The territory of the present-day Archdiocese of Zagreb was part of the Roman province of Pannonia Savia, centered around the busy river port of Sisak. Christianity started to spread in Pannonia in the 3rd century. The capital of province, Sisak got its first bishop in the second half of the 3rd century. Bishop Castus was mentioned for the first time in 249 A.D. during Emperor Decius’s reign. One of the more notable bishops is Quirinus of Sescia, who suffered during the persecutions of Diocletian.[3]
Sisak was suffragan first to Sirmium, then to Solin but was abolished in the seventh century during the turbulent Avar and Slavic migrations. For a while the area was under the Patriarch of Aquileia. During the rule of Vladislav of Croatia (821–835), all of Croatia except the Archdiocese of Nin became subject to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Spalatum.[4] Later, the Councils of Split confirmed the Archbishopric of Split as the archepiscopal see having the right to govern all parishes on Croatian territory.[5]
History
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The diocese of Zagreb was founded by Ladislaus I of Hungary in 1094. It belonged to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Esztergom until 1180, when it came under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa. King Ladislav was not on good terms with Pope Urban II, who supported King Zvonimir, and did not approve Ladislus' policy towards Croatia. Ladislav then obtained approval for the foundation of the diocese from the Antipope Clement III.[6] After the end of the Avignon papacy, the Diocese was not abolished as the Pope did not oppose its existence.
In 1227 Pope Gregory IX confirmed the grants and privileges of the Zagreb Diocese, among which the most important, the Felitianus’ Charter from 1134 A.D., the oldest preserved document of Croatian land between the rivers Sava and Drava.[6]Coloman, King of Hungary was crowned king of Croatia in Biograd na Moru in 1102.[7] Thus, the Diocese of Zagreb remained under the sponsorship of the King of Croatia and Hungary. The territory of the diocese changed several times throughout history.
On November 11, 1852, it was elevated to the status of an archdiocese.
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Croatia
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