Vikentije Jovanović Vikentije Jovanović , also spelled Vićentije ( ; Szentendre , 1689 - Belgrade , June 6 , 1737 ) was the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Karlovci from 1732 to 1737 , as Vikentije II . During his diplomatic mission in Vienna in 1734 , he was given permission by Emperor Charles VI to establish a hussar regiment constituted solely of Serbs and Croats . It was officially named " Illyrian - Rascian regiment " and inaugurated on June 16 , 1735 , in a grand ceremony officiated by Vikentije . The ceremony took place outside Budim where the banners which were used symbolized his importance in the Austrian Empire , but also the dual symbolism of East and West ; dual coats of arms on their spears , two languages in their inscriptions ( Church Slavonic and Latin ) , and the use of Eastern iconography and Western emblematic imagery . Vikentije ' s hussars went on to fight in the Austro - Russian – Turkish War ( 1735 - 1739 ) . Biography . He was born in Szentendre in 1689 . As a young man he took monastic vows at Rakovac monastery . He played a pivotal role in uniting the Metropolitanate of Belgrade with the Metropolitanate of Karlovci at the Assembly of Bishops ( Sabor ) in 1726 . At the end of the Sabor he was elected Bishop of Arad , Ineu and Velikovardar region . On March 22 , 1731 he was unanimously elevated Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci by the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church . The history of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci , located in northern Serbia in the region of Vojvodina , is intimately connected to the large exodus of Serbs fleeing Ottoman persecution that followed after the Great Turkish War of 1683 - 1699 and the Austro - Turkish War of 1716 - 1718 . It was in 1690 that Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević ( 1674 - 1706 ) led almost 40 , 000 people over the Danube River and into Vojvodina , then under Austro - Hungarian rule . A significant number of Serbs were already living there since the very beginning of the Nemanjić dynasty , if not before , and the continuity allowed the refugee to feel at home . With renewed Turkish oppression in Ottoman Serbia , the Serbs in the Habsburg Empire found themselves also facing new challenges . This task was made especially difficult living with predominantly Roman Catholic Austrian and Hungarian authorities and confronting daily pressure toward union with Rome . Realizing that the preservation of their spiritual identity demanded higher education , Vikentije II turned to Russia for help , like his predecessor Metropolitan Mojsije Petrović . At the time basic conditions for education , such as high schools , adequately trained teachers and books , were lacking . Orthodox Russia , sharing a similar language and alphabet with Serbs , was seen as an ideal ally . Soon , promising students were sent to Kiev , to study theology , philosophy and the sciences at the well - known Kievan Academy . By the eighteenth century this trend would result in the systematization of education and the opening of the first Slavonic - Latin schools . Maxim Suvarov , sent by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church , became the first Russian teacher there . In 1731 , Metropolitan Vikentije II opened gymnasia ( high schools ) in Belgrade , Osijek , Dalj and Sremski Karlovci . In Karlovci he put another Russian educator , Emmanuel Kazačinski , in charge .