Jefimija - The Battle of Maritsa

The Battle of Maritsa

The year 1371 brought another tragedy to Jelena's life. Her husband Jovan Uglješa, together with his brothers Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Gojko Mrnjavčević, gathered their armies in order to try to stop the Ottoman threat rising in the Balkans. They met the Turks at Maritsa river; and in the ensuing Battle of Maritsa, two of the Mrnjavčević brothers, as well as the major part of their armies, were killed. Unfortunately, a contemporary historical account of the battle is missing. According to legend Vukašin was surprised by the greatly outnumbered Turks and decided to camp for the night before battle. The Osmanlis waited and attacked the Serbian camps in a night raid and managed to achieve victory against all odds. The Turkish invasion of Raška and other Serbian feudal provinces was postponed, but at a high cost.

Jelena's personal tragedy was augmented by the national tragedy. At twenty-two, she was already a widow—helpless and unconsolable. She had to leave the court in Serres and move to the city of Kruševac, the capital of Raška at that time, where she accepted hospitality of the court of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and his wife Milica Hrebeljanović. Shortly before moving to Kruševac, Jelena became a nun and took the name of Jefimija.

While at the court of Lazar Hrebeljanović, Jefemija who seems to have been excellent in the art of embroidery, embroidered a curtain which she sent to the monastery of Hilandar as her gift. The text embroidered on the curtain is not Jefimija's original composition, but a combination of passages from the prayers of Symeon the New Theologian on Holy Communion, Symeon the Metaphrast, and Saint John Chrysostom. It is a large, beautifully embroidered, and ornamented curtain which is still treasured in the Hilandar Monastery at Mount Athos.