THE TOPOS OF GOD’S GRACE IN SERBIAN CHARTERS OF 14TH CENTURY

Abstract

In the charter’s preambles of Serbian rulers, since Simeon Nemanja’s Charter of Hilandar, the topos of God’s grace appears in the function of royal propaganda, as a form of highlighting the legitimacy of the government and absolute independence of a leader. However, in the charters of 14th century, God’s grace does not explain only source of power, but using of this topos serves for “marking” all significant events of the life of the ruler who published given charter, and clearly points out the idea that it should be repaid to God with some gift for the grace poured upon the man. This paper, by selected examples, shows the development of the topos of God’s grace and discusses prospective impacts that could lead to a “shift” of this topos from the strictly ideological plan to the structural plan of a text.