ACTA HISTRIAE
30, 2022, 4
UDK/UDC 94(05) ISSN 1318-0185ACTA HISTRIAE 30, 2022, 4, pp. 757-1232
UDK/UDC 94(05) 
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko - Koper
Società storica del Litorale - Capodistria
ACTA HISTRIAE
30, 2022, 4
KOPER 2022
ISSN 1318-0185
e-ISSN 2591-1767
V čast Salvatorju Žitku 
In onore di Salvator Žitko
In honour of Salvator Žitko
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
ISSN 1318-0185                UDK/UDC 94(05)             Letnik 30, leto 2022, številka 4
e-ISSN 2591-1767
Darko Darovec
Gorazd Bajc, Furio Bianco (IT), Stuart Carroll (UK), Angel Casals Martinez (ES), 
Alessandro Casellato (IT), Flavij Bonin, Dragica Čeč, Lovorka Čoralić (HR), 
Darko Darovec, Lucien Faggion (FR), Marco Fincardi (IT), Darko Friš, Aleš Maver, 
Borut Klabjan, John Martin (USA), Robert Matijašić (HR), Darja Mihelič, Edward Muir 
(USA), Žiga Oman, Polona Tratnik, Jože Pirjevec, Egon Pelikan, Luciano Pezzolo (IT), 
Claudio Povolo (IT), Marijan Premović (MNE), Luca Rossetto (IT), Vida Rožac Darovec, 
Andrej Studen , Marta Verginella, Salvator Žitko
Urška Lampe, Gorazd Bajc, Lara Petra Skela, Marjan Horvat, Žiga Oman
Petra Berlot
Urška Lampe (angl., slo.), Gorazd Bajc (it.), Lara Petra Skela (angl., slo.)
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko - Koper / Società storica del Litorale - Capodistria© 
/ Inštitut IRRIS za raziskave, razvoj in strategije družbe, kulture in okolja / Institute IRRIS for 
Research, Development and Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment / Istituto IRRIS 
di ricerca, sviluppo e strategie della società, cultura e ambiente©
Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko, SI-6000, Koper-Capodistria, Garibaldijeva 
18 / Via Garibaldi 18, e-mail: actahistriae@gmail.com; https://zdjp.si/
Založništvo PADRE d.o.o.
300 izvodov/copie/copies
Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije / Slovenian 
Research Agency, Mestna občina Koper
Koprsko pristanišče (avtor: Salvator Žitko, 1962) / Porto di Capodistria 
(autore: Salvator Žitko, 1962) / Port of Koper (author: Salvator Žitko, 1962).
Redakcija te številke je bila zaključena 15. decembra 2022.
Odgovorni urednik/
Direttore responsabile/
Editor in Chief:
Uredniški odbor/ 
Comitato di redazione/
Board of Editors:
Uredniki/Redattori/
Editors:
Prevodi/Traduzioni/
Translations:
Lektorji/Supervisione/
Language Editors:
Izdajatelja/Editori/
Published by:
Sedež/Sede/Address: 
Tisk/Stampa/Print: 
Naklada/Tiratura/Copies:
Finančna podpora/
Supporto finanziario/
Financially supported by:
Slika na naslovnici/
Foto di copertina/
Picture on the cover:
Revija Acta Histriae je vključena v naslednje podatkovne baze / Gli articoli pubblicati in questa rivista sono inclusi nei seguenti indici di citazione 
/ Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in: CLARIVATE ANALYTICS (USA): Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), 
Social Scisearch, Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI), Journal Citation Reports / Social Sciences Edition (USA); IBZ, Internationale 
Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur (GER); International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) (UK); Referativnyi Zhurnal Viniti 
(RUS); European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS); Elsevier B. V.: SCOPUS (NL); DOAJ.
To delo je objavljeno pod licenco / Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza / This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0.
Navodila avtorjem in vsi članki v barvni verziji so prosto dostopni na spletni strani: https://zdjp.si.
Le norme redazionali e tutti gli articoli nella versione a colori sono disponibili gratuitamente sul sito: https://zdjp.si/it/.
The submission guidelines and all articles are freely available in color via website http: https://zdjp.si/en/.
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
Volume 30, Koper 2022, issue 4
VSEBINA / INDICE GENERALE / CONTENTS
Darja Mihelič: Korenine piranske družine Petrogna/Petronio (1257–1350) ..............
Le radici della famiglia Petrogna/Petronio di Pirano (1257–1350)
The Roots of the Petrogna/Petronio Family of Piran (1257–1350)
Marijan Premović: Banditry in Zeta in the Balšić Period (1360–1421) ....................
Brigantaggio a Zeta nel periodo dei Balšić (1360–1421)
Razbojništvo v Zeti v času Balšićev (1360–1421)
Dušan Mlacović: Koper v poznem srednjem veku: opažanja o mestu in 
njegovih portah po pregledu knjig koprskih vicedominov s konca 14. stoletja .................
Capodistria nel tardo medioevo: osservazioni sulla città e le sue 
porte dopo una disamina dei quaderni dei vicedomini 
capodistriani della fine del XIV secolo
Late Medieval Koper: Observations about the Town and Its Portae 
from a Survey of the Books of the Koper Vicedomini from 
the End of the 14th Century
Darko Darovec: Knjiga koprskih kapetanov Slovanov (1587–1724) ........................
Il libro di capitani degli Slavi di Capodistria (1587–1724)
The Book of the Koper Captains of the Slavs (1587–1724)
Lovorka Čoralić: Zadarski plemić Josip Antun Fanfonja – zapovjednik 
mletačkih prekomorskih pješačkih postrojbi u 18. stoljeću ........................................
Il nobile Giuseppe Antonio Fanfognia di Zara – comandante delle 
formazioni di fanteria oltremarina della serenissima nel settecento
Nobleman of Zadar Joseph Anthony Fanfognia – Commander of 
Venetian Overseas Infantry Units in the Eighteenth Century
Claudio Povolo: Violenza e inimicizie tra cinque e seicento. Due pratiche 
sociali nella loro dimensione antropologico-giuridica ................................................
Violence and Enmity between the 16th and 17th Centuries. Two Social 
Practices in their Legal Anthropological Dimensions
Nasilje in sovražnost v 16. in 17. stoletju. Družbeni praksi 
v pravno-antropološki dimenziji
757
799
819
UDK/UDC 94(05) ISSN 1318-0185
e-ISSN 2591-1767
909
855
933
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
Žiga Oman: Sosedje in sovražniki: reševanje sporov pred ljubljanskim 
mestnim svetom v zgodnjem novem veku (1521–1671) ............................................
