Ristanovic: The Decani Charter as the most significant source for understanding the history of Kosovo in the Middle Ages

Dr. Petar Ristanovic, a research associate at the Institute for Serbian Culture in Leposavic, has stated that the founding charter of the Visoki Decani Monastery is the most significant source for understanding the history of Kosovo during the Middle Ages.

"The founding charter of the Visoki Decani Monastery is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of Kosovo and Metohija during the Middle Ages," Ristanovic told Kosovo Online.

He specifies that a key problem is the lack of sufficient direct written sources that provide evidence of Kosovo's demographics from that period.

"For this reason, the charter is an essential document from which we can learn who lived in that area and where, and even to some extent how they lived. When supplemented with other sources, primarily archaeological and material evidence, it allows us to piece together a somewhat hazy, yet sufficiently clear picture of Kosovo and Metohija in the 14th century," Ristanovic emphasized.

He points out that this is especially important in today’s political context.

"Perhaps the most important thing we can learn is about the demographics of the region and its religious affiliations—or, in modern terms, its 'national identity.' From this, we learn that in Kosovo and Metohija during that period—specifically in the area granted to the Visoki Decani Monastery for maintenance, which covered a significant part of present-day Metohija—the population was primarily Serbian. In 99% of cases, these were settlements, villages, and pastoral communities where Serbs lived. Only by analyzing names can we see that there was a very small, negligible percentage of Albanian inhabitants," the historian specified.

He explains that the problem in assessing the history of Kosovo in the Middle Ages lies in the scarcity of written sources, which are, as he states, limited.

"There are some from that region, though not many. There are significantly more, yet still insufficient, preserved in archives in Constantinople, Rome, and some other major centers. In general, there are not many written sources. Most date from later periods, particularly the Ottoman era, but even then, they are mostly scarce. Therefore, the Decani founding charter, along with some other written sources, must be supplemented with material sources found in the field, including archaeological and other findings. Together, they provide a more or less clear picture, which is that during this period—referring to the 14th and 15th centuries—the dominant population in this area was Christian, specifically Serbian," Ristanovic emphasized.