Living on the Edge: Urban Communities on the

Frontiers of Venice’s Adriatic Dominions

(1420 - 1499)
Normative Order and Social Reality in Korčula and Split

Author: Supervisor:
Sascha Attia Prof.Dr.Oliver Jens Schmitt
28.5.2013

Summary
The PhD project focuses on the urban communities of Korčula and Split and its in-
habitants within Venice’s Stato da mar during the 15th and early 16th centuries. Its
main interest is the functioning of communities and the formation of situational and
long-lasting (often also normatively defined) communities. By using a microhistorical ap-
proach and applying the concept of ”Lebenswelt” questions about the social dynamics
and the interactions of their inhabitants can be addressed. The focus on selected individu-
als promises new insights into the town’s social histories and discursive aspects. Sources
will be retrieved from the rich communal archives of Korčula and Split, preserved in the
Državni Arhiv u Zadru.1

Literature Review
After the downfall of the Republic of St Mark, its history has attracted considerable
scholarly attention.2 John Martin and Dennis Romano’s statement that the myth and the
antimyth of Venice enjoyed an extraordinary afterlife and led scholars to - conciously or
unconciously - ”mold their interpretations of Venetian history in order to further their own
political or cultural agendas” holds also true for Dalmatian historiography.3 Following
the Italian-Yugoslav conflict over Dalmatia, Istria, and Fiume/Rijeka in the second half
of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, the medieval and early modern history of
the region has been subject to mostly national historiographies.4 Another problem is that
Yugoslav and later Croatian historiography - unless published in western languages - has
not been very widely received for a very long time during the 20th century.5 Although
1
Croatian State Archive in Zadar.
2
See, e.g., the papers collected in: Graciotti, Sante (ed.), Mito ed antimito di Venezia nel Bacino adria-
tico (secoli XV - XIX), Roma 2001, and Crouzet-Pavan, Elisabeth, Venice Triumphant, The Horizons of
a Myth, Baltimore 2002.
3
Martin, John, Romano, Dennis, Reconsidering Venice, in: Martin, John, Romano, Dennis (eds.),
Venice Reconsidered, The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State 1297 - 1797, Baltimore 2000,
1-35, 5.
4
For instance: Praga, Giuseppe, Storia di Dalmazia, Zara 1941 (reprinted 1954 and 1981), or Novak,
Grga, Povijest Splita, Split 1957-1965, 3 vols., first published in 1944.
5
Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Korčula sous la domination de Venise au XVe siècle, Les hommes et le
pouvoir, in: Les conférences du Collège de France 2011, accessed 24 June 2011, http://conferences-
cdf.revues.org/270, paragraph 2.

1
the history of the Dubrovnik has been subject to intense research6 after the Second
World War, studies on most major towns of Dalmatia have been only published quite
recently.7 For Korčula there are two studies focusing on the time before 1420, written by
Serđo Dokoza and by Vinko Foretić,8 but the period of renewed Venetian rule has not
attracted much scholarly attention so far. The literature on Split’s history is somewhat
larger, including Grga Novak’s monumental three-volume Povijest Splita, which has to
be treated with considerable care because of its nationalist bias.9 In the case of Korčula,
the lack of studies relating to the period after 1420 is surprising given the exceptional
richness of the city’s communal archive.10 During the last two decades, renewed attempts
have been undertaken to consider Dalmatian history within the wider context of Venice’s
overseas possessions.11 Although a number of studies have been conducted since Neven
Budak pointed out the most pressing desiderata for future research on urban societies,
and particularly elites,12 research is by no means complete.

