The Admiralty and Board of Directors of the Kotor Bokel Navy issued a statement yesterday on the occasion of the announced candidacy for UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Heritage, stating that the navy belongs to Boka and Bokelji, and that cultural values, especially when members of various nations and countries participated in their creation, should to be an element of their fusion and cooperation, not contradictions and conflicts. We transmit the announcement in its entirety:
"The Bokel navy, as its name implies, belongs to Boka Kotorska and Bokelje. The Bay of Kotorska is located in Montenegro, which today inherits material and non-material cultural values that were created throughout history by various civilizations, cultures, ethnic and religious communities, as well as states that existed on its current territory.
Bokelji, as residents of Boka Kotor's heritage, share the values that have been created in this area during its long and rich history. In the course of two and a half thousand years, members of various nations, ethnic, cultural and religious communities lived in Boka and contributed to its culture, of which we are heirs. The main activity of Bokelje in Boka Kotorska was seafaring, which connected them with the world and enabled all layers of material and non-material culture to be found in Boka, as well as in other parts of the European Mediterranean and to be an integral part of European civilization. The greatest values of our heritage, which are still alive today, are tolerance, peaceful coexistence and the interweaving of cultures, religions and peoples, while each retains its specific identity. Since Kotor and its surroundings have been declared a heritage of humanity by UNESCO for several reasons, Boka also belongs to the world, that is, to everyone.
The Bokel Navy, which, after the Church, is the oldest institution on the territory of Boka Kotorska and Montenegro, is a witness and protagonist of their history, as well as the history of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and a treasure trove of their most important values. Recently, there are tendencies to discuss the Bokel navy and its identity in the public, probably because it shows that, despite more than twelve centuries of history, it is very vital and because its candidacy by Montenegro for enrollment in the Representative list of intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO. At the same time, without valid arguments, knowledge of history and arbitrarily mixing religious, ethnic and political criteria, persons and institutions from neighboring countries, and some Bokeljes, such as the Navy, insist on its ethnic, i.e. national, character.
The media often state that Boka is Serbian, that all Bokelians, including Montenegrins and Croats, are actually Serbs who have changed their identity, and that all Bokelian Catholics are also Serbs who have changed their religion.
Recently, there have been very intense protests from Croatia because Montenegro is nominating the Navy for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at UNESCO and it is doing it without Croatia. It is also insisted that the navy is a cultural asset above all of Croats in Boka. This was even discussed in the Parliament of Croatia and in the Assembly of Montenegro, and in some media in Croatia the headlines were "War over the Bokel Navy". So much attention paid to the Navy shows that it is very important, but also that self-aggrandizement of the Navy stems from ignorance of its history, statutes and extensive scientific and professional literature on the subject.
On December 20, the President of the Government of Montenegro, Duško Marković, in the Parliament, in his answer to the question of the representative of the Croatian Civic Initiative, Adrijan Vuksanović, whether the Ministry of Culture, during the candidacy of the Bokel navy for the UNESCO list of intangible cultural treasures, omitted in the text itself the cult of Saint Tripun and the name of the Croatian of the people, emphasized that Montenegro, as a country that inherits multiculturalism as a basic value, treats its entire heritage integrally, integrally, without dividing it according to national affiliation.
"Because, we are talking about cultural values that belong to the citizens, to the whole society, and with which everyone has the right to identify", He also pointed out that after the candidacy for the UNESCO Representative List, the Bokel navy will belong to all citizens of the world, "so appropriation is from any side in this case is superfluous, especially since the Bokel Navy is a cultural asset that is older than the emergence of nation states in the Balkans, i.e. it represents a legacy that has survived despite numerous socio-historical circumstances and cultural influences," said Marković.
In addition to the interpretation of President Marković, the Admiralty and the Board of Directors of the Navy consider it necessary to announce this text and to visit some elementary facts concerning its history and present which are obviously not known to the protagonists of the current discussions.
According to tradition and according to some historical indications, the Navy, i.e. the Kotor brotherhood of sailors, was founded on January 13, 809. when the Venetian ship brought to Kotor the relics of the holy martyr Tripun, which were bought by the Kotor nobleman Andreaci Saracenis and placed in a cave he built. At that time, Kotor, like other cities on the eastern Adriatic coast, was under the rule of Byzantium, and it was inhabited by Latin and Byzantine population, there were no Slavs yet.
Kotor and its surroundings became part of the first Montenegrin state of Duklja in the middle of the 1185th century and remained until the middle of the 1371th century. Around 1353, Kotor, like the whole of Duklja, was conquered by Serbia and remained part of it until XNUMX. In that period, the city had great autonomy, Western culture, the official language was Latin, and it was the seat of a Catholic diocese, probably founded in In the century. The first preserved document that mentions the "Pious Association of Kotor Seamen" (Pia sodalitas naviculatorum Catharensium) in XNUMX originates from that period.
From 1371 to 1384 Kotor recognized the rule of the Hungarian-Croatian king, from 1384 to 1391 the rule of the Bosnian king, and then until 1420 it was an independent republic. As they were threatened by the frequent attacks of regional lords from the hinterland and Dubrovnik, and there was a threat from the Ottoman Empire that was penetrating the Balkans, the people of Kotor asked seven times that the Republic of Venice take them under protection. Finally, in 1420, the period of Venetian rule began, which lasted until 1797, which was also the most important part of the Navy's history.
