The inscription was originally a part of templon of a church in Šopot at Benkovac built by Duke Branimir, who ruled Croatia from 879–892.

The inscribed beam and gable fragments contain a Latin language reference to Branimir as BRANIMIRO COM[ES]… DVX CRVATORṼ COGIT[AVIT]… ("the count Branimir… considered duke of the Croats…").

The fragments were originally parts of a templon in a church completed in the 9th century and consecrated to Saint Jerome.

[2][3] The inscription is significant for the history of Croatia as it represents one of the oldest surviving references to a Croatian ruler, but also the earliest fully recorded use of the particular name for Croats.

[5] A possibly older references to a Croatian ethnonym have been confirmed in a church inscription found in Bijaći near Trogir dated to the end of the 8th or early 9th century;[4] and a charter of duke Trpimir I of Croatia from the year 852, however, its original is lost, and analyses of its 1568 copy indicate it might not indeed be older than the Branimir inscription.