commanded
by Wuk gave way, he being the first to retreat. The division commanded
by Lasar held fast for some time, and, at length, yielded to the
superior force of the Turks. Lasar himself lost his life in the
battle, and thus ended the Servian monarchy on the 15th of June, 1389.

The state of Servia, previous to its subjugation by the Turks, appears
to have been strikingly analogous to that of the other feudal
monarchies of Europe; the revenue being derived mostly from crown
lands, the military service of the nobles being considered an
equivalent for the tenure of their possessions. Society consisted of
ecclesiastics, nobles, knights, gentlemen, and peasants. A citizen
class seldom or never figures on the scene. Its merchants were
foreigners, Byzantines, Venetians, or Ragusans, and history speaks of
no Bruges or Augsburg in Servia, Bosnia, or Albania.

The religion of the state was that of the oriental church; the secular
head of which was not the patriarch of Constantinople; but, as is now
the case in Russia, the emperor himself, assisted by a synod, at the
head of which was the patriarch of Servia and its dependencies.

The first article of the code of Stephan Dushan runs thus: "Care must
be taken of the Christian religion, the holy churches, the convents,
and the ecclesiastics." And elsewhere, with reference to the Latin
heresy, as it was called, "the Orthodox Czar" was bound to use the
most vigorous means for its extirpation; those who resisted were to be
put to death.

At the death of a noble, his arms belonged by right to the Czar; but
his dresses, gold and silver plate, precious stones, and gilt girdles
fell to his male children, whom failing, to the daughters. If a noble
insulted another noble, he paid a fine; if a gentleman insulted a
noble, he was flogged.

The laity were called "dressers in white:" hence one must conclude
that light coloured dresses were used by the people, and black by the
clergy. Beards were worn and held sacred: plucking the beard of a
noble was punished by the loss of the right hand.

Rape was punished with cutting off the nose of the man; the girl
received at the same time a third of the man's fortune, as a
compensation. Seduction, if not followed by marriage, was expiated by
a pound of gold, if the party were rich; half a pound of gold, if the
party were in mediocre circumstances; and cutting off the nose if the
party were poor.

If a woman's husband were absent at the wars,