THE FIRST EDITION OF FRAN KRSTO FRANKOPAN’S ELEGY FROM 1656 (Querimoniae piae, Macerata, 1656)

Abstract

The Frankopans, a family of feudal lords, played a pivotal role in the popularisation of the cult of the black Madonna of Trsat, that is, of Loreto. However, the worship of Madonna was expressed in a special way in an elegy from the 17th century written by Fran Krsto II Frankopan of Tržac, who on the cover of the second Latin-Italian edition Divoto pianto (Loreto, 1794.; Cat.No. Trsat: RV-8*-36) is styled Count of Trsat (Perpetuo Conte di Tersatto) by the editors, in order to stress the relationship between the Frankopans and the Trsat Sanctuary. A special contribution to this paper is the confirmation of existence of a preserved copy of the first edition of the Elegy: Franciscus Christophorus comes de Frangipanibus, Querimoniae piae (Macerata, 1656) which has previously been known only in the form of a transcript and translation printed in the 18th century. The existence of the first edition of possibly the only work by Frankopan that was printed during his lifetime was confirmed in 2018 in Italy (Recanati, Biblioteca diocesana p. C. Benedettucci [coll. 7 A I 203]; Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale Augusta [ANT I.I 1437 (12.]).