Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.57.25
The Role of Antiquity in the Works of the Archbishop of Zadar, Matteo Caraman (1700–1771) (Summary)
Janja Dora Ivančić
orcid.org/0009-0009-9706-453X
; Staroslavenski institut
Abstract
This paper analyzes the role of antiquity in the works Informazione (1750), Seconda Informazione and Identità della lingua litterale slava (1753) by the Archbishop of Zadar, Matij Karaman. The historical background of each work is outlined. The role of antiquity is placed in the context of Slavic ethnogenesis and examined through the political aspect of Curial policy towards Orthodoxy. In the religious-linguistic aspect, the role of antiquity is discussed in the context of the Curia’s relationship to the literary languages and the correction of the liturgical books of the Oriental Churches. The paper suggests that the Slavs were presented as a single people, with individual historical identities so as to evoke a sense of unity. At the local level, antiquity was used to evoke Roman terminology as legitimisation and to strengthen Papal primacy over Dalmatia, thereby defending it from the territorial encroachments of the Patriarch of Peć and providing a historical basis for the missionary policy in the Balkans. In a broader linguistic framework, antiquity is used to validate the use of Glagolitic, while also emphasising the primacy of East Church Slavonic as literary Slavic, thereby justifying the East Slavicization of Glagolitic liturgical books and further promoting missionary activity. The article is intended as a case study rather than a comprehensive analysis.
Keywords
Church History; Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide; History of Dalmatia; Antiquity; Matij Karaman (Matteo Caraman); 18th century
Hrčak ID:
349063
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2025.
Visits: 4 *