Adam Vukovic

Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca. Master of the upper Podrinje. Serbian knight and defender of the Principality of Herzegovina. A member of the noble Serbian family Kosaca. Father of the Serbian bishop Marko Dabro-Bosanski. Holder of one of the four houses of Kosaca from 1473 (Vukovic). The oldest in the male line of the Kosaca family and a pretender to the throne.

Year of birth: 1424

Place of birth: Foca

Father’s name: Serbian prince Ivan Vukovic Kosaca

Mother’s name: Unknown

Wife: Unknown

Descendants: Serbian Bishop Marko Dabro-Bosanski, Serbian Prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca

Religious affiliation: Orthodox Christian

Year of death: 1493

Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca (my direct ancestor) was born in 1424 in the town of Foca, the cultural and spiritual center of the Kosaca family. Foca was important for the Vukovic family, a branch of the Kosaca family. At that time, Foca became the cultural and spiritual center of the Vukovic Kosaca family. The first seminary of Orthodox spirituality opens here. Books are being written and Orthodoxy and the Christian religion as well as culture are being studied. Serbian Prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca was born into a family that already had a long experience as a noble family. The princely family Vukovic controlled the trade routes in the valley of the river Drina under the crown of the duke of St. Sava Stefan Vukcic Kosaca. The territory they ruled stretched from the border fortified towns of Samobor and Durdevac to Todevac and Vratar. Serbian Prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca, along with his father, Serbian Prince Ivan Vukovic, taught Kosaca the skills of rule and aristocratic behavior.

The religious affiliation of the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca was unequivocally the Orthodox Christian faith. In support of this are the facts that during his life, the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca, helped his father in the construction of temples, as well as many founding works. The seminary started working in Foca at that time and was under the direct patronage of the Vukovic Kosaca family. The church of St. Nicholas, which was then built in Foca, the construction and financing itself was made possible by the Vukovic Kosaca family. The baptismal feast of St. Nicholas was then accepted in my family Vukovic Kosaca, which is still celebrated in my family.

Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca had two sons, Serbian prince Marko Vukovic Kosaca, born in 1460, and Serbian prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca, born in 1462.

Serbian prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca was named after the ancestor of Serbian prince Vuk Hranic Kosaca

The older son enrolled in the seminary and dedicated his life to God and the study of the Christian Orthodox religion. He will become the first Serbian bishop from those areas, that is. from the Beaver area. At that time, in the Middle Ages, only nobles had a surname and could study for a bishop or some high-ranking person in the church. Since the Serbian prince Marko Vukovic Kosaca was of the princely family Vukovic Kosaca, he was allowed to become the bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church and he was the first bishop to speak the Serbian language and serve in Constantinople.

Serbian Prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca spent his life with his father, fighting bravely with him to preserve the tradition and legality of the Kosaca family. Serbian Prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca joined his father in the war of the Venetian Republic and the Duke of St. Sava Stefan Vukcic Kosaca in the defense of Kotor in 1442 as their ally. He followed in his father’s footsteps in his attempts to replace the duke and take over the throne of the Kosaca family.

In 1463, he personally took part in two great battles that took place in that area. The first in the valley of the river Josanica on the right bank of the river Drina and the second in the same year in the village of Presjeka. There they bravely opposed the Turkish invaders. Educated and raised to be a Serbian knight, he saw no other option but to put himself in the defense of his people and the Principality of Herzegovina.

In 1464, it was noted in Dubrovnik’s historical documents that the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca, the Bosnian duke Vladislav Hercegovic Kosaca, and the duke of St. Sava Vlatko Hercegovic Kosaca met. Knowing that the Principality of Herzegovina was in great danger, the three of them tried to save the Principality of Herzegovina. The agreement was to divide the principality into three parts, so that everyone rules the territory where they belong. The arbitrariness and old age of the Duke of St. Sava Stefan Vukcic Kosaca led the Principality of Herzegovina further and further into ruin. Aware of the dangers and strong enough and willing to resist the invaders, they decided to defend the Principality of Herzegovina. During that period, the Duke of St. Sava, Vlatko Hercegovic Kosaca, was severely wounded and transferred to Dubrovnik for treatment. The division plan was agreed so that the Bosnian duke Vladislav Hercegovic Kosaca would take over the rule in Hum around the towns of Vratar and Tođevac, the duke of St. Sava Vlatko Hercegovic Kosaca would get Novi with its surroundings, the towns of Onogost, Susjed and Budos with the Sutorina valley and the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca would get the Drina valley, the town of Foca to the fortified town of Samobor and Durdevac. However, a great power was advancing and those plans to divide it into three parts failed. As early as the following year, 1465, the great conquest by the Turkish conquerors began, and they did in a short time they conquered the territories in Podrinje and Hum.

In 1465, the Turkish conquerors attacked the open commercial and cultural town of Foca. His uncle, Serbian prince Sladoje Vukovic Kosaca, was also captured in those battles. The army of the Serbian prince Ivan Vukovic Kosaca was decimated and was forced to cede large territories. She is forced to undertake ambush attacks, inflicting such losses on the invaders.

In 1466, we note that the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca accompanied his father in court disputes in which he also participated as a young prince and the future bearer of those legal obligations. However, hard times came and the principality disappeared irretrievably. The duke resisted the longest from Saint Sava, Vlatko Hercegovic Kosaca, who defended Sutorina for almost 20 years after the fall of Foca and Podrinje, and mostly with the help of other armies.

