Original scientific paper
The Position of the Female Members of the High Nobility in Croatian Lands: The Example of Barbara Frankapan
Marija Karbić
orcid.org/0000-0002-0267-7600
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The article discusses the life and agency of Barbara, the daughter of Sigismund Frankapan of Tržac, the wife of Wolf Branković, the despot of Serbia, and later the wife of Francis Berislavić of Grabarje, the Ban of Jajce. In the extant sources, Barbara is mentioned for the first time in 1475, with regard to disputes over the inheritance after the death of her father, when she was still a young girl, while she is mentioned as the wife of Wolf in 1482. After Wolf’s death, for many years she lived as the dowager despina, and she is mentioned as Francis’s wife for the first time as late as 1495. She governed her substantial estates, mostly acquired through her marriage to Wolf (Bijela Stijena, Totuševina, Komogovina, Graduša), which she passed on to her second husband Francis Berislavić after her death. Following her story, this contribution tries to determine what kind of role the members of nobility played in different fields (economic, social and political), and tries to point out the decisive importance the women played in transference of status and estate property. Special attention is paid to disputes over ownership of certain estates that Barbara administered, yet, as much is possible, the article refers also to other questions, also regarding her private life (her relationship with her family, particularly with Wolf and Francis).
Keywords
nobility; history of women; property relations; the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia; Barbara Frankapan; Wolf Branković; Francis Berislavić of Grabarje
Hrčak ID:
95088
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2012.
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