97 118 annals1 reviews

8/19/2019 97 118 Annals1 Reviews

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97Dubrovnik Annals 1 (1997)

Reviews

The History of Dubrovnik in the Publica-tions of Matica Hrvatska - Dubrovnik

Branch (1990-1996)

Matica hrvatska, founded in 1842, is theoldest Croatian cultural institution. Its headoffice in Zagreb coordinates branches through-out Croatia in both smaller and larger towns(ca. 120). The Dubrovnik branch is one of

its most agile. Since its refoundation in 1990,with the establishment of new the Croatianstate, and despite the brutal war and the un-favorable conditions it brought about, Maticahas published a remarkable number of works(in the journal Dubrovnik and books) focus-sing on its historical and cultural heritage.Among these diverse studies and references,I shall first refer to those concerned with his-torical phenomena.

Ivica Prlender makes a synthetic contribution to this problem in his essay »Povijesniidentitet Dubrovnika«, Dubrovnik , 3/2 (1992):

pp. 286-295. Rafo Bogišić depicts Ragusanhistorical features in the Roman, Mediterra-nean, West-European, as well as nationalauthentic contexts »Dubrovnik - i komunalnii narodni« , ib. pp. 307-315). Urged by theSerbian and Montenegrin agression upon

Dubrovnik, Stjepan Krasić analyzes andtraces similar crucial moments from Dubro-

vnik’s past, primarily the post-earthquake period »Treće ustanovljenje Dubrovnika?Ponavlja li se povijest?«, ib. pp. 271-285).This war edition contains nearly 800 pages,including 110 photographs. About 90 authors- eminent authorities in diverse fields as wellas men of letters, from Croatia and abroad -contributed to the general study of this south-

ernmost Croatian town. These articles offer a distinct historical approach: Ivo Banac,»Dubrovnik i Vukovar«, pp. 41-46; Tonko

Maroević, »Dubrovnik opkoljen«, pp. 47-50;Joško Belamarić, »Dubrovnik - kalup zaarhetipsku sliku grada«, pp. 51-58; Vitomir Belaj, »Kad Vlašiči silaze u Grad«, pp. 63-71; Trpimir Macan, »Osobne glose uzvelikosrpski napadaj na Dubrovnik«, pp.197-203; Maren Frejdenberg, »Sudbina Du-

brovnika«, pp. 216-219. Articles dealing withthe great Serbian expansionism form a spe-cial section »Veliko-srpska svojatanja Du-

brovnika«, pp. 431-480; another one is dedi-cated to Dubrovnik in an European context»U europskom kontekstu, Povijest, kultura iznanost«, pp. 259-338. In this review theyhave been arranged in accordance with their

province and the subject matter. A selectionof articles and supplements from the statedissue of the journal Dubrovnik was also pub-lished as a special English edition ( Dubro-vnik in War , Dubrovnik, 1993) on the occa-sion of the 59th PEN World Congress held

in Dubrovnik and Hvar that very year. Thisoutstanding cultural event provided groundsfor editing an issue involving solely the in-ternational writers’ Congress with the inter-disciplinary references to all the sieges inDubrovnik’s past, »Sve opsade Dubrovni-ka.« , Dubrovnik , 4/2 (l993): pp. 207-279. Anumber of younger historians from various

backgrounds have produced studies on this phenomenon throughout the centuries, mo-

tivated by the most recent siege of 1991-1992. Therefore, Ivica Prlender interprets thehistorical background of the phenomenon inhis essay »Opsada kao sudbina«, pp. 209-215. Bruna Kuntić-Makvić elaborates thesiege of ancient Epidaurum which existed

prior to the city of Dubrovnik in »Opsada prije Grada«, pp. 216-222. Ivica Žile dis-cusses the city’s anti-siege protective devices,its first fortifications discovered by recent

archeological research in »Fortifikacijskisustavi u svjetlu recentnih arheoloških nala-za«, pp. 223-228. On certain aspects of ur-


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98 Dubrovnik Annals 1 (1997)

banism and architectural relations see Mi-ljenko Jurković, »Tradicionalizam dubrova-čke sredine - matrica discipline prostora.«,

pp. 229-234. Joško Belamarić comments onthe construction of city walls as highly im-

portant defensive measures. Nella Lonza in»“Ma niti je suda ni pravde”. Kriminalitet i

pravni poredak Dubrovačke Republike nakon“Velike trešnje”«, pp. 257-261, and ZdenkaJaneković-Römer in »Obitelj kao faktor društvene sigurnosti«, pp. 235-239, researchinto legal and social aspects of Dubrovnik’shistory. The city’s demographic features areanalyzed by Nenad Vekarić in »OpsadeDubrovnika i broj stanovnika«, pp. 240-244.Ivana Bur đelez examines the specific posi-tion of Jews in the Dubrovnik Republic(»Židovi pod stalnom opsadom«, pp. 245-249). Slavica Stojan reflects upon literaryissues (»Opsade Dubrovnika u književno-sti«, pp. 250-256). Relations with the Turks

are elaborated by Vesna Miović-Perić (»Za-diranja u dubrovačko biće od sultana doobičnog osmanlijskog podanika«, pp. 272-276). Russians and Montenegrins in their

plunder and siege of Dubrovnik in 1806 aredescribed by Katja Bakija (»Bilješka o du-

brovačkim opsadama«, pp. 277-279).

Upon the 500th anniversary of Colum- bus’s discovery of America in 1492, MaticaHrvatska Dubrovnik organized a scientific

meeting (December 1992) on the subjectCroatians and the New World (Hrvati i Novisvijet Amerike) and under the same title pub-lished another issue of the journal Dubrovnik 3/5(1992): 250 pp. Among the great number of articles, some are directly concerned withthe history of Dubrovnik: Ilija Mitić, »O

prvim Hrvatima u Južnoj Americi - u Peruu«, pp. 43-49; Žarko Muljačić, »Američka revo-lucija i dubrovačka pomorska trgovina«, pp.50-56; Cvito Fisković, »Putovanja orebićkih

pomoraca u Americi«, pp. 63-76; Zdravko

Sančević, »Posjet preteče nezavisnosti latin-skoameričkih zemalja Francisca de MirandeDubrovniku 1786«, pp. 77-83; Nenad Veka-rić, »Demografski uzorci iseljavanja s dubro-vačkog područ ja u Ameriku u 19. i početkom20. stoljeća«, pp. 97-102; Frano Čale, »Ise-ljeničko pitanje u dramaturgiji Ekvinocija«,

pp. 103-109, discussing the play of Ragusanwriter Ivo Vojnović from the close of the 19thcentury. The subject is further illustrated byoriginal texts in Croatian translation of theRagusan representative in Paris FrancescoFavi and his fellow countrymen AnzelmoAntica, Tomo Basiljević and Frano Supilo.Ragusan poets from the sixteenth to the twen-tieth century (M. Vetranović, J. Palmotić, B.Džamanjić, L. Paljetak) have found their

place in the section on Croatian Poets onColumbus and the Discovery of America.Two exhibition catalogues have been printed:

Dubrovnik i Amerika by Anica Kisić and

Otkriće Amerike - Sefardi i Dubrova

č ka Republika by Ivana Bur đelez.

Josip Lučić and Stijepo Obad researchthe history of the southernmost territory of the Republic of Croatia, the Prevlaka Penin-sula and Point Oštro from the early times toits coming into the property of the Dubrovnik Republic in 1419 until the Republic’s abol-ishment in 1808. The second part traces itshistory from 1808 to the present day ( Ko-

navoska Prevlaka, Dubrovnik, 1994, 226 pp.;foreword by Vlaho Benković, preface byHrvoje Kačić with appendices in English).The authors have presented evidence veryconvincingly that Prevlaka was always Cro-atian territory and that the continual Serbianand Montenegrin aspirations after it (whichwere agressively demonstrated in the 1991war) have no grounds whatsoever.

Ante Marinović produces a thoroughstudy of Ragusa’s extensive and elaboratesystem of family law in the late Middle Ages


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in »Obiteljsko pravo srednjovjekovnog du- brovačkog statuta.», Dubrovnik 6/2-3 (1995): pp. 149-163.

A section entitled Dubrovač ka Republikai Francuska revolucija (The Republic of Dubrovnik and the French revolution), ed-ited by Miljenko Foretić, covers an obscuresegment of the Ragusan history in two parts:contributions and text articles ( Dubrovnik 6/5 (1995): pp. 109-235). The first part in-cludes the following authors: Miljenko

Foretić, »U procijepu prodora novih ideja irealiteta dubrovačke zbilje», pp. 109-124;Gabrijela Vidan, »Tragom “francuske punte”u hrvatskoj pučkoj i progodnoj književnosti/Fragmenti o Francuskoj revoluciji/», pp.125-150; Ivo Banac, »Tomo Baseljić i pitanjadubrovačkih “Frančeza”«, pp. 151-160;Žarko Muljačić, »Dubrovački disident i nje-gov “istražitelj”», pp. 161-168. The second

part consists of Croatian translations of au-

thentic government records and diplomaticreports of the Ragusan agent in Paris F. Favi(1789-1799) as well as other documents mostof which had been unknown so far, all relat-ing to this epoch-making event and the Ragu-sans’ attitude, be it positive or negative, to-wards the revolutionary events. The former subject, with some new appendices and il-lustrations, has been translated into Frenchand published in a separate edition Dubro-

vač ka Republika i Francuska revolucija - La Republique de Dubrovnik (Raguse) et la Revolution franH aise (Dubrovnik, 1996, 172 pp. - edited by Miljenko Foretić). For broader perspective of the intellectual climate of Du- brovnik in that period, see Ž. Muljačić »Dal-macija viđena očima Britanca F. A. Hervey-a 1797.-1799. godine« Dubrovnik 2/3-4(1991): pp. 205-216.

The history of Dubrovnik succeeding itsabolishment as an independent republic has been exhaustively interpreted. The specific

phenomenon of Catholic Serbs in Dubrovnik in the 19th and 20th century, a taboo in theformer socialist system, has been analyzedin a special section entitled Povijesni prije-

pori / Historical Disputes/ ( Dubrovnik 1/1-2(1990): pp. 179-246). Ivo Banac recounts theorigin of the phenomenon in »Vjersko “pra-vilo” i dubrovačka iznimka: Geneza dubro-vačkog kruga “Srba katolika”«, pp. 179-210.Vlaho Benković discusses its torrential ideo-logy in the light of modern Croatian policyin »Dubrovački Srbi - katolici i “novi kurs”u hrvatskoj politici 1903-1905«, pp. 211-231.Trpimir Macan determines the essence of thisuncommon feature, pointing to some of theunacceptable interpretations presented byYugophile historians in »O pristupu srpsko-katoličkom fenomenu / U povodu nekih in-terpretacija/«, pp. 232-246. Serbian expan-sionism from its beginnings (the first part of the 19th century) to the present day is com-

mented by the following authors: Josip Lu-čić, »Doba Republike«, Miljenko Foretić,»Od kraja l8. stoljeća do ponarođenja općine1869«, Stijepo Obad, »Od ponarođenja opći-ne do kraja stoljeća 1869-1899«, Vlaho Ben-ković, »Od ponovnog osvajanja općine douključivanja Dubrovnika u Banovinu Hrva-tsku 1899-1939«, Slavica Stojan, »Srpska

posezanja za hrvatskom kulturnom bašti-nom«, Nenad Vekarić, »Razmišljanja povo-

dom ideje o otimanju Dubrovnika«, Dubra-vka Beritić, »Rasprostranjenost staro-hrva-tske odnosno predromaničke umjetnosti na

područ ju Dubrovnika i njegove regije«, Vla-dimir Košćak, »Polemika o pripadnosti du-

brovačke književnosti 1967. godine«, Igor Fisković, »Ignoriranje činjenica«, Dubrovnik 3/2-3 (1992): pp. 432-480. Upon the 100thanniversary of the first publishing of themagazine Crvena Hrvatska ( Red Croatia),

several articles were dedicated to its editor-in-chief and most frequent contributor of ar-ticles, Frano Supilo, an outstanding Dubro-


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vnik-born Croatian politician (1870 - 1917).This collection was entitled Frano Supilo -Crvena Hrvatska ( 1891.-1991.), Dubrovnik 2/2 (1991): pp. 159-205, and includes thefollowing authors: Trpimir Macan, »Stotaobljetnica Crvene Hrvatske«, Stijepo Obad,»Pouke i poruke Supilove Crvene Hrvatske«,Vlaho Benković, »Crvena Hrvatska 1900.-1905.«, Robert Bacelja, »Podlistak CrveneHrvatske«, and Frano Supilo, »Ulomci tek-stova iz Crvene Hrvatske«.

Dubrovač ki eseji (Dubrovnik, 1992: 161 pp.), a book by Ivo Banac, consists of fiveextensive studies as well as shorter accountsin which the author gives a critical commenton some of the principle features of thenineetenth and twentieth century Dubrov-nik: the position of Dubrovnik in referenceto modern Croatian national ideologies and

political culture; the genesis of the Dubro-vnik circle of “Catholic Serbs”, followed the

study on Matija Ban between Serbian na-tional ideology and Illyrian language prac-tice; the structure of the conservative utopiaof the Vojnović brothers; Dubrovnik and Vu-kovar as the extremes of Croatian sufferingresulting from Serbian agression in 1991;along with prevailing historical reminis-cences (cf. Trpimir Macan’s critical review,»Noviji Dubrovnik u Bančevim esejima«,

Dubrovnik 4/3 (1993): pp. 198-201). The

collection of articles, reviews, and disputes Povijesni prijepori (Dubrovnik, 1992: 314 pp.), by the eminent historian Trpimir Ma-can, contains a number of issues pertainingto the history of Dubrovnik, premeditatedmisinterpretations coming from the east,

book reviews, and critical comments. He alsourges the re-evaluation of Dubrovnik’s his-tory on the whole, and the modern history in

particular, motivated by the mass murder of

the victims of communist terror which took place on the islet of Daksa off the shore of Dubrovnik in October 1944 (»Listopadske

prijelomnice i povijesno istraživanje«, Du-brovnik 5/3 (1994): pp. 3-8).

The journal dedicated a special sectionto the outstanding lawyer, law historian,etno-grapher and bibliophile from Cavtat -Baldo Bogišić entitled Baltazar /Baldo/

Bogišić 1834.-1908. Dubrovnik 6/1 (1995): pp. 138-165. Therein Hodimir Sirotković provides a concise and informative accountof Bogišić’s merits in the field of law, stress-ing his most significant work, the editorship

of the famous Opšti imovinski zakonik za Knjaževinu Crnu Goru (pp. 139-144). RafoBogišić casts light upon the life and literarywork of Baltazar Bogišić in »Baldo Bogišići književnost«, pp. 145-152. Drago Roksan-dić explores some of the possible answers tothe complex question of the meaning andinfluence of Bogišić’s experience and hiswork today in »O Bogišiću danas«, pp. 153-158. Vesna Miović-Perić acknowledges Bogi-

šić’s importance as a collector of oriental books (60 titles), in »Orijentalistika u Bogi-šićevoj knjižnici«, pp. 159-165.

The proceedings dedicated to Vinko Fore-tić, who was born in Kor čula, a great author-ity in the field of history, the director of theHistorical Archives Dubrovnik, and author of the massive two-volume History of Du-

brovnik as well as a great number of studiesrelated to diverse aspects of Dubrovnik’s

history from the early Middle Ages to the20th century, contains a number of contri-

butions on the history of Dubrovnik ( Zbornik radova o Vinku Foretiću, Dubrovnik - Kor-čula, 1994: 190 pp.). The proceedings incor-

porates papers by Josip Lučić, Ivan Mustać,Anica Kisić, Stjepan Krasić, Cvito Fisković,Kruno Prijatelj, Stjepan Antoljak, StijepoObad, and Mladen Švab with a complete andextensive bibliography by Miljenko Foretić.

The history of art has also been covered by several authors. Igor Fisković traces the


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artistic treatment of the distinctive Ragusanemblems: the portrait of the city’s patron, St.Blaise, the Arms of the Republic, the Ragu-san flag, Orlando’s Column, sculptural cy-cles, and the “zelenci” striking hours at theClock Tower (»Povijesni biljezi dubrovačkogidentiteta«, Dubrovnik 4/4 (1993): pp. 79-99). The same author deals respectively withthe Ragusan art of sculpture in reference toCroatian national artistic heritage in »Dubro-vačka skulptura u sklopu hrvatske baštine«,

Dubrovnik 3/1 (1992): pp. 99-122. RadovanIvančević publishes a short article originallyintended for overseas readers (USA) yet un-familiar with the subject in »Dubrovnik -najpoznatiji neznanac u Hrvatskoj«, Dubro-vnik 3/1 (1992): pp. 43-46. Painting in an-cient Dubrovnik is elaborated by Ivan Prija-telj, who discusses the dubious authorshipof the polyptich on the islet of Lopud andoffers his own proposal of attribution in

»Prijedlog za poliptih Ugrinovićevih iz crkveGospe od Šunja na Lopudu«, Dubrovnik 2/

2 (1991): pp. 208-218. Grgo Gamulin com-ments on some paintings by old Italian mas-ters at the Franci-scan and Dominican mon-asteries and their possible attributions in»Stare slike u Dubrovniku«, Dubrovnik 4/1(1993): pp. 91-95. Radovan Tomić researchesthe relationship between a Ragusan, N. Ra-dulović, who resided in the Kingdom of

Naples, and the renowned painter Cara-vaggio, using the orders of paintings assources in » Dubrovčanin Nikola Radulovići Caravaggio«, Dubrovnik 4/1 (1993): pp. 96-102. Critical arguments dealing with the lat-est exhibition of the crucifix by Paolo Vene-zian in the church of the Dominican monas-tery are contributed by Radovan Ivančevićin »O značenju raspela u crkvi dubrovačkihdominikanaca«, Dubrovnik 4/1,3 (1993): pp.

109-113 and 212-213, and Ivan Martinić, »Razlozi za postavu Paola Veneziana u domi-

nikanskoj crkvi u Dubrovniku«, Dubrovnik

4/3 (1993): pp. 209-211. Upon its 500th an-niversary, Nada Grujić elaborates the guid-ing principles of the building and construc-tion of the Gučetić Renaissance summer resi-dence in Trsteno, its place in the broader cultural milieu, and the paragon of “perfectharmony of nature, man and his needs” in»Vrijeme ladanja. Gučetićev ljetnjikovac uTrstenom /1494.-1502./«, Dubrovnik 5/4(1994): pp. 79-123. Igor Fisković analyzesthe origin and development of Dubrovnik urban structure, which was realized in a mostartifice, efficient, and rational way combin-ing, the ideas of tradition and innovation inthe Renaissance in »Tradicije i inovacije uurbanističkom liku starog Dubrovnika«,

Dubrovnik 5/4 (1994): pp. 103-123. PatricijaVeramenta Paviša points to the necessity of continuous care for the city walls for the

purpose of protecting and preserving these priceless monuments, using two fortification

towers as an illustration »Obnova dvijudubrovačkih tvr đava Svetog Ivana i revitali-zacija tvr đave Revelin«, Dubrovnik 5/4(1994): pp. 133-140. Mladen Pejaković pre-sents a structural analysis supported by geo-metric applications of a magnificant exampleof Ragusan residence arhitecture built in thefirst half of the sixteenth century, today theseat of the Institute of Historical Sciences of HAZU in Dubrovnik, »Ljetnikovac Petra

Sorkočevi

ća na Lapadu, more geometrico«, Dubrovnik 4/4 (1993): pp. 127-156. The

same author evaluates the facade of one of the most significant buildings of representa-tive architecture in Dubrovnik and theAdriatic coast, the one time seat of the inde-

pendent Dubrovnik Republic - the Rector’sPalace, »O pročelju Kneževa dvora uDubrovniku«, Dubrovnik 6/2-3 (1995): pp.117-132. In the second part of the broad sur-

vey entitled Grad (The City), M. Pejaković

elaborates the artistic phenomena of Du- brovnik in five critical essays and in his same