Methodical Considerations
The ”Communitas” Eastern adriatic urban communities were based on the idea of
being a ”coniuratio”,13 a voluntary communitypossessing a self-sufficient legal and poli-
tical system. As Jeannine Quillet points out, both terms, ”coniuratio” and ”communitas”
were relying on the concept of a ”common oath” of all citizens.14 Neven Budak points
out that the Dalmatian urban societies should not be seen as ”communes” in the sense
6
For instance: Ćosić Stjepan, Vekarić, Nenad, Dubrovačka vlastela između roda i države: Salaman-
kezi i Sorbonezi, Zagreb 2005, Krekić, Bariša, Dubrovnik, A Mediterranean Urban Society, Aldershot
1997, Janeković-Römer, Zdenka, Rod i Grad, Dubrovačka obitelj od XIII do XV stoljeća , Dubrovnik
1994. Janeković-Römer, Zdenka, Maruša ili suđenje ljubavi, bračno-ljubavna pri ca iz srednjovjekov-
nog Dubrovnika, Zagreb 2007. Krekić, Bariša, Developed Autonomy: the Patricians in Dubrovnik and
Dalmatian Cities, in: Krekić Bariša (ed.), The Urban Society of Eastern Europe in Premodern Times,
Berkeley 1987, Krekić, Bariša, Dubrovnik, Italy and the Balkans in the Late Middle Ages, London 1980,
Foretić, Vinko, Povijest Dubrovnika do 1808, Zagreb 1980, 2 vols.
7
Benyovsky Latin, Irena, Srednjovjekovni Trogir, prostor i društvo, Zagreb 2009, Mlacović, Dušan,
Građani plemići, Pad i uspon rapskog plemstva, Zagreb 2008, Kolanović, Josip, Šibenik u kasnome
srednjem vijeku, Zagreb 1995, Raukar, Tomislav, Zadar u XV. stolječu, Zagreb 1977.
8
Dokoza, Serđo, Dinamika otočnog prostora, Društvena i gospodarska povijest Korčule u razvijenom
srednjem vijeku, Split 2009 and Foretić, Vinko, Otok Korčula u srednjem vijeku do godine 1420, Zagreb
1940.
9
e.g. Novak, Grga, Povijest Splita, Split 1957-1965, 3 vols., first published in 1944.
10
For a general overview of the Croatian archival collections, see: Kolanović, Josip, Pregled arhivskih
fondova i zbirke Republike Hrvatske, Zagreb 2006-2007, 2 vols.
11
Ortalli, Gherardo, Schmitt, Oliver Jens (eds.), Balcani occidentali, Adriatico e Venezia fra XIII e
XVIII secolo, Wien 2009, Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Venezianische Horizonte der Geschichte Südosteuropas:
Strukturelemente eines Geschichtsraums in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit, in: Südost-Forschungen 65,
München 2007, 87-116.
12
Budak, Neven, Urban élites in Dalmatia in the 14th and 15th centuries, in: Ghezzo, Michele P. (ed.),
Città e sistema adriatico alla fine del medioevo: Bilanci degli Studi e prospettive di ricerca: Convegno di
Studi, Padova, 4-5 Aprile 1997, Venice 1998, 181-99.
13
On ”coniuratio”, see: Dilcher, Gerhard, Bürgerrecht und Stadtverfassung im europäischen Mittelalter,
Köln 1996, 78-82, Dilcher, Gerhard, Die Entstehung der lombardischen Stadtkommunen, eine Rechtsge-
schichtliche Untersuchung, Aalen 1967, 142-153, and Oexle, Otto Gerhard, Gilde und Kommune, Über
die Entstehung von ”Einung” und ”Gemeinde” als Grundformen des Zusammenlebens in Europa, in:
Blickle, Peter (ed.), Theorien kommunaler Ordnung in Europa, München 1996, 75-97. Note that the
term ”coniuratio” also could have the negative meaning of ”conspiracy”.
14
The author prefers to use the term ”coniuratio” in order to emphasize the fact that the modern
English term ”community” does not necessarily contain the aspect of a common oath. The english term
”community” therefore refers to all inhabitants of the city, whilst the medieval term ”communitas” refers
only to the members of the ”coniuratio”. During the period under concern the ”coniuratio” itself was often
limited to the members of the ”nobility”. See, Quillet, Jeannine, Community, Counsel and Representation,
in: Burns, James Henderson (ed.), The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought, c.350-c.1450,
Cambridge 1988, 520-572, here/esp. 522-523.

