Anđeo Zvizdović
Anđeo Zvizdović (or Zvijezdović; c. 1420 – 7 June 1498) was a Franciscan friar and evangelist who negotiated the Ahdname of Milodraž – the promise of the freedom of religion to Bosnian people following the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia.
Religious life
Zvizdović is said to have been born to a noble family in the village of Zvizde near Uskoplje (modern Gornji Vakuf), from which his surname is derived;[1] according to other accounts, he was born in Vrhbosna (modern-day Sarajevo). His religious zeal was fueled by the sermons of Saint James of the Marches, who served as Vicar of Bosnia in the 1430s. James admitted him to the Franciscan Order and named him Anđeo (Angel); Zvizdović's original name is unknown. Zvizdović was particularly distinguished by his public speaking skills even as a novice monk, and was eventually elected head of the Franciscans of Bosnia proper.[1]
After the Ottomans under Mehmed the Conqueror subjugated the Kingdom of Bosnia in 1463, and the subsequent execution of King Stephen, Zvizdović also functioned as the secular representative of the Bosnian people. He stepped forward to meet the Sultan and negotiated the Ahdname of Milodraž, the legal recognition of Bosnian Franciscans by the Ottoman Empire, as well as the promise of freedom of religion to Bosnia's Catholic population.[2]
Zvizdović died in Fojnica on 7 June 1498.[2]
Legacy
Due to his intervention with Mehmed the Conqueror, Anđeo Zvizdović is often credited with the survival of Roman Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2] The remnants of his skeleton, partly burned in the fire of 1524,[1] are buried in the Franciscan monastery in Fojnica.[2] The Martyrologium franciscanum includes him among the beatified Franciscans,[2] and he is venerated as such by the Franciscans and Bosnian Croats.[1] One of the most familiar people in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zvizdić is of interest not only to Bosnian Croats (Catholics) but also to Bosniaks (Muslims) and Bosnian Serbs (Orthodox Christians).[1]