Original scientific paper
Medieval Podravina Reflected in Cartographic Sources
Mirela Slukan Altić
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Cartographic sources dating from the15th and 16th centuries clearly document the transformation of natural environment and cultural landscape in Podravina which occurred in the period between late Middle Ages and early New Age. The processes of intensive transformations initiated by the Ottoman raids onto the territory of Slavonia were in their full progress in the course of the 15th and 16 th centuries. The beginning of downfall of great feudal estates, war devastations and the establishing of the Varaždin military frontier brought along irretrievable changes in the natural environment and cultural landscape of Podravina. The agrarian crisis caused more intensive tree-felling, which resulted not only in a visual change of the landscape but also more frequent flooding on the wider territory in the hinterland of the river Drava, as well as an intensified soil erosion. The network of traffic communications had to adjust to these new circumstances through shifting the strategic importance to traffic directions connecting the fortifications on the military frontier, especially those near the borderline. In the selection of settlements presented on maps in the 15th and 16th centuries, feudal estates and homesteads are gradually replaced by fortified military settlements and locations of decisive battles. In all presented cartographic sources there is a clearly visible underlying trend of transforming the medieval agrarian society into an early new age military society entirely focused on its defence role.
Keywords
Podravina; Middle Ages; cartographic sources; natural environment; cultural landscapes
Hrčak ID:
79082
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2003.
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