Although often mentioned in textbooks about the Carolingian and Byzantine empires, the Treaty of ... more Although often mentioned in textbooks about the Carolingian and Byzantine empires, the Treaty of Aachen has not received much close attention. This volume attempts not just to fill the gap, but to view the episode through both micro- and macro-lenses. Introductory chapters review the state of relations between Byzantium and the Frankish realm in the eighth and early ninth centuries, crises facing Byzantine emperors much closer to home, and the relevance of the Bulgarian problem to affairs on the Adriatic. Dalmatia’s coastal towns and the populations of the interior receive extensive attention, including the region’s ecclesiastical history and cultural affiliations. So do the local politics of Dalmatia, Venice and the Carolingian marches, and their interaction with the Byzantino-Frankish confrontation. The dynamics of the Franks’ relations with the Avars are analysed and, here too, the three-way play among the two empires and ‘in-between’ parties is a theme. Archaeological indications of the Franks’ presence are collated with what the literary sources reveal about local elites’ aspirations. The economic dimension to the Byzantino-Frankish competition for Venice is fully explored, a special feature of the volume being archaeological evidence for a resurgence of trade between the Upper Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean from the second half of the eighth century onwards. For further information: www.routledge.com/9781138225947
The author, inspired by the contemporary literature on organized violence, analyzes the war that ... more The author, inspired by the contemporary literature on organized violence, analyzes the war that Hungarian-Croatian King Louis the Great lead against Venice in 1356-1357 as a complex and elaborate enterprise. He first draws attention to the fact that the King was driven by ambition to avenge for the catastrophic defeat in his first attempt to gain Zadar from the Venetians in 1346. This conclusion is reached through analysis of the texts of contemporaneous chroniclers, be they Italian or Hungarian. At the same time, the author pinpoints the fact that Venetians were deceived by the King whose plan to attack the Veneto instead of Dalmatia remained secret almost to the first days of the war. The author then analyzes the King’s strategy observing the fact that he was apparently fully aware of the inherent constraints of his large knightly army in the Dalmatian theater of operations. Experience of the 1346 catastrophe, provoked mainly by the logistic failure, was hard learned lesson, so in the 1356-1357 war there were no siege operations directed against the coastal cities. Instead, the royal army concentrated on inflicting material damage on the city contado engaging Venetian forces from Nin, Zadar, Skradin, Šibenik, Trogir and Split. On the other hand, successful advancement of the royal host in the Veneto theater of operations, combined with the skillful use of vast material resources enabling Louis to buy of numerous enemies here, drove Venetian authorities to the point where they were not able to provide military or material help to Dalmatian cities. In this way the population of Dalmatian cities was driven to the point where they started to contemplate loyalty to Venetian government which, unable to provide help of any sort, lost its political legitimacy. As a result, the cities of Split and Trogir threw of the Venetian suzerainty in July of 1357 only to be followed by Šibenik in the November/December of the same year. The final blow to Venetians was the successful “special operation” conducted against sizable enemy forces concentrated in Zadar, the real target of the whole war. Here the commanders of the King’s forces played on the widely known anti-Venetian sentiments of the population and found weak point of the enemy among locally recruited knights that were incorporated into the Venetian forces. Through them they were able to cross the city wall and capture the main gate, capturing at the same time with the help of the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Grisogonus the other gate in city harbor. In this way the royal forces quickly swelled the city streets and with the help of local population drove Venetian soldiers to their last outpost, castello at the tip of the city. Loss of Zadar and triumphal entering of the King into the city few days later led to the collapse of the remnants of Venetian rule along the eastern coast of Adriatic paving the way for the singing of the Zadar Peace Treaty on February 18 1358. All along the narrative of the operations the author analyzes structural elements that enabled the King to pursuit war as complex and elaborate enterprise. In that analysis the author pinpoints the figure of John Chuz who served as familiaris of Andrew Lackfi (in local sources rendered as Lacković) in southern Italy during the campaign between 1348-1350. After the death of his patron John became in 1355 viceban and then in 1356 ban of Croatia and Dalmatia until 1358. The subject of analysis is the way he mobilized resources through vast social network of Croatian nobles and citizens of Zadar who served under his command during the war in the Dalmatian theater of operations.
Starting from two documents, preserved in the manuscript heritage of a historian of the 17th cent... more Starting from two documents, preserved in the manuscript heritage of a historian of the 17th century, Ivan Lučić Lucius, the author considers the way in which the Drid manorial estate finally became the possession of the Trogir bishop in 1242. Warning about the misunderstandings present in historiography regarding that, the author ascertains that the manorial estate was a part of the early-medieval county with the same name, and also of a big land complex which belonged to the ruler until the first half of the 13th century, first to Croatian, and then, after 1102, to Hungarian-Croatian kings’ deputies in the Croatian Kingdom and have royal property at their disposal, allocate the manorial estate for temporary usage. Such a practice was cancelled by the Croatian duke Koloman, which gave manorial estate to the Trogir bishop permanently. However, the bishop is not able to realize the right obtained in such a way completely because, relaying on the real social power and force, successors of former users denied the duke’s donation. The situation was finally resolved by king Bela IV who, taking refuge before Tatars exactly in Trogir, confirmed the donation of his brother. Having finally entered in the possession in the possession of the manorial estate, the bishop was forced to share it with the Trogir municipality only two months later, which collected the expenses for sheltering the king in that way. Very soon, the municipality distributes its part, half of that manorial estate, to most powerful individuals and in that way the once big manorial estate, a social and economic community, is permanently dissipated into a number of reduced properties owned by a wide range of owners. Starting from provisions of the document about the distribution of the Drid manorial estate between the Trogir bishop and the municipality, using thereby the documents and the toponymic material from cadaster plans already published, the author tries to present the former arrangement od the manorial estate. In that sense, he points out the traces of early-medieval traditions which are manifested in existence of work duties of the subservient working population, and, in connection with that, the organization of a part of the manorial estate in the form of the terra dominicata, called “zgon” in Croatian parts. The author recognizes the second trace of early medieval traditions in existence of village settlements formed on the principle of professional orientation of the population. In all that, the author recognizes the form of arrangement of curtis as has been known on the neighboring Italian coast already since the 8th century, and transferred to Croatian parts at the time of the Frankish political leadership in the 9th century and, of course, adapted to conditions which ruled on the east coast of the Adriatic.
ABBATISSA INGENUITATE PRECIPUA: The Proceedings of the Scientific Colloquium "The 950th anniversary of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Mary in Zadar (1066-2016)", 2020
The author is analyzing the circumstances surrounding the planning, launching and carrying out th... more The author is analyzing the circumstances surrounding the planning, launching and carrying out the expedition intended to transfer Charles Robert from Southern Italy to Eastern Adriatic so that he could realize his inherited right to Crown of St. Stephen and the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. Contrary to the conventional wisdom in historiography, the author advocates a thesis that the expedition was organized not to enable Charles to realize his claim, but to remove him from Naples where he, being the heir to the local throne, was a potential source of political disputes and conflicts. Analyzing the details of the expedition and the contemporaries’ views on it (as found in the preserved sources), the author finds arguments for such a viewpoint. He also analyzes the developments that, in the early 14th century, generated a whole new political situation that in turn created an opportunity for Charles Robert to actually realize his potential claim to the throne.
Taking for his starting point an unpublished document dealing with the dispute of the bishop of T... more Taking for his starting point an unpublished document dealing with the dispute of the bishop of Trogir with his commune, owing to an interdiction by which the bishop punished the leaders of the commune after they had established formal contacts with the followers of the Bosnian dualist 'heretic' church, the author endeavors to give an outline of the basic elements on which, for two and half centuries, was built the attitude of the eastern Adriatic communes towards the Bosnian 'heresy'. By analyzing the manner in which the Bosnian ‘heretics’ were treated in the largest neighboring communes of Dubrovnik and Split, the author tries to find the model of forming their attitude towards the Bosnian ‘heretics’, defined by the phenomenon of ‘ideology’ and the ‘everyday life’. Mediated through the feeling of ‘repulsion’ and ‘jeopardy’, these phenomena affected the formation of the three basic types of attitude: ‘actively negative’, ‘passively negative’ and the attitude of ‘forced tolerance in emergency cases’. Trying to find out in what way these attitudes are translated into action, from the ‘actively negative’ attitude the author infers ‘helping Catholic missionary action in Bosnia’, while the ‘passively negative’ attitude leads to converting to Catholicism of ‘heretics’ in cases when they decide to sojourn in the town for a larger period of time. Concluding the discussion, the author stresses that the dualist ‘alternative’, due to a lcak of any social program, undergoes complete failure in the commune centers.
Abbatissa ingenuitate precipua: Zbornik radova sa znanstvenog kolokvija "950. obljetnica Samostana benediktinki sv. Marije u Zadru (1066.-2016.)" (ur. Pavuša Vežić, Ivan Josipović), Zadar, 2020
Autor razmatra elemente društvene strukture Hrvatskoga Kraljevstva u razdoblju ranoga i razvijeno... more Autor razmatra elemente društvene strukture Hrvatskoga Kraljevstva u razdoblju ranoga i razvijenog srednjeg vijeka, usmjerujući posebnu pozornost na društvenu ulogu, status i obveze sloja profesionalnih ratnika ("specijalista za nasilje") koji se u vrelima pojavljuju pod nazivima (hrvatski) gradu kmeti odnosno (latinski) iobagiones castri. Podlogu rasprave čini raščlamba odgovarajućih odredaba Vinodolskoga zakona, spomenika koji ponajbolje osvjetljuje vlastitu percepciju pripadnika te društvene skupine. K tomu se raščlanjuju elementi društvenoga znanja kako ih zrcali diskurs različitih pisanih spomenika poglavito 13. stoljeća, kao što se nastoji definirati položaj pripadnika ovoga sloja pojmovima današnjih društvenih znanosti.
The author analyzes elements of the social structure of the Croatian Kingdom in the Early and High Middle Ages, paying particular attention to the social role, status and obligations of the class of professional warriors (“violence specialists”) described in sources as gradu kmeti (in Croatian) or iobagiones castri (in Latin). Underpinning the discussion is an analysis of relevant provisions of the Vinodol Codex, a source that
best illustrates the self-perception of the members of the professional warrior class. The paper also analyzes elements of social knowledge as reflected in the discourse of various written sources, particularly 13th century ones, while at the same time trying to define the members of this class by using the terms employed by modern social sciences.
Although often mentioned in textbooks about the Carolingian and Byzantine empires, the Treaty of ... more Although often mentioned in textbooks about the Carolingian and Byzantine empires, the Treaty of Aachen has not received much close attention. This volume attempts not just to fill the gap, but to view the episode through both micro- and macro-lenses. Introductory chapters review the state of relations between Byzantium and the Frankish realm in the eighth and early ninth centuries, crises facing Byzantine emperors much closer to home, and the relevance of the Bulgarian problem to affairs on the Adriatic. Dalmatia’s coastal towns and the populations of the interior receive extensive attention, including the region’s ecclesiastical history and cultural affiliations. So do the local politics of Dalmatia, Venice and the Carolingian marches, and their interaction with the Byzantino-Frankish confrontation. The dynamics of the Franks’ relations with the Avars are analysed and, here too, the three-way play among the two empires and ‘in-between’ parties is a theme. Archaeological indications of the Franks’ presence are collated with what the literary sources reveal about local elites’ aspirations. The economic dimension to the Byzantino-Frankish competition for Venice is fully explored, a special feature of the volume being archaeological evidence for a resurgence of trade between the Upper Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean from the second half of the eighth century onwards. For further information: www.routledge.com/9781138225947
The author, inspired by the contemporary literature on organized violence, analyzes the war that ... more The author, inspired by the contemporary literature on organized violence, analyzes the war that Hungarian-Croatian King Louis the Great lead against Venice in 1356-1357 as a complex and elaborate enterprise. He first draws attention to the fact that the King was driven by ambition to avenge for the catastrophic defeat in his first attempt to gain Zadar from the Venetians in 1346. This conclusion is reached through analysis of the texts of contemporaneous chroniclers, be they Italian or Hungarian. At the same time, the author pinpoints the fact that Venetians were deceived by the King whose plan to attack the Veneto instead of Dalmatia remained secret almost to the first days of the war. The author then analyzes the King’s strategy observing the fact that he was apparently fully aware of the inherent constraints of his large knightly army in the Dalmatian theater of operations. Experience of the 1346 catastrophe, provoked mainly by the logistic failure, was hard learned lesson, so in the 1356-1357 war there were no siege operations directed against the coastal cities. Instead, the royal army concentrated on inflicting material damage on the city contado engaging Venetian forces from Nin, Zadar, Skradin, Šibenik, Trogir and Split. On the other hand, successful advancement of the royal host in the Veneto theater of operations, combined with the skillful use of vast material resources enabling Louis to buy of numerous enemies here, drove Venetian authorities to the point where they were not able to provide military or material help to Dalmatian cities. In this way the population of Dalmatian cities was driven to the point where they started to contemplate loyalty to Venetian government which, unable to provide help of any sort, lost its political legitimacy. As a result, the cities of Split and Trogir threw of the Venetian suzerainty in July of 1357 only to be followed by Šibenik in the November/December of the same year. The final blow to Venetians was the successful “special operation” conducted against sizable enemy forces concentrated in Zadar, the real target of the whole war. Here the commanders of the King’s forces played on the widely known anti-Venetian sentiments of the population and found weak point of the enemy among locally recruited knights that were incorporated into the Venetian forces. Through them they were able to cross the city wall and capture the main gate, capturing at the same time with the help of the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Grisogonus the other gate in city harbor. In this way the royal forces quickly swelled the city streets and with the help of local population drove Venetian soldiers to their last outpost, castello at the tip of the city. Loss of Zadar and triumphal entering of the King into the city few days later led to the collapse of the remnants of Venetian rule along the eastern coast of Adriatic paving the way for the singing of the Zadar Peace Treaty on February 18 1358. All along the narrative of the operations the author analyzes structural elements that enabled the King to pursuit war as complex and elaborate enterprise. In that analysis the author pinpoints the figure of John Chuz who served as familiaris of Andrew Lackfi (in local sources rendered as Lacković) in southern Italy during the campaign between 1348-1350. After the death of his patron John became in 1355 viceban and then in 1356 ban of Croatia and Dalmatia until 1358. The subject of analysis is the way he mobilized resources through vast social network of Croatian nobles and citizens of Zadar who served under his command during the war in the Dalmatian theater of operations.
Starting from two documents, preserved in the manuscript heritage of a historian of the 17th cent... more Starting from two documents, preserved in the manuscript heritage of a historian of the 17th century, Ivan Lučić Lucius, the author considers the way in which the Drid manorial estate finally became the possession of the Trogir bishop in 1242. Warning about the misunderstandings present in historiography regarding that, the author ascertains that the manorial estate was a part of the early-medieval county with the same name, and also of a big land complex which belonged to the ruler until the first half of the 13th century, first to Croatian, and then, after 1102, to Hungarian-Croatian kings’ deputies in the Croatian Kingdom and have royal property at their disposal, allocate the manorial estate for temporary usage. Such a practice was cancelled by the Croatian duke Koloman, which gave manorial estate to the Trogir bishop permanently. However, the bishop is not able to realize the right obtained in such a way completely because, relaying on the real social power and force, successors of former users denied the duke’s donation. The situation was finally resolved by king Bela IV who, taking refuge before Tatars exactly in Trogir, confirmed the donation of his brother. Having finally entered in the possession in the possession of the manorial estate, the bishop was forced to share it with the Trogir municipality only two months later, which collected the expenses for sheltering the king in that way. Very soon, the municipality distributes its part, half of that manorial estate, to most powerful individuals and in that way the once big manorial estate, a social and economic community, is permanently dissipated into a number of reduced properties owned by a wide range of owners. Starting from provisions of the document about the distribution of the Drid manorial estate between the Trogir bishop and the municipality, using thereby the documents and the toponymic material from cadaster plans already published, the author tries to present the former arrangement od the manorial estate. In that sense, he points out the traces of early-medieval traditions which are manifested in existence of work duties of the subservient working population, and, in connection with that, the organization of a part of the manorial estate in the form of the terra dominicata, called “zgon” in Croatian parts. The author recognizes the second trace of early medieval traditions in existence of village settlements formed on the principle of professional orientation of the population. In all that, the author recognizes the form of arrangement of curtis as has been known on the neighboring Italian coast already since the 8th century, and transferred to Croatian parts at the time of the Frankish political leadership in the 9th century and, of course, adapted to conditions which ruled on the east coast of the Adriatic.
ABBATISSA INGENUITATE PRECIPUA: The Proceedings of the Scientific Colloquium "The 950th anniversary of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Mary in Zadar (1066-2016)", 2020
The author is analyzing the circumstances surrounding the planning, launching and carrying out th... more The author is analyzing the circumstances surrounding the planning, launching and carrying out the expedition intended to transfer Charles Robert from Southern Italy to Eastern Adriatic so that he could realize his inherited right to Crown of St. Stephen and the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. Contrary to the conventional wisdom in historiography, the author advocates a thesis that the expedition was organized not to enable Charles to realize his claim, but to remove him from Naples where he, being the heir to the local throne, was a potential source of political disputes and conflicts. Analyzing the details of the expedition and the contemporaries’ views on it (as found in the preserved sources), the author finds arguments for such a viewpoint. He also analyzes the developments that, in the early 14th century, generated a whole new political situation that in turn created an opportunity for Charles Robert to actually realize his potential claim to the throne.
Taking for his starting point an unpublished document dealing with the dispute of the bishop of T... more Taking for his starting point an unpublished document dealing with the dispute of the bishop of Trogir with his commune, owing to an interdiction by which the bishop punished the leaders of the commune after they had established formal contacts with the followers of the Bosnian dualist 'heretic' church, the author endeavors to give an outline of the basic elements on which, for two and half centuries, was built the attitude of the eastern Adriatic communes towards the Bosnian 'heresy'. By analyzing the manner in which the Bosnian ‘heretics’ were treated in the largest neighboring communes of Dubrovnik and Split, the author tries to find the model of forming their attitude towards the Bosnian ‘heretics’, defined by the phenomenon of ‘ideology’ and the ‘everyday life’. Mediated through the feeling of ‘repulsion’ and ‘jeopardy’, these phenomena affected the formation of the three basic types of attitude: ‘actively negative’, ‘passively negative’ and the attitude of ‘forced tolerance in emergency cases’. Trying to find out in what way these attitudes are translated into action, from the ‘actively negative’ attitude the author infers ‘helping Catholic missionary action in Bosnia’, while the ‘passively negative’ attitude leads to converting to Catholicism of ‘heretics’ in cases when they decide to sojourn in the town for a larger period of time. Concluding the discussion, the author stresses that the dualist ‘alternative’, due to a lcak of any social program, undergoes complete failure in the commune centers.
Abbatissa ingenuitate precipua: Zbornik radova sa znanstvenog kolokvija "950. obljetnica Samostana benediktinki sv. Marije u Zadru (1066.-2016.)" (ur. Pavuša Vežić, Ivan Josipović), Zadar, 2020
Autor razmatra elemente društvene strukture Hrvatskoga Kraljevstva u razdoblju ranoga i razvijeno... more Autor razmatra elemente društvene strukture Hrvatskoga Kraljevstva u razdoblju ranoga i razvijenog srednjeg vijeka, usmjerujući posebnu pozornost na društvenu ulogu, status i obveze sloja profesionalnih ratnika ("specijalista za nasilje") koji se u vrelima pojavljuju pod nazivima (hrvatski) gradu kmeti odnosno (latinski) iobagiones castri. Podlogu rasprave čini raščlamba odgovarajućih odredaba Vinodolskoga zakona, spomenika koji ponajbolje osvjetljuje vlastitu percepciju pripadnika te društvene skupine. K tomu se raščlanjuju elementi društvenoga znanja kako ih zrcali diskurs različitih pisanih spomenika poglavito 13. stoljeća, kao što se nastoji definirati položaj pripadnika ovoga sloja pojmovima današnjih društvenih znanosti.
The author analyzes elements of the social structure of the Croatian Kingdom in the Early and High Middle Ages, paying particular attention to the social role, status and obligations of the class of professional warriors (“violence specialists”) described in sources as gradu kmeti (in Croatian) or iobagiones castri (in Latin). Underpinning the discussion is an analysis of relevant provisions of the Vinodol Codex, a source that
best illustrates the self-perception of the members of the professional warrior class. The paper also analyzes elements of social knowledge as reflected in the discourse of various written sources, particularly 13th century ones, while at the same time trying to define the members of this class by using the terms employed by modern social sciences.
D. Dzino, A. Milošević, T. Vedriš (eds.), Migration, Integration and Connectivity on the Southeastern Frontier of the Carolingian Empire, Leiden & Boston 2018, 43-62
Laude nitens multa: Zbornik radova s kolokvija u povodu 900. obljetnice Vekenegina epitafa, 2018
Vekenega and king Koloman
In the first part of his paper, the author discusses the circumstances ... more Vekenega and king Koloman In the first part of his paper, the author discusses the circumstances of writing and the nature of a complex document known in scholarship as the “Cartulary of the Monastery of St Mary.” In this context, he brings forth arguments that lead to the conclusion that the document was produced around 1105 as one in a series of similar documents describing the acquisition of landed property by the said monastery, located in what was then the Kingdom of Croatia. Te production of this series of similar documents has been placed in the context of the newly established power relations afer the coronation of the Hungarian king Koloman as a Croatian king, which took place in 1102 in Biograd, and his glorious entry in Zadar in 1105. Regarding the fact that the festivities on the occasion of the king’s arrival included a Church synod, the author has suggested that the king’s representatives demanded before the ecclesiastical prelates, among other things, that the monasteries should produce documentation on their property rights. Given the previous and also later practice in the Kingdom of Croatia, which called such documents montanea, the author proposes that this and similar documents should no longer be called “cartularies” in scholarly literature and that this term should be replaced by that of montanea as it suits both their nature and their content. The second part of the paper, in reference to the content of the given monastic montaneum, discusses the kinship ties of Vekenega, a nun at the monastery of St Mary in Zadar, and argues, frstly, that she belonged to the leading elite of Zadar. For two centuries, members of this circle (whom the author calls “heirs to prior Andrija”, Zadar’s mayor in the early 10th century) held the main ruling and administrative positions as well as the episcopal ofce in the autonomous political entity colloquially called provintia Iadertina. Secondly, some members of this circle were connected through marital ties to the aristocracy of the Kingdom of Croatia, into whose political framework Zadar would be incorporated only in the second half of the 11th century. In this context, the author has indicated the complexity of social networks established through kinship, as well as the position of individuals within them. Finally, in the third part, the author has analysed some information referring to the relationship between Vekenega and the Hungarian-Croatian king Koloman. Tese include primarily the fact that Vekenega was present at the coronation of King Koloman in Biograd in 1102, although the municipal authorities of Zadar were not recognizing his political sovereignty at the time. Moreover, reliable sources (such as the inscription in the monastery’s belfry and the epitaph carved above the nun’s tomb) manifestly show that Vekenega ordered the construction of the belfry on behalf of the king and with his money, and most probably the same goes for the monastic chapter hall, which created a physical whole with the belfry. Since the belfry (and the chapter hall) are rightly held to have been a sort of monuments celebrating the beginning of Koloman’s rule over the city, it has been commonly held that Vekenega’s crucial role in constructing the ensemble resulted from the personal ties created on the occasion of Koloman’s coronation in 1102. However, relying on an earlier analysis by Ana Marinković, who has accurately outlined the nature and features of this monument complex, the author draws attention to the fact that Vekenega was certainly not the only member of Zadar’s elite involved in the establishment of the new political regime, symbolized by the king’s glorious entry into the city in 1105. Based on some indirect information from a somewhat later period, namely 1111 and 1118, the important role of Zadar’s bishop Grgur in these events has been emphasized, since this was probably a reason why he was in later sources documented as a member of the king’s retinue in Hungary. Taking all this into account, the author has concluded that Vekenega was actually in charge of the architectural enterprise of building the belfry and the hall (fabrica) and that it was owing to the success of this enterprise that the king later endowed the nun and the monastery with a large estate on Dugi Otok. Moreover, previous research has shown that prominent masters from Venice were commissioned with building the belfry and the hall, and that they worked according to the concept and programme created most likely together with Bishop Grgur. In this way, they created a fascinating and innovative piece of architecture, which defned the “visual language of power” by using innovations, evident in the appearance of specifc decorative elements from the interior of the belfry and the hall in other ecclesiastical buildings in the Kingdom of Croatia during the 12th century.
In his discussion on the position and development of Zadar’s diocese from the late 8th century un... more In his discussion on the position and development of Zadar’s diocese from the late 8th century until 1152, when it was raised to the level of an archbishopric, the author primarily focuses on the impact of political relations on the definition of ecclesiastical jurisdiction areas. The starting point of the discussion has been the territorial-administrative division defined by the Treaty of Aachen (812) and the jurisdiction territory of Zadar’s bishop inferred from that document. Throughout the early medieval period, the mainland territory of the Zadar diocese remained limited to a narrow strip of the city’s hinterland, and the author indicates that the possible expansion of this area was first obstructed by the establishment of the Nin diocese as a missionary one, including the Duchy of Croatia. A related issue is the situation at the time of ecclesiastical reforms decreed by the Councils of Split in 925 and 928, in relation to which the author discusses the circumstances that had allowed Zadar to retain its autonomous position with regard to the Croatian ruler ever since the Treaty of Aachen. Tis had in turn resulted in the formation of a separate political entity, which the sources of the time referred to as the provintia Iadertina, with borders that coincided with those of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop of Zadar. Tis situation has been compared to that of Split, fully incorporated in the territory of the Croatian rulers by the late 9th century, which turned out to be a crucial factor when defning the metropolitan see for the Croatian Kingdom. Integrating the city in the Croatian king’s system of governance and administration made it possible for the Archbishop of Split to extend his area of jurisdiction well into the hinterland. In continuation, the author discusses the emergence of a ruling dynasty known in the sources under its colloquial name “descendants of Prior Andrija”, which managed in the course of the 10th century to gain practically full control over the social life of the provintia Iadertina. In this regard, it has been shown that all known bishops who occupied the see of Zadar in the 10th and 11th centuries came from this ruling dynasty. The author indicates the obvious link between the political or secular powers manifested in this situation and the reform efforts of the Church from the mid-11th century onwards, and uses an example to show how difficult it was for the society of those times to accept the regimen imposed by the papal curia as the ecclesiastical centre of the time. In the final remarks, the author briefly discusses the circumstances of the elevation of Zadar’s bishopric to the level of an archbishopric. The event was related to the onset of the Venetian rule, that is, to the redefinition of the position of the provintia Iadertina within a system supporting Venetian expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is argued that the Venetian dominion ensured a more advantageous status to the city than those defined in the mid-11th century, when Zadar finally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Croatian king. At the same time, the author explains to which extent the elevation to the level of an archbishopric was linked to the relations between the ecclesiastical and secular powers in Venice. Based on these conclusions, he explains why the political changes in the second half of the 11th and the first half of the 12th century could no longer alter the long established constellation.
Following the warning on the importance of academic and historical analysis, the author addresses... more Following the warning on the importance of academic and historical analysis, the author addresses the issue of the role of nationalism in modern social life and emphasizes the importance that this social phenomenon re-acquired at the beginning of the 90s of the last century. He ties that to the political development of the former socialist Yugoslavia, whose political life was marked by nationalism that had an important role defned at the level of constitutional solutions. That importance of nationalism in the past is the source of its relevance during the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia and the subsequent formation of new states, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ignoring the importance of this factor in the post-war organization of BiH is exactly what the author ties to the “colonial” management policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina after 1995 and what presents the reasons for the failure of the “state/nation building” project as a key element of that policy. In conclusion, the author emphasizes the need to appreciate a realistic “description of reality”, which of course includes the importance of nationalism in the social life of BiH, and advocates a realistic and rational approach to defning the political organization of the country.
The paper discusses the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Duchy of Croatia, the analys... more The paper discusses the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Duchy of Croatia, the analysis foregrounding the infuence that stemmed from the fact that from the beginning of the 9th century the space in which the Duchy came into being was incorporated in the imperial formation (Imperium Christianum) the shaping of which was fnalised by Charlemagne. Further considered is the role of objects that came from the Frankish world and the manner in which these objects were instrumentalised in the construction of the political authority of the head of the nascent Duchy, who was at the same time the imperial ‘authorisee’ of the ‘province of Dalmatia’. The organisational forms of this authority are analysed, and are shown to emulate those of the Franks. In addition, attention is focused on the new forms of conduct and activity that stemmed from the work of the Frankish missionaries, who brought the Lombard traditions into the world being newly formed, Lombard because these missionaries came from the area of the former Kingdom of the Lombards, which had fallen under the rule of the Franks in the frst half of the 770s.
The author discusses frequent practices of rendering the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina as 'Bosni... more The author discusses frequent practices of rendering the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina as 'Bosnia' as well as the uses of the term 'Srpska' in the public discourse. Leaving aside the cases of benign mental inertia, practices with certain political background are further analyzed. They are seen in the context of nationalist discourse and development of a 'central narratives of national history' for three Bosnian nations: Bosniak-muslims, Croats and Serbs. The paper also sheds light on the shifting strategies of the nationalist elites and the way those strategies are materialized in the production of public discourse on the past.
From land to kingdom: Position of Bosnia within the structure of Archiregnum
The author discusses... more From land to kingdom: Position of Bosnia within the structure of Archiregnum The author discusses the complex problem of primarily politi¬cal relations between Bosnia (the Bosnian Banate, later on the Bosnian Kingdom) and Hungary (the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom). Prior to explaining his own view, the author criti¬cizes the work of Dubravko Lovrenovic, taking it as an exam¬ple of approach to the historical analysis of a school developed during the 20th century and provisionally called "the Belgra¬de-Sarajevo school". In the second part of paper the author, referring to the concept of Archiregnum Hungaricum, defined as "dynastic (super) state", analyzes oldest written records that shed light on the relations of the Hungarian-Croatian kings with Bosnia. In that regard, he tries to define the concept of "land" (terra, Land) calling upon the ideas of Otto Brunner and using them as tool in the analysis of relevant sources from the 12th and 13th centuries. Based on this analysis the aut¬hor draws conclusions about transformation of the Bosnian Banate in the framework of dynastic (super) state, seeing it as a conglomerate of "lands" ruled by the Kotromanic dynasty, otherwise descendants of certain "Kotroman Got" who was installed as 'ban' by the intervention of the royal authority in the late 12th or early 13th century. The author accepts the view that the "land" Rama, which was present in the style of Hungarian-Croatian kings from the 30s of the 12th century, was not the same as "land" Bosnia of that time. Consequently, equation of those geo-political terms hap¬pened only at the beginning of the 15th century due to the fact that the central authority managed to largely integrate the old "lands" and abolish their political independence. In the third part of the paper the author analyzes how this complex system worked in the 15th century using the data that concern the course of events from 1435 and 1436. He uses the example of (unsuccessful) attempt of the Emperor and King Sigismund to organize a system of defense against the Turks on his western flank (from Bosnia to Albania). The relationship between the political center and periphery is portrayed through (unsucce¬ssful) appropriation of the old principality of Hum (already integrated into the political framework of Bosnian Kingdom). At the same time the author tries to pinpoint mental pictures regarding "constitutional order" of Archiregnum based on the historical experience as well as trying to discern how they have influenced the practical actions of actors. In that vein he also warns that various ways of interpreting experience with dif¬ferences in thought schemes derived through those processes was one of the main reasons for the failure of the planned venture. However the acceptance of the main schemata defi¬ning position of Bosnian Kingdom in the political framework of Archiregnum is illustrated through the analysis of the short visit of Bosnian King Tvrtko II to the Hungarian court at the beginning of 1436. In conclusion the author defines the Bo¬snian king as hereditary official of the royal apparatus of go¬vernment who, apart from fulfillment of certain obligations to the political centre (many of which had a ritual dimensi¬on), really ruled autonomous political formation - the Bosnian Kingdom. Acceptance of such a position on the part of Bosni¬an rulers resulted in the possibility of constant expansion of the territory under the practical rule of the Bosnian king.
Najvažniji tekst za razumijevanje oblikovanja institucionalnih (ceh profesionalnih akademskih pov... more Najvažniji tekst za razumijevanje oblikovanja institucionalnih (ceh profesionalnih akademskih povjesničara) misaonih struktura u socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji. Đilasov direktivni članak objavljen je najmanje dva puta, a njegovu važnost jasno naznačuje činjenica da ga je ukratko i apologetski prikazao na stranicama "Historijskoga zbornika" (2/1949) Jaroslav Šidak, koji će u sljedećim desetljećima držati ključnu poziciju u hrvatskoj historiografiji. Bez ovoga teksta nije moguće razumjeti ukupnu profesionalnu akademsku historiografiju oblikovanu u socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji.
Angevins in East Central and Southeastern Europe in the 14th Century, 2-3 May 2022, Department of... more Angevins in East Central and Southeastern Europe in the 14th Century, 2-3 May 2022, Department of History, University of Zadar, Conference program and abstracts.
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The author then analyzes the King’s strategy observing the fact that he was apparently fully aware of the inherent constraints of his large knightly army in the Dalmatian theater of operations. Experience of the 1346 catastrophe, provoked mainly by the logistic failure, was hard learned lesson, so in the 1356-1357 war there were no siege operations directed against the coastal cities. Instead, the royal army concentrated on inflicting material damage on the city contado engaging Venetian forces from Nin, Zadar, Skradin, Šibenik, Trogir and Split. On the other hand, successful advancement of the royal host in the Veneto theater of operations, combined with the skillful use of vast material resources enabling Louis to buy of numerous enemies here, drove Venetian authorities to the point where they were not able to provide military or material help to Dalmatian cities. In this way the population of Dalmatian cities was driven to the point where they started to contemplate loyalty to Venetian government which, unable to provide help of any sort, lost its political legitimacy. As a result, the cities of Split and Trogir threw of the Venetian suzerainty in July of 1357 only to be followed by Šibenik in the November/December of the same year. The final blow to Venetians was the successful “special operation” conducted against sizable enemy forces concentrated in Zadar, the real target of the whole war. Here the commanders of the King’s forces played on the widely known anti-Venetian sentiments of the population and found weak point of the enemy among locally recruited knights that were incorporated into the Venetian forces. Through them they were able to cross the city wall and capture the main gate, capturing at the same time with the help of the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Grisogonus the other gate in city harbor. In this way the royal forces quickly swelled the city streets and with the help of local population drove Venetian soldiers to their last outpost, castello at the tip of the city. Loss of Zadar and triumphal
entering of the King into the city few days later led to the collapse of the remnants of Venetian rule along the eastern coast of Adriatic paving the way for the singing of the Zadar Peace Treaty on February 18 1358.
All along the narrative of the operations the author analyzes structural elements that enabled the King to pursuit war as complex and elaborate enterprise. In that analysis the author pinpoints the figure of John Chuz who served as familiaris of Andrew Lackfi (in local sources rendered as Lacković) in southern Italy during the campaign between 1348-1350. After the death of his patron John became in 1355 viceban and then in 1356 ban of Croatia and Dalmatia until 1358. The subject of analysis is the way he mobilized resources through vast social network of Croatian nobles and citizens of Zadar who served under his command during the war in the Dalmatian theater of operations.
Starting from provisions of the document about the distribution of the Drid manorial estate between the Trogir bishop and the municipality, using thereby the documents and the toponymic material from cadaster plans already published, the author tries to present the former arrangement od the manorial estate. In that sense, he points out the traces of early-medieval traditions which are manifested in existence of work duties of the subservient working population, and, in connection with that, the organization of a part of the manorial estate in the form of the terra dominicata, called “zgon” in Croatian parts. The author recognizes the second trace of early medieval traditions in existence of village settlements formed on the principle of professional orientation of the population. In all that, the author recognizes the form of arrangement of curtis as has been known on the neighboring Italian coast already since the 8th century, and transferred to Croatian parts at the time of the Frankish political leadership in the 9th century and, of course, adapted to conditions which ruled on the east coast of the Adriatic.
The author analyzes elements of the social structure of the Croatian Kingdom in the Early and High Middle Ages, paying particular attention to the social role, status and obligations of the class of professional warriors (“violence specialists”) described in sources as gradu kmeti (in Croatian) or iobagiones castri (in Latin). Underpinning the discussion is an analysis of relevant provisions of the Vinodol Codex, a source that
best illustrates the self-perception of the members of the professional warrior class. The paper also analyzes elements of social knowledge as reflected in the discourse of various written sources, particularly 13th century ones, while at the same time trying to define the members of this class by using the terms employed by modern social sciences.
The author then analyzes the King’s strategy observing the fact that he was apparently fully aware of the inherent constraints of his large knightly army in the Dalmatian theater of operations. Experience of the 1346 catastrophe, provoked mainly by the logistic failure, was hard learned lesson, so in the 1356-1357 war there were no siege operations directed against the coastal cities. Instead, the royal army concentrated on inflicting material damage on the city contado engaging Venetian forces from Nin, Zadar, Skradin, Šibenik, Trogir and Split. On the other hand, successful advancement of the royal host in the Veneto theater of operations, combined with the skillful use of vast material resources enabling Louis to buy of numerous enemies here, drove Venetian authorities to the point where they were not able to provide military or material help to Dalmatian cities. In this way the population of Dalmatian cities was driven to the point where they started to contemplate loyalty to Venetian government which, unable to provide help of any sort, lost its political legitimacy. As a result, the cities of Split and Trogir threw of the Venetian suzerainty in July of 1357 only to be followed by Šibenik in the November/December of the same year. The final blow to Venetians was the successful “special operation” conducted against sizable enemy forces concentrated in Zadar, the real target of the whole war. Here the commanders of the King’s forces played on the widely known anti-Venetian sentiments of the population and found weak point of the enemy among locally recruited knights that were incorporated into the Venetian forces. Through them they were able to cross the city wall and capture the main gate, capturing at the same time with the help of the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Grisogonus the other gate in city harbor. In this way the royal forces quickly swelled the city streets and with the help of local population drove Venetian soldiers to their last outpost, castello at the tip of the city. Loss of Zadar and triumphal
entering of the King into the city few days later led to the collapse of the remnants of Venetian rule along the eastern coast of Adriatic paving the way for the singing of the Zadar Peace Treaty on February 18 1358.
All along the narrative of the operations the author analyzes structural elements that enabled the King to pursuit war as complex and elaborate enterprise. In that analysis the author pinpoints the figure of John Chuz who served as familiaris of Andrew Lackfi (in local sources rendered as Lacković) in southern Italy during the campaign between 1348-1350. After the death of his patron John became in 1355 viceban and then in 1356 ban of Croatia and Dalmatia until 1358. The subject of analysis is the way he mobilized resources through vast social network of Croatian nobles and citizens of Zadar who served under his command during the war in the Dalmatian theater of operations.
Starting from provisions of the document about the distribution of the Drid manorial estate between the Trogir bishop and the municipality, using thereby the documents and the toponymic material from cadaster plans already published, the author tries to present the former arrangement od the manorial estate. In that sense, he points out the traces of early-medieval traditions which are manifested in existence of work duties of the subservient working population, and, in connection with that, the organization of a part of the manorial estate in the form of the terra dominicata, called “zgon” in Croatian parts. The author recognizes the second trace of early medieval traditions in existence of village settlements formed on the principle of professional orientation of the population. In all that, the author recognizes the form of arrangement of curtis as has been known on the neighboring Italian coast already since the 8th century, and transferred to Croatian parts at the time of the Frankish political leadership in the 9th century and, of course, adapted to conditions which ruled on the east coast of the Adriatic.
The author analyzes elements of the social structure of the Croatian Kingdom in the Early and High Middle Ages, paying particular attention to the social role, status and obligations of the class of professional warriors (“violence specialists”) described in sources as gradu kmeti (in Croatian) or iobagiones castri (in Latin). Underpinning the discussion is an analysis of relevant provisions of the Vinodol Codex, a source that
best illustrates the self-perception of the members of the professional warrior class. The paper also analyzes elements of social knowledge as reflected in the discourse of various written sources, particularly 13th century ones, while at the same time trying to define the members of this class by using the terms employed by modern social sciences.
In the first part of his paper, the author discusses the circumstances of writing and the nature of a complex document known in scholarship as the “Cartulary of the Monastery of St Mary.” In this context, he brings forth arguments that lead to the conclusion that the document was produced around 1105 as one in a series of similar documents describing the acquisition of landed property by the said monastery, located in what was then the Kingdom of Croatia. Te production of this series of similar documents has been placed in the context of the newly established power relations afer the coronation of the Hungarian king Koloman as a Croatian king, which took place in 1102 in Biograd, and his glorious entry in Zadar in 1105. Regarding the fact that the festivities on the occasion of the king’s arrival included a Church synod, the author has suggested that the king’s representatives demanded before the ecclesiastical prelates, among other things, that the monasteries should produce documentation on their property rights. Given the previous and also later practice in the Kingdom of Croatia, which called such documents montanea, the author proposes that this and similar documents should no longer be called “cartularies” in scholarly literature and that this term should be replaced by that of montanea as it suits both their nature
and their content.
The second part of the paper, in reference to the content of the given monastic montaneum, discusses the kinship ties of Vekenega, a nun at the monastery of St Mary in Zadar, and argues, frstly, that she belonged to the leading elite of Zadar. For two centuries, members of this circle (whom the author calls “heirs to prior Andrija”, Zadar’s mayor in the early 10th century) held the main ruling and administrative positions as well as the episcopal ofce in the autonomous political entity colloquially called provintia Iadertina. Secondly, some members of this circle were connected through marital ties to the aristocracy of the Kingdom of Croatia, into whose political framework Zadar would be incorporated only in the second half of the 11th century. In this context, the author has indicated the complexity of social networks established through kinship, as well as the position of individuals within them.
Finally, in the third part, the author has analysed some information referring to the relationship between Vekenega and the Hungarian-Croatian king Koloman. Tese include primarily the fact that Vekenega was present at the coronation of King Koloman in Biograd in 1102, although the municipal authorities of Zadar were not recognizing his political sovereignty at the time. Moreover, reliable sources (such as the inscription in the monastery’s belfry and the epitaph carved above the nun’s tomb) manifestly show that Vekenega ordered the construction
of the belfry on behalf of the king and with his money, and most probably the same goes for the monastic chapter hall, which created a physical whole with the belfry. Since the belfry (and the chapter hall) are rightly held to have been a sort of monuments celebrating the beginning of Koloman’s rule over the city, it has been commonly held that Vekenega’s crucial role in constructing the ensemble resulted from the personal ties created on the occasion of Koloman’s
coronation in 1102. However, relying on an earlier analysis by Ana Marinković, who has accurately outlined the nature and features of this monument complex, the author draws attention to the fact that Vekenega was certainly not the only member of Zadar’s elite involved in the establishment of the new political regime, symbolized by the king’s glorious entry into the city in 1105. Based on some indirect information from a somewhat later period, namely 1111 and 1118, the important role of Zadar’s bishop Grgur in these events has been emphasized,
since this was probably a reason why he was in later sources documented as a member of the king’s retinue in Hungary. Taking all this into account, the author has concluded that Vekenega was actually in charge of the architectural enterprise of building the belfry and the hall (fabrica) and that it was owing to the success of this enterprise that the king later endowed the nun and the monastery with a large estate on Dugi Otok. Moreover, previous research has shown that prominent masters from Venice were commissioned with building the belfry and the hall,
and that they worked according to the concept and programme created most likely together with Bishop Grgur. In this way, they created a fascinating and innovative piece of architecture, which defned the “visual language of power” by using innovations, evident in the appearance of specifc decorative elements from the interior of the belfry and the hall in other ecclesiastical buildings in the Kingdom of Croatia during the 12th century.
928, in relation to which the author discusses the circumstances that had allowed Zadar to retain its autonomous position with regard to the Croatian ruler ever since the Treaty of Aachen. Tis had in turn resulted in the formation of a separate political entity, which the sources of the time referred to as the provintia Iadertina, with borders that coincided with those of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop of Zadar. Tis situation has been compared to that of Split, fully incorporated in the territory of the Croatian rulers by the late 9th century, which turned out to be a crucial factor when defning the metropolitan see for the Croatian Kingdom. Integrating the city in the Croatian king’s system of governance and administration made it possible for the Archbishop of Split to extend his area of
jurisdiction well into the hinterland.
In continuation, the author discusses the emergence of a ruling dynasty known in the sources under its colloquial name “descendants of Prior Andrija”, which managed in the course of the 10th century to gain practically full control over the social life of the provintia Iadertina. In this regard, it has been shown that all known bishops who occupied the see of Zadar in the 10th and 11th centuries came from this ruling dynasty. The author indicates the obvious link between the political or secular powers manifested in this situation and the reform efforts of the Church from the mid-11th century onwards, and uses an example to show how difficult it was for the society of those times to accept the regimen imposed by the papal curia as the ecclesiastical centre of the time.
In the final remarks, the author briefly discusses the circumstances of the elevation of Zadar’s bishopric to the level of an archbishopric. The event was related to the onset of the Venetian rule, that is, to the redefinition of the position of the provintia Iadertina within a system supporting Venetian expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is argued that the Venetian dominion ensured a more advantageous status to the city than those defined in the mid-11th century, when Zadar finally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Croatian king. At the same time, the author explains to which extent the elevation to the level of an archbishopric was linked to the relations between the ecclesiastical and secular powers in Venice. Based on these conclusions, he explains why the political changes in the second half of the 11th and the first half of the 12th century could no longer alter the long established constellation.
The author discusses the complex problem of primarily politi¬cal relations between Bosnia (the Bosnian Banate, later on the Bosnian Kingdom) and Hungary (the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom). Prior to explaining his own view, the author criti¬cizes the work of Dubravko Lovrenovic, taking it as an exam¬ple of approach to the historical analysis of a school developed during the 20th century and provisionally called "the Belgra¬de-Sarajevo school". In the second part of paper the author, referring to the concept of Archiregnum Hungaricum, defined as "dynastic (super) state", analyzes oldest written records that shed light on the relations of the Hungarian-Croatian kings with Bosnia. In that regard, he tries to define the concept of "land" (terra, Land) calling upon the ideas of Otto Brunner and using them as tool in the analysis of relevant sources from the 12th and 13th centuries. Based on this analysis the aut¬hor draws conclusions about transformation of the Bosnian Banate in the framework of dynastic (super) state, seeing it as a conglomerate of "lands" ruled by the Kotromanic dynasty, otherwise descendants of certain "Kotroman Got" who was installed as 'ban' by the intervention of the royal authority in the late 12th or early 13th century.
The author accepts the view that the "land" Rama, which was present in the style of Hungarian-Croatian kings from the 30s of the 12th century, was not the same as "land" Bosnia of that time. Consequently, equation of those geo-political terms hap¬pened only at the beginning of the 15th century due to the fact that the central authority managed to largely integrate the old "lands" and abolish their political independence. In the third part of the paper the author analyzes how this complex system worked in the 15th century using the data that concern the course of events from 1435 and 1436. He uses the example of (unsuccessful) attempt of the Emperor and King Sigismund to organize a system of defense against the Turks on his western flank (from Bosnia to Albania). The relationship between the political center and periphery is portrayed through (unsucce¬ssful) appropriation of the old principality of Hum (already integrated into the political framework of Bosnian Kingdom). At the same time the author tries to pinpoint mental pictures regarding "constitutional order" of Archiregnum based on the historical experience as well as trying to discern how they have influenced the practical actions of actors. In that vein he also warns that various ways of interpreting experience with dif¬ferences in thought schemes derived through those processes was one of the main reasons for the failure of the planned venture. However the acceptance of the main schemata defi¬ning position of Bosnian Kingdom in the political framework of Archiregnum is illustrated through the analysis of the short visit of Bosnian King Tvrtko II to the Hungarian court at the beginning of 1436. In conclusion the author defines the Bo¬snian king as hereditary official of the royal apparatus of go¬vernment who, apart from fulfillment of certain obligations to the political centre (many of which had a ritual dimensi¬on), really ruled autonomous political formation - the Bosnian Kingdom. Acceptance of such a position on the part of Bosni¬an rulers resulted in the possibility of constant expansion of the territory under the practical rule of the Bosnian king.