 The arrival of the Capuchin brothers to southern Slavic (and then Croatian) regions was largely influenced by the founding of the monastery in Graz in Styria (Austria) in 1600.
Namely, early 1599, Duke Ferdinand II of Styria approached the Apostolic Nuncio in Graz with the aim of having Fr. Ludovik of Saxony deployed to found the new monastery. It was only in 1608 however, owing to the efforts of St. Laurence of Brindine that the monastery was founded. It is from this monastery that the Capuchin brothers then came to Ljubljana in 1606. The founding of these and later other monasteries in these regions signifies the starting point for the arrival of the Capuchin brothers to Croatian regions. Styria was then part of the Hapsburg Empire and encompassed Corinthia, Croatia, Slovenia and Istria. In 1600 the Capuchins came to Styria and other Austrian lands (they had arrived in Bohemia a year before that), founding the Czech-Austrian-Styrian commission which was divided in 1608, so the commission was raised to the level of a Province, or rather into two provinces forming the Czech-Austrian Province and Styrian Province. As new monasteries were founded the Slovenian and later Croatian monasteries were annexed to the Styrian Province.
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