Christianity and the development of Croatian literacy

Na hrvatskom kulturnom prostoru svećenici Katoličke crkve rabili su kao liturgijski jezik osim latinskoga i crkvenoslavenskoga i književni jezik koji je bio oblikovan u skladu s govornim jezikom jednostavnoga puka. Taj je liturgijski jezik nastao u sjeni i na temelju crkvenoslavenskoga i bio je u rimokatoličkom bogoslužju u Hrvata u uporabi stoljećima prije Drugoga vatikanskoga koncila (1962.). Njegovu širenju pogodovala je legenda o sv. Jeronimu koja kaže da je Sveto pismo preveo na jezik dalmatinskih Slavena, tj. Hrvata, i da ga je zapisao glagoljicom, primarnim pismom hrvatskih glagoljaša. Pod utjecajem legende o sv. Jeronimu nastao je i prvi hrvatski tiskani rječnik Fausta Vrančića. U njemu se “dalmatinski” ubraja u najplemenitije europske jezike, prvenstveno zbog pretpostavke da je riječ o materinskom jeziku sv. Jeronima. To je bio začetak hrvatske leksikografije, u vremenu u kojem je prema nalogu Katoličke crkve za misionarske potrebe nastala prva hrvatska gramatika koju je napisao isusovac Bartol Kašić. Takve činjenice pokazuju da se je hrvatski književni jezik starijega doba izgrađivao u skladu sa strujanjima i potrebama zadanih unutar Katoličke crkve i da je hrvatski liturgijski jezik Katoličke crkve ključno obilježio i usmjerio razvoj i nastanak hrvatskoga književnoga jezika.The priests of the Croatian cultural space utilised not only Latin and Church Slavonic as liturgical languages, but also a literary language that had been formed in accordance with the spoken language of the common people. This liturgical language originated in the shadow and on the basis of Church Slavonic, and was used by Croats in Roman Catholic worship for centuries prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962). The language spread partly due to the legend of St. Jerome, who was said to have translated the Holy Scripture into the language spoken by the Dalmatian Slavs, i.e., Croats, and had written it down in Glagolitic script, the primary Croatian Glagolitic alphabet. The legend of St. Jerome also influenced the creation of the first printed Croatian dictionary by Faust Vrančić (Faustus Verantius). It classifies the “Dalmatian” language among the noblest of the European languages, primarily due to the assumption that it was St. Jerome’s mother tongue. This marks the origin of Croatian lexicography at a time when the first Croatian grammar was composed by a Jesuit, Bartol Kašić (Bartholomaeus Cassius), who, acting on the order of the Catholic Church, had created the grammar to be used for the purposes of missionary work. These facts demonstrate that the development of Croatian literary language at its earlier stages, was aligned with the strivings and needs of the Catholic Church and that Croatian liturgical language of the Catholic Church had made a crucial impact and directed the development and emergence of Croatian literary language