Vicini e nemici: risoluzione dei conflitti davanti al consiglio comunale 
di Lubiana nella prima età moderna (1521–1671)
Neighbours and Enemies: Dispute Settlement before the Ljubljana Town 
Council in the Early Modern Period (1521–1671)
Tilen Glavina: »Lakomen volk in uničevalec Kristusove vere.« 
Vergerijane (1550): povod ali rezultat pregona 
Petra Pavla Vergerija? ................................................................................................
«L’avido lupo e distruggitore della fede di Christo». Le Vergeriane (1550): 
pretesto o conseguenza della persecuzione 
di Pier Paolo Vergerio?
“A Greedy Wolf and Destroyer of the Faith of Christ.” Le Vergeriane (1550): 
A Cause or a Result of the Persecution against 
Pier Paolo Vergerio?
Furio Bianco: Tra storia e stampe popolari in età moderna. Perfetta, 
e veridica relatione, delli processi criminali, et essecutioni delli 
medesimi, fattasi contro li tre conti, Francesco Nadasdi, Pietro 
di Zrin, e Francesco Cristofforo Frangepani (1671) ..................................................
Between History and Popular Print in the Modern Age. Perfetta, 
e veridica relatione, delli processi criminali, et essecutioni delli 
medesimi, fattasi contro li tre conti, Francesco Nadasdi, Pietro di 
Zrin, e Francesco Cristofforo Frangepani (1671)
Med zgodovino in ljudskim tiskom v novem veku. Perfetta, e veridica 
relatione, delli processi criminali, et essecutioni delli medesimi, 
fattasi contro li tre conti, Francesco Nadasdi, Pietro di Zrin, 
e Francesco Cristofforo Frangepani (1671)
Borut Klabjan: Za boga, narod in domovino! Katero? Vprašanje verskih, 
narodnih in državnih pripadnosti ter vloga češke in moravske 
duhovščine v Istri pred in po prvi svetovni vojni .......................................................
Per dio, nazione e patria! Quale? La questione delle affiliazioni religiose, 
nazionali e statuali e il ruolo del clero boemo e moravo in Istria prima 
e dopo la prima guerra mondiale 
For God, Nation and Motherland! Which One? The Question of Religious, 
National and State Affiliation, and the Role of Czech and Moravian 
Priests in Istra before and after World War I
Andrej Rahten: Josip Vilfan v prvem desetletju panevropskega gibanja ..................
Josip Vilfan nella prima decade del movimento paneuropeo
Josip Vilfan in the First Decade of the Paneuropean Movement
1057
1015
1075
1039
973
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
Martin Bele: Prispevek k podrobnejši osvetlitvi družinskih vezi in mladostnih 
let dr. Antona Korošca – družina in mladost Bižikovega Toneta ................................
Contributo a una delucidazione più dettagliata dei legami famigliari e degli 
anni giovanili del dott. Anton Korošec ‒ la famiglia e la gioventù di Tone Bižik
Contribution to a More Detailed Exposure of Family Relations and 
Younger Years of Dr. Anton Korošec – Bižik Tone
Urška Lampe: Tajna misija Josipa Smodlake v Rim: prvi poskus neposrednega 
sporazuma med Jugoslavijo in Italijo, oktober 1945–januar 1946 ..............................
La missione segreta di Josip Smodlaka a Roma: il primo tentativo di 
accordo diretto tra la Jugoslavia e l’Italia, ottobre 1945-gennaio 1946
The Secret Mission of Josip Smodlaka to Rome: The First Attempt at a Direct 
Agreement between Yugoslavia and Italy, October 1945–January 1946
Ana Šela: Delovanje slovenske službe državne 
varnosti v osemdesetih letih 20. stoletja ...................................................................
Il funzionamento del sloveno servizio di 
sicurezza nazionale negli anni ottanta 
Functioning of the Slovenian State Security Service in the 1980s
Aleš Maver: Narod na preklic? Oblikovanje beloruske identitete 
v primerjavi s slovensko ............................................................................................
Una nazione a revoca? La formazione dell’identità bielorussa 
a confronto con quella slovena
A Nation to Recall? Formation of Belarusian Identity 
Compared to the Slovenian Case
Marjan Horvat: Uporabe ljudskih pravljic v legitimizaciji političnih 
ideologij 20. stoletja: nenavadni primer slovenske verzije pravljice 
Repa velikanka in jugoslovanski samoupravni socializem .........................................
L’uso dei racconti popolari nella legittimazione delle ideologie politiche 
del novecento: l’esempio insolito della versione slovena del racconto 
La rapa gigante e il socialismo di autogestione jugoslavo
The Use of Folktales in the Legitimization of Political Ideologies of the 
20th Century: The Unusual Case of the Slovenian Version of the Folktale 
The Gigantic Turnip and Yugoslav Self-governing Socialism
Polona Tratnik: The Pre−Enlightenment Formation of the Emerging Modern 
Scientific Episteme and Building Community from Mythical Discourse .........................
La formazione pre-illuministica dell’emergente episteme scientifica moderna 
e la costruzione della comunità partendo da un discorso mitico
Predrazsvetljensko oblikovanje modernega znanstvenega epistema in 
grajenje skupnosti iz mitskega diskurza
1215
1095
1159
1115
1185
1137
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1215
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
THE PRE−ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING 
MODERN SCIENTIFIC EPISTEME AND BUILDING 
COMMUNITY FROM MYTHICAL DISCOURSE
Polona TRATNIK
Institute IRRIS for Research, Development and Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment, 
Čentur 1f, 6273 Marezige, Slovenia
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: polona.tratnik@irris.eu
ABSTRACT 
The pre-Enlightenment scholars from the Land of Carniola explored the 
region, its past, sociality and nature in order to give it praise. They aimed to 
produce knowledge based on rational reasoning in accordance with the emer-
ging modern scientific episteme. They encountered mythical discourse which 
they attempted to overcome, yet, as the author of this article argues, they also 
drew from mythical discourse. Through case studies the author shows how an-
cient myths played a role in consolidating identity and building community. She 
argues that pre-Enlightenment scholars built collective memory in reference to 
the mythological establishment of the city of Ljubljana.
Keywords: pre-Enlightenment, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Janez Ludvik Schönleben, 
mythical discourse, collective memory, modern scientific episteme, Emona, Ljubljana, 
Land of Carniola
LA FORMAZIONE PRE-ILLUMINISTICA DELL’EMERGENTE EPISTEME 
SCIENTIFICA MODERNA E LA COSTRUZIONE DELLA COMUNITÀ 
PARTENDO DA UN DISCORSO MITICO
SINTESI
Gli studiosi pre-illuministi dell’era dell’antica regione di Carniola esplo-
rarono le sue terre, il suo passato, la sua socialità e la sua natura al fine di 
esaltarla e con l’obiettivo di produrre un corpo di conoscenza basato sul ragio-
namento razionale, in accordo con l’emergente episteme scientifica moderna. 
