Istria on the Internet - Genealogy - FHL Microfilm Holdings of Glagolitic Records

FHL Holdings of Glagolitic Records

Brief Historical Background

Glagolitic was the original Slavic alphabet invented by Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius about 860. The word "glagolitic" (glagoljica in Croatian) comes from the old Slavic verb "glagoljati," which means "to speak."

It is generally believed that the word itself was formed from a nonsense syllable gol- which was repeated, to imitate the sound of speaking, much as the word "barbarian" was invented by the Greeks to describe languages unfamiliar to them (others sounded like "bar-bar....").

After Methodius died in 885 (Cyril died in Rome in 863), his disciples were kicked out of Moravia (which was centered on the Pannonian plain). Some went to Bulgaria, where Cyrillic was actually devised. Others went to the Croatian coast, where they remained and continued using Glagolitic.

During the middle ages, and up to the early 19th century on some islands, Croatian Catholic priests who did not know Latin continued to write in Croatian using the Glagolitic alphabet. They were called glagoljasi.

Status of Holdings and Microfilming (as per November 26, 1996)

With the LDS microfilming underway in Croatia, there is now a good-sized collection of material written in the Glagolitic alphabet which will definitely present problems for researchers. Knowledgable sources in Salt Lake City estimate that currently the Family History Library (FHL) may have from 8,000 to 10,000 pages of Glagolitic records.

They predominently come from the region south of Istria. Presently they are centered at Krk and other nearby islands south of Fiume (Austria) / Rijeka (Croatia) in the area of the old Venetian Dalmatian coast. It is felt that FHL microfilms of parish records from at least 20 parishes in this region include some Glagolitic.

Glagolitic records at the FHL

A web page listing those locations where Glagolitic records now appear is presently under construction, and will everntually be linked to this paragraph. In the fall of 1996. a camera crew from the Genealogical Society of Utah has started to film records in Rijeka (Fuime). Thus considerably more Glagolitic material is expected to be filmed, cataloged and made accessable at the FHL for its patrons by the end of this decade and the early years of the next century.

Sources:

Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFH) - FHL Holdings of Glagolithic Records