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methodological pattern, twining geometryand sunlight:» Zraka svetoga Vlaha«, »Lje-tnikovac Petra Sorkočevića na Lapadu«, »O

pročelju Kneževa dvora u Dubrovniku»,»Sponza ili Divona«, and »Ars lineandimajstora Blaža Trogiranina«. On the major features of Dubrovnik Renaissance art seeIgor Fisković, Reljef renesansnog Dubro-vnika. /The relief of the Renaissance Du-

brovnik/ Dubrovnik, 1993: 206 pp., in whichthe author offers proof of the high artistic

and cultural standards of Ragusan society ina national and European context. Let us alsomention the most recent contributions to thestudy of Croatian painters relating to Dubro-vnik. Ana Marija Paljetak discusses the criti-cal account published in the most eminentSlovenian literary and critical journal of thetime on Vlaho Bukovac (1844-1922), bornin Cavtat, in the vicinity of Dubrovnik in»Ljubljanski zvon o Vlahu Bukovcu«, Du-

brovnik 5/4 (1994): pp. 124-132. An indi-vidual section is devoted to Ivo Dulčić (1916-1975) in commemoration of the twentiethuniversary of his death. A number of authorswith diverse views contribute to Dulčić’sinteresting artistic opus (Luko Paljetak,Mladen Pejaković, Tonko Maroević, JosipDepolo, Ivo Šimat Banov, BonaventuraDuda, Đuro Kokša, Đuro Pulitika, KrunoPrijatelj, Marijan Jevšovar, Ivan Kožarić,

Tomo Gusić, Ivo Jašić).Literary history occupies a prominent

place among the publications of Maticahrvatska Dubrovnik. Several major subjectshave been studied: Ivan Gundulić ( 1589-1639) ( Dubrovnik 2/1 (1991): pp. 101-188),one of the greatest Croatian Baroque poetshas been commented on by Zoran Kravar,»Svjetovi Osmana«, pp. 101-123, ZdenkoZlatar, »Božanstvena komedija Ivana Gundu-lića: nova interpretacija pjesnikove razvojnelinije«, pp. 124-162, Joanna Rapacka, »Knji-

ževno-kulturni kontekst poljske recepcijeGundulićeva Osmana«, pp. 163-173, Tomi-slav Dubravko Kuljiš, »O koloritu i pejsažuIvana Gundulića«, pp. 174-188. Pavao Pa-vličić also publishes two studies on the mat-terin in »Antika u Gundulićevu Osmanu«,

Dubrovnik 3/1 (1992): pp. 69-98, and »Zna-čenje stiha i oblika u poeziji Ivana Gundu-lića«, Dubrovnik : 4/4 (1993): pp. 100-126.Here can be found the observations of thefirst dramatizer and director of Osman

Georgij Paro of the Croatian National The-ater in Zagreb in »Kraj Osmana.«, Dubrovnik 3/2-3(1992): pp. 266-270, as well as the com-mentary of Boris Senker on the first ever dramatization of the work in »Osman na pola

puta«, Dubrovnik 4/2 (1993): pp. 193-197.On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Bunić Vučić (1592-1658),master Baroque lyricist ( Dubrovnik 3/4(1992): pp. 97-215), the following authors

made contributions: Nikica Petrak, »DživoBunić: Pokušaj mita«, pp. 123-135; PavaoPavličić, »Stih i značenje u Bunića«, pp. 136-162; Dunja Fališevac, »Tipovi kompozicijeu Bunićevim Plandovanjima«, pp. 163-175;Zoran Kravar, »Jedan podijeljeno u tri: stileacuto u Bunića, Gundulića iĐur đevića«, pp.176-186; Luko Paljetak, »Lijepa CrničicaBunićeva Plandovanja kao tamna GospaShakespeareovih Soneta«, pp. 187-198;

Ozren Prohić, »Ivan Bunić Vučić u svjetlumanirizma«, pp. 199-215. Dunja Fališevac

presented the selection of Bunić’s poetry witha commentary (pp. 97-122). Bartol Kašić, aJesuit missionary who wrote the first Croa-tian grammar, lived and worked in Dubro-vnik on several occasions ( Dubrovnik 4/3(1993): pp.147-186). He is the subject of

papers by Rafo Bogišić, »Čitajući posvete i predgovore u Kašićevim knjigama«, pp. 147-169; Ivan Mustać, »Djelovanje Bartola Kašićau Dubrovniku«, pp. 170-177; and Nikola


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Batušić, »Scenska slika Kašićeve Svete Vene- fride«, pp. 178-186. In six elaborate studiesZoran Kravar, a scholarly expert in Baroque,theorizes about Baroque literature, Croatianin particular, with special emphasis onDubrovnik ( Nakon godine MDC. Studije oknjiževnom baroku i dodirnim temama,Dubrovnik, 1993: 198 pp.). Pavao Pavličićcontemplates and comments on Baroque

poetry in Dubrovnik in seven of his studies.The introductory and closing views are con-cerned with Croatian poetry in general. Fivestudies represent brief monographies of boththe great and the so-called minor poets( Barokni stih u Dubrovniku, Dubrovnik,1995: 189 pp., a coedition with InternationalCentre of Croatian Universities). SlobodanP. Novak casts light upon two appealing dis-

putes in Renaissance literature: »Ideja o ženiu hrvatskoj renesansnoj književnosti« (Theidea of woman in Croatian renaissance lit-

erature), Dubrovnik 2/2 (1991): pp. 107-116,almost completely related to Dubrovnik, and»Figure straha u Držićevim dramama«, Du-brovnik 2/2 (1991): pp. 107-116. TakingDržić’s well-known proverbial verse for hisstarting-point (“war is but a malignity of human nature”), the eminent Držićian FranoČale compares the writer’s moral views withthose of his Renaissance contemporaries,

primarily Italian ones, analyzing the univer-

sal meaning of Držić’s plays which remainstrue to the Croatian present state of affairs

in »O ljudskoj i o zvjerskoj naravi«, Dubro-vnik 3/2-3 (1992): pp. 259-265. The sameauthor has gathered his essays and critics intoa book Usporedbe i tumač enja (Comparisonsand comments), Dubrovnik, 1992: 292 pp.).Most of the essays deal with subjects fromRagusan literary history: M. Držić, S.Bobaljević, Ancona-Jakin and Dubrovnik,

comedy dell’arte and Croatian comedies inDubrovnik, the fair Ragusan lady in Goldo-ni’s and Galuppi’s Magnet srdaca, the no-

tions of “gospar” (gentleman) and “skla-dnost” (comeliness) in Ragusan literary tra-dition, Ivo Vojnović etc. In a special issue of the journal Dubrovnik dedicated to the 45thanniversary of the Dubrovnik Summer Fes-tival, Luko Paljetak offers a new approachto Držić’s Novela od Stanca in which thisgreat playwrite “unfolds novel dimensionsof his stage and theater clearly discerning itsdouble code” in »Stanac u svjetlu Suncaivanjske noći«, Dubrovnik 5/1-2 (1994): pp.184-202. Slavica Stojan stresses the authen-ticity of the speech and use of vulgar lan-guage idioms in the grotesque comedy KateKapuralica by Vlaho Stulić in »Stullijevadramska pustolovina na repertoaru Dubro-vačkih ljetnih igara«, ib.: pp. 203-208. Thework of Antun Bratosaljić Sasin (1518/?/-1595), rather obscure to date, has been ana-lyzed by Divna Mrdeža Antonina, based onstudy of three of his plays and two lengthy

narrative poems in »Portret dubrovačko-stonskog pisca Antuna Sasina. Uz 400.

obljetnicu smrti«, Dubrovnik 6/2-3 (1995): pp. 133-148. Stijepo Mijović Kočan com-ments on the patriotic and moral values inthe epic of Jaketa Palmotić (1625-1680),conceived after the catastrophic 1667 earth-quake in Dubrovnik, with special emphasison Konavle in »Ideotematska osnovica i mo-ralni postulati Dubrovnika ponovljena epa

Jakete Palmotića Gjonori

ća /s posebnimosvrtom na Konavle/«, Dubrovnik 7/1 (1996):

pp. 121-127. The great Croatian Latinist of the 18th century Rajmund Kunić is the sub-

ject of the critical writing of Vladimir Vrato-vić in »Veliki hrvatski pjesnik latinskogizraza. O 200. obljetnici smrti Rajmunda Ku-nića«, Dubrovnik 5/4 (1994): pp. 67-78.Dubrovnik as poetic inspiration and the

praiseworthy home of many a poet is the

subject of a survey by Tonko Maroević andMirko Tomasović in »Čestiti Dubrovnik«,

Dubrovnik 3/1 (1992): pp. 47-57, the latter


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stating the examples of three foreign bardsin »Pohvalnice Dubrovniku: P. Ron-sard, M.Marullo, L.P. Thomas«, ib.: pp. 130-135.This expert in comparative literary studieshas published a number of writings relatedto Dubrovnik in his book Poeti i zač injavci,the first volume in Matica’s new series Pro-

šlost i sadašnjost, Dubrovnik, 1991: 166 pp.This book discusses the first Croatian epic

poet Jakov Bunić (1469-1534), Petrar-chismand Marin Držić, Pavle Štoos and IvanGundulić, Nemčić and the reception of Gun-dulić’s Osman. A special section commemo-rates the great Italian scholar and translator and researcher into Italo-Croatian literary andtheatre relations, the Dubrovnik-born FranoČale (1927-1993). The authors herein are:Slobodan P. Novak, Natka Badurina, MirkoTomasović, Tonko Maroević, Antun Pave-šković, and Dalibor Brozović, with extractsfrom Čale’s studies ( Dubrovnik 4/5 (1993):

pp. 3-96). A great deal of space is devotedto Carlo Goldoni, in commemoration of the200th anniversary ( Dubrovnik 4/5 (1993): pp.99-206) and his most interesting links withRagusa. Frano Čale translated his comedy Il Ventaglio into the Ragusan dialect under thetitle Moskar . The authors of the contributionsare Mira Muhoberac, Ennio Stipčević, NikolaBatušić, Petar Brečić and Luko Paljetak. Therelationship between Boka Kotorska and