2
of general equality of all citizens but suggests for them the term ”aristocratic republic”.15
Although this theoretical concept was distorted in reality by the existence of a civic
nobility,16 it retained its influence on the rhetoric used in court as well as public dispu-
te.17 This ”communitas” had not only the function of forming and maintaining fellowship
between its members but also to demarcate the group towards its surroundings.18 The
defence of the communal law and the communal privileges in particular against the (vene-
tian) overlord was one of the main objectives of a ”communitas.” 19 Furthermore we must
understand communal law as the ”basic consensual agreement” 20 of the members of the
”communitas”. Also the ”communitas” was not necessarily congruent with the urban sett-
lement. While in Split the statutes were referring to the city itself, the statutes of Korčula
were entitled ”Liber legum ac statutorum civitatis ac insulae Curzulae”.21 Although social
order in Dalmatian cities was framed by written law and by - predominantly Catholic
- religion, the ”communitas” should not be considered static and homogenous. Political
and economic power were not necessarily correlated. As Neven Budak pointed out, the
economic elite consisted of both patricians and commoners. Budak, Neven, Urban élites
in Dalmatia in the 14th and 15th centuries, in: Ghezzo, Michele P. (ed.), Città e sistema
adriatico alla fine del medioevo: Bilanci degli Studi e prospettive di ricerca: Convegno di
Studi, Padova, 4-5 Aprile 1997, Venice 1998, 181-99, 188. Also one should not easily fall
to believe the rhetoric of stability and continuity used in the political debate. In fact the
omnipresent rhetoric of continuity could be interpreted as a way to generate legitimacy -
i.e. what Lewis Coser called ”a crucial intervening variable” 22 on whether hostile feelings
would develop into open conflict. This legitimacy of the traditional order was rhetori-
cally emphasised not only by the Venetian suzerain23 but also by their subjects towards
the Serenissima and towards each other. Nevertheless the ”communitas” exhibited highly
dynamic elements and was undergoing change at virtually every moment. Consequently,
the attempt of describing the inhabitants of cities like Korčula and Split by placing them
only into static social categories is akin to describing a theatre scene without mentioning
the play.
Therefore an attempt to further our understanding of the dynamics of everyday life in an
urban community of Venice’s Stato da mar may be based upon sources describing daily
life, not regulating it. In his work on twelfth century Tuscany Chris Wickham translates
”justice” and ”peace” as ”rules and compromise”.24 The main focus of this study is to see
how ”compromise” (i.e. ”peace”) was negotiated and maintained within the ”communitas”.
15
Budak, Neven, Urban élites in Dalmatia in the 14th and 15th centuries, in: Ghezzo, Michele P. (ed.),
Città e sistema adriatico alla fine del medioevo: Bilanci degli Studi e prospettive di ricerca: Convegno di
Studi, Padova, 4-5 Aprile 1997, Venezia 1998, 181-199, here 190.
16
See Jones, Philip, The Italian City-State, from Commune to Signoria, Oxford 1997, 38-40.
17
For a general introduction on the formation of the Dalmatian communes in the High Middle Ages see:
Steindorff, Ludwig, Die dalmatinischen Städte im 12. Jahrhundert, Studien zu ihrer politischen Stellung
und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung, Köln 1984, 152-179.
18
See Steindorff, Ludwig, Die dalmatinischen Städte im 12. Jahrhundert, Studien zu ihrer politischen
Stellung und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung, Köln 1984, 155.
19
When subordinating itself under Venetian rule in 1420 the ”communitas” of Korčula was very eager
to receive the confirmation of their own legal system and privileges, see: Orlando, Ermanno Gli accordi
con Curzola, Roma 2002, 76-77.
20
For the term see: Coser, Lewis A., The Functions of Social Conflict, London 1956, 76-77.
21
See: Statuta et leges civitatis et insulae Curzulae (1214-1558), (Montumenta historico-juridica sla-
vorum meridionalium 1), Hanel, Jaromir (ed.) Zagreb 1877, and Statuta et leges citvitatis Spalati,
(Monumenta historico-juridica slavorum meridionalium 2), Hanel, Jaromir (ed.), Zagreb 1878.
22
Coser, Lewis A., The Functions of Social Conflict, London 1956, 37.
23
On venetian self-representation see: Wolters, Wolfgang, L’ autocelebrazione della Repubblica nelle
arti figurative, Cozzi, Gaetano, Prodi Paolo (ed.), Storia di Venezia 6, dal rinascimento al barocco, Roma
1994, 469-513.
24
Wickham, Chris, Courts and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Tuscany, Oxford 2003, 7.

3
Conflict In this context one should consider the power of conflict. Conflicts may obtain
various functions in a society. In particular conflicts ”may help to establish unity” 25 and
strengthen existent norms within a group but it may also ”contribute to the emergence
of new norms”.26 It is thus well worth considering the function of conflict in the creation
of community. In this context not only questions about the social function of trials and
lawsuits in general arise, but also how law was modified and adjusted to new requirements
through conflict. Lewis Coser describes the productivity of conflicts in two ways: first,
conflicts ”lead to the modification and the creation of law”; second, conflicts lead ”to the
growth of new institutional structures centering on the enforcement of these new rules and
laws.” 27 This study will focus rather on the development of law and its application than
on the emergence of new institutions. Whilst ”case law” in Korčula during the first decades
was set mostly by the Doge,28 from about 1460 on, most such decisions were taken by
the comes (the venetian governor). Drawing a comparison between the two cities will be
helpful in order to see if there were similar problems to be solved by new laws and whether
the setting of judge-made law (or case law) served integration of both cities into the
Venetian republic. Concerning the judicial system of the cities, these propositions raise
the question what function institutionalised and ”socially controlled”methods of conflict
management and conflict solution prevailed. Being the framework of the ”communitas”,
open rejection of communal law by defendants would have meant contesting the mere
existence of the ”communitas”. Nevertheless one may assume that the existence of a stable
legal framework did not necessarily lower the frequency and intensity of conflict, but, on
the contrary, did provide a stable framework within which conflicts were led more frequent
and more intense.29 Particularly civil lawsuits and the corresponding judgements will
generate new insights into how conflicts within and between families and other subgroups
of the ”communitas” were solved - or if they were recurring - managed to cause a minimal
damage to the ”communitas” in general.

Microhistory A microhistorical approach seems to be most useful to generate new

insights. This reduction of scale of observation does not, however, constitute a reduction
of the questions to the ones of local history. As Giovanni Levi stressed, all individual
social action is shaped by the surrounding world subjecting individual actions to a nor-
mative reality and, at times, even to very large factors of influence.30 One must also
consider that human beings were not only influenced by the surrounding world but did
also shape it by means of their actions.31 As Heiko Haumann pointed out, the concept
of ”Lebenswelt” helps to overcome the contrast between micro- and macrohistory32 by
putting the historical individual into the focus of the analysis instead of analysing history
in separated, analytical categories.33
25
Coser, Lewis A., The Functions of Social Conflict, London 1956, 151, see also 72-81.
26
Ibid., 154, see also 133-137.
27
Ibid., 126, 126-128.
28
These decision have been edited in: Statuta et leges civitatis et insulae Curzulae (1214-1558), (Montu-
menta historico-juridica slavorum meridionalium 1), Hanel, Jaromir (ed.) Zagreb 1877. Francesco Foscari
(1423-1457) accounts for the majority of ducal letters. After his death and the initiation of prolonged
Venetian-Ottoman wars the number of ducal letters decreases significantly. On Francesco Foscari see:
Romano, Dennis, The Likeness of Venice, A Life of Doge Francesco Foscari 1373-1457, New Haven 2007.
29
See: Coser, Lewis A., The Functions of Social Conflict, London 1956, 42 and 83-85.
30
Levi exemplifies this link between individual and global factors of influence by stressing that the
individual action of buying a loaf of bread is directly linked to grain prices. Thus the action encompasses
both the situation on the world’s grain markets and is influenced by production elsewhere. See Levi,
Giovanni, On Microhistory, in: Burke, Peter (ed.), New Perspectives on Historical Writing, University
Park 2001, 97-119, 98-100.
31
The point was first made by Edmund Husserl, see Husserl, Edmund, Die Krisis der europäischen
Wissenschaften und die transzendentale Phänomenologie (Husserliana 6), Den Haag 1954, 182-185.
32
Haumann, Heiko, Geschichte, Lebenswelt, Sinn, in: Hilmer, Brigitte (ed.), Anfang und Grenzen des
Sinns, Für Emil Angehrn, Weilerswist 2006, 42-54, 48-50.
33
Haumann mentions political, economical, social, cultural, and daily life as analytical categories,
Haumann, Heiko, Geschichte, Lebenswelt, Sinn, in: Hilmer, Brigitte (ed.), Anfang und Grenzen des

4
Lebenswelt In order to link the human individual to groups and communities, the con-
cept of ”Lebenswelt” 34 appears to be useful. Despite the danger perceived by Bernhard
Waldenfels, that the term ”Lebenswelt” by becoming increasingly popular would tend to
loose the core of its meaning and become a trivial ”Allerweltsbegriff”,35 the term offers
possibilities of new insights when used with a clear understanding. As Jürgen Habermas
pointed out, we may think of ”Lebenswelt” as being represented through ”einen kulturell
überlieferten und sprachlich organisierten Vorrat an Deutungsmustern”.36 Jürgen Haber-
mas stresses that the basic structure of the ”Lebenswelt” is common to a member of a
community and thus raises the problem of intersubjectivity.37 Although we may agree
that there may be common and, at times overlapping, elements of the ”Lebenswelt” of
two individuals, we must be aware that there are also considerable differences as every
person possesses an unique set of what Habermas calls ”Deutungsmuster”. Therefore we
must consider every individual to possess an individual ”Lebenswelt”. Particularly for
the sake of improving source criticism it seems more fruitful to consider ”Lebenswelt”
as being somewhat limited to individuals. The problem of individual differences in the
”Lebenswelt” should not be considered an insoluble problem for source criticism, as in a
concrete Situationonly a ”situationsrelevanter Ausschnitt der Lebenswelt” is of import-
ance.38 As Gerd Brand pointed out in his comment on Husserls posthumously published
writings39 we may understand intersubjectivity as identical perception of a phenomenon
through several subjects.40 What is to be seen as ”the world” by subjects (i.e. humans) is
therefore based on the ground of this univocal, uncontested common perception of phe-
nomena.41 Still, this does not mean that every individual is making the same experience
and possessing the same set of experiences. From a practical point, when dealing with
”Lebenswelt” we should not consider it as a fixed set of common experiences of a group
of human individuals.42 We also should not fall for the idea of reconstructing a coherent
”Lebenswelt” for certain periods or groups. Instead, in order to analyse the ”Lebenswelt”
of a person and the differences and similarities to the ”Lebenswelt” of another person,
we have to deal with single phenomena and their perception by individuals. At the ve-
ry centre of interest should therefore be the expression of common points of view and
the expression of dissent concerning a phenomenon. For this purpose analysis of court
records containing various testimonies of several persons about one single event seems
very promising.

Comparative History A Comparison between the two cities can be approached by

two ways. First the legal framework of the urban community may be considered as one
of the main constituents of its inhabitants ”Lebenswelt”. Therefore the comparison of the
differences and similarities of the cities’ legal and political framework may be compared.
Second, and by far greater importance for the projected study, a comparison between
Sinns, Für Emil Angehrn, Weilerswist 2006, 42-54, 50.
34
Usually translated as ”lifeworld” in English, for the sake of accuracy the original term coined by
Edmund Husserl, ”Lebenswelt”, will be used in the present study. As Ferdinand Fellmann points out, one
should be aware that the term was already used before Husserl, see: Fellmann, Ferdinand, Phänomeno-
logie, zur Einführung, Hamburg 2006, 133-134.
35
Waldenfels, Bernhard, ”Lebenswelt”, in: Krings, Hermann, Kolmer, Petra, (eds.) Neues Handbuch
philosophischer Grundbegriffe, Freiburg 2011, vol.2, 1418-1429, 1419.
36
Habermas, Jürgen, Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns, Frankfurt 1988, vol. 2, 189.
37
Ibid.,199-200, thereby relying on Schütz and Luckmann, see: Schütz, Alfred, Luckmann, Thomas,
Strukturen der Lebenswelt, Darmstadt 1975.
38
Ibid., 187-189, cit. 189.
39
Husserl, Edmund, Husserliana XIII-XV, Kern, Iso, Nijhoff, Martinus (eds.), Den Haag 1973, and
Brand, Gerd, Welt, Geschichte Mythos und Politik, Berlin 1978, 50-51.
40
This is similar to what Jürgen Habermas coins as ”Verständigung” and ”Einverständnis”, see: Haber-
mas, Jürgen, Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns, Frankfurt 1988, vol. 2, 184.
41
Brand, Gerd, Welt, Geschichte Mythos und Politik, Berlin 1978, 51.
42
It would be even more dangerous to consider certain social groups, as for instance urban or religious
communities, to possess one single ”Lebenswelt”. In this point Jürgen Habermas takes a contrary position,
see: Habermas, Jürgen, Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns, vol. 2, Frankfurt 1988, 200.

5
the lives and ”Lebenswelt” (including aspects of community and conflict) of single indi-
viduals may be drawn thanks to the large amount of available source material. Although
Deborah Cohen stated in her paper entitled ”Comparative History: Buyer Beware”, that
comparative history is a tremendously uncertain business, the possibilities of gaining new
insights outweigh the risks to be taken by far.43 The comparison of individual biogra-
phies will also allow to receive an insight on the functioning of the cities’ institutions and
social structures. Furthermore it will allow to specify the particular characteristics of the
cities of Split and Korčula. The comparison of individual biographies will also allow to
receive an insight on the functioning of the cities’ institutions and it will allow to specify
the particular characteristics of the cities of Split and Korčula. It will also be interesting
to see how the Venetian cultural influence and the integration into the Venetian empire
changed the ”Lebenswelt” of its subjects in both cities. Also, the goal should not only be
to compare the characteristics in which the cities obviously differ from each other (i.e.
the geographical location) but also to compare the points in which the cities’ proper-
ties appeared identical. Despite the fact that comparative history is usually linked with
comparison of developments in nation states in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is likely
that the comparison of two early modern Venetian provincial towns will also arise new
questions and deliver some answers. 44

Questions
The proposed project investigates social conflict and cooperation in the cities of Korčula
and Split. Questions as regards institutionalised and non-institutionalised methods of
conflict solution will be addressed. Both Dalmatian communes, situated along the fron-
tiers of Latin Christendom, are of particular interest, especially so because of their social
structures and fault lines. Being ruled by Venice but possessing their own normative
framework developed over the course of late Antiquity and the Middle Ages and their
own urban nobilities, both communes witnessed social strife. The core question of the
projects is therefore how these conflicts shaped community.
This also implies the question how conflict influenced the cities’ social, legal, and urban
structures (spaces). Further questions are how power, law, and social order was negotia-
ted between the various actors and what role played conflict and conflict management
within the urban community. Also of great interest will be the question how consent and
thus ”peace” was achieved. Which institutions were set up for conflict management and
consent finding?

Communal Law The urban societies of Split and Korčula were organised by written
law, which divided their inhabitants into noblemen45 and commoners.46 The former - not
unlike in Venice - were able to monopolise political power rendering the latter politically
irrelevant. Neven Budak also suggested to divide what is to be considered as the ”urban
elite” into a secular part - the nobility - and the clergy47 and attributes four areas of
activities to the elite: political, economic, religious, and intellectual.48 Additional ques-
tions arise if this idea is applied to the analysis of everyday life and its activities. How
43
Cohen, Deborah, Comparative History: Buyer Beware, in: Cohen, Deborah, O’Connor, Maura (eds.),
Comparison and History, Europe in a Cross-National Perspective, London 2004, 57-69, 60.
44
With his comparative study on Venice and Amsterdam in the 17th century, Peter Burke has shown
how fruitful a comparative approach may be in both Venetian and urban history. See: Burke, Peter,
Venice and Amsterdam: a study of seventeenth-century elites, Cambridge 1994.
45
Nobili.
46
Popolani or popolo, on the term see for instance: Black, Anthony, Guild and State, European Political
Thought from the Twelfth Century to the Present, London 1984, 72.
47
Budak, Neven, Urban élites in Dalmatia in the 14th and 15th centuries, in: Ghezzo, Michele P. (ed.),
Città e sistema adriatico alla fine del medioevo: Bilanci degli Studi e prospettive di ricerca: Convegno di
Studi, Padova, 4-5 Aprile 1997, Venezia 1998, 181-199, 187.
48
Ibid., 194.

6
did people cope with that normative order? Were wealth and power distributed along
the normative lines or did they shift since the Serrata of the nobility? In other words:
Was there a difference between nominal and factual power? And, if so, how was power
negotiated?49
Recent literature50 suggests that informal power and the negotiation thereof was of great
importance and wealth was not exclusively concentrated among the nobility.51
As regards the reacquisition of Dalmatia by Venice after 1409, additional questions arise
over how the Republic of St. Mark did use the ”libertat[es], statut[a], reformation[es] et
consuetudin[es]” 52 , i.e. the cities’ legal systems for her own good.53 Although the Sere-
nissima formally confirmed to accept the cities legal system, it took over secular and
ecclesiastical key positions. The offices of count (the governor) and those of the high
clergy were reserved for Venetian patricians.54

Conflict Being the most obvious social fault line within the community, the difference
between noblemen and commoners is the most probable line of conflict to find. The
strength and the depth of this fault line must be questioned. Did adherence to one or
the other group create loyalties and cooperations? Did commoners or nobles all share
the same political and economical interests? Were there internal conflicts within the two
groups?
Although the count relied to a large extent on local administrative staff, Venice itself
became an actor in internal conflicts between noblemen and commoners.55 Combined
with Venetian rhetoric of ”just rule”,56 the appearance of Venetian power shifted the
lines of conflict and created new loyalties. Especially the commoners saw the Serenissima’s
rule as an opportunity to limit the nobility’s monopoly on political decision-making and
judicial dominance whilst a considerable patrician opposition against Venice existed. For
the time between the second takeover in 1409/1420 and the first large conflict with the
Ottomans between 1463 and 147957 questions as to how power in the urban communities
49
See also this recent example by O’Connell, Monique, Men of Empire, Power and Negotiation in
Venice’s Maritime State, Baltimore 2009.
50
See Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Korčula sous la domination de Venise au XVe siècle, pouvoir, économie
et vie quotidienne dans une île dalmate au Moyen Âge tardif, Les conférences du Collège de France,
première conference: Les hommes et le pouvoir, Paris 2011.
51
One of the richest inhabitants of the Island of Korčula was actually a priest, see: Schmitt, Oliver
Jens, Korčula sous la domination de Venise au XVe siècle, Les hommes et le pouvoir, in: Les conférences
du Collège de France 2011, accessed 24 June 2011, http://conferences-cdf.revues.org/270, paragraph 38.
In Venetian reports about the Dalmatian cities, the financial situation of the nobility is often described
as poor, see: Krekiıc Bariša, Developed Autonomy: the Patricians in Dubrovnik and Dalmatian Cities,
in: Krekiıc Bariša (ed.), The Urban Society of Eastern Europe in Premodern Times, Berkeley 1987,
189-193.
52
Orlando, Ermanno Gli accordi con Curzola, Roma 2002, 77.
53
On the contemporary use of the term ”libertates”, see: Black, Anthony, Guild and State, European
Political Thought from the Twelfth Century to the Present, London 1984, 73-74 and 98.
54
On Venetian legal policy in the Stato da mar, see: Cozzi, Gaetano, Repubblica di Venezia e Stati
italiani, Politica e giustizia dal secolo XVI al secolo XVIII, Torino 1982, 227-261, on a conflict between
noblemen and commoners in Korčula see p. 258-259.
55
See: O’Connell, Monique, Men of Empire, Power and Negotiation in Venice’s Maritime State, Bal-
timore 2009, 75-96.
56
This argument was used to settle disputes between the factions within Dalmatian cities. For instance,
in 1446 the Venetian Senate responded to the noblemen and commoners of Hvar: ”omnes in iusticia sint
equales”, see: Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Das venezianische Südosteuropa als Kommunikationsraum (ca. 1400
- ca. 1600), in: Ortalli, Gherardo, Schmitt, Oliver Jens (eds.), Balcani occidentali, Adriatico e Venezia
fra XIII e XVIII secolo/Der westliche Balkan, der Adriaraum und Venedig (13.-18. Jahrhundert), Wien
2009, 77-101, and Ljubič, Šime, ed. Listine o odnošajih izmedju južnoga slavenstva i Mletačke Republike
9, (Monumenta spectatia slavorum meridionalium 21), Zagreb 1890, 247.
57
This conflict was preceded by the fall of the Bosnian kingdom and ended with the loss of the major
part of Venetian Albania.

