Mojsije I

Serbian Patriarch Mojsije I Српски патријарх Мојсије I
Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch
Church	Serbian Orthodox Church
See	Monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć
Installed	1712
Term ended	1725
Predecessor	Atanasije I
Successor	Aesenije IV
Personal details
Born	Trgovište
Died	1726 Peć
Nationality	Rum Millet (Serbian)
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox Christian
Occupation	Spiritual leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Mojsije Rajović (Serbian Cyrillic: Мојсије Рајовић) or Mojsije I (Мојсије I), was the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Ottoman Empire, from 1712 to 1725.

Before he became the Serbian Patriarch, Mojsije served as Metropolitan of Raška, from 1704, under Patriarch Kalinik I. That was traditionally a very prominent position, so when the next Patriarch Atanasije I died in 1712, Mojsije was elected as his successor. His seat was in the Monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć.^[1]

During the Austro-Turkish War (1716-1718), Belgrade was liberated from Ottoman rule together with northern parts of Serbia and Temes Banat. In those regions new ecclesiastical province for Orthodox Serbs in Habsburg Monarchy was formed, known as the Metropolitanate of Belgrade. It was headed by metropolitan Mojsije Petrović, who received blessings and confirmation from Patriarch Mojsije. New autonomous Metropolitanate of Belgrade had jurisdiction over Kingdom of Serbia and Temes Banat.^[2]

By 1725, patriarch Mojsije decided, under the burden of old age and poor health, to transfer his authority to the Metropolitan of Raška, named Arsenije, who became new Serbian Patriarch.

References

1. Sava Vuković 1996, p. 332.
2. Sava Vuković 1996, p. 333.

Sources

• Đoko M. Slijepčević (1962). Istorija Srpske pravoslavne crkve. Iskra.
• Sava Vuković (1996). Srpski jerarsi: od devetog do dvadesetog veka. Evro-Unireks-Kalenić. pp. 332–333.