angelina in Prats-de-Mollo!

According to the legend, the monastery of Kovilj was founded by the first Serbian archbishop, Saint Sava, in the 13th century, originally the Prince Rastko Nemanjic, son of the Serbian ruler and founder of the Serbian medieval state Stefan Nemanja and brother of Stefan Prvovencani, the Serbian king. He is the most important Saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church.
In his youth (around 1192 AD) he ran away from home to join the orthodox monastic colony on Mount Athos and was given the name Sava. He first travelled to a Russian monastery and then moved to the Greek Monastery of Vatopedi. At the end of 1197, his father, King Stefan Nemanja, joined him. In 1198, they together moved to and restored the abandoned monastery of Hilandar, which was at that time the centre of Serbian Christian monastic life. He travelled by Templar ships from Bari, Italy, to Israel and Egypt as well as Syria. In Egypt, there are still monasteries that were built by him. We should note that the small building where it is reported that Jesus had his Last Supper, is Serbian property, St. Sava buying this building with the blessing of the Jerusalem Patriarch. This may explain why at Kovilj, a painter (believed to be an unnamed student of Da Vinci) paints on the central altar the copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper.

One story attached to Kovilj is that it was visited by “Grand Master Antoan”, of the Order of the Temple in the 16th century. Leaving aside speculation about which Order of the Temple, the story continues with a description of how Antoan meditated on the planet Sirius and communicated via this star with the other knights in his order. This “psychic communication” apparently involved the use of stones with sigils that were placed around him for this occasion. The story continues, stating that he used a Rite of the Opening of the Cross of St John, which they hold in the monastery. On 27 September there is the Liturgy for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross, though there is apparently an interdiction on anyone “using” this cross. If all of this sounds quite unbelievable, the story continues that Antoan gave instructions to someone to relocate the Ark of the Covenant, which at the time was apparently in the well of the French Cathedral of Laon.

Finally, we note that on the top of the Cross is a depiction of Jesus, but he is coiled by an Orphic Serpent – which is neither a Catholic nor an Orthodox symbol. The central big cross has, on the four ends, an octagonal star, with a rosette in its centre. Are these references to the Templar’s preoccupation with the number eight, expressed in their church design?

Return to Krusedol

To arrive at Krusedol, you take the road on the right just before reaching Irig, which soon becomes a single track road, with potholes to both sides that are required to be navigated to overtake or let other cars cross. Still, compared to the road that leads to Coral, this can be seen as a “highway”.
After clearing the top of a hill, a valley opens in front of you, where the monastery is tucked to one side. Immediately, its peaceful nature, far removed from any worldly concerns, even today, is conveyed upon you.

The layout of Krusedol is very similar to Coral too: the monastery has, over time, encircled the central church, which nevertheless remains completely detached from the surrounding buildings. But access to the church is now no longer able without accessing the monastery.
The church, dedicated to St Angelina, sits next to a five-stage bell-tower; a single door provides access to the narthex, the entrance hall, where the floor shows the signs of several tombs, including that of Royal family of Obrenovic. Moving forward into the nave (fortunately, the practice of only allowing Orthodox Christians access to the nave is now no longer – or hardly – in use), we observe a typical Orthodox scene: painted frescos, and the central dome, showing the traditional Christ the Almighty (Pantokratoros).

Finally, we observe the “templon”, the screen between the nave and the sanctuary, as usual covered with icons.
We find the standard three doors, one in the middle, and one on either side. The central one is traditionally called the Beautiful Gate and is only used by the clergy. The doors on either side are called the Deacons' Doors or Angel Doors, as they often have depicted on them the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. These doors are used by deacons and servers to enter the sanctuary. In Krusedol, we find the usual collection of saints, including St John the Baptist, as well as the icon of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. In Krusedol, this is Saint Angelina.
Behind the screen lies the “Holy of Holies”, but we do not need to go that far. In front of a pillar, to the right of the screen, sits a small coffin, containing the bones of St Angelina.

Krusedol, stage 2

After leaving the church, we continue towards the village of Krusedol itself. Krusedol is a small village and its church has largely been forgotten. The site seems to be extremely ancient, situated on a small island, created by two arms of a river. This small river island, was it the site of an ancient pagan monument, which was Christianised?
The church is closed, but was the first church built by St Angelina before the construction of the nearby monastery. From the outside, this church has a more Catholic, i.e. less Orthodox, appearance and is surrounded by several old, quite intriguing tombs.

Saunière in Serbia?

Upon our return, we were informed by reliable sources that “allegedly” Saunière visited Serbia. Making initial enquiries, we learned that Saunière “allegedly” went to Serbia, “to visit certain pilgrimage sites”. We have been unable to confirm this story, but if it were true, we should note that Krusedol (and Fruska Gora as a whole) is the primary pilgrimage site in Serbia. Hence, if Saunière made this journey, this was his most likely destination. But we will leave it to others to either confirm or deny this story; if true, it would make the Serbian connection one of the biggest revelation in the enigma of Saunière; if false (or unconfirmed), then the “Serbian connection” remains intact.

Return to Coral

Who was Saint Angelina? Saint Angelina had Serbian-Albanian blood descended from the Nemanjic and Balsic family. The House of Nemanjic ruled the Serb lands between ca. 1166 up to 1371. The House of Balšic was a Serbian medieval dynasty that ruled Zeta. It lasted from 1356 until 1435. Although the Balšic family was Serbian, it is certain that it was of non-Slavic origin. Some historians argue that the family is from Provence, France. Their last name might have been originally de Baux, coming to Zeta at the end of the 13th century (in 1272 - 1280). De Baux first went to Naples and Sicily (Italy) and were know as Balz(i)o or Balcio, before going to Zeta (currently Montenegro). Queen Jelena of Anjou, widow of King Uroš I of Serbia, was of French noble lineage, so she decided to help the Balšic family and give them lands and titles in a part of Doclea.

The village church of Krusedol

For our purposes, it is intriguing to note that the family was also related to the Aragon kings, and it is not the first time such a connection crops up. When we consult the life of the Sovereign Countess Maria Fadrique de Aragón of Salona, Burggravine of Siderokastron (1370-1404, Greece), we note that she is the daughter of Count Luis Fadrique de Aragón of Malta, Gozzo and Salona (d. 1381/82) and Despotina Helene Asenina Cantakuzene (d. 1394). But it is her line of future husbands that is intriguing: she was engaged to Geoffroy and Bernaduc de Rocaberti, a family who intermarried with the Perillos and a family that was lord of Serralongue, near Prats-de-Mollo and Notre-Dame de Coral. She was then engaged to Stefan Dukas Nemanjic of Serbia, then to Matheu de Moncada, before (finally) marrying Sultan Bayazid I of the Ottoman Turks sometime before 1394.
As to when the Rocaberti entered the Perillos family: this was by the infamous Ramon de Perillos, advisor to John I of Aragon, the man who went to St Patrick’s Purgatory and upon his return stated that his territories contained an “entrance to another world”. We note that it is within the lifetime of John I of Aragon that he engineered the marriage of Ramon de Perillos with the Rocaberti. It was within his lifetime that someone tried to engineer another relationship between this Countess and the Rocaberti, only to change his or her mind (a few times), which includes trying to forge a link with the Serbian kings. We can only ask whether or not there is a Serbian connection…

Filip Coppens
With thanks to Aleksandar Jovanovic, Aleksandar Bercek and Milan Vidojevic
With thanks to Dusan Trajkovic for the Kovilj photographs