Its oldest preserved statute, in Italian, dates from 1463, and it was then called the "Kotor Brotherhood of St. Nicholas the Sailor" (Fraternitas Divi Nicolai marinariorum de Catharo). It was the most important of the numerous Bartos in Kotor because shipping was the most important economic activity. In addition to religious, economic, educational and humanitarian functions, it also acquired military functions and a military organization in the XNUMXth century. It had the task of defending the city, the bay, the coast and participating in the Venetian fleet in wars and battles on the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.
As a reward for the heroism shown, the Navy received numerous privileges from Venice; among them was the seizure of power in Kotor for three days during the celebration of St. Tripun, organized by the Navy, as well as the release of convicts. Until 1859, the brotherhood was called the Kotor Navy. Abolished during the French rule of Boka 1807-1814, the Navy was restored during a century of Austrian rule under the name "Noble Body of the Bokel Navy" and in 1874 received a new statute, in the Italian language.
It lost its military functions, preserving its military organization, and became a memorial organization. It was rebuilt in 1934 under the name Bokel Navy and received a new statute. Abolished by the occupier during the Second World War, it was innovated and received a new statute in 1964, and since then the statutes have been changed several times, the last time in 2016. Despite the changes, the Navy continued to operate successfully in new circumstances, but always faithful to its traditions. and values and its motto Fides et Honor - Faith and Honor.
Throughout its history, the Navy has never had a national or ethnic sign in its name. It was made up of members of various ethnic groups, and there is no data on its ethnic composition that can be an argument for the predominance of one ethnic group. The fact that the Navy was also a religious, i.e. Catholic brotherhood in the past is not proof that its members were predominantly Croats, although it is not disputed that in the last 150 years, after the formation of national identities in the area of Boka Kotorska during the 1859th century and the renewal of the work of the Navy by Austria-Hungary monarchy in XNUMX under the new name "Noble Body of the Bokel Navy", an important role in its development was played by Catholics who mostly identified themselves as Croats.
The Catholic Church is universal, not national, Catholics of various ethical affiliations lived in Boka. At the time when the Navy was also a religious brotherhood, there were also Orthodox members. No one in Boka could engage in seafaring and maritime trade who was not a member of the navy, and already at the end of the XNUMXth century in the territory of Boka, which then included the area from Sutomore to Sutorina, Catholics made up a third of the population. Even today, the navy does not keep records of the national and religious structure of its members.
The Bokel navy as an organization existed only in Kotor until 1972, when branches were founded in Tivat and Herceg Novi, and in 1974 branches were founded in Zagreb and then in Belgrade, although they were in Zagreb in 1924 and in 1929. Bokelja associations were also founded in Belgrade, which nurtured the traditions of Boka Kotorska and Mornarica, but were not an integral part of it.
In Croatia, other branches were founded after 1974, but in 1991 they separated from Matica in Boka, changed their statute and name to Croatian Brotherhood Bokel Navy 809, which means that the branches were in unity with the Bokel Navy for only 17 years. which is very little in the history of the Navy which lasts 1208 years. The leadership of the Navy has been trying for years to negotiate and cooperate with the Croatian brotherhoods in order to achieve full unity, the only condition for which is the acceptance of the name and statute of the Kotor Bokel Navy, but this has not yielded results so far.
No one questions the right to the existence of Croatian brotherhoods, nor the Bokels in Croatia to cultivate traditions, nor were there any protests when Croatia declared the circle of St. Tripun and the Tripundan festival as its cultural asset. Likewise, the contribution of the Croats in Boka to the history of the Boka Navy is not questioned.
Also, the branch office in Belgrade, which was shut down in 1991 and rebuilt in 2009, recently separated from the parent company in Boka. Bearing all this in mind, it is clear that there are no historical or other arguments to assert the thesis about the ethnic character of the Navy, nor that any ethnic group or neighboring country asserts claims to the Navy.
When it comes to the Navy's candidacy for inclusion in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it is the right and duty of Montenegro to preserve and valorize the cultural values that have arisen on its territory throughout history, including the Bokel Navy. It is not true that the materials for the candidacy did not mention Saint Tripun, the circuit and other important elements of the tradition and history of the navy.
There was no mention in the material of any ethnic group and nation that was embedded in that history, because there are many of them, the emphasis was on the universal, multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the Navy, regardless of the fact that the Croats made a great contribution to it. It should be emphasized that the file for the entry of the Navy into the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity is presented to the UNESCO commission whose members should understand from that material the universal, world values that recommend the Navy for entry, and not its national or confessional affiliation.
The joint candidacy of the Navy for UNESCO by Montenegro and Croatia was not possible, first of all, because there was no official initiative of Croatia towards Montenegro regarding the joint candidacy, so Montenegro entered the process independently and the Navy did not exist in the course of history. on the territory of today's Croatia, except for a short period after 1974, as well as because the branches in Croatia separated from the parent company in 1991 and are no longer in unity with it.
Cultural values, especially when members of various nations and countries participated in their creation, should be an element of their fusion and cooperation, not contradictions and conflicts. When the navy, as we hope, is declared a world cultural heritage, then it will belong to everyone, including Croats, Serbs, Italians, Greeks, Austrians and others, who have contributed to it at various times and to varying degrees.
We hope that we have given sufficient explanations about the traditions, history and nature of the Bokel Navy, and for more detailed information, we refer to our website www.bokeljskamornarica.com and to numerous scientific and professional works published on the subject".
Bonus video:
