Review article
THE LETTER OF POPE INNOCENT IV TO SENJ BISHOP PHILIP IN PRINTED PUBLICATIONS AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
MIROSLAV GLAVIČIĆ
Abstract
Historians, philologists and other scientists have often written about the privileges of the Glagolitic mass that Pope Innocent IV gave personally to the bishop of Senj Philip in a letter of 29th March 1248 in their works, in which they discussed the phenomenon of the Glagolitic script, Glagolitic heritage and similar themes. Due to its national significance the transcript of the Latin text of the letter of Pope Innocent IV to Senj’s Bishop Philip, as it is noted in the Vatican’s
registers (Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Reg. Vat, n. 21, f. 522rv), is regularly mentioned in relevant collections of sources for Croatian history, here and there and with a Croatian translation and comments. In the first part of the article the author lists the publications of the transcript of the Latin text and Croatian translation with comments known to him, which are referential upon
the quoting of the original. In the second part of the article the author gives an overview of the contents of the letter of Pope Innocent IV and the activity of Philip the bishop of Senj about whom only a little is known about the beginning of his episcopate, more precisely from the year 1248. However, this little known data bears witness to the respectable reputation of Senj’s bishop Philip, which extended the boundaries of his bisphoric, and is connected with the new mission
strategy of the Catholic Church in which the Old Slavic liturgy and Glagolitic script become appropriate means by which orthodoxy was able to protect itself and expand. In this context the significance of the letter of Pope Innocent IV is considered separately and the privilege of Philip the bishop of Senj so that he as a bishop was able to perform the liturgy in the Old Church Slavonic language from the Glagolitic books in those regions where this custom existed. The
author based his discussion on the research of Mons. Mile Bogović Ph.D, to whom, in the year when he marks his 75th year and celebrates the 50th anniversary of priesthood, he respectfully
dedicates this article.
Keywords
Senj; Glagolitic script; Pope Innocent IV; Senj Bishop Philip
Hrčak ID:
151078
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2014.
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