Patron saints of early Christian and early medieval churches in northern Dalmatia

Kroz rad se nastoji objasniti uloga hagiografije kao arheološkog sredstva pri odgovaranju na određena arheološka pitanja. U radu je obuhvaćen prostor sjeverne Dalmacije, a provedena analiza ranokršćanskih i ranosrednjovjekovnih lokaliteta daje uvid u zastupljenost određenih titulara na spomenutom prostoru. Glavno je polazište rada pitanje šire datacije sakralnih objekata pomoću njihovih titulara, a dotiču se i teme titulara kao vladarskih opcija te odnosa crkava i utvrda Justinijanovog razdoblja. S obzirom na to da je podizanje crkava samo jedan od oblika štovanja, nastoje se navesti i objasniti ostali oblici. Također, pokušava se objasniti kako same posvete nastaju i koji su razlozi njihova nastanka. Ovaj rad napisan je s ciljem da znanstvenike potakne na brojne mogućnosti koje hagiografija kao istraživačka disciplina može pružati i drugim znanostima, odnosno arheologiji.The author of this thesis tried to examine the role of hagiography as an archaeological tool used to answer several questions in archaeology. The thesis covers northern Dalmatia and the analysis of early Christian and early medieval sites in it provides insight into the representation of various patron saints. The starting point for this thesis is the question if sacral sites could be dated approximately by using the information concerning patron saints. The role of patron saints as a means of influence from the ruling class and the relation between churches and fortifications during the reign of Emperor Justinian are also touched upon. Because building churches is only one way of paying respect to saints, other methods of worship are also included. Furthermore, the creation of patron saints and the reasons behind it are examined. This thesis is written with the goal of encouraging other researchers to examine the possibilities which hagiography as a research method can provide, especially in archaeology