John V. A. Fine (1) (1939–)

Read a large element of this while in Serbia last spring. I grew self conscious and reticent as some close friends drew exception to the erudition, especially if I related that Serbs originally came from Persia, specifically Northern Iran. Equally as unsettling was my pronouncement that the Albanians are the indigenous people of the Balkan Peninsula. Not so cool, Jon.

This volume ends in the early 12C and what we know today as the former YU were then but very unstable entities swaying in the show more wake of larger forces notably the Byzantines, Hungarians and Venetians. The first of those anchoring powers collapsed, aided by the god fearing crusaders and then the Crescent will begin its long ascent in the next volume. show less

THE BOSNIAN CHURCH: ITS PLACE IN SATATE
AND SOCIETY FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

PREFACE to the New Edition

It is a great pleasure for me to have my book on the Bosnian Church back in
print, and I owe a debt of gratitude to The Bosnian Institute in London for
making this possible.

Much has happened since 1975, the year of the book's appearance. At that
time Bosnia was a prosperous and contented part of a magnificent federation
that was a pleasure to visit (in my case) or live in, as show more was the case of the Bosnians
of all ethnic groups. In about fifteen years amidst economic failures and the
advantage taken of them by irresponsible and criminal chauvinists, Yugoslavia
fell apart into a brutal and senseless war that hit Bosnia with its three main
ethnic groups plus those who rightly abhorred ethnicity more savagely than
any other part of the federation. Bosnia faced between 1992 and 1995 (as it had
during World War II) the most savage years (more so even than the Ottoman
conquest) in its history; and it is ironic that the horror followed right on the
heels of what arguably could be called the best decade that Bosnian society had
ever enjoyed, the decade 1965-75. I was indeed fortunate to be able to spend
so much time in Bosnia (and the rest of Yugoslavia) at that time. I was also very
fortunate to have had the opportunity first to study with, and subsequently as a
colleague to interact with, the most talented and objective group of historians
and other humanistic scholars that ever graced the territory that then made up
Yugoslavia.

Turning from the ongoing tragedy of the present to my book on the Bosnian
Church, one of the pleasures I have had in going over its text thoroughly agairn
after a quarter of a century is seeing how well my thesis has stood the test of
(admittedly a limited) time. I am pleased to find not only that I still accept all my
nclusions on Bosnia and thus do not have to devote pages of this introduction
to modifications and updates, but also that many other scholars (especially in the
West) have come basically to share my views. The one modification I would make
was the book's verdict on Bulgarian Bogomilism, which in 1975 I explained as
primarily a social or nativistic movement. The reason for that view was (and is)
my strongly held view that worldly peasants could not be attracted to an abstract
other-worldly religion. Hence, my search for other motives. Subsequently I have
made a study of the Bulgarian dualists, and now argue that there is no evidence
of them being either a social or an ethnic movement. I have concluded that the... show less