Dubrovnik is another subject worthy of closer study ( Dubrovnik 4/4 (1993): pp. 159-274, passim) by various authors. A bilingualanthology was published in honor of the greatTorquato Tasso upon the 400th anniversaryof his death with the aid of translators of Dubrovnik origin, head-ed by the zealousDominik Zlatarić (1558-1613). Tasso’s threesonnets and five madrigals dedicated toCvijeta Zuzorić have also seen light in this

collection (Torquato Tasso: Ljuvene rane - Le piaghe d’amore. Antologija hrvatskih prepjeva - Antologia delle traduzioni Croate,

Dubrovnik, 1995: 255 pp., a coedition withInternational Centre of Croatian Universi-ties). In addition, the periodical Dubrovnik has not failed to make its own contributionTorquato Tasso / 1544-1595/ - U povodu 400.

godišnjice smrti, Dubrovnik 6/6 (1995): pp.201-252. The opening section contains theCroatian transliteration (by Bratislav Lučin)of the poem of Didak Pir (Isaia Koen, 1517-1599) composed in honor of Tasso and hisson with a glossary (pp. 201-203). In the formof an interesting fictional diary of CvijetaZuzorić, Luko Paljetak limns her relation-ship with Tasso in »Dnevnik Cvijete Zuzorić/excerpts/«, pp. 204-218). Zoran Kravar in-terprets Croatian transliterations of Jerusa-lem Liberated by three poets, two of them

being Ragusan: Ivan Gundulić and FranaticaSor-kočević, »O verzifikaciji nekoliko hrvat-skih prepjeva iz Oslobođenog Jeruzalema«,

pp. 220-238. Ragusan 19th century writers

also find their place in the publications of Matica hrvatska Dubrovnik. Thus, a biblio-critical study of the most celebrated work of Mato Vodopić, his Tužna Jele, containing theaccounts of the lives of Gravosa seamen(Dubrovnik, 1993) was published on theoccasion of the 100th anniversary of thedeath of this cleric, later the bishop of Dubrovnik (1816-1893). Luko Paljetak hasfurnished the edition with a broader innova-

tional study »Tužna Jele Mata Vodopića«, pp. 81-111, a bibliography by P. M. Radelj,

and a glossary. The journal dedicated asmaller section to the same subject MatoVodopić - 100. obljetnica smrti ( 1893-1993),4/5 (1993): pp. 209-237, with the followingauthors: Rafo Bogišić, »Književno-idejnisvijet Mata Vodopića«, pp. 209-219; SlavicaStojan, »Mato Vodopić i dubrovački knji-ževni krug 19. stoljeća«, pp. 220-227; Vlaho

Bogišić, »Bersin Vodopi

ć«, pp. 228-233;Antun Nodilo, and Hrvoje Pejaković. In ho-

nor of Mato Vodopić, a conference was held


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in Dubrovnik. The work of one contraversialcleric and interesting writer, Pasko AntunKazali, is partially presented in the sectionentitled Pasko Antun Kazali ( 1815-1894) -U povodu 100. godišnjice smrti, Dubrovnik 5/3 (1994): pp. 55-140, which includes thefollowing studies: Pasko Antun Kazali,»Stručak stihova«, pp. 55-77 (selected byVlaho Bogišić), Zoran Kravar, »Kazalistihotvorac«, pp. 78-108, convincingly andexhaustively analyzes Kazali’s metric diver-sity, Ivan Slamnig discusses one well-knownwork of Kazali’s Trista Vica udovica, pp.109-114; while Luko Paljetak (pp. 115-140)takes it upon himself to give the first genu-ine close reading of Ć oso, Kazali’s volumi-nous epic, which at one time aroused atten-tion of many critics. A somewhat less well-known and nowadays almost forgotten pieceof work by Ivo Vojnović is the subject of themodern theoretical approach of Katarina

Hraste, who examines the interrelations bewteen the arts, verbal and visual symbols,artistic expression (painting), and the influ-ence of new media (film) ( Intermedijalnost u Vojnovićevoj drami “Gospođ a sa sunco-kretom”, Dubrovnik, 1996: 152 pp.). In hom-age to the oustanding Croatian writer AntunŠoljan (1932-1993), Matica hrvatska Dubro-vnik published several of his text articles re-lating to Dubrovnik (on Cvijeta Zuzorić,

Marin Držić, and the rewritten prologue andepilogue of the comedy Dundo Maroje, on

the seamanship). These articles all reveal aliterary fusion of the present and the past( Dubrovnik 4/4 (1993): pp. 5-22). Contem-

porary literary authors cannot resist themesfrom the ancient history of Ragusa. Theevents of the seventeenth century, for in-stance serve as background study for thir-teen short stories by Feđa Šehović. He re-

flects upon the existential human issues of religion, power and politics ( Prič e iz Vitalji-ne, Dubrovnik, 1993, 170 pp.). Davor Mojaš

produces a collection of miniature fragmen-tary biographies of Ragusan personalitieswritten in a post-modern literary style ( Mirisveluta /tufinaste storijice/ , Dubrovnik, 1994,82 pp.). Slavica Stojan, a literary historian,recounts nine narratives based on historio-graphic sources, individual histories boundin a chain of events from the Ragusan past( Prič e iz starog Dubrovnika, Dubrovnik,1995, 151 pp.)

A special section of the journal has been

dedicated to Ruđer Bošković (1711-1787),the great Ragusan scholar, expert in the natu-ral sciences, philosopher, and poet ( Dubro-vnik , 4/3 (1993): pp. 33-143). Here FranjoZenko elaborates Bošković’s conception of force as the principle of fundamental phi-losophy »Sila kod Ruđera Boškovića: principfundamentalne filozofije«, pp. 33-45. In twocontributions, Ivica Martinović writes aboutthe first receptions of Bošković’s philoso-

phy of nature, the most significant of hisworks in »Najranija recepcija Boškovićevefilozofije prirode«, pp. 46-70, and thenanayzes Bošković’s poetic work, his epi-grams »Epigrami Ruđera Boškovića«, pp.93-120, which appear in translation withcommentary by the author (pp. 79-92). AnteKadić holds a more popular view of the im-

portance of this 18th century genius, cover-ing also the Italian and Serbian tendencies

toward presenting Bošković as part of their national heritage in »Ruđer Bošković - Ge-nius loci«, pp. 71-78. Literary studies andepistolography are included as well (M.Foretić, L. Paljetak, M. Gavran, D. Foretić,

pp. 121-143).

Danilo Pejović traces the history of philo-sophical thought in Dubrovnik from the fif-teenth until the eighteenth century »Filozofistarog Dubrovnika«, Dubrovn ik 3/2-3(1992): pp. 296-306) while Žarko Dadić pre-sents a synthetic survey of the history of the


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exact sciences in Dubrovnik »Dubrovnik iznanost«, ib., pp. 332-338. A brief accountof the history of medicine and pharmacy is

prepared by Mirko Dražen Grmek, »Medi-cina i ljekarništvo u negdašnjoj DubrovačkojRepublici«, ib., pp. 325-331, pointing to thewell-known physician Đuro Baglivi (1668-1707) and his skill in the treatment of wo-unds, whose method has survived to mod-ern times and was applied in medical careduring the brutal war against Croatia »Đuro

Baglivi i liječenje rana u Hrvatskoj«, Dubro-vnik 3/1 (1992): pp. 125-129. The history of

music in relation to the Dubrovnik theater isthe subject of the study of Ennio Stipčević,»Akademija “Složnih”, Euridice i počecitragikomedije u Dubrovniku«, Dubrovnik 4/1 (1993): pp. 83-90, which reveals the highcultural level of Ragusan society which kept

pace with the European movements, Italianin particular. An interesting research into

cartography has been prepared by IlarioPrincipe. It is a study of three city plans of Dubrovnik recently discovered in Torino,

probably drawn for intelligence purposes,»Tri neobjavljene karte Dubrovnika iz XVI.-XVII. st. /Građa za povijest Dubrovnika/«,

Dubrovnik 2/1 (1991): pp. 191-202.

An appealing paper concerning Ragusanlocal dialects and subdialects has been pre-sented by the prominent Croatian linguist

Dalibor Brozović, »O dijalektološkom aspe-ktu dubrovačke jezične problematike«, Du-brovnik 3/2-3 (1992): pp. 316-324. TomislavKuljiš contributes to the study of the Croatianlanguage with his Jezik naš hrvatski ovdje i

sada, Dubrovnik, 1994, 95 pp., producing parallel examples from Ragusan linguisticheritage and the modern Croatian language.

Three extensive sections attract special

attention. An exclusive edition of the peri-odical Dubrovnik has been dedicated to theRagusan patron St. Blaise (Sveti Vlaho

poglaviti dubrovač ki obranitelj, Dubrovnik 5/5 (1994): 264 pp.), one of the cardinal sym-

bols of Ragusan identity. Dubrovnik identi-fies with St. Blaise, and he played a major role in the everyday life of the Dubrovnik Republic. This issue of the journal containsa variety of photographs illustrating the stat-ues of St. Blaise in Dubrovnik. The first partof the publication was edited by Ivica Pr-lender and contains thirteen papers. The edi-tor himself covers the importance of the pa-tron saint for the city-state from the Medi-eval period on, which managed to survivenumerous sieges before the fall of the Repub-lic in »Dubrovačko posvajanje svetog Vla-ha«, pp. 9-21. Bruna Kuntić-Makvić refersto the pagan deities worshipped by the Gre-co-Roman settlers of Epidaurum, the cradleof Dubrovnik, headed by the Cadma cult in»Pretkršćanski zaštitnici«, pp. 22-28. JoškoBelamarić traces the history of Ragusan

patron saints with St. Blaise by far the mostsignificant »Sveti Vlaho i dubrovačka obiteljsvetaca zaštitnika«, pp. 29-39. A brief facto-graphic account of the holy places erectedin honor of St. Blaise on the territory of theDubrovnik Republic is presented by AnđelkoBadurina in »Crkve svetoga Vlaha na dubro-vačkom područ ju«, pp. 40-42. Željko Peko-vić investigates the history of the oldestchurch of St. Blaise, which has been provedto be the first cathedral built underneath the

present construction. He also follows further reconstructions from 1348 onwards to theGothic architecture and Baroque at the be-ginning of the 18th century »Nastanak irazvoj Crkve sv. Vlaha u Dubrovniku«, pp.43-78. Founded on structural and semiologi-cal methods, Mladen Pejaković argues con-vincingly in favor of his theory that the erec-tion of St. Blaise’s Church is closely related

to the amount of sunlight the city receivesand that solar patterns dictated urban struc-ture »Zraka svetoga Vlaha«, pp. 79-93. St.


