Book introduction by Dr. Jožko Šavli:


	•	Ustolicevanje


	•	Vojvodski Stol in Knezji Kamen


	•	Koroski rej


	•	Zlatorog


	•	Nagelj


	•	The Carnation (A Slovenian Badge)


	•	Lipa


	•	The Linden Tree


	•	Ducal Hat (English )


	•	Slovenski Klobuk - Venetski Klobuk


	•	Vindischer Hut - Slovenian Hat (English )


	•	Venetian horse (Venetski konj)


	•	Slovenska znamenja (Slovenian symbols)

How to order: (please click on Založba Humar)

Slovenska Znamenja

The author of this book is:
Dr. Jožko Šavli, FAS, KdB, FSAI
Fellow of the Augustan Society
Knight de Bryan
Fellow of Sodality of the Ark International

Gradivo, ki je zbrano v tej knjigi, nam predstavlja zgodovinsko in narodno simboliko, ki je vse do danes ostajala neupoštevana, celo odrinjena. Poznali smo jo sicer vsi, vendarle površno ali celo omalovazevalno, kot manjvredno ljudsko folkloro. V knjigi so strokovno obdelani naslednji simboli: Knezji kamen in Vojvodski stol, kot simbola slovenske drzavnosti, nadalje Crni panter kot karantanski grb, Lipa kot slovensko drevo zivljenja, pa še Zlatorog ter Nagelj kot zivalski in rastlinski simbol Slovencev.

Pisec knjige, dr. Jozko Šavli, primerja te slovenske simbole z onimi pri drugih narodih, in odkriva, da jim odgovorni pri nas niso posvetili ustrezne pozornosti. Tega se jasno zavemo ob primerjavi s tem, kako drugi narodi obravnavajo svoje zivalske in cvetlicne like, npr. Anglezi svojega leva in vrtnico, Škot svoj osat, Irci deteljico, itd. Imenujejo jih „badges" in so pogosto bolj pomembna narodna znamenja od drzavih grbov.

Uvod

Slovensko izrocilo, njegove pripovedke in stari obicaji, so bili nekaj tako preprostega in vsakdanjega, da jih je slovensko izobrazenstvo, ze odkar je zazivela narodna misel, imelo za manjvredno folkloro. Zaradi ogrozenosti od velenemstva so slovenskemu narodu hoteli izoblikovati se zlasti mocan srednji sloj, ki bi bil nosilec narodovega napredka in zavesti. Zavesti, ki naj bi temeljila na "visjih" kulturnih vrednotah, kot jih je gojil mescanski sloj: pripovednistvo, pesnistvo, dramatika, glasba, slikarstvo...

To je bila tista kultura, ki je v prejsnem in v sedanjem stoletju oblikovala moderen narod in ga uvrscala v sodobni svet. In treba je reci, da je slovensko izobrazenstvo zastavljeno si nalogo opravilo uspesno. Izoblikovalo je Slovencem mescansko kulturo in prosveto in s tem iztrgalo mescanski sloj prevladujocemu nemskutarstvu in purgarstvu. Zazivela je slovenska narodna misel, ki je spodbujala ne samo prosveto, temvec tudi gospodarski napredek. Sodobna narodna zavest je spodbujala ustanavljanje podjetij, hranilnic, bank, spodbujala oblikovanje slovenske politike.

V tem zanosu slovenske narodne misli pa je bilo tudi nekaj usodnega. Predstava o "visjih" kulturnih vrednotah je ustvarjala razkorak med slovenskim politicnim vodstvom, katerega je usmerjal mescanski sloj, in slovenskim podezeljem, ki mu je pripadala velika vecina slovenskega ljudstva. Slovenski politiki in se zlasti uciteljstvo so v slovenskem kmeckem prebivalstvu ze praviloma videli "neuko" ljudstvo. Iz njega naj bi s solanjem, pod cemer so umevali vecinoma izobrazevanje v knjizevostni, pritegnili najbolj nadarjene med mladimi za neko visje poslanstvo med slovenskim narodom.

V izrocilih domace vasi, v kmeckem delu, obicajih, obdelavi polja, reji zivine, gojenju sadja, cvetja, v rokodelstvu, itd. niso videli kulture. Zato je tudi revolucionarna ideologija po zadnji vojni, v imenu nekega visjega proletarskega zanosa, hotel dokoncno pomesti z "zaostalostjo" podezelja. Pod pretvezo le - te so oblasti postopoma zatrle vaske srenje, zadusile obicaje, zasegale zemljo za divje gradnje...

Da taksno pocetje prinasa unicenje tvarnih in zgodovinskih temeljev sloveskega naroda, se je zavedal vsak, ki je znal nekoliko misliti. Toda vladajoca klika, katere nov povojni rod je odrasel ze v duhu unicevalnega gona in samokoristi, se ni zavedala ali pa se ni hotela zavedati razdiralne politike do slovenskega podezelja in kulturnega prostora. Tako je slovenski prostor naglo ugasal. Mladi so odhajali, stari - matere in ocetje, tete in strici, so umirali in odnasali s sabo zivljenje, ki je nekoc cvetelo po nasih vaseh. Polja so opustela, soncne je preraslo grmovje, na planinah je utihnilo mukanje krav...

To se je zgodilo v casu, ko je moderna Evropa posvecala svojo posebno pozornost ogrozenemu kmetijstvu in ko je vprasanje njegovega obstoja in razvoja postalo eno izmed temeljnih v politiki Evropske skupnosti.

Taksen odnos do kmeckega sveta v Evropi pa ni bil samo posledica gospodarskih premislekov in porajajocega se prizadevanja za varstvo narave. Evropske drzave so se zavedele, da je kmecki svet s svojim izrocilom in kulturo bistveni del osebnosti posameznega naroda in njegov zivljenjski prostor. Urejena pokrajina, s prijaznimi vasmi, njih zivljenjem in navadami, je danes biser, ki ga skrbno cuva vsak narod. Prijetna krajina, ki izzareva mir in spokojnost.

Iz nje se poraja kultura duha. Kultura, ki je pri Slovencih v veliki meri prizadeta, vendar se ni unicena. Predvsem po zaslugi prizadevnih slovenskih narodoslovcev, ki so se zavedali, da s svojimi studijami in zapisi ohranjajo in resujejo edinstven narodov zaklad.

Toda vse to bogastvo ni bilo vneseno v solske programe, in niti ne v izobrazevanje siroke domace javnosti, ki se vsled tega obnasa do naravnega in zivljenjskega okolja povsem neprimerno, brez vsakrsnje zavesti o njegovih vrednotah. Vsled tega je skrajni cas, da se slovenski clovek seznani z vrednotami prostora, v katerem zivi, z njegovo kulturno in duhovno krajino, ki mu je bila doslej zasencena. Da se koncno odpravi omalovazevalno gledanje na domace okolje in njegovo kulturno izrocilo.

Klic po zasciti narave in zivljenjskega okolja preveva danes ze ves svet, in njegova gesla odmevajo tudi v slovenskih obcilih, a vecinoma se v prazno. Zalozba Humar se tega klica zaveda in zeli z izdajo te knjige opozoriti na vrednoto domacega prostora.

Glavnino knjige tvorijo studijski prispevki, ki jih je dr. Jozko Savli objavil sredi 80 - ih let v dunajskem Glasu Korotana, in v njih prikazal domaco zgodovinsko in drzavno - pravno simboliko Slovencev. Obenem smo s to izdajo zeleli pocastiti tudi zlatomasniski jubilej g. Ivana Tomazica, pa spomin pesnika Mateja Bora ob njegovem nenadnem odhodu, in izreci priznanje pozrtvovalnemu delu grafika in umetnika Pavla Medvescka ob njegovem zivljenjskem jubileju.

Vsi ti so bili med prvimi, ki so opozarjali na vrednote slovenske krajine. Matej Bor se je ze v sestdesetih letih z vso odlocnostjo zavzel za zascito doline Soce in v svojih delih nenehno opozarjal na vrednote kulturne krajine. Ivan Tomazic je s svojim delom in vztrajno podporo spodbudil novo gibanje za ohranitev slovenskega prostora in kulture prav v casu, ko je bilo slovenstvo pod najvecjim udarom jugoslovanstva (skupna jedra). V zgled in opozorilo, kako dragocena je krajina preproste domace vasi, je zoddaljenega Dunaja organiziral obnovo starega kala in cerkvenega zvonika, ki sta simbola zivljenja njegovega domacega kraja. Pavel Medvescek je v vec desetletjih napornega dela resil gotove pozabe bogato gradivo iz ljudskega izrocila.

Toda, prizadevanje za ohranitev nase naravne in duhovne krajine s tem se ni bilo koncano. Skrb za ohranitev njene podobe se mora vtisniti v naso zavest; ne sme predolgo cakati na ovrednotenje, da za zmeraj ne ugasne. Slovenski svet bi moral znova zaziveti, od istrskega brega in kraskih planjav ter alpskih vrhov, tja doli do dolenjskih holmov, koroskih hribov, stajerskih goric in panonske ravnine.

Svet, ki je v svojem obstoju se vedno ogrozen! Samo ce bo v njem ponovno zaplalo zivljenje, bo lahko postal in ostal bivalni prostor za nase otroke in vnuke. Drugace bodo brezdomci.

Ustolicevanje


	•	Vojvodski stol in Knezji kamen,

spomenika drzavnosti Slovencev iz obdobja Karantanije in nasledujocih dezel. Knezji kamen kot simbol politicne oblasti (do 1414) in Vojvodski stol kot simbol sodne oblasti (do 1651) sta bila v rabi pri ustolicevanju karantanskih vojvodov in potem pri poklonitvah dezelnih stanov novemu vladarju. Zadnja poklonitev je bila se vedno v slovenscini leta 1728 v Dezelni hisi v Celovcu.


	•	Vojvodski stol

na gosposvetskem polju. Ob njem raste lipa, drevo zivljenja Slovencev. Tu so se vrsila zborovanja Karantancev, podeljevanje fevdov in sodbe poleg knezjega kamna je vojvodski stol edinstveni primer slovenskega prava in drzavnosti.

Prvotno ustolicevanje je do leta 1414 potekalo na Krnskem gradu, kjer se je na prostem nahajal Knezji kamen. Tu je novi vojvoda sprejel oblast iz rok kmeta, ki je predstavljal ljudstvo. Po koncanem obredu je vojvoda s spremstvom odšel preko širokega polja do stolnice pri Gospe Sveti. Tu je bila potem slovesa maša, med katero je škof ali visok prelat novega vladarja blagoslovil. To je pomenilo njegovo priznanje od cerkvene strani. Sledil je potem slovesen obed.

Vojvodski Stol

Knezji Kamen

Po obedu so se vsi odpravili še na polje, kjer se še danes nahaja Vojvodski stol. Na njem sedec je vojvoda podeljeval fevde. Na drugi strani pa je sedel palatin, predstavnik kralje v dezeli. Ta je nekatere fevde, ki jih je vojvoda zavrnil, znova potrdil - zato da bi se spor ne zavlaceval. Ko je vojvoda sedel na stolu, ga je smel slovenski moz tudi obtoziti, ceš da ni dobil pravice. Obtoziti pa ga je mogel le v slovenskem jeziku, to je, v uradnem jeziku karantanske drzave.

Obred ustolicenja na Knezjem kamnu je od leta 1440 zamenjalo Poklanjanje pri Vojvodskem stolu, od leta 1660 dalje v Dezelni hiši v Celovcu. Cesarica Marija Terezija ga leta 1740, ko je prevzela vlado, ni vec upoštevala, ker so bile vse dezelne pravice, vezane na ta obred, zajete in zagotovljene v zakonu Pragmaticna sankcija.

Rej pod lipo

Sliko, ki prikazuje starodaven slovenski Rej pod lipo na koroški Zili, je leta 1847 naslikal Christian Holzinger (* 1818). Hrani jo Dezelni muzej v Celovcu. Prvotno je to prvi ples za mlade fante in dekleta, zato mu še danes pogosto pravijo „ta prvi rej". Bil je neke vrste obred uvajanja mladih v svet odraslih, in predstavljajo pravi biser v bogatem izrocilu slovenske ljudske kulture. Holzingerjeva slika nam ta edinstveni rej predstavlja še v pristni domacnosti, brez številnega obcinstva, kar je danes znacilno za take prireditve. V vaseh na Zili prirejajo danes „rej pod lipo" sredi poletja v okviru praznika domacega zavetnika.

Koroski rej (Koroski narodni ples pod lipo)

Povezan je tudi z drugim obredom, ki mu pravijo Štehvanje. Domaci fantje jahajo na konjih, in v diru zbijajo obroce na škafu, ki je poveznjen na visokem stebru. Ta viteška igra kaze nedvomno tekmovanje v vojaških vešcinah, in korenini nedvomno še v karantanskem casu. Narodopisje pa njenega izvora še ni raziskovalo.

Slikar J.F. Fromiller, cigar rod je izhajal z Zile, je leta 1740 izdelal cudovito barocno fresko, ki prikazuje Ustolicevanje karantanskih vojvodov. Njegova freska se nahaja v Dezelni hiši v Celovcu, kjer so se dezelni stanovi leta 1728 v Poklonitvi vladarju vojvodi in cesarju Karlu VI. zadnjic izrekli zaprisego zvestobe v slovenskem jeziku. Freska se nahaja na celni strani v dvorani grbov, in simbolicno ponazarja staro karantansko pravo. V smislu le-tega dezelni stanovi, ki so nasledili stari vseljudski zbor, imenovan veca, novega vladarja sicer niso vec volili, vendar pa ta ni mogel vladati brez ustolicevanja in kasneje poklanjanja.

Zlatorog predstavlja zivalski simbol nasih gora

(cf: Slovenian Mythology, article: Goldenhorn)

Slovenska roza, simbol rastlinstva v Sloveniji

The Carnation

A Slovenian Badge and an European Flower

Some Slovenian ornaments with carnations, taken from the work "Slovenska krasilna umetnost" (Slovenian Ornamental Arts) by Ivan Razboršek, published in Celje 1992.

Dr. Josef Šavli, FAS, KdB, FSAI
The Augustan Society Omnibus, Book 13,
Torrance (Calif.), 1991
Knight de Bryan
Fellow of The Augustan Society
Fellow of Sodality of the Ark International

Among the distinctive marks which represent the existence of various nations, we don't find only coats of arms but also many other symbols, such as various animals and plants, and graphic pictures too, which display the characteristics of several countries. In Europe, since the Age of the Renaissance, floral symbols have gained in importance. Some flowers, like the rose in England, became not only a local badge, but also a well-known national symbol. But in popular art and customs, other flowers were used as national symbols without having been officially recognized as such. These floral symbols, known by all, merit our attention and in particular, the carnation.

Since immemorial times, flowers had a special function in human life and culture. Ancient people considered flowers nature's wedding garment, announcing its coming fruits. Their beauty and their beckoning fragrances made them believe that a soul dwelt in each flower. Their richness in shapes and colours were considered the reflection of a lost paradise. The abundance of flowers conjured up festive surroundings and the joyfulness of life. People decorated temples and statues with flowers; they made and carried bouquets and wreaths, and adorned graves too. In Christianity, flowers meant hope of Resurrection. Christ himself has been regarded as a blossom on the shoot, which germinated from Jesse's root.

In heraldry, images of flowers may be found in the Middle Ages. In the twelfth century, the French royal coat of arms showed an image of the lily (fleur de lis). Later on, the English tradition accepted the rose and placed it on badges; in Scotland, we find the thistle, and in Ireland, the three-leafed clover. In Japan, the chrysanthemum has for centuries been the queen of flowers and the national symbol.

In the nineteenth century, during the age of Romanticism in Europe, the idea of the national flower, in the search for a symbol of unity, became more and more accepted by national movements. As an example, Germany chose the corn flower as its badge.

In this century the carnation became one of the most beloved blossoms in Europe. The Slovenes chose it among all flowers as their national symbol, for it was the most appreciated and the most widely cultivated.

Dianthus

Dianthus is the scientific name of the carnation or pink introduced by the famous Swedish botanist C. Linne (Linnaeus) in the eighteenth century. Before that, it was commonly called Caryohyllus.

In fact, the carnation had already been mentioned as »Dianthus« by Theophrastus, a Greek naturalist living in the fourth century BC. In his work Historia Plantarum (VI 1, 6), he described the »Dios anthos«, i.e., the flower of Zeus, as a bushy plant without fragrance. His statement must have referred to the species called Dianthus selvaticus growing in Epirus, as this is the only pink without scent.

In the Roman period special attention was given to the carnation. However, in the first century BC it was mentioned by Pliny in his Historia Naturalis (XXI, 59) as »Iovis flos«, i.e., Jupiter's flower. Obviously this name had been taken over from Theophrastus. At that time, however, only species of wild carnations with rather simple blossoms existed. Yet, in the Middle Ages the carnation was cultivated as a medical plant. The species called Dianthus caryophyllus, today's garden pink with its numerous varieties, was used for this purpose. In this respect, France was the first country where cultivation of the pink spread after the failed Crusade of King Louis IX (1214 - 1270) in Tunis in 1270. A beverage acquitted from the pink was used to mitigate the aches of the plague-stricken.

In the following century the carnation was mentioned by the French chronicler and poet, J. Froissart (1337 - 1410), and acknowledged also by the Flemish painter, the well-known Jan van Eyck (1386 - 1441), who painted the picture called »Man with the pink«. Later, the deposed successor to the throne of Naples, René d'Anjou (1409 - 1480), after retiring to Aix en Provence, cultivated carnations and documented the first notes about the growth of this flower (1446). The carnation was considered an important health plant at that time.

In the Gothic Age, a period of deep spiritualism and mysticism, the carnation was believed to be one of the flowers in the biblical allegory of Hortus conclusus, referred to in the High Song (4 12) of the Old Testament. The Hortus conclusus was an allegory of paradise imagined and depicted as a closed garden with fresh water, full of marvelous plants and animals, in which divine peace reigned. Outside, the earth looked like a desert without life.

This image attracted many well-known painters, such as - St. Lochner (ca. 1410 - 1451), - M. Grünwald (ca. 1475 - 1528) and - M. Schongauer (1453 - 1491) and others, they all included the carnation in the scenes of Hortus concusus. The artist M. Schongauer made a copper engraving titled »Mary with the bunch of pinks«. ortus conclusus. Even the Emperor, Maximilian I, in the so-called »Last Night«, was portrayed with a pink in his hand by the Flemish painter Lucas van Leyden (1494 1533).

During the Renaissance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the carnation, although still a simple blossom, became a love symbol. It appeared on many engagement paintings, completed by famous masters like Pisanello, Cranach Sr., Wohlgemut, Holbein Sr., Dürer and others.

Its »heavenly« nature, however, persevered. The famous Italian painter Raffaello Santi (1483 - 1520) depicted a scene showing »Mary with little Jesus and John«, and in it Jesus was holding a carnation in His hand. The preacher and naturalist H. Bock, in his Kräuter Buch (Strasbourg 1546) named the carnation »Märgen Röslin«, Mary's floweret. Formerly, the flower of Our Lady was merely a rose symbolizing her suffering with its thorns. Later on, the carnation also represented Mary's and God's love to us.

At that time the carnation was still considered a medical plant. Its sap helped against the plague and its scent against other contagious diseases. Afterwards it was cultivated widely in gardens and also studied by botanists and naturalists of that time. The German scholar L. Fuchs (1501 - 1566), professor at the University of Tübingen, mentioned it in his book "De historia stirpium" (Basle 1542). The Swiss naturalist C. Gesner (1516 - 1565) mentioned it in the "Gesneri opera botanica" issued posthumously (Nuremberg 1751), and after him another Swiss scholar, C. Bauhin (1560 - 1624), described it as well. The Italian medical man P. A. Mattioli (1500 - 1577), who was the physician-inordinary of both Emperor Ferdinand I and Maximilian II, did not overlook the carnation in his commentaries.

In the Netherlands at that time, the cultivation and study of plants were particularly advanced. Among numerous Dutch botanists referring to the carnation in their essays, the three best known are: R Dodoens (Dodonaeus, 1517 - 1585), in his work "Stirpium historia pemptades sex" (1583, 1616), M. de l'Obel (Lobelius, 1538 - 1616), especially in his "Krydboek" (1581), and Ch. de l'Ecluse (Clusius, 1526 - 1609), in his book "Rariorum plantarum historia" (1601).

The English herbalist W. Turner described the carnation in his Herbal (1550), and so did the English botanist J. Gerard (1545 - 1612) in another Herbal (1597). In France special research about the cultivation of the pink had been published. A description of it is found, for instance, in the book entitled "Théatre d'agriculture et mesnage de champs" written by Olivier de Serres. In Paris, the following treatises about its cultivation were printed: Jardinage des oeillets (1668) by L. B. (an unknown writer) and Nouveau traité des oeillets (1676) by L. C. B. M. (likewise unknown). The rebellious duke, the Grand Condé (1521 - 1586), imprisoned in Vincennes by Queen Anne d'Autriche (1560) and then released by the prime minister Cardinal Mazarin, dedicated himself to the cultivation of carnations. In this respect, the well-known poetess Mademoiselle de Scudéry, observed »Et ne t'etonne plus que Mars soit jardinier«. In the same century the famous English author W. Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) mentioned the carnation in The Winter's Tale (1610). The German poet J. W. Goethe (1749 - 1832) was also enraptured with its beauty, as he said in the "Versuch, die Metamorphose der Pflanze zu erklären".

During the French Revolution (1789) the white carnation was the sign of the supporters of the monarchy, the red one, of the revolutionary movements. In the 1880's the red carnation was worn by the followers of the French nationalist G. Boulanger, and around that time it was also chosen as the insignia of the socialists.

The Slovenian Ornament

A decorative style containing elements which reflect the people's temperament, spirit, and experience has been developed in the popular art of each nation. The Slovenian popular ornament reached its summit in the past century and in the period before World War I. In this ornament, the picture of the stylized red carnation became the most important component. Nevertheless, the origins of this ornament can be found in prehistory. It developed from the wavy line, an ancient symbol showing power and strength. This sign, which appeared in Europe in the early Stone Age, was engraved on earthenware of the fourth millennium BC. Ornamented vessels from this period bear a broken line in zig-zag form. There are also vessels with a wavy line that later on became more and more frequent, and it was predominant on ornamented earthenware after the second millennium BC.

The wavy line is a mark of eternal energy, as perceived and experienced by man in particular, when his very existence depended on the cultivation of crops in soil warmed by rays of the sun. This was the source of growth which gives rise to life itself. Primitive men experienced all this energy as cosmic motion. He discovered it in the rotation of the sun or while looking at the waving of grassland and grainfields in the wind or at waves in the water - the element of life.

In the Iron Age, after the ninth century BC and in the Roman period itself, the wavy line was predominant on monuments of Middle Europe, especially in Noricum and Pannonia, in full contrast with the old Greek and Roman tectonic style. In that period, the wavy line, often enriched with linden-leaves, was obviously an expression of the non-Roman or indigenous tradition.

In the early Middle Ages, in the territory of the former Noricum, there arose the principality of Carantania. It was a Slovenian state, in which earthenware bore the wavy line as well. On Carantanian broaches and earrings can be seen many symbols of the early Christian age, such as the cross, lily, rosette, star, Angus Dei, tree of life, pigeon, panther.

In the Roman and in the Gothic Ages the Slovenian ornament assumed some hunt symbols (hound, fox), but it still remained very moderate. Only in the sixteenth century of the Renaissance it was enriched with new features, but they were still placed over wavy lines: deer, peacock, fish, the chalice, the monstrance, hearts, seraphic heads, monograms of Jesus and Mary, vines with grapes, bell-flowers, and carnations as well. Yet, at that time, the carnation did not play a special role in Slovenian popular culture.

In the Baroque Age, however, pictures showing a bush of carnations in a vase, often with other flowers, frequently appeared in popular paintings, on linen boxes, the sides of beehives, and on mirrors and windows. The popular culture in Slovenia experienced its full swing in the past century, in which the red carnation and its picture, as a symbol of love, played an important role. The red carnation became the most significant sign of the Slovenian ornament which was enriched with new elements: Little animals and plants, bunches of other flowers, leverets, butterflies, little birds, roses, small baskets, decorative knots, tulips, catkins, linden leaves, poppy heads, pomegranates, spots and dashes, small leaves, and even a sentimental S-line derived from the wavy line and the ancient spiral. The whole ornament became an expression of love, with elements which seemed to be singing and brimming over with feelings. The red carnation of this ornament in its stylized form then became the Slovenian insignia and one of the national signs.

The Slovenian flower

There was no shortage of using the carnation in Slovenian customs. Even today a red carnation represents charity and love. A corsage made up of red carnation, rosemary and scented geranium (Pelargonium radula) means love, fidelity and hope. This corsage has been praised in Slovenian songs and used in popular customs. It was given to young men leaving for the army; the girls fastened it on the boy's chest.

In the countryside, especially in alpine areas, carnations are found on window sills; balconies and balustrades are full of pots with carnations. The peasant house with the carnation is characteristic in the Slovenian countryside. And even today Slovenian women compete in adorning their houses with flowers. Amid carnations and geraniums, the campanula (Campanula isophilla) is also to be found; the variety with blue blooms represents the bridegroom, while the white one is the symbol of the bride.

In Slovenia, there are many types of dwellings: The alpine, the subalpine, the Mediterranean, the Pannonian, and others. But each one has a special room, the drawing room (in Slovenian izba, from ist'ba, known in all Slavic languages, in German, Stube). This room was once the center of the house and therefore suitably equipped. On various pieces of furniture in the Slovenian izba one can find frequently depicted carnations in the form of tendrils or wavy lines. Among these pieces, the cradle was one of the most typical. It often bore Mary's image or the letters IHS with carnation ornamentation. This symbolically meant love to the child, a gift of God.

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Slovenian painted box-set from the surroundings of Kranjska gora (Upper Carniola), originated in 1840.

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In the middle the image of St. John Nepomuk, on the left and right the vase with carnations, symbol of love.

One of the furniture pieces was the linen-box or wooden chest, which was frequently painted. Today such a chest is a valuable object and is in great demand by museums all over the world for popular art collections. There are usually three squares with paintings on front of this chest: In the middle is frequently found the monograms of Jesus and Mary, this is, IHS or MRA, as well as a pilgrim's image of Mary. On the side squares the ornamental tendril can often be seen with its carnation or other blossoms. But it could also show a vase with carnations or other flowers. The hope-chest, or bottom drawer, showing the prestige of the bride's home, was especially rich in paintings.

In embroidery, the carnation is usually red combined with blue and, as a trimming on a girl's dress, it has a green stalk which frequently has the feature of a wavy line. In former times the rich embroidered kerchief (or peca, in Slovenian) was the pride of girls in the Slovenian Mediterranean and subalpine countryside, while in the alpine areas girls preferred to wear the characteristic coif (avba, in Slovenian) adorned with embroidery on the front part. The trimmings on this head covering did not exclude the typical carnation.

In Slovenian ornamentation, the shape of the garden carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) is rarely used, with the exception of paintings on vases holding bouquets of carnations. Instead, the ornament bears mostly a stylized carnation picture, 15 species of wild carnations growing, and the serrated petals are especially characteristic of the Dianthus plumarius.

The cultivation of carnations and their ornamental painting is also spread over other areas of Europe, especially in alpine regions like Carnia, Tyrol and Engadin. The carnation ornament embroidered with a stitched cross is found, for example, on cloth from Mustair valley (Switzerland) of 1680.

In France, carnations are widely cultivated, especially in the provinces of Lyon and Provence. In the Provençal town of Vence, on a festive day all buildings, streets and squares are decorated with thousands of carnations. In several French provinces in old times, the red carnation symbolized ardent love, and it was not proper to give a bouquet of these flowers openly to young girls.

In Bohemia over the past century, the carnation has been a most popular flower. In 1891, at the agricultural fair in Prague about 300 hybrids were exhibited. The carnation is frequently found in Bohemian ornamentation. The cultivation and use of carnations in popular ornamentation is also found in Hungary, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and elsewhere. However, only in Slovenia it became a national symbol.

National flowers

Badges, like those from England, Scotland and Ireland, could be of old origin. But most of them, such as the German cornflower and even the Slovenian carnation, arose in more recent times.

Here we will mention some flowers which are favored by several groups of people in Europe and closely connected with their tradition. These flowers were the attributes of national signs, and sometimes of badges as well.

In Germany, Emperor William I (1797 - 1888) chose as his badge the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) or Kornblume in German. Thus, he remembered the time when, as a small Prussian boy, he and his mother, menaced by Napoleon's troops, found refuge in a corn field, where he played with cornflowers. However, in German songs, the forget-me-not (Myosotis), a symbol of love, amity and memory, is mostly to be found.

In Poland, the corn-poppy (Papaver rhoeas) recalls the blood of Poles spilled in many fights for their homeland. One Polish song says, »The red poppy under Mount Cassino is nourished from Polish blood…«

For the Czechs, the scented thyme (Thymus serphyllum) is the best liked flower. In the Middle Ages it was known as »Mary's flower«. Its Czech name, materidouška, means »the mother's soul«. One of their popular songs tells about an orphaned child who was reminded of his dead mother by the scent of the plant growing on her tomb.

The Serbs consider the red peony (Paeonia triternata) their national flower, called bozur in Serbian. It symbolized their historic battle on the field of Kosovo (1389). Their song relates, »Long ago, from the Serbian blood, grew up the red-blue peony blossom of Kosovo« In Serbia, the lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is also a much esteemed flower.

In Bulgaria the rose (Rosa) is the most widely cultivated flower. It grows in large fields and its blossoms are used for the extraction of perfume, a trade which has long been an important source of national income. The rose is therefore considered to be a Bulgarian flower. In the same manner in Macedonia, the opium-poppy (Papaver somniferum) became the national flower. Over the past century its cultivation and the export of opium has given important earnings to Macedonians.

In more recent times, symbolic flowers with their great importance to a national economy are promoted all over the world. In some cases however, they are witness to a much older tradition.

The Netherlands cannot be imagined without the tulip (Tulipa). Since 1637, when a veritable mania of tulip cultivation broke out in the country, this flower has always remained their favorite. In the Ukraine, in a similar way, the sunflower (Helianthus annuus), cultivated in large fields, became the national flower. In past times, the Ukrainians appreciated the kalyna more, i.e., the snowball tree (Vyburnum opulus), as well as the ruza or holly-hock (Althaea rosea), recalled in their songs. In White Russia, the flax (Linum) is retained as the national flower and emblem, for it is the most important plant in their agriculture.

The Russians esteemed the chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), known in Russian as apotecnaja for its medical nature, whereas different species of it are generally called romaška. However, it seems that in Russia recently the daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) has become the national flower. In popular customs, this flower has been known as one of the love symbols for a long time. Russian girls pluck its petals one by one, saying alternately, »He loves me, he doesn't love me.« The last petal tells her the truth.

Some flowers have become national emblems even more recently. The Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), formerly known as the flower of Salzburg and Tyrol, became famous as the Austrian flower.

The socialist ideologies, which for decades prevailed in Eastern Europe and in Asia, favored especially pictures of corn and rice as insignia, which enclosed the coats of arms of many countries. With recent political changes, these signs may be replaced.

It is definitely true that, floral symbols which have lost their traditional mystic meaning, are becoming today, above all, national emblems or insignia. They are coming more and more into vogue.

Bibliography

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E. M. Kronfeld, Geschichte der Gartennelke, Vienna 1913

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K. Štrekelj, Slovenske narodne pesmi (Slovenian popular songs), Ljubljana 1895 - 1908

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Paulys Real - Encyklopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft (Diòs anthos), Stuttgart 1905

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D. Forstner, Die Welt der christlichen Symbole (cap. Blumen), Innsbruck 1982

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Brockhaus Enzyklopädie (Nelke), Wiesbaden 1971

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Mondo delle piante (Dianthus), Milan 1975

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G. Girardi, Il garofano nelle sue varietà, Milan 1927

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J. Karlovšek, Slovenski ornament 1935

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Ivan Razboršek, Slovenian Ornamental Arts, Celje 1992

Lipa kot Slovensko drevo zivljenja. V skrivnostnem sumenju se oglasa dusa Slovenca. Pod lipo so Slovenci Karantanci tudi radi prirejali znameniti Koroski Rej.

The Linden Tree

The tree of life of the ancient Venethi and of the Slovenian people

(Dr. Jožko Šavli Ph.D.)

In ancient times people knew and appreciated the tree of life, which was not only a symbol of vegetation for their agriculture, but also a source of nourishment in thoughts, and so it served the welfare of the people. It was also a symbol of the nations life and prosperity and a relic of the original religion of men. The tree was seen as a residence of the Great Spirit.

The ancient Egyptians celebrated the sycomore as their tree of life; Babylonians, Assyrians and today's Arabians celebrated the date palm; Indians still worship the fig tree, the Greeks an olive tree, Russians a birch and so on.

Lipa V Rutu - Tolmin, Rut

Since times the immemorial linden tree has been considered the tree of life by the people of Central Europe, in the Alps, i.e. in Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and north of the Alps, i.e. in Bavaria, Lusatia, Mecklenburg, Poland and Pomerania. That covers all the territory between the Baltic and Adriatic Sea.

Many nations live in this territory. Today, they speak German, Italian and many Slavonic tongues such as Slovenian, Croatian, Czech, Slowakian, Polish and their dialects.

The linden tree was revealed through numerous common themes and popular traditions by the people, who are unique to the territory of Central Europe. The existence of Venetic culture in Central Europe makes them unique too.

These people, who scholars believe they were called Veneti, had settled in Europe long before the Romans and Celts. Their culture was connected to the Urnfield culture which in turn derived from the elder culture of Lusatia, south of Berlin. After 1200 BC the Urnfield culture was spread by the Veneti people in long campaigns through all parts of Europe.

In the following centuries groups of Veneti in remote areas assimilated within local communities, forming new cultures and nations. Today, many place names are reminders of these Venetian groups, like Ventnor on the Isle of Wight close to the south coast of England; Vannes in Brittany in the west of France and Venetico close to Milazzo in northern Sicily. Near Milazzo archaeologists have also found a large Urnfield.

In Central Europe, however, the Veneti settled throughout the whole area between the Baltic and Adriatic and created during the older Iron Age - i.e. after 800 B.C. - the famous Hallstatt culture with its centre in the Eastern Alps (today"s Austria), which radiated power all over Europe.

Still during the Hallstatt culture, a village culture developed, which became typical in Central Europe. Its social structure was retained in the following La Tene culture (after 400 B.C.), spread by the Celts, as well as in the Roman period (after 200 B.C.) and from the Middle Ages to our culture. A very characteristic feature of the village culture is - the linden tree regarded as the holy tree or tree of life - which originated with the Veneti.

The social structure of the Celts was based on clans and, after them the same was to be said about the Germans . They worshipped the oak as the tree of life and this has remained a tradition of northern Germany - (the original German territory) - until today.

In ancient times the linden was mentioned - by Greek and Roman authors - but without the significance as a tree of life.

The Greek writer Theophrastus in his Historia Plantarum (4th B.C.) describes the linden tree. He states that in the time of Alexander the Great it was planted in the gardens of Babylon, but that it could not thrive there.

The linden tree also appears in Greek mythology, identified with the nymph named Phylira (the linden). When she was visited by god Cronos his wife Rhea arrived, so he transformed the nymph into a linden (phylira) and himself into a horse. For this reason the son of Phyilira, Chiron, belongs to the centaurs with the bottom part of a horse.

Unlike other centaurs, who were well-known roisterers, Chiron was a gentle creature, full of benevolence, he had the biggest knowledge of medical plants and was educator of many Greek heroes. For this reason when he was hit by an arrow the divinities did not allow him to die. Instead they transformed him to a constellation where he remained forever as Sagitarius.

The personality of Chiron obviously reflects the properties of the linden, especially as a medical plant. Because of its medical properties and also of its beauty the linden became the tree of life even in pre-historic Central Europe.

