engleski

One More Example of Supporting the Restoration of East Adriatic Cathedral Churches in the Late Middle Ages. The contribution of Poreč’s Denizens in Reconstruction of the Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century

In 1447 Poreč’s communal council made the decision related to the reconstruction of one of the central sacral institutions – the cathedral church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary also known as Euphrasian Basilica. In the presentation I shall focus on the problem of participation of the denizens of Poreč in reconstruction of above mentioned sacral object, which was in the middle of the fifteenth century in rather ruined condition. Reasons for that were not only in poor communal financial condition but were also caused by the earthquake that struck Poreč in 1440. Besides the decision made by communal authorities, the most important source in researching of that problem are last wills recorded for denizens from all strata of Poreč’s communal society – patricians, citizens, inhabitants, villagers from district villages, foreigners and immigrants. Therefore, I shall examine origin of testators, their social position and their profession in order to get the information concerning typical testators - donators that left various types of legacies to the cathedral church. As for the sources, I shall research 61 unpublished documents written by notary Anthony de Teodoris - 54 last wills and seven codicils. Unfortunately, Anthony’s last wills for the period previous to the year 1464 are not preserved and therefore I will rely on the data from last wills written in the period between 1464 and 1487. Bearing in mind that similar processes appeared in some other East Adriatic communes as the expression of piety called social and civic Christianity (e. g. Šibenik, Trogir) I will try to compare them with the situation in Poreč and explain the reasons, which influenced that type of the late medieval piety.

Poreč, The Late Middle Ages, last wills, bequests, cathedral church, reconstruction

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