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Blaise has inspired sculptors for centuries.In his study, Igor Fisković evaluates stonestatues of St. Blaise »Kameni likovi svetogaVlaha u Dubrovniku«, pp. 94-112. RadoslavTomić makes a recent contribution to thecritical studies of the treatment of St. Blaisein the fine arts, pointing to the painting “Vir-gin and the child, St. Blaise and St. Vid” atthe Franciscan church in Polignano (Apulia,Kingdom of Naples), the feudal estate of theRadulović family. It was painted by the or-der of Marin Radulović with the Venetian

painter Alessandro Varotari of Padua (1588-1649) »Padovaninova slika sv. Vlaha u Apu-liji«, pp. 113-116. A thorough study of por-trait of St. Blaise represented on the coinsand medals of ancient Dubrovnik has beengiven by Ivan Mirnik, »Medaljice s likomsv. Vlaha«, pp. 117-122. Kate Bagoje com-ments on the 1993 partial restoration of St.Blaise’s Church, which was severely dam-aged by Serbian and Montenegrin shells in

November and December of 1991. The re-construction was done at the face of the

building, on its impressive stone stairs witha balustrade and festoon »Restauracija ratomoštećena kamena tkiva Crkve sv. Vlaha u Du-

brovniku«, pp. 123-126. Ivana Bur đelez hasselected and translated a passage from the

book Los Caminos de San Blas, by JoseSpoja Cortijo, which deals with the adora-tion of St. Blaise worldwide in »Putovi sv.Vlaha«, pp. 127-129. The two closing pa-

pers, by Ivo Banac and Trpimir Macan areof great significance to modern research. Theformer gives the account of his journey toancient Sebasta in Armenia Minor, to thegrave of St. Blaise the martyr, who was a

bishop there in the 4th century in »U Sivasu,na grobu svetoga Vlaha«, pp. 130-133. Thelatter reminisces about the feasts of St. Blaise

in the time of the communist regime and inthe present-day Croatia in »Smušeni vlasićkispomenar«, pp. 134-140. The second part of

this issue of Dubrovnik represents an anthol-ogy prepared by Dunja Fališevac, LukoPaljetak, and Miljenko Foretić, »Sveti Vlahou hrvatskoj književnosti«, pp. 143-261. Itcontains seventy poetic and prose works byauthors from the 11th century, Milecio, tothe eminent poets from our time, such asDragutin Tadijanović. The work of fifty-threeauthors have been included as well as a frag-ment from the Statute of Dubrovnik. Mostof these writings are in the original, but wealso find translations from Latin, Italian,French, and German, and some of them were

published here for the first time. Fališevac,»Slika svetog Vlaha u starijoj hrvatskojknjiževnosti«, pp. 262-264, Miljenko Foretićand Luko Paljetak, »Bilješka o izboru«, p.264, round up this section with their com-mentaries. Vjera Katalinić’s article on mu-sical performances in ancient Dubrovnik as

part of St. Blaise feast activities also belongsto this part relating to the Ragusan patron,»Slavljenje Svetog Vlaha, gradskog zašti-tnika Dubrovnika - u glazbi«, Dubrovnik 5/1-2 (1994): pp. 214-221. A specific contri-

bution to the study of St. Blaise is TomislavMacan’s book Vlasićki zapisi, Dubrovnik,1995, 107 pp., reminiscent of the celebrati-ons of St. Blaise’s day spanning from 1946to 1971. The book’s inspiring foreword waswritten by Ivica Prlender.

In the interdisciplinary section on the hu-manism and the Renaissance in Dubrovnik O humanizmu i renesansi u Dubrovniku,

Dubrovnik 6/2 (1995): pp. 129-254, a re-markable number of scholars has been gath-ered. Nikica Kolumbić presents a brief sur-vey of the individual and the general meritsof eminent Ragusan humanists »Dubrovačkihumanisti u okviru hrvatskog humanizma«,

pp. 129-137. Owing to the legacy of Milan

Prelog, the well-known art historian, twoessays have been printed: »Dubrovačke sve-čanosti i protusvečanosti i Dvije Arkadije


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(teatar Marina Držića)«, and »Fasete utopi- je«, pp. 138-147. Igor Fisković reflects uponthe Renaissance thought evident in the origi-nal expression of urban architectural pattern,thus placing Dubrovnik among the Europeancities of highest urban standards in »Huma-nistička promišljanja i renesansna ostvarenjau urbanizmu Dubrovnika«, pp. 148-162.Žarko Dadić contributes a concise study of the important role of Ragusans in the domainof natural philosophy and natural sciencesin »Dubrovački prirodoznanstvenici i priro-dni filozofi u doba humanizma i renesanse«,

pp. 163-170. Zoran Kravar deals with a po-etic topic - verse analysis of the collectionof Nikša Ranjina (round 1500) in an interna-tional context »Najstarija hrvatska ljubavnalirika«, pp. 171-180. An attempt to producea detailed list of the Renaissance genres inRagusan literature, as compared with Cro-atian renaissance literature in general, was

made by Dunja Fališevac in »Žanrovi rene-sansne književnosti u Dubrovniku«, pp. 181-191. Nikola Batušić comments on the Cro-atian theatre in the course of the 16th cen-tury, with an emphasis on Dubrovnik andMarin Držić, »Inscenatorski modeli u hrvat-skom kazalištu 16. stoljeća«, pp. 192-197.

Nada Grujić analyzes the idea of the houseof a perfect tradesman, based on Della mer-catura e del mercante perfetto (1458), a book

by Benedict Kotruljević, the famous Ragu-san, who founded the double-entry account-

ing method in »Kuća “savršenog trgovca” po Benediktu Kotruljeviću«, pp. 198-212.Based on a biographical study of Juraj Dra-gišić, Ivica Martinović examines Dragišić’swork related to Dubrovnik with two major issues: European reception and Croatian ex-ception in »Humanist, filozof i teolog JurajDragišić«, pp. 213-232. Radovan Ivančević

presents an interesting view of the influenceof ancient Roman architecture upon Renais-sance Dubrovnik, comparing the basement

of Diocletian palace in Split and the renais-sance Dubrovnik granary, “the largest pieceof monumental profane architecture in Dub-rovnik” in »Dubrovačka žitnica Rupe i pod-rumi Dioklecijanove palače. Utjecaj antikena dubrovačku renesansu«, pp. 233-241.Bruno Šišić elaborates the ideas of human-ism realized in the perfect conception andarrangement of the grounds of Dubrovnik country summer residences in »Vrtovi uhumanističko-renesansnom ozrač ju Dubrov-nika«, pp. 242-254.

The ever-inviting subject of the Medi-terranean was covered by a collection of di-verse studies Hrvatska kultura u ozrač juSredozemlja/Mediterana, in Dubrovnik 6/6(1995): pp. 7-198. Sixteen Croatian and eightforeign authors (in translation) have contrib-uted to this subject in a somewhat broader European perspective. Several articles dis-cuss the direct merits of Dubrovnik and its

outstanding figures to the culture of theMediterranean, as well as their role and con-tributions. Thus Vladimir Vratović writesabout the national and international inCroatian Latinism, both furnished with a dis-tinct Mediterranean background. Ragusanssuch as I. Crijević, and Đ. Rastić, the Ro-man cycle with R. Kunić, B. Džamanjić, R.Bošković, and B. Stay are the most repre-sented in »Latinizam i mediteranizam«, pp.

90-102. Ivica Martinović gives an outline of the most magnificant of the great Ragusans:

I. Stojković, B. Kotruljević, N. Gučetić, andR. Bošković »Mediteranske staze hrvatskihfilozofa«, pp. 110-117. Slavica Stojan dealswith the portraits of the learned, sophisticatedwomen in the cultural circle of the ancientDubrovnik, particularly towards the end of the Republic (e.g. Marija Giorgi Bona -Đur-đević Bunić) »Žene kao posrednice hrvatsko-

talijanskih kulturnih odnosa /kraj 18. i poče-tak 19. stoljeća/«, pp. 118-128. Cvito Fi-

sković, »Hrvatski umjetnici u žarištu Sredo-


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zemlja /graditelji i kipari/«, pp. 90-102, andRadovan Ivančević, »Hrvatska nit u medite-ranskom tkivu«, pp. 20-36, both touch Du-

brovnik, as well as Ivan Slamnig and TonkoMaroević, in their conclusions. GrytzkoMascioni, »Moje sredozemlje u Dubro-vniku«, pp. 146-150, and Antun Karaman,»Dubrovnik - antejski zagrljaj Mediterana«,

pp. 151-156, reflect upon modern apprehen-sion of Dubrovnik and its phenomenon.

Milivoj Petković ’s article deals with cul-

tural history in a broader sense in Tjelesnovježbanje i šport u Dubrovniku od 14. sto-ljeća do 1941. godine (Physical training and

sport in Dubrovnik from the 14th century to1941 ), Dubrovnik, 1993, 222 pp., copu-

blisher Dubrovački športski savez, and someof its segments of Dubrovnik life were ex-hibited for the first time here. SlobodanMladinov sheds light upon an interestingwoman from the first half of the 16th centu-

ry - MareČerva, »Dubrovačka vladika MareČerva«, Dubrovnik 7/1 (1996): pp. 132-135.Maja Nodari comments on the legendary St.Michael and the cultural significance of St.Michael’s graveyard at Lapad, »Grad mrtvihstariji je od grada živih. Ad Sanctum Mi-chaelem de arboribus«, ib., pp. 136-151.

Miljenko Foretić

Statut grada Dubrovnika 1272. (The 1272

Statute of the Town of Dubrovnik).

