Jefimija - The Battle of Kosovo

The Battle of Kosovo

The tragic Battle of Maritsa in 1371 was but a prelude to the fateful confrontation between the invading Turkish forces, led by Sultan Murad I, and the Serbian warriors, led by Prince Lazar, which took place in 1389 on the field of Kosovo. The Battle of Kosovo can best be described as a draw, after the two confronting leaders were killed and their armies decimated or ascribed as a defeat for the Serbs who were unable to recover from it for years to come. For the Serbs, therefore, the Battle of Kosovo marked the beginning of almost five centuries of Ottoman and Habsburg occupation of Serbian lands. Jefemija's host and protector, Prince Lazar, was beheaded at the order of Murad's son Bayezid I. Once more, Jefimija's sorrow was augmented by national tragedy through the loss of her beloved and respected friend Lazar. She expressed her grief through art: she embroidered a shroud for Lazar's coffin. On that shroud, she embroidered a poetic text of original creation in which she addressed the saint-martyr directly rather than God, as was customary. This shroud was completed in 1402; and in 1405, shortly before her death, Jefimija embroidered an epitaphion. In the text embroidered on this epitaphion, the Mother laments her Son, indicating the possibility that Jefimija was actually thinking again of her own deceased son while working on this embroidery, her last:

In the beauties of this world you grew from your youth, oh new martyr, Prince Lazar, and the strong hand of the Lord showed you strong and glorious of all earhtly men. You ruled over the expanse of your fatherland, and in all goods you made glad the hearts of all Christians in your charge. And with your courageous heart and the desire of honour you went out against the snake and opponent of the holy churches, judging that it would be intolerable for your heart to see the Christians of your fatherland conquered by the Mohammedans. And should you not succeed in this, to leave the passing greatness of earthly lordship, to adorn yourself with your crimson blood and unite with the warriors of the Heavenly King. And thus you fulfilled both desires; you slew the snake and received the wreath of martyrdom from the Lord above. And now do not leave your beloved children in oblivion, whom you have orphaned by your passing.... Come to our aid, wherever you may be. Look kindly on my little offering and consider them great, for I have not brought praise in the measure of your worth, but in the power of my humble reason -- therefore I expect modest rewards. Not so ungenerous were you, oh my dear liege and holy martyr, when you were in this transient world -- and how much more in the eternal and holy one you have received from God -- for you nourished abundantly a stronger, myself, in a foreign land. And now I beg you doubly: that you should nourish me still and calm the fierce storm in my soul and body. Jefimija offers this from her heart to you, Holy One!

Jefimija's literary compositions are characterized by her use of the first person and by her expression of concrete and personal sorrow and anxiety rather than abstraction.

This unhappy mother and unfortunate wife, who was able to convert her sorrow into beautiful art, died about 1405.