The Branimir inscription () is the oldest preserved monument containing an inscription defining a Croatian medieval ruler as a duke of Croats â '. The inscription was originally part of a templon of a church in à  opot at Benkovac built by Duke Branimir, who ruled Croatia from 879âÂÂ892.
The inscribed beam and gable fragments contain a Latin language reference to Branimir as ("the count Branimir⦠considered duke of the Croatsâ¦"). The first two words are inscribed on the beam fragment, and the rest on the wide and tall gable fragment. Both of the fragments have matching ornamentation along the top edge, with a cross executed in Croatian interlace on the gable and a pair of birds, one to either side of the cross. The fragments were originally parts of a templon in a church completed in the 9th century and consecrated to Saint Jerome. The church was built by Branimir, who reigned in 879âÂÂ892. The inscription is kept in Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split.
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. There are seven other preserved stone inscriptions mentioning Branimir, found in Nin, à ½drapanj near Skradin, Otres near Bribir, in MuàGornji near Split, Lepuri near Benkovac among others. The one found in Muàcontains the consecration year, dating the inscription to year 888.
The oldest epigraphic inscription of a Croatian ruler are most probably those of Mislav of Croatia. A possibly older references to a Croatian ethnonym have been confirmed in a church inscription found in BijaÃÂi near Trogir dated to the end of the 8th or early 9th century; 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.