Antun Belglava (, 1730–1790) was bishop of Curzola from 1781 to 1787, and later bishop of Trogir (Trau). He is mainly known for his work of correction of the

Glagolitic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

liturgical books.

Life

Antun Belglava was born in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

on 16 April 1730 to a noble family. He studied at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. Returned to Zadar, he became

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the diocese, holding also the position of canon of the chapter in Nin. His ecclesiastical career followed with the appointment as protonotary apostolic and, in 1767, he became canon of the chapter of

Zadar Cathedral The Cathedral of St. Anastasia () is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Zadar, Croatia, seat of the Archdiocese of Zadar, and the largest church in all of Dalmatia (the coastal region of Croatia). The church's origins date back to a Christian basi ...

. In Zadar, probably asked by bishop Matteo Caraman, he started a long work in correction of the

church books in

Croatian recension of Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...

. In 1778,

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

offered him to be bishop of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

, but he gently refused. On 17 September 1781, he was appointed bishop of Curzola. The next 30 September he was consecrated

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in the patriarchal church of San Pietro di Castello in Venice by Patriarch Federico Maria Giovanelli. He entered in

Korčula Korčula () is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk. The populat ...

only in November 1782. On 28 September 1787, he was transferred to the diocese of Trogir (Trau). He died in Trogir (Trau) on 20 February 1790. Due to his ministry, he never succeeded to complete his work of correction of Glagolitic liturgical books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belglava, Antun 1730 births 1790 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Croatia 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Republic of Venice People from Zadar