Colloquia Maruliana, Vol. 14 , 2005.
Original scientific paper
Marulić’s Will
Lujo Margetić
Abstract
The author publishes a new and improved reading of the last will and testament of Marko Marulić written on June 14 1521 on the basis of the two extant MSS, the Zagreb and the Zadar. The will is extremely important for the study of the personality of Marulić. The important elements of law history are also investigated.
Marulić’s testament is a good example of a will drawn up according to the principles of what was called universal law. It does, it is true, reflect the distant ideas of Roman Law, which via post-classical (4th to 6th century), Justinian’s (mid-th century) and the Langobard-Frankish law were subject to tumultuous development and amalgamated with the system that was in force in western Europe, including in this the law of the Dalmatian towns. An essential feature of this type of testament was the division of assets into conditional (bona conditionata) and free (bona libera) assets. This differentiation derived from Croatian-Hungarian law, which underwent many modifications in Split.
The will to a great extent relates to the rights of Jelena, the widow of Marulić’s brother Valerius, and to a list of Jelena’s chattels and real property.
In an appendix to the introductory study is a critical edition of the wording of the will, and the first translation of it into Croatian. It was edited and translated by Lujo Margetić. The will contains an extensive list of Marulić’s books, which gives a useful insight into how well-read Marulić was. The edition and Croatian translation of the list are by Bratislav Lučin.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
2812
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2005.
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