Pro tempore, No. 15, 2020.
Review article
Illa ego Sclavonia, ac unita Croatia tellus – The Complexity of the Term „Slavonia“ in the Middle and Early Modern Ages
Filip Šimunjak
Abstract
The paper provides an overview of historiographical interpretations of the spatial coverage of medieval and early modern Slavonia (in today’s Croatia). After shortly highlighting the peculiarities of Slavonian area, the first half of the paper looks at different definitions of the four main terms associated with medieval and early-modern Slavonia – “Sclauonia”, “tota Sclauonia”, “Regnum Sclauonie”, and “ Ducatus Sclauonie”. “Sclauonia” is an umbrella term used for a wide range of Slavic political units. “Tota Sclauonia” can be plausibly explained in one of the following ways: 1. The area from the Drava river to the Adriatic sea; 2. The area between the Drava and Sava rivers; 3. The same area as “Regnum Sclauonie”. “Regnum Sclauonie” is a late-medieval and early modern political unit that roughly overlaps with the area of the early modern Diocese of Zagreb. This unit later united with the Croatian Kingdom and the two eventually became a single political unit (while the predominance of Croatian identity can be traced back to the 18th century). “Ducatus Sclauonie” is a historiographical construction advocated by some earlier historians, but today it is mostly rejected as a thesis. The second part of this paper offers a chronological overview of the views set forth by historians who have touched upon the “Slavonic issue” in their works. The aim of the paper is primarily to offer an introduction and a base for future researchers and to promote research not only into the territorial scope of Slavonia, but also into the process of the merging of the Croatian and Slavonian Kingdoms.
Keywords
Slavonia; Croatian Kingdom; Slavonian Kingdom; Sava; Drava; Medieval period; Early Modern period; Duke Koloman
Hrčak ID:
279033
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2020.
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