Dubrovnik: Latin-Croatian translation by M.Križman - J. Kolanović, Historijski arhivDubrovnik, 1990.

The Dubrovnik Statute is by all meansone of the most complex, universal and mostcomprising among the Statutes of the Cro-atian littoral communes. Though not the old-

est one, it presents a very good picture of theway of living and working in one communein which legislative, administrative and eco-nomic life was developing according to thestandards set by other already developedAdriatic and also Mediterranean, especiallyItalian, communes.

When it showed up for the first time as a part of a serial in MH-JSM, vol.IX in 1904,edited by the two most eminent scientists of that time - Baldo Bogišić, an expert in law,

and Konstantin Jireček, a famous historian,and issued by JAZU, the Statute of Dubro-vnik aroused such an interest that almostevery European university and scientific li-

brary had to have it. During the century thatfollowed its contents have been a permanentfield of exploration for lawyers of variousorientation (maritime, administrative, church,inheritance, criminal, labour and other typesof law), various historians, urban planners

and others.In the 1904 issue the authors-editors pre-

sented to the scientific world a detailed in-troduction in Latin about the saved manu-scripts, the interrelation between them, aboutthe appendixes and legal documents whichall had existed before the Statute was offi-cially proclaimed in 1272.

As time passed by, copies of the Statute’s

first issue became very rare, even in librar-ies. This fact resulted with a need for print-ing a new issue, a task which was taken over

by the Dubrovnik Historical Archives. Theoriginal Latin text was not changed, nor theindex. As a matter of fact, no one really couldoutclass Bogišić’s and Jireček’s meticulous-ness and accuracy.

Since both legal and historical science progressed considerably from the time whenthe first issue of the Statute was printed, itwas necessary to write a new introduction.


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This was done by Ante Cvitanić, a univer-sity professor at the Split Faculty of Law.He thoroughly explained the role and themeaning of the Dubrovnik Law in the estab-lishing of the commune/state. He made anaccurate analysis, based on legal classifica-tions, as follows: individual (status), family,real, obligatory, inheritance, maritime, crimi-nal and procedure law, the terms mentionedin the Statute. In his conclusive speculationCvitanić states: »that the elements of Slavic-

Roman symbiosis, which are characteristicin the genesis of Dubrovnik, are also visiblein Dubrovnik’s medieval legislature« (45);that »with its 450 years of history the Re-

public of Dubrovnik was, as it has also beenscientifically confirmed, the only state onCroatian territory that lasted so long, and itwas certainly the most important affirmationof Croatian and Slavic presence even in theMediterranean, and it was the only maritime

republic in the Balkans« (46); besides, theStatute itself, thanks to its systematicness andrichness of content, represents one of themost important Croatian and even Europeanvalues when legal science is concerned inthat, because it was still applied even after 1358 when Dubrovnik became a state, thisdocument could be considered a real legalcode. The maritime legal regulations of theStatute should be particularly pointed out

because although the up-to-date matter might be somewhat broader, they still are so de-tailed that one could use them to solve themajority of today’s practical problems.(47)

The above mentioned study of introduc-tion was a great scientific achievement, es-

pecially when compared to the one written by the first editors. The author added to hisstudy an impressive list of books which re-flect the efforts and achievements of our his-toriography about Dubrovnik.

Another value of this issue is the transla-

tion of the text into the Croatian language.The translators were Mate Krizman, Ph.D.and Josip Kolanović, Ph.D. In their trans-lator’s comment they pointed out what diffi-culties they had trying to transform it into amodern language. First of all they tried toconvey »the explicitness of the text and, of course, its unambiguousness« because onlyin this way can a legal standard be clear. Ac-cording to the two translators »the 1272 Stat-ute had some traces of language particularsthat were characteristic of the pre-renaissanceLatin language which was common along thelittoral and which had developed from Ro-man latinity under the constant influence of Byzantine and Slavic languages« (50). At theend of the thirteenth century a different Latinwas brought by civil servants. The authors

point out that finding the corresondingCroatian words and expressions in variousterminological fields such as shipbuilding,

civil engineering, law, banking, fishing (...)was not an easy task. For many of the tech-nical terms, there are no corresponding wordsin the standard Croatian language so that wehad to use the words of the local dialect (51).However, the translation is not only correct

because its sense was so accurately »caught«, but it is also a good example of eloquent lan-guage and style. The translators have suc-ceeded in finding matching Croatian expres-

sions for legal terms belonging to ancienttimes so that modern man can adequatelyunderstand them. Many of their linguisticsolutions will, without any doubt, explainsome of the most important parts of theCroatian medieval latinity lexis.

It is beneficial to have the Statutes trans-lated, because if we can read them, we canexplore history and try to find our roots.

Josip Lučić


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Josip Lučić, Iz prošlosti dubrovač kog krajau doba Republike (From the History of

Dubrovnik during the Republic period ).Dubrovnik: Biblioteka »d« časopisa Dubro-vnik, 1990.

The anthology of essays by Josip Lučićunder the common title From the history of

Dubrovnik during the Republic Period com- prehends 14 different essays. Out of them13 have already been published in various

publications, while the essay »Public Meet-ings of People from Šipan« has appeared in

public for the first time. All the essays speak about local history in general and particu-larly about the internal organisation of ad-ministration, economy, religion and politi-cal life and circumstances in the pre-Dubro-vnik period as well as later in the Republic.

Founded on the Dubrovnik History Ar-

chives’ sources, abounding in many newlydiscovered facts, especially those describingthe internal life of the Republic, and veryrich in topomastic and onomastic data, theaforementioned essays represent a significantcontribution for the understanding of the his-tory of Dubrovnik, not only when local lev-els are considered but even in the wider,Balkan historical context.

Historijska topografija dubrovač ke Astareje

Historical Topography of Dubrovnik Astarea

The author brings us the toponymy of the oldest Dubrovnik extraurban area to-gether with the year of the first written recordfound in the historical sources and with ety-mological and semantic explanations of vari-ous names. He also gives us a list of churches

built in the 13th and 14th century.

Prošlost elafitskog otoka Šipana (do 1300. godine)

The Past of the Island of Šipan (until 1300)

Besides Šipan’s history before it wastaken over by Dubrovnik, some accuratetoponomastic explanations together withŠipan’s oldest cultural buildings are alsomentioned in this essay. Land-owning rela-tionships on the island of Šipan in the 13thcentury with information about the gentry

and common people who owned land areanalysed in this essay as well. We can alsofind here an analysis of the trade and stateadministrations of that time. At the end thereis a complete list of names of all inhabitantsof the island of Šipan in the 13th century,which also reveals the precise ethnic struc-ture of the people. The author concludes thatin the last quarter of the 13th century thesymbiosis between the Slavs and Romanshad already reached its final stage in whichthe Croatian ethnic element became the pre-vailing one, leaving behind only a few Ro-mans.

Puč ki zborovi na Šipanu

Public Meetings on the Island of Šipan

The author explains the regulationswhich were read at public meetings together

with an accurate review of »Giustizieri« and»Stimaturi« (assessors) which were valid inSuđurađ and Luka Šipanska in the 17th, 18thand early 19th centuries.

Lopud i Koloč ep u XIII stoljeću

Lopud and Koloč ep in the 13th Century

The 13th century land-owning relationson the islands of Lopud and Koločep are

described here. These data are accompanied by the names of all land owners. The eco-nomic situation is described, as well as the


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churches and the population of these two is-lands, according to the sources dated fromthe 13th century.

Puč ki zborovi na Lopudu i Koloč epu od 17.do 19. stoljeća

Public Meetings on the Islands of Lopud and Koloč ep from the 17th to the 19th Century

The author quotes the regulations whichwere read at public meetings in the 17th and18th century. Besides, he talks about the or-ganization of the local administration dur-ing the Dubrovnik Republic. An accurate listof the best fishing positions on Šipan and alist of holidays are also mentioned.

Puč ki zborovi na Mljetu

Public Meetings on the Island of Mljet

Here the local administration of the is-

land is explained and the oldest saved docu-ments, »Kapituli«, dating from the 16th cen-tury, which were read at the meetings, arementioned too. Particular attention is paidto the regulations which regarded the Vene-tian commitments in supplying wood neces-sary for furnaces in which roofing tiles were

baked. These were the property of the Re- public and were kept in Kupari near ŽupaDubrovačka.

Pelješac od dolaska Slavena do potpadanja pod vlast Dubrovač ke Republike

Pelješac from the Arrival of the Slavs until Coming under the Jurisdiction of the

Dubrovnik Republic

This essay is the most complete historyof the Ston promontory in the pre-Dubrovnik

period whatsoever. Besides the political life

which influenced its destiny, other catego-ries, such as the state system, economic andreligious circumstances, church organisation,

type of villages and settlements as well asthe connections with Dubrovnik are analysedhere. Finally, there is also a list of the namesand surnames from Pelješac written in no-tarial books dated from 1278 to 1301.

O srednjovjekovnoj prošlosti otoka Lastova

About the Medieval Past of the Island of Lastovo

Besides the general review of the Lastovohistoriography so far, this essay particularlyelaborates the history of the island from the7th century until it came under the Dubrovnik

jurisdiction as well as the period duringwhich it was a part of the Dubrovnik com-mune. This document discusses the orga-nization of administration and about connec-tions between the island and Dubrovnik andthe names of people from the island of Lastovo in the 13th and the beginning of the

14th century. Prošlost otoka Lokruma

The Past of the Island of Lokrum

The history of Lokrum, based on writtendocuments goes back to 1203 when Vitalys,the archbishop of Dubrovnik and Lampre-dius, the town mayor together with the townnoblemen donated to Leo the priest and to

Peter the Benedictine the island of Lokrum,on which the two were supposed to build amonastery. The author writes about the his-tory of the island from its very beginninguntil today.

Kroz konavosku prošlost

A View through the History of Konavle

This essay is a summarised review of

Konavle history since the pre-Illyrian andIllyrian periods through the Roman periodup to the arrival of the Slavs, including liv-


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ing within the Dubrovnik Republic. Particu-larly well described is the organisation of authorities and administration and the Kona-vle Riot (1799-1800), as well as the end of the Dubrovnik Republic.