Nelle loro ricerche si imbatterono nel discorso mitico, che non solo cercavano 
di superare, ma da cui, come sostenuto da questo articolo, attingevano anche. 
Difatti, l’autrice dell’articolo illustra, attraverso casi di studio, il ruolo che gli 
antichi miti ebbero nel consolidamento dell’identità e nella costruzione della 
Received: 2022-12-03                            DOI 10.19233/AH.2022.48
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1216
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
comunità, sostenendo che gli studiosi pre-illuministi costruirono una memoria 
collettiva legata alla fondazione mitologica della città di Lubiana.
Parole chiave: pre-illuminismo, Johann Weichart Valvasor, Johann Ludwig 
Schönleben, discorso mitico, memoria collettiva, episteme scientifica moderna, 
Emona, Lubiana, Carniola
INTRODUCTION: THE FUNCTIONING OF MYTHICAL DISCOURSE1
The purpose of this paper is to show through case studies how ancient myths 
played a role in consolidating identity and building community in the pre-Enlight-
enment era. Myths played an important political role. In general, it does not make 
much sense to approach myths with the question of whether the events described 
in the myth actually happened, or whether the myth is therefore true with regard 
to reality, external to the discursive reality. Accordingly, here too the objective 
is not to establish the division between true and false. This question, which is 
related to belief in the reality of the myth, is not an appropriate question even in 
relation to classical mythical discourses. Instead of questioning the “truthfulness” 
of mythical discourse, Michel Foucault rather asked, what is this “will to truth,” 
which crossed so many centuries of our history, and what type of division governs 
our “will to know.” He ascertained that what takes shape is “a system of exclusion, 
a historical, modifiable, and institutionally constraining system” (Foucault, 1981, 
54), a discourse which is governed by a set of rules, systems and procedures. The 
“order of discourse” is not only what was thought or said per se, but comprises 
the discursive rules and categories that are a constituent part of discourse and of 
knowledge: “in every society the production of discourse is at once controlled, 
selected, organised and redistributed by a certain number of procedures whose role 
is to ward off its powers and dangers, to gain mastery over its chance events, to 
evade its ponderous, formidable materiality” (Foucault, 1981, 52). Accordingly, 
for the Greek poets from the sixth century BC, the true discourse was the one “to 
which one had to submit because it ruled, […] the discourse which in prophesying 
the future not only announced what was going to happen but helped to make it 
happen, carrying men’s minds along with it and thus weaving itself into the fabric 
of destiny” (Foucault, 1981, 54). The “will to truth” is a system of exclusion, which 
requires “an institutional support: it is both reinforced and renewed by whole strata 
1 This article results from research conducted for the projects J6-1807 Social Functions of Fairy Tales and 
N6-0268 Political Functions of Folktales and program P6-0435 The Practices of Conflict Resolution betwe-
en Customary and Statutory Law in the Area of  Today’s Slovenia and Neighboring Countries, supported 
by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). The author thanks Dragan Živadinov and Simona Šubic, the 
National and University Library of Slovenia, for providing visual material.
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1217
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
of practices, such as pedagogy, […] the system of books, publishing, libraries; 
learned societies in the past and laboratories now” (Foucault, 1981, 55).
Following Foucault’s conclusions about the order of discourse, as well as during a 
friendly discussion with Foucault, Paul Veyne formulated a research question: did the 
Greeks believe in their myths? With his research, he showed that belief in a certain 
claim or “truth,” which is brought, for example, by the authority of a tradition, but in 
which we cannot believe on the basis of a rational explanation, is not as unambiguous 
as we may sometimes easily imagine. Veyne decided that instead of “beliefs” he would 
talk about “truths.” “Realities” themselves are “imagination.” “People do not find the 
truth: they make it, just as they make their history” (Veyne, 1998, 9). The Greeks 
knew that poets “lie,” it is only necessary, as Plutarch suggested, “to purify the myth 
with reason” (Veyne, 1998, 11). In myth, according to this belief, there is a historical 
source that must be deciphered because “mythic tradition conveys an authentic core 
that has been surrounded by legends over the centuries; only the legends, not the core, 
make problems” (Veyne, 1998, 11, 29). “If only we could get what belongs to myth to 
submit to reason, after it has purified it and thus assumed the appearance of history,” 
Plutarch deliberates and adds: “But when mythical will boldly resist credibility and 
will not be able to reconcile with probability, we will ask listeners for leniency and 
patience in listening to these old stories” (Detienne, 2008, 117).
Thucydides, however, added important caveats about oral tradition and the order 
of myth in relation to memory. Using the example of the Peloponnesian War, he re-
flected upon acting on the basis of power, and concluded that a surprised, defenseless 
opponent could only submit to the law of the victor, locked up in silence and forever 
imprisoned. The conceptual apparatus of memory, adapted to the present without 
archives, seems to operate in the same field as oral tradition.2 The ear is not reliable 
and the mouth is its patron. The memory has flaws, blank sheets and neither can it 
create an accurate report. As an example Thucydides cites the speeches given by 
one or the other either just before or during the war – it is difficult to remember the 
exact text of the speeches (Datienne, 2008, 117–118). Memory is fallible, weak and 
deceptive: it selects, interprets and reconstructs. In an accident, the memory is even 
weaker. Then there is also time at work, through which apodictic opinions, which 
are unverifiable facts, gradually become definitive myths. When poets begin to sing 
about events and embellish them in order to glorify them, and when logographers 
string together unverifiable facts to please the listener more than the truth, what can 
no longer be believed becomes completely incredible (Detienne, 2008, 117–123). Not 
only improbability, Marcel Detienne also points out that myths often contain dirty, 
wild, disgusting and repulsive content (Detienne, 2008, 18–19).
2 At this point, we can understand this criticism of the unreliability of memory in the absence of written 
sources in such a way that it approaches myth, because for the Greeks “to know from telling” means to 
know from myth (Veyne, 1998, 11); where the oral tradition contains both historical data and additions: 
“The criticism of Pausanias, Aristotle and even Herodotus is that they see in the myth the oral tradition, a 
historical source that needs to be criticized” (Veyne, 1998, 29).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1218
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
Mythical discourse is constructed to meet the needs of society. It is real in the 
sense of its embeddedness in society and its threefold temporal embeddedness: the 
connection with the past, the tradition from which it draws and the contents to which 
it relates, the present in which it functions constitutively, and the future, where it has 
actual effects on the life of the community.
