Boundary Disputes Between the Venetian Authorities and the Krbava Counts During the Second Half of the XVth Century

Autor u radu na osnovi sadržaja objavljenih i neobjavljenih povijesnih vrela kronološki opisuje i raščlanjuje tijek pograničnih prijepora na području sjeverne Dalmacije između Mletačke Republike i knezova Krbavskih u drugoj polovini XV. stoljeća. Te su nesuglasice obilježavale njihove međusobne susjedske odnose napose 50-ih i 60-ih godina toga stoljeća, ali i u kasnijim desetljećima, svjedočeći istodobno o interesima i ciljevima ka kojima je tada u sjevernoj Dalmaciji stremila moćna jadranska aristokratska republika, s jedne strane, kao i istaknuti hrvatski velikaški rod Kurjakovića Krbavskih, s druge strane, dodatno osiljen tadašnjom slabošću kraljevske vlasti u Ugarsko-Hrvatskom Kraljevstvu. Kao što pokazuju izvorni podatci, važna se prijeporna pitanja između njih u to doba otvaraju oko nadzora nad utvrdom Ostrovicom, smještenom na ključnom raskrižju sjevernodalmatinskih puteva, zatim oko kurjakovićevske granične tvrđe Kličevac kraj Benkovca te oko granica na vranskom području, tj. oko pitanja sigurnosti i pružanja državne međe na tom pograničnom prostoru između ostrovičkog distrikta i zadarskog teritorija. Osim toga, uzrok nesuglasica bijaše i nemogućnost knezova Krbavskih da vrše učinkovitu vlast nad svojim podanicima preostalim u granicama Republike tijekom njenih osvajanja u prvim desetljećima XV. stoljeća, zatim nepouzdani kurjakovićevski Morlaci što su bježali na mletačko područje izbjegavajući obveze prema velikašima, kao i prilično česti slučajevi nasilja i otimačine usmjereni protiv osoba i dobara na suprotnoj strani granice. Sve u svemu, iz podataka što ih donose povijesna vrela može se zaključiti da je, unatoč povremenim poboljšanjima odnosa, napose u vremenima pojačanih turskih prijetnji, rečeno razdoblje druge polovine XV. st. u poslovima između knezova Krbavskih i Republike obilježeno spornim pitanjima. A iako je državina Kurjakovićevih, sasvim očekivano, prema Mlecima tada u podređenom položaju, ovi hrvatski knezovi iskazuju veliku odlučnost u obrani vlastitih interesa, a time, može se reći, barem neizravno i probitaka Kraljevstva naspram tuđinskoj vlasti u Dalmaciji.On the basis of published and unpublished historical sources the author describes and analyzes the development of the boundary disputes between the Venetian Republic and the Krbava counts (comites Corbavie) during the second half of the XVth century. These disputes marked in large part their neighborly relations between the 50ies and the 80ies of that century. At the same time these disputes reveal the interests which on the one hand the most powerful Adriatic aristocratic republic had in northern Dalmatia and on the other the interests of the eminent high-nobility family Kurjaković of Krbava which additionally felt powerful in the wake of the enfeeblement of kingly authority within the Hungarian- Croatian Kingdom. As original sources show the main disputes raged around the question of controlling fort Ostrovica, located at the key crossroads of northern Dalmatian routes, then over the newly-built Kurjaković’s boundary fort Kličevac near Benkovac and over Venetian fort Vrana, that is, the disputes concerned questions of security and the establishment of state boundaries on this territory. In addition, the cause of discontent and dispute was the inability of the Krbava counts to have if only partial authority over their subjects who had remained within the boundaries of the Republic after its conquests during the first decades of the XVth century as well as individual cases of violence and autocracy aimed against persons and goods from the other side of the border. When all is said, from the data supplied by historical sources it can be concluded that, despite temporary warm relations, the period we are dealing with here in the contacts between the Krbava counts and the Republic was marked by contentious issues. Even though, as can be expected, the Kurjaković dominion was in an emphatically inferior position in relation to Venice, the Croatian counts showed great decisiveness in the defense of their position and thusly of the interests of the Croatian Kingdom against foreign authority in Dalmatia