In Greece, however, the linden thrives only inland. That is why it did not appear in popular Greek culture and left only a trace in Greek mythology.

Later the Romans celebrated Jupiter's oak growing in front of his temple in Rome. But the pine tree, which related to the Great Mother, the goddess Cybele, enjoyed no less importance in Roman public life. It is the ancient symbol of fertility because it produces cones with seeds all through the year. In early Christianity in Italy the pine became the tree of life and it was often symbolically depicted with a pine cone.

Roman writers of the first century - like Collumela and Virgil and Plinius Secundus in his Naturalis Historia and others - described the linden only from a naturalistic point of view.

During the Roman times and later, under German domination, the inhabitants of the western parts of Central Europe gradually assumed the dominant customs but they conserved the old village structure and its traditions. This can still be seen in today's Germany where there is a kind of border close to Kassel, which separates two areas, one with a popular linden tree tradition (in the southern part) from the other with a popular oak tree tradition (in the northern part).

In the Middle Ages the southern part of Central Europe, where the linden first appeared in popular culture, was the first part to be converted to Christianity.

Golden bough with linden leaves

Golden bough, a 70cm sapling with linden leaves, elaborated in wood and bronze, completely gold plated. In 1984, it was unearthed at the famous Celtic Oppidum of Manching near Ingolstadt (Bavaria), 3rd - 1st century AD. It symbolizes the tree of life. But the Celts tree of life was the oak, in comparison to the Veneti, who worshipped the linden as their tree of life. If the linden bough was found at the Celtic Oppidum of Manching, then this is a sign of the Veneti legacy in a Celtic world. In the Roman era, Bavaria was called Vindelicia. Indeed, often the Celtic and the Venetic cultural traditions are interwoven. A fact, which is still ignored by the propagators of the Celtic ideology.
(cf. Echo - article: Celtic ideology on the march?)
(cf. The Vends and the Celts)

Consequently the linden, and not the oak or some other tree, became the Christian "arbor vitae" for Central Europe. It symbolized also the mystic "lignum vitae" - lignum sanctae crucis, the wood of the Cross - represented as a tree in paradise which would provide redemption for mankind when it became green.

For this reason the greening linden tree, lignum vitae, appears in many legends originating in Central Europe. It also appears here as the most frequent motif in Medieval art.

See, for example, the image from the 12th century - here enclosed - that reflects clearly the spirit of that period.

It is the image of a knight, sworn to keep the "ordo Dei" (God's order) standing between two leaved linden trees with tops in the form of a cross (lignum vitae) having three roots each. One appears as a young branch, meaning the vigour of life, while its roots are symbolizing the ground of life - the God of the righteous.

For this reason the linden, or even more frequently, its branches,are found in coats of arms of the Middle Ages in Central Europe where the linden leaf is often placed beside the lily, the most important of all plants in those times.

It is presumed that the linden on most blazons of noble families in Central Europe reflected only a heraldic sign without the legendary meaning of the linden tree. But the crests with the linden leaves over coats of arms belonging to rulers of countries gave every reason to believe that this image recalls the old tree of life of Cental Europe. These crests pertained to the folling rulers:


	•	Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (Zuerich, ca. 1340)


	•	King of Germany (Donaueschingen, 1433)


	•	King of Bavaria (Zuerich, ca. 1340)


	•	King of Bohemia (Konstanz, 1483)


	•	Duke of Carinthia (since 1363)


	•	Count of Tyrol (Konstanz, 1483)


	•	Landgrave of Hesse (shield, ca. 1450)

Notes:


	•	Zuerich ca. 1340 (Zuericher Wappenrolle),


	•	Donaueschingen 1433 (Donaueschinger Wappenbuch),


	•	Konstanz 1484 (Oesterreichische Chronik von Conrad Gruenenberg).


	•	Furthermore, the linden is found in many coats of arms of Central European towns.

One of the more characteristic town signets of this kind belongs to Krems on the Danube (Austria) bearing the date 1318, in which appears a linden tree and under it the shields of Austria (Red-White-Red) and Styria of Carantania (Panther).

In popular culture the place under the linden was the centre of all the social life of villages and towns in Central Europe. In Berlin the famous street "Unter den Linden" recalls this tradition.

In the Alpine area the linden tree in the middle of the village was the meeting place of the villagers. Here the elders, under the guidance of the mayor, had their sessions in which they talked about administrative and judicial affairs.

Vojvodski klobuk - Ducal Hat

Ducal Hat

Dr. Josef Šavli
The Augustan Society Omnibus, Book 14, 1993, p. 37 ff. (excerpt)

In connection with the Privilegium maius of 1358, Rudolph IV the Founder, duke of Austria (Carantania), let elaborate the great seal, the reverse of which showed the Duke himself standing on two stages (the sign of the Archhunter), and bearing a crown denoted as a hat (the sign of the Palatin Archduke). In the following centuries its original form with one bow appeared on top of the Austrian coat of arms as Archducal Hat of the Habsburg hereditary lands, that had their roots in ancient Carantania.

This hat had no historical name. However, it must be considered most likely as a progress of the tradition of the old Slovenian Hat used in the enthronement ceremony. The original Ducal Hat appeared first in Inner Austria, the Habsburg's name for Carantania, and thereaftrer it was worn by the Leopoldine line of the Habsburg family. In 1453 under Frederic III, the first Emperor of the Leopoldine line of the Habsburg stock, the Privilegium maius, and with it also the above mentioned hat was acknowledged as a state ensign.

Siv Slovenski klobuk (Venetski klobuk) z vrvico kot znamenje svobode in vojvodove oblasti Karantanske dezele katero mu je zaupal Karantanski narod. Tega ne snema tudi ko stopi pred kralja.

The Slovenian Hat

The Swabian Mirror (Schwabenspiegel, circa 1275) was the oldest historical source that documented the installation of the dukes of Carantania (later Carinthia). It mentions also the Slovenian Hat (Windischer Hut) that was put on the head of the duke during the enthronement ceremony. The aforesaid source describes it as follows: »A gray Slovenian Hat with a gray cord and four leaves suspended from its brim.« The pictures of this hat on signets show that the leaves were those of a linden, the old Slovenian tree of life. It was a common hat characteristic for Slovenian peasant people in that period and it symbolized the power conferred to the duke from the hand of a peasant, representing the people.

In 1358, when the Duke of Habsburg Rudolph IV »the Founder« imparted coats of arms to those provinces, which had none at that time, he assigned the Slovenian Hat to the Slovenian March (later known as Lower Carniola, Dolenjsko). However, the hat on this coat of arms bore the heraldic colours: a sable hat with red lining and red cord on a golden shield. It was placed on the Emperor's great coat of arms, where it remained until 1915.

The Carantanian Hat - an ancient sign of Sovereignty

After the decline of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, many kingdoms and principalities or duchies arose in Western Europe, as for example that of the Visigoths in Spain, of the Ostrogoths in Italy, of the Burgunds in France and, equally important, that of the Franks in Western Germany and Northern France.

The victory of the Frankish majordomo Charles Martel over the Moslem Arabs near Poitiers in 732 enjoined on the Frankish family of Carolingians the role of protectors of Christian in Europe, which was recognized also by the Pope in Rome.

Gradually the Franks imposed their supremacy upon the greatest part of European nations. But this was rather a protection of Christian communities, because they granted to them their own lex (law), which embraced, above all, their social structure and their self-government. This signified, expressed in modern terms, the conserving of the separate statehood of those nations, who later became part of the Holy Roman Empire, when it was established with the crowning of Charlemagne as Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800.

Some of those leges (laws) are well-known in historiography. Such is the lex Salica appertaining to the Franks, then the Edictum Theodorici of the Ostrogoths, the Edictum Rothari of the Lombards the lex Alamannorum of the Swabians, the lex Bavariorum of the Bavarians, the lex Saxonum of the Saxons, etc.

Many of those leges were preserved also in the Medieval kingdoms. The Lombardic law in Italy was found in the judicial book Lombarda. The Visigoth law in Spain, for example, was subsumed in the judicial book Antiqua that remained in force also under the Arabian occupation. According to this law, women were also able to become heiresses to the throne in Spain and in England.

In France and in German duchies, in conformity with the Salic law there were only male successors to the throne. The regulations of the Saxon law are to be found in the 13th century books of the Saxenspiegel (Saxon Mirror) and the Schwabenspiegel (Swabian Mirror); the former was used in Northern, the latter in Southern German countries.

Institutio Sclavenica

The Slovenian duchy of Carantania, situated in the Eastern Alps, had its own laws like other nations in Europe at that time. Yet in 745 it was joined with the Frankish Empire after it had consented to accept Christianity. After the division of the Empire in 828 it belonged, together with the German duchies of Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia and Saxony, to the Francia Orientalis, i.e., to the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks.

The Carantanian law, the so-called institutio Sclavenica, was never registered in a Codex but was conserved in social customs, handed down from generation to generation, and it was consequently referred to by historical sources as the consuetudo Sclavorum. Among other things in distinction to other laws, specially to those of German nations, it recognized the right of the female to have her property at free disposal, and to enjoy the rights of heredity, and even the right of succession of familia, in case where there was no male successor.

