Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation

Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation (Latin: Rescriptum Declaratorium Illyricae Nationis; Serbian Cyrillic: Деклараторни рескрипт илирске нације, Деклараторија) was issued on 16 July 1779 by Maria Theresa, Dowager-Empress and Queen of Hungary (1740-1780).

[1] It was a royal rescript, issued in response to a series of petitions made by Eastern Orthodox subjects of the Habsburg monarchy, regarding the regulation of their religious freedom and ecclesiastical autonomy.

[2] The Rescript contained detailed regulations on the organization of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci, an autonomous ecclesiastical province of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Habsburg monarchy, who were mainly Serbs and Romanians.

Since the end of the 17th century, the archaic term Illyrians was used by the state administration in a classicizing manner, at first as a designation for Serbs,[3] and later for all Eastern Orthodox subjects, including Serbs, Romanians and some other minor groups.

In response to that, the Rescript of 1779 regulated, on some issues restrictively, many important questions, from the procedures regarding the elections of Eastern Orthodox bishops, to the management of dioceses, parishes and monasteries.