Who is important and who is not? On the reasons for including two distinguished renaissance Rab canons from the Stančić family into the integral alphabetical list of entries of the Croatian Biographical Dictionary

Abstract

Using source materials, this paper attempts to explore the lives and work of two identically named protagonists of the social and cultural life of Rab in the second half of the 15th century. Namely, at this time there lived two canons named Toma Stančić in the Rab commune, one of whom was the community notary for many years, while the other was the prior of St Catherine’s church in Komrčar. They were undoubtedly close relatives who left a significant trace on the cultural history of the Rab commune at that time, prompting the organisation of certain church and charity institutions on Rab, serving as their priors and procurators. Analysis shows that canon and notary Toma Stančić gave a significant contribution to the religious culture of Rab through his transcription of Historia sancti Christophori Martyris and, along with the Rab patrician Petro de Zaro, as a promoter of the new religious cult of the Body of Christ. His contemporary, Toma Stančić, the long-serving prior of St Catherine’s church in Komrčar, was an enterprising and agile person who worked with various strata of Rab society, the procurator of the cathedral church and many small churches on Rab. His preserved testament tells of his family circle, close colleagues, and caring for church and charity institutions on Rab. The second part of the analysis discusses the criteria according to which these two individuals could be included in one of the fundamental editions of the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography, the Croatian Biographical Dictionary.