ABSTRACT
The pride of nobility, however, prevented them from giving up certain customs, even in the face of the most hopeless financial hardship. The broader environment in which Petrus Szmendrovich – as he was referred to in his mother tongue, Petar Szmendrovich – was born was the region of Turopolje, a part of continental Croatia with ancient roots and a distinguished legal status. Besides the Szmendrovich family there is only one relation with a different family name mentioned by the sources at my disposal – our protagonist alludes in a letter dated 1781 to a certain Catharina Krilchicht as his noble kinswoman. The visitation records include detailed accounts of the financial position of the churches, defined partly by the alms forthcoming from gifts to the church and partly by the various funds. The visiting archdeacon had checked that Szmendrovich possessed a copy each of all the books which are indispensable for a vicar’s life, such as the Tridentinum and Cathechismus Romanus.
