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Miholjanec is a
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and one of the oldest settlements in the country.


History


Ancient times

Miholjanec has been settled since at least the Iron Age. During the late Iron Age, the so-called ''bini populi'' ("two people") lived in the area that would eventually become Miholjanec. Historians are unclear on who exactly the ''bini populi'' were; through the years they have been variously identified as Latin
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
,
Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...
,
Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...
,
Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
,
Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...
,
Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
, and Germans. These people built a
hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
on a high plateau. The fort covered and was surrounded by a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
.


Middle Ages

In the 10th century, a
vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
was planted on a hill near Miholjanec. The vineyard's name is translated as is "the seat of the master of the mountain". This vineyard still stands today. In 1160, a plot of land was donated to the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
, who built a monastery in nearby Zdelia. This was the earliest historical mention of the Templars in Croatia and Hungary. There is also a river near Zdelia that has been known by many names.Codex diplomaticus Arpadianus continuatus, Volume 1
pages 229-234
Gusztáv Wenzel, Eggenberger Ferdinánd Akademiai, 1860.
In 1270, an unknown ancient castle was discovered on the land of Mikula. A parish church was built on the spot of the ancient castle in 1334 and called the church of
Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...
. Miholjanec is named after the church. After the dissolving of the Templars, the
Order of Saint John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...
came to Miholjanec, who in 1358 swapped their plot in Miholjanec for another plot in another village. The parish church in that village, the
Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...
, was given ''
jus patronatus The right of patronage (in Latin ''jus patronatus'' or ''ius patronatus'') in Roman Catholic canon law is a set of rights and obligations of someone, known as the patron in connection with a gift of land (benefice). It is a grant made by the chu ...
'' over a church of unknown location halfway between the village and Milengrad, where prisoners of war, war wounded, and war loot were sent.


Early modern period

In 1673, when Miholjanec was part of the
Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...
, there was a
funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
and
public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
house for
border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...
officers and other gentlemen. In 1676, a letter mentioned a contract between
parishioner A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
s in Miholjanec and their parish priest. This letter confirmed all liberties afforded to the parishioners, but whoever disturbed church on Sunday would be required to pay 10
denarius The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Ancient Rome, Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It cont ...
(10 percent of a
ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...
) as punishment. In the same year 1676, a new wooden church was built in Miholjanec. Rad Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti, Volume 406, page 52,
Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...
1984.
In 1736, a great flood of the river
Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.
raised the waters for several months between
Novigrad Podravski Novigrad Podravski is a naselje, village and a municipality in the Koprivnica-Križevci County in Croatia. In the 2011 census, there were a total of 2,872 inhabitants. Croats formed a majority at 94.5%. History In the late 19th century and early ...
,
Hlebine Hlebine is a municipality in Koprivnica-Križevci County in Croatia. It consists of two villages, Hlebine and Gabajeva Greda. History Hlebine is first mentioned 1671 as a village in the Drnje parish. It became an independent parish in the 18th ...
,
Molve Molve (in Hungarian ''Molna'') is a village and a municipality in the Koprivnica–Križevci County in Croatia. In the 2011 census, there were a total of 2,189 inhabitants in the area, in the following settlements: * Čingi-Lingi, population ...
, and Virje. The people of these towns fled to the hill villages of Plavšinac and Miholjanec. This influx led to the rediscovery of Miholjanec's ancient vineyards. Soon after, 300 new vineyards were planted between Plavšinac and Miholjanec in Novigrad Podravski, which by that time had become the seat of a regiment. In 1779, a new church was built, which stands to this day. During construction, a human skeleton was discovered under the stairs of the old church. In addition, a
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...
was discovered in the village, which in the 1960s was dated to the late
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
, possibly 1209. In 1780, it was agreed between the Franciscan monastery in Koprivnica and the General of the Military Frontier that
begging Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...
in Miholjanec was the sole right of the Franciscans.


Modern era

In 1836,
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
made an unsuccessful attempt to restore the ruins of the
Roman aqueduct The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...
in Miholjanec, which comes down the street from St. Michael. Most of it is in ruins, but those of St. John, which is 12
Roman miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...
long, was more than only successful. The regulation of the Drava river between 1830 and 1844 significantly reduced the frequency of flooding. Settlements in the hills around Miholjanec increased in population, which brought logging and a reduced acreage of forests.


Twentieth century

In 1923, Miholjanec celebrated its 750th anniversary, with guests dancing on a natural dance floor with natural acoustics, similar to an
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...
. In 1937, ''Le Monde Slave'' (''The Slavic World''), published in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
by
Ernest Denis Ernest Denis (3 January 1849 – 4 January 1921) was a French historian. Biography Denis became known as a specialist in Germany and Bohemia, and played a major role in the establishment of the Czechoslovak state in 1918. Along with Louis ...
and Robert de Caix mentioned that the folks songs from Miholjanec had been examined in 1933, and fifty of those songs had been reproduced and recorded.Robert de Caix (biographical details)
/ref>


References


External links

* {{commons category-inline Populated places in Koprivnica-Križevci County Ancient Croatia Hill forts in Croatia Former capitals of Croatia