When the pre-Enlightenment scholars from the Land of Carniola explored the 
region, they aimed to produce knowledge based on rational reasoning, in accord-
ance with the emerging modern scientific episteme. Their goal was to present the 
history of the region, its social and natural features in order to praise the land 
and bolster its political importance. They encountered mythological discourse, 
however, which they aimed to overcome. Although they aimed to purify myth with 
reason, they also built it into their knowledge production, as well as making good 
political use of the ancient mythology related to the region. When Janez Vajkard 
Valvasor (Johann Weichard Valvasor, Freiherr zu Galleneck und Neudorff, Herr zu 
Wagensperg und Liechtenberg, 1641–1693) explored the karst natural phenomena, 
he also encountered mythical explanations which he mocked, yet at the same time 
he paid attention to them and translated them into the emerging scientifically ra-
tional explanation.  
THE DRAGON BECOMES PROTEUS ANGUINUS 
AND FINALLY A STATE SYMBOL
Many folk tales tell of the frightening dragons that live in the mountains of Slo-
venia. A dragon from the underground cave of Menina Planina in Styria was believed 
to be the cause of much strife for the people of Bočna as the Dreta River would flood 
when the dragon opened its mouth (cf. Zupanc, 1960). The dragon from Žirovski Vrh 
(Žiri in the Upper Carniola) was said to be the enchanted lord of the castle – under 
a spell which caused the heavy flooding of the Sora River – and was still waiting to 
be released from the cave (until which time he frightens children) (cf. Občina Žiri, 
2022). Another tale recounts how a bandit was given the choice between a death 
sentence and a visit to the Huda Luknja cave in Peca, Carinthia. He chose to go to 
the bottom of the cave where he met the dragon and was only just rescued from its 
clutches (cf. Brenkova 1992, 31–32).
Enlightenment doctrine, which demanded a rational explanation, in principle 
placed itself in epistemological opposition to mythical thought. This doctrine was 
also already followed by a group of intellectuals working in Ljubljana during the 
Baroque era before the Enlightenment and before the founding of the Academia 
operosorum Labacensium, which was the first scientific academy in Ljubljana. It was 
founded according to the model of the Italian academies in 1693, that is precisely 
in the year, when Janez Vajkard Valvasor (Johann Weichard Valvasor, Freiherr zu 
Galleneck und Neudorff, Herr zu Wagensperg und Liechtenberg, 1641–1693) passed 
away. Valvasor aimed to scientifically study the intermittent Cerknica Lake. Based on 
this research, the results of which were published in his encyclopedic work The Glory 
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1219
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
of the Duchy of Carniola (first published in German as Die Ehre dess Hertzogthums 
Crain, Nürnberg, 1689) he became a member of the Royal Society, which gathered 
the world’s best scholars.
While Valvasor was conducting field research, he searched for water stream 
called Bela in a deep valley. The intermittent spring does not flow constantly, 
but only once at night at about midnight and once at about nine in the morning. 
At those times, the water only runs for about fifteen minutes. Valvasor wanted 
to try the water the day he was there, but the hole had been plugged following a 
rockslide caused by digging a tufa nearby for the vault of the Vrhnika’s church. 
Valvasor was not equipped with suitable tools, but nevertheless tried to thrust a 
pole among the rocks, but there was no water. “This raised a great doubt in me 
about the truth of what I was told,” he wrote (Valvasor, 1977, 95). Valvasor was 
told by the locals that the hole had only been plugged for two years. They them-
selves, when they were grazing cattle and the sun was hot, “stirred up and irritated 
the water in this way, that they poked into the hole with a stick or a pole, howled 
and shouted; then the water appeared and flowed at once, but was completely 
white” (Valvasor, 1977, 95). They gave it to cattle to drink. It is said to be healthy 
to drink and to cure scabby and itchy livestock if they were washed in it. Valvasor 
asked why they would not unplug the hole and use the water. They replied that no 
one dared, for they were sure that there were dragons in that mountain. “Surely 
there is a dragon inside – said the simple people – which could not get out because 
the hole was too small; but if they thrusted and stirred with the pole, the dragon 
would outrage and foam” (Valvasor, 1977, 95). A farmer explained to Valvasor 
why the water runs every night and every day for a good quarter of an hour: “I 
see that you are not educated enough if you do not know this, when you already 
know that the dragon is inside. The reason is this: There is a well where the 
dragon lies; when the water accumulates and becomes so high that the dragon has 
too much, he pours it out” (Valvasor, 1977, 95). Valvasor could hardly hold back 
his laughter, nonetheless he wrote in the book that he was astonished that such 
a rough peasant, who could neither read nor write, had enough “salt” (intellect) 
to state something completely wrong and empty, and at the same time bright and 
clever enough for such an uncouth fellow. In his quest for a scientifically rational 
explanation of natural phenomena, Valvasor, as a scholar, mocked the uneducated 
countryman. But at the same time, he understood that his mythical thinking also 
had its own internal logic for the formation of knowledge and was consistent in 
its rationalization. 
It is understandable that Valvasor, in accordance with the requirements of the 
emerging modern scientific epistemology which he himself anticipated, called on 
the farmer to present evidence. He asked him how he knew there was a dragon in 
the mountain. The peasant replied that he himself had already seen three; two years 
ago, a young dragon came out of that hole, and then the hole was filled up, because 
the rocks burst and fell from the hill. The farmer even referred to witnesses, and 
confirmed, wrote Valvasor, the old proverb: “no lie is so shameless as to lack a 
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1220
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
witness” (Valvasor, 1977, 96).3 The story was then confirmed by the postman Hoff-
mann from Vrhnika, who took the young dragon home, where it was seen by many 
other people. “Although I considered all this to be a myth – because it is nothing 
else – and it would have been easier to convince myself that a worm had nested in 
the brain of this plow philosopher than the dragon in the aforementioned hole, I 
nevertheless sent for the postman as soon as I arrived in Vrhnika” (Valvasor, 1977, 
96). Valvasor concluded: “it turned out, as I had already conjectured myself: that 
the alleged dragon was barely a foot long and resembled a lizard. In short, it was a 
kind of worm and vermin […]. And simple folk want to create a dragon out of it, by 
all means!” (Valvasor, 1977, 96). 
Then, in the same year 1684, when Valvasor discovered the spring of the Bela 
stream, the peasants, following his instructions, removed the rocks and large stones to 
reach the hole about a foot in size. He poked into it himself with a pole, snarling and 
yelling at the same time, until the water suddenly rushed up to his astonishment. It 
was white and frothy. Valvasor then offered a “scientific” explanation of the “natural 
wonder,” as he called it: 
The hole does not go straight into the rock or rocky hill, but is slightly inclined, about 
22 degrees. From the very beginning I was careful whether I might have reached 
the water with the pole; so I quickly pulled it out, and it was completely dry. As the 
water could not be traced in any way, it occurred to me that the cause must be the 
dilution or rarefaction of the air, which is produced by motus or impetus, namely, a 
rushing, strong and violent movement, so that the water can also be pulled out by 
growling and shouting; and the water runs through a siphon or strainer in the same 
way as I will explain in more detail below at lake Cerknica (Valvasor, 1977, 96). 
In Valvasor’s explanation of the phenomenon, the dragon as the least probable ele-
ment for the modern episteme is removed and replaced by an explanation that seeks to 
rely on the physical laws of nature. However, the lack of scientific knowledge, which 
was just emerging, is obvious, and even today Valvasor’s “scientific” knowledge in some 
cases does not seem essentially different from the one he had mocked, as for instance the 
idea that the water can be pulled out by growling and shouting, which he actually took 
over from the peasant and which he also did himself, now seems humorous. 
Valvasor’s writing about the dragon creature from the mountain found by locals, 
is believed to be the first mention of Proteus anguinus. The first scientific descrip-
tion and the name Proteus anguinus were given by Joseph Nicolai Laurenti in 1768. 
The first anatomical examination was conducted not much later by Carl Franz Anton 
Ritter von Schreibers, in Vienna, to whom the specimens were sent by the Slovenian 
Enlightenment scholar, Žiga Zois. In 1801 Schreibers presented the species to the 
Royal Society. The scientific explanation of natural phenomena banished the drag-
ons from the mountains and waters. The species was first scientifically discovered 
3 Latin: “nullum mendacium tam est impudens, ut teste careat.”
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1221
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
in Slovenia, where it was also most often found and most studied. Further scientific 
research also proved that it only lives in an unpolluted karst environment. In refer-
ence to these facts, Proteus anguinus has gradually become a hallmark of Slovenia’s 
natural heritage. Today, it represents the natural beauty of the country and of Slo-
venia’s pristine nature. Its usefulness now applies mostly to touristic objectives and 
political goals – it is the hallmark for a mountainous unpolluted country. Linked 
to that, and also because of its rarity, it is also a national signifier. Furthermore, it 
serves political strategies to promote the protection of natural heritage and a sustain-
able economy. 
Fig. 1: Primož Pislak and Dragan Živadinov, Patch for Slovenian Space Agency with 
Proteus anguinus, 2000 (Photo archive: DELAK Institute). This use shows that today, 
Proteus anguinus is a signifier of Slovenia.
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1222
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
THE MYTHOLOGICAL ESTABLISHMENT OF ÆMONA
The founding of today’s city of Ljubljana has mythological origins. It is con-
nected with the ancient story of the Argonauts. The story is mythological. Here, 
the two constituent terms of the concept of mythology are significant: mythos 
and logos. If the first refers primarily to oral tradition, the second is related 
mostly to rational thinking. The mythological founding of the city still causes 
embarrassment to researchers regarding the question of whether it is a myth or 
history, although it is also evident that the mythological establishment is ac-
cepted as a collective memory: “‘Mythical beginnings’ – which may be invented 
at any time and for any reason – are, so to speak, the irrational side of history: 
not yet history proper. The ‘ancient history’ of the Nauportus–Emona region is 
closely connected with the story of the return journey of the Argonauts” (Šašel 
Kos, 2006, 13).
Fig. 2: Charles de La Fosse, Jason and the Argonauts Arriving at Colchis, circa 
1672. The painting depicts a scene from Appolonius Rhodius’ epic poem Argonautica, 
which was written specifically for Ptolemaic Alexandria, but which has long been 
a resource for other dynasties seeking to illustrate their power and ambitions, as 
well as it was a source for the ancient and baroque historians, when writing about 
the establishment of Emona. The painting is located in the Château de Versailles 
(Wikimedia Commons).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1223
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
Fig. 3: Janez Ludvik Schönleben, Carniolia antiqua et nova, 1681. The first historical 
work on the ancient history of Carniola (National and University Library of Slovenia).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1224
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
In 1680–1681 Janez Ludvik Schönleben (1618–1681), the first historian from 
the Land of Carniola, published his best and most important historical work Carni-
ola antiqua et nova,4 in which he described the ancient past of Carniola. 
The main goal of his historiographical research was the glorification of the 
Carniolan region, the Habsburg ruling house, the birthplace of Ljubljana (with 
the work of Aemon vindicata)5 and noble Carniolan families (Deželak Trojar, 
2017, 256). According to Schönleben’s findings, the city of Emona, today Lju-
bljana, was founded in 1222 BC (Schönleben, 1681, 45). In his historiographic 
research of ancient history, Schönleben referred to various ancient historiogra-
phers such as Pliny, Strabo, Tacitus, Ptolemy and others (Deželak Trojar, 2017, 
260), and he had no reservations about using Greek mythology – when writing 
about the founding of the city of Emona, the central role was played by the 
4 The complete title is: Carniolia antiqua et nova: antiqua Japydica, Hyperborea, Celtica, Pannonica, No-
rica, Istrica, Carnica, Romana, Vandalica, Gotthica, Langobardica, Slavica, Avarica, Francica. nova Ger-
manica, Slavica, Francica, Bavarica, Austriaca: sive inclyti Ducatus Carnioliae annales sacro-prophani. 
Ab orbe condito ad nostram usque aetatem per annorum seriem Chronographice digesti in duos tomo.
5 This is reprinted in the second part of the second chapter of the first volume of Carniola ‘s work antiqua et nova.
Fig. 4: Janez Vajkard Valvasor, The Argonauts are Building Emona, 1689 (Valvasor, 
2009–2013, Part 4, 9) (National and University Library of Slovenia).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1225
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes (Weiss, 2021, 88). Schönleben 
directly referred to the historian Sozomenus the Greek and Zosimus when he 
connected the founding of Æmona with the sailing of the ship Argo along the 
Danube, Sava and Ljubljanica to the city of Nauportus, today Vrhnika, where 
the Argonauts, fleeing from the Colchians with the stolen golden fleece and Me-
dea, spent a winter (Schönleben, 1681, 45, 46). Jason is said to have gathered 
the scattered inhabitants of Iapodia in 1223 and founded the city of Emona the 
following year.
