Ivan Ančić

Ivan Ančić (11 February 1624 – 24 July 1685) was a Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian Franciscan and religious writer.

Ančić, a native of Lipa in the region of Duvno, joined the Bosnian Franciscans and received education in the Franciscan friaries in the Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy. He held various offices in his province and served as a parish priest in several locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Duvno. After his arrival to Ancona in 1674, he began publishing his religious works, written in the local Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian spoken in the region of Duvno. Ančić is the first to write using the Latin alphabet in a commoners' language, while his Baroque writings fall in the scope of Catholic Revival.

Early life
Ančić was born in Lipa near Tomislavgrad in the Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina to an affluent family of father Jure and mother Magdalena (Manda) née Sučić. He was educated in the friaries of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia in Rama, Fojnica and Velika. He joined the Franciscans in Rama in 1643 and was ordained to the priesthood in Velika in 1646. Afterwards, he went to study in Italy; at first, he studied philosophy in Cremona and then theology in Bressanone and from 1651 in Napoli. On 20 October 1653, Sebastiano di Gaieta, the general commissioner of the Franciscan Order, appointed Ančić a procurator for the money gained from the sale of the grain donated by King Philip IV of Spain to the Franciscan Province in Albania. In 1654, Ančić became the Order's preacher and two years later a lecturer.

Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina
In 1656, Ančić asked di Gaieta, to return to his homeland. There, he served as a preacher, parish priest and lecturer in Velika, Našice, Brod, Belgrade (by the request of the Ragusan merchants there), Rama and Duvno (present-day Tomislavgrad). In 1662, he was sent by the provincial to Rome to receive absolutions and privileges from the Pope for the Bosnian Franciscans. In the scope of the task, Ančić published Thesaurus perpetuus indulgentiarum seraphici ordinis sancti patris nostri Francisci (The perpetual treasure of the indulgences of the seraphic order of our holy father Francis) that same year in Venice. The first part of the work contains the list of absolutions and privileges at the disposal of the Bosnian Franciscans, while the second part is composed of various blessings. From 1663 to 1669, Ančić was a parish priest in the Visoko and Rama friaries.

Duvno and Rama
At a chapter held in Kraljeva Sutjeska friary held on 28 August 1669, he was elected the guardian of the Rama friary. During Bishop Marijan Lišnjić's pastoral visit, Ančić was mentioned as the only priest in the desolated large area of Duvno, which suffered due to the Cretan War (1645–1669). Robert Jolić and Dominik Mandić hold that Ančić served as the guardian and the parish priest of Duvno simultaneously. Thanks to his good standing with the Muslim beys of Kongora of the Kopčić family, who were sympathetic towards Catholicism, Ančić managed to construct the parish house and in 1670 and 1671 he took pastoral care of the faithful in Lipa and Kongora. Since the Diocese of Duvno seat was vacant, Ančić hoped to receive the episcopal appointment and received many recommendations. However, this put him at odds with Lišnjić, who, as the bishop of Makarska, administered the Diocese of Duvno. Thus, Lišnjić criticised him for constructing the parish house in Kongora. Even though Ančić was received by Pope Innocent XI twice in 1680, he failed to receive the episcopate. Between 1673 and 1674, Ančić was a preacher and a teacher of the Gregorian chant in Šibenik.

Literary work
In 1674, Ančić went to Italy, where he started the publication of his works. In Ancona, he published three works in Croatian: Vrata nebeska i Xivot viçchni (the Gates of Heaven and Eternal Life) in 1678, Svitlost karstianska i slast duovna (Christian Light and Spiritual Sweetness), 1st volume and 2nd volume in 1679, and Ogledalo misniçko (the Ministerial Mirror) in 1681. He died in the Friary of St. Francis of Alto in Ancona. A manuscript of his autobiography in 14 documents which he sent to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was also preserved. Alojzija Tvorić Kučko suggests that it was written at the end of his life.

Ančić had a reputation of a learned writer. Like other Croatian writers of his time, Ančić was a writer of the Catholic Revival, a movement which emphasised the common language. He dedicated the last years of his life to this goal. Ančić's works significantly contributed to the religious education of the Catholic populace under the Ottoman Empire. They were written to be easily understood by the readers. Unlike other Bosnian Franciscan writers of his time, who used the Bosnian Cyrillic, Ančić was the first to write in the Latin alphabet and published a table of Latin and Bosnian Cyrillic characters in his works. Trying to represent the sounds of the common language better, he combined the usage of Latin characters. His works were written in the Shtokavian Ikavian dialect, spoken by the commoners from the region of Duvno. He referred to the language used as Duvnian and Illyrian.

Ančić started writing the two volumed Vrata nebeska i Xivot viçchni while in Assisi in 1676 and finished it in Loreto in early 1677. The work can be divided into four parts. In the first part, Ančić discusses the Scriptures and interpretations of the religious truths. The second part contains the review of Our Father, the Precepts of the Church, the life of Jesus and a thorough interpretation of the sacraments and spiritual gifts. It also discusses the ecclesiastical organisation, papal authority, absolution and alms, the meaning of preaching and eschatology. The third part reviews the Hail Mary and the life of Jesus' mother, the purpose of the prayer, the mystery of the Trinity and the life of Francis of Assisi. The last part comprises the discussions about faith and detailed interpretation of Credo, absolution, penance, and eternal life. Here, Ančić relied on numerous Church Fathers and other religious writers, as well as the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers.

Ogledalo misniçko is composed of 21 conversations written in the form of sermons. The conversations are mostly styled as a Baroque rhetoric, but have elements of classical rhetoric and are meditative and educational. They often start with a translated quote from Latin from the Bible or church teachers, followed by an example tied to the subject. Ančić proceeded with exposition, proving a statement by statement and ending conversations with a conclusion and an instruction. Different conversations are intended for the clergy, friars, nuns, and the faithful. The work is oriented towards the everyday spiritual life of the clergy and for the faithful to ascertain better the life of the clergy and influence the morals of both.