Uprava u Dubrovač kom (Slanskom) pri-morju u doba Republike

Administration in the Dubrovač ko Primorje(area of Slano) during the Republic Period

Besides describing the organisation of administrative offices and responsibilities of the headman of the Dubrovačko Primorjewho had his office in Slano, this documentalso reveals the regulations which were readat public meetings in the 17th and 18th cen-tury. Data on the number of houses in theDubrovačko Primorje in 1743 are also pre-sented while the appendix gives a thoroughlist of headmen of local communities, couri-

ers, giustizieri, gajstaks and stimaturis in1613 and 1678 as well as the list of head-men of Slano according to the archival book »Specchio«, which covers the period be-tween 1440 and 1807.

Prošlost Dubrovač kog primorja do dolaska pod Dubrovač ku Republiku god. 1399.

The Past of the Dubrovnik Littoral beforeComing under the Jurisdiction of the

Dubrovnik Republic

This text is a short review of what hap- pened from the pre-historical times to thearrival of the Slavs accompanied by someRoman epitaphs found on tumbstones. Whatfollows is an analysis of the political andreligious situation in Zahumlje and theDubrovačko Primorje. The author supposesthat at that time Ošlje was the centre of the

Primorje where the district headman had hisseat. Finally, there is an overall analysis abouthow the Dubrovnik land was divided in the

Dubrovačko primorje in 1399.

Iz prošlosti Župe Dubrovač ke (do polovice XIV. stoljeća)

From the Past of Župa Dubrovač ka (until the first half of the 14th century)

Similar to his previous essays dealingwith the history of each Dubrovnik region,the author presents here a summary of allthe principal events from the prehistorial

period to the 7th century, when Župa becamea part of Dubrovnik’s territory bordering itshinterland. A list of Illyrian, Roman andCroatian toponyms in Župa is also enclosedhere.

Uprava u Župi Dubrovač koj

Administration in Župa Dubrovač ka

The administration in Župa is analyzed

starting from 1367 and then particularly fromthe year 1576 until the fall of the Dubrovnik Republic. The regulations which were readat the public meetings are mentioned here,in reference to the book Cancellaria di Breno.Besides, the essay gives the population inMandaljena parish in 1808, a list of all fami-lies which were paying the grass-toll and aregister of all parish headmen between theyears 1576 and 1808.

Nenad Vekarić

Nada Grujić, Ladanjska arhitektura dub-rovač kog područ ja (Country Architecture of the Dubrovnik Area). Zagreb: Institut za

povijest umjetnosti, 1991.

Studying and researching the heritage of architecture in the area of the Dubrovnik


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buildings. A special type of architecture wasestablished that could already be recognizedin the 15th century. It was characterized byGothic and Renaissance forms, ground-planand facade symmetry, as well as the organi-zation of the complex unity around an axis.The most important and valuable is the spa-tial shaping, i.e. connecting and imbuingrooms in a house with the garden. The gar-den-park is given particular consideration.It becomes the means and symbol of human

power over the wild nature. The summer houses built close to the sea coast or the river

bank are above all an exception.

In the chapter entitled »Elements« all of the parts of the country unity which formDubrovnik country architecture are beingconsidered systematically. Attention is firstof all drawn to the spatial organization of unities limited by a wall, where two systemscan be observed: the arrangement of build-

ings of various purposes in a row, and a se-quence of forms and the ground-plan layoutin an L shape. The latter has developed manyvariations of its basic form - referring to theresidential and country-farm complex. Thecountry house which has a predominant roleand position has been thoroughly analysed.Its basic ground-plan layout is not measur-able; it consists of a central hall and minor side-rooms. There is usually a staircase in

the central hall which leads to the first floor in these, almost regularly, two-storey houses.Without regard to the layout of the roomswhich is in most cases identical, facades areopen in particular ways as well as the firstfloor. Thus, a connection with the garden andthe surrounding landscape can be achieved,

but it can also be achieved by arched door-ways and arcades on the ground floor, log-gias and lofts on the first floor, and garden

pavilions. A component of the complex wasalso a small chapel while the houses by thesea or Rijeka Dubrovačka also had a store-

house for boats, the so-called »orsan«. Thecountry complex regularly had outbuildingsor rooms and on some of them there are tow-ers used for the protection of their inhabit-ants and property from plund erers. All these

parts of the complex were surrounded by agarden which adjusted to the ground and hadorthogonal paths, pergolas and walls.

An entire chapter deals with the issuesof style and periodisation, as style charac-teristics do not appear evenly on all struc-

tures, and Gothic and Renaissance formsremained up to the end of the 19th century.Therefore, the Gothic, Renaissance, »ma-rinist« and baroque styles on the Dubrovnik country houses have been analysed regard-ing their spatial, architectural and decorativeelements.

The 6th chapter deals with the issues of typology. According to its main characteris-tics the Dubrovnik architecture avoids be-

ing put into strict stylistic typological framesand has been defined by »territorial« typol-ogy. Country mansions as well as suburban-residential summer houses have been analy-sed from that point, and attention is alsodrawn to the symbolic values of the archi-tectural type. We talk about a fortified estate(which also includes a defensive tower anda high wall) which would also be found infurther periods when there was no reason for

fortification. Thus, country architecture be-came an ideal residential place and owing toits representive quality it also became a sta-tus symbol.

The last but one chapter of the book dealswith the furnishing of country rooms, as thisconsiderably influences the representativequality, aesthetic quality, purpose and sty-listic characteristics of the country houses.

Stone furniture has been analysed so as tofind its purpose, as well as a means of deco-rating the interior and exterior parts of the


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house. Special attention is paid to sculpturaldecorations, mural paintings and to the roleof water as a decorative element not of theinterior, but more of the gardens and parks.

The last chapter, entitled »Country housesand interior architecture«, deals with aspectsof the influence of the country complexeson their wider surrounding, which has com-

pletely changed its natural look. Turning theoriginal terrain into cultivable land by meansof terraces and little valleys, criss-crossing

it with paths, there has been a transforma-tion - the surrounding landscape has beensubdued and the country complex has beenmerged in with it. Introducing completelynew forms of life into a genuine landscape,a rich and cultural environment is created,one which was considered the ideal land-scape of that time.

In the end, instead of a conclusion, theauthor describes the remains and ruins of

country houses. Their neglected gardens andscenery distorted by illegal building were theauthor’s reason for writing this book - hop-ing that in the future, all this might be givenits old gloss. But in the terrible destructionsof war, which began before this book wascompleted, most of the country houses have

been burnt or destroyed, so that their repair might not be possible.

Values which can be found in the book called Country architecture of the Dubrovnik area are really numerous. For the first timenow the Dubrovnik country architecture has

been integrated into wider Mediterraneanframes and parallels with Tuscan, Roman,Venetian and Genoa villas are found. Astrong influence of ancient and humanisticthoughts from that period is pointed at. Froman urbanistic and social aspect the impor-

tance of country architecture in suburban andrural areas have been analyzed. Besides theabundance of the presented architecture seen

in photographs and architectural snapshots,archival evidence, a list of local and foreign

books which deal with these issues, througha versatile approach - an entire, new inter-

pretation of country architecture in theDubrovnik area has been reached. In addi-tion to this, a glossy visual and graphic de-sign have contributed to the book’s quality..The only complaint in terms of design is thatthere is no list of photographs and architec-tural snapshots. Nada Grujić’s book Coun-try architecture of the Dubrovnik area was

published by the Institute for the history of art of Zagreb University in 1991.

Patricija Veramenta-Paviša


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Summaries of Publications

Zdenka Janeković-Römer, The Dubrovnik Family from the Thirteenth to the FourteenthCentury, Dubrovnik: Zavod za povijesneznanosti HAZU, 1994, 170 pp.

In the last few of decades modern his-torical science has turned to the research of relationships between the individual and so-ciety, approaching individuals in a new way,

looking at their social role and status, as wellas at the material and sentimental domainsof their existence. Important insights into thestructure of a society as a whole are hiddenwithin the network of threads which link in-dividuals to society on various levels. In their wish to secure stability and social order,medieval societies incorporated individualsinto a multi-level system of communities: onthe level of region, town, social circle, fam-

ily, neighborhood, monastery, brotherhood,and so on. Each individual was a member of several social groups, since this was the onlyway for him/her to function in society.Among the groups that framed the life of themedieval individual, the first place belongedto the family, because of the supreme im-

portance it had in the economical and politi-cal life of the Middle Ages, as well as in itsideological system. Family as a form of be-

longing was common to all the members of society. Furthermore, the family was the firstand the chief place of an individual’s social-ization, determined by strict regulations guar-anteeing the continuity of permanently es-tablished social relations, beliefs, and behav-iors. The family determined the lives of in-dividuals, their duties and roles, not onlywithin the household, but also in the societyas a whole. Belonging to a certain family

predetermined the individuals’ possibilitiesand limited to their field of action within a

wider social group. The organization of au-thority in medieval societies greatly restedon the family; the family was the basis of

production and played a supreme role in the biological reproduction of the society.

The methodological approach of this book is not the singling out and the analysisof the family as a particular social structure.

Namely, historical research necessarily re-quires an orientation towards totality; anyopposing method would lead into superfici-

ality and the atomization of history.The actual research approach of this work

is based on published authentic materials.Since the largest number of published sour-ces is connected with the Dubrovnik munici-

pality, the book concentrates on the Dub-rovnik family. Comparatively, however, theauthor examines the development of the fam-ily in other Dalmatian towns, as well as intowns of the Kvarner-Istrian region, becauseof the strong correspondences and similari-ties in their social, economic, and politicaldevelopment, which are reflected in the le-gal system of these municipal societies. Thelegal system of Eastern Adriatic municipalsocieties can be defined as a combination of norms belonging to Roman, Slavic, and com-mon law, adapted to the social relations in amedieval urban community of this type. In

the field of family law there existed a divi-sion of authority: property matters were dealtwith by the town authorities, while all other questions were dealt with by the bishop.

When discussing about family and house-hold structure, one should first define thestructural types of the family and their names(simple, extended, and complex families), aswell as their presence and extent in Dalma-tian town societies. Problems that arise for demographic research, including those con-nected with the family, are considerable when


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tions toward division, i. e. toward a changeof structure, but it is clear that - despite the

possible tensions within the association - thequestion of ownership most frequently post-

poned the dissipation of such a householduntil the father’s death. Judging from theavailable data, such families usually as-sembled three generations of the closest rela-tives of the direct male line of descent.Women became members of their husband’s,or rather their father-in-law’s, family by theact of marriage.

The brothers’ association (fraterna) ismuch more present in documents than asso-ciations of father and sons. This is becauseit was not formed inertly, but on the basis of the brothers’ free will and decision. Besides,

brothers frequently did business and madecontracts together, while a father carry outall business on his own. The association as-sembled brothers as well as their wives, sons,

and daughters-in- law. It presupposed a com-munal way of life, the sharing of communalgoods, and economic activities for the gen-eral welfare. An interesting feature of Dubro-vnik’s aristocratic fraternas is a certain divi-sion of labour that enabled maximal indi-vidual and communal efficiency. Elder broth-ers usually remained in the city, working attheir jobs, looking after their families andland, and investing money into the busi-

nesses, while younger members travelled andtraded for the association. Well-to-do citi-zens followed this patrician family structure

pattern. Statutory law encouraged the dura-tion of a fraterna until at least the brothers’coming of age, thus insuring the existenceof those who had not yet reached maturity.Relations within this kind of associationwere, however, relatively loose, and could

be broken at any point in time. This is thecharacteristic of fraternas in Dalmatia andHrvatsko Primorje. Italian fraternas, on the

other hand, were strictly regulated by Italianmunicipal statutes, which proscribed rather

precise norms for family relationships anddemanded that brothers should remain to-gether even after the father’s death.

Family household servants present a spe-cial problem for the researcher. In Dalma-tian towns, statute regulations show that serviand ancillae (i. e. male and female servantsand apprentices) were members of their mas-ters’ families, and were submitted to the

power of the father of the family (i. e. of the breadwinner). Little is known about their own family structure, except that they wereformed and lived under the master’s surveil-lance.

Various demographic factors had a vitalinfluence on the structuring of Dalmatianmedieval families. Demographic policieswere created by the family itself. Namely,there were no measures or regulations aboutfamily structuring in town council statutesor regulations. Rather high mortality ratesand great demographic crises forced fami-lies to look for solutions to insure their sur-vival. Most children died at the tender ageof one to three years, as well as in adoles-cence, so that a relatively small number livedto maturity. Some kind of balance was keptthrough very high natality rates, especiallyin aristocratic families, which made a pointof caring for their procreation and social

power. The development of the Dubrovnik aristocracy from the thirteenth to the fifteenthcentury shows, for example, that there hadalways been an accordance in the number of family members and the economic and po-litical power of a certain family line. On theother hand, poverty and lack of financialmeans directly hindered demographic growth,

limiting the number of marriages and thenatality rate. It should be said that it was hardto keep the family’s continuity, even within


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higher social circles, which explains the sta-tistical predominance of simple structures,despite the aspirations towards large familystructures.

Very important for demographic pro-cesses was a household’s age structure, aswell as its coming of age period, marriageage, and average life span.

In terms of family structure, one should point out the simultaneousness of variousstructural types, which means that the fam-

ily structure was shaped by particular andgeneral social, economic and demographiccircumstances of family life. Changing cir-cumstances were the cause of changes withinfamily structures. Accordingly, complex andsimple families were not always necessarily

juxtaposed, but could vary, i. e. be on differ-ent levels in the life cycle of a group of rela-tives. It is another matter that during the longmedieval period there seem to be no changesin the needs and beliefs of certain socialcircles regarding this question.

The economic function of a family andthe structure that followed from it were of vital influence in the shaping of family rela-tions within a family association, while sen-timental links were of no importance either for the family’s existence or for its internal

balance. In addition to this, the nature of the

preserved documents is such that we cannotlearn much about a family’s sentimental life.

Familial relations in late medieval soci-eties were shaped in three ways: on the lev-els of the couple, the family, and lineage. Itis important to point out that familial rela-tions were greatly influenced the Catholiclaw and morality, which caused certainchanges in attitudes toward wives and chil-

dren. Marital links rated lower on the valuescale than various other links (especially thefather/son relationship), though they greatly

influenced the shaping of interfamilial rela-tions. Marital links were primarity regulated

by canon law, while statutory law was important in the area of property. The Church policy during the Middle Ages led to a greater sacralization of marital relations. This pro-cess led to a clash between canonic maritalregulations, which eaw at marriage as anagreement between spouses, and the marital

policy of upper social circles, which regardedmarriage as a kind of business transaction.

The most important question was the ques-tion of the dowry and the establishment of links with the powerful, rich, and politicallyclose circles. A class-ridden society could

by no means accept the possibility of mar-riage between members of different socialclasses, which the Church allowed, since thiswould have threatened the fixed social or-der, which was the foundation of the urbanmunicipal administration. Such a marital

policy was the cause - especially in Dubro-vnik - of rather frequent extramarital rela-tionships, resulting in large numbers of off-spring. Members of lower social circles werenot legally limited in their marital activities:they married according to their own will andchoice, but within their own class, of course.

The most important question in marital- property relations was the question of thedowry, since such property was the basis of the economic security of a new family. Thedowry, therefore, was an obligatory maritalasset, according to both Church and the statu-tory law. However, it did not grant any inde-

pendence to the wife, since those who dis- posed of it were the husband or the father-in-law, while she had the right to dispose of only a quarter of it, and this at her will. Hugedowries and their unstifled growth presented

a major problem for the families. Rich indi-viduals and even municipalities donatedmoney for the dowries of poor families, in


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order to prevent the practice of forcing girlsinto nunneries.

Personal relationships within a familycan be discussed only on the basis of pre-dominantly legal sources; hence the gaps inour knowledge about the sentimental life of family members. One thing is certain,though: such relations rested primarily on thehusband’s, i. e. the father’s, authority. Thefather of the family had more power thananyone else and, consequently, the greatest

amount of personal freedom. His was theright to give marry of children who had notyet come of age; to send them to a monas-tery, and to punish them according to his ownwill. At the same time he could almost un-limitedly dispose of the family property. Onthe other hand, the center of sentimental lifein the family was the link between the mother and small children. Along with mothers,higher social circles also had nannies and

wet-nurses. Daughters remained under their mother’s surveillance until marriage, whilesons came under their father’s or the school’srule beginning, as early as five years old.Mortality problems, abortions, infanticide,forsaken infants, upbringing, schooling,working abilities, heritage laws, and the spe-cific problems of children born in extramari-tal relationships are also connected with thelife of the children in the family, and thor-

oughly analyzed in the book.Discussion about the sentimental life

within a family brings us to the importantrole of women, who were the main source of sentimental family links. Women, especiallythose belonging to higher social circles, weremainly limited to a life within the household.It was between the four walls of the house,which framed people’s lives from birth todeath, that women were mistresses of the lifecycle. As much as their familial and legalcircumstances allowed them, women tried -

indirectly at least - to take part in the family businesses. Agricultural activities were moreaccessible to women from lower socialcircles.

The research of the social role of fami-lies shows that there existed a division of labor in late medieval Dalmatian towns, aswell as a certain sharing of duties betweenthe families and the town municipality. Thefamily was the building block upon whichmedieval Dalmatian towns built their au-

tonomy and social structure. We can there-fore regard it as a key factor for the under-standing of such a society. A family had a

primarily economic and political function,which marked it to such an extent that it al-ways had a public role and could not retreatinto isolation. Families and municipalitiesgave mutual support to one another, thus

putting their weight on the individual. Fami-lies and towns, the two most important so-

cial communities in medieval Dalmatia,managed to maintain a balance of interestand authority, thus enabling the progress of society. Briefly, the family grew into an im-

portant factor for the realization of order andsocial stability in the medieval Dalmatianmunicipality.

Nenad Vekarić, The Inhabitants of the Pelješac Peninsula, Dubrovnik: Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU, I, 1992, 290 pp.;II, 1993, graphs.

The Pelješac peninsula can be designatedas a low intensity migration area, especiallyin comparison with the hinterland regions.

Nevertheless, in the period from 1333 to1918, it underwent a series of smaller or greater migrations, whether they were col-


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lective or individual, temporary or final, or-ganized or elemental, voluntary or forced,economic or political.The migrations dif-fered in causes, motives and types, depend-ing on the times, natural characteristics, and

political, religious, and social events.

Contrary to what seems to be the case atfirst glance, the natural environment of thePelješac peninsula had mostly had a limit-ing effect on the migration process. Its mildclimate had certainly not been the cause of

the migrations in the past, and the value of the seaside areas was not perceived until thesecond half of the 16th century, with the de-velopment of shipping. Until then the sea had

been the natural route of pirates and plun-derers whilst the inhabitants hid in the

penisula’s interior and founded settlementsin its mountainous parts and areas that werenot easily accessible. The mountinous ter-rain, the natural characteristics of the soil,

the abundance of stone, and scant areas of soil suitable for cultivation were no blessingin times when agriculture was the main, andoften the only, source of survival.

The geostrategic position of Pelješac in-fluenced migration movements due to itsdependence on the political situation. Situ-ated on the western edge of the Balkan pen-insula, isolated, far away from crossroads and

main thoroughfares, Pelješac was not of greatinterest to anyone in periods of political stability. But as a territory under the protectionof Dubrovnik - the wealthiest and most stableof the Balkan states, which was frequentlyspared direct war destruction - Pelješacwould, in times of political unrest - suddenly

become an attractive refuge for numerous political refuges from the interior of the coun-try. By the end of the 14th century, and espe-

cially in the second part of the 15th century,larger groups of refugees who had beenforced to leave their homes before the Turk-

ish invasion, settled on Pelješac. These mi-grations, however, did more harm than goodto the peninsula, since it was not economi-cally able to cope with such pressure. Thusthe migration at the time of the fall of theBosnia-Herzegovina caused the overpopula-tion of the peninsula and a general state of

poverty, and at the same time started a longand painful process of the reduction of theman-power surplus, abunding in traumas andhuman tragedies.

Economical

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