Eparchy Of Marča
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The Eparchy of Marča (, sr-Cyrl, Марчанска епархија) was an
Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...
ecclesiastical entity taking two forms in the 17th century: an
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
eparchy and an
Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
vicariate. The term was derived from the name of the monastery at Marča (today Stara Marča) near
Ivanić-Grad Ivanić-Grad or Ivanić Grad () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. Geography Ivanić-Grad is located south-east from Zagreb, connected: * by highway A3 (Bregana-Zagreb-Ivanić-Grad-Slavonski Brod-Lipovac) * by train on direction Zagreb - Sl ...
,
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(present-day
Zagreb County Zagreb County () is a county in Northern Croatia. It surrounds, but does not contain, the nation's capital Zagreb, which is a separate territorial unit. For that reason, the county is often nicknamed "Zagreb ring" (). According to the 2021 censu ...
,
Republic of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mont ...
). Although Serbian Orthodox bishop Simeon Vratanja traveled to
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 1611 and formally accepted jurisdiction of the Pope over this bishopric, until 1670 Serb bishops continued to recognize the jurisdiction of the
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...
and struggled against conversion attempts by Roman Catholic bishops from
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. This semi-union existed until the 1670 appointment of Pavle Zorčić as bishop. All Serb Orthodox clergy who objected to the union were arrested and sentenced to life in prison in
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, where they died. The bishopric eventually became the Eastern Catholic Eparchy of Križevci.


Name

The name Marča was derived from the name of the nearby hill, Marča. Other names used for this bishopric include Svidnik (''Svidnička eparhija''), Vretanija (''Vretanijska eparhija''), and the "Uskok" bishopric.


History


Background

After the Ottoman capture of
Smederevo fortress The Smederevo Fortress () is a medieval fortified city in Smederevo, Serbia, which was the temporary capital of Serbia in the Middle Ages. It was built between 1427 and 1430 on the order of Despot Đurađ Branković, the ruler of the Serbian De ...
in 1459 and fall of Bosnia 1463 different populations of Orthodox Christians moved into Syrmia and by 1483 perhaps 200,000 Orthodox Christians moved into central Slavonia and Syrmia At the beginning of the 16th century settlements of Orthodox Christians were also established in western Croatia. In the first half of the 16th century Serbs settled Ottoman part of Slavonia while in the second part of the 16th century they moved to Austrian part of Slavonia. In 1550 they established the Lepavina Monastery. Orthodox Christians which settled
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from area of the Ottoman Empire were most often called Vlachs, while most documents state that the Vlachs coming "from Bosnia" or "from Turkey" ie from the Bosnian pashaluk, also they were of different ethnic origin and from 1611 under the Greek Catholic bishops of Marča. At the end of the 16th century a group of Serb Orthodox priests built a monastery dedicated to Saint Archangel Gabriel () on the foundations (or near them) of the deserted and destroyed Catholic Monastery of All Saints.


Eparchy of Vretanija

Some scholars promoted the view that Marča, as a diocese of the
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...
, was established in the late 16th century (1578 or 1597). This theory was used as evidence of the long-time presence of the Serb population on the northern bank of river Sava. In 1609 Serb Orthodox priests established Marča Monastery in Marča near
Ivanić-Grad Ivanić-Grad or Ivanić Grad () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. Geography Ivanić-Grad is located south-east from Zagreb, connected: * by highway A3 (Bregana-Zagreb-Ivanić-Grad-Slavonski Brod-Lipovac) * by train on direction Zagreb - Sl ...
. In the same year the Marča Monastery became a seat of the Eparchy of Vretanija. This bishopric was the westernmost eparchy of the
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...
. Its name was derived from Vretanija () which was a part of the title of the
Serbian Patriarch This is a list of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an Autocephaly, autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to today's patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Se ...
. Its first bishop was Simeon Vratanja, appointed in 1609 by the Serbian Orthodox patriarch Jovan to the position of bishop of all Orthodox Serbs who settled to Croatia. This appointment marked establishment of the Eparchy of Vretanja in 1609 according to historian Aleksa Ivić.


