Department of History, University of Zurich

This essay investigates the ways and means of self-representation of noblewomen of Zadar/Zara around the mid-16th century. The comparatively large number of ego-documents, in particular codicils, suggests a certain flexibilities and routines in dealing with one’s own death (and one's own post-mortem remembrance). Hence questions about the self-representation and strategies of individual noblewoman about their ceremonial burial practices, pious donations, the etc. are answered.

The paper presents a selection of examples of ‘frauds‘ centred on 16th-century Zadar / Zara, then the capital of Venice‘s Adriatic possessions in Albania and Dalmatia. While the wars of dominion in western Europe and Italy came to a close in the late 1550s, the Ottoman empire continued to threaten the Republic of St Mark. Yet, despite the importance of the period, only little scholarly attention has been focused on the period between the two wars of ‘holy leagues‘ against the Ottomans in the 16th century in recent decades.
Split in two segments, the paper first provides a short overview of the early modern history of the Adriatic in general and the most important developments and events in Venetian Dalmatia in particular. The manifold changes introduced by the new suzerain after re-acquiring most cities and towns along the Adriatic oriental littoral in 1409 and the normative framework they established are at the centre of the argument. In the second, larger part selected examples from the rich notarial funds, preserved in the Croatian State Archive in Zadar (Državni arhiv u Zadru, DAZd) are presented; the sources are appointments of judges, court proceedings, and arbitration settlements from the period after the conclusion of peace in 1540 to the outbreak of the Cyprus war. It will be interesting to assess these cases in the light of comparable instances from other parts of the Mediterranean basin.

"Der Beitrag hat das Militär und seine Einbettung in die venezianische Gesellschaft im Stato da mar während des 16. Jahrhunderts zum Thema. Als Herrin großer Besitzungen im östlichen Mittelmeerraum (Dalmatien, Kreta, Zypern) befand sich die Markusrepublik direkt an der Grenze des Christentums und des Osmanischen Reiches. Eine Reihe kriegerischer Auseinandersetzungen mit der Hohen Pforte führte nach dem Fall Konstantinopels (1453) zu einer kontinuierlichen Militarisierung der venezianischen Besitzungen. Die Konsequenzen dieser Entwicklungen bis auf den heutigen Tag im Adriaraum deutlich sichtbar. Neben den imposanten Befestigungsanlagen lassen sich die militärische Mobilisierung und ihre Auswirkungen auf das tägliche Leben in diesem Grenzraum anhand der reichhaltigen Archivbestände nachvollziehen.
Die zweite venezianische Herrschaft über Dalmatien erstreckte sich vom 15. Jahrhunderts bis zum Untergang der Markusrepublik (1797). Zur Absicherung ihrer Herrschaft und zur Verteidigung gegen die Osmanen wurde eine Reihe an Gegenmaßnahmen ergriffen. Zum einen bedeutete dies die Stationierung leichter, mobiler Kavallerieeinheiten (stradioti) zur Verteidigung des Hinterlandes; zum anderen bewirkte dies den massiven Ausbau der Befestigungsanlagen, was wiederum höhere Truppenstärken, aber auch signifikante Investitionen in die lokale Wirtschaft bedeutete.
Der Beitrag geht demnach besonders den folgenden Fragen nach: Wie lassen sich die (temporären) Migrationsprozesse der Soldaten, Handwerker und Kommandanten innerhalb des „venezianischen Kommunikationsraums“ (Oliver Schmitt) im Adriaraum nachvollziehen? Welche Ressourcen standen den lokalen Befehlshabern zu Verteidigungszwecken zu Verfügung, woher kamen diese Gelder und wie wurden diese eingesetzt? Welche konkreten Auswirkungen hatte die durch die osmanische Expansion hervorgerufene Militarisierung zum einen auf das Alltagsleben der städtischen Gemeinwesen? Und wie wirkten sich diese Entwicklungen zum anderen auf die Institutionen und Mobilitätsprozesse innerhalb des venezianischen Herrschaftsbereiches aus?"

