Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.32728/h2013.03
Ten last wills from the 2nd half of the 18th century Lovran: historical and linguistic analysis
Igor Eterović
orcid.org/0000-0002-2232-0289
; Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci Katedra za društvene i humanističke znanosti u medicini
Ivana Eterović
orcid.org/0000-0003-0446-8586
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu Odsjek za kroatistiku
Abstract
The National archives in Rijeka stores a valuable collection of 18th century last wills in its Public notaries of Rijeka and surrounding area archival records. Most of them are written in Italian language, only nine of them are written solely in Croatian language. Eight of the before mentioned documents are signed by notary Anton Tomičić, while the latest is signed by Bartol Negovetić. Copies and transcripts of those wills have already been published, however, due to limited space, only their outer characteristics have been described, thus, this article is focusing on the analysis of their inner characteristics: structure, content and language. Our main goal is to use the rich archival records from the historical and philological stand. A historical context of the wills’ formation has been covered, as well as a short overview of their specific characteristics as historical source. The fact that Lovran in the 18th century had a notary office alongside public trust of the local Archdiocese supports the thesis that Lovran was a powerful administrative centre at the time. Article then continues with description of both notaries’ handwriting and basic linguistic features. Both notaries write in Croatian unofficial pre-revival Latinbased language modelled on Italian language, however, Tomičić’s writings are more consistent and uniform, while Negovetić’s will contains more ambiguous graphemes and multiple solutions, which implies that Tomičić had a larger notary experience. Determined phonological and morphological features reveal that linguistically the wills belong to Chakavian Ekavian dialect. The structure of the wills is gradually analyzed by their basic parts (protocol, corpus, signature and date). They are concluded by mentioning the cause of their composition in the notary office in Lovran, certain characteristically formulated phrases appear and some customs from Lovran’s legal history are mentioned, which completes the picture. During the analysis of content, special attention is given to that category of wills, the mode of inheritance, persons present at the composition and testifying the probation of the will. The ultimate conclusions are presented as musings over the meaning of these records for the understanding of Lovran’s everyday life at the end of 18th century. Alongside legally-administrative customs, special attention is given to the position of women, hierarchy within families and religiousness. All of this proves that it is necessary to use these precious archives when completing the mosaic of the microhistory of Lovran and its surrounding area.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
132864
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2013.
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