Johannes Lucius ( hr, Ivan Lučić; it, Giovanni Lucio; September 1604 – 11 January 1679) was a

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

n historian, whose greatest work is ''De regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae'' ("On the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia"), which includes valuable historical sources, a bibliography and six historical

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s. Due to his critical approach, he is considered the founder of Croatian historiography. Born in September 1640 in

Trogir Trogir (; historically known as Traù (from Dalmatian language, Dalmatian, Venetian language, Venetian and Italian language, Italian: ); la, Tragurium; Greek language, Ancient Greek: Τραγύριον, ''Tragyrion'' or Τραγούριον, '' ...

in a noble family, Lucius studied in Trogir and Rome, graduating philosophy, mathematics, political sciences and literature in 1628, and receiving Ph.D. in civil and canonical law in 1630. Following graduation, he worked as councilmen and judge in his hometown and developed intensive scientific-research work. His first book ''Vita B. Ioannis confessoris episcopi Traguriensis et eius miracula'' ife of St. John the Confessor, Bishop of Trogir(1657) is an important source of Croatian, and especially Dalmatian, history between 11th and 13th centuries. His capital work is ''De regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae''

n the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

(1662) in which he described the history of Dalmatia between the Roman times and 1480. The book contains the genealogy of Croatian dukes and kings and six historical Illyrian maps, regarded in Croatia as "the first Croatian atlas". The best known is map no. 6, ''Illyricum hodiernum'' resent-day Illyricum which Lucius dedicated to the Croatian ban

Petar Zrinski Petar IV Zrinski ( hu, Zrínyi Péter) (6 June 1621 – 30 April 1671) was Ban of Croatia (Viceroy) from 1665 to 1670, general and a writer. A member of the Zrinski noble family, he was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian Mag ...

, later included in Blaeu's

Atlas Maior The ''Atlas Maior'' is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin (11 volumes), French (12 volumes), Dutch (9 volumes), German (10 volumes) and Spanish (10 volumes), containing 594 maps and ...

. In the book ''Memorie istoriche di Tragurio ora detto Traù'' istorical testimonies about Trogir, now called Traù he described the history of Trogir and Dalmatia to the mid 15th century. His book ''Inscriptiones Dalmaticae'' almatian Inscriptions(1673) contains inscriptions and epigraphic monuments from Dalmatian heritage. In addition to his many other historical works, Lucius also engaged in archeology, geography, mathematics, physics, astronomy, construction and studying of ancient Christian monuments, Roman mosaics and inscriptions. He was a member of the

Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome The Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome ( hr, Papinski hrvatski zavod svetog Jeronima; it, Pontificio Collegio Croato Di San Girolamo a Roma; la, Pontificium Collegium Croaticum Sancti Hieronymi) is a Catholic college, church and a society ...

in whose catacombs he was buried after his death in January 1679. Today, Lucius is widely regarded in Croatia as "the father of modern Croatian historiography".

Life and works

Johannes was the son of Peter Lucius () and Clara Difnico (), born in

Venetian Dalmatia Venetian Dalmatia ( la, Dalmatia Veneta) refers to parts of Dalmatia under the rule of the Republic of Venice, mainly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Dalmatia was first sold to Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia was not fully consolidated ...

(now

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

). After some schooling in his hometown, he went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he spent two years, and then obtained his Ph.D. in ecclesiastical and civil law in the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

. He returned to Trogir, and held various offices, but he returned to Rome in 1654. There he became a member of the Fraternity of Saint Jerome, and then its president. He participated in the work of many scientific academies of his age and wrote to scientists from Dalmatia,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. He wrote a number of historical works in Italian and Latin. His greatest and most famous work is ''De regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae'' (''The Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia''). The book was published after the war of Candia, a critical moment for the Republic of Venice. In his book Lucius pointed out the difference between the

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

and Slavic Dalmatia, the habits of the people and the cultural borderlines. It was first printed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

in 1666. This book provides an overview of both, the

history of Dalmatia The History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the area that covers eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, from the 2nd century BC up to the present day. The earliest mention of Dalmatia as a province came after its establish ...

and

history of Croatia At the time of the Roman Empire, the area of modern Croatia comprised two Roman provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the area was subjugated by the Ostrogoths for 50 years, before b ...

, from the

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

to the 15th century. While his predecessors and contemporaries used suppositions as much as facts, Lucius founded his estimates on genuine sources. At the end of the book, he included certain valuable historical sources and a bibliography with his comments. The book had six historical

s. One of maps, the historical map '' Illyricum hodiernum'' (today's ''

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

'') was dedicated by

Joan Blaeu Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. Life In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published ...

, Lucius' publisher to the Croatian

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

. Since everyone was looking up to antiquity, the Zrinski believed their ancestors were Roman aristocrats. Lucius showed them that their roots reached back to the famous medieval dukes of Šubićs noble family from Bribir. Lucius participated in the dispute about the authenticity of the text of ''

Trimalchio Trimalchio is a character in the 1st-century AD Roman work of fiction '' Satyricon'' by Petronius. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated a ...

's Banquet'' by the Roman

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Memoriae istoriche di Tragurio, ora detto Trau'' ("Trogir in Historical Literature"; 1673). He also published a book of Roman inscriptions from Dalmatia, including the inscriptions collected by the famous Croatian poet and writer

Marko Marulić Marko Marulić Splićanin (), in Latin Marcus Marulus Spalatensis (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), was a Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. According to ...

. Shortly before his death, Lucius prepared the

Statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

of Trogir for printing. Lucius was never married. He resided in Rome until his death, and was buried there, in the Church of St. Jerome. A monument was erected to his memory in 1740.

Significance

Johannes Lucius was the first Dalmatian historian who critically examined and used historical sources: documents and chronicles, inscriptions and last wills. His historical

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for br ...

was far ahead of his time. He corresponded with many famous people from Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), especially Stefano Gradi, the head of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

. His numerous letters, revealing him as a man of integrity and a skillful writer are a valuable fresco of the conditions of his time. Lucius' work, written in a

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A lap ...

and clear style, based on critical considerations, is the cornerstone of the modern

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

about Dalmatia.On. G. Toth
Dalmatian history: the Venetian time
Today in Croatia, Lucius is considered the father of modern contemporary Croatian historiography.

Works

The following are his principal published works: *
De Regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae libri sex
' (6 vols., Venice, 1673); *''Inscriptiones Dalmaticae, notae ad memoriale Pauli de Paulo, notae ad Palladium Fuscum, addenda vel corrigenda in opere de regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae, variae lectiones Chronici Ungarici manuscripti cum editis'' (Venice, 1673).

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucius, Johannes 1604 births 1679 deaths 17th-century Venetian historians Venetian period in the history of Croatia University of Padua alumni People from Trogir History of Dalmatia Italian-language writers Venetian Slavs