| Author | An anonymous priest inDuklja (presbyter Diocleas) |
|---|---|
| Language | Latin |
| Subject | history, hagiography |
Publication date |
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| Publication place | Republic of Venice Republic of Ragusa Kingdom of Serbia |
TheChronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja (Serbo-Croatian:Ljetopis popa Dukljanina,Љетопис попа Дукљанина;Latin:Gesta regum Sclavorum) is the usual name given to a medievalchronicle written in two versions between 1295 and 1301 by an ecclesiastic fromDuklja, recently identified as Rudger, Archbishop of Bar.[1] Its oldest preserved copy is in Latin from the 17th century, and modern historians have debated the text's date of composition (mid-12th to late 16th century) and authenticity.
It contains somesemi-mythical material on the early history of the WesternSouth Slavs. Historians have yet to discount the work as based on inaccuracies and fiction. The postulates are there that Slavs lived in the Balkans from the 5th- to the 12th-century.[2][3] It recounts the history ofDalmatia and nearby regions from the 5th to the mid-12th century.[4] The section "Life of St.Jovan Vladimir", is believed to be one of the local traditions integrated into the narrative.[5]
The work was traditionally ascribed to an anonymous "priest of Duklja" (presbyter Diocleas, known in Serbo-Croatian aspop Dukljanin). The work is preserved only in its Latinredactions from a 17th-century printing.[6][7] Dmine Papalić, a nobleman fromSplit, found the text which he transcribed in 1509–10, which was translated byMarko Marulić into Latin in 1510, with the titleRegnum Dalmatiae et Croatiae gesta.[8]Mavro Orbin, aRagusan historian, included the work (amongst other works) in hisIl regno de gli Slavi (ca. 1601);Johannes Lucius did the same in ca. 1666.[7] These Latin redactions claim that the original was written in Slavic.[9]
According to its recent editor, Tibor Živković, the chronicle, written in Latin, was completed in two versions between 1295 and 1301 in the towns ofSplit, then part of the Kingdom ofCroatia in personal union withHungary, andBar (inMontenegro), then part of theSerbian Kingdom. Its author waspresbyter Rudger (or Rüdiger), the CatholicArchbishop of Bar (Antivari), who was probably ofCzech origin.[10] He is thought to have written around 1300 because Bosnian borders are referred to in a way that coincides with an anonymous text, theAnonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis, that has been dated to the year 1308.[11] Rudger became Archbishop of Bar in 1298, but was expelled from the town in 1301 by order of theSerbian kingStefan Uroš II Milutin; Rudger died at the monastery of Zwettl, in Austria, in on 8 December 1305.[12] On the basis of its content, Rudger's composition is believed to have been heavily influenced by his knowledge of medieval Latin sources, fromIsidore of Seville andJordanes toPeter Abelard andGeoffrey of Monmouth and Bohemian and Polish historical works.[13] The themes and scope of Rudger's work are supposed to have been shaped by the political interests and priorities of his patron,Paul I Šubić of Bribir,Ban of Croatia and Lord ofBosnia.[14]
Chapters 1–33 of the chronicle are based on oral traditions and its author's constructions; these are largely dismissed by historians.[15][16] However, the next three chapters possess invaluable historical data about this time period.[17][18] Despite its hagiographic nature, Chapter 36 (on SaintJovan Vladimir), a summary of an older hagiography dating between 1075 and 1089 (when theVojislavljević dynasty endeavored to obtain the royal insignia from the Pope, and to elevate the Bar Bishopric to an archbishopric), contains considerable historical data that has been found to be reliable.[15] Chapters 34 and 35, which deal with Vladimir's father and uncles, are likely based on the prologue of this 11th-century hagiography.[16]
Other obsolete and refuted theories include that the author lived in the second half of the 12th century.[19] Some Croatian historians put forward the theory,[20] ofE. Peričić (1991),[18][17] that the anonymous author was aGrgur Barski (Gregory of Bar), abishop of Bar, who lived in the second half of the 12th century. The bishopric of Bar was defunct at that time. In his 1967 reprint of the work, Yugoslav historianSlavko Mijušković said that the chronicle is a purely fictional literary product, belonging to the late 14th or early 15th century.[21] Serbian historianTibor Živković, in his monographGesta regum Sclavorum (2009), concluded that its main parts are dated to ca. 1295–1301.[10]
Regnum Sclavorum (1601) can be divided into the following sections:[22]
The author attempted to present an overview of ruling families over the course of over two centuries — from the 10th century up to the time of writing, the 12th century.[citation needed] There are 47 chapters in the text, of different sizes and varying subject matter.
The work is actually a number of separate but similar manuscripts, stemming from an original source thatdoes not survive but assumed to have been written by the Priest of Duklja himself (or other monk-scribes giving a helping hand).
It has been generally agreed that this Presbyter included in his workfolklore and literary material from Slavic sources which he translated into Latin.[23] Among the material he translated, rather than created, is "The Legend of Prince Vladimir" which is supposed to have been written by another clergyman, also from Duklja, more specifically,Zećanin from Krajina in Zeta or Duklja (an earlier name for Zeta). In its original version, it was ahagiographic work, a "Life of St. Vladimir" rather than a "Legend." Prince Vladimir, the protagonist of the story, as well as EmperorIvan Vladislav of Bulgaria, who ordered Vladimir's execution, were historical persons, yet "The Legend of Prince Vladimir" is believed to contain non-historical material.