7
was negotiated with these new actors are addressed.58

Cooperation How did Venice build up loyalties? What influence did the Serenissima
exert over the judicial system? How did the inhabitants of Korčula and Split - in par-
ticular the commoners - use their possibility to appeal directly to the Signoria?59 How
were conflicts managed and what role did conflicts and their outcome play concerning
the setting of judge-made law? Were the rhetorics of stable, unchanged rule, and order
used to legitimise change of the cities’ legal order by judge-made law? Did judgements by
the Venetian count and his two local, noble judges effectively solve conflicts or did they
aggravate them? What were the differences between a sentence that settled a conflict
and one that did not? As the urban structure is strongly influenced by social and poli-
tical order, it will be interesting to raise questions about the reciprocal influx of social,
political, and spatial order. How did Venice change the symbolic order in the city? How
did the Republic of St Mark reshape the urban landscape by building new fortifications
and putting its symbol, the evangelist’s winged lion, at important places?60 Was there a
conflict between the symbols of the respective cities (most often statues and depictions
of the patron saint) and Venice’s symbols? How were conflicts fought over these sym-
bols? What was the impact of Venetian rule on the ”Lebenswelt” of individuals? How did
conditions change under which noblemen and commoners alike were compelled to live
between 1420 and 1499?
Although the inhabitants of Dalmatia were predominantly of Slavic mother tongue, they
shared the same political language with Venice. This was not only due to a strikingly
similar social and political order61 but also because of the adherence to the Adriatic
cultural sphere.62 It will be of particular interest which arguments were used to describe
concrete events and grievances towards the count and/or Venice itself. Considering the
fact that human actions are mostly directed by remembrance,63 additional questions arise
as to how ”consuetudines” were justified by tradition. What role did tradition play in a
society in which its constituents were very eager to defend their given rights and in which
the new ruler (Venice) had to affirm that the particularities of the nobles’ ”Lebenswelt”
would not be changed? Did patricians feel that they had to defend the core elements
58
Despite all propagandistic efforts by Venice, the positions between her and its governors in Dal-
matia varied greatly. Therefore it can be considered more useful to speak of several new actors. See
also Monique O’Connell’s study based on Venetian archival records, in particular the chapter entitled
”Negotiating Empire”, O’Connell, Monique. Men of Empire, Power and Negotiation in Venice’s Maritime
State, Baltimore 2009, 97-118.
59
See: Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Das venezianische Südosteuropa als Kommunikationsraum (ca. 1400-ca.
1600), in: Ortalli, Gherardo, Schmitt, Oliver Jens (eds.), Balcani occidentali, Adriatico e Venezia fra
XIII e XVIII secolo/Der westliche Balkan, der Adriaraum und Venedig (13.-18. Jahrhundert), Wien
2009, 77-101, 93-101.
60
The Lion of St Mark was most often placed on city gates and in the loggia, diminishing the iconic
role of the cities patron-saint as opposed to Venice’s emblem of power. See also: Rizzi, Alberto, I Leoni
di Venezia in Dalmazia, Venezia 2005, and Rizzi, Alberto, Un ”Catalogue raisonné” di Leoni Marciani in
Dalmazia: Isola di Curzola, in: Belamarić, Joško (ed.) Petriciolijev zbornik, zbornik radova posvećenih
sedamdesetogodišnjici života Ive Petriciolija, Split 1995-1996, 2 vols., 153-175 vol. 2. Benyovsky, Irena,
Noble Family Clans and their Urban Distribution in Medieval Trogir, in: Beattie, Cordelia (ed.), The
Medieval Household in Christian Europe c.850-c.1550, Turnhout 2003, 19-33, Pilo, Giuseppe Maria, La
gloria di Venezia nelle testimonianze artistiche della Dalmazia, in: Graciotti, Sante (ed.) Mito e antimito
di Venezia nel bacino adriatico, Roma 2001, 401-437, and Höfler, Janez, Die Kunst Dalmatiens, vom
Mittelalter bis zur Renaissance (800-1520), Graz 1989.
61
On medieval italian cities see: Coleman, Edward, Cities and Communes, in: Abulafia, David (ed.),
Italy in the Central Middle Ages, Oxford 2004, 27-57.
62
Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Das venezianische Südosteuropa als Kommunikationsraum (ca. 1400-ca. 1600),
in: Ortalli, Gherardo, Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Balcani occidentali, Adriatico e Venezia fra XIII e XVIII
secolo/Der westliche Balkan, der Adriaraum und Venedig (13.-18. Jahrhundert), Wien 2009, 77-101,
and Saint-Guillain, Guillaume, Schmitt, Oliver Jens, Die Ägäis als Kommunikationsraum im Späten
Mittelalter, in Saeculum 56 (2005), 215-225.
63
Haumann, Heiko, Geschichte, Lebenswelt, Sinn, in: Hilmer, Brigitte (ed.), Anfang und Grenzen des
Sinns, Für Emil Angehrn, Weilerswist 2006, 42-54, 52.

