Monumenta Slavorum

The inspiration for their publication had been the Monumenta Historica Germaniae, and encouragement for publishing of the series was given by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski and his collection of sources known as Iura regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae ("Rights of the kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia", 1861-1862).

Publishing of the monuments commenced the following year, primarily of those that confirm the Croatian state law, in the series Monumenta spectantia historiam Slavorum Meridionalium.

In the MSHSM series several sets of sources collected into thematic and temporal units by renowned experts such as: The particularly fertile period was until 1918, when 43 volumes were printed.

The series was intended to cover a variety of sources of legal significance (primarily codes, statutes and terriers), and the rationale for the methods of their publication was given by Baldo Bogišić in the book Pisani zakoni na slavenskom jugu (1872).

[1] Although some of the monuments (documents, statutes) have experienced modern editions in the past two decades, both of the series contain valuable and indispensable sources for the study of Croatian and South Slavic history.