Career
Most sources mention Šibenik as Tavelic"s birthplace, but another possible location is Velim near Stankovci. In 1365, Tavelic became a friar in Bribir, the seat of the Šubić, a powerful Croatian noble family. In 1384, Tavelic went to serve in the Custody of the Holy Land where he met the friars Deodatus Aribert of Rodez, Peter of Narbonne and Stephen of Cuneo.
They went to the regular gathering before the Qadi of Jerusalem and began to preach.
After again refusing to convert several days later, the group were all sentenced to death. These missionaries were executed near the Jaffa Gate on November 14, 1391, and their remains completely burned.
Friar Gerard Chalvet, Order of Friars Minor, was the guardian of the Jerusalem friary and saw their executions. Together with Friar Martin of Šibenik, he sent a detailed report to Europe: the pope, Leipzig, Šibenik and elsewhere.
Tavelic and his companions were soon celebrated as martyrs by Franciscans all over Europe, especially in Šibenik.
Five centuries later, in 1880, Antun Josip Fosco, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Šibenik, started the procedure for the Holy See for the formal beatification of Tavelic. Two years later, the same thing was done for the Holy Land. The cult of the friars, especially that of Tavelic, grew between the World Wars.
The cultus of the other three martyrs was recognized by Pope Paul VI in 1966, with a separate feast day of 17 November.
The four friars were canonized together by Pope Paul VI in front of 20,000 Croats in Vatican City, on June 21, 1970, with their conjoined feast day being 14 November. Most churches dedicated to Tavelić are located in Croatia.
Some of them are in Banjevci, Cerovac, Lišani, Perković, Split, Vinjani, Zagreb, Rijeka and Županja. abroad can be found in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Montreal and Winnipeg in Canada, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and Tomislavgrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina.