The Kne？evi？ Family and the Renovation of Former Pauline Monastery in ？akovec in Early 19th Century – Interpreting Historical Records and Archaeological Traces

Sa？etak The Kne？evi？ family has its roots in the old Croatian-Hungarian nobility that originated from Hercegovina, where their main estate was in Bro？no (Brotnjo). As a result of Ottoman conquests and ongoing warfare, the family moved to Croatia, namely to Krbavsko Polje, where they gained hold of estates in Gra？ac. Thanks to the military record of some members of the family, in 1763 Maria Theresa issued Martin Kne？evi？ a Hungarian charter of nobility, granting him baronetcy. In the early 19th century, Martin’s sons exchanged their estates in Gra？ac for those in Me？imurje, i.e. for the estates of the ？akovec Pauline Monastery which was disbanded in 1786. This is how the family got hold of the villages of ？enkovec, Ma？kovec, Zasad, Knezovec, and a larger part of the market centre of ？trigova with the nearby village of Leskovec, including all appurtenances of the former Paulines. Initially, the estates were owned by all the Kne？evi？ brothers, namely Vinko, Juraj, Antun, Ivan, Petar and Leopold, while the sisters, Marijana and Cecilija, were given dowries. Vinko and Ivan then bought portions of the estates in Me？imurje from their brothers, thus becoming sole owners of Sveta Jelena and ？trigova with accompanying estates. They divided the Me？imurje estates between themselves, whereby Vinko became the owner of Sveta Jelena and Ivan of ？trigova. Although Vinko had three sons, after his death only his son Ivan is recorded, probably as the sole heir to the estate of Sveta Jelena. After him, the estate passed down to Count Fe？teti？, whereas ？trigova remained in the hands of the Kne？evi？ family. Vinko Kne？evi？ and his heirs played a vital role during the first half of the 19th century in preserving the former ？akovec Pauline Monastery. They transformed it into their private residence, a mansion to be precise, in accordance with the living requirements of this noble family. Buildings that were unnecessary, as well as those they considered to be beyond repair, were brought down. Nonetheless, even if the church nave, belfry and the side chapel – the so-called Zrinski Mausoleum – were demolished, and the sanctuary of the church walled up approximately where the triumphal arch once was and turned into the present-day chapel of St. Helen, the intervention can still be considered a positive one, as the ensemble of the monastery was preserved and renovated, clearly, by respecting the condition in which it was found. Today, the former monastery complex, save for the chapel of St. Helen, is preserved only in its archaeological layer. The first archaeological explorations