Establishment as Eastern Catholic church

Being under strong pressure from Croatian clergy and state officials to recognize the jurisdiction of the Pope, and to convert the population of his bishopric to Eastern Catholicism, Simeon Vratanja visited
Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...
in 1611 and recognized his jurisdiction and maybe the Union of Florence as well. The strongest influence to his decision had Martin Dobrović, who convinced Simeon to recognize papal jurisdiction and to accept the Eastern Catholicism. In November 1611, the Pope appointed Simeon as bishop of Serbs of Slavonia, Croatia and Hungary. He also granted all estates that once belonged to the Catholic Monastery of All Saints to the Marča Monastery.
Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...
granted to Bishop Simeon, Greek Catholic episcopal authority in Croatia, Hungary, Slavonia and Žumberak, which was also confirmed by Archduke Ferdinand and Bishop of Zagreb Petar Petretić. From "Vlach" Bishop Simeon as he was called by authorities from Vienna it was expected to implement unification of Orthodox
Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...
with the Catholic Church in area of
Croatian Military Frontier The Croatian Military Frontier ( or ') was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the Habsburg monarchy, first during the period of the Austrian Empire and then during Austria-Hungary. History Founded in the late 16th century out of ...
and
Slavonian Military Frontier The Slavonian Military Frontier ( or ; ; ; ) was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the Habsburg monarchy, first during the period of the Austrian Empire and then during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It was formed out of te ...
. On 21 November 1611 Marča was established as an eparchy (bishopric) of the Eastern Catholic Church, having around 60,000 believers.


Period of semi-union (1611–1670)

Simeon continued to use Slavic language,
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and maintained connection with
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...
. In 1642 Benedikt Vinković wrote a letter to emperor Ferdinand III to write a report about "Vlachs" (Orthodox Serbs). Vinković's activities were aimed against Serb bishop of Marča, Maksim Predojević, whom he reported to the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregatio ...
when Predojević refused to support the conversion of the population of his bishopric to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Vinković had intention to depose Predojević and appoint Rafael Levaković instead. In 1648 the king appointed Sava Stanislavić as bishop of the Bishopric of Marča, as wished by the Slavonian Serbs, although Petar Petretić, bishop of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Zagreb (; ) is the central Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Croatia, centered in the capital city Zagreb. It is the metropolitan see of Croatia, and the present archbishop is Dražen Kutleša. It ...
proposed another candidate. This kind of semi-union attitude of Serb bishops of the Bishopric of Marča remained until 1670 and appointment of Pavle Zorčić on the position of bishop. All priests of the Bishopric of Marča who objected to the union were arrested and imprisoned in
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
where they all died.


Period of union (1670–1753)

Until 19 November 1735, the Marča monastery was the seat of the Greek Catholic bishops when the Orthodox Grenzers expelled the last three Greek Catholic monks. Following the verdict of Vienna authorities and decision that monastery belongs to the Greek Catholics, the Orthodox Grenzers burned Marča monastery on 28 June 1739.Zlatko Kudelić; (2010) ''Čaplovičeva povijest Marčanske biskupije'' p. 139

/ref> In 1754 around 17,000 Serb Uskoks rebelled in support of the Marča monastery, the seat of Uskok bishopric. The monastery was abandoned, as ordered by Empress Maria Theresa, and its treasury was looted.


Bishops

The bishops of the Eparchy of Marča were: * Simeon Vratanja (1607–1629) * Maxim Predojević (1630–1642) * Gabrijel Predojević (1642–1644) * Vasilije Predojević (1644–1648) * Sava Stanislavić (1648–1661) * Gabrijel Mijakić (1663–1670) * Pavao Zorčić (1671–1685) * Marko Zorčić (1685–1688) * Isaija Popović (1689–1699) * Gabrijel Turčinović (1700–1707) * Grgur Jugović (1707–1709) * Rafael Marković (1710–1726) * Georg Vučinić (1727–1733) * Silvester Ivanović (1734–1735) * Teofil Pašić (1738–1746) * Gabrijel Palković (1751–1758) *
Vasilije Božičković Trifun Vasilije Božičković, Order of Saint Basil the Great, O.S.B.M. (or , 1719–1785) was the last bishop of the Eparchy of Marča (1759–1777) and the first bishop of the Eparchy of Križevci from the erection in 1777 to his death in 1785. ...
(1759–1777)


References


Sources

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Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marca, Eparchy of History of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia Defunct religious sees of the Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic dioceses in Europe 1611 establishments in Europe 1753 disestablishments