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Holy bishops negotiating peace: the case of Blessed John Orsini (1064-1111) bishop of Trogir

Somewhere in the course of 1203, bishop of Trogir Michael Maccarelli (1180-1206) gave the mandate to his archdeacon Treguan to write the "Life and miracles of Blessed John of Trogir". Some eleven years earlier (in 1192) the same bishop had received a delegation headed by cardinal Gregory de Sancto Apostolo, on his journey to Hungary, authorized by pope Celestine III to investigate into the life and miracles of Hungarian king Ladislas (died in 1095). Due to the bad weather conditions the delegation spent the Lent period in Trogir. The time was used to make an enquiry into the life of bishop of Trogir John Orsini (1064-1111), a keen and faithful follower of the reforming pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). According to the valid papal canonization procedure sixty reliable witnesses testified under oath and an extensive record on their testimonies was written. Apart from this detailed record then extant in the diocesan archives, Treguan had an old, torn and shabby manuscript written by an anonimous bishop's contemporary at his disposal to compose his version of the bishop's life. Two chapters of the Treguan's version (Chapters IV and V) were dedicated to the role of John Orsini in negotiating peace between the citizens of Zadar and the Hungarian king Coloman, who, disrespecting the allience with Venice, came to Dalmatia in 1105 and besieged the town of Zadar, already famous for its strongly fortified city walls. This time the mediation of the holy bishop (famous for his eloquence, saintly life and excellent formation) saved the city of Zadar from destruction, as the Hungarian king, convinced by his words, decided to break the siege and conquer the city with "good deeds". The city of Zadar was not that fortunate in November 1202, when the Crusade army razed it to the ground, shed considerable christian blood, violently and without pity compelled the citizens to surrender, despoiled its churches and monasteries, destroyed its buildings, toppled its walls, all in spite of pope Innocent III's prohibition of such adventures and the threatened sanctions which included automatic excomunication and loss of the crusade indulgence. The tragedy of Zadar was one of the major events at the beginning of the 13th century not only in the history of Dalmatia but of the Latin Christendom. It is possible that the bishop of Trogir Maccarelli wanted to use the two episodes in the history of Zadar and Trogir to promote the canonization procedure of John Orsini in the Innocent III's Curia.

peace; religion; negotiations; Blessed John Orsini; Trogir; 11th century; Zadar; siege;

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