The paper investigates the metropolitan chapter of Zadar (Zara) in the light of the economic and social interactions of its members around the mid-sixteenth century. While neighbouring Italy in general and Venice proper in particular continue to attract considerable scholarly attention, the situation in the peripheral areas of the Stato da mar have yet to attract renewed academic interest. The focus of the paper rests on the city of Zadar, then the capital of Venice‘s Adriatic possessions, between the wars of two ‛holy leagues’ against the Ottoman empire (1537 to 1540 and the Cyprus War from 1570 to 1573).
The repercussions of Venetian expansion over the course of the fifteenth-century in the Adriatic were far-reaching and influenced virtually all aspects of Dalmatian societies, eventually resulting in comparable ecclesiastical and temporal structures between the lagoon metropolis and its dependencies. The main interest is not focused on the archbishop, a position exclusively reserved for Venetian patricians. Instead, the paper surveys questions of membership, economic activities, and the (in-) formal processes of exchange, interactions, and linkages between members of the chapter and wider society.
This approach promises new insights into the multi-faceted relationships of individuals and their friends, relatives, and business partners between families and institutions. This is of particular importance as the integration of the Church into urban society is one of the less known aspects of the early modern Adriatic.

Der Beitrag hat die Auswirkungen der österreichischen Großmachtpolitik auf den südböhmischen Raum im späten 17. und frühen 18. Jahrhundert zum Thema. Anhand der Steuerakten der Herrschaft Crummau (heute Český Krumlov/Krumau) kann die Verdichtung vormoderner Staatlichkeit exemplarisch für einen Zeitraum nachvollzogen werden, in dem sich die jährlichen Ausgaben der Habsburgermonarchie schlagartig vervielfachten. Während dieses Zeitraumes fochten die habsburgischen Kaiser mehrere Kriege gegen das Osmanische Reich beziehungsweise gegen Frankreich; besonders die Jahre zwischen der zweiten Belagerung Wiens durch osmanische Truppen (1683) und dem Friedensschluss von Passarowitz (1718) stellen einen Kulminationspunkt der frühen Neuzeit dar.
Basierend auf Beständen aus dem Archiv der Eggenberger Herrschaft Krumau in Südböhmen wird vorgeschlagen, die ausgesprochen reichhaltigen Bestände (insgesamt sechs Faszikel) einer vor al- lem quantitativen Auswertung zu unterziehen. Diese Ergebnisse werden den Hochrechnungen der Ausgaben gegenüber gestellt. dadurch können etwaige Korrelationen – oder deren Absenz – in den größeren Kontext der Konflikte während der entscheidenden Jahrzehnte von Österreichs Aufstieg zu einer der führenden europäischen Großmächte gestellt werden. Die quantitative Erhebung, Ana- lyse und Auswertung der Steuerakten ist zum einen durch die Berichterstattung des Krumauer Hauptmanns Johann Sebastian von Liebenhaus (1704) unterstützt; zum anderen kann auf eine Vielzahl von überlieferter Korrespondenz (Briefe, Supplikationen, etc.) beziehungsweise Gerichtsakten zurückgegriffen werden.

This study examines the economic, geographical, and social mobility in the early modern Adriatic using the example of the urban elites of Zadar (Zara) between the two naval battles of Preveza (1538) and Lepanto (1571). Based upon the protocols of fifteen public notaries, preserved in the Croatian State Archive in Zadar, the present thesis combines both unpublished primary and published secondary sources ? the Venetian relazioni as well as the city?s statutory laws, codified in 1563/64 ? to provide for a vivid images of past times.Methodically, the present study applies a three?pronged approach: An introductory chapter is followed by the first major part. By means of analysis of more than 900 individual procura contracts, the geographical range of Zadar?s urban elites are surveyed. So far this source type has attracted little scholarly attention despite its advantages of both qualitative and quantitative analysis potential to reconstruct pre?modern communication.The subsequent part surveys the interactions among Zadar?s various urban elites along ecclesiastical, economic, and political lines; the intricate relationship of clergy and nobility is of particular interest in this context. While the first segment of this part focuses on the analysis of the interrelationships of the elite groups, the second segment is a case study examining the real estate market. Thorough analysis of more than 1.700 individual contracts sheds new light on the developments of the economic foundations of an early modern frontier society.Zadar?s various urban elites ? nobility, elite commoners, Croats, and Jews ? and their marriage behaviour, material culture and, more general, interactions are the main topics of the final part. Based upon marriage contracts, dowry quitclaims, and testaments, colourful images of life in Venice?s maritime state in the 16th century emerges.

This essay surveys communication flows across the Mediterranean, in particular across the Adriatic during the 16th century. By analysing a type of contract that has all but escaped scholarly so far – procura contracts – questions pertaining to migratory patters, communication flows, and directions of travelling are addressed. Despite their relative uniformity and the variety of useful information they contain, such procura contracts from the capital of Venice's Dalmatian possessions, Zadar/Zara, are analysed. In many instances this particular kind of contract contains geographical, economic, religious, and/or social provenances of the stipulating parties as well as the destinations of the appointees. Thus procura contracts are imminently suitable for both quantitative and qualitative network analysis.

