Venerabilis presul Iohannes. Historijski Ivan Ravenjanin i začetci crkvene organizacije u Splitu u VII. stoljeću
Venerabilis presul Iohannes. Historical John of Ravenna and the beginning of church organization in Split in the 7th century

Summary/Abstract: The 11th chapter of Thomas the Archdeacon’s chronicle has a significant historiographic importance because of the information on the reform of ecclesiastical life in the Diocletian’s palace after the fall of Salona. However, due to the missing chronological guidelines in the text, the time of that important event was impossible to determine precisely. Consequential dilemmas in interpreting this chapter were reflected in the historiographic conclusions with emphasized differences in approach. Some historians place this first ecclesiastical reorganization in central Dalmatia in the 7th century, while others set it at the end of the 8th century or in different periods of the 9th century. Attempts were also made to equate John of Ravenna with John, the first metropolitan bishop of Split from the first quarter of the 10th century. This work presents an overview of the earlier opinions as well as reinterpretation of Thomas’s claims by taking into account several historical sources that were recognized long ago but were, in this context, insufficiently or inadequately examined. These historical sources include the archiepiscopal catalogues, memorial documents (the wellknown scheda by Ivan Lučić), epigraphic sources (the inscription from Škrip on the island of Brač) and architectural and artistic monuments dated in the period of John of Ravenna’s restoration. The question of Ravenna, an important political and ecclesiastical center and the archbishop’s supposed place of origin presents itself as a completely new problem. The work aims at establishing the accuracy of Thomas the Archdeacon’s claims by using certain analyzed narrative and other sources in affirming the historicity of the first prelate of Split.

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