The chronicle was also added to by a bishop of Bar intent on demonstrating his diocese' superiority over that ofBishop of Split.
In 1986, the chronicle was translated from the Croatian into Ukrainian by Antin V. Iwachniuk.[24] The translation was financed by the Iwachniuk Ukrainian Studies and Research Fund at theUniversity of Ottawa.
Various inaccurate or simply wrong claims in the text make it an unreliable source. Modern historians have serious doubts about the majority of this work as being mainly fictional, orwishful thinking. Some go as far as to say that it can be dismissed in its entirety, but that is not a majority opinion, rather, it is thought to have given us a unique insight into the whole era from the point of view of the indigenousSlavic population and it is still a topic of discussion.[25]
The work describes the localSlavs as a peaceful people imported by theGoth rulers, who invaded the area in the 5th century, but it doesn't attempt to elaborate on how and when this happened. This information contradicts the information found in the Byzantine textDe Administrando Imperio.
TheChronicle also mentions oneSvetopeleg or Svetopelek, the eighth descendant of the original Goth invaders, as the main ruler of the lands that coverCroatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro (Duklja) andSerbia. He is also credited with theChristianization of the people who are Goths or Slavs — a purely fictitious attribution. These claims about a unified kingdom are probably a reflection of the earlier glory of theMoravian kingdom. He may also have been talking aboutAvars.
The priest's parish was located at the seat of thearchbishopric ofDuklja. According to Bishop Gregory's late 12th-century additions to this document, this Archbishopric covered much of the westernBalkans including the bishoprics of Bar,Budva,Kotor,Ulcinj,Svač,Skadar,Drivast,Pulat,Travunia,Zahumlje.
Further, it mentionsBosnia (Bosnam) andRascia (Rassa) as the two lands ofTransmontana/Surbia, while describing the southernDalmatian Hum/Zahumlje,Travunia andDioclea (most of today'sHerzegovina,Montenegro, as well as parts ofCroatia andAlbania) asMaritima/Croatian lands ofRed Croatia while other Dalmatian-Lika lands as White Croatia, which is a description inconsistent with other historical works from the same period, but not all.
The archbishop of Bar was later namedPrimas Serbiae. Ragusa had some claims to be considered the natural ecclesiastical centre of South Dalmatia but those of Dioclea (Bar) to this new metropolitan status were now vigorously pushed especially as the Pope intended Serbia to be attached to Dioclea.
In his 1967 reprint of the work, Yugoslav historianSlavko Mijušković stated that the chronicle is a purely fictional literary product, belonging to the late 14th or early 15th century.[21]
The region of Bosnia is described to span the area west of the riverDrina, "up to the Pine mountain" (Latin:ad montem Pini,Croatian:do gore Borave).[26] The location of this Pine mountain is unknown.In 1881, Croatian historianFranjo Rački wrote that this refers to the mountain of "Borova glava" near theLivno field.[27]Croatian historianLuka Jelić wrote the mountain was located either betweenMaglaj andSkender Vakuf, northwest ofŽepče, or it was the mountain Borovina located betweenVranica andRadovna, according toFerdo Šišić's 1908 work.[28]In 1935, Serbian historianVladimir Ćorović wrote that the toponym refers to the mountain of Borova glava, because of etymology and because it is located on the watershed (drainage divide).[29][30]In 1936, Slovene ethnologistNiko Županič had also interpreted that to mean that the western border of Bosnia was at some drainage divide mountains, but placed it to the southeast ofDinara.[31]Croatian historianAnto Babić, based on the work ofDominik Mandić in 1978, inferred that the term refers roughly to a place of the drainage divide between theSava andAdriatic Sea watersheds.[32][33]In her discussion of Ćorović, Serbian historianJelena Mrgić-Radojčić also points to the existence of a mountain of "Borja" in today's northern Bosnia with the same etymology.[29]
Requested by you, my beloved brethren in Christ and honorable priests of the holy Archbishopric See of the Church in Duklja, as well as by some elders, but especially by the youth of our city who find pleasure not only in listening to and reading about the wars but in taking part in them also, to translate from the Slavic language into Latin the Book of Goths, entitled in LatinRegnum Sclavorum in which all their deeds and wars have been described...
I Pop Dukljanin, najvjerovatnije Grgur Barski (v. PERI- ČIĆ, 1991) je u Kraljevstvu Slovjena (Regnum Sclavorum) donio i podatke o postojanju Bijele h(o)rvatske.
Općenito se pretpostavlja da je u Ljetopisu nepoznati autor (E. Peričić naziva ga Grgur Barski) nastojao uzveličati starinu dukljanske crkve i države. Barska je, naime, nadbiskupija bila ukinuta 1142., pa se time nastojalo obnoviti nadbiskupiju, ...
Anonimni svećenik iz Bara, Pop Dukljanin ili - prema nekim istraživanjima - Grgur Barski, u drugoj polovici 12. stoljeća piše zanimljivo historiografsko djelo poznato kao Libellus Gothorum ili Sclavorum regnum (Ljetopis Popa Dukljanina), ...