Original scientific paper
EMIGRANTS FROM KOTOR AND THE CROATIAN FRATERNITY OF ST. GEORGE AND TRIPHON IN VENICE (15TH-18TH C.)
Lovorka ČORALIĆ
Abstract
During the past centuries, and especially in the period between 1450 and 1550 when emigration of Croats to Italy was the most frequent, emigrants from the city of Kotor constituted the most dominant emigrant group in Venice. Famous of their crafts, sea business and
commerce, emigrants from Kotor were elite of Croatian emigration, and in this way they promoted Croatian national community in Venice. By the same token, in their colorful and rich history the fact that they belonged to the Croatian fraternity of St. George and Triphon (Scuola degli Schiavoni) represents one of the most signifi cant factors regarding their provenance. Moreover, emigrants from Kotor were responsible for fraternity’s foundation in 1451. Therefore one of the fraternity’s patrons was St. Triphon, patron-saint of the city of Kotor, which clearly demonstrates their infl uence during the fi rst decades of fraternity. Similarly, analysis of the archival sources kept in the see of the fraternity (records of annual income and expenses, reports from the annual meetings etc.) confi rm important role of Kotor emigrants in the work of the fraternity. Namely, all the time emigrants from Kotor preformed the highest duties within the fraternity (gastalds, vicars, deans, syndics etc.), as well as they worked within various committees of this Croatian association in Venice. Furthermore, testaments of Kotor emigrants in Venice confi rm this strong bond with the fraternity, since they willed many things and money to the fraternity. By the same token, these testaments witness that emigrants from Kotor constituted very wealthy strata within
the fraternity. At the end, one can conclude that relationship between emigrants from Kotor and Croatian fraternity of St. George and Triphon represents a signifi cant fragment regarding the investigation of Croatian emigration across the Adriatic Sea, particularly
regarding the research of the Croatian community in Venice.
Keywords
Boka kotorska; Kotor; Venice; Venetian Republic; migrations; fraternities; ecclesiastical history; early modern period
Hrčak ID:
28040
URI
Publication date:
20.6.2008.
Visits: 2.373 *