Assistant Professor Stipe Ledić participates in archival research in Vienna

In addition to his year-long research on the correspondence of Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac at the Archdiocesan Archives in Zagreb, Assistant Professor Stipe Ledić conducted research at the Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) and the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) in Vienna from July 20 to 25, 2026, as part of the Croatian Science Foundation LIGHT project (IP-2024-05-5581).

The first part of the research was conducted at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv. József Hajnóczy was one of the most prominent intellectuals and a representative of the Enlightenment political elite in Hungary during the final decades of the 18th century.

As a member of a Zagreb Masonic lodge and deputy prefect of Syrmia County, he corresponded with numerous individuals from Josephinist political circles. His correspondence was examined and photographed in the Vertrauliche Akten collection, alongside the already known letters sent to him by Josip Keresturi. Other archival materials relating to Freemasons in Croatia were also examined and photographed from the same collection.

In the Kaiser Franz Akten collection, materials containing reports by Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac from 1808 to 1825 were examined and photographed. These reports concern the situation in border areas during the period of French administration, as well as notes from Bosnia and the activities of Friar Jeronim Dorotić.

At the Central Archives, research was conducted in the Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv (General Administrative Archives). Within the Inneres PHSt. collection, materials relating to police reports on Maksimilijan Vrhovac and Friar Andrija Dorotić were photographed, along with their reports to the administrative institutions of the Monarchy, particularly those dating from the period of French administration in the Croatian lands.