The Association of Displaced, Endangered, and Exiled People of Serbia has sent an initiative to the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Serbia, and the Serbian Orthodox Church to request the return of the baptismal font of Duke Vi\u0161eslav from the Archaeological Museum in Split to Serbia, as it was intended for the Serbian medieval ruler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This significant cultural and historical monument, which dates back to the 9th century, is one of the oldest monuments of Christian liturgy in the Balkans, and as such, it holds deep religious and cultural significance for all Serbs,” the Association stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, official Croatian scholarship regards this baptismal font as a monument to Croatia’s earliest statehood and churchhood! Along its upper edge, an inscription is carved: “This work was made by the priest Jovan in the time of Duke Vi\u0161eslav, in honor of St. John the Baptist, to intercede for him and his ward.” The Croatian hypothesis claims that the baptismal font was located in the diocese of Nin and that Vi\u0161eslav was the first Croatian duke, despite there being no historical source to support this. On the other hand, Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions the Serbian Duke Vi\u0161eslav in his work “On the Peoples.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The only known Slavic ruler named Vi\u0161eslav from the late 8th and early 9th century is the Serbian duke mentioned in Porphyrogenitus’ work. Along with the temporal match, the form of this name appearing on the baptismal font is the same as in the text of the Byzantine emperor. Furthermore, the land of Serbian Duke Vi\u0161eslav stretched across the southern parts of the former ancient province of Dalmatia, and the most important ecclesiastical center in this area, between Split and Durr\u00ebs, was Kotor, whose bishopric at this time was headed by a priest named Jovan. He is mentioned among the attendees at the church council in Constantinople in 787,” noted archaeologist Marko Aleksi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This thesis was confirmed in 2016 by one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union, Dr. Nikola Jak\u0161i\u0107, Emeritus Professor at the University of Zadar, who stated that the baptismal font of Duke Vi\u0161eslav was never in Nin and was made in Venice as a gift for “some Slavic duke” to whom it was never delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It remained in Venice until World War II, when, by agreement between Paveli\u0107 and Mussolini, it was sent to Croatia,” said Jak\u0161i\u0107. “It is not known who Vi\u0161eslav was. He was certainly some Slavic duke, that is stated in the inscription. I believe he was not a Croat. At that time, there was no Croatian nobleman named Vi\u0161eslav.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n