engleski

Urban Space Policies in Medieval Dubrovnik and Dalmatian Cities – Venetian Tradition vs. Present

The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of different political/administration systems in the shaping of Late medieval urban landscapes in Dalmatia, in particular by means of comparing the different practices and policies of governing bodies. From the 10th century onwards, despite the ever-changing relations of power towards the Byzantium and Croatian (later Hungarian-Croatian) Kingdom, the Venetians sought to secure the traffic on the maritime route along the East Adriatic coast. At the beginning of 13th century two strategically most important towns - Zadar and Dubrovnik - acknowledged Venetian sovereignty. Their great councils (assemblies of local patricians, i.e. the urban nobility) were presided over by the counts sent from Venice and chosen by the Venetian government. It is therefore that the certain practices regarding the legislation and the decision-making processes in spatial issues were introduced. In 1358 Dalmatia became the part of Hungarian-Croatian kingdom, but after a half-century rule of the kings of Anjou dynasty, Venetian dominance was re-established in all major cities with the exception of Dubrovnik. The nature of the so-called "Second" Venetian rule in Dalmatia was substantially different in respect to the one in the previous period. Instead of a system of confederate city-states, the 15th century Venetian Province Dalmatia became part of a territorial state. What in the earlier centuries used to be a transfer of Venetian urban governing practices turned into direct subordination of local political institutions. Regarding the 15th century urban realities in the Venetian realm, the following questions would be raised: what were the methods of introducing the changes in urban policies and what were the means of securing their implementation ; to what extent could still existing city-councils influence the shaping of urban space and through what mechanisms they could have achieved it ; how did the social groups other than the urban nobility react and did they seek to profit from the new circumstances? At the same time, on the contrary, in post-Venetian Dubrovnik (i.e. from 1358 until the end of the Dubrovnik Republic in 1807) we witness the notable longevity of institutions and attitudes that have been established in the period of Venetian domination, including those connected with the issues of urban space. The comparison between the practices in the towns of Venetian Dalmatia and the contemporary developments in the city of Dubrovnik – particularly in the matters of common defence, real-estate market control, institutions like orphanages and hospitals etc. – will clarify the reasons of rather drastic change on one hand, and a strange longue durée on the other.

Dalmatia, Medieval urban development, Venice, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split, Dubrovnik

nije evidentirano