Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Inventory of the Chancellor and Public Notary Thomas Colutii de Cingulo from the City of Split
Mladen Ančić
Sažetak
The article has as the focus of its attention the figure of master Thomas Colutii, born in Cingolo (Anconian region), chancellor and public notary who held these positions in the city of Split from 1395 to 1434. The author’s point of departure is the discovery of the inventory of goods made after the death of master Thomas on the basis of which he delineates an “image” of an educated and wealthy city official. These features set Thomas apart within the circumstances in which he lived and moved about, while the renown he enjoyed is best reflected in the fact that a correspondent in a private letter refers to him using the title scientifficus vir. Using chiefly unpublished archival documents, some of which he has transcribed and published as attachments to the article, as well as the existing literature, the author proceeds to describe the different situations in which the chancellor and the public notary found himself while engaged in his work. From the detailed description of these situations the author isolates those facts which define the network of informal social connections which the chancellor and public notary from Split established during his lifetime. In such a manner the article reconstructs the circle of people amongst which master Thomas moved in his lifetime, this circle consisting of his associates and friends, clerks from the city office and members of the local economic and political elite, primarily the powerful city merchants. Positioning master Thomas in the center of the delineated social network, the author draws attention to the fact that the chancellor and the public notary had a rich library with 80 titles in his home studiolo, such as were set up in the 15th century by intellectuals from humanistic circles, and on the basis of this puts forward the thesis that it was precisely here that the first humanistic intellectual circle of medieval Split was formed. The author designates this circle as a “textual community” and concludes that through the establishment of this circle a process of a different (in relation to the medieval tradition) reception of antique intellectual heritage opened up. Within this context the author draws attention to the very likely possibility that it was precisely within such an atmosphere that the medieval ethnic terms (“Slavs”, “Croats”) were replaced by new categories (“Illyrians”), founded on the authority of antique writers and correlated to the social realities of the time.
Ključne riječi
Split; Thomas Colutii de Cingulo; chancellor; public notary; 14th–15th century
Hrčak ID:
8708
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.11.2005.
Posjeta: 3.096 *