PUBLIC HONORS AND DEEDS OF FRA LUJO SPAGNOLETTI, THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBROVNIK 1792–1799

Sa？etak At the end of the eighteenth century Franciscan cleric Lujo Spagnoletti was the archbishop and metropolitan of the Dubrovnik’s Church. Dubrovnik Senate elected him when he was already quite old. Due to this ？rm recommendation of Dubrovnik authorities, accompanied with his successful career and extensive knowledge proven by passing all the prescribed exams in Rome, Spagnoletti did not have any problems to acquire the papal approval, too. In this way he became one of many domestic clerics, mostly Franciscans and Dominicans, who governed the Archbishopric of Dubrovnik since 1720, when it was decided that local people could obtain this of？ce. Spagnoletti was well known expert of the Canon Law and moral theology. Moreover, he was excellent preacher and diligent priest, and during his of？ce as the governor of the Dubrovnik province of St. Francis he obtained a signi？cant administrative experience. Unfortunately, a series of misfortunes and unpleasant circumstances did not allow him to play a signi？cant role during his time at the Dubrovnik Archbishopric Diocese. Namely, after the earthquake of 1677 and the war crisis during the French invasion of Italy at the end of the eighteenth century Church of Dubrovnik rather quickly became quite poor, and therefore Spagnoletti was not able to ef？ciently resist secular authorities and their attempts to dispose property of the Dubrovnik Church. One of the most dif？cult instances was abolishment of the medieval Benedictine abbey of St. Mary at the island of Lokrum. In this occasion archbishop of Dubrovnik had to support claims of Dubrovnik Senate to remove Benedictine monks from this monastery, and to sell out all the property of the monastery in order to compensate ？nancial damage caused by the French demands. A year after a long in？rmity archbishop Spagnoletti has died, and by such his life became an example prized in many panegyrics. Namely, besides preserved archival sources, the archbishop’s letters addressed to the Curia of Dubrovnik and other documents produced by the contemporary Dubrovnik authorities, there are also two public speeches that can serve as excellent source for the investigation and evaluation of Lujo Spagnoletti’s life. The ？rst one was given by canon Rafael Radelja in May 1792 in occasion of Spagnoletti’s inauguration to the position of newly elected archbishop of Dubrovnik, and the second one was funeral speech by Francesco Maria Appendini held in July 1799. Though the both speakers gave much attention to the clarity of Latin and glorifying stylistic ？gures, it is quite clear that both of