Statutes and Criminal Law of Makarska and Coast in the Sanjak of Herzegovina

Makarska i njezino Primorje su zajedno sa "samostalnom" Lokvom Rogoznicom i velikim dijelom Poljica u srednjem vijeku potpadali dugo upravi Osmanskoga Carstva, unatoč bilateralnim i višelateralnim ugovorima s Mletačkom Republikom iz 1444., 1561., 1571. i 1646. godine. Rezultat, međutim, nije bila apsolutna turska dominacija nad domaćim pučanstvom i stratifikacijom postojeće uprave. Suprotno i shodno tomu, osim vrhovnoga poreza i ukidanja plemstva, nema traga feudalnom timaru, šerijatskom pravu ili nasilnom islamiziranju i protjerivanju puka u mirnodopsko doba. Te su sve okolnosti pozitivno utjecale ne samo na održanje postojećih javnopravnih odnosa, nego i na pisano uređivanje novih zakonskih i stvarnih normi koje nam otkrivaju hrvatske narodne običaje od prije turske vlasti, a i tijekom nje, kao i položaj "domorodaca" u to "nesamostalno" doba. Najbolji pokazatelj toga jest statut Makarske i Primorja iz 1551. godine, kojeg je donio narod odnosno liga i koji je ostavljen u samostanskom arhivu u Zaostrogu. Rad donosi tekst toga statuta te Rogozničkog iz 1236. godine ne ulazeći u detaljnu analizu ali s uvodnim razlaganjem neke pravne i historiografske misli makarskog Primorja u to vrijeme, u korelaciji s drugim teritorijalno ili institucionalno bliskim područjima.Makarska and its Coast together with Lokva Rogoznica and largely Poljica were in the medieval period for a long time under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, despite bilateral agreements with the Venetian Republic from 1444, 1561, 1571 and 1646. The result, however, was not an absolute domination of Turkey over domestic population and the stratification of the existing administration. In contrast, and consequently, except the supreme tax and the abolition of the nobility, there were no traces of feudal Timaru, Sharia law or a violent expulsion and Islamization of people in the time of peace. All of these circumstances positively influenced not only the maintenance of the already existing public-legal relations, but also the creation of new legal and factual norms, which were described in Croatian folk customs before Turkish rule and during it, as well as the position of the "natives" in this "era of dependence". The best indicator of this is the statutes of Makarska and the Coast from 1551 adopted by a sovereign nation or by the league and preserved in the monastery archives in Zaostrog. The paper presents the statutes without going into a detailed analysis but with an introductory interpretation of some legal and historiographical thoughts of Makarska coastal region at the time, in correlation with other territorially or institutionally related fields