Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.58565/vda.3.1.13
The history of research on the cartulary Libellus Policorion (Part II: from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 21st century)
Tomislav Galović
orcid.org/0000-0001-8408-0615
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History and Institute of Croatian History
Abstract
The paper deals with the research history of one of the most important monastic cartularies from the Croatian Middle Ages: Libellus Policorion – Rogovo cartulary, kept today in the State Archives in Zadar (HR-DAZD-337, Benedictine Monastery of St. Cosmas and Damian in Pašman, corner 1). It is a copy book – cartulary of the Croatian royal Rogovo Abbey (originally the monastery of St. Ivan the Evangelist in Biograd, then from the 12th century the actual and legal successor of the monastery of St. Cosmas and Damian on the Ćokovac hill near Tkon on the island of Pašman) compiled in the 2nd half of the 14th century and written in the medieval Latin (Latinitas medii aevi), Bolognese-type Gothica (littera Bononiensis). This is the second part of the paper, elaborating the authors and research results related to this precious cartulary in the period from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 21st century. It emphasizes the key research questions put before the text and the historical circumstances of this cartulary creation. The observed period in historiography was marked – after Ljubić’s edition of Libellus Policorion in its entirety (1890) – by the publication of documents and records from the cartulary in chronological order in the Codex diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae edition (from 1904 onwards). In relation to the tradition of the documents represented in the cartulary, T. Smičiklas, the chief editor of the Diplomatic Collection of Papers (Codex diplomaticus), noted that the text contained in it was “quite weak compared to the originals”, which undoubtfully had an impact on the general attitude towards the Libellus Policorion cartulary as a not too reliable historical document and diplomatic source. However, at that time, there were no detailed and specialist studies on the cartulary. In contrast, the history of the monastery was covered in detail by several authors. According to M. Šufflay (Die dalmatinische Privaturkunde, 1904), the oldest part of the cartulary preserved in a copy from the 14th century is the Traditionsbuch – a book of traditions that was directly preserved in the monastery “in relation to the enforcement of law”. With the analysis of the diplomatic material represented in the cartulary, F. Šišić found that it contained “a total of only fifty-eight documents, i.e., records of abbey properties” from the time of the Croatian national dynasty, and that the preserved originals or older copies deserve “advantage over the text of the collection”. Contemporary historiography and the contributions of other scientific disciplines until the end of the 20th century were marked primarily by the works of Josip Nagy, and also by the extensive study Benediktinská opatství rogovské v Dalmácii. Kulturnĕ historický obraz from 1940 by František Pechuška. Regarding its importance, this study can be compared to that of of Luka Jelić’s Historical-topographic Sketch of Biograd Coast published in 1899. Miho Barada also gave his contribution to the study of the Libellus Policorion, pointing out that certain documents in it “are not only not original, but their composition
is also very doubtful”. In the capital three-volume work Benedictines in Croatia and other parts of our country, Ivan Ostojić gave only basic information about the cartulary, but he therefore provided future researchers with the most comprehensive bibliography on the history of the Rogovo Abbey in general. In addition to two foreign authors (Julijan Vladimirovič Bromlej and Maren Mihajlovič Frejdenberg) who devoted their works to the issue of feudalism, Nada Klaić was the only one who did a complete diplomatic analysis of documents from the era of the Croatian national rulers, where precisely the Rogovo cartulary caused her a lot of difficulties. With her expressed critical approach, she opened or prompted many historical and diplomatic issues, which basically resulted in the destruction of the authenticity of the cartulary Libellus Policorion. Such an assessment did not decisively influence the editor and compilers of Codex diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae (1967), who performed a different chronological dating of certain entries in the cartulary, basing such a decision on a comparative method with other sources. In an extensive and thorough work Economic Relations on the Properties of the Rogovo Monastery in the 15th and the 16th Century (1972), Tomislav Raukar warned that exhaustive palaeographical, diplomatic, and finally historical analyses were needed in relation to the Libellus Policorion. In terms of topography, the work of Vesna Jakić-Cestarić is valuable, especially the thorough study Pašman Properties of the Monastery of St. John at the End of 11th Century and its Successor, the Monastery of St. Cosmas and Damian at the Beginning of the 13th Century. Contribution to Historical Topography and Toponymy (1984). There are two very important anthologies for the history of Biograd and the neighbouring island of Pašman, as well as for the topic of Libellus Policorion, which were created as a result of previously held research congresses in 1981 and 1990: The Island of Pašman through the Ages and Today (1987) and Biograd and its Surroundings in the Past (1990). Although the archaeological research was conducted in Biograd, and the protective conservation research was carried out in the monastery of St. Cosmas and Damian on Ćokovac near Tkon on the island of Pašman, there were no published studies. An exception is a valuable piece by archaeologist Radomir Jurić. Recent research and knowledge about the cartulary Libellus Policorion up to the beginning of the 21st century is characterized by the philological research by Olga Perić and the diplomatic research by Jakov Stipišić, Mirjana Matijević Sokol and Luja Margetić, and the literary and historical research by Radoslav Katičić. We should also mention that Libellus cartulary is almost regularly mentioned in syntheses of Croatian medieval history, and in many collections of historical sources from the Croatian Middle Ages we encounter certain documents found in the Libellus Policorion. The state of research (status quaestionis) of the Libellus Policorion cartulary in the 21st century will be presented in the author’s monograph: Libellus Policorion – Rogovo cartulary (vol. III. Study), in preparation for publication.
Keywords
Croatia; Dalmatia; Rogovo Abbey; monastery of St. John the Evangelist in Biograd; monastery of St. Cosmas and Damian on the Ćokovac hill near Tkon on the island of Pašman; historiography; diplomatic sources; cartulary; Libellus Policorion (14th century)
Hrčak ID:
293978
URI
Publication date:
24.2.2023.
Visits: 415 *