Modruš is a village, former

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

, and current

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

in the mountainous part of

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 ...

, located south of its municipality's seat

Josipdol Josipdol is a village and municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is part of Lika region. Geography Josipdol is situated in the Ogulin-Plaški valley which together with Lika and Gorski Kotar forms Mountainous Croatia. The town is located ...

(

Karlovac County Karlovac County () is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac. It borders Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. The city of Karlovac is a fort from the times of the Military Frontier. It was built as a six-side st ...

), on the easternmost slopes of

Velika Kapela The Velika Kapela (; lit. ''Great Chapel'') is a large mountain range in the east of Gorski Kotar, Croatia. The highest peak is Bjelolasica-Kula at 1533 m.a.s.l. It overlooks Velebit, Plješivica, islands Krk, Cres, Lošinj, and the Kvar ...

mountain, in northern

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

. The population was 169 in the census of 2011.

History

One of the counties in the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

(an autonomous kingdom within the Hungarian part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) was named

Modruš-Rijeka County The Modruš-Rijeka County (; ) was a historic administrative subdivision () of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ( Transleithania), the Hungarian part of t ...

partially after the town. The fortress may have already existed in 1209. The town around it developed during the 14th and 15th centuries. From 1193 until 1553 Modruš and the large surrounding estate was owned by members of the

Frankopan The House of Frankopan (, , , ) was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croatia in union with Hungary. The Frankopans, along with the Zrinskis, are among the mos ...

noble family, who were living in the Tržan castle above the medieval settlement. In 1460, Modruš became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Krbava-Modruš. Modruš was mentioned on 22 February 1481 in a document freeing the citizens of Grič from tariffs in Modruš and elsewhere. In 1553, Modruš came under the administration of the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

authorities. At 13:00 on 22 June 1942, a Partisan attack was carried out from Deriguz on Modruš. The forester Josip Rendulić was wounded at Deriguz and transported to

Sisak Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...

. But the attack was repelled.

Ecclesiastical history

* During the 1460s, due to the Ottoman (Turkish) advance in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, the medieval Catholic

Diocese of Corbavia Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...

(established in 1185 at

Udbina Udbina is a settlement and a municipality in historical Krbava, in the Lika region of Croatia. Administratively, it is part of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Udbina is located in the large karst field called Krbava. It is approximately 45 kil ...

, in

Krbava Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...

region -hence the name-, including the county of Modruš) was formally suppressed by Pope

Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

, but its territory immediately reassigned to establish as successor see the Diocese of Modruš (Croatian = Curiate Italian) / Modrussa / (Latin), named after its new see, near

Fiume Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a po ...

(Rijeka), at the rock fortress of the Frankopan counts (now in the comune

). Again it was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Spalato The Archdiocese of Split-Makarska (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin Metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Croatia and Montenegro.

(Split). * Due to a Croat defeat against the Turks at

in (1493), the episcopal see was again transferred, now to

Novi Vinodolski Novi Vinodolski (, often also called Novi or ''Novi del Vinodol'' o ''Novi in Valdivino'' in Italian) is a town on the Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,9 ...

(Italian Novi in Valdivino), south-east of Fiume, but kept Modruš as its title. * Turkish raids having devastated the nearly-abandoned bishopric since the 1560s, its administration was vested in the nearby

Diocese of Segna In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, and in 1630 Pope

Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

united both sees in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

, formally remaining separate suffragans of Spalato, as confirmed in 1833 by

papal bulla A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at l ...

from

Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

. They became known (informally, incorrectly) as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Senj-Modruš. * By the 19th century, besides the cathedral little survived the Turkish rule, except its Chapter of Canons, divided in three parts residing in the diocese's last

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es : Novi itself, Bribir and Buccari. * In the first half of the 18th century, Segna and Modruš became suffragans in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the Hungarian

Archdiocese of Kalocsa In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, then from 8 March 1788 suffragans of the Slovenian

Archdiocese of Ljubljana The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana (, ) is a Latin ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia.ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the Croatian

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 ...

. * On 27 July 1969 by

Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

'Coetu intante', Modruš was united with the Diocese of Rijeka–Opatija (Fiume in Italian), which was elevated to Metropolitan archbishopric and renamed

Archdiocese of Rijeka–Senj In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

(Fiume-Segna), by privilege bearing the 'additional' title Bishops of Modruš.