The Carantanian duke Arnulf, later King and Emperor (ca. 850 - 899), a natural son of Liudvina (Liutswind), a Carantanian lady of noble rank, and of Carlman, a royal prince of the family of the Eastern Carolingians, was accepted as the legal ruler of Carantania, through the line of his mother. In 887, the Carantanians accompanied their duke Arnulf with an entire army to the Diet of the Eastern Franks in Trier, and had him elected as their King in the presence of the assembly of the princes. In 896, Arnulf received the Emperor's crown by Pope Formosus in Roman.

In 952 under Duke Henry, the younger brother of Otto I, King and later Emperor, Carantania became a grand duchy, composed of the Dukedom of Carinthia and some marches. It extended from Bohemia to Verona in Italy. Until 976, Carantania and nearby Bavaria shared the same duke as their ruler. In 1012 Duke Adalbero (Eppenstein) was appointed to reign Carantania. He was married with Beatrix, a Swabian Princess of Carolingian descent from the mother's line. Therefore, Duke Adalbero was a man of high standing, and he was the beginner of the Carantanian dynasty († 1269). Nevertheless, in the following two centuries the marches advanced to dukedoms. In this way the old Carantania was divided into many countries.

In addition to the Dukedom of Carinthia, that conserved the old institutio Sclavenica, there was also the Dukedom of Styria in 1180, the former Carantanian march. It incorporated also other marches that kept the Carantanian political tradition.

Another dukedom, that derived from the Carantanian march, precisely from the Eastern March, was Austria. In 976, the Eastern March was given in administration to Margrave Leopold, son of the Carantanian duke Berthold. Margrave Leopold was the beginner of a dynasty, which 70 years later took on the name of Babenberg († 1249).

In 1156 the Eastern March became the Dukedom of Austria and it received on this occasion some privileges by the Emperor Frederic I Barbarossa, which in historiography are called Privilegium minus. One of those privileges was the right of succession in the female line, i.e., in sense of the Carantanian law.

The Insignia

In 1282 the Habsburg family obtained dominion in Austria and in Styria, in 1335 also in Carinthia and in Carniola. In this way the entire territory of ancient Carantania got a unique lord. Since then Carinthia, Styria and Carniola, and later also Trieste, the March Istria and the County of Gorizia, formed an association called Inner Austria, which carried on the state and political tradition of Carantania.

Austria was not a historical duchy. Therefore it did not possess its own historical lex like Carinthia (Carantania) and those duchies that were part of the former Frankish Kingdom, and later belonged to the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks: Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, Saxony and Carantania. The princes of these duchies and their immediate provinces had the right to elect the King and Emperor.

After 1257 the above mentioned right to elect was reserved for the so-called Princes Electors. According to the Golden Bull of 1356, this honour belonged to those, who possessed a high ranking office in the Emperor's Court: Archsteward, Archcellarman, Archmarshall, Archchamberlain, the Chancellors of Germany, Burgundy and Italy. These chancellors were respectively also the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne.

At one time, the high office of Archhunter (arcimagister venator) belonged to the Carantanian duke. However, during the electoral reform Carantania was already divided into several duchies, and obviously the historical duchy of Carinthia was not able to put forward its historical right of high office. In this way the Carinthian duke lost his position in the group of the Princes Electors.

The ancient right of Archhunter or Archmaster of Hunt pertaining to the Carinthian, i.e. Carantanian duke, are remembered in several sources like the Swabian Mirror of ca.1275, the Chronicler Ottokar ca. 1306, Abbot Johannes Victoriensis ca. 1342, and others.

According to the report in the Swabian Mirror, the Duke of Carinthia was the Archmaster of Hunt of the Roman King - des Roemischen Reiches Jaegermeister. The title »Roman King« belonged to the former King of the Eastern Franks, later also called King of Germania. Furthermore, the Swabian Mirror reports, that in the ceremony of the inthronization of the Carinthian duke a Slovenian Hat was put on his head - vnd setzen Im ouch ainen Grauen windischen hut vff...

It is of great interest to learn from one particular report of the Chronicler Ottokar, that a Carantanian man did not have to remove his hat in front of his duke. This was the right of the free Carantanian man. The same right belonged also to the Carantanian duke, he did not have to take off his hat in front of the King, since he was a Windischer Herre (Slovenian Lord), and such was the right in his country.

When Abbot Johannes wrote about the inthronization he did not forget to mention the hat - indutus habitu pilleo... The hat played obviously an important part in the Carantanian insignia.

At that time the ancient Kingdom of the Eastern Franks was usually known as the Germanic Kingdom (not to be mistaken with German). As mentioned above, after 1257, only the so-called Princes Electors reserved the right to elect the King, and thereafter the Emperor. According to the Golden Bull of 1356, prepared by the Emperor Carl IV of Luxembourg, this honour belonged only to those in high ranking offices at the Emperor's Court. However, the duke of Austria and the Carantanian provinces, a Habsburg, was not acknowledged as possessor of a high ranking office and consequently could not be a prince elector.

Thus, in 1359 the Duke of Habsburg, Rudolf IV, forged a deed named Privilegium maius, in which he tried to prove that Emperor Frederick I »Barbarossa« imparted Austria, when it was elevated to a dukedom (1156). This resulted in the issue of special rights that made the Austrian dukes equal with the princes electors. Among these rights the honour of the Archhunter in the Kingdom (archimagister venator) and the Palatine Archduke (palatinus archidux) deserve special attention.

In sense of the latter, the title of the Palatin Archduke, and the right to receive his fief sitting on horseback with a scepter in his hand and with the Ducal Hat on his head (superposito ducali pilleo…), i.e., not on his knees like other lords, derived from the institutio Sclavenica.

In fact these rights had ben taken over from Carantanian traditions. They were connected with the ceremony of the installation of the Carantanian (Carinthian) dukes. But the Privilegium maius was recognized as falsified and therefore was not acknowledged at the Emperor's Court. However, it remained the aim of the political aspiration of the Habsburg dukes.

In 1379, the Habsburgian provinces were divided among two brothers: Albert III, the elder of them, received Austria with its centre in Vienna; the younger one, Leopold III, received Inner Austria (Carantania), with its centre in Graz. The latter was succeeded by his sons. One of them, Ernest, was nicknamed »the Iron« (ruled 1411 - 1424). Duke Ernest the Iron assumed the title of Archduke. In 1414, he arrived in Carinthia, where he let install himself at the ancient Princes Stone (Knezji kamen) near the Castle of Karnburg, from there he bestowed the fiefs and reasoned quarrels sitting on the Ducal Throne (Vojvodski stol) in the field of Svatne.

His son, Duke Frederick V, Frederick IV (1440) as King, and Frederick III as Emperor (1452) made the Privilegium maius a legal state document in 1453 .

The Ducal Hat became finally a state insignia. It is still conserved in Graz, the onetime chieftown of Inner Austria (Carantania), and it obviously represents the tradition of the Carantanian Hat. Originally it was a Slovenian one, a popular hat. But in the feudal period it did not correspond with the rank of a ruler, i.e. a duke or archduke, for this purpose another ducal hat was elaborated, in fact a crown.The town of Graz was, and it is still today, also the chieftown of the Austrian province of Styria. Therefore, the insignia in question is mostly known as »Styrian Hat«. But in this way, its historical and political traditions are not remembered.

References

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A. Anthony von Siegenfeld: Der sogenannte „Steirische Herzogshut", in "Das Landeswappen der Steiermark" (Anhang), Graz 1900

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W. Neumann: Wirklichkeit und Idee des „windischen" Herzogtum Kärnten, im Süddeutschen Archiv, Muenchen 1961

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R. Hadwich: Die reichssymbolische Bedeutung von Hut und Krone, Dissertation, Mainz 1951

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K. R. M. Brieger: Das heilige Reich Symbolik von Adler, Reichsapfel und Krone, in Extrablatt, Wien 1990

The Venetian horse (Venetski Konj)

(Slika in podnapis) Venetski konj Oskarja Kogoja v Slovenj gradcu

Venetski konj

Vest o tem, da so bili Veneti zelo spretni v reji konjev, zasledimo pri Homerju (Ilijada II, 852) ze v 9. stol. pr. Kr., ko nam o tem poroca najprej Homer (Ilijada II 852), in kasneje tudi drugi klasicni pisatelji kot Evripid, Strabon in drugi.

Strabon, ki je zivel med 64 pr. Kr. - 19 po Kr., navaja med drugim (V, 9), da so Veneti ob izlivu Timave, vzhodno od Ogleja, zrtvovali vsako leto belega konja v cast Diomeda. Ta traski bog pa je nedvomno naveden le namesto nekega venetskega bozanstva, zato da je bilo porocilo klasicnemu svetu bolj razumljivo. Na Diomedovem mestu je bil skoraj gotovo venetski Belin, bog neba in svetlobe oziroma sonca.

Upodobitve konjev, ki so nam jih zapustili Veneti, so dokaj stevilne. Vsem pa je skupna stilizirana oblika, tako znacilna za vso umetnost Venetov. V njej ne zapazimo neke rafiniranosti in estetike, kot jo odraza umetnost Grkov in za njimi Rimljanov. Pri njih se oblika vseskozi ponavlja. Pri Venetih pa je vsak prdmet zasnovan izvirno, in ima ponovitve.

