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https://doi.org/10.53745/ccp.49.96.1
Early Modern Latin Inscriptions in Istria: Status Quaestionis
Tomislav Galović
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Odsjek za povijest i Zavod za hrvatsku povijest, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Croatia is exceptionally rich in epigraphic material, within which Istria holds a prominent place. The beginning of epigraphy or epigraphics as an archaeological and auxiliary historical discipline — whose task is to read, study, and interpret inscriptions (and graffiti), i.e., texts carved, engraved, or written on hard and durable materials such as stone, wood, bone, or metal, as well as those painted on walls and other surfaces — are closely connected to the eastern Adriatic region. The Italian humanist Cyriacus of Ancona (Kyriacus Anconitanus, Ancona, 1391 – Cremona, 1452), regarded as the founder of epigraphy, collected inscriptions from Istria and is known to have stayed in Pula in 1419 and 1423, as well as in Dalmatia. His collected materials remained in manuscript form until the 17th century, when his principal work, Epigrammata reperta per Illyricum a Cyriaco Anconitano (Venice, ca. 1660), was finally published. The Roman period on the Istrian peninsula produced a remarkable corpus of inscriptions, with approximately 3,000 Latin inscriptions which have been recorded. The largest collection today is held by the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula, while other examples are kept in local and city museums in Poreč, Rovinj, Buzet, Labin, and particularly in lapidaries in Roč, Motovun, Umag, and Novigrad. The scholarly importance of this corpus is attested by Mate Križman’s (1934–2019) doctoral dissertation and subsequent monograph Rimska imena u Istri. Osobna imena na istarskim natpisima iz rimskog doba (Roman Names in Istria. Personal Names on Istrian Inscriptions from the Roman Period, 1991). The study of Glagolitic inscriptions in Istria is a leader in the field, both in quantity and in quality, thanks to Branko Fučić’s (1920–1999) monumental work Glagoljski natpisi (Glagolitic inscriptions, 1982), which incorporates earlier research and collections undertaken throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries by Mijat Sabljar, Jakov Volčić, Vjekoslav Spinčić, Ivan Milčetić, Luka Kirac, and others.By contrast, Latin inscriptions from the medieval and early modern periods have not yet been systematically studied or published. Scholars of Istrian history have primarily used them as historical sources rather than as subjects of independent epigraphic analysis. As Robert Matijašić observed in 2005, Latin inscriptions dating from the era after the fall of the Western Roman Empire on durable materials — mainly medieval tombstones and church or monastic monuments — remain the subject of significantly less research compared to those from ancient times, and there are no comprehensive collections or complete data. One exception to this neglect is the work of Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski (1816–1889), whose manuscript Nadpisi istranski sa otoci Krkom, Cresom i Pagom (Istrian Inscriptions from the Islands of Krk, Cres, and Pag) is preserved in the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb (sign. XV/23 D VI, 91, 93). In 1846, the Trieste historian Pietro Kandler (1804–1872) founded the journal L’Istria (published until 1852), which included numerous Latin inscriptions, making it an indispensable source for Istrian history. Other valuable collections of inscriptions can be found in smaller archives, such as the papers of Josip Antun Batel (1827–1889), also held at the HAZU Archives, containing copies and tracings of inscriptions from Barban. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Institute for Historical and Social Sciences in Rijeka and the Institute for Historical Sciences in Zagreb (then part of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts) prepared an unpublished four-volume internal edition, Povijesni spomenici Istre. Prilozi za bibliografiju objavljenih izvora za povijest Istre (Historical Monuments of Istria. Contributions to the Bibliography of Published Sources for the History of Istria, 1977–1981). Numerous other works — books, monographs, catalogues, and publications — also mention or analyze individual early modern Latin inscriptions from Istria. Research is in this area particularly pronounced among the work of institutions such as the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula, through exhibitions and catalogues such as Temporis signa. Archaeological Evidence of the Istrian Modern Era (Tatjana Bradara and Ondina Krnjak, eds.), or Istra u novom vijeku / Istria in the Modern Period (ed. Tatjana Bradara, 2017). An example of a detailed analysis of a single Istrian inscription which is housed in the Croatian History Museum in Zagreb can be found in Mirko Valentić’s and Lada Prister’s Zbirka kamenih spomenika (Collection of stone monuments, 2nd ed., 2002). The study and documentation of early modern Latin inscriptions in Istria remains in their scholarly infancy. One of the key goals in this field must therefore be the creation of a comprehensive corpus — including documentation, analysis, contextualization, synthesis, and ultimately, publication — of this invaluable epigraphic heritage.
Ključne riječi
Latin epigraphy; historiography; auxiliary historical sciences; Middle Ages; early modern period; Istria
Hrčak ID:
343771
URI
Datum izdavanja:
24.1.2026.
Posjeta: 499 *