In 1473, Serbian prince Ivan Vukovic Kosaca died in Foca. It is assumed that he was secretly buried near the old church of St. Nicholas in Foca. Near the foundations of the restored new church of St. Nicholas in Foca. He was survived by his son, Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca, who will continue the stable male line of the Kosača (Vuković) family and will turn out to be the only vital branch of the Kosaca family until today.

In 1483, the fall of Novi and the Sutorina valley came to an end. Herceg was attacked by his brother Herceg from St. Sava, Stjepan Hercegovic Kosaca, as a Turkish vassal, and ended the existence of the Principality of Herzegovina. After that comes a dark and terrible period for the Serbian people in that area. The cultural, spiritual and economic catastrophe hit the Serbian people there.

In 1493, the Serbian prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca died. He is survived by his sons Serbian prince Marko Vuković Kosaca (Vladika Serbian from Dabra Marko) and Serbian prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca. Serbian Prince Adam Vukovic Kosaca was buried in the family cemetery in the village of Vladikovi (Foca – Republika Srpska). A stone cross was erected on his grave, on which the coat of arms of Vukovic was carved, representing him as a prince at the negotiations in Dubrovnik in 1464, as well as in the Republic of Venice. The coat of arms consists of a triangular shield with an inscribed cross that divides the shield into four fields. Towers were drawn on the shield. The helmet is of the tournament type and above it is shown the figure of a black horse strung up on its hind legs. The figure of a horse dominates the coat of arms with its head clearly raised. The mantle develops on both sides of the coat of arms and falls at right angles to the center of the coat of arms. The cross is carved from red Herzegovinian stone and there is a carved coat of arms in the central part. Clear evidence of the connection of Vukovic from the village of Vladikovi with the Kosaca family.

The people who lived in that area were mostly of Christian Orthodox orientation and had a problem because until then the bishops were mostly Greeks and all prayers were in Greek. The domicile people could not understand the prayers in the Greek language and that is why they asked to get their bishop who would hold the prayers in the Serbian language and write in the Cyrillic alphabet. So, after schooling, the Serbian prince Marko Vukovic Kosaca became the first Serbian bishop to offer prayers in the Serbian language. He then changed his name and took the spiritual name of Serbian Bishop Marko Dabrobosanski. After schooling and long work at the seminary in Foca as a priest and monk, he became a Serbian bishop and was sent to Constantinople to serve. The period of his stay in Constantinople was from 1510 until his death in 1532. His work will remain noted as very useful for the Serbian Orthodox Church. With the fall of the Serbian lands under the Turkish invaders, a difficult period began for the Serbian people and at the same time for the Serbian Orthodox Church.

There is an attempt to expand the Ohrid archbishopric to the Patriarchate of Pavle. The wish of the Turkish conquerors was to put everything under the control of the Smederevo patriarch Pavle and to keep the entire Serbian people under control. This was opposed by six Serbian bishops, led by Archbishop Prohor of Ohrid. Among those six bishops was the Serbian bishop Marko from Dabar (Serbian prince Marko Vukovic Kosaca). They rejected that proposal and the attempt of the Metropolitan of Smederevo, Pavle, to annex the Patriarchate of Pavle failed. They were made clear that the Serbian Orthodox Church could not be subjugated and lost its independence. The session in Ohrid took place in 1532. This is one of the many examples where Kosace, as a great Serbian ruling family, proved worthy of their status and gave the Serbian people a Serbian bishop who preserved the independence of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The 16th century was marked in the Foca region as a terrible rule of Turkish conquerors and aggressors. Due to the small percentage of people who renounced Orthodoxy and converted to another religion, the then sultan ordered that anyone who did not want to reject the Orthodox faith must be expelled from the city and that they could change their possessions for those of poorer quality in the surrounding hills. Thus, the Vukovic Kosaca family found itself in a difficult situation once again. Not wanting to renounce his faith, Serbian Bishop Marko from Dabar is negotiating on their behalf. At that time, Serbian Bishop Marko served in Constantinople, and his younger brother, Serbian Prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca, lived in Foca. Due to these circumstances and the pressure to change their religion, Serbian Bishop Marko decided to replace the property owned by the Vukovic Kosaca family in the town of Foca (Ivanova Mahala), with lower quality property for those on the hill above the Drina River and the Josanica River. The then Atik Pasha, who was from the Foca region, exchanged the estates in the village of Vladikovi for those in Donje Polje (Ivanova Mahala) in Foca. Atik Pasha will build a religious building of another faith on that property in Foca, and the Vukovic Kosaca moved to the village of Vladikove, which was named after the Serbian bishop Marko from Dabar.

The village of Vladikovi is located in the municipality of Foca (Republika Srpska). It is 5 kilometers away from the town of Foca.

Serbian Bishop Marko from Dabar died in 1532, and his service to God ended there, as did the service of Serbian Bishop in Constantinople. His younger brother, Serbian Prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca, moved with his family to the village of Vladikovi (Foca). There he formed the “Old House” from which my father came. Serbian prince Vuk Vukovic Kosaca died in 1535 and was buried in the family cemetery of the Vukovic Kosaca family. The cemetery in question is Josanica, where my father is also buried. The village of Vladikovi (Foca) will become and remain home to the Vukovic Kosaca family until today. Three great and brutal aggressors will survive: the Turkish conquerors, the Austro-Hungarian conquerors as well as the communist conquerors, and will suffer all the arrival of freedom and the emergence of the Republika Srpska.

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