Bishops of Duvno, 1337-1654

This is part 41 in a series on Daniel Farlati’s Illyricum Sacrum.

Duvno was located 60 miles east of Split, in what is now modern day Tomislavgrad, Bosnia. It was historically known as Delminium and later dumnenses. Strabo writes that it was a large city which the Illyrian Dalmatae tribe derived their name from. The Romans captured and destroyed Delminium in 155 BC, and it remained scarecly populated afterwards.

Thomas the Archdeacon, writing in the 13th century, says that walls of the ancient city were still existent in his day. He cites an inscription that stated Germanus of Capua consecrated a church while passing through to constantinople in 519. He puts the establishment of the diocese in the 7th century, after the migration of the population from Salona to Spalato, and John of Ravenna’s travels through the area. Farlati suggests that the 6th century diocese of Mactaris originally encompassed Delminium¹.

The list here is as Farlati published it.

Malchus (590)

He is mentioned in several letters by Gregory the Great. He is referred to as the Bishop of Dalmatia, but from what city he presided in is unclear. Farlati likens his location to Delminium, given that is where Dalmatia derived its name. He was not in good standing with Rome. He disregarded Papal commands and was accussed to stealing church assets from Salona. When the bishop of Salona passed in 593, he caused a schism by installing Maximus as bishop over the Roman approved Honorius. in 597 Malchus had a change of heart. He traveled to Rome to plead forgiveness, but died there before any judgement was passed.

Although Thomas the Archdeacon reported the Diocese established in the mid seventh century, Farlati finds no other bishops mentioned until the 14th. Even as late as 1185, there is no mention of Delinium being at the regional council of Spalato. Farlati thinks the area may have been subject to the Bosnian church, citing a 1222 council in Dubrovnik in which there was a discussion contra haereticos Dolmi.

Madius (1337)

Farlati attributes the restoration of the diocese to Peter IX, who also restored the diocese of Makarska. He may have been doing so expecting that Charles I of Hungary would drive out the heretics from that region.

Madius is recorded as bishop as early as 1337 in the archives of Trogir. In 1344 Dominic Luccari summoned Valentinus, the bishop of Makarska over his refusal to impose an interdict on his city. He refused to attend, instead sending Madius, who offered no defense of his actions. As a result Valentinus was excommunicated, but later reinstated in to the church.

Guerrinus (1347)

Octavia Janković Spader calls him Episcopus Pulichiensis, vulgo de Puglizza. The Poljica region lied just southeast of split, but was not a diocese. Farlati concludes that he must be referring to the Duvno diocese. It may have been Guerrinus was absent from Duvno proper due to regional instability.

Stephanus (1355)

An inscription carved in the Monestary of St. Stephen reads Domini Stephani Dei Gratia Episcopi Dalmatiae anno domini MCCCLV. He was bishop during the reign of Tvrtko I of Bosnia, whose relationship with the Catholic clergy was not always cordial.

Petrus (1394)

Petrus Teliconius (Petar Tilikonis). Lucas Vadingus writes that he previously served in the office of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Georgius (~1406)

Georgius found the ministry field in Duvno difficult due to the schismatics in the area. Filippo Riceputi finds a document in the archives of Zadar in which He is transferred to the diocese of Hvar in 1412.

Georgius II (1412)

Unknown other than in a letter From Martin V to Blasius which mentions his death. Believed to be distinct from the previous Georgius, who was still alive at the time as bishop of Hvar.

Blasius (1419)

A member of the Friars Minor of St. Francis, otherwise unknown outside the papal document which appointed him Bishop.

Nicolaus (~1426)

Nothing is remembered of him.

Hugo (1433)

Vadingus calls him the bishop of “dognensis” which Farlati corrects as a scribal error for the latin “dumnensis”. Otherwise unknown.

Hieronymus (1439)

He was originally from Trogir. He served 20 years before asking to resign, partly from old age, partly from political instability in the region. A 1465 Will was preserved by Joseph Binius, an Archpriest in Gemona, Italy, in which Hieronymus granted all of his posessions to Georgius Caesarovichius, a priest on the island of Brač.

Nicolaus II (1460)

Originally from Zadar and the last to reside in Duvno before the Ottomans captured and destroyed it. Afterwards he resided again in Zadar. Not long after he traveled through northern Italy collecting funds for a crusade. He arrived to collect funds in Gemona and, finding a warm reception, proposed that he remain there in the service of the church.

What became of him, whether he stayed in Gemona or returned to Dalmatia, is unknown. The church of Gemona was being governed by Archpriest Francis of Aviano just a few months after his visit.

Vitus (1490)

Vitus De Ruschis, a native of Hvar who had served as Vicar General for the bishop there. As Duvno was under occupation by the Ottomans, he resided in Spalato and was a Vicar General for the Archbishop. Farlati says he used to travel through his diocese disguised as a layman in order to administer to Catholics there. He is said to have secured the right to worship openly from the Turkish governor. What become of him after 1496 is unknown.

Nicolaus III (~1540)

Farlati finds his name in Roman records but no trace of him in Dalmatia. He died in 1551.

Daniel (1551)

Daniel Vocatius. He was a native of Spalato. After his consecration he petitioned King Ferdinand I for aid in administering his diocese under the harsh Ottoman rule. He was for a time accused of overstepping his authority and quarelling with the Franciscans, prompting Pope Paul IV to have the matter investigated by the Archdiocese. Daniel relocated to Omiš at some point due to ongoing conflict with the Ottomans. Historians after Farlati found that he was transferred to the diocese of Muro Lucano in south Italy in 1575 and died in 1577.

Daniel II (~1590)

Farlati’s source is Luka Vladmirović (Lucas Vladmirovichius). Luka writes that Daniel was imprisoned by the Turks and later ransomed. He was captured a second time and executed near Ljubuški for converting Muslims. Marko Dobretić also recounts a certain Daniel who was captured and ransomed, but does not mention the execution. Later historians have suggested There was not a second Daniel, and that this story was in fact one attributed to Daniel Vocatus.

Marianus (1644)

He was bishop only a year before being transferred to be the bishop of Bosnia.

Michael (1654)

Surnamed Jahum. In a letter to Cardinal Antonio Barberini he reports that due to war the city was completely destroyed and few people lived in the area. He relocated to Senj, and apparently never returned to Duvno. He was suspended in 1662 and died 3 years later.