Izvorni znanstveni članak
Bijaći in the context of Early Medieval Royal Residences
Tomislav Marasović
; HR-21000, Split, Marasovićeva 8b
Sažetak
The archaeological area Stombrate, situated in the field between Trogir and Kaštela, contains the ruins of an early Christian -early medieval church and ofa large dwelling complex from the roman period. Research of the site, lasting over one century was focused on the church, while the problem of identifying the dwelling complex with an early medieval sovereigns' residence has not yet been thoroughly resolved.
Historic sources, i. e. documents issued by Croatian rulers, indicate Bijaći as their property. The names of the high-ranking offiCials in the same documents support the conclusion that the site was indeed a royal residence, as was proposed by Lj. Karaman more than 70 years before.
Summarizing the results in historic and archaeological literature, the author has listed other possible royal residences in medieval Dalmatia (Nin, Biograd, Šibenik, Knin-Biskupija, Klis, Omiš, Ston)' The author also gives an overview of contemporaneaus monarchs' palaces in Middle and Western Europe, which are more preserved and more extensively studied than the Dalmatian residences.
These comparative studies led the author to conclude that the site ofBijaći was once a dwelling places for Croatian dukes and their escorts, as was exactly the case with Carolingian courts in other parts ofEurope.
There weren't any recognizable elements, comparable to the studied pre-Romanesque royal courts, but the site contained recognizable remains of a roman dwelling complex to the south and south-west of the St. Marta church, later converted into royal courts.
Six lintels with the names of the priests Gumpertus and Gratiosus (or Gratianus) are probably the only material evidence proving of the early medieval transformation of the roman dwelling complex into an early Croatian rulers' court. The priests in the Europe at that age, as intellectual elite, were promoters ofthe most important cultural and of other activities, including building. Therefore, it is very possible that these two ecclesiastical persons, indicated in the inscriptions as presbyter and diaconus might have been in charge of the construction or arrangement of the royal court in Bijaći.
Though the number and the remains are modest, the author has recognized two types of royal residences in early medieval Dalmatia:
a.
The courts consisting of a central courtyard, surrounded by residentiaI premises (Biskupija and probably Bijaći),
b.
The fortified castles (castra), mentioned in historic documents (Klis, Šibenik) and preserved only in OmiŠ.
Concerning the royal courts, early medieval Europe has preserved much more archaeological evidence. The remains ofsovereigns' palaces belong to different types, reflecting regional characteristics.
Royal palaces in the centres of the Carolingian Kingdom (Aachen, Paderborn, Ingelheim) followed, in their typology, the tradition of the Roman aulic architecture; the pre-Romanesque royal palaces in Asturia (northern Spain), particularly the one belonging to Ramiro l, reflected established characteristics of contemporaneous ecclesiastical architecture; the diversity of the early medieval royal residences in Italy was a result of the diverse political situations in various parts of the Apennine Peninsula (the papal Rome, Byzantine Ravenna, longobardic duchies from Cividale to Beneventa).
In western European examples the royal residences are usually connected with the court church and are within the same architectural complex (the Carolingian sites) or they are situated within the same building (the Asturian examples). Analogously, the pre-Romanesque church ofSt. Marta in Bijaći can be considered a court church of the early Croatian dukes.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
93000
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.10.1999.
Posjeta: 2.262 *