Bugaršćica

Bugarštica (pronounced [bûɡaːrʃtitsa] or [buɡǎrʃtitsa]) is a form of epic and ballad poetry, which was popular among Serbs and Croats until the 18th century, sung in long verses of mostly fifteen and sixteen syllables with a caesura after the seventh and eighth syllable, respectively. They include the oldest known recorded epic poems, written down in the 15th century.

It is considered to be older epic layer of South Slavic oral tradition which existed probably before the 15th century, and disappeared by the middle of the 18th century. The earliest known poem classified as bugarštica was recorded in 1497 by Italian poet Rogeri de Pacienza di Nardò. He was present when it was sung by refugees from the Serbian Despotate who had settled in the village of Gioia del Colle, southern Italy. During the 16th–17th centuries they were collected in Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor, on the Adriatic Coast and islands, by learned poets and priests (Petar Hektorović, c. 1555; Juraj Baraković, Nikola Ohumućević, Jozo Betondić, Djuro Matijašević etc.), about 85 bugarštica songs in total. They were published in the late 19th century by Franz Miklosich, Alexander Hilferding, and most completely by Valtazar Bogišić (1878).

Although some bugarštica's content is closely related to historiography, especially to the history of Ludovik Crijević Tuberon and Mauro Orbini's Il regno de gli Slavi (1601), they are generally deemed to be oral songs, transmitted orally. The bugarštica's themes vary not only in the scope of this type, but also in respect of decasyllabic songs. They sing about prominent battles (Kosovo 1389, 1448; Varna 1444 etc.) and Serbian, Hungarian, Croatian, Bosnian feudal lords 14th-16th centuries, and local battles in Perast and Boka Kotorska in the 17th century. They conserved archaic customs, manners, etiquette, descriptions of attire, weapon, etc., and have specific composition, narration and poetics. They integrate different cultural and ethnic layers and represent significant monument of South Slavic folklore.

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