In 1526 the disastrous defeat of Hungarian and Croatian army took place in the Mohac field in southern Hungary. Let us mention by the way that since 1991 this area has offered refuge to 45,000 exiles, mostly Croats from Serbia and occupied parts of Croatia.The territory of western Bosnia, that was occupied by the Turks only after the battle on the Mohac field, was called Croatian Bosnia or Turkish Croatia (Bosna hrvatska or Turska Hrvatska) until the Berlin Congress in…
The earliest mention of a Catholic diocese in Bosnia dates from 1089 (i.e. from the 11th century). It was called Bosnian Diocese, and its center was in Vrhbosna (today’s Sarajevo). Deep traces were left by the Bosnian Franciscans, present on Bosnian soil since 1291 (only 80 years after the foundation of the Franciscan order). They were beloved by people, for being educated and humble, for keeping the national and religious identity of the Croats. In 1376 they had 35 Catholic…
An important and interesting phenomenon of Bosnian history are Krstyans, members of the mysterious Bosnian Church – a Christian religious sect. Krstyans are also known under the name of Good Christians (Dobri Krstyani). According to studies of fra Leon Petrovic, reports of Hungarian clergy to the Pope in 13th century about the “heresy” of Bosnian Krstyans were unfounded. The “heresy” of Bosnian Krstyans was invented by church authorities in Budim in order to subjugate Bosnia to Hungary first in ecclesiastic,…
One of undoubtedly Croatian linguistic characteristics in Bosnia is a very widespread use of the ikavian dialect (an amazing literature has been written in the ikavian version of the Croatian language, since the time of Marko Marulic in the 15th century, and also earlier by Glagolitic scribes). Even today many Croats in Istria, Dalmatia, Gorski Kotar, Slavonia, Baranja use it, as well as the Croats in Austria (Gradisce area), Hungary and Yugoslavia (Srijem, Backa). Many traces of its use can…
Important representatives of the Croatian resistance against the Turkish penetration, that entered our national epic literature, are What Jeanne d’Arc is for France, Mila Gojsalic is for Croatia. In 1543 she saved the Poljica Principality from the furious attack of 6,000 Turks. She managed to break into the Turkish camp, found the ammunition magazine next to Pasha’s tent, and sacrificing her life – blew up the entire encampment. Petar Kruzic (16th century), the famous defender of the Klis fortress near…
The earliest cultural institutions in Bosnia – Herzegovina were organized by the Croats, including the most important one: the Archeological Museum (Zemaljski Muzej) in Sarajevo (opened in 1888; bombed during the Serbian aggression in 1992-95). Especially important contributions to our knowledge of the early history of Bosnia had Ciro Truhelka (1865-1942), since 1906 a director of the Archeological Museum. He was collaborator of Croatian Encyclopaedia. Ciro Truhelka (portrait by Gabriel Jurkic) The first literary periodical “Bosanski prijatelj” (Bosnian Friend) in…
Very important cultural society of Croats in BiH is Napredak (meaning “progress”; not to be confused with Progress, which is the name of the cultural society of Serbs in BiH). Napredak was founded in 1902 and existed continuously until 1949, when the communist Yugoslav rule dissolved the society and its numerous offices and branches, and confiscated the entire movable and immovable property (buildings, libraries, books, cars, schools, bookshops, stationer’s, bookbinderies, etc). The official 1949 document mentions even confiscation of “eventual…