Oblikovalec Oskar Kogoj, ki je doma v kraju Miren pri Gorici, je bil naravnost prevzet od te neponovljive oblike v umetnosti Venetov, katere vrhunec predstavlja situla, vedrica za slavnostne obrede. Med najlepsimi od teh je znamenita situla Vace, danes v narodnem muzeju v Ljubljani. Z nje je posnel malo figurico konja, in jo predstavil v naravni velikosti. Nastal je Venetski konj izredno uglajenih oblik, ki je takoj pritegnil pozornost javnosti. Gre res za nov kip konja, kakrsnega doslej se ni bilo v svetovnem merilu.

Odlitke tega kipa so postavili v Ljubljani, Slovenj gradcu, Zenevi, Jeruzalemu... Mali kipi pa so, ob mnogih drugih izdelkih, na razpolago v njegovi Galeriji v Miranu pri Gorici (tel. 00386/5/3954200 e-mail: oskar.kogoj@siol.net" - Venetskih konj, uglajenih in prijaznih oblik, se predstavlja kot konj miru in prijateljstva.

Vprasanja in povprasevanja adresirajte na:

Dr. Josko Savli, Via Bella Veduta 12/q, 34170 Gorizia/Gorica, Italy

Tel. 0481/531010

Moby 03470-368550

January 30, 2004
Slovenska znamenja (Slovenian symbols)
(povzeto iz casopisa Demokracija, 29. januarja 2004)
by Dr. Jožko Šavli

Ob natecaju, ki je bil razpisan za nove simbole slovenske države, je bilo ocitno, da so bili predlogi le redko izdelani v smislu strokovnih pravil o grbih in praporih. Številni predlogi so imeli tudi figuro crnega panterja, toda bili so vecinoma izdelani "svobodno", kot da gre za umetniška dela, brez upoštevanja omenjenih pravil, kot veljajo za Evropo in svet. Tudi clani komisije, ki so ocenjevali predloge, in dolocili nagrado, nedvomno niso poznali teh pravil, in so prispevke ocitno ocenjevali le po umetniškem navdihu. Šarlatanstvo pac, na katerega naletimo na številnih podrocjih po vseh postkomunisticnih državah, in Slovenija pri tem ni nikakršna izjema.

Kot vse kaže, se oblikovanje novih državnih simbolov Slovenije, ki temeljijo na "slovanskih" (ruskih) barvah, in so bili vsed tega v svetu neprepoznavni, zaradi pomanjkanja strokovnih meril, tudi v prihodnje ne bo posrecilo. V svetu ne bodo vzbujali pozornosti, temvec prej pomilovanje, ali celo prizanesljiv nasmeh zaradi njihove nebogljenosti, pa naivne ter infantilne razlage njihove vsebine.

Z raziskovo, kakšen naj bi bil izviren zgodovinski grb in prapor Slovencev, se ukvarjam že od zacetka osemdesetih let. Torej od casov, ko to vprašanje še nikomur ni prihajalo in in tudi ni smelo prihajati na misel. V Glasu Korotana št. 7 (Dunaj 1981) sta bili objvljeni študiji o simbolicnem karantanskem klobuku in o karantanskem grbu, v katerem se nahaja heraldicen Crni panter. Ponavljati dejstva, ki so bila v teh študijah navedena, bi bilo odvec, zato bi na tem mestu raje opozoril na narodnostne in politicne razmere v kriticnem letu 1848, ko so se v duhu novih pogledov na to, kaj je dolocen narod, oblikovali novi slovenski simboli. Že takrat brez ustrezne študijske priprave in poglobitve, povsem "revolucionarno" in seveda šarlatansko.

V takratnih razmerah drugace tudi ni bilo mogoce. Tragicno pa je, da so razmere ostale iste vse do danes. Opis politicnih in narodnostnih razmer, v katerih so se omenjenega leta znašli Slovenci, nam je doslej še najbolje prikazal zgodovinar France Dolinar v svoji kratki študiji "Odsotnost slovenske državne misli v prevratu 1918" (Buenos Aires 1971). Njegov kriticen prikaz bom nekoliko dopolnil z novimi spoznanji. Kolikor mi je znano, se naša uradna znanost vprašanja slovenske politicne zgodovine vse doslej še ni lotila.

V šolskem aparatu in v javnosti zaradi tega še vedno prevladuje hlapševski model gledanja na slovensko preteklost, kakršnega so narekovale ideologije politicnih režimov, sprva zlasti velikonemškega in zatem jugoslovansko unitaristicnega. Samo razcišcenje pogleda na resnicno slovensko zgodovino pa lahko pripomore tudi k oblikovanju pravilnih simbolov slovenske države, kot vidimo tudi pri drugih narodih oziroma državah.

Usodno leto 1848
Ko smo Slovenci v pomladi narodov - 1848 - prvic po dolgih stoletjih pod svojim imenom stopili v politicno življenje, je bil ta vstop izpolnjen v znamenju slovenske države, Zedinjene Slovenije... Besedo Slovenija, ki jo je najti v virih zgodnjega in visokega srednjega veka, je v moderni dobi prvi uporabil nepoeticni staroslovenski bard Jovan Vesel Koseski 1844 v pozdravnih verzih "Slovenija cesarju Ferdinandu". Iz odpora na ta stihokov je Prešeren zapel pragmaticno "Zdravljico ob novini leta 1844", ki jo je kot cenzor bral mladi Fran Miklošic in kitico "Edinost, sreca, sprava" v rokopisu Poezij rdece obcrtal. V letu 1848 je vprav Miklošic kot predsednik dunajskega politicnega društva "Slovenija" napisal proklamacijo, ki terja kraljestvo Slovenijo. Kot se je Koseski zgledoval po Vodnikovi "Iliriji oživljeni", tako je Miklošicu formulo kraljestva Slovenije olajšalo ponapoleonsko avstrijsko kraljestvo Ilirija, ki je bilo organizirano 1816, ki pa se v ustavi 1849 ne spominja vec, ostalo pa je v velikem grbu habsburške hiše. Slavist Miklošic je po prvotnem študiju bil jurist; ko je rekel "kraljestvo", je imel v mislih države kot ceško, ogrsko, hrvaško kraljstvo.

V dunajski "Sloveniji" združeni razumniki so adekvatno umeli slovenski problem kot prestvaritev kulturnega v politicni narod. Za narod, ki je bil politicno razdeljen med historicne dežele tudi pod skupno jim vlado avstrijske hiše, so Slovenjani terjali državno-politicno zedinjenje, ko so postavili sebi in svojemu narodu cilj, "de politiško razdeljeni narod Slovencev na Kranjskim, Štajerskim, Primorskim in Koroškim kakor en narod se tudi v eno kraljestvo z imenam Slovenija sklene in de ima svoj zbor". Sprico nacionalnih gibanj in presnavljanja držav na temelju nacionalnega nacela v Evropi je bila država Slovenija edini pravi odgovor slovenskega ljudstva-naroda na izziv socasnih zgodovinskih sil. Kot redko pozneje je v programu "Slovenije" jasno izražena volja postati politicni narod-nacija. Medij te pretvorbe je samosvoja slovenska država.

Val liberalne demokracije, ki je 1848 zajel srednjo Evropo, je naceloma sicer dal Slovencem politicne možnosti, da uresnicijo svoj nacionalni program, toda vprav ob poizkusih realizacije je mogel politicno-narodno zavedni slovenski inteligent izkušati v vsej bridkosti - pa tudi junaški velikodušnosti - kaj pomeni biti sin tako imenovanega nehistoricnega naroda, kar jeidenticno z nepoliticnim narodom. In vendar so še v casu prve Jugoslavije našli ljudje, ki so hoteli biti prav "napredni" narodni ideologi in so bistvo slovenskega naroda omejili na invalidni kulturni narod. Tako Josip Vidmar. (Fr. Dolinar, itm, str. 5 - 6)

Kaj je "nehistoricen" narod
Nehistoricen narod je narod, ki v zgodovini ni dejavno navzoocen in uveljavljen, ker nima ali že davno vec nima svoje lastne državne strukture, tako da si ni mogel ohraniti niti po sebi imenovane politicno-teritorialne organizacije, ki mu je ostala kot preostanek nekdanje državnosti, ki bi nanjo mogel oprati svojo prizadevo za vnovicno uveljavitev med narodi. v družbi narodov je brez zgodovinske legitimacije, ki mu jo more v odnostih med narodi izsklenjeno dati zgolj lastna država.

Tak narod smo v družbi historicnih narodov nima zdržemno soslednega historicno potrjenega zastopstva, nima drugih narodov besednikom enakovrednega glasnika svojih terjatev. V dobi demokracije pa je takemu narodu najvecja ovira za razvit, da v nejga jeziku govorece množice nimajo politicne zavesti svoje enotnosti, saj v njih kolektivnemu spominu ni navzocna njihova nekdanja politicna enotnost. Tak narod smo bili Slovenci 1848, ob zori svojega narodno politicnega življenja. Položaj dovolj osvetli nekaj dogodkov iz tega leta.

