Filip Fratrić from the Istrian village Frata – a soldier in Zadar at the beginning of the 18th century (a contribution to the study of communications along the Eastern Adriatic coast)

Abstract

The introduction into the paper briefly draws attention to the significance of Zadar as the central Venetian military and defence stronghold in the early modern period. Soldiers and officers originating from their native lands on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, with temporary or permanent residence, were then active in Zadar. The main part of the paper is focused on the analysis of the testament deed made by the soldier Filip Fratrić from the Istrian village Frata. He was active on a man of war under the command of a Zadar aristocrat of the Fanfogna family. The content of the testament, brief in its volume, is analysed. The testament gives relatively few data, but is nevertheless an interesting and an important example of the knowledge of communications along the Eastern Mediterranean coast in the early modern period and of the demographic and military history of Zadar during the last century of the existence of the Venetian Republic.