Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.15291/csi.4909
The Bee, the Witch, and the Altar-On an Exemplum From the Petris Miscellany (1468)
Igor Medić
orcid.org/0000-0002-2867-8767
; Staroslavenski institut, Zagreb, Hrvatska
*
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
The article interprets the hitherto unexplored exemplum
K(a)p(i)t(ul) ot bahoricʼ nečisʼ (The Story about a Wicked
Witch) from the Croatian Glagolitic non-liturgical Petris
Miscellany (1468). The introductory section gives a brief
overview of the genre-related problems that have arisen
from earlier attempts to define the exemplum as a literary
genre. It also briefly discusses Eduard Hercigonjaʼs re-
search on the Petris Miscellany as a whole and more recent
analyses of individual exempla from the corpus of Croatian
Glagolitic literature. The content and structure of the story
about a witch who is persuaded by the devil to use a conse-
crated host for magic is analysed. The story is related to a
group of exempla that were very popular in the late Middle
Ages and early modern period and deal with the Eucharist
and the doctrine of transubstantiation. Drawing on the re-
search of the Austrian ethnologist Leopold Kretzenbach-
er, the text is compared with a number of similar exempla
about the host in a beehive in order to identify variations
in the basic plot and the variety of roles played by central
motifs from the 12th to the 19th century. Drawing on the
findings of Michael Ostlingʼs study of witch trials in early
modern Poland, an attempt is made to illuminate various
cultural meanings that such texts may have had in the past
and their complex influence on popular piety. Based on the
insights gained, a parallel text from the Fatević Miscellany
(1617) is also discussed in the concluding part of the article.
Ključne riječi
exemplum; Eucharist; Fatević Miscellany; host; Petris Miscellany
Hrčak ID:
342350
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.12.2025.
Posjeta: 425 *