Original scientific paper
The denizens of Zadar Isles in Venetian Overseas Army Units (the Eighteenth Century)
Lovorka Čoralić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-7221
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb
Abstract
The central theme of the article is an analysis of the part played by the soldiers originating from the Zadar archipelago in Venetian overseas army units (infantry, Fanti oltramarini, and cavalry, Cavalleria Croati) in the eighteenth century. The article is based on the analysis of sources kept in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, and among them in the first place on lists of members of particular military units, compiled by the authorised state magistracy Inquisitori sopra l'amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli. The group under research in this article is that of soldiers who were by their origin from the isles of Vrgada, Pašman, Ugljan, Dugi otok, Iž and Silba, and whose presence in Venetian army units is noted throughout the eighteenth century. In terms of their numbers, the most prominent were soldiers from the isles of Pašman and Ugljan, and, regarding their division into infantry and cavalry, the infantrymen were more numerous. Those units in which denizens of the Zadar isles were recorded were commanded by officers from Dalmatia and Boka, prominent protagonists in the military history of the eastern Adriatic in the last century of existence of the Republic of Venice. The sites of military agency of these units were in the first place important cities and fortresses along the entire route from Veneto, through Dalmatia and Boka Kotorska, to Greece. The data analysed in this article also provide information about the personal characteristics of soldiers (age, hair colour, stature and other things). The mention of the family names of soldiers in these lists provides a valuable contribution to the knowledge of historical onomastics of the area, taking into account the fact that many of them are still present today in the very same places on the Zadar isles. At the end of the article, a table is given, with a complete survey of all those soldiers of Venetian infantry and cavalry units coming from the Zadar isles that have so far been found in sources, as an appendix.
Keywords
Zadar; the Zadar isles; Republic of Venice; Venetian army; military history; the eighteenth century
Hrčak ID:
168304
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2015.
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