THE BASKA TABLET
precious stone of Croatian literacy
© by Darko Zubrinic, Zagreb (2000); in Croatian
The Baska tablet is probably the most famous monument of early Croatian literacy, dating from about 1100. Its size and weight are impressive: 2x1 m, 800 kg. According to Branko Fucic and Eduard Hercigonja, the language of inscription is Croatian - Chakavian with elements of liturgical Church Slavonic, and the script is Croatian Glagolitic.
It was found in the church of St. Lucy (Sv. Lucija) in Jurandvor near Baska on Krk, the largest Croatian island. Since 1934 the monument is placed in the main building of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and anybody can see it.
Here we provide transliteration of 13 lines of the Glagolitic text of the Baska tablet into Latin characters. We denote
- Glagolitic "yus" by Ju,
- Glagolitic "yat" by Ja or Je,
- Ch, Zh, Sh correspond to Croatian sounds, that today we write as C, Z, S with hachek,
- semivowel with apostrophe,
- missing letters are placed in parentheses.
| AZ V' IME OTCA I S(I)NA I SVETAGO DUHA AZ' |
| OPAT' DR'ZhIHA PISAH SE O LEDNINE JuZhE |
| DA Z'V'NIM(I)R KRAL' HR'VAT'SKI V' |
| DNI SVOE V' SVETUJu LUCIJu I SVEDO - |
| MI ZhUPAN' DESIMIRA KR'BAVE MARTIN' V L(I) - |
| CE PRB'NEBZhA S' POSL' VIN(0)DOLE JaK(O)V' V O- |
| TOCE DA IZhE TO POREChE KL'NI I BO(G) I *BI* AP(OSTO)LA I *G* E - |
| VANJELISTI I S(VE)TAJa LUCIJa AM(E)N' DA IZhE SDE ZhIVE - |
| T' MOLI ZA NE BOGA AZ OPAT' DBROVIT' Z' - |
| DAH' CREK'V' SIJu I SVOEJu BRATIJu S DEV - |
| ETIJu V' DNI K'NEZA KOS'M'TA OBLAD - |
| AJuChAGO V'SU K'RAINU I BJeShE V' T' DNI M - |
| IKULA V' OTOCh'CI S' SVETUJu LUCIJu V' EDINO |
Audio: Baska tablet (1 MB), narrated by Mr Stjepan Bahert
The approximate English translation of the Baska tablet is as follows:
| 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 (Sv. Lucija). 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 (Sv. Lucija) together. |
Of particular interest is the third line of the Baska tablet, which mentions
the Croatian King Zvonimir. Note that the Glagolitic text corresponding
to HR'VAT'SK'[I] ends with K', since the tablet is damaged on this place.
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The glagolitic A appearing in KRAL' is different from A appearing in HR'VAT'SK'I, which has a unique triangular form:
Its source is obviously from cuneiform scripts, and the meaning is known, see e.g. Hans Jensen's monograph Sign, Symbol and Script, (English translation from German; London, George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1970), pp 85, 87. Curious glagolitic P seems to be related to very old Egyptian group of scripts (Meriotic script), see pp 79 and 81 in the same monograph. Also some Etruscian letters have analogues in the glagolitic.
The reconstructed third line of the Baska tablet containing Zvonimir, Croatian King, looks like this:
Several detilas from the Baska tablet:
The Baska tablet served as the left side of the former closure screen which separated the church monastic choir from the space for congregation. There existed also the right side of the closure screen, out of which only four small pieces have been left.
The Jurandvor 2nd fragment, probably a remain of the second Baska tablet (right side of the closure screen), had been discovered and published in 1864. by Ivan Crncic, together with the Jurandvor I fragment. But already in 1879 Geitler did not find it any more. Accordin to [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, p. 63], it was either discovered or is now in a foriegn collection. It contains a remain of the Croatian name: ...VATSK... (HRVATSKI - Croatian)
...VATSK...
