Melentije Pavlović

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Serbian. (June 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Serbian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 375 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Serbian Wikipedia article at [[:sr:Митрополит београдски Мелентије]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|sr|Митрополит београдски Мелентије}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Melentije
Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia
Metropolitan Melentije, by Georgije Bakalović (1839)
Native name	Мелентије
Church	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Diocese	Metropolitanate of Belgrade
In office	1831–1833
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Petar Jovanović
Personal details
Born	1776 Gornja Vrbava, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Serbia)
Died	11 June 1833(1833-06-11) (aged 56–57) Vraćevšnica, Principality of Serbia (modern-day Serbia)
Nationality	Serbian
Denomination	Eastern Orthodoxy

Melentije Pavlović (Gornja Vrbava, 1776 – Vraćevšnica monastery, 11 June 1833) was the first Serb Metropolitan of Belgrade, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Principality of Serbia from 1831 until his death in 1833, as well as a participant in the Second Serbian Uprising.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Monument Takovo Uprising by Petar Ubavkić, created for the Exposition Universelle (1900). Installed in Belgrade near 20 Kneza Miloša Street in 2004, it depicts Prince Miloš (with a sabre in his right arm) and Metropolitan Melentije.

He was born in Gornja Vrbava, a village near present-day Gornji Milanovac. He joined the monastery before 1810,^[1] in March of that year^[2] he became Hegumen of the Vraćevšnica monastery.^[3] He did not take part in the First Serbian Uprising, but he joined the Second Serbian Uprising, participated in the Takovo Meeting and distinguished himself in the battles of Ljubić and .^[2] Thanks to his personal courage, Melentije gained the respect of Prince Miloš Obrenović, who in 1818 appointed him a personal confessor of the Obrenović dynasty. With time, Melentije became his adviser, initially in religious matters and later also in general political matters. In 1823, the Prince entrusted him with the organization of a state school system.^[4]

Metropolitan[]

When the Prince reached an agreement with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on the creation of the autonomous Metropolitanate of Belgrade, he pointed out Melentije as the most appropriate candidate. In recommending Melentije to accept chirotony as bishop, the Prince called him the most honest, the most talented and the most respected among the Serb clergy.^[3] Melentije was ordained bishop by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Constantius I on 18 August 1831. A year later, the autonomy of the Metropolitanate of Belgrade was confirmed.^[5] At that moment he was seriously ill.^[4]

Melentije, while holding office, determined the administrative division of the Metropolitanate to eparchies and organized a metropolitan office.^[4] He forbade church singing in Greek language in Belgrade churches, and he tried to create a printing house in Belgrade; he himself resided in Kragujevac.^[6] According to , a dispute arose between him and the Prince in the last period of Melentije's administration.^[7]

He died in 1833.^[6]

References[]

Sources[]

• R. Popović, Serbian Orthodox Church in History, Academy of Serbian Orthodox Church for Fine Arts and Conservation, Belgrade 2013.
• Đ. Slijepčević,Istorija Srpske Pravoslavne Crkve, t. II, JRJ, Beograd 2002.