Author: Kristian Paskojević
Origin
Cyrillic is the second younger Slavic script, developed based on the Greek alphabet. For a long time, it was believed that the script was designed by the disciples of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius to facilitate the Christianization of the Slavs near Byzantium and that it was named in the honor of St. Cyril. The proclamation of Cyrillic as the official script of the Bulgarian Empire in 893 AD contributed to its spreading; however, the assumption regarding its authorship has since been dismissed. Cyrillic is not the result of individual inspiration but rather a historical process.
Cyrillic was used to write some of the monuments of the Old Church Slavonic canon (e.g., Sava’s book, Codex Suprasliensis). Unlike Glagolitic, Cyrillic is today one of the most widespread writing systems in the world, used even by non-Slavic peoples—particularly in Central Asia in the former Soviet states, and beyond (e.g., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, etc.).
Among Croats
Cyrillic is also a historical script of the Croats, the use of which can be traced from the 12th to the 19th century. The oldest preserved Croatian Cyrillic monuments date back to the 12th century. Cyrillic letters appear on the Glagolitic Baška Tablet (around 1100) and the Glagolitic Supetar Fragment (12th century). The Povlja Threshold (1184) is the oldest dated complete Croatian Cyrillic inscription. Also from Povlja (on the island of Brač) is the Charter of Povlja (1250).
Medieval Cyrillic epigraphy is particularly rich in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among the oldest monuments is the Humac Tablet (12th century), a Cyrillic inscription with several Glagolitic letters, which was embedded in the wall of the Franciscan monastery in Humac (Herzegovina). The parchment Charter of Ban Kulin (1189) is another significant document, which attests to the existence of a Slavic chancery in Dubrovnik as early as the late 12th century.
One of the older documents is the Letter of Duke Đuro Kačić of Omiš to the Dubrovnik Commune (1276). Diplomatic documents continued to be written in the 14th century. In fact, the State Archives in Dubrovnik hold the largest collection of Cyrillic documents in the entire Balkans, estimated at around 10,000 records.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the Hval Codex was written for the Duke of Split and Bosnia Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić. This illuminated manuscript was likely produced in Hrvoje’s residence in Omiš.
The Poljica Statute (1440) is a legal monument. The people of Poljica referred to the Cyrillic script as Glagolitic. Such an interchange of names between the two Slavic scripts was not uncommon. In Dubrovnik, for instance, the term presbyteri chiurillice referred to Glagolitic priests.
During the Ottoman conquests, correspondence with Ottoman dignitaries was conducted in Cyrillic, as was diplomatic communication within the broader Croatian cultural sphere, such as at the court of the Hungarian-Croatian King Matthias Corvinus. Numerous Croatian nobles of the 16th century used Cyrillic in their correspondence, including Nikola Jurišić, the defender of Kőszeg.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the first printed Croatian Cyrillic edition appeared: the Catholic prayer book Ofičje Blažene Djeve Marije i Petnaest molitava Svete Bridžide (Venice, 1512). Despite the invention of printing, handwritten codices and lectionaries continued to be written, such as the Dubrovnik manuscript Libro od mnozijeh razloga (1520).
Cyrillic printing was also practiced by Bosnian Franciscans, with a notable example being the Catholic catechism Nauk karstianski by Fra Matija Divković (Venice, 1611).
It should be noted that the majority of the Croatian Cyrillic corpora consists of various public and private documents. A significant portion of these records still awaits transcription, transliteration, and scholarly interpretation.
Script Arvacko
The Cyrillic script used by Croats, particularly in Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, and Bosnian and Herzegovina regions, has been referred to in literature by various names: bosančica, bosanica, western Cyrillic, Croatian Cyrillic, poljičica, etc. A particularly important term found in some Cyrillic monuments is script arvacko.
This designation strongly indicates that the script is an inseparable part of the Croatian cultural identity and heritage that should neither be forgotten nor suppressed.