Original scientific paper
An Inventory of the Possessions of the Late George Kamenarić, a Nobleman of Šibenik
Goran Budeč
; Department of Historical Research of the IHSS of CASA
Abstract
From the process of democratisation of legal documents from the twelfth century onwards, the inventories of property represent a valuable source for the research of late medieval material culture, as well as of the various aspects of material life. The inventory of property possessed by a nobleman of Šibenik, the late George Kamenarić, which was compiled by the communal notary Karatus Vitale between March and June 1451, reveals numerous aspects of everyday life and particularly the level of material culture of one member of Šibenik’s elite. This inventory is particularly interesting because it is one of the largest and wealthiest inventories that has come to us from late medieval Šibenik. The analysis of the private belongings (447 objects) of George Kamenarić provides a very detailed insight into items of everyday use (58%), clothes (28%), weapons (9%), jewellery (3%), liturgical objects (2%) and books (less than 1%), that he possessed at the time of his death in 1451. The inventory contains also a mention of 248 deposits of objects pawned to George Kamenarić by members of all the strata of the society of late medieval Šibenik. Since these deposits were studied with the same methodological pattern as his private belongings, the analysis of pawned objects and monetary loans provides an insight into material culture and related trends on a wider scale. Ultimately, an insight into the level of material culture may be provided also by the size and types of immovable goods (bona stabilia and imobilia) mentioned in this inventory of property, revealing in the first place the business interests of the deceased nobleman in late medieval Šibenik, but also his business interests in the Šibenik district and surrounding area. The analysis of the inventory of George Kamenarić demonstrates once more the importance of notarial records for the research of the level of material culture in the late medieval period in the Croatian littoral area, augmenting in that way the knowledge that may be acquired from the visual sources and archaeological artefacts.
Keywords
Šibenik; material culture; inventory of goods; everyday life; the Late Middle Ages
Hrčak ID:
62615
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2010.
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