Dimitrije (veliki čelnik)

Dimitrije (Serbian Cyrillic: Димитрије; d. 6 March 1349) was a Serbian magnate who served emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as veliki čelnik ("great čelnik"). As a royal čelnik, the title-holder had a very high position at the Serbian court, often compared to comes palatinus.[1] The veliki čelnik supervised over several čelniks,[1] the čelnik being a commander of military fortifications (and presumably its troops)[2] or a senior (starešina) of a larger number of villages.[3] Dimitrije entered the service of Stefan Dušan before 1349, when he was mentioned with the title of veliki čelnik.[4] Earlier, magnate Jovan Oliver had the title (fl. 1340).[4] Dimitrije died on 6 March 1349 and was buried at the Monastery of St. Nicholas at Banja.[5] According to the grave inscription, Dimitrije had held Gacko with Rudine, Drina and Dabar.[5] G. Tomović theorized that this Dimitrije was the same person as the earlier mentioned nobleman Hrvatin (magnate Vojin's brother) who served King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1322–31) and held Rudine (1330).[5] In 1350, Đurica[4] and Andronik[3] are mentioned as čelniks. After Jovan Oliver and Dimitrije, it seems that the title of veliki čelnik was not given at the Serbian Imperial court.[6] The territories held by Dimitrije were eventually consolidated by Vojin's son Vojislav (fl. 1350–d. 1363).[7] It was earlier believed that Dimitrije died in 1359.[8]