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Upon their arrival to the Adriatic (VI/VII cent.), the Croats in their continual process of the creation of the national unity had to prevail the contrariness of
morphological, ethnic and cultural inheritance occurred in the area of previous Roman Dalmatia that has been spread according to Porphyrogenitius
"from bounds of Dyrrachium to the Istrian hills and extended up to the river
Danube" as well as the political antagonism between Croatian immigrants and indigenous Roman
population.
The Istrian Benedictines were the first promoters of literacy, art and
science. The monastic pergamenaria of Sv. Andrija (St. Andrew) near Pula,
Sv. Kasijan (St. Kasian) in Poreč, Sv. Petar (St. Peter) in Šuma
(Forest) and St. Ivan (St. John) in Medulin have brought out the first
master-pieces of Croatian literary art, and the programme schedule in monastic schools did involve "liberal
aptitudes", law & theological science. Herman Dalmatian from Istria
(ca. 110-1154) is the most outstanding intellectual of the Croatian Middle
Ages: versatile European scientist whose numerous (literary) works, translations and compilations support and represent the intellectual optimism presuming the dynamic interpretation of the universe accentuating "Divine
pre-essence" as the primary cause of everything and the source of substance and form as fundamental elements and
"indestructible materials" that caused "further
entities" - metals, plant and animal life, the human being.
Key words: Istria, Middle Ages, Benedictines, crusaders, education system, science.
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