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The relationship between the urban nobility and the counts Šubić of Bribir: a contribution to the study of the relationship between Croatian magnates and medieval Dalmatian communes

Damir Karbić orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-9528-6448 ; Odsjek za povijesne znanosti Zavoda za povijesne i društvene znanosti HAZU


Puni tekst: hrvatski pdf 168 Kb

str. 43-58

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Sažetak

The relationship between Croatian magnates and the nobility of medieval Dalmatian communes has not been neglected by Croatian historians. Already “the father of Croatian historiography” John Lučić-Lucius, himself a Trogir patrician, dedicated considerable attention to that topic, and so did medieval chroniclers-historians writing on the Croatian territories. Yet in spite, or perhaps precisely because, of that both the older and more recent Croatian historiography took a rather one-sided perspective.
They observed the events from the urban perspective and so communicated to the readership an anachronistic and incorrect picture of the medieval reality. By doing so, they created an impression that Dalmatian communes were the most important and almost dominant factor in the polygon of forces that in the late Middle Ages emerged around them under the influence of the king of Croatia-Hungary, Croatian
magnates, Venice and the towns themselves, headed by their nobilities.
This historiographical problem becomes obvious when studying the history of the Croatian magnate kindred, the counts of Bribir, also known since the fourteenth century as the Šubić family. They are the most prominent heroes and anti-heroes of the mentioned medieval chronicles. This article will briefly outline the chronology of the events and describe the character of their relationships with Dalmatian communes and their nobilities. The members of the kindred first obtained committal posts in
Dalmatian towns in the early thirteenth century. The rule over these urban communities became, from the 1220s, an important item in the political plans of the leading family members: counts Višen, Gregory, Stephen, Stjepko, who succeeded in imposing their rule over the majority of the towns by the early 1250s, as well as in acquiring the position of leading magnates in Croatia. Under Paul I and his brothers, the Šubić successfully legalized their position by Paul’s appointment as the ban of Croatia. In this period, all the towns in the area from Velebit to Omiš, with the exception of Zadar, came under their direct rule. The importance of that area further increased when the Šubići became directly involved in the dynastic crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. They became the most prominent supporters of the Neapolitan Anjou in the struggle for the crown, for which they needed an unimpeded maritime
access to Southern Italy.
Although the cities had tried to resist the excessively strong influence of Paul and his brothers until the mid-1280s, they soon realized that their opposition was futile and reconciled themselves with the situation. Moreover, the rule of the Šubići provided them with palpable benefits. The urban communities became part of a strong and well-organized territorial unit, which in turn provided conditions for their peaceful
and safe development. The occasional lesser resistances of the cities to the policies of Ban Paul and his successor Ban Mladen II were not real rebellions and their causes were not grounded in political principles. Urban revolts would acquire the character of a rebellion only towards the end of Mladen’s rule in the early 1320s, and even then they would be mostly caused by a changed external political situation and the course of events that did not favour the Šubić family. In contrast, the rule of the Šubić family over the cities for the most part did not step outside the predefined constitutional framework. In fact, it only replaced the weakened royal power. The organs of the urban autonomous governments continued to operate under a more or less strict control,
while important steps towards the codification of statutory law—such as the statutes of Split, Šibenik and Skradin—took place precisely in that period. This era also saw considerable building activity in the towns under the rule of the Šubić family, much of it of representative character.
The Šubić policy of recruiting urban noblemen into their clientele and entrusting them with tasks and positions within their oligarchy was of key importance. As a result, the family attracted supporters in the towns, while urban noblemen advanced in the social hierarchy of the Kingdom as well as of their respective cities, and changed the internal balance of power. The noblemen of Zadar had the greatest importance, but patricians of other cities, from Dalmatia as well as Central Italy, Venice and Adriatic, participated too. The article succinctly analyzes this group and provides a short prosopography of Dalmatian noblemen. It also tries to evaluate its importance regarding the development of contemporary events.

Ključne riječi

the high Middle Ages; political history; social history; urban history; nobility; clientelism; Dalmatia; the Šubić of Bribir

Hrčak ID:

35510

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/35510

Datum izdavanja:

11.12.2008.

Podaci na drugim jezicima: hrvatski

Posjeta: 4.164 *