“Norma nobilium generalis consilii civitatis Paghi” from the Year 1455

U srednjem vijeku, u doba kada su se na hrvatskoj obali formirale gradske komune po europskom sustavu, plemstvo je bilo onaj društveni sloj koji je upravljao sudbinom tih gradova. Povezano međusobno u razna vijeća, bilo je klasno odvojeno od puka, a takav povlašteni položaj i materijalno stanje dozvoljavalo mu je da slijedi sva kulturna zbivanja u drugim većim središtima na suprotnoj obali Jadrana. Pag nije ušao u srednji vijek kao grad koji je sačuvao svoj životni kontinuitet iz antike, već je glavno naselje na otoku žilavom borbom uspjelo steći gradski status, a njegovo Vijeće formiralo se od starih hrvatskih porodica naseljenih na otoku, što gradu i otoku daje posebnu osobitost i samosvojnost. Plemićki je stalež nastao “zatvaranjem” Velikog vijeća 1433. godine, a prava i povlastice paškog plemstva utvrđene su brojnim uredbama u općinskom statutu.Municipal continuity from the late antiquity was not preserved on the island of Pag. It is very likely that at the time when Croats settled there this island was a part of Zadar, i. e. of Rab ager (area). This division between strong neighbors had far-reaching consequences on the political and social development of Pag in the Middle Ages. The Great Council, created already in the 13th century as the supreme elective and meritory organ of the commune, went through several stages of development. According to the original sources from 1339 the membership in the Council could be gained through election, it was always “open” and the counselors were elected among respectable families. Only if there was not an adult male or if the family died out then there was an ocassion for a new member of the Council to be chosen, one who was not related to the previous counselor. This open character of the Council which gave a chance to every person from Pag to enter the Council was a troubling factor for the local leaders in the twenties of the 15th century when the process of the formation of closed nobility class system came to an end. Venetian rulers immediately (in 1409) established the Council of fifty elected members and those were mostly the members of the Council from 1399. Encouraged by Venice, people from Pag conducted “the closing” of the Council in 1422. Although “serrata” caused disatisfaction among the people, nothing changed. Already in 1432, with the change of the statute, the members of the Council managed to make their status legal. Thus the 17th chapter of the Pag statute became lawful. As the new statute in 1433 was confirmed in Venice by the Venetian senate, the status of nobility was confirmed to the members of the Pag Council. The process of establishing nobility status on Pag was finished. From that time Pag counselors were “nobiles de Consilio Paghi” and they were entitled in this way in the Venetian documents. All fifty counselors-noblemen from 1433 had Croatian last names and the descendents of Italian settlers from Pesaro bore names in the “Croatian way”, such as Marković and Tomasović. In 1455 in the Council of Pag were annotated sixty-two noble counselors