The Croats, cult of Perun, and Slavic «Gentilismus». (A commentary to Ante Milosevic's hypothesis on the identity of Porin and Perun)

The article discusses in a broad comparative historical context the hypothesis by the Croatian scholar Ante Milosevic, according to which the legendary Croatian ruler Porin mentioned in the 30th chapter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus's treatise De administrando imperio (mid-10th century) is identical to Perun, the old-Slavic god of thunder. The author draws attention to the fact that the proposed identification fits well to the fact that in the story of the 30th chapter there are structural elements typical for early medieval narratives of the genre origo gentis. The author of the article demonstrates that the interpretation of the story of the 30th chapter on the Croats' relations with the Franks within the methodological paradigm of the ethnogenesis theory by R. Wenskus and the so-called Viennese school is in line with anthropological approaches that reinforces Ante Milosevis's hypothesis. The author attempts to interpret the appearance of Perun in the Croat tradition in the context of the formation of the Croat gentile kingdom as a result of the weakening of the Frankish control over Dalmatia about the year 828. The author points to the area of Kastela as a possible base of anti-Frankish elite that came to power in Dalmatia in the second quarter of the 9th century.