Bojanci (; german: Bojanze''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 4.) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

Municipality of Črnomelj The Municipality of Črnomelj (; sl, Občina Črnomelj) is a municipality in southeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Črnomelj. The municipality is at the heart of the area of White Carniola, the southeastern part of ...

in the

White Carniola White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...

area of southeastern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistična regija) is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the au ...

Name

Bojanci was attested in 1674 as ''Dorff Woianze''. The name is derived from the Slavic

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

''Bojanъ'', derived from the name ''Bojeslavъ'' (literally, 'he that wins fame through battle'). Like similar names (e.g.,

Bojanja Vas Bojanja Vas (; sl, Bojanja vas, german: Bojansdorf''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 12.) is a village in the Municipality of Metlika ...

), the plural name thus means 'inhabitants of Bojan's village'. In the past the German name was ''Bojanze''.

History

The village was established by

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their ...

that had joined the Uskok bands when fleeing Ottoman persecution (see

Serbs of White Carniola Apart from the immigrant community that makes up the vast majority of Serbs in Slovenia, there are a few villages in the southern region of White Carniola inhabited by descendants of Serbs (Uskoks) that fled from the Ottoman Empire in the 16th cent ...

). Bojanci is unique among the Serb-inhabited settlements because history records its foundation as taking place precisely in 1593. The village was founded by

Montenegrin Serbs Serbs of Montenegro ( sr, / ) or Montenegrin Serbs ( sr, / ),, meaning "Montenegrin Serbs", and meaning "Serbs Montenegrins". Specifically, Their regional autonym is simply , literal meaning "Montenegrins",Charles Seignobos, Political Histo ...

from the region of the

Bojana River The Bojana ( cnr, Бојана), also known as the Buna ( sq, Bunë), is a river in Albania and Montenegro which flows into the Adriatic Sea. An outflow of Lake Skadar, measured from the source of the lake's longest tributary, the Morača Ri ...

, who, following the end of the

War of Cyprus War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular or ...

, in which they participated on the Venetian side, settled first in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

, and then again, after the outbreak of the

Long Turkish War The Long Turkish War or Thirteen Years' War was an indecisive land war between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, primarily over the Principalities of Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia. It was waged from 1593 to 1606 but in Euro ...

, in White Carniola.

Church

The local church is thus a Serbian Orthodox Church, dedicated to the

Beheading of St. John the Baptist The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Herod ...

. It dates to the late 18th century, when it replaced its wooden predecessor.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 12913

Demographics

According to the 1991 census: *

: 47 (46.1%) *

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, History ...

: 18 (17.6%) *

Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Jugoslaveni'', Serbian and Macedonian ''Jugosloveni''/Југословени; sl, Jugoslovani) is an identity that was originally designed to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has be ...

: 14 (13.7%) *

ethnic Muslims Muslims ( Serbo-Croatian Latin and sl, Muslimani, Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic and mk, Муслимани) is a designation for a Serbo-Croatian speaking Muslims, inhabiting mostly the territory of the former Yugoslav republics. The term, adopted ...

: 3 (2.9%) *

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

: 1 (1.0%) *Unknown: 19 (18.6%)

References

External links

Bojanci on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Črnomelj Serb communities in Slovenia {{Crnomelj-geo-stub