In 1584, Admiral Petar (Don Pedro) Ohmučević “received” a confirmation from the Catholic Bishop of Bosnia, Antun Matković, stating that his family had been the most distinguished noble family in Bosnia. The bishop, however, had in fact died in 1583, and so begins a story of a historical illusion that leads all the way to…
An interesting fact is that the Croatian checkerboard (šahovnica) is not the oldest Croatian symbol: that title belongs to a mark found on a minted coin from around 1200. From the very beginning, a coat of arms represents much more than an ordinary picture. People have always wanted to be recognized by others for something,…
An analysis of these records, kept in Pula between 1613 and 1815, provides us with a very clear picture of the society, church regulations, and the dynamics of entering into marriage. Similar to the analysis of godparenting in the 18th century, these registers were regularly filled out by priests, who predominantly wrote in the first…
Old baptismal registers of Pula preserve more than just names and dates. They record what parish priests wrote when they didn’t know a child’s name, how children born out of wedlock were registered, what midwives did when a newborn was in mortal danger, and who could serve as a godparent. The records from the 17th…
When exploring history, we most often rely on major events, wars, and charters. However, the true picture of society, the rhythm of daily life, and real people are hidden in archival material that we rarely have the opportunity to study in detail – parish registers. The practice of systematically recording births, marriages, and deaths began…