The powerful circle around the Pope was difficult to penetrate for a priest from a relatively remote provincial diocese such as Kotor, because a provincial priest had neither contacts nor, above all, the education to work in the Curia. During the Venetian administration, the same was true in Kotor. The bishop, as a rule a Venetian, preferred to surround himself with his compatriots with whom he shared a way of thinking, education, and action.
Among the Kotor clergy we also find persons who were not Venetians by birth, but who acquired honorary Venetian citizenship on the basis of merit, as did some laymen. This group included the priest Trifun Pautinov, who acquired honorary citizenship thanks to his brother Luka Pautinov. The Pautinovs, brothers Luka, Mihajlo, Ivan, Nikola and Trifun, were granted the status of Venetian citizens in 1424 on the basis of Luka's request, for the merits that the family, loyal to Venice, had in strengthening ties between Kotor and Venice and in defending Venetian interests in the city (I saw J. Valentini, Acta 2932, 28. VI 1424).
From a passing mention, we learn that the priest Anton Druško also had the status of a Venetian citizen: in the power of attorney with which Bishop Nigro authorized him as his procurator and special envoy, it is stated that Anton was a Venetian citizen: Bishop Marcus Nigro ... made ... his procurator and special messenger ... the venerable man Antonius de Drusco ... a Venetian citizen, a canon of Catharism (see: BISHOP'S ARCHIVE OF KOTOR, BAK III, 57, 4. II 1460).
Renunciation of citizenship
From the above examples it follows that in these cases the institution of dual citizenship was practiced, and this was a novelty compared to neighboring Dubrovnik where the granting of citizenship was linked to the condition of permanent relocation, which ultimately entailed the renunciation of previous citizenship (J. Mijušković, Granting Dubrovnik Citizenship, 89-130).
As we can see in the documents, priests traveled for many reasons. The Kotor priest Petar, son of the late Đorđe from Senj, authorized a certain Lucian Funi from Korčula to return things that had been stolen from him by some Kotor residents. The priest probably did not tolerate the sea well and traveled by land, and he entrusted the luggage to a certain Mihać from Kotor. However, when the priest arrived in Kotor, there was no trace of Mihać or the things (HISTORICAL ARCHIVE KOTOR, IAK SN CXLIX, 925, 23. VIII 1452).
Students traveled to universities that offered solid theological education, as monasteries had long since been unable to meet the demands of good educational standards. Once they had completed their education, young clerics continued to travel until they found a place. They were called wandering clerics, “wandering churchmen”.
In Kotor, too, there were always priests from outside, as evidenced not only by the notary's agenda, but also by the Statute. A statutory provision from 1379 ordered that, in view of the damage caused to the churches by the mismanagement of foreigners from Albania, no patron of churches in the future should allow a foreigner to be elected as abbot or administrator of the church. The penalty for violating the order was 100 perpers, and in addition, the person who attempted to do so lost his patronage rights in that church institution, and thereby his right to vote (STAT CATH CXLIV: Quod nullus forensis possit esse electus abbas alicuius ecclesiae).
The aversion of the people of Kotor to foreigners in the church ranks is also evidenced by a letter to Capistrano from 1445, which contains a request to send them some Franciscan brothers to establish a monastery in the city. In the request, however, the lords of the city express their desire that the friars be Italians or Dalmatians, not Bosnians: But they wanted only Italians or Dalmatians to be sent; the Bosnians refused. (L. Wadding, Annales minorum XI, 246, XXII).
From what has been said, it follows that they considered the Bosnian brothers to be either ignorant or incomprehensible, in any case problematic.
The large number of priests from Albania in the 14th and 15th centuries was a consequence of the displacement of the Christian element from those regions. The documentation contains a relatively high number of spiritual figures whose names are marked with the Alban: this was, for example, Dominic who appears in Kotor in 1332, and in 1353 he is mentioned in papal acts as a priest on the island of Lastovo (MON CAT II, 172/8. XI 1332).
Some were only passing through, like Ivan of Trieste, Bishop of Albania, who stayed in Kotor in 1397 to collect compensation from Duke Sandalj and his wife Jelena. His estates, or he himself, were destroyed during the reign of Radič Crnojević (IAK SN II, 439/10. V 1397). In 1397, the list of friars of the Friars Minor monastery in Kotor mentions Friar Gion of Shkodra (IAK SN II, 439/10. V 1397).
