Summary
By including translated Slavic text of Prohiron into Nomocanon, Saint Sava helped instill civil law (Greco-Roman) into the very foundations of Nemanjic state and raise awareness among the population of engagement (obručenje) as an essential component of the family and state. Saint Sava disseminated transcripts of Nomocanon which epilogue stated that each archbishop, presbyter and teacher is bound to know the Nomocanon and to teach it to others. He succedeed in making the Nomocanon widely accepted, so that the existing customs were gradually superseded. Thus, the Nomocanon of Saint Sava became foundation for civil and canon law of medieval Serbian state.
The author strongly believes that it is an unfortunate mistake that in the past two centuries this unique legal transplant was insufficiently studied. Dusan’s Code makes mention of marriage on only three occasions in Articles 2, 3 and 9 which suggests that he did not feel marital law should be regulated by new provisions. Instead, he accepted the provisions about marriage made by the Byzantine Tzars and incorporated into Nomocanon of Saint Sava. This is also indicated by the occurence of transcripts of Nomocanon of Saint Sava following the adoption of Dusan’s Code, such as Sarajevo, Belgrade, Hilandar and Moraca transcripts. The very Serbian civil code adopted in 1844 cited the Book of Kormchy.
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