Filip Lastrić (born Martin Jakovović, 1700 – 19 April 1783), also known as Philippus de Occhievia, was a Bosnian writer and friar of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Argentina. His works include the first overview of the

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

and

history of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes referred to simply as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. It has had permanent settlement since the Neolithic Age. By the early historical period it was inhabited by Illyrians and Ce ...

Family

Lastrić was born in a hamlet called Lastre, from which his

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

derives, part of the village Oćevija near

Vareš Vareš ( cyrl, Вареш) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is famous for the local m ...

in the

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia ( tr, Bosna Sancağı, sh, Bosanski sandžak / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Christened Martin, he was one of at least four children of Jakov Ivanić. The family was quite poor. His younger sisters, Anđelija and Lucija, lived in

Kraljeva Sutjeska Kraljeva Sutjeska (sometimes Kraljevska Sutjeska, or just Sutjeska or Sutiska, historically Trstivnica, in local tradition ''Naše stolno misto'') is a village in the municipality of Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The village has historical signi ...

following marriage, while a brother is known to have required financial help from the already ordained Lastrić.

Education and career

Lastrić probably came to the monastery of Kraljeva Sutjeska between 1712 and 1714, as the rules of the monastery stipulated that the boys should be between 12 and 14 years old upon arrival. At the monastery, Lastrić learned to read and write in " Illyrian,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about ...

", as well as the

Bosnian Cyrillic Bosnian Cyrillic, widely known as Bosančica is a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet that originated in medieval Bosnia. The term was coined at the end of the 19th century by Ćiro Truhelka. It was widely used in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

and

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...

. He became a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

in 1719, taking the name Filip. He continued his studies in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

town of

Narni Narni (in Latin, Narnia) is an ancient hilltown and ''comune'' of Umbria, in central Italy, with 19,252 inhabitants (2017). At an altitude of 240 m (787 ft), it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. ...

, where he was ordained a priest in 1724. Lastrić's career started in the

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...

n town of Požega, where he taught philosophy between 1726 and 1729. He then returned to Kraljeva Sutjeska, becoming teacher of the novices. He became

custos {{Wiktionary, custos ''Custos'' is the Latin word for guard. Titles * Custos rotulorum ("keeper of the rolls"), a civic post in parts of the United Kingdom and in Jamaica * Custos (Franciscans), a religious superior or official in the Fran ...

of Bosna Argentina in 1734, and was promoted to provincial superior in 1741. As such, he was very vocal in defending Bosnian Franciscans and lay Catholics in Rome and Vienna as well as in Ottoman courts. He served as provincial superior until 1745. Thanks to Lastrić's insistence in Rome, Bosna Srebrena was restored to the rank of

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

on 15 December 1758, a year after it was demoted to a custody due to the low number of monasteries and friars. Filip Lastrić died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Kraljeva Sutjeska on 19 April 1783.

Works

The surviving works by Filip Lastrić include a philosophy manual (preserved in manuscript) composed during his stay in Požega, four sermon collections, as well as an overview of the history of Bosna Srebrena. The latter, titled ''Epitome vetustatum Bosnensis provinciae'' (''Pregled starina Bosanske provincije'') and published in 1765, includes the first work on Bosnian geography and history. Lastrić also assisted foreigners in their writings about Bosnia, such as the Venetian Jesuit

Daniele Farlati Daniele Farlati (22 February 1690 – 25 April 1773) was an ecclesiastical historian. Farlati was born in San Daniele del Friuli in the present Italian province of Udine. After having studied in Gorizia he entered, in 1707, the Society of Jesus i ...

('' Illyricum sacrum'') and the Hungarian

Piarist The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

Elek Horányi. Lastrić's other notable works are: * ''Testimonium bilabium'' (''Dvojezično svjedočanstvo''), 1755 * ''Od uzame'', 1765 * ''Nediljnik dvostruk: govorenja za svaku nedilju'', 1766 * ''Svetnjak: govorenja za svetkovinu'', 1766

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lastric, Filip 1700 births 1783 deaths Franciscans of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia 18th-century Roman Catholic priests in the Ottoman Empire Franciscan writers 18th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire