The research conducted by Associate Professor Nikša Varezić focused on Petar Beneša, is justified by the fact that no comprehensive scholarly study has yet been devoted to this prominent citizen of Dubrovnik, who held high and truly significant positions within the Roman Curia during the first half of the seventeenth century. The research adopts a methodologically innovative approach in which Beneša’s life and activities are not examined within the framework of a conventional biography, but rather serve as an analytical point of departure for exploring broader diplomatic, cultural, and religious relations between the Republic of Dubrovnik and the Holy See in the early modern period. In this perspective, Beneša is interpreted as a mediator of identity and an agent of cultural transfer, and the study is positioned within contemporary historiographical approaches to transnational and diplomatic history. The research is based on relevant archival sources preserved in the State Archives in Dubrovnik, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Apostolic Archive.
