Georgije Branković Explained

Type:Metropolitan bishop
Георгије Бранковић
Metropolitan of Karlovci
Church:Serbian Orthodox Church
Metropolis:Metropolitanate of Karlovci
Enthroned:1890
Ended:1907
Predecessor:German Anđelić
Successor:Lukijan Bogdanović
Birth Name:Ђорђе Бранковић
Birth Date:13 March 1830
Birth Place:Kulpin, Austrian Empire
(now Serbia)
Death Place:Sremski Karlovci, Austria-Hungary
(now Serbia)
Nationality:Serb
Religion:Eastern Orthodox
Residence:Sremski Karlovci

Georgije Branković (Serbian: Георгије Бранковић; 1830–1907) was the Patriarch of Karlovci, the spiritual leader of Habsburg Serbs, from 1890 until his death in 1907. He instigated a number of significant religious, educational, and economic reforms within territories covered by the Patriarchate, and was a renowned patron of the arts.[1]

Biography

A painting called Migration of the Serbs was commissioned by Patriarch Georgije for the 1896 Budapest Millennium Exhibition, marking a thousand years of the Hungarian Empire and reaffirming that country's territorial rights. Prompted by patriotism and contemporary politics, Patriarch Georgije convinced painter Paja Jovanović to present the case for the legitimacy of the Serbian historical presence and territorial claims and, as a consequence, contemporary acceptance of the "legal and privileged position of the Serbs in the Austrian monarchy". The Serbian understanding was that their migration was in response to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor's request for their assistance in protecting his borders against the Turks. The contemporary message was that this was the genesis of the Serbian presence in the border areas now under Austria-Hungary.

Sources

. Sima Ćirković. 2004. The Serbs. Malden. Blackwell Publishing. 9781405142915.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bojan Aleksov. Lucian N. Leustean. 2014. Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe. The Serbian Orthodox Church. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 978-0-8232-5606-8. 75.