House of Novosel

The House of Novosel was a Croatian noble family whose documented history is connected with the Kingdom of Croatia and the wider Habsburg Monarchy during the period of the Ottoman wars in Europe. The family settled in the area below Medvednica in the fifteenth century and became associated with military service on Croatia’s Ottoman frontier. Its heraldic emblem reportedly depicted a wolf holding a severed Ottoman head, reflecting the family’s military identity and the political circumstances in which it rose to prominence. The family’s best-documented elevation occurred in the eighteenth century. On 12 September 1744, Luka Novosel received confirmation of nobility from Empress Maria Theresa. The grant recognized his military merits as vice-captain of the fortress at Hrvatska Kostajnica, where he had served in the defense against Ottoman forces. The ennoblement established Luka as a noble of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia and confirmed the family’s coat of arms. His subsequent public career extended beyond military command. In November 1750 he was elected deputy prefect of Požega County, and in 1755 Maria Theresa appointed him to a royal commission and court established to investigate and suppress unrest in Virovitica County. He served alongside senior aristocratic and military officials in proceedings that focused on alleged peasant resistance in several villages. Another important member, Antun Novosel, became active in Zagreb’s ecclesiastical and publishing institutions. Bishop Maximilian Vrhovac appointed him head of the bishopric palace, a position known as Comes Curialis. Antun also assumed control of the bishopric printing office and bookstore after an imperial order required the bishop to transfer their management. Under Antun’s proprietorship, the operation became known as the Novosel printing office and bookstore. One of its notable publications was a Croatian translation of Robinson Crusoe, printed in 1796. The work is described in the reference material as the first Croatian translation of the novel printed in Croatia and more broadly as an early landmark in Croatian literary publishing. Antun was also associated with the estate of Dolec near Laduc in the Susedgrad seigniory. He died on 27 April 1800. His widow, Franjica Novosel, continued operating the printing office and bookstore until 1825, when the bishop sold the business to Rossij. Franjica died in 1826. Because Antun and Franjica had only one daughter, Ana, who married Count Ludovik Sermage, this branch of the Novosel family came to an end with Ana’s death. The family is therefore remembered less as a continuing commercial organization than as a historical noble lineage whose members participated in frontier defense, county administration, ecclesiastical affairs, and the development of Zagreb’s print culture.

The Novosels settled below Medvednica during the fifteenth century. Their later prominence developed in the military and administrative environment of the Kingdom of Croatia, where repeated Ottoman incursions made frontier defense an important route to social advancement. The family’s coat of arms, featuring a wolf holding a severed Ottoman head, symbolized this martial association. The decisive documentary milestone in the family’s rise was the ennoblement of Luka Novosel by Empress Maria Theresa on 12 September 1744. The grant recognized Luka’s service as vice-captain of the fortress at Hrvatska Kostajnica and confirmed his nobility within the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, together with the family’s heraldic arms. Luka subsequently entered county and royal administration. On 12 November 1750 he was elected deputy prefect of Požega County. On 8 April 1755 Maria Theresa appointed him to a commission and royal court charged with addressing unrest in Virovitica County. The commission began its proceedings on 21 May 1755 under the presidency of Count Joseph Keglević, with Luka serving among its members alongside other senior officials. The body attributed the unrest to serfs from Bukovica and several villages connected with the Virovitica estate and ordered the arrest of alleged leaders in June 1755. The family’s history also intersected with Zagreb’s ecclesiastical administration and book trade. Antun Novosel, Luka’s son, was appointed by Bishop Maximilian Vrhovac to serve as head of the bishopric palace, or Comes Curialis. Antun later took over the bishopric printing office and bookstore after Emperor Joseph II directed the bishop to place those activities in other hands. The business operated as the Novosel printing office and bookstore and became part of Zagreb’s late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century publishing history. Its 1796 Croatian edition of Robinson Crusoe is particularly notable. It is identified in the supplied historical material as the first edition of the work translated into Croatian in Croatia and an important early example of Croatian-language literary publishing. Antun also held the property of Dolec near Laduc in the Susedgrad seigniory. He died on 27 April 1800. His widow, Franjica Novosel, continued the printing and bookselling business for roughly a quarter-century. In 1825 the bishop sold the operation to Rossij. Franjica died the following year. Antun and Franjica had one daughter, Ana, whose marriage to Count Ludovik Sermage connected the family to another noble house. The death of Ana ended this documented line of the Novosel family. The historical record consequently presents the Novosels as a lineage rather than as a modern brand or incorporated enterprise. Their importance rests on the combination of military service on the Ottoman frontier, formal ennoblement under Maria Theresa, participation in Habsburg-era provincial governance, and a contribution to Zagreb’s printing and bookselling traditions. The family’s name survives in historical, genealogical, heraldic, and bibliographical contexts rather than through an active consumer business.

• 1825

  Novosel printing business sold

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  The bishop sold the printing office and bookstore, which had been operated by Antun Novosel’s widow after his death, to Rossij.

• 1796

  Croatian Robinson Crusoe edition printed

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  The Novosel printing office produced a Croatian translation of Robinson Crusoe, an important early publication in Croatian-language print culture.

• 1755

  Appointment to the Virovitica commission and royal court

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  Maria Theresa appointed Luka Novosel to a commission and royal court investigating and suppressing revolt in Virovitica County. The proceedings began in May.

• 1750

  Luka Novosel elected deputy prefect

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  Luka Novosel was elected deputy prefect of Požega County on 12 November.

• 1744

  Luka Novosel receives noble status

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  On 12 September, Empress Maria Theresa granted Luka Novosel nobility in recognition of his military service as vice-captain of Hrvatska Kostajnica fortress.

• 1400

  Settlement below Medvednica

  [1]Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org

  The Novosels are recorded as having settled below Medvednica during the fifteenth century, establishing the geographic basis of their later presence in the Croatian lands.

Not a contemporary commercial brand. The House of Novosel is best understood as a historical Croatian noble family and, by extension, as the name associated with an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Zagreb printing office and bookstore.

• Printing and bookselling · 1794

  Novosel printing office and bookstore

  An ecclesiastical printing and bookselling operation in Zagreb associated with Antun Novosel and later his widow Franjica. The business produced and distributed religious and literary works and is remembered particularly for its 1796 Croatian edition of Robinson Crusoe.

• Book publication · 1796

  Croatian Robinson Crusoe

  A Croatian translation of Robinson Crusoe printed by the Novosel office in 1796. It is identified as a landmark early Croatian-language edition and as the first Croatian translation of the novel printed in Croatia.

1. 1Novosel familyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Biskupska a zatim Novoselska tiskara u Zagrebu 1794–1825mgz.hr
3. 3Zagreb printing houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centurieskgzdzb.arhivpro.hr
4. 4Book-trade catalogues as sources for book history: the catalogue of the Novosel bookstore in Zagreb, 1794–1825academia.edu