Janez Vajkard Valvasor, who brought knowledge on the organization of water 
systems in the Ljubljana Basin and the Karst and whose goal was – like Schönle-
ben’s –, to praise the Land of Carniola, was as well illuminating the ancient history 
of the city of Ljubljana. In The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (Part 4, Book XIII, 
Chapter 1) Valvasor wrote extensively about the sailing of the Argonauts and the 
establishment of Emona by Jason. He referred to several ancient authorities such 
as Greek geographer and historian Strabo, Roman scholar Plinius (Pliny), Roman 
historian Justinus, Greek scholar Eustathius of Thessalonica, Greek historian Zosi-
mus, Byzantine historian Sozomenos (Valvasor, 2008–2013, Part 4, 8), but also to 
Apollonius of Rhodes’ or Appolonius Rhodius’ Argonautica (Valvasor, 2008–2013, 
Part 4, 4). On their way home, running away with the stolen Golden Fleece, the 
Greek Argonauts sailed along the rivers Danube (Ister),6 Sava and Ljubljanica 
(Nauportus)7 up to the spring in Vrhnika, to the port Nauportus,8 where they spent 
the winter and then continued their return journey toward the Adriatic Sea in the 
spring. The city was called Æmona, which later inhabitants distorted into Emona. 
Jason’s native land, Thessalonia, was previously called Aemonia, so he wanted to 
name the city after it (Valvasor, 2008–2013. Part 4, 8). 
Greek historiographer Zosimus wrote about the Argonauts in the years 498–518 
(New History Book 5, Chapter 29) (Zosimus, 2006, 114). He referred to Olympi-
odorus of Thebes who echoed the poet Peisader. Salaminius Hermias Sozomenos 
6 In antiquity, the Danube was called the Ister (Valvasor, 2008–2013, Part 4, 8; Strabo, 1903, 9). Apollonius 
of Rhodes writes that the long river on which Jason sailed into the interior of the continent, the Istros, is 
wide and deep and navigable even for cargo ships (Clemenz, 2008, 92; Green, 1997, 159; Schwab, 1990, 
189). According to Strabo (circa 63–24 BC), the Istrians were the first people on the Illyrian coast (Strabo, 
1903, 483). Pliny the Elder (circa 23–79 AD) wrote that “[i]t has been stated by many authors, even inclu-
ding Nepos, who lived on the banks of Po, that Istria takes its name from the stream called Ister flowing out 
of the river Danube (which also has the name of Ister) into the Adriatic” (Pliny, 1942, 95). Darko Darovec 
ascertained that the naming of Istria is connected with the story of the Argonauts (Darovec, 2009, 27). 
7 The name Nauportus is not only used for the port, but also for the Ljubljanica River, according to Valvasor 
(Valvasor, 2008–2013, Part 4, 8). 
8 Nauportus, yet the name Pamportus is also mentioned twice in Strabo's geography (Strabo, 1903, 309, 482). 
According to Strabo, the area was inhabited by the Iapodes, about whom he writes: “They were warlike 
people, but were completely subdued by Augustus […] The country is poor, and the inhabitants live chiefly 
upon spelt and millet. Their armour is after the Keltic fashion. Their bodies are punctured, like those of the 
other Illyrian and Thracian people” (Strabo, 1903, 483). The commentator of Strabo’s translation stated that 
according to Pliny the Elder, “the name of this place is derived from the fable of the ship Argo, which was 
brought up to Danube and the Save, and then carried on men’s shoulders to the Adriatic” (Strabo, 1903, 482).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1226
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
wrote down the same history in the first half of the fifth century and referred to the 
same source (Olympiodorus). In the ninth century, Byzantine chronicler Nikephoros 
Kallistos took the story after Sozomenos (Bratož, 1992, 270), as did Valvasor’s 
colleague-researcher, Janez Ludvik Schönleben, who first made a detailed analysis 
of the myth of the Argonauts and out of this created a real mythogenesis of ancient 
Emona (established in 1222 BC, which was long before Rome, according to his 
calculations) (Deželak Trojar, 2017; Škamperle, 2019, 58). 
Another version of the story also reports how before establishing Emona, Jason 
vanquished a dragon – the swamp monster that frightened the local people. In refer-
ence to this legend, the dragon became the symbol of Ljubljana (Županek, 2010, 
31), thanks to the endeavors of early scientific researchers. The three intellectu-
als, Janez Ludvik Schönleben, Janez Vajkard Valvasor and Janez Gregor Dolničar 
(1655–1719, Johann Gregor Thalnitscher von Thalberg), consolidated the myth of 
the Argonautic establishment of Ljubljana as historical fact (Žmuc, 2010, 52). The 
references used by Schönleben served as the basis for the efforts of several intel-
lectuals of that period to connect the establishment of Ljubljana with the story of 
the Argonauts (Županek, 2010, 28). Dolničar, who was Schönleben’s nephew and 
the mayor of Ljubljana at the time, also aimed to commemorate the genesis of the 
town by installing Baroque public monuments and supporting art works mirroring 
this past (Kokole et al., 2006).
Ljubljana was first mentioned under the name Laibach in 1144, and in 1146 
under the name Luwigana. It acquired the status of a city around 1220. The oldest 
use of the city seal is known from 1280, when an image of the Ljubljana castle 
from the Spanheim (Španhajm) era appears as a symbol of the city. In the mid-15th 
century Gothic-style city seal, a snake-like monster appears above the castle, and a 
bent-winged dragon serves as the handle of the seal. The dragon appears next to the 
coat of arms, i.e. outside of it, in the sixteenth century and for the last time in 1667. 
Valvasor placed the dragon, which is a copy of that from Klagenfurt, in the city coat 
of arms itself, namely as a “sign of vigilance” (Otorepec, 2001, 164). 
By using the dragon as a heraldic device of the city, the dragon becomes a 
symbol of the kind that builds community identity, testifies to the noble origins 
of the city and its inhabitants, and thus contributes to the recognition (distinction) 
and relevant political status of the city, which has a rich and important history. As 
a symbolic image, the coat of arms represents belonging, activity and an idea; it is 
connected with the design of coats of arms in the European tradition which dates 
back to the Middle Ages when knights whose shields were painted with symbols 
achieved greater recognition. The coat of arms is intended to identify the bearer 
and testify to their importance (Allcock, 2012; Thiry & Duerloo, 2021). In the 
Book 9, XII. Chapter, Valvasor presented the Carniola families and their coats of 
arms, and also the Valvasor family tree. The ancient Slovenian term “rodbina”, 
denoting a “family”, is significant because it is etymologically linked to the term, 
“rod”, which means a family lineage, a provenance. The term “narod”, which 
means a nation, has the same root. The family coat of arms accordingly testifies 
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1227
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
Fig. 5, 6, 7: Heraldic device of Ljubljana in Valvasor’s veduta of the city from 
1689 (above) (Otorepec & Jurečič, 1995, 51). Janez Vajkard Valvasor, coat of 
arms of the city of Ljubljana, 1689 (left) (Valvasor, 2009–2013, Part 3, 121). 
Today’s coat of arms of the city of Ljubljana (right) (Wikimedia Commons).
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1228
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
to the important provenance, and the city’s coat of arms has a similar function. By 
designing the dragon as an emblem, a recognizable sign of Ljubljana, which also 
entered the city’s coat of arms, the dragon as a symbol plays a relevant political 
role in asserting the importance of the city of Ljubljana. With this, the dragon as a 
symbol of Ljubljana, in connection with the myth of Jason who defeated a dragon 
and established this city in the very distant past, also has the function of building 
the consciousness of the important provenance of the citizens of Ljubljana.
Scientific thought aimed to overcome the permeability of the world and conscious-
ness as to be found in mythical thought. In the scientific world view representations 
are formed by acts of “objectivization”. The opposition of “image” and “object”, of 
the representation and the real thing is established. The ideal is separated from the 
real, the world of immediate reality is distinct from the world of mediated signi-
fication. This distinction is, as ascertained by Ernst Cassirer, alien to the mythical 
consciousness (Cassirer, 1955, 38). The case of Valvasor and his research colleagues, 
their scientific endeavors and the establishment of the dragon as a heraldic device of 
the city of Ljubljana, speaks to a rupture between mythical thought and the enthrone-
ment of the modern scientific episteme. The latter moves away from the mythical 
consciousness, establishes a distance towards it and builds its own comprehension of 
the world which is grounded in rational and instrumental reasoning. In this context 
the dragon is instrumentalized to serve as an emblem of a political unit.
CONCLUSION
When the recent school of mnemohistoriography emphasized memory as 
something that classical historiography aimed to be rid of, in order to com-
municate the factuality of the past, the new school has begun to pay attention 
to elements that refer to the past, which are not necessarily factual, but which 
are actual, which have some political relevance for the community that re-
member them in the present time. This approach also revives the interest in the 
mythical, which links collective memory to the ancient Greek understanding 
of myth as it is tied to oral tradition, which is not oriented towards presenting 
the factuality of the past events, the “truth” about what actually happened, but 
to transmitting messages related to the past, based on particular interests in 
the present time.
If the pioneers of critical historiography discredited memory as a rival of his-
tory (Assmann, 2008, 60) and historical positivism consists of separating the 
historical from the mythical elements in memory, the objective of mnemohistori-
cal study is not to ascertain the possible truth of traditions, but lies “in analyzing 
the mythical elements in tradition and discovering their hidden agenda.” The 
“truth’ of a given memory lies not so much it its ‘factuality’ as in its ‘actuality’” 
(Assmann, 1997, 9–10). Accordingly, “the processes of memory are frequently, 
if not always, manipulated and intervened for sometimes urgent purposes in the 
present” (Said, 2000, 179). Herein institutions and social groups, such as nations, 
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1229
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
do not possess a memory, “they ‘make’ one for themselves with the aid of memo-
rial signs such as symbols, texts, images, rites, ceremonies, places, and monu-
ments. Together with such a memory, these groups and institutions ‘construct’ 
an identity” (Assmann, 2008, 55; Assmann, 2006). Memories that are made need 
not be authentic, but rather useful. In service of local patriotism, tradition can be 
invented, wherein “[t]he invention of tradition is a method for using collective 
memory selectively by manipulating certain bits of the national past, suppressing 
others, elevating still others in an entirely functional way” (Said, 2000, 179). If in 
the context of historiography, “myth” is that which must be debunked, in memory 
studies, it acquires a different meaning – it may refer to a narrative that has 
acquired symbolic value and is engraved and transmitted in memory. “While in 
the discourse of rational enlightenment, myth is used to distinguish between truth 
or lie (or authenticity and fiction), in the discourse of memory research it is used 
to distinguish between the object of historical knowledge on the one hand and 
collectively remembered events on the other.” Myth can in this sense be defined 
as a “collectively remembered history” (Assmann, 2008, 68). Not only fictive 
events create myths, but historical events in their transformation into collective 
memory do as well.
The interest in Greek and Roman antiquity was strong in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries and also echoed in “the spread of methodical archaeological 
exploration across Europe,” says archeologist Neil Asher Silberman, wherein 
“antiquarian enthusiasm often reflected and reinforced emerging feelings of lo-
cal patriotism” (Silberman, 1996, 254).  According to the renowned scholar of 
nationalism, Anthony D. Smith, this was the first great age of nationalism (Smith, 
1986). Although instrumental reason is associated in particular with the formation 
of an industrial society (Schecter, 2010), the very emergence of modern scientific 
knowledge is not only a matter of creating explanations of the world from the 
natural phenomena to the past, but also an instrumental understanding of the 
world is inherent in this aspiration. Scientific episteme comprises instrumental 
reason – it is not only aimed at understanding phenomena, but also strives to 
find the usefulness in what it attempts to understand. Valvasor did not only think 
about why the spring of the Bela stream runs intermittently and why the water is 
white and foamy, but at the same time he deliberated on how this natural resource 
can benefit man and his livestock, how man can intervene in the natural state and 
change it, turning the situation in their favor. Likewise, Valvasor, Schönleben and 
Dolničar searched for stories about the past of the Carniola region and presented 
them with the aim of worshiping and celebrating the region, the city of Ljubljana 
and their rich past, thereby building the collective memory of a political com-
munity.
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1230
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
PREDRAZSVETLJENSKO OBLIKOVANJE MODERNEGA ZNANSTVENEGA 
EPISTEMA IN GRAJENJE SKUPNOSTI IZ MITSKEGA DISKURZA
Polona TRATNIK
Inštitut IRRIS za raziskave, razvoj in strategije družbe, kulture in okolja, Čentur 1f, 6273 Marezige, Slovenija
Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Aškerčeva cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Nova univerza, Fakulteta za slovenske in mednarodne študije, Mestni trg 23, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
e-mail: polona.tratnik@irris.eu
POVZETEK 
Namen tega prispevka je skozi študije primerov pokazati, kako so starodavni 
miti igrali vlogo pri utrjevanju identitete in izgradnji skupnosti v obdobju pred 
razsvetljenstvom. Zanimanje za grško in rimsko antiko je bilo v sedemnajstem 
stoletju veliko. Miti so imeli pri tem pomembno politično vlogo. Avtorica članka 
zagovarja tezo, da so trije intelektualci, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Janez Ludvik 
Schönleben in Janez Gregor Dolničar, gradili kolektivni spomin na argonavtski 
nastanek Ljubljane, z namenom čaščenja in slavljenja dežele Kranjske. Val-
vasor je raziskoval tudi kraške naravne pojave, pri čemer je naletel na mitski 
diskurz, ki ga je želel preseči in svoj znanstveni pristop zgraditi na racionalnem 
mišljenju nastajajočega modernega znanstvenega epistema, a je pri tem prav 
tako, kot so izvajali zgodovinopisno raziskovanje, črpal iz mitskega.
Ključne besede: predrazsvetljenstvo, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Janez Ludvik Schönleben, 
mitski diskurz, kolektivni spomin, moderni znanstveni epistem, Emona, Ljubljana, dežela 
Kranjska
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1231
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
SOURCES AND LITERATURE:
Allcock, Hubert (2012): Heraldic design: its origins, ancient forms, and modern usage. 
Mineola, Dover Publications.
Assmann, Aleida (2006): Memory, Individual and Collective. In: Goodin, Robert E. & 
Charles Tilly (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis. Oxford, 
Oxford University Press, 210–224. 
Assmann, Aleida (2008): Transformations between History and Memory. Social Re-
search, 75, 1 (Collective Memory and Collective Identity, Spring 2008), 49–72.
Assmann, Jan (1997): Moses the Egyptian. The Memory of Egypt in Western Monothe-
ism. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. 
Bratož, Rajko (1992): Zosimus, Neue Geschichte. Zgodovinski časopis, 46, 2, 
267–270.
Brenkova, Kristina (ed.) (1992): Zmaj v Peci. In: Babica pripoveduje. Slovenske ljud-
ske pripovedi. Ljubljana, Založba Mladinska knjiga, 31–32. 
Cassirer, Ernst (1955): The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. Volume Two: Mythical 
Thought. New Haven and London, Yale University Press.
Clemenz, Hubert (2008): Argonavti Apollonija Rodoškega (in 3 volumes). Volume 1. 
Vrhnika, Galerija 2.
Darovec, Darko (2009): Kratka zgodovina Istre. Koper, Založba Annales.
Green, Peter (1997): The Argonautika by Apollonios Rhodios. Translated, with intro-
duction, commentary and glossary by Peter Green. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 
University of California Press. 
Detienne, Marcel (2008): Iznajdba mitologije. Ljubljana, Studia humanitatis.
Deželak Trojar, Monika (2017): Janez Ludvik Schönleben (1618–1681). Oris življenja 
in dela. Apes Academicae. Ljubljana, ZRC SAZU.
Foucault, Michel (1981): The Order of Discourse. In: Young, Robert (ed.): Untying the 
Text: A Post-Stucturalist Reader. Boston, London and Henley, Routledge & KEGAN 
PAUL, 48–78. 
Kokole, Metoda & Barbara Murovec & Marjeta Šašel Kos & Michael Talbot (eds.) 
(2006): Mediterranean Myths from Classical Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. 
Ljubljana, ZRC SAZU.
Občina Žiri (2022): Žirovski Lintvern. https://www.ziri.si/objava/65821 (last access: 
2022-07-14). 
Otorepec, Božo (2001): Krajevna heraldika na Slovenskem. Kronika, 49, 1/2. Ljubljana, 
157–170.
Otorepec, Božo & Franc Valt Jurečič (1995): Zgodovina grba mesta Ljubljane. 
Ljubljana, Heraldica Slovenica.
Pliny (1942): Natural History (with English translation in ten volumes). Volume II (Libri 
III–VII). Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, London, Harvard University 
Press, William Heinemann Ltd.
Said, Edward (2000): Invention, Memory, Place. Critical Inquiry 26 (Winter 2000), 
175–192. 
ACTA HISTRIAE • 30 • 2022 • 4
1232
Polona TRATNIK: THE PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT FORMATION OF THE EMERGING MODERN ..., 1215–1232
Schecter, Darrow (2010): The Critique of Instrumental Reason from Weber to Habermas. 
New York, London, The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Schönleben, Janez Ludvik (1681): Carniolia antiqua et nova. Ljubljana, Sumpt. & Typis 
Joann. Baptistae Mayr.
Schwab, Gustav (1990): Najlepše antične pripovedke. Ljubljana, Mladinska knjiga.
Silberman, Neil A. (1996): Promised Lands and Chosen Peoples: The Politics and Poetics 
of Archaeological Narrative. In: Kohl, Philip L. & Clare Fawcett (eds.): Nationalism, 
Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 
249–262.
Simoniti, Vasko (2003): Fanfare nasilja. Ljubljana, Slovenska matica.
Smith, Anthony D. (1986): The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Malden, MA, Oxford, Carl-
ton, Blackwell Publishing. 
Strabo (1903): The Geography of Strabo (in three volumes). Volume I. Translated by H. 
C. Hamilton. London, George Bell & Sons.
Šašel Kos, Marjeta (2006): A Few Remarks Concerning the archaiologia of Nauportus 
and Emona: The Argonauts. In: Kokole, Metoda & Barbara Murovec & Marjeta Šašel 
Kos & Michael Talbot (eds.): Mediterranean Myths from Classical Antiquity to the 
Eighteenth Century. Ljubljana, ZRC SAZU, 13–20.
Škamperle, Igor (2019): Potovanje Argonavtov in njihov prehod iz Podonavja. Keria, 
21, 2. Ljubljana, 51–61.
Thiry, Steven & Luc Duerloo (eds.) (2021): Heraldic Hierarchies: Identity, Status and 
State Intervention in Early Modern Heraldry. Leuven, Leuven University Press.
Valvasor, Janez Vajkard (2009–2013): Čast in slava vojvodine Kranjske. Ljubljana, 
Zavod Dežela Kranjska.
Valvasor, Janez Vajkard (1977): Slava vojvodine Kranjske. Ljubljana, Mladinska 
knjiga.
Veyne, Paul (1998): So Grki verjeli v svoje mite? Ljubljana, Založba /*cf.
Weiss, Janez (2021): “Jaz grem spredaj. Želim, da mi sledijo drugi ...”: Janez Ludvik 
Schönleben kot zgodovinar antike dežele Kranjske Deželak Trojar, Monika (ed.): 
Janez Ludvik Schönleben v luči novih raziskav, Ljubljana, Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 
83–117.
Zosimus (2006): New History. A Translation with Commentary by Ronald T. Ridley 
Canberra, University of Sydney.
Zupanc, Lojze (1960): Zmaj na Menini planini. In: Čudežni studenec. Slovenske prav-
ljice. Maribor, Založba Obzorja, 7–9.
Žmuc, Irena (2010): “Hail to the Venerable Daughter of Jason!” The Argonautica, or 
the Mythical Founders of Emona / Ljubljana. In: Županek, Bernarda, Žmuc, Irena 
& Janez Polajnar: Emona: Myth and Reality. Ljubljana, Muzej in galerije mesta 
Ljubljne, Mestni muzej, 40–73.
Županek, Bernarda (2010): Stories of Ljubljana’s Beginning: Emona, the Argonauts and 
the Ljubljana Dragon. In: Županek, Bernarda, Žmuc, Irena & Janez Polajnar: Emona: 
Myth and Reality. Ljubljana, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane, Mestni muzej, 27–39.