Ivanovic Milos,
The Charters of Grand Čelnik Radič - A Diplomatic Analysis]
The subject of this paper are four preserved charters of čelnik Radič. The oldest among them is the charter of grand čelnik Radič, who was a prominent noble of Despot Stefan Lazarević (1389–1427) and Despot Đurađ Branković (1427–1456). It is known that he was active in political life from 1413 to 1435. A person with the title of grand čelnik was the steward of the ruler’s court. Čelnik Radič ended his life as a monk on Mount Athos after 1441. The documents were issued between 1430/1431 and 1433 for the monasteries of Kastamonitou, Vraćevšnica and Vatopedi, during the reign of Despot Đurađ Branković. It is clear that the Serbian nobles in the 15 th century had a fully-fledged right to issue charters. Also, the nobles sometimes did not even ask for the ruler’s confirmation of their acts. Although a small number of documents have been preserved, there are many differences in the compilation of diplomatic formulas. Therefore, it is unlikely that there were formularies of noblemen’s charters. The formula intitulatio in these documents, except in one case, contains a reference to the supreme ruler. Possible secular violators of the act were marked only in the čelnik ’s inscription (charter) for the monastery of Vraćevšnica. Such an allegation was present in sanctio of two noblemen’s charters from the time of the Nemanjić dynasty. The charter of čelnik Radič for the Kastamonitou monastery from 1433 contains an arenga that is a theoretical motivation for issuing the document. At the same time, these are the most extensive acts, since they contain regulations on the organization of life in the monastery. None of these documents had a signature. The seal is preserved only on the charter of čelnik Radič for the Kastamonitou monastery from 1433. The compilers of Radič’s charters remain unknown, but it is certain that a high clergy member influenced their drafting.
