Nicholas Tavelic ( hr, Nikola Tavelić) was a Croatian Franciscan friar and missionary who died a martyr's death in Jerusalem on November 14, 1391. He was beatified as part of Nicholas Tavelic, O.F.M. and companions, which included friars from Italy and France. All four members of his group have been declared

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

s by the Catholic Church, making Tavelic the first Croatian saint.

Life

Most sources mention Šibenik as Tavelic's birthplace, but another possible location is Velim near Stankovci. In 1365, Tavelic became a friar in Bribir, the seat of the Šubić, a powerful Croatian noble family. Tavelic was among 60 friars from various Franciscan provinces who answered an appeal by the

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

, motivated by a papal bull, ''Prae cunctis'', issued in 1291 by Pope Nicholas IV, himself a Friar Minor, to work as missionaries in Bosnia, combating the perceived

heresies Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

of the Bosnian Church. Tavelic spread Catholicism around Bosnia for 12 years. In his report to the pope, the Bosnian guardian later said that the missionaries converted around 50,000 members of that Church. In 1384, Tavelic went to serve in the Custody of the Holy Land where he met the friars Deodatus Aribert of

Rodez Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...

, and Stephen of Cuneo. The four lived at the Monastery of Mount Zion, the ancient friary maintained by the Friars Minor in the city, where they spent several years learning Arabic and serving at the holy sites connected to Jesus' life, which had been entrusted to the care of the Order of Friars Minor and which still drew pilgrims from Christian Europe. After having seen few, if any, conversions from the Muslim populace of the city resulting from their quiet pastoral work at the holy sites of Christianity, Tavelic and his colleagues decided to take the option given to them in the Rule of Life of their founder,

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

, and to preach openly the Christian faith to the Muslim populace. They went to the regular gathering before the Qadi of Jerusalem and began to preach. Following their arrest for this, they refused the option to convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and were imprisoned. After again refusing to convert several days later, the group were all sentenced to death. These missionaries were executed near the

Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...

on November 14, 1391, and their remains completely burned.

Veneration

Friar Gerard Chalvet, O.F.M., was the guardian of the Jerusalem friary and saw their executions. Together with Friar Martin of Šibenik, he sent a detailed report to Europe: the pope, Leipzig, Šibenik and elsewhere. Tavelic and his companions were soon celebrated as martyrs by Franciscans all over Europe, especially in Šibenik. Five centuries later, in 1880, Antun Josip Fosco, the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Šibenik The Roman Catholic Diocese of Šibenik ( hr, Šibenska biskupija; la, Dioecesis Sebenicensis) is a diocese located in the city of Šibenik in the Ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska, Split-Makarska in Croatia.< ...

, started the procedure for the Holy See for the formal beatification of Tavelic. By a special decree, Pope Leo XIII recognized his ancient '' cultus'' for the Šibenik Diocese in 1889 and for the entire Franciscan Order in 1898. Two years later, the same thing was done for the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. The cult of the friars, especially that of Tavelic, grew between the World Wars. The ''cultus'' of the other three martyrs was recognized by Pope Paul VI in 1966, with a separate feast day of 17 November. The four friars were canonized together by Pope Paul VI in front of 20,000 Croats in Vatican City, on June 21, 1970, with their conjoined feast day being 14 November.

Churches

Most churches dedicated to Tavelić are located in Croatia. Some of them are in Banjevci, Cerovac, Lišani, Perković, Split, Vinjani, Zagreb,

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

and Županja. Churches abroad can be found in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Montreal and Winnipeg in Canada, Melbourne and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in Australia and Tomislavgrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina

References

*D. Mandić: Documenta martyrii beati Tavelic, Roma 1958. *A. Crnica, Historico-iuridica dilucidatio vitae, martyrii et gloriae beati N. Tavelic, Roma 1958, {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavelic, Nicholas 1340 births 1391 deaths People from Šibenik Croatian Friars Minor 14th-century Croatian Roman Catholic priests Franciscan missionaries Martyred Roman Catholic priests Franciscan martyrs Franciscan saints 14th-century Christian saints Croatian Roman Catholic saints Beatifications by Pope Paul VI Canonizations by Pope Paul VI Groups of Christian martyrs of the Middle Ages Croatian Franciscans