Plemenita općina turopoljska

“Once upon a time, in the heart of Europe, in Croatia, there was a small thousand-year-old self-governing state, actually a state within a state. It had its own democratically elected head (prefect), its own democratically elected assembly (parlament), its own government (leadership, magistrate), its own laws, its own army (banderium), its own independent judiciary, its own coat of arms and its own flag. And although its borders were not drawn anywhere, every centimeter of its sovereign territory was known throughout the whole millennium. That state was called the Noble Municipality of Turopolje. It arose from the Turovo polje parish, which was established in the 7th century with the arrival of Croats in these areas and, with the necessary adjustments, was maintained in the clan structure until the middle of the twentieth century. And while all similar parishes disappeared in the course of history, it, by some miracle, managed not only to maintain itself, but in the 13th century it managed to prove its free from time immemorial status, which at that time meant noble status, which it preserved until the second half of the nineteenth century, and existed as a specially organized land community until 1947. And although her life was sometimes violently interrupted, she rose from the ashes like a phoenix bird every time. Napoleon’s campaign of destruction at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century marked the end of many free states, among them the Republic of Dubrovnik (1808) and somewhat earlier the Republic of Venice (1797), but in contrast to them, the municipality of Turopolje, which was also conquered by Napoleon, succeeded in re-establishing it in its original structure in the 19th century.” With these words, Ivan Rožić began his valuable book The History of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje, which saw the light of day in 2020, re-discovering the known and unknown about the longest-standing family parish of Croats.

If it were necessary to briefly describe the trace, the footprint left by the Noble Municipality of Turopolje in history, from May 26. 1278, when we find the oldest statute, this can be done by looking at the coat of arms of the Noble Municipality from year 1737. If we look towards the entrance door of the Turopolje Museum, we can see him above it. This building, the municipal house of the POT, which was also called Turopolje-grad, is actually the Turopolje town hall where the Noble Municipality, as a self-governing body, made the most important decisions for our region. In addition to the prefect, who also had judicial power, these decisions were made by officials, and I will list some of them: provisions were made regarding the management of forests, taxes were announced for the maintenance and construction of municipal buildings, provisions were made regarding fair income, innkeeping, fishing… Deputies for the Croatian and joint Croatian-Hungarian parliaments were elected, military issues were discussed. The duties of the municipality as patron of church parishes in Velika Gorica and Dubranec were discussed. New members were accepted into the brotherhood. Decisions were made regarding the construction of roads and bridges, schools and other facilities, revenues were shared and municipal land was leased… So, in that building, decisions were made that related to the entire life of Turopolje.

The same coat of arms of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje can be found on the parish church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “Turopolje Cathedral”, which was also cared for by the Noble Municipality, and which is still evidenced by the coat of arms above the entrance door. Even in the oldest times, choirs of nobles, free people of Turopolje, among other places, were held on St. George´s day in the meadow next to the parish church of St. George in Odra. At one such “spravisce”, which is evidenced by a document from 1455, we also learn how the “spravisce” makes decisions: “the rich and the poor at the same time, with equal and unanimous and unanimous will”.

We have reached the third coat of arms that defines the role of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje. It is located above the entrance gate of the Old Town of Lukavec. The coat of arms itself has a painted tower of Lukavec – the city guarded by a permanent guard – a proud banner. Cannons come out of the tower, showing readiness to defend their own, but at the top there is also a drawn saber, showing readiness to fight outside the borders of Turopolje, which brave Turopoljes have done throughout history in European wars. The noble municipality of Turopolje, historians say, is the last of the old parishes in which the majority of Croatian decrees from the time of the arrival of Croats in these areas were kept. All those parishes, like the Noble municipality of Turopolje, disappeared throughout history under the attack of the great feudal lords, but the Turopoljes did not give up. That is why they built the city of Lukavec to protect them from external enemies. And while many castles in Croatia fell into ruin and were demolished due to the extinction of the noble families that built them, the city of Lukavec survived because it did not belong to one man, one family, but to the entire Turopolje brotherhood.

In this community, as the charter of the Turopolje brotherhood from 1560 tells us – “as if we were bees coming from the same hive”, the idea arose to restore the work of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje in the free Republic of Croatia with the primary goal of returning property – forests, meadows, buildings that throughout history were diligently collected and jointly managed by the people of Turopolska gathered in the Land Community of the Noble Municipality of Turopolska. Croatian nationality and loyalty to the Catholic Church has been shown by the Noble Municipality throughout its history, and this love is proven by the decision of the leadership of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje only one month after the restoration, from August 1991, by which the prefect invited the membership and the people of Turopolje to get involved in defense activities through Croatian military units. When the danger of war passed, the following years, from 1993 onwards, other goals of the restored Noble municipality, now an association, which can be reduced to a common denominator – “preservation of the Turopolje identity” were tackled.