The Franciscan Observance in Bosnia and the problem of structural integrity: the disintegration of the Bosnian vicariate (1444-48) and the downfall of the Bosnian-Dalmatian province (1469)

This thesis examines the relationship between the development of the Franciscan Observance and the problem of the Bosnian vicariate’s disintegration and the downfall of the Bosnian-Dalmatian province. Existing historiography lacks a comprehensive study of the problem that would examine the stages of withdrawal of the Bosnian vicariate’s jurisdiction from different geographical areas and establish their relationship with the expanding Observance. My study also aims to integrate the findings of Western Medieval Studies about this late medieval reform movement with the local historiographic traditions. The main research question of the thesis is the extent to which the Observance played a role in the vicariate’s disintegration, and what significance did it have for the later downfall of the Bosnian-Dalmatian province? My thesis is divided into three sections exploring these problems. The first section deals with the foundation and territorial expansion of the Bosnian vicariate, as well as the problems of adoption and adaptation of the Observant identity. The second section examines the retreat of the vicariate’s jurisdiction from three areas, Southern Hungary, Apulia and Dalmatia, and its relationship to the developing Observance. The third section focuses on the history of the Bosnian-Dalmatian province and its downfall. My work demonstrates that this twofold structural collapse was directly related to the development of the Observance. The problems of obedience and religious conduct, both central topics of the Observance, kept re-emerging, and they fractured the vicariate into various conflicted families, representing its different parts, and caused discord between the friars in Bosnia and their Cismontane superiors. Internal clashes broke down the Bosnian vicariate across its constituent elements and later led to the downfall of the Bosnian-Dalmatian province. Finally, my thesis establishes the Bosnian vicariate in the framework of Observance’s internal diversity and demonstrates that the story of the Franciscan Observance is not complete without Bosnia.