Original scientific paper

Marulić's »Dear Schoolfriend« Don Marko Prodić and his Family

Josip Vrandečić orcid.org/0009-0009-8389-2289 ; University of Split

Abstract

In a letter of May 10, 1496, Marulić addressed Don Marko Prodić as »dear schoolfriend« (condiscipule amabilis), also mentioning »a most dear friend«, Don Marko’s brother, Jerolim, who had delivered gifts to him, and Don Marko’s nephews. Thanks to the reorganisation of the Ciccarrelli Archive in the Pučišća Parish Office, it has become possible to throw light on the origins of Jerolim, Don Marko and his worthy nephews. Particularly serviceable in this task are the genealogical tree of the Prodićes (Image 1) and two wills, one of Don Marko (Images 2, 3 and 4) and of his nephew Don Bernardin, first incumbent of the newly founded parish of Pučišća (Images 8 and 9). The Prodićes, members of the Brač nobility, were by descent from the extinct village of Straževnik, located between Pražnica and Gornji Humac. According to the family tree, the progenitor of the line was called Klimša (Climsa), and Don Marko is placed in the fourth generation, as son of Ciprianus, the third-born after the brothers Marjan and Jerolim, and before Juraj. In the documents of the end of the 15th century Don Marko (Marcus) Prodić is referred to as the parish priest for the three villages of Pražnica, Pučišća and Straževnik, with his seat in Pražnica. He took up his ministry in 1488, succeeding Don Marin. Don Marko is mentioned as priest on January 28, 1505, in a report on his induction into possession as a result of an auction; he is mentioned as parish priest in the Pražnica census of March 22, 1512. His will, drawn up on May 26, 1530, reveals his intention to build a priestly tomb inside the cemeterial church of St Cyprianus, in which he was probably buried; he died in 1531, seven years after his friend Marulić.
In mentioning Don Marko’s nephews, Marulić obviously had in mind the three sons of Jerolim, Fran, Alviž and Marjan, for the oldest of the four brothers, Marjan, had two daughters and the youngest, Juraj (judging from the age of his middle son Bernardin, parish priest of Pučišća from 1566 to 1590), was only a child when Marulić’s letter was written. Jerolim’s son Don Marjan (Marianus) took over from Don Marko as parish priest. Don Marjan was known for his persistent endeavours to keep Straževnik and Pučišća in the single parish of Pražnica, unavailing though they were. After his death on May 26, 1566, his young relative, Don Bernardin, former chaplain in Pučišća, was appointed the first priest of the new parish of Pučišća. The new priest is to be credited with the construction of the Parish Church of St Jerome, which was completed in 1567 after it had been ten years in the building. From Don Bernardin’s school, we know, graduated the poets and dramatists Juraj Žuvetić and Don Sebastijan Mladinić. In his will, drawn up on November 15, 1594, he bequeathed his chattels and his real property to his nephew Vicko, son of his late brother Jerolim. The will was actually composed by another Marko Prodić (Marco Prodi), chancellor in Cattaro, brother of Don Trifun, son of Alviž and grandson of Jerolim. Don Trifun Prodić, former parish priest of Pražnica, succeeded Don Bernardin in the office of parish priest in 1580. Don Trifun’s grandfather Jerolim and his father Alviž very likely built the Prodić Tower in Pučišća, one of the thirteen fortified farms in the village. The tower dominates the head of the bay in Pučiški Dolac and protected the settlement from the Turkish assault of May 1561. However, after Don Trifun, the Prodić family of Pučišća began to decline and the line became defunct, as seen in the transfer of ownership of the tower in the early 17th century to the Mladineo family. Prominent in the mid-17th century as the last of the Prodićes was the historian Vicko (1628–1663) from the branch descending from Juraj, the youngest brother of Don Marko. Just before his death Vicko wrote the only work of his to have survived, Cronica dell’isola della Brazza, which he could not publish during his lifetime. Without any doubt the Prodićes showed themselves worthy of the encomium in Marulić’s letter to Don Marko: they were raised in the fear of God and educated in the noble sciences and the search for virtue.

Keywords

Marulić’s letter of May 10, 1496; the noble Prodić family; Don Marko Prodić; Don Bernardin Prodić; the Prodić Tower; the parish of Pučišća; Brač

Hrčak ID:

339015

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/339015

Publication date:

21.11.2025.

Article data in other languages: croatian italian

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