Revoluucionarnost slovenskih kmetov je bila takoj izcrpana, ko so dosegli svoje socialne cilje. In vendar se je boris Kidric mogel varatriu z revolucijsko potencialnostjo slovenskega podeželja za narodne cilje 1848... (Fr. Dolinar, itm. str 5 - 7).

Res, takšne so bile razmere v usodnem letau 1848! Vendar niso bile takšne v dolgih stoletjih slovenskega obstoja, kar pa zgodovinar Fr. Dolinar v svojih življenjskih razmerah v zdomstvu ni mogel odkrivati. Tako je ostalo brez odgovora tudi vprašanje, ki se je bralcu lahko porodilo ob prebiranju njegovega kriticnega komentarja: Odkod potem nenadna misel o slovenski državi (kraljstvu), ki se je takorat iz podzavesti porodila v mladih slovenskih izobražencih? Ne vidimo je pri Bavarcih, Švabih, Sasih... vsi so samo še Nemci, in ne pri Furlanih. Ugasnila je že pri Benecanih, cetudi so še pol stoletja prej imeli svojo Beneško republiko... Državna misel Slovencev leta 1848 je presenetljivo jasna, pa cetudi ni na voljo nikakega gradiva o zgodnji slovenski državi Karantaniji in o njenem nadaljevanju.

Res je, nemška stran nas je naredila za nehistoricen narod, seveda na znanstveni akademski ravni, zato da bi bilo njeno stališce prepricljivo. Slovenski razumniki si v znanstvene razlage niso upali podvomiti. Vendar so kljub temu pa so iskali simbole za slovensko državo. Ker ni bilo o tem na razpolago nikakega gradiva, so se oprli na nekdanjo upravno tvorbo Ilirijo pa tudi na Rusijo, ki naj bi bila, v duhu panslovanske misli o prvotno enotnem slovanskem narodu Slovenv, mati Slovanov. Bilo je samoumevno, da so Rusi kot najvecji slovanski narod tudi najbolj izvirni nasledniki Slovanov. Njihova pradomovina se je torej morala nahajati na ruskem ozemlju, nekje za Karpati. Kar se je nahajalo v narodnem in v ljudskem življenju Rusov, so morali nekoc imeti tudi Slovenci...

Takšne so bile predstave mladih izobražencev, študentov. Toda v javnosti je še vedno prevladovala politicna misel o zgodovinski Nemciji, za kar je nemška in nemškutarska stran razglašala staro Sveto Rimsko cesarstvo. Tako se je 1848 nova slovenska (slovanska) narodna misel prvic soocila z velenemško, in to prav v Ljubljani. Zgodovinar Fr. Dolinar nam dogodke iz tega casa opiše takole:

V Ljubljani, v središcu domala cisto slovenske dežele, so v cast marcne revolucije v zacetku aprila na Gradu razobesili crno - rdeco - zlato zastavo frankfurtske Nemcije. Ko je zastava na stolpu vzplapolala, je gospod stotnik Košir zaklical na Kongresnem trgu zbrani množici "Vivat složna Nemcija" in Ljubljancani so strumno pritrdili s svojimi vivat. Po patrioticnem opravilu so se ljubljanski gardisti razšli po krcmah. V gostilni pri Zlati zvezdi so se zbrali clani narodne garde. Naenkrat stopi mednje skupina slovenskih visokošolcev z Dunaja, na celu jim je bil poznejši konservativni poslanec Lovro Toman z belo - modro - rdeco zastavo v roki. (Barve slovenske narodne zastave sta na temelju barv kranjskega grba dolocila Anton Globocnik, poznejši poslanec katoliško-narodne stranke, ki ga je za slovenstvo pridobil njegov dijaški sostanovalec Luka Jeran, in Peter Kozler, risar prvega zemljevida slovenskih dežel. Po zaslugi Antona Globocnika je slovanski kongres v Pragi 1848 sprejel Zedinjeno Slovenijo med tocke slovanskega programa). Toman je castnikom ocital sramoto, da nad slovensko Ljubljano vihra nemška zastava. Kmalu je veter frankfurtarico z Grada odnesel proti Savi (Fr. Dolinar, itm, str 7).

Slovanske barve
Navedba, da temeljijo slovenske barve na kranjskem deželnem grbu, je bila nedvomno pretveza. Barve zastave morajo v smislu heraldicnih pravil resnicno ustrezati barvam na grbu, vendar le osnovnim, ne pa barvam kljuna in krempljev (navadno rdeci) in drugih pritiklin. Grb Kranjske pa je imel le dve osnovni barvi: plavo in zlato (rumeno), plavi orel na zlatem polju. Njegov rdec kljun in kremplji kot tudi barve špahirane prepone na prsih niso bile osnovne grbovne barve. Leta 1836 pa se v sestavljenem cesarskem grbu pojavi grb Kranjske z belo namesto zlato (rumeno) barvo. Kranjski deželni stanovi zaman protestirajo.

Ko leta 1848 ministrstvo na Dunaju potrdi omenjene "slovenske" barve. domnevno na osnovi kranjskega grba, se kranjski stanovi ponovno pritožijo, vendar je bilo njihova pritožba zavrnjena. Istega leta nam slika kranjsko-koroške deželne razstave zares kaže tribarvno kranjsko zastavo: bela - plava - rdeca, poleg koroške. Toda na sliki, ki prikazuje cesarjev obisk v Ljubljani leta 1856 (Franz Kurz zum Thurn und Goldenstein, Mestni muzej) so kranjske zastave samo belo -plave. Torej spet v smislu heralicnih pravil.

Medtem so omenjene tri barve s pretvezo, da so utemeljene na kranjskem grbu, postale "slovenske". Slovensko narodno gibanje, ki drugih pac ni imelo in poznalo, jih je postavljalo nasproti nemškim barvam: crna - rdeca - zlata, ki so bile prav tako izmišljene. Dolocila jih je študentovska Burschenschaft v Jeni (1818), ceš da so barve nemškega "Reicha" (za kar so razglašali Sveto Rimsko cesarstvo), kar ni bilo res. Nemška stran se na to seveda ni ozirala. Toliko bolj pa je proti "slovenskim" barvam ustvarjala gonjo, da gre za ruske barve, z namenom, da slovensemu narodnem gibanju naprti veleizdajo. Glede ruskih barv je imela je seveda prav, vendar so bile te barve formalno utemeljene z grbom Kranjske, zato avstrisjki upravni aparat v zadevo ni posegel.

Vse do prve svetovne vojne se o stari slovenski državi Karantaniji, na katere izrocilu bi lahko utemeljili slovenske zgodovinske barve, ni vedelo nicesar. Šele po teh vojni so Karantanijo zaceli postopoma kopati iz pozabe, vendar pa niso posebej iskali in preucevali njene simbolike. Zgodovinarji sopod vplivom nemških "znanstvenih" razlag razglašali, da je bilo samostojne Karantanije dokoncno konec leta 820, s porazom kneza Ljudevita v Slavoniji, kateremu da so se pridružili tudi Kranjci in del Karantancev. Franki naj bi v povracilo za upor odstavili vse karantansko plemstvo in kneza. Tako naj bi Karantanija bi postala navadna frankovska "grofija". Tako nam, prav do danes, navajajo tudi šolski programi. Toda zgodovinski viri cesa takega ne navajajo.

Ko so ob nastanku Jugoslavije po prvi svetovni vojni vpraševali iz Belgrada, kakšen naj bi bil slovenski grb, da bi ga vnesli v skupen grb nove jugoslovanske države, so bili v Ljubljani v zadregi. Pa so se "znašli". Na hitro so razglasili slovensko poreklo grofov Celjskih in poslali v Belgrad njihove "tri zlate zvezde (2, 1) na plavem šcitu" kot slovenski grb. Pri tem so Celjane naredili še za predhodnike jugoslovanstva, saj je imel eden od njih za soprogo Katarino, hcerko srbskega despota Brankovica.

Ob koncu druge svetovne vojne se je za grb Republike Slovenije po vsesplošnem navdihu ponujal lik Triglava. O kaki slovenski zgodovinski državi, cetudi so jo slovenski borci med vojni imeli v svoji predstavi, niso imeli pojma. Še vedno jo je povsem prekrivala slovanska in jugoslovanska politicna misel. Tako so grb Slovenije priredili po zgledu sovjetskih "grbov". Vse z najboljšim namenom, z globokim navdušenjem, vendar šarlatansko. Za Karantanijo so sicer vedeli, toda uradna zgodovina jo je po bolj ali manj ocitnih direktivah s politicnega vrha razglašala za zgolj kratkotrajno tvorbo. Tako se nihce ni poglobil v problematiko njenih simbolov. Še vec, v takšnem primeru bi bil lahko še "nacionalist". Karantanska slovenska simbolika je osatala nerazcišceno vprašenje.

Tako je še danes. Slovenski narod, povsem nebogljen, ob velikem hrupu javnih obcil koraka v Evropo. Vendar kot siromak, cetudi sedi na skrinji, v kateri je zaklad njegove kulture in zgodovine. V tem pogledu tudi danes ni mnogo na boljšem, kot je bil usodnega leta 1848.

(cf: Heraldry and Genealogy of Carantania/Slovenia - article: Slovenia - The Flag and the Coat of Arms)