Aleksandar Komulović
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Aleksandar Komulović (1548 – 11 June 1608) was a
Catholic 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 ...
priest and diplomat from
Venetian Dalmatia Venetian Dalmatia () refers to the territories 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 until 1420, ...
(now
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, 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 Herze ...
). Part of the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
, and an early Pan-Slavist, he notably led a diplomatic mission aimed to forge an anti-Ottoman coalition in support of the West during the
Long Turkish War The Long Turkish War (, ), Long War (; , ), or Thirteen Years' War was an indecisive land war between the Holy Roman Empire (primarily the Habsburg monarchy) and the Ottoman Empire, primarily over the principalities of Wallachia, Transylvania, ...
, principally in the Balkans and among the Slavs. Although he failed his mission, he inspired the
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
to revolt. The Papacy was aware that the Latin language of the liturgical books presented an obstacle for the conversion of the
South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...
from Islam and Orthodoxy to Catholicism. Komulović belonged to the first group of
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionaries and authors who attempted to spread Catholicism among the Slavs using liturgical books in Slavic. After his death, his propaganda activities were continued by
Bartol Kašić Bartol Kašić (; , ; August 15, 1575 – December 28, 1650) was a Croatian Jesuit clergyman and grammarian during the Counter-Reformation, who wrote the first Illyrian grammar and translated the Bible and the Roman Rite into Illyrian (a name u ...
.


Early life

Komulović was born into a patrician family which was referred to in Papal and Venetian documents as Comolis or Comulis in
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...
, in
Venetian Dalmatia Venetian Dalmatia () refers to the territories 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 until 1420, ...
(today
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, 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 Herze ...
). He finished high school, probably in Italy. Komulović was familiar with the
Church Slavonic language Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
and the
Glagolitic script The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saint Cyril, a monk fro ...
. He was married with a woman from Dubrovnik.


Society, school and church of Saint Jerome

In 1576 Komulović became a member of the Society of Saint Jerome in Rome. In 1579 he was excluded from the Society because he was accused of activities against the order. He was in the service of Cardinal Iullus Antonius Santor and wrote a Slavic-language
catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...
, which he attempted to get printed in autumn 1579. In 1582 he was again accepted into the Order of Saint Jerome because it was shown that the accusations against him were unjustified. In the same year the Society financed the publishing of Komulović's work ''Christian Doctrine for the Slavic People in Their Own Language'' ("Nauch Charstianschiza Slovignschi narod, v vlaasti iazich" or ). This work established Komulović's reputation, especially among the Catholics of the Ottoman Empire. In 1584 Komulović was
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
in
Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
, and in the same year, as an abbot in Nin, became a rector of the Academy of Saint Jerome, formerly known as St. Jerome of the Slavs () or the Illyrian Academy. He was appointed as the first arch-priest of the Church of Saint Jerome, completed in 1589.


Secret Anti-Ottoman missions (1593–97)

At the end of January 1593 a bishop from Hvar sent a letter to the Pope inviting him to send envoys to Russia to forge a united Christian coalition against the Ottomans. In the same year a similar proposal was sent to the Pope by Komulović himself. An anonymous report from 1593, attributed to Komulović by many scholars, lists predominantly Slavic regions that could be mobilized to fight the Ottomans:
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...
, Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Serbia, Moesia,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, Rascia, Požega and Temeşvar. In 1593–97 Komulović was a Papal diplomat engaged in forging a coalition of Slavs against the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. This coalition was to include all Christian Slavs, including Orthodox
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Komulović believed that all
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
are one nation who speak one language with different dialects. He also believed that Slavs should have only one religion, Catholicism. In 1594
Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...
sent a secret diplomatic mission led by Komulović to forge a coalition against the Ottoman Empire. Komulović traveled via
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Trent,
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
and
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
to
Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...
. The purpose of this trip was to convince the
Tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...
, King of Poland (including
Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...
), the Prince of Transylvania and Voivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia to join a western anti-Ottoman coalition. His aim was also to inspire
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
to rise up against the Ottomans. According to some sources he continued his journey to Jakin,
Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis (island), Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, with a high east–west ridge of M ...
, Dubrovnik, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and finally Moldavia. Komulović was instructed to first travel to Venice to establish contacts with
Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...
. In Venice he stayed in the house of notable Thomasso Pelessa from Albania; it was agreed upon that as soon as the Vatican, Poland or Russia declared war on the Ottomans, the Albanian tribes were to revolt. The Popes instructions and several letters Komulović had sewed in a cushion. When he left Venice he made tremendous mistake and forgot the cushion leaving behind three letters written in ''lingua Serviana'' by the "people of Albania". The Venetian authorities got in possession of those letters and concluded they were forged by Komulović, which is also believed by modern Australian historian Zdenko Zlatar. In July 1594, an assembly was summoned in a monastery in
Mat A mat is a hard or soft floor covering that generally is placed on a floor or other flat surface. Mats serve a range of purposes including: * serving to clean items passed over it, such as a doormat, which removes dirt from the soles of shoe ...
, by Albanian tribal chieftains, joined by some Venetian subjects, of whom Mark Gjin was elected their leader. In 1595 he visited Rome to receive the Pope's support. In Pope Clement VIII's instructions to Komulović, the Serbs were explicitly praised as brave, while the neighbouring Bulgarians were said to be unwilling to fight. It is possible that these instructions were composed by Komulović himself. Komulović and Giovanni Battista from
Cres Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, Krk island or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of , Cres has the same si ...
maintained extensive contacts with the Patriarchate of Peć. Another member of Komulović's mission was Thommaso Raggio (1531–1599), who returned to Italy in 1595 while Komulović stayed in the Balkans until 1597 and submitted a detailed report to the Pope upon his return. He travelled to Moscow and twice visited the court of the Russian emperor, in 1595 and in 1597, but failed to convince the Muscovites to accept his proposals. Komulović did not succeed in forming the anti-Ottoman coalition, as none of the countries accepted the Pope's invitation. Russia refused to participate using bad relation with Poland as justification. Still, the mission inspired a series of uprisings in Serb-populated territories, such as the Uprising in Banat and Uprising in Peć in 1594. In 1594 and 1595 Cossacks plundered Ottoman-held Moldavia and invaded Transylvania. The Himara Revolt broke out in Albania in 1596, but it was easily suppressed after the Venetians convinced some of the chieftains not to join the rebellion. According to some rumours, the
Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...
was ready to expel Komulović because the Ottomans offered them some benefits if they did. Ragusans were worried because of the anti-Ottoman actions of Ragusan Jesuits. In 1597 Komulović began his return journey and stopped in Prague to propose to
Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...
to re-capture Klis, which had a year earlier been briefly captured by the Uskoks.