Residential Bishops of Modruš

;''Suffragan Bishops of Modruš'' * Niccolò di Cattaro (October 1461 – ?) * Cristoforo da Ragusa (1480.05.29 – death 1498?99) * Giacomo Dragazio (12 April 1499 – death 1499.09.07) * Simone de Begno (1509.11.07 – death 1536.03) * Pierpaolo Vergerio (1536.05.05 – 1536.09.06), previously

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

(papal ambassador) to

(1533 – 1535); later Bishop of

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

(Capodistria,

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) (1536.09.06 – retired 1549.07.03), died 1565 * Ermolao Ermolai,

Observant Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the te ...

(O.F.M. Obs.) (1536.11.06 – death 1537) * Giovanni Evangelista Brachi,

Benedictine Order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

(O.S.B.) (1537.08.17 – death 1537?38) * Diego de Loaysa, Recollect Augustinians (O.A.R.) (1538.03.11 – resigned 1549) * Alberto Divini = Gliričić,,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

(O.P.) (1549.07.26 – 1550.03.19), next Bishop of

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

(Veglia, Croatia) (1550.03.19 – 1564) and

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Diocese of Skradin The Diocese of Skradin or Scardona () is an episcopal titular see and former Roman Catholic bishopric with see in Skradin, central Dalmatia (coastal Croatia).

(1550.03.19 – death 1564) * Lorenzo Gherardi, O.P. (1550.06.20 – ?) *''See administered by Diocese of Veglia (Krk) (?-1560)'' * Dionigi Pieppi, O.P. (1560.07.17 – 156?) * Jovan Kosisić (mentioned in 1564) * ''See administered by

(Senj)'' :'' From 1630, due to the sees'

, see Diocese of Senj (Segna).''

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 2000 as Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Modruš (Croatian = Curiate Italian) / Modrussa / (Latin). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Dominick John Lagonegro (2001.10.30 – ...), as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

(USA) (2001.10.30 – ...).

Demographics

In 1895, the ''obćina'' of Modruš (court at Modruš Gornji), with an area of , belonged to the ''kotar'' of Ogulin (Ogulin court but

Plaški Plaški is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is part of the region of Lika. Geography Plaški is situated in the lower part of the Ogulin-Plaški valley. Together with Gorski kotar and Lika, the Ogulin-Plaški valley ...

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

) in the ''županija'' of Modruš-Rieka (Ogulin high court and financial board). There were 520 houses, with a population of 3879. Its 14 villages and 39 hamlets were divided for taxation purposes into 2 ''porezne obćine'', under the Ogulin office.

Infrastructure

In 1913, there were 8 gendarmeries in Delnice kotar:

Ogulin Ogulin () is a town in central Croatia, in Karlovac County. It has a population of 7,389 (2021) (it was 8,216 in 2011), and a total municipal population of 12,251 (2021). Ogulin is known for its historic stone castle, known as Kula, and the nearby ...

, Drežnica,

Generalski Stol Generalski Stol is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. Name Generalski Stol played a historically important role in defending Croatia and western Europe by preventing Ottoman incursions further west. The settlement's name (l ...

, Jasenak,

Saborsko Saborsko is a village and municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. The municipality is part of the Lika region. Geography It is country-side mountain resort, situated in a curved, long and narrow valley. The altitude of the place is 630–900 ...

, Modruš and

Notable locals

Bernardin Frankopan Bernardin Frankopan (1453–1529) was a Croatian nobleman and diplomat, a member of the influential Frankopan noble family of Croatia. As one of the wealthiest and most distinguished aristocrats in the kingdom in his day, he had one of the leadi ...

* Krsto (Christopher) Frankopan * Beatrica Frankopan *

Nicholas of Modruš Nicholas of Modruš (, c. 1427 – 1480), born in Boka Kotorska, was a bishop of Modruš in Lika, the Pope's representative at the courts of King Stephen Tomašević of Bosnia and King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1463–1464). His huge libra ...

References

Sources and external links

Modruš – a part of the Croatian glagolitic heritage

History of Modruš

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, pp. 388–389, 399 * ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques'', vol. XIII, 1956, coll. 805-806 * K. Draganovic, ''Croazia sacra'', Rome 1943, pp. 197–198 * 'Stato della diocesi a fine Ottocento' in ''Acta Sanctae Sedis'', 9 (1876), pp. 292–293 * Bulla 'Apostolici nostri', in ''Iuris pontificii de propaganda fide'', vol. V, pp. 62–64 * Bulla ''Coetu instante'', on vatican.va. * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 1, p. 208; vol. 2, p. 136; vol. 3, p. 247; vol. 4, p. 309 ; Bibliography - military history * * * Populated places in Karlovac County Catholic titular sees in Europe Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Croatia Archaeological sites in Croatia Lika {{Karlovac-geo-stub