Abstract: This study aims to address the much-debated and still unresolved questions regarding the formation of the Bosnian Church and its relationship to heresy. The primary focus is on the extent to which the Bosnian Church can be understood as heretical in the 12th and 13th centuries. Dalmatian sources from the 14th century refer to the Bosnian church (Bosanska Crkva) as the Patarenes. In this context, ‘Patarenes’ is an established term reflecting the perspective of the Western Christian (Roman) Church, which viewed the Bosnian Church as schismatic or heretical. However, while at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, contemporary sources describe the Patarenes as heretics who settled on the territory of Bosnia after being expelled from Trogir and Split. This paper re-examines historical reports on the Patarenes and explores the question of a direct affinity and continuity between the Patarenes and the Bosnian Church in the 13th century. A broader corpus of sources has been considered, including the narrative value of various accounts concerning the Bosnian Church and heresy, particularly those from Western European authors and documents issued by the Papal Curia. The focus here is on the supposed relationship of the Bosnian Ban, Kulin, and the Bosnian royal court to heresy, further on the reports of contacts between Bosnian heretics and heretics in Dalmatia and northern Italy in the 12th-13th century and finally, on the question of the contact points of the beliefs of these heretics. The thesis argues that Western sources depict Bosnian heretics as part of a unique church environment within a superficially Christianized Bosnian society. The findings of the study challenge the perception of a direct identification or close connection between the Bosnian clergy, the ruler’s court, and the Patarenes in Bosnia. However, the paper also questions the existence of a strict dichotomy between the Patarenes in Bosnia as dualists and the Bosnian Church. The final conclusion supports the idea that Bosnian Christianity in this period exhibited significantly greater variability and heterogeneity of Bosnian Christianity than has been assumed in the majority of earlier studies.

Author: Druga, Marek

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2025.18.1.61-75

Publication order reference: Marek Druga, PhD.; Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of History, P.O.Box 198, Klemensova 19, 814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7233-434X, WOS Researcher ID: X-6079-2019, SCOPUS Author ID: 57198510992

Source: Konštantínove listy, 2025, vol.: 18, issue: 1, pages: 61-75 (PDF file)

Keywords: BOSNIA, HERESY, PAPACY, DUALISM, PATARENES

Language: ENGLISH

Recommended Citation:

Druga, Marek. 2025. A Few Notes on the Origins of the Bosnian Church and its Connection to Heresy. In Konštantínove listy [Constantine’s Letters] 18/1, 61-75.