Croatia 436

     The text of the Baška tablet (Bašćanska ploča) dates from 1100, and commemorates the gift of a plot of land by King Zvonimir of Croatian to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Lucy. It was found in the paving of the church of St. Lucy in Jurandovor near Baška on the island of Krk by Petar Dorčić, the local priest in 1851. It is 2 x 1 meters in size and weighs 800 kg. Since 1934 the monument has been preserved in the main building of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb.

     The inscription is written in the Glagolitic alphabet in old Croatian, and was translated in 1875: I, in the name of Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, I abbot Drzhiha, wrote this about the plot of land which was given by Zvonimir, the Croatian King, in his days to St. Lucy (Sv. Lucija) and witnesses [are]: Desimir, Prefect of Krbava, Martin (Mratin) in Lika, Pribinezha, clerk in Vinodol, Jacob (Jakov) on the island. If anyone denies it, let him be cursed by 12 Apostles and 4 evangelists and St. Lucy. Let anyone who lives here prays God for them. I abbot Dobrovit built this church with my nine brethren at the time of Prince Kosmat who ruled the whole Country. In those days Mikula was in Otochac with St. Lucy together.