The figure of St. Jerome had left traces in the history of Old Church Slavonic Liturgy and places where the Roman Rite in the Old Church Slavonic Language was celebrated. From 13th century St. Jerome became the Patron saint of Croatian Glagolitism due to the developed cult of his sainthood. During the Pontificate of Pope Innocent IV, Glagolitism was enculturated into the Catholic Church in such a manner that it was placed under the patronage of Saint Jerome. This refers to a spiritual culture from Croatian territory, whereby the Roman Rite could be performed in the Church Slavonic language with exclusive use of the Glagolitic script. Through this act, Saint Jerome became the author of the Glagolitic script and protector of the Roman Rite in Church Slavonic. Earliest records of reverence of Saint Jerome have been found on Glagolitic territory, dated to the period even before Glagolitism was enculturated into the Roman Catholic world, in continental Istria in particular, which was considered Saint Jerome’s homeland. The worship of Saint Jerome enhanced in the Humanism and Renaissance period, when the Croats started regarding Saint Jerome as their national saint, reflected in Croatia by numerous monasteries, churches, chapels and altars erected in his honour. The worship of Saint Jerome is also evident in numerous Croatian Glagolitic missals and breviaries containing liturgical services honouring Saint Jerome. This paper explores the extent to which Saint Jerome was worshipped in the heritage and tradition of Glagolitic liturgical manuscripts, which are typologically classified as liturgy books »according to the use of the Roman Curia«.
The paper deals with the life of count Novak Disislavić of the Mogorović kindred, a Croatian nobleman who served as a knight of the Hungarian king Louis of Anjou. It examines his military engagements and cultural contributions and challenges the conventional view of Croatian paleo-Slavic studies, which identifies him primarily as the scribe of the “Missal of count Novak” of 1368. From an early age, Novak actively participated in all of King Louis’ military campaigns, demonstrating bravery during sieges and even saving the king himself during a hunt. His bravery was rewarded with possessions, honours and a prestigious position as a knight at the royal court from 1350 at latest. Apart from his military exploits, Novak’s role as a judge and advisor in the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia after the expulsion of the Venetians from the eastern Adriatic coast in 1358 strengthened his standing in Croatian society. His cultural contribution is the aforementioned Glagolitic missal, which, as noted in the colophon (f. 269), is attributed to him as the author due to the indication “napisah”. This missal is considered one of the exemplary Croatian Glagolitic Missals and served as one of the models for the first Glagolitic incunabula in 1483. These are precisely the reasons why Novak could not have transcribed the missal personally, as the production of such a cultural work is extremely complex. As a patron, he was directly involved in its creation and possibly supervised its production.
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