Poljica (Republic)
The Republic of Poljica ( Croatian Poljička republika , Italian Poglizza ) was a semi-autonomous community in Dalmatia , between Split , Omiš and the Cetina River , which existed from the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century. The small republic, led by the local nobility, was first under the protection of the Hungarian kings and, from the middle of the 15th century, under the rule of the Republic of Venice .
Surname
The name Poljica is derived from the Slavic word polje ('field', special meaning also ' karst plain '). Another explanation sees the origin of the name not in the Slavic idiom, but in the old Romanic substratum, which was widespread in Dalmatia until the early modern period. After that, Poljica is derived from politia , the Latin form of the Greek πολιτεια and means community. In 1774 the Italian scholar Alberto Fortis first described the Poljica near Omiš as a “republic”. Own name was Poljička knežija 'Principality of Poljica' .
territory
The Poljica area lay within the bend of the Cetina just before its confluence with the Adriatic . In the southwest the territory of the republic extended to shortly before Stobreč on the Adriatic Sea. The Poljica extended from northwest to southeast over about 37 kilometers and covered about 250 square kilometers. In the center of the landscape rises the Mosor mountain range , with the summit of Veliki Kabal ( 1339 m ) as the highest point. The following villages are located in this area: Žrnovnica , Donje and Gornje Sitno , Dubrava (Poljica), Tugare , Srinjine , Naklice , Čišla , Gata , Podgrađe , Donji Dolac , Trnbusi , Podstrana , Seoca , Ostrvica and Kostanje . These were organized in twelve political communities. There was no capital or administrative center.
Constitution
The Poljica was an aristocratic or corporative community. Political power was largely in the hands of the nobility, who were extremely numerous (more than 10 percent of the population) and divided into two classes. But the free peasants also had a political say.
Each village was headed by a nobleman. The twelve village elders and three judges elected by all free men formed the government of the republic, headed by Veliki Knez 'Prince' , 'Oberstlandrichter'. The upper class of the nobility comprised 20 families who traditionally derived their descent from the Hungarian nobility. The prince came from this “Hungarian” nobility. The other aristocrats, however, saw themselves as part of the aristocracy of old Bosnia . The origin of the legends of descent of the two aristocratic classes is related to the eventful medieval history of the Poljica, when the sovereignty changed many times. It cannot be proven whether the aristocratic families were actually immigrants from Hungary or Bosnia.
The country's political situation was regulated in a statute that was first written down in 1440, on the occasion of the Venetian takeover of power, and in its last form from the 17th century comprised 116 articles. This statute is one of the oldest written constitutions in Europe. It comprised the common law of the republic and the listing of their offices with their responsibilities. The statutes were revised in 1485, 1515 and 1665.
history
In the Middle Ages, the Poljica people maintained good relations with the town of Omiš, whose inhabitants were notorious as pirates until the 15th century. The corsairs covered their need for food by trading with the farmers of the Poljica.
During the Venetian rule, the republic was in constant defense against the Turks. From the 16th to the 18th century, the border with the Ottoman Empire ran directly on the Cetina. In 1530 and 1686, the Poljica contingent together with Venetian troops defeated the Turks in open battle and drove them out of the country again.
After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, the Poljica Republic soon came to an end. The first Austrian rule in Dalmatia (1797–1807) brought no changes. In 1806 the small republic had 6,566 inhabitants. In the following year, Napoleon's troops devastated the Poljica and integrated the republic into the newly formed Illyrian provinces .
today
The Republic of Poljica was re-established as a regional cultural association. The chairman bears the traditional title Veliki Knez .
literature
- Edo Pivčević: The Principality of Poljica. From its Mediaeval Inception to its Fall in 1807 . In: Journal of Croatian Studies . tape 28/29 ( almissa.com - 1987/1988).
- Boris D. Grekov: The old Croatian Republic of Poljica. Studies of history d. social Conditions d. Poljica from 15th to 17th century Berlin 1961.
- Bože Mimica: Omiška krajina Poljica Makarsko primorje. Od ancient do 1918 . Vitagraf, Rijeka 2003, ISBN 953-6059-62-2 .
- Alberto Fortis: Viaggio in Dalmazia . tape 2 . Venice 1774 (reprint Munich 1974).
- Alfons Pavich von Pfauenthal: Contributions to the history of the Poljica at Spalato . Vienna 1907 (separate print from "Scientific communications from Bosnia and Herzegovina").