This book examines economic, geographical, and social mobility in the early modern Adriatic by focusing on the urban elites of Zadar during the crucial decades between the naval battles of Preveza (1538) and Lepanto (1571). The city, then known as Zara, was the nominal capital of Venice’s possessions in the Adriatic, and was a major hub for commerce, communication, and exchange.
This case study aims at three aspects of everyday life along the frontiers of Latin Christianity during the apogee of Ottoman dominance in the Mediterranean. First, it analyses early modern communication, network density, and the protagonists’ interactions in the Adriatic. This analysis is based, for the first time, on procura contracts, resulting in a more nuanced picture of Venetian dominion. Next, it examines Zadar’s property markets in an investigation of the economic developments in Dalmatia during the sixteenth century. The third part focuses on the streets of Zadar and the interaction of its diverse inhabitants – nobles, citizens, residents, and foreigners alike.
This book also uses a new conceptual approach of a Venetian Commonwealth, an entity based not only on hard power, allegiance, and domination, but also on cultural diffusion, shared knowledge, and collective experiences that shaped everyday life in all of Venice’s possessions. Sixteenth-century Zadar serves as an example of such a Venetian Commonwealth that encompassed the city itself, allowed for the inclusion of all neighbouring communities, and fit into the larger framework of the Republic of Venice.

The paper investigates the different approaches to memory and remembrance undertaken by a selec- tion of nobles, clerics, and merchants of Zadar (Zara) in the sixteenth century. While neighbouring Italy and Venice proper in particular continue to attract considerable scholarly attention, the same cannot be stated about the peripheral regions of the Venetian Stato da mar. The focus rests on the city of Zadar, then the capital of Venice’s Adriatic dual province of Dalmatia and Albania.
Its purpose is to compare the testaments, codicils, and related documents of Zadar’s urban elites addressing the following questions: How subtle were the distinctions of status and wealth that sepa- rated the nobility from the non-noble elites? Which strategies did these individuals pursue and to which extent did the choice of the burial place influence the descendants’ behaviour beyond the grave?

The paper investigates the margins of the early modern criminal justice system by comparing two seemingly similar yet remarkably different cases. In the late 17th century two southern Bohemian women stood accused of “adultery” and “fornication” which, while in and of itself nothing too far out of the ordinary, allows us to see beyond the normative narratives for two reasons: First, both cases occurred within a relative short period of time and raised the same issue. The second aspect, though, is what constitutes the particular: In one case, the prosecutors ask very long, detailed, and elaborated questions, which are answered mostly by the accused simply stating “yes” or “no”. In the other instance, however, the situation is almost completely reversed as the prosecutors ask only very open, general questions to which the accused answers at great length. In the end, questions about the reproduction of (extra-) marital sexual discourses are discussed on the basis of how the different instances dealt with the situation.
The case study focuses on the Eggenberg estates in southern Bohemia and is based upon source material preserved in the exceptionally rich manorial archives at ?eský Krumlov (Krumau). In doing so the paper aims to shed new light on a region and a period that has yet to attract renewed scholarly attention. By analysing the records of these two similar yet diverse proceedings and the accompanying correspondence between the various instances of the local administration, it becomes possible to get a glimpse beyond the normative narratives of the inner workings of early modern criminal justice. Also, it allows for a critical assessment of the latitude the involved parties – the accused, the (character) witnesses, the prosecutors, and the manorial administrators – enjoyed. In doing so, new insights about the relationships between the individual, communal, and manorial parties involved can be gleaned from the rich documentation.

The present article investigates the interplay between the institutional framework of the Venetian Stato da mar and the commercial practices in the early modern Adriatic. Using the example of the city of Zadar, then known as Zadar and the capital of Venice’s dual province of Dalmatia-Albania, the following issues are discussed : In a first step the integration of the merchants into the social fabric of urban society is discussed, placing special emphasis upon the interactions between the judicial framwork as detailed in the city’s statutes and business practices. In the second part, a number of examples drawn from the protocol books of Zadar’s notaries, preserved in the Croatian State Archive in Zadar, is presented to illustrate the intricacies of commercial exchange in sixteenth-century Dalmatia.