The Homily on Love by Despot Stefan

The Homily on Love of Despot Stefan Lazarević

One of the most fascinating works of art in the Serbian literature of the Middle Ages is undoubtedly the Homily on Love (Slovo ljubve) - A Word on Love - written by Despot Stefan Lazarević. This poetic epistle, written at the beginning of the 15th century, according to some suppositions in 1409, is one of the most beautiful testimonies of love in Serbian poetry. It is filled with deep emotion, subtle lyricism and freshness of expression, which make it a masterpiece of medieval Serbian literature. The Homily on Love is the first artistic poetic text in Serbian literature. According to the traditional interpretation, in it the author addresses a person with whom he was on bad terms, seeking to mend those relations.

There is no agreement among researchers as to whom this work was intended for. There are various interpretations - the largest number of researchers hold that the Holy Despot wrote this work to his brother Vuk, during a period of discord, in 1408 or 1409; some researchers, however, believe that he dedicated this writing to his sister Olivera, who had been taken into the sultan's harem; others again think that the Despot wrote it to his betrothed Jelena, daughter of the archon Francesco II Gattilusio, who was waiting for him on an island; there are opinions that this text was addressed to the Serbian magnates, or to the nobles gathered around Đurađ Branković, or to Constantine the Philosopher, etc. Regardless of to whom the Homily on Love was originally written, the message of love, beauty and understanding that this writing carries is universal, and this timeless composition may be addressed to anyone - for it calls to Christian love.

An interesting parallel between the Homily on Love and the Life of Despot Stefan was noticed by Đorđe Sp. Radojičić (1905–1970). He then put forward the supposition that Constantine the Philosopher, the author of the Life of Despot Stefan, knew the Homily on Love, since he paraphrased the eighth stanza of this composition of the Despot in the 53rd chapter of the Life, speaking of the rebellion of Vuk Lazarević and the Despot's efforts toward reconciliation. From this Radojičić concluded that the Despot wrote the Homily on Love to his brother Vuk Lazarević and the nobles who were with him, calling them to mutual love and reconciliation.

It is a great loss for Serbian culture that the original manuscript of the Homily on Love from the first half of the 15th century, kept in the National Library, was destroyed during the bombing