Review article

Cultural codes in Croatian cyrillic epigraphy

Miroslav Palameta ; Filozofski fakultet u Splitu

Abstract

The paper is pointing out that the beginning of recording and scientific interest for Croatian Cyrillic epigraphy is connected with the Queen Katarina’s epitaph from Roman church Ara Coeli from 1475., in fact, with the book Libro di M. Giouanbattista Palatino cittadino romano dating from 1545, in which, besides prescribed epitaph, its transliteration in Latin letters and translation in latin language, Glagolitic and Cyrillic abecedaria, with the concize information about Slavic letters are found. Pointing out the co-existence of those two Slavic letters, the paper claims that it is not only characteristic for older epigraphs, but also for younger inscriptions.
As epitaphs are dominant in the whole epigraphic corpus, it has been affirmed that their structural core, which is made of extended sentence with the preposition of place, name of the decedent and 3rd person of the verb ležati (Tu leži N.N.) to lie (Here lies N.N.), states the Middle Christian learning about resurrection and refers to very early Christian inscriptions in Latin and Greek on the whole Mediterranean.
Paper is pointing out that the oldest lapidary inscriptions about property stand in the firm connection with the grants, that is with the corresponding property documents, firstly as their public, permanent and available to everyone ads, which refers to all inscriptions in Glagolic letters, as well as to the ones written in Croatian Cyrillic. Based on the clear marks about lawyers-owners discourse on allodium, on patrimony (na baštini, na plemenitom) in the marginal structures of epitaph, it is expressly concluded that the inscriptions with these contents are also the disclosure of legal property of the estate, that is proprietary documents.
Among other marginal contents in epitaphs that have been described in the paper it shows that supreme celebration (višnja slava) from Gojsava’s inscriptions is private calendar ceremony in which noble family celebrates their heavenly patron, that is, sovereign.
It is also shown that the existing datings in croatian-cyrillic epigraphy are governed by western calendar, and that more intense presence of dating from the beginning of the world starts with XVI. c., which coincides with the expansion and intense influence of st. Sava Orthodoxy.

Keywords

abecedarium; Croatian Cyrillic; allodium; supreme celebration; tradition of dating

Hrčak ID:

138397

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/138397

Publication date:

28.4.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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