8
of their ”Lebenswelt” (and, in particular, the economic conditions) as it existed under
Hungarian suzerainty? Was this a motivation to oppose Venice?
Not only conflicts between groups but also between individuals shall be studied. How
was individual action linked to norms and kinship, to customs and ritual? Particularly
conflicts between individuals who were members of social subgroups and especially con-
flicts between members of the same family, offer new insights. In addition, defendant’s
testimonies will allow to research the delimitations of loyalties and cooperation within
social groups. Most probably it will also be possible to answer questions about conflicts
within groups and particularly within families. It will be interesting to see what role so-
cial bonds and loyalties played in conflicts and at what point these bonds were (formally
or informally) broken up. How was the set-up of voluntary groups linked to pre-existing
normative structures like the nobility or the church? In this context it will be particu-
larly interesting to see how this normative framework shaped the way people entered
voluntary relationships and groupings. Also, it will be interesting to see how informal,
spontaneous groupings were shaped by the surrounding social norms in general and the
cities’ statutes in particular.
Researching concrete conflicts between individuals will also offer the possibility of seeing
how differences concerning the individual ”Lebenswelt” were treated and how individual
conflicts shaped and reshaped core common elements of the ”Lebenswelt”, and how in-
dividual conflict led to an adjustment of common structures and common ideas to new
requirements.

Tentative Work Schedule

2012 Preliminary work, gathering of source material and literature.
April 2012 Participation at a Workshop for young scholars entitled ”Families, Asso-
ciations and Urban Communities” at the European University Institute, Florence,
Italy.
August 2012 Research stay in the Zadar State Archive (2 Weeks).
September 2012 Research stay in Korčula and Split, including a conference visit (2
Weeks)
March 2013 Conference visit, Venice.
May 2013 Presentation of a lecture unit within the frame of the ”Ringvorlesung Visions
of Community Gemeinschaftsvorstellungen und soziale Kohärenz im mittelalterli-
chen Europa, Südarabien und Tibet im Vergleich.”
19 June 2013 Presentation of the project to the Faculty.
June 2013 to June 2014 Source analysis (with sources obtained in Zadar in 2011/2012),
research stay in Venice (if necessary).
September 2013 Research stay in Zadar, Split and Korčula (2 weeks).
July 2014 to December 2014 Writing phase.
Summer 2014 Research stay in Zadar (if necessary)
Januar 2015 First drafting of the thesis.
January-February 2015 Editing and adjusting of the manuscript.
March 2015 Submission of the thesis.
Spring 2015 Defence, presentation of the thesis and conference presentations.

9
Sources
The study is primarily based on records from the Državni Arhiv u Zadru, DAZd.64 where
the communal archives of Korčula and Split are preserved. For the period between 1420
and 1499, about 30 boxes of material for Split and about 30 boxes for Korčula have
been preserved. This vast amount of material renders it possible to contribute to the
history of two Venetian provincial towns from communal archives, an attempt destined
to fail in other places of Venice’s Stato da mar like, for instance, in the Aegean or in
Albania65 Even by Dalmatian standards, the communal archives of Korčula and Split
are particularly rich.66 These records contain a large variety of different source types.
The civil and criminal proceedings as well as the protocols of the city council are of
particular importance for this study. The records of the count’s chancellory, notarial
acts, and export licenses will be of lesser importance, with the possible exception of the
counts’ direct correspondence with Venice. Given the vast amount of of primary sources,
the proposed thesis promises new insights into the social life of Korčula and Split for the
period under consideration.

Primary sources 67

Državni Arhiv u Zadru (DAZd), Stari korčulanski Arhiv, kutije (Boxes) 6 - 37.
Državni Arhiv u Zadru (DAZd), Arhiv Splita (Stari splitski Arhiv), kutije (Boxes) 6-
36.

Secondary/Published sources
Statuta et leges civitatis et insulae Curzulae (1214-1558), (Montumenta historico-
juridica slavorum meridionalium 1), Hanel, Jaromir (ed.) Zagreb 1877.
Statuta et leges citvitatis Spalati, (Monumenta historico-juridica slavorum meridiona-
lium 2), Hanel, Jaromir (ed.), Zagreb 1878.
Listine o odnošajih izmedju južnoga slavenstva i Mletačke Republike, (Monumenta
spectantia historiam slavorum meridionalium), Ljubič, Šime (ed.), Zagreb 1868-
1891, 10 vols.
Commissiones et relationes Venetae, Monumenta spectantia historiam slavorum meri-
dionalium, Ljubič, Šime, Novak, Grga (eds.), Zagreb 1876-1977, 8 vols.
Gli accordi con Curzola 1352-1421, Orlando, Ermanno (ed.), Roma 2002.

64
Croatian State Archive in Zadar.
65
For places under Ottoman rule records are generally to be considered lost or destroyed.
66
The communal archive of the city of Hvar/Lesina for the corresponding period, for instance, has
been nearly completely destroyed.
67
For an overview of the croatian archival collections, see: Kolanović, Josip, Pregled arhivskih fondova
i zbirke Republike Hrvatske, Zagreb 2006-2007, 2 vols.

10
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