Original scientific paper
Citizens of Šibenik in Venetian Cross-Adriatic military land units (18th century)
Lovorka Čoralić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-7221
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Maja Katušić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2348-5226
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
During Early Modern Age – primarily in the times of Venetian–Ottoman wars in the 17th and the 18th centuries, units named Fanti oltramarini and Croati a cavallo, which were to the most part recruited from Venetian estates from Istria to Albania and Greece, formed the axis of Venetian Cross-Adriatic military land units. The focus of research in this paper is the share of citizens of Šibenik in these units in the 18th century. The paper is based on the analysis of the material deposited at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (collection: Inquisitori sopra l’amministrazione dei pubblici ruoli) and including complete lists of military man force in regiments and companies referring to the researched period. The analysis of the documents shows that in figures, citizens of Šibenik formed one of the largest groups of officers, non commissioned officers and soldiers of common origin in Venetian infantry and cavalry. They were continually present there throughout the 18th century, whilst many of them – such as descendants of distinguished Šibenik families – Divnić, Šižgorić, Zavorović, Semonić and others – held the highest officer posts during their fruitful army careers: they had reached the rank of colonel. The analysis further shows that army commanders renowned at that time, who also originated from Dalmatia and Boka, led the military units formed of citizens of Šibenik. These units (companies and regiments) were very mobile and positioned across Venetian land and overseas estates. The author’s conclusion is that the topic tackling the share of the Croats in Venetian military units – citizens of Šibenik in this particular case – still leaves enough room for future research and scientific analyses thanks to plentiful sources.
Keywords
Šibenik; Venetian Republic; Fanti oltramarini; Cavalleria Croati; military history; history of the 18th century
Hrčak ID:
170584
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2016.
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