O TITULATURAMA KRALjA MILUTINA

The shortest titulature would consist of the ruler's name and title. Broader ones contained territorial indicators – namely lands ruled by the ruler, the ruler's byname and formulaic phrase of devotion to God (the Dei gratia phrase) usually in the form of by the grace of God, which emphasizes the source, i.e. the origin of the ruler's sovereignty in the country, which is in compliance with the understandings of those times. Titulatures are to be found in written documents (charters and letters) issued in the ruler's chancellery, within the intitulations at the beginning, and in the signature at the end of the document. In written documents, of various origins, which attest the relations between the ruler and the external factors, titulatures are to be found either within the inscription (address) of the documents sent or in documents in which the ruler represents a political factor. Other than that, titulatures are to be found on seals, coins, founder's inscriptions, inscriptions next to portraits/frescoes resembling the rulers, on objects-gifts to churches or monasteries, on manuscripts, and just as importantly, in narrative sources (domestic and foreign), contemporary or somewhat younger. Through all the listed examples above, we are able examine the titulature of King Milutin. Firstly, attention is focused on the ruler's name, as an essential part of the titulature. The subject of study is the king's baptismal name Milutin, rarely present in official use, the ruling name Stefan and the name Uroš, which was carried by the king's father and to which we will pay special attention to. The constant highlighting of the fact that Milutin is the direct descendant of previous kings, throw genealogical elements found in a number of more extensive titulatures, had a special political-practical and ideological significance for King Milutin, with which he sought to legitimize his rule, since he had taken the throne from his older brother in extraordinary circumstances. In this work, we shall try to classify the titulatures of King Milutin by their types, sources in which they appear, according to content, constituent elements, extent, etc. Special attention will also be paid to the innovations of the content, that is, the changes in the titulature that came as a consequence of political events.