Career

In 1603 Komulović published a translation of the ''Short Catechism'' written by Roberto Bellarmina in the South Slavic dialect of
Čakavian Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic supradialect or language spoken by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmati ...
(which however, was not suitable for Štokavian speakers, including those of Dubrovnik), the first of many translations he published. In period 1604–1608 Komulovic was а leader of the newly established jesuit society in Dubrovnik. The only allowance Komulović received in this period was modest income from the small abbey from Nin. Before he died in Dubrovnik in 1608, Komulović wrote a will in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
in which he left his money to the Illyrian Academy in
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, ...
to buy a
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
for publishing books in Serbocroatian (''lingua illirica''). Jerolim Kavanjin praised Komulović for presenting Christian doctrine on Slavic language better than anyone prior. After Komulović's death, the Jesuit mission he led was temporarily cancelled. His propaganda activities were continued by
Bartol Kašić Bartol Kašić (; , ; August 15, 1575 – December 28, 1650) was a Croatian Jesuit clergyman and grammarian during the Counter-Reformation, who wrote the first Illyrian grammar and translated the Bible and the Roman Rite into Illyrian (a name u ...
, who was an even greater Pan-Slav than Komulović. Kašić was a censor and editor of Komulovićs work ''Zrcalo od Ispovijesti'', published in 1606 and republished in Rome in 1616 and in Venice in 1664 and 1704.


Bibliography

Notable works of Aleksandar Komulović include: * 1582 — ''Christian Doctrine for the Slavic People in Their Own Language'' ("Nauch Charstianschiza Slovignschi narod, v vlaasti iazich" or ) * 1603 — Translation of ''Short Catechism'' written by Roberto Bellarmina * 1606 — Zrcalo od ispovjesti, published in Venice, republished in Venice in 1704


References


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

* Aleksandar Komulović (1548–1608), Miroslav Vanino, Hrvatsko kulturno društvo "Napredak", Sarajevo, 1935 * Aleksandar Komulović kao mogući uzor Jurju Križaniću u politici i crkvenom jedinstvu, Tonči Trstenjak, Zbornik Zavoda za povijesne znanosti Istraživačkog centra Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti. Vol. 14(1986) : posvećen Jurju Križaniću povodom 300. obljetnice smrti, 1683–1983, urednik Ljubo Boban * Komulovića izvještaj i listovi o poslanstvu njegovu u Tursku, Erdelj, Moldavsku i Poljsku, Paul Pierling i Franjo Rački, Starine. Knj. 14(1882) * La dimensione morale nella dottrina pastorale di Alessandro Komulović, Antun Trstenjak. – Zagreb, 1988 * Prilozi k poznavanju diplomatskoga poslanstva Aleksandra Komulovića medju Slovene od godine 1593. do 1597, Euzebije Fermendžin, Starine. Knj. 36(1918), uredio Ferdo Šišić {{DEFAULTSORT:Komulovic, Aleksandar 1548 births 1608 deaths Diplomats for the Holy See Republic of Venice nobility Pan-Slavism Republic of Venice clergy Venetian Jesuits 16th-century Italian Jesuits Clergy from Split, Croatia Ragusan clergy 16th-century Croatian Jesuits 17th-century Croatian Jesuits Venetian Slavs 16th-century Croatian nobility 17th-century nobility