Red Croatia

Red Croatia (Latin: "Croatia Rubea", Croatian: "Crvena Hrvatska"), was a name that a medieval document designated to the initial Slavonic states in southern parts of Dalmatia: the realms of Hum/Zahumlje, Travunia and Duklja. Red Croatia was recorded as covering a territory from just south of the Neretva river in Herzegovina to the city of Durrës in Albania and stretched from the Adriatic sea to inner modern day Herzegovina and southwestern Serbia.

"Crvena Hrvatska" was also the name for a weekly Croatian Party of Rights political paper that spread the ideology of Ante Starčević in Dubrovnik, Dalmatia and that existed in 1890-1899 Austria-Hungary.

Origins of the term

Red Croatia was first mentioned in the 12th century by the Latin Catholic Priest of Dioclea or Duklja (today's Bar, Montenegro) in his work known as the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja.

It records the name "Croatia Rubea" or Red Croatia from an earlier chronicle known as the "De Regno Sclavorum". The "De Regno Sclavorum", also called "Methodus", is believed to have been written between around the year of 753 on a congress of Slavs in the Bosnian town of Dalmae (today Duvno). The Chronicle itself is a collection of several chronicles written before the 12th century that were kept in Church archives.

Croatian renown linguist Petar Skok has defined that this misinterpretation on the Priest's part is a result of transliteration of the Crmnica - Crvnica area in Montenegro, which also translates to Red Land.

References in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja

The "De Regno Sclavorum" portion of the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea was translated by Croat-Italian Ioannes Lucius (Ivan Lučić) in 1666 and was changed to "De Regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae" but it was still the same information found in "De Regno Sclavorum".

A script (in Latin) from "De Regno Sclavorum" in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja showing Red Croatia:

: "Post haec secundum continentiam priuiligiorum, quae lecta coram populo fuerant, scripsit priuilegia, diisit prouincias et regiones regni sui ac terminos et fines earum hoc modo: secundum cursum aquarum, quae a montanis fluunt et intrant in mare contra meridianam plagam, Maritima uocauit ; aquas uero, quae a montanis fluunt contra septentrionalem plagam et intrant in magnum flumen Donaui, uocauit Surbia. Deinde Maritima in duas diuisit prouincias: a loco Dalmae, ubi rex tunc manebat et synodus tunc facta est, usque ad Ualdeuino uocauit Croatium Album, quae et inferior Dalmatia dicitur.....Item ab eodem loco Dalmae usque Bambalonam ciuitatem, quae nunc dicitur Dyrachium, Croatiam Rubeam...." Presbyter Diocleas: "De Regno Sclavorum"; Ioannes Lucius: "De Regno Dalmatie et Croatiae" (Amsterdam 1666) 287-302; Schwandtner "Scriptores rerum hungaricarum III" (Vienna) 174; Sl. Mijušković: "Letopis Popa Dukljanina" (Titograd 1967)]

The last, bolded part is translated in English:

: "And from the field of Dalmae (Duvno) to the city of Dyrrachium (Durrës) is Red Croatia"

References by Toma Arhiđakon

Toma Arhiđakon (Lat. Thomas Archidiaconus) (1200-1268), Croatian Latinist, historian and politician from Split (Croatia) wrote in his "Historia Salonitana: Codex Spalatensis" that Croatian king Budimir (877-917) had divided his kingdom to Zagorje and Primorje, additionally Primorje was divided to White Croatia and Red Croatia [Thomae Archidiaconi: "Historia Salinitanorum atque spalatinorum pontificum" (Split: Književni krug, 2003) and Thomas Archidiaconus: "Historia Salonitana" (Zagreb, JAZU 1894)) 177.] .

References in Dandolo's chronicle

Andrea Dandolo (1300-1354), the Venetian author of his Chronicle of Dalmatia, who writes of Croatian lands (Dalmatian Kingdom), reiterated the boundaries of Red Croatia:

In Latin:

:" Svethopolis rex Dalmacie... in plano Dalme coronatus est et regnum suum Dalmacie in IIIIor partes divisit... A plano intaque Dalme usque Ystriam, Chroaciam Albam, vocavit, et a dicto plano usque Duracium, Chroaciam Rubeam, et versus montana, a flumine Drino usque Maceodoniam, Rasiam; et a dicto flumine citra Bosnam nominavit... Moderni autem maritimam totam vocant Dalmaciam, montana autem Chroatiam..."

