Original scientific paper
Croats, the cult of Perun and Slavic “gentilism”. A Comment on the hypothesis of Ante Milošević about the identity of Porin and Perun
Denis Jevgenjevič ALIMOV
orcid.org/0000-0002-4733-4150
; Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет Sankt Peterburg, Rusija
Abstract
The article discusses in a broad comparative historical context the hypothesis by the Croatian scholar Ante Milošević, according to which the legendary Croatian ruler Porin mentioned in the 30th chapter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’s treatise De administrando imperio (mid-10th century) is identical to Perun, the old-Slavic god of thunder. The author draws attention to the fact that the
proposed identification fits well to the fact that in the story of the 30th chapter there are structural elements typical for early medieval narratives of the genre origo gentis. The author of the article demonstrates that the interpretation of the story of the 30th chapter on the Croats’ relations with the Franks within the methodological
paradigm of the ethnogenesis theory by R. Wenskus and the so-called Viennese school is in line with anthropological approaches that reinforces Ante Milošević’s hypothesis. The author attempts to
interpret the appearance of Perun in the Croat tradition in the context of the formation of the Croat gentile kingdom as a result of the weakening of the Frankish control over Dalmatia about the year 828 and points
to the area of Kaštela as a possible base of anti-Frankish elite that supposedly came to power in Dalmatia in the second quarter of the 9th century.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
224673
URI
Publication date:
6.9.2016.
Visits: 2.348 *