Fojnica Armorial

Fojnica Armorial
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The combined coat of arms on the first page of a fictional "Illyrian Empire", based on the one found in the Ohmućević Armorial. The divisions are labelled with letters as follows: (A) Macedonia, (B) Slavonia, (C) Bosnia (the star-and-crescent of "Illyria" is present in an inescutcheon in the Bosnian coat of arms), (D) Bulgaria, (E) Dalmatia, (F) Serbia, (G) Croatia, (H) Rascia, (I) "Primordia", with an added imperial double-headed eagle (labelled J)
Date Uncertain
Scribe(s) Stanislav Rubčić
Dedicated to King Stefan Dušan
Script Cyrillic
Contents Heraldry; 139 coats of arms
Exemplar(s) 1
Previously kept Franciscan monastery in Fojnica
Discovered 1800

The so-called Fojnica Armorial (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Fojnički grbovnik/Фојнички грбовник, also known as Ilirski grbovnik "Illyrian armorial") is an early modern roll of arms including heraldry of South Slavic history. The manuscript is named after the Franciscan monastery in Fojnica where it was kept.

Dating

Importance

The manuscript is an important source of the classical heraldry of the Balkans peninsula, alongside the Korenić-Neorić Armorial of 1595, and the "Illyrian Armorial" (Society of Antiquaries of London MS.54) collected by Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath before 1637.

Roll

The manuscript contains a total of 139 coats of arms. It begins with a depiction of the Bogorodica, saints Cosmas and Damian, and Saint Jerome. There follows a title page, written in Cyrillic, which attributes the work to one Stanislav Rubčić, in honour of King Stefan Dušan, with the date 1340. There is an added note in Latin, dated 1800, which testifies that the manuscript had been kept in Fojnica monastery "from time immemorial". Then there is as page showing a combined coat of arms consisting of eleven parts. After this, there are ten coats of arms of late medieval realms of the region, Macedonia (Macedoniae), "Illyria" (Vllvriae), Bosnia (Bosnae), Dalmatia (Dalmatie), Croatia (Crovatiae), Slavonia (Slavoniae), Bulgaria (Bvlgariae), Serbia (Svrbiae), Rascia (Rasciae) and "Primordia" (Primordiae), followed by coats of arms of noble families.

See also

References

  1. Sima M. Ćirković, The Serbs, Wiley-Blackwell, 2004, ISBN 978-0-631-20471-8, p. 133.

External links

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