Translation:

:" Svatopluk, king of Dalmatia.... on Duvno field was crowned and his kingdom of Dalmatia is spread out into 4 regions: From the field called Duvno (Tomislavgrad), to Istra is called White Croatia... and from that field to Drac (Durrës in Albania) is called Red Croatia; and the mountainous side from the river Drina to Macedonia is called Rascia, and to that river to here is called Bosnia. The whole sea coast is called Dalmatia and its mountains are Croatia..."

References by Flavius Blondus

Another writer confirms the diet of Duvno and the distribution of Croatian lands as well as the existence of Red Croatia. Flavius Blondus (1388 -1463) was an Italian humanist. In his well known book "Historiarum ab inclinatione Romani imperii decades" he word for word confirms what Dandolo writes about the Duvno diet and White and Red Croatia. [Flavius Blondus: "Historiarum ab inclinatione Romani imperii", dec II, lib II (Venetiae 1483, f. 115 r; ed Basilea 1559) 177.]

Modern

"See also: Greater Croatia"

Numerous Montenegrin and Croatian researchers, linguists and historians (under the flag of Jevrem Brković and Vojislav Nikčević), aside from slowly standardizing a Montenegrin language separately from the Serbian, have confounded a theory of Montenegrin origin. They acclaim that the Montenegrins are not of Serb origin, but that they have been under heavy Serbian oppression for centuries, especially ever since the "genocidal Saint Sava that made us Orthodox", referring to the fact that Montenegrins were originally Roman Catholics and posing the reason of their present Orthodox faith strictly because of a Serbian military intervention of Stefan Nemanja in the 12th century (regardless of the fact that there were no forceful conversions to Orthodoxy and that Nemanja was himself a Catholic and a Doclean). We should note, however, that Serbs back then were a mixture of Orthodox and Catholics, and religion was "not" an indicator of ethnic affiliation. The Montenegrin followers of this theory had to flee the 1990s Milošević-sponsored regime of Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović and Svetozar Marović; finding refuge under Franjo Tuđman's Croatia. Tuđman generally supported their research and the writing of a Montenegrin language in exile, while the group was propagating against the Yugoslav/Montenegrin/Serbian interventions in Croatia's War of Independence, strictly criticizing the 1991-1992 attacks on Dubrovnik. Tudjman in 1993 called for creation of a Croatian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, but this was never realized, resulting only with the creation of a Montenegrin Orthodox Church that up to now wants to take over the Orthodox property in Montenegro, which is under control of the Serbian Church. After the late 1990s large turnover of Montenegro's policy to opposition of Slobodan Milosevic's control of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, he and his followers returned. They tried to get some recognition in the Republic of Montenegro, supporting the uncannonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church (and conversion to Catholicism at the same time) and the political fights under Milo Djukanovic against Serbia's influence in the Federation, as well as advocation for Montenegrin independence. With dissidents from the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, he formed the Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts, whose research was dedicated to the study of Red Croatia. One of the many ideals was the crossing of Montenegro (which is mostly Serbian Orthodox) to Roman Catholicism, but with elements of Eastern Orthodoxy (in respect to the Orthodoxes of Montenegro). They are also calling for closer ties with Croatia and Albania, or more precisely the return of Red Croatia which would be autonomous inside a Greater Croatia, together with a "White Croatia". This new "Red Croatia" is supposed to contain present-day Montenegro, Herzegovina, southern Dalmatia and the northern half of Albania, as well as "Old Serbia" (Raška and Metohija). The general viewpoint is considered Greater Croatian nationalist irredentism, which also sees Bosnia a component part of this Greater Croatia, as well as most of western Serbia's Vojvodina (Bačka and eastern Srem).

References

See also

* Savić Marković Štedimlija
* Ivo Pilar
* Jevrem Brković
* Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts
* History of Croatia
* History of Dalmatia
* White Croatia
* Duklja
* Travunia
* Zahumlje
* Greater Croatia
* Frano Supilo

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04510a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.magma.ca/~rendic/chapter3.htm Croatian explanation of Historia Salonitana by Toma Archdeacon]
* [http://www.southslavjournal.com/frm.html South Slav Journal]
* [http://www.njegos.org/past/stedimlija.htm Serb Montenegro]
* [http://www.njegos.org/past/idroots.htm Dr. Slavenko Terzic : The ideological roots of Montenegrin nation and Montenegrin separatism]
* [http://www.magma.ca/~rendic/map_hrvatske_zemlje.gifMap]