Purger and Purgerica
Zagreb’s Black School and the Mysterious Thirteenth Year
The expression “Zagreb’s Black School” (Črna škola in the local Kajkavian dialect) is the legendary folk name for Zagreb’s first seminary on Kaptol. Although the seminary was simply a place of education with no connection to magic, popular superstition and widespread illiteracy gave rise to stories that linked it with sorcery—and, above all, with the mysterious Thirteenth Year.
Listen to the article
The name “Black School” most likely originated from the black cassocks worn by its students. Their distinctive dark robes made such an impression on local people that the seminary itself became known as the Black School.
Another legend connected with the name concerns Franjo Filipović, a canon who converted to Islam after being captured by the Ottomans during the sixteenth century. He subsequently became known as Mehmed-beg Filipović. According to local tradition, when Bishop Juraj Drašković heard of his conversion, he cursed him and ordered his house to be painted black. The building was later converted into a seminary, but the popular name “Black School” remained.
According to folklore, however, the Black School was no ordinary seminary. It was believed to conceal a secret Thirteenth Year reserved for apprentices in the dark arts. In Croatian and neighbouring folk traditions, those who completed this mysterious final year became known as grabancijaši—literally, the students of the Black School.
The Thirteenth Year and the Devil’s Bargain
Ordinary priestly education was believed to last twelve years. Yet those who wished to master supernatural powers and black magic were said to enrol secretly in a hidden thirteenth year.
Some traditions claimed that these lessons took place underground in complete darkness, or within secret chambers hidden inside the Black School itself, where students spent years without ever seeing daylight. According to popular belief, the true teacher was none other than the Devil, while other versions speak of mysterious supernatural beings who taught their pupils the language of animals, magical spells, fortune-telling, and the ability to command storms.
Completing the Thirteenth Year transformed a student into a fully fledged grabancijaš. Yet this graduation came at a terrible cost. At the end of their studies, the Devil would claim one graduate to remain in his service—according to some stories by drawing lots—while the others were allowed to leave with their newly acquired magical powers.
The Powers of a Grabancijaš
Those who survived the Thirteenth Year were believed to possess extraordinary abilities. They could summon, calm, awaken or even ride a winged dragon using magical words. They were said to control storm clouds, hail and thunder, and to travel the world carrying a single enchanted book filled with powerful spells.
People believed that a grabancijaš could always be recognised by his appearance and unusual habits. His clothes were typically torn and shabby, and he carried nothing except a bag containing one remarkably thick magical book. Whenever he entered a village, he would ask only for fresh milk or kajmak (a traditional dairy delicacy similar to clotted cream). He avoided looking people directly in the eye, rarely spoke, and when he did, he muttered incomprehensible words in Latin.
Some regions even believed that grabancijaši were born with unusual physical features, such as a tiny tail or double rows of teeth.
Villagers feared them greatly. They usually gave them whatever they requested, believing that refusal would bring disaster upon their crops.
Masters of Storms
If a grabancijaš was offended—for example, if someone refused him milk—or if the Devil commanded him to mount his dragon among the clouds, violent storms and devastating hail would soon follow.
To defend themselves, people developed an entire repertoire of protective rituals. Church bells were rung, blessed candles lit, and counter-magic was performed by benevolent witches and folk healers.
One of the best-known customs involved carrying the household dining table into the courtyard. A loaf of bread and a bowl of salt were placed upon it, while an axe was driven into the ground in front of the table with its blade pointing towards the sky. The axe was believed to symbolically slice through the storm clouds and break the grabancijaš’s magical power.
A Legend with European Roots
This remarkable tradition is even more fascinating when viewed in its wider European context. Similar legendary figures appear across Central and Eastern Europe: the grabancijaš in Croatia and Hungary, the solomonari in Romania, and the črnošolci (“black-school students”) in Slovenia.
Historians and ethnologists generally agree that these legends probably reflect a very real medieval phenomenon. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, students from Croatia travelled to Europe’s great universities, including Bologna, Padua, Vienna and Prague.
When these young scholars eventually returned to their isolated rural communities, they brought with them heavy Latin books, unfamiliar scientific knowledge, strange vocabulary, and the ability to make educated predictions about the weather through astronomy and natural philosophy. After long journeys, they often appeared poor, exhausted and untidy.
To largely illiterate villagers, such learned travellers—with mysterious books written in an incomprehensible language—could only be graduates of the secret Thirteenth Year, men who had learned to command dragons and storms.
The legend became so deeply embedded in the folklore of north-western Croatia that it eventually entered Croatian literature. In 1804, the celebrated playwright Tituš Brezovački based his famous comedy Matijaš Grabancijaš Dijak on the legend. Its clever protagonist is precisely such a “graduate” of the Black School, using his supposed magical knowledge to outwit the superstitious people he encounters.