The written heritage of the library of the Franciscan friary in Nazarje

Abstract

The article offers a comprehensive study of the Franciscan library in Nazarje, one of the key cultural centres of the Upper Savinja Valley since the seventeenth century. The first part, based on sources such as the Diarium Conventus Nazarethani and early inventories, critically revisits the origins of the library and rejects the long-standing thesis of its Bosnian provenance. Instead, it shows that the collection developed gradually from the friars’ arrival and through donations, notably the bequest of Ludvik Umek in 1752. The second part presents the first systematic survey of more than twenty-six medieval manuscript fragments—liturgical, hagiographic, legal and even secular texts—preserved in bindings, shedding new light on the transfer of earlier materials into the collection. The third part addresses the turbulent fate of the library in the twentieth century, especially wartime destruction, dispersal, and later rediscovery of supposedly lost books. The article thus combines a historical, codicological, and cultural heritage perspective.