Refugees in Boka
Many Albanian clergy arrived in Kotor after the Second Skadar War (1419-1423) with many refugees. Among the monks were a few from Shkodra or Durres, such as the Dominican Dimitrije from Shkodra, mentioned in 1443 when a house on Prčanje owned by the monastery of St. Nicholas was leased. Dimitrije appears as a signatory on behalf of the monastery, along with the future abbot Basil of Lici and the monk Mihen Buća.
He was the abbot of the monastery in the years 1432–1444 (details: IAK SN X, 301, 22. X 1443; ibidem, IX, 320, 2. VII 1444; ibidem, XIV, 320, 12. III 1435). Sergius of Shkodra, mentioned as an assistant chaplain of the fortress (IAK SN XXI, 139/13. VII 1497), Stefan of Shkodra (BAK III, 22/September 1461), Franciscan Matthias of Shkodra (IAK SN XVII, 13/5. XII 1486), Dominican Andrija of Durres (IAK SN V, 100/24. X 1430), Friar Dominic called M… (illegible) of Durres (IAK SN XIV, 329/ 25. III 1435) and others also stayed in Kotor.
Deacon Đorđe Romani was also from Durres, who was promoted to the rank of priest by Bishop Faseolo in 1458 and later we find him as a canon (BAK II, 239/28. V 1458; ibid., 249 /8. III 1458. and elsewhere).
Several religious figures from Ulcinj also took refuge in Kotor. Priest Sergius from Ulcinj is mentioned in 1492 as the chaplain of the church of St. Tryphon (BAK III, 311/4. II 1492).
There were not many lower Venetian clergy in Kotor. In 1470, when the endowment of the church of St. Agatha became vacant with the death of the last prebendary Ivan Paltašić, a Venetian cleric and student of canon law, Antonije Nigro, originally from Padua, applied for this endowment. The endowment of St. Agatha provided five gold ducats annually.
In addition, Antonius also requested the endowment of the church of St. Philip and James in Kotor, which amounted to ten gold ducats per year. This prebend was also vacant with the death of Ivan Paltašić. Perhaps this cleric was related to Bishop Mark de Nigris, who granted his request. Both endowments were simple, without pastoral care, and could have been a source of money for a young priest for his studies and a good springboard for his further career. (J. Neralić, The Path to the Church Endowment, 126, 175/19. X 1470).
Some went to Serbia, for example to Pristina where there was a Roman Catholic community (BAK I, 227/a. 1448: diaconus Albanensis; ibid., III, 245/26. IV 1463: Petrus Albanesis; vidi K. Jireček: Srba History II,). The priest Paskval Pribov from Shkodra continued via Kotor to Venice - in the power of attorney given to him by a soldier from the garrison of the Kotor fortress, he is mentioned as a resident of Venice (IAK SN XIX, 19/11. X 1493).
Nikola Mainjanin, Bishop of Modruša, a humanist and papal legate who was active in the years 1457-1481, also worked in Dalmatia. His successor on the episcopal throne in Modruša was also from Kotor, Antun Gauzello Jakonja. (We took this information from the reliable notes of Don Gracija Brajković who quotes from: Schematism of the clergy of the dioceses of Segna and Modrussa or Corbavi for the year 1909).
Kotor clerics on the side
Many priests and monks from Kotor moved to Dubrovnik and stayed there. The first one we learn about from Dubrovnik sources was Fra Frano, called Bocinus, son of Ivan Priba, who is mentioned in 1281 as a novice of the Franciscans. A certain Fra Marin from Kotor is mentioned in 1368 as the guardian of the Franciscan monastery. by Acxa (Daksa) of the Dubrovnik diocese who is one of the witnesses of the exchange of the monastery of St. Mary of Ratačka and on Lokrum between the abbots there (M. Sufflay, Acta et diplomata, II, 243/8. VI 1368).
Priest Vladislav Baska, son of Ruško from Kotor, was a canon in Dubrovnik in 1392. At that time, he renounced some property in Kotor in favor of his uncle. (DAD, Miscellaneous Chancellery XXXI/21. VI 1392).
In 1409, the Kotor priest Jurko Oblipić was the abbot and administrator of the church of St. Michael. In 1433, the priest Nikola Ivanov from Kotor served as the chaplain of the cathedral church of St. Blaise in Dubrovnik, and in 1461 he was replaced in that position by a certain Luka from Kotor. (DAD, XXXVIII, 67/2. V 1409).
Originally from Kotor, the Dubrovnik canon Matej Đorđev (Georgii) was mentioned in 1438. He was a notary and perhaps a candidate for the position of Archbishop of Dubrovnik. The priest Luka Branković also came from Kotor and is mentioned in 1461 as An inhabitant of the city of Ragusa. We learn about him from the interrogation notes regarding the age of his niece Magdalena, whom he took with him. Two Perast residents and one local resident from Kotor were brought in as witnesses. (BAK III, 104/9. III 1461). The hearing was conducted at the request of the Archbishop of Dubrovnik and it was determined that Magdalena was about eleven years old, but the reasons for the investigation are not stated. The Kotor origin of the Brankovićs is also evidenced by the mention of the cleric Šimo Branković from Kotor in 1477, cf. BAK IV, 25: Cleric Simchus Branchovich of Cathar...
The ever-close ties between the Kotor and Dubrovnik clergy are mentioned in the report of the papal visitor, the bishop of Montefeltro, from 1574. The visitor convinced Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1588) that the most important thing for strengthening Catholicism in southern Dalmatia was to reform Dubrovnik in the spirit of Trident. As soon as the battle of Dubrovnik was won, the reform would spread throughout Dalmatia and especially to Kotor “which was governed by the Dubrovnik clergy”: Cathar, which is governed by the clergy of Ragusa (Acts and Diplomats of Ragusa II, 2, 321).
Bokelji in Venice and Rome
Both in Venice and in Rome, there were many clerics originally from Kotor.
The nobleman Dragoje Drago, a judge from Kotor, authorized the former canon of Kotor, priest Baltazar, who was now a superintendent in Venice, to represent him in the Venetian courts. (IAK SN V, 4/15. I 1431). L. Čoralić mentions among the clergy in Venice Nikola, son of Natalis from Kotor, who was an acolyte of the church of St. John the Baptist in 1506, Tryphon of Kotor, chaplain of the church of St. Severus, parish priest of the church of St. Fantino, Natalis from Kotor, priest Martin Zalusi, spiritual father of Petar Kosmorić from Kotor who died in Venice, Marin the cleric, priest Nikola of Kotor from the church of St. Severus, Tryphon of Byzantium (1460-1540), auxiliary bishop in the town of Cenedi near Venice.
There were certainly people from Kotor in many Dalmatian towns: Petar from Kotor was the vicar of the monastery of St. Francis in Zadar in 1373 when he was listed among the brothers in the purchase contract. (J. Stipišić, Inventory of the goods of Michael the Clothworker, 115).
Priests often traveled as couriers, such as Nikola Bielani, who carried a letter from Bishop Kontaren to his Dubrovnik colleague, Archbishop Anton of Rieta. (BAK I, 21 /a. 1437: presbyter Nicolaus Biellani...).
It is understood that priests could not travel whenever and wherever they pleased, but had to seek permission from the bishop. No priest or clergyman was allowed, without the permission of the competent authority, to sleep outside the city, or even to leave the diocese. (BAK I, 32/a. 1438). Ivan Lodovikov Bolica, a canon, asked Bishop Faseola for permission to stay in Dubrovnik for four months. The bishop approved the canon's trip, but reminded him to provide a replacement for himself from clerics who did not have an endowment so that the celebration of masses in his church would not be interrupted. (BAK II, 244 (1. XI 1457).
As soon as Bolica did not return within the agreed time, the bishop gathered the chapter of canons and announced that Bolica was absent and had not celebrated mass at the altar of St. Elizabeth as he had been ordered. Therefore, the altar should be entrusted to another priest. Nikola Jako was chosen and was ordered to celebrate mass at the altar every Monday and, if he was prevented for valid reasons, to find a replacement. (BAK II, 253/24. III 1458).
(Excerpt from the monograph HISTORY OF THE CHURCH - Boka Kotorska, to be published in 2025)
Bonus video:
