Augustin Kažotić
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Augustin Kažotić (, ; 1260 – 3 August 1323) was a Croatian prelate of the
Catholic Church 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 ...
and professed member from the
Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...
who served as the Bishop of Lucera from 1322 until his death. Kažotić was a
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
and
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who had served first as the Bishop of Zagreb from 1303 until 1322. Kažotić studied in
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before returning to his homeland where he began working in the missions and preaching in modern
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. He was one of the first humanist figures to appear in southern
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. His reputation for personal holiness remained noted long after his death; this resulted in
Pope Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII (; ; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He took a hard stance against nepotism ...
confirming Kažotić's
beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...
in 1700.


Life

Augustin Kažotić was born in 1260 in
Trogir Trogir () is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,107 (2021) and a total municipal population of 12,393 (2021). The historic part of the city is situated on a small island ...
in the then- Kingdom of Dalmatia-CroatiaJohn Van Antwerp Fine: The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century, 1991, p. 150-152. to
nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
. He entered the
Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...
either in Trogir or in neighbouring
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 1289 after the conclusion of his education. He completed his studies in 1287 in
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at the college there where he was sent in 1286. Following his return from Paris he began establishing several convents and then did work in the missions in modern
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 ...
and in the Hungarian kingdom. He battled against heresies during this time and got to know the
papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...
Nicola Boccasini who later became pope. The two became good friends with Boccasini holding his friend in high esteem as a man of great learning and talent.
Pope Benedict XI Pope Benedict XI (; 1240 – 7 July 1304), born Nicola Boccasini (Niccolò of Treviso), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 October 1303 to his death on 7 July 1304. Boccasini entered the Order of Preachers i ...
- himself a Dominican - named him as the Bishop of Zagreb (through a
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) in 1303 at which stage he received his episcopal consecration from the pope himself. The bishop established a cathedral school which provided free schooling to underprivileged students. The bishop also fostered learning in
biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...
as a particular focus for education. He was considerate to the poor in particular; in his actions the
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
of the
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was provided a regular
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but the bishop forbade him to take income from his poorer students or a request services. From his own income he often turned to charitable funds and donated some of his income to the poor and vulnerable. The
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Baltazar Krčelić suggests that while the
Zagreb Cathedral The Zagreb Cathedral (officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Stephen and Ladislav), is a Catholic cathedral in Kaptol, Zagreb. It is the second tallest building in Croatia and the most monumental sacra ...
was being built in 1312 there was a
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and a source of water was dug out at the present
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at Kažotić's request. The source is now known as "Manduševac". Kažotić represented his nation's dioceses at the Council of Vienne from 1311 to 1312 which
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had convoked in order to debate the situation regarding the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
. In 1318 he travelled to
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to seek assistance from
Pope John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Papacy, Avignon Pope, elected by ...
in regard to ongoing conflicts with King Charles Robert. Kažotić found himself exiled from the kingdom (and resided in Avignon with the papal court) as a result and had to wait until 1322 for the king to allow him to return to his episcopal see. During his time in Avignon he wrote a
treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...
on the subject of superstition in addition to divination and witchcraft. In that treatise he explained how uneducated people should not be prosecuted at the behest of the Inquisition because of their superstitions but that those people should need to be educated instead of being punished. In 1322 the pope assigned him (through a papal bull) to the restored Lucera diocese which was home to thousands of Muslim Saracens who served as Emperor Friedrich II's elite troops. Kažotić was given the task of rebuilding a Christian presence in Lucera. But in 1323 he had done much but to the point that his presence was problematic for some in the Muslim population. To that end a Saracen struck him in the head with an iron shaft and he died from his injuries on 3 August 1323 in the Dominican convent that he himself established. In 1947 his remains were exhumed for examination; most of his
skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
was still intact and he was determined to have been of slender build.


Beatification

Kažotić's holiness became pronounced in his term as bishop to the point that people came to revere him after his premature death. This later resulted in
Pope Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII (; ; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He took a hard stance against nepotism ...
confirming the late bishop's beatification on 17 July 1700. Some sources suggest that
Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...
beatified him on 4 April 1702; this is false since Clement XI had issued a papal bull that extended public devotion to him. The cause for his canonization was re-launched in 2013 in Lucera. The current postulator for this cause - since the cause still proceeds - is the Dominican priest Gianni Festa.


Patronage

He is the patron for Lucera and has remained as such from 17 August 1668.


Notes and references


External links


Hagiography Circle

Santi e Beati




{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazotic, Augustin 1260 births 1323 deaths 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Croatia 13th-century venerated Christians 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops 14th-century venerated Christians Bishops of Lucera Bishops of Zagreb Christian humanists Italian Roman Catholic writers Croatian beatified people Croatian Dominicans Croatian humanists People from Trogir University of Paris alumni Venerated Dominicans Beatifications by Pope Innocent XII Burials at Zagreb Cathedral