Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31745/s.75.5
Exploring the role of Old Croatian translations in reconstructing the Old Czech Passional: a case study on the analysis of the text of the Holy Trinity from the Petris Miscellany (1468)
Martina Kramarić
orcid.org/0000-0002-5492-3682
; Institute of Croatian Language, Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The Czech Pasionál, originally based on the Latin Legenda aurea, was only partially translated into Old Croatian and preserved in the Glagolitic manuscript Petris Miscellany from 1468 as a substantial collection of hagiographies. These translations are significant for both Croatian medieval literature and Czech philology, as Croatian versions can assist in reconstructing the development of the Old Czech Pasionál.
The Croatian translation of the article on the Holy Trinity is one of the texts translated from the Czech Pasionál, which exists in several manuscript versions and in two incunabula. The Czech text on the Holy Trinity, in the Dominican version, is preserved in manuscripts D and M and in the incunabulum PasIB from 1495. The Latin version did not exist in the original Legenda aurea text, as the feast of the Holy Trinity was introduced after the original Legenda aurea was written, but it clearly existed in later additions to the core text. We believe that the Croatian translator consulted the Latin text in addition to the Czech one for the translation.
Following the assumptions of Ivšić and Čermák that the Croatian text can help reconstruct the original Czech text of the article on the Holy Trinity – i.e., the text which Ivšić believes all Czech versions and the Croatian translation derive from – we compared the Old Croatian text to three versions of the Old Czech text: manuscripts D and M, and the incunabulum PasIB. In doing so, we also corrected previous claims in the literature that the oldest preserved version of the Czech text on the Holy Trinity is the one from PasIB (1495).
A comparison of the Croatian translation with Czech versions from manuscripts D and M and PasIB shows that the Croatian text most closely aligns with manuscript M. We believe, based on the comparison, that the Croatian text and the version from the Pasionál Martinský manuscript correspond the most closely, and that this Czech version is the closest to the original Czech text of the article on the Holy Trinity. Differences, such as the correction of the prophet Ezekiel’s name, indicate that the Croatian translator made informed decisions based on biblical knowledge.
The Croatian translation reflects theological positions associated with Hussitism, particularly the rejection of the filioque, implying that the translator may have been a Croatian priest aligned with Hussite ideas. This supports the possibility that the translation was made around or shortly after 1419, during or after the Glagolitic presence in the Emmaus monastery.
Linguistically, the Croatian text shows features of the northwestern Chakavian dialect, with Kajkavian influences, suggesting it was transcribed in the Ozalj area. The strong Czech lexical influence confirms the translation’s literal nature and the translator’s reliance on Czech theological terminology.
Overall, the Croatian version confirms that the Czech text on the Holy Trinity was composed before previous assumptions on the date of its composition and plays a key role in tracing the evolution of the Czech Pasionál. Furthermore, the entire cycle of hagiographies from the Petris Miscellany could help identify textual variants and bring us closer to the Czech archetype.
Keywords
Legenda aurea; Pasionál; Petris Miscellany; čte(nie) ot svetê troice; Old Croatian language; Old Czech language; Slavic monastery (Emmaus); Glagolitic script
Hrčak ID:
342158
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2025.
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