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According to the Vatican Library, St. Jerome is Inventor of the Croatian Glagolitic Script
St. Jerome, one of the most important spiritual writers of the Western Civilization, who translated the Bible into Latin language, died in 420 AD. His importance for Croatia is analogous to that of St. Martin for France (who died in 397 AD). St. Jerome entered into the history of Croatian literature already in the Middle Ages. In Croatia, there are as many as 64 churches and chapels bearing the name of this saint. The present Papal Croatian Department of St. Jerome in Rome has its roots from the time of Pope Sixto V (16th ct.), who was of Croatian origin. Protector of theologians, librarians, teachers and students, St. Jerome is celebrated on 30th of September.
(containing information about 64 churches and chapels of St. Jerome in Croatia; many thanks to Dr. Ivan Botica)
Pope Sixto V
Pope Sixto V (1521-1590, the pope from 1585-1590), born in the Italian province of Marche, had Croatian roots. Indeed, historical documents say that his father was a Croat from the Boka kotorska bay (now in Montenegro), and his mother was Italian. Due to his enormous contribution to the modern urban shaping of Rome, some specialists (e.g. Giedion) think of him as the earliest urbanist in the modern sense. He initiated building of the Vatican Library. The famous Michelangelo's cupola of the basilica of St. Peter had been erected during his pontificate.
Pietro Gagliardi: Pope Sixto V with a drawing of the church of St. Jerome, 1850.
The portrait is kept in Croatian church of St. Jerome in Rome.
Croatian (Illyric) Capitol in Rome, since 1901 renamed to the Papal Croatian Department of St. Jerome. Chiesa Rettoria San Giorlamo dei Croati in Rome (source Wikipedia). Here, San Giorlamo = St. Jerome.
He also introduced 15 congregations and reduced the total number of cardinals to 70. It is interesting that the first non-Italian cardinal appointed by Sixto V was a Croat: Juraj Draskovic (Georgius Draskovitius Croata), the Zagreb Bishop and Croatian ban (Viceroy).
Sala Sistina (the Sixtine Hall) in the Vatican Library, with the figure of St. Jerome on the right (the first column, with blue background), containing the table of the Croatian Glagolitic Script above his head (on red background).
Many thanks to Darijo Tikulin for sending me the above two photos, issued as a part of the front cover of his book
"Libri iz armaruna moga dida Mate maranguna", Zadar 2018., published by Društvo zadarskih Arbanasa.
By a special bull, Pope Sixto V founded the Croatian (Illyric) Capitol in Rome, the unique national Capitol in Rome in the entire history of the Church (in 1901 renamed to the ``Papal Croatian Department of St. Jerome' by Pope Leo XIII). He rebuilt and reconstructed many churches in Rome, but there was only one newly built church in Rome during his papacy: the Synodal Croatian (Illyric) Church of St. Jerome. It served for the needs of the Croatian people. By a special bull he ordered that it should have 11 priests of the Croatian origin (nationis Illyricae). He also confirmed the Croatian (Illyricae) Guesthouse in Rome (built in 1445). The presence of many Croatian pilgrims in Rome had been confirmed by Dante in his Divine Comedy (Eden, 31, 103), see here:
It is interesting that Dante Alighieri (13/14th centuries) mentions the Croatian pilgrims to Italy in his Divine Comedy (Paradiso XXXI, 103-108):
Qual e colui che forse di Croazia viene a veder la Veronica nostra che per l'antica fame non sen sazia, ma dice nel penser, fin che si mostra "Segnor mio, Gesu Cristo, Dio verace, or fu si fatta la sembienza vostra?"
Ivan Mestrovic's St. Jerome in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia, Washington DC, USA A gift from Croatian Fraciscan Glagolitic Tertiaries in the USA
St. Jerome by Ivan Meštrović, Rome, 1942
Pope Sixto V by Ivan Meštrović, Rome 1942.
A famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović is the author of two stone reliefs depicting St. Jerome and Pope Sixtus V. The reliefs were made in 1942 and are located at the entrance porch of the building of
A part of the map of Illyrian provinces (roughly Croatia + Bosnia and Herzegovina)
which had the privilege of using St. Jerome institutions in Rome,1660 (kept in Rome, in Papinski hrvatski zavod sv. Jeronima - Papal Croatian collegium of St. Jerome).
+ SOCIETAT SANCTI HYERONIMI NATIONIS ILLYRICORUM ALMAE VRBIS
Amblem of the Confraternity of St. Jerome in Rome from 1585, with coats of arms of Dalmatia and Croatia on the top, and Slavonia and Bosnia at the bottom