Photo of the Jurnadvor 1st fragment from no later than 1914, made by J. Brunsmid. According to [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, str. 65], the Jurandvor 1st fragment could have belong to the left upper corner of the second Baska Tablet, that is, of the right side of closure screen.
Here we can see the text U ZV'ONIM..., and this is without any doubt a part of the name of Croatian King Zvonimir, 11th century. Here we can see the so called bifurcating M, a ligature ZV, and a semivowel ' in the form of the left key. The photo is from 1914 at the latest.
The condition of the Jurandvor 2nd fragment in 1980 was the following, see [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, see p. 62]:
The characters are hardly recognizable, and bifurcating M is almost entirely damaged, contrary to the above photo taken some 70 years earlier.
As we see, one of the fragments contains the Croatian name (...VATSK...), another a part of name of King Zvonimir (ZV'NIM...), but the content of the whole inscription is unfortunately unknown (see [Fucic], pp 62-65). Thus, we can speak of two Baska tablets, the left one which is saved but damaged, and the right one which is destroyed.
Croatian name in glagolitic texts from around 1100 until 17th century
It is worth noting that in the fifth line of the Baska tablet the names of joupan (prefect) Desimir from Krbava and Martin (Mratin) from Lika are mentioned as witnesses.
The earliest known photo of the Baska Tablet, 1869,
by Ivan Standl
See a large photo: JPG (1MB)
The Baska Tablet has been
studied by Ivan Kukuljevic
Sakcinski (1851), Franjo Racki (1855), Ivan
Crncic (1866), Vjekoslav Stefanic
(1955), and Branko Fucic (1982), where the years in parentheses refer
to published papers and books. The name "precious stone" for the tablet
was given by Stjepan Ivsic, outstanding Croatian linguist. The place where
the Baska tablet has been found is a fascinating valley that you can see
on the photo, with the mighty mountain of Velebit behind it.
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Church of Sv. Lucija (St. Lucy) in Jurandvor
Croatian Coat of Arms on the
Church of St. Lucy, not later than 1494,
and probably much older (a remain of unknown church)
Here you can see an imaginary portrait of King Zvonimir by a Croatian painter Kristian Krekovic, known for his famous gallery in Palma de Mallorca, Spain:
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The Baska tablet and its content were also inspiring for musicians. Maestro Ljuboslav Kuntaric's composition "The Baska Tablet" was performed in 2004 by a mixed choir of the parish church from Gernlinden, Munich, Germany, directed by maestro Alfons Strähhuber, in the church of St. Lucy, Jurandvor. Also Stjepan Sulek wrote a capella composition in 1978/79 entitled "Bascanska ploca".
Baska on the island of Krk
It seems that Dante traveled through Croatia, and with help of Croatian pilgrim, now a friend and guide through Croatia, Bishop Kazotic, he visited Jurandvor on the island of Krk and saw the Baska Tablet.
The Baska Tablet on the banknote of 100 Croatian Kuna (HRK), and Ivan Mazuranic (1814-1890).
It was only in 1971 that the Baska tablet, the most important monument of early Croatian literacy, was allowed to enter the curriculum of our primary schools. During many years of the communist rule in ex-Yugoslavia the Baska tablet was forbidden in Croatian schools. Similarly to this, European representatives of international community in Bosnia - Herzegovina do not allow that textbooks written for Croatian children in this state mention the Baska Tablet, and even the Croatian national anthem Lijepa Nasa Domovino (Our Beautiful Homeland)!
Alter cover in Baska inspired by the Baska Tablet
- For more details see [Fucic], pp 44-65.
- Prvi istrazivaci Bascanske ploce
- Croatian Glagolitic Epigraphy, academician Branko Fucic
- My first appointment with the Baska Slab...
- Episode with the British Prince Philip, related to the Baska tablet.
On this web since July 2000, prepared on the occasion of 9 centuries
since the creation of this precious stone of Croatian literacy.
Back to Croatian Glagolitic Script