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The Illyrian Nations, Bosnia 115 16 THE ILLYRIAN NATIONS, BOSNIA 58. AFTER Albania come the Illyrian nations, which look toward the west and the north. In our time, we refer to this race of people as Slavs. Some are called Bosnians, some Dalmatians, others Croatians, Istrians, and Carnians. Bosnia slopes inland toward Pannonia and looks to the north. The other peoples border on the sea, extending as far as the source of the Timavo and facing Ausonia [i.e., Italy] on one side and Pannonia on the other. The Timavo pours its waters into the innermost gulf of the Adriatic Sea; Strabo reported that its spring was called “the mother of the sea.”239 59. In Bosnia, the king of that nation, called Stephen (for this is the name they traditionally give their kings), observed the Christian religion but for a long time refrained from the sacrament of baptism. But last year he sent for Cardinal Juan Carvajal, whom I have mentioned often, who washed him with the waters of baptism and duly initiated him into our sacred rites. He then declared war on the Turks, with whom he was allied by a treaty. Now he is said to be vacillating a little.240 In this region, the heretics known as Manichees, an abominable class of people, hold a great deal of influence. They assert that there are two principles of reality, one of good and one of evil. They do not recognize the primacy of the Roman Church nor do they admit that Christ is equal and consubstantial with the Father.241 Their 239. Strabo, Geography, 5.1.8. 240. Stefan Tomas (r. 1443–61) was likely baptized in the Bosnian Church as an infant and rebaptized as a Catholic in 1457. As Fine argues, his status as a Bosnian Christian did not prevent him from being recognized as rightful king by Pope Nicholas V or seeking papal counsel in a Catholic annulment of his marriage early in his reign; see John V. A. Fine, The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation (Boulder, Colo.: East European Quarterly, 1975), 301–3. Concerns that he was wavering probably had much to do with his overtures to make peace with the Ottomans. 241. Dualism or Manicheism, if a handful of Catholic sources can be believed, was practiced only by a very small sect in Bosnia; the Bosnian Church, while neither 116 Dalmatia, Croatia, Liburnia monasteries are said to be located in hidden mountain valleys, where sick matrons vow to God that, if they recover, they will serve the holy men for a certain time; when they are restored to health, they fulfill their vows with their husbands’ permission and live in common with the monks for the prescribed time.242 No decrees of the Apostolic See, no Christian arms have sufficed to eradicate this stain. God permits the heretics to reign in order to test us. 17 DALMATIA, CROATIA, LIBURNIA 60. IN DALMATIA, Stephen, the ruler of a duchy between Bosnia and Dalmatia who had been infected with the poison of the Manichees, inflicted great casualties on the people of Ragusa. Although this man had often ambushed Christians and sold them to the Turks, he had the gall to send emissaries to Rome and seek assistance from the Apostolic See, petitioning Christians for the expenses of a war which he had waged against Christians.243 And there was no lack of men ready to listen to such impious words. In Croatia, there was an Austrian woman who, though humbly born, had been rewarded with marriage to a count for her excellent character and elegant beauty. She was riding from one castle to another for recreation when she was taken captive during a sudden raid of the Turks and detained by them for some time. Her husband finally became impatient and ransomed her for a large amount of gold.244 Catholic nor Orthodox, did accept the Trinity and shared many common beliefs and practices with the two churches. See Fine, Bosnian Church. 242. The source of Aeneas’s information on this matter is unknown. This may be a convoluted reference to the monastic and rural quality of the Bosnian clergy. 243. Stefan Vukčić Kosača, Bosnian ruler or herceg of Hum, later called Hercegovina (r. 1435–66). He alternated between vassalage under the king of Bosnia and alliances with the Turks. He is said to have considered converting to Catholicism but never did; see Fine, LMB, 476–